The night felt wrong.
The streetlights flickered overhead, casting weak pools of light across the empty road. The air was too still, too quiet—like the world itself was holding its breath.
Marcus stood frozen in the middle of the street.
Something was watching him.
He couldn't see it.He couldn't hear it.But every instinct screamed that he wasn't alone.
Then the darkness moved.
A figure stepped out from the shadows as if it had been part of them all along.
The temperature dropped instantly. Marcus's breath turned to mist as a wave of fear crashed over him.
This wasn't human.
It wasn't even from this world.
The creature tilted its head, studying him with unsettling curiosity—like a child examining a toy.
Marcus's chest tightened as a single name forced its way into his mind.
A name he had spent years trying to forget.A name tied to the worst night of his life.
"Moloch…"
The word left his mouth in a trembling whisper.
The creature smiled.
Recognition.Amusement.Hunger.
The name felt poisonous on his tongue. His body trembled as if the sound alone could shatter him.
The name that got his family killed.The name that had haunted him his entire life.
Moloch stepped closer, its eyes locking onto Marcus's.
He couldn't move. His muscles refused to listen. Fear rooted him to the ground.
The creature leaned in until its lips brushed his ear.
"Found you."
Before Marcus could react, Moloch raised his arm and struck him across the face.
The impact hurled Marcus across the street. His body slammed against the pavement, pain exploding through his chest as the world spun into darkness.
A voice echoed through the void.
"We found you. The time has come for you to break the shackles of restraint and fight."
Marcus groaned as consciousness slowly returned. Blinding light flooded his vision.
Two enormous dragons hovered above him.
One radiated brilliant white light, its scales glowing like the sun.The other was wrapped in deep shadow, its eyes burning like embers in the night.
"Your spirit shall not waver," said the white dragon calmly.
"HA! Let's kill him and send his spirit to the depths of hell!" the dark dragon laughed.
Warmth spread through Marcus's chest, growing into roaring fire mixed with rising fury.
His wounds began to close.His strength surged back.Energy flooded every part of him.
Marcus's eyes snapped open.
One turned pitch black.The other burned bright white.
Before he could think, his body moved.
In a blink, he stood before Moloch and drove his fist into the creature's face, launching it across the street and into a building.
Dust and debris filled the air.
Slowly, Moloch rose—floating as if gravity meant nothing to him.
"HAHAHA…" the creature laughed. "You found it. The power of the dragons. How intriguing."
Dark energy swirled as a portal tore open behind him.
"But now, I shall make my exit."
He stepped into the darkness, pausing once more.
"Wait until the Mask Carrier hears about this."
The portal snapped shut.
Silence returned.
The twin dragons spoke again.
"We are now bonded to you," said the white dragon.
"Find the mask that holds our spirits. Then we can help you."
"Yeah, hurry and find us… or I might hurt you myself," the dark dragon added playfully.
The dragons began to fade into the sky.
Marcus clenched his fists.
"I'll find the mask. Beat Moloch. And figure out who the Mask Carrier is."
A mask appeared in his hands—ancient and glowing with white and black light.
The glow intensified.
Brighter.
Brighter—
Marcus screamed—
—and jolted upright in bed.
Darkness surrounded him.
His bedroom.His clock blinking 6:07 AM.
His breath came in sharp gasps. Sweat clung to his skin.
"It was… a dream."
His heart raced as if he had been running for miles. His hands trembled like they had been gripping something powerful.
"Yeah," he whispered. "Just a dream."
But the words still echoed clearly in his mind.
We found you.
Marcus lay back, staring at the ceiling as unease settled deep in his chest.
For the rest of the morning, the feeling never left him.
Something had changed.
And deep down, Marcus knew—
That didn't feel like a dream at all.