The Wraith

ASH hit the ground hard, sand gritting in his teeth. He spat it out and sprang to his feet. His senses were on high alert, a new kind of fear; pure terror, coursing through him. It seeped into his bones, making his legs tremble uncontrollably.

He was paralyzed, unable to act. Seeing Rowan hanging and bleeding shattered his last shred of resolve. His body felt weak, his knees buckling as he began to collapse. Multiple vines lashed through the air towards them.

"Rowaan!" Kay shouted as he rushed toward the impaled man. But before he could reach him, a vine yanked him backward, dragging him into the woods along with Mute and Ash.

The trees tightened around his body with every passing second. To make matters worse, the vines sprouted spikes that pierced his skin. Another vine wrapped around his torso, squeezing harder and harder.

This time, he knew death was imminent. He could see the hooded, cold entity with its scythe hanging in the heavens. Everything around him felt chilly, and for a moment, he accepted the peace and serenity that came as his bones snapped. The pain faded as his mind drifted to memories of his past.

Had he lived a good life? Was it really his time? He remembered his moments with Mute, someone he proudly called a brother, hoping the boy felt the same. As he exhaled, his arm twisted backward, and a thick vine began choking the air out of him. His body jerked against the forceful grip, reacting to the approach of death. His eyes turned white, his body went limp, and his heart started losing oxygen. He was done.

But then, out of the deathly silence of the night, a shrill scream pierced the air. Kay recognized the voice instantly. Even in the realm of the dead, he would know Mute's voice. The boy couldn't speak, but he could make sounds, and this scream was born from pain and terror. Kay's eyes snapped open. Life surged back into him.

Even if he could accept death, he couldn't abandon his friends. Gritting his teeth, he reached deep within himself, tapping into a reservoir of power. He burned through the potion within him, assimilating almost half of it as raw energy surged through his veins. He didn't care about control or the lessons from Felis and Rowan; he let it all out.

An explosion erupted from his body, lighting up the forest within a seventy-meter radius. The trees sang a song of fire as an unearthly shriek echoed from deep within. The vines burned to ashes, releasing Kay as he landed on his feet.

His friends fell from various heights, and he walked towards them with ease, realizing all his wounds had healed, his broken bones reformed. Sparks of fire still slithered across his body like electric signals as he approached his friends.

"Are you guys okay?" he demanded. They both nodded, but he noticed Ash's left arm dangling, the bone twisted and detached, while Mute had multiple puncture wounds dripping with blood.

"I don't know how to control my flames, but they healed me. I don't know if they'll do the same for you, but stand strong. I'll protect you," he said, positioning himself in front of them and eyeing the unburned part of the forest.

"Whatever you are, I challenge you! Come to me! I heard your scream and I know you can feel pain," he shouted, thrusting his palm toward a tree as a burst of fire exploded from him, blowing the tree to splinters. "Come on!" he yelled.

As if on cue, the ground erupted beneath them, sending another wave of roots their way. Kay was ready. He dove from his position, leaving a trail of fire in his wake, burning the roots back to the ground as his friends scrambled to avoid the flames.

As he dove, something grabbed his leg. He glanced back to see a skeletal hand holding him down. Another bony hand emerged from the ground, and soon, a decaying corpse was clutching him, refusing to let go.

Kay didn't hesitate. He twisted around, releasing a burst of flames from his body. The skeleton went up in flames, collapsing back to the ground. He rolled to his feet, only to see more dead bodies rising from the earth, surrounding them.

He unleashed bursts of fire as his friends huddled close. He incinerated most of the undead, but they kept coming. Soon, he felt the power slipping from his grasp; he'd completely burned through the potion and had no energy left to release.

The undead advanced relentlessly, and Kay glanced around in despair, desperately calculating his next move. His eyes darted from decaying flesh to exposed bones as they corralled them with menacing precision. Just when hope seems lost, a piercing scream shattered the air behind him.

"Damn this! Damn it all to hell!" Ash's voice rang out, raw and furious. He charged forward, wielding a broken branch like a madman, his desperation palpable. With a primal yell, he swung the wood, smashing it into the head of an undead. The skeleton crumbled under the force.

In the next moments, all three of them armed themselves with sticks, fiercely battling the horde. Despite their efforts, the undead kept coming, an endless tide that seemed designed to wear them down. Each second drained their strength, as it would seem, the Óró's plan was to overwhelm and wear them out!

The Undead began to swarm them as the adrenaline started to sip away from them, Kay feared worse among them. He could barely keep himself from shutting down completely, the abilities he'd drawn from weakened him more than he expected. He was down on his last fuel.

Suddenly, Rowan's voice sliced through the chaos, sharp and unwavering. "You have my thanks for surviving this long!"

Then a sudden lightning blue streaked through the undead and within half of a minute, all the undead around them were dead and in front of them, the one eyed pirate was standing before them! His body was emitting steam now, his eyes, both of them had turned white and so had his hair.

Ash remembered one of the stories that the Old Man had told them at one of their gatherings. The story of a man who used artifacts that empowered him, whose eyes and hair turned white and moved at a speed that no man could ever perceive. He remembered the name now that he was in the presence of that mythical being; The Wraith!