Chapter 9: The man in the shadows
Brody roared as he charged, his eyes glowing and the Crimson Howl flaring with red-hot energy. The very air around him trembled as crimson veins raced up his arm, pulsing wildly from the artifact.
Liam's muscles screamed in protest, but he gritted his teeth. "Shadow Pivot!"
He dodged to the side just as Brody's fist slammed into the pavement, shattering it into chunks. Kaela dashed forward, twisting mid-air.
"Verdant Bloom—Second Form!" she shouted, spinning into a sweeping kick that knocked Brody's arm off balance.
The gauntlet screeched, sparks flying as its energy wavered. But Brody didn't stop—he was barely human now, more beast than boy.
He backhanded Kaela across the alley, slamming her into a trash bin. She grunted, dazed but conscious.
Liam darted in again. "Viper Catch!" he yelled, locking onto Brody's wrist.
But the gauntlet flared, shrieking with heat. Liam cried out and fell back, his hand blistered from the contact.
"This… this thing is alive!" he gasped.
Brody's mouth twisted into a wicked grin, or maybe a snarl. "It feeds me. Makes me more. You can't stop it."
Kaela staggered up, blood on her lip. "He's gone. That artifact's devouring his mind."
Suddenly—Brody stopped.
Frozen.
The gauntlet's glow pulsed—once… twice…
Then exploded outward in a wave of blinding red light.
Kaela instinctively threw herself over Liam.
A deep boom shook the alley, dust billowing everywhere.
Then—silence.
Liam coughed and tried to sit up. His vision blurred from the shock. "What… what just happened?"
Kaela slowly pushed herself up, staring through the haze. Brody lay crumpled near the wall, unconscious. The Crimson Howl gauntlet was cracked, twitching with dying energy.
But something else had changed.
In the darkness, a figure stood.
Tall. Cloaked. Motionless.
Kaela's breath caught in her throat.
He hadn't been there before.
Or maybe… he had.
Liam staggered to his feet. "Who—who are you?"
The man didn't answer.
Then a voice emerged. Deeper than any they'd heard in class. Calm, but laced with a chilling power.
"You're lucky I stepped in when I did."
Kaela's heart skipped.
That voice.
It was him.
Brother Lucas.
But different. Rougher. Commanding.
Liam didn't recognize it. "You were watching?"
"I was ensuring it didn't kill you," the man replied.
Kaela stepped forward, placing herself slightly in front of Liam. "Why hide? Why not stop him sooner?"
The man turned slightly, just enough for moonlight to catch a glint of metal beneath his cloak. "Because intervention comes at a cost. You needed to be tested."
Liam clenched his fists. "We're not experiments."
"No," the man said quietly. "But the world you're stepping into doesn't care."
Kaela's eyes didn't leave him. "That artifact—what was it?"
"An echo of something ancient. Broken. Hungry." His voice softened—almost sad. "You'll see more like it. Worse, even."
Liam shifted. "Why are you telling us this?"
The figure paused.
Then: "Because the two of you are in deeper than you realize. And I don't think either of you are ready."
He turned, cloak flaring behind him.
"Wait!" Liam called. "Who are you?"
The man stopped. His head tilted, just slightly. Then:
"Stay alive."
With a sudden leap, he disappeared onto the rooftops, vanishing into the dark.
Kaela said nothing.
Liam watched the shadows, breathing hard. "What the hell just happened?"
Kaela slowly turned to him. "I don't know."
But she did.
Brother Lucas.
Why was he here, kaela said to herself and buried the truth from Liam
Kaela knelt beside Brody's unconscious body, eyes scanning the remnants of the shattered Crimson Howl gauntlet. Faint traces of its energy still crackled along the fractured metal, flickering like dying embers.
Liam approached carefully. "Is it… safe to touch?"
Kaela didn't answer immediately. She pressed two fingers against Brody's neck—his pulse was steady, but his breathing ragged. His skin was pale, sweat beading across his forehead. He looked… drained. Like the artifact had consumed more than just his strength.
"It's inert," she finally said, nudging the gauntlet with a stick. "But I don't think we've seen the last of it."
Liam glanced over his shoulder at the alley's entrance, where the cloaked figure had vanished. "Who was that guy?"
Kaela shook her head. "I don't know." Her voice was too calm. Too practiced.
Liam didn't notice.
Kaela stood, brushing dirt from her knees. Her eyes lingered on the cracked ground where the stranger had landed. The way he moved… the precision in his timing… it had to be Brother Lucas. But the voice—it still echoed in her head, heavier, deeper, like he was wearing a mask even within himself.
She couldn't bring herself to tell Liam. Not yet.
"We should go," she said.
"What about Brody?"
"He'll wake up. With a headache… and no memory of what really happened."
Liam hesitated. "Are you sure?"
Kaela glanced down at the broken artifact. "He was a puppet. The Crimson Howl did most of the thinking for him."
Together, they turned and walked out of the alley. The sky was a deep navy blue now, stars beginning to peek out above the buildings. Streetlights buzzed to life, flickering like warnings.
Liam broke the silence after a few blocks. "Thanks. Again."
Kaela gave him a sideways glance. "You're making a habit of needing backup."
He smiled weakly. "Yeah. I know. I'll get better."
"You'd better."
They kept walking, the tension easing slightly as they neared a busier street. But something about the quiet that followed felt wrong—not peaceful, but watchful. As if that cloaked figure had never really left.
When they reached the fork in the road—where Kaela's street split off—she paused.
"Hey, Liam?"
He stopped. "Yeah?"
"That voice… the one from the alley." She studied his face. "You didn't recognize it at all?"
Liam frowned, shaking his head. "No. Should I have?"
Kaela hesitated.
Then forced a small smile. "Nah. Just making sure I wasn't hearing things."
Liam nodded and waved. "See you tomorrow."
As he disappeared down the street, Kaela stayed frozen, her smile fading.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of crimson metal—no bigger than her thumbnail. It was warm, thrumming slightly in her palm. A fragment from the Crimson Howl. She hadn't told Liam she'd taken it.
Because something about it whispered to her.
And she wanted to know why.
Behind her, high above the street, Lucas stood on a rooftop—unmoving, unreadable.
His hood was pull
ed low, eyes shadowed beneath it.
But they were focused on Kaela.