A Predator Among Prey

The streets stretched out before them, bathed in the eerie glow of flickering streetlights. The silence was heavier than before, unnatural in a way that made Kael's skin crawl.

He and Ronan moved with purpose, but something about the air felt wrong. The city wasn't just empty—it was waiting.

Kael exhaled slowly. The weight in his chest had settled, the whispers that had haunted him earlier now distant. Whatever had been clawing at his mind was silent, asleep. But even in that quiet, unease clung to him.

Ronan walked ahead, hands clenched at his sides. His movements were tight, still carrying the frustration from their last fight.

He wanted a win. Something to prove they weren't just running and surviving by the skin of their teeth.

Kael could feel it—the tension, the need for something to change.

Then it happened.

A presence.

It came suddenly, pressing against them like the air itself had thickened. Kael stopped walking. His breath hitched.

The sensation was overwhelming, crushing.

A simple shift in the atmosphere, yet it felt as if an apex predator had entered the space, one that had no need for tricks or stealth.

Kael didn't hear him. Didn't see him. He felt him.

And then—

"You two again? Oh, this is perfect."

Kael's body reacted before his mind could.

He knew who it was.

Ronan noticed Kael stiffen, muscles locked as if preparing for an attack that hadn't come yet. A gut feeling screamed at him to run.

But it was already too late.

Elias strolled into view, casual, at ease, as if the night itself had bent to make way for him.

There was no fanfare, no theatrics—just inevitability.

Kael barely suppressed a shudder. Elias' presence wasn't just strong—it was suffocating. There was something wrong about him, something that made the world feel fragile, like a glass pane on the verge of cracking.

And yet, he smiled.

Not with malice, not with cruelty—but with amusement.

His golden eyes flickered between them, and Kael felt like an insect caught beneath a magnifying glass.

Elias lifted a hand, gesturing lazily. "Come on. Show me what you've got."

The worst part?

He meant it.

Ronan moved first.

He blurred forward, closing the distance in an instant.

It didn't matter.

Elias didn't dodge. His body simply shifted, flowing around the attack like water parting around a stone.

Kael's muscles tensed. His body moved before he could think—before Elias countered.

The attack came faster than sight, Elias' hand slicing through the air where Ronan's throat had been a second ago. But at the last moment, Ronan staggered back, barely avoiding the worst of it.

A drop of blood slid down his neck.

He didn't even understand why he dodged.

Kael saw it.

Saw it before it happened.

Elias' smile widened. His head tilted slightly, eyes narrowing in interest.

"Interesting. So it's started, huh?"

Kael's heart pounded.

What the hell does that mean?

Then, Elias truly moved.

It was… wrong.

His motions weren't just fast—they bent the world around him.

Every step was a ripple, a distortion, as if the air itself adjusted to make space for him.

Ronan swung again—but his fist passed through nothing, like Elias had never been there in the first place.

Kael saw flashes. Visions of attacks before they came.

But they were wrong.

He ducked left—only for Elias' foot to slam into his ribs anyway.

He twisted to dodge a strike—but it landed regardless.

His sight wasn't predicting the future.

It was showing him possibilities. And none of them mattered because Elias controlled reality itself.

Kael gasped, blood in his mouth.

Ronan launched forward again, arms shifting, muscles bulging as he pushed his Dominion to its limits.

Elias simply waved a hand.

And suddenly—Ronan wasn't moving forward anymore.

Kael's stomach dropped.

The air split—not like an explosion, not like a shockwave—but like a clean cut through space itself.

Ronan's body jerked sideways against his will, an invisible force dragging him off course. He crashed into the pavement with a sharp grunt, skidding across the ground.

Elias grinned, completely at ease.

"What's wrong? Can't keep up?"

Kael's body moved before he could think.

A step back. A twist. A dodge.

It wasn't conscious. It wasn't even his.

Something inside him was reacting.

And Elias noticed.

For the first time, his expression shifted—just a little.

He tested Kael, his next strike angled in a way that should have landed.

Kael didn't see it coming.

But he still dodged.

It felt wrong. Like he wasn't the one moving.

Like something was guiding him.

Elias chuckled, watching closely.

Then he laughed—not mockingly, not cruelly—but genuinely entertained.

"Ah. So that's what you are."

Kael's breath caught.

What the hell does that mean?

Then, Elias had enough.

One step. One flick of his wrist.

And suddenly—

Kael and Ronan collapsed.

Pain screamed through them, their bodies locked in place.

Not from a strike. Not from a wound.

The world itself had cut them.

Kael's vision blurred. His limbs wouldn't move.

Elias crouched beside him, his grin still there—but his gaze was sharper now.

"You'll figure it out soon enough."

Then, with a single touch, he marked Kael's forehead.

A cold sensation spread through him. It wasn't a wound. It wasn't a brand.

It was something else.

Elias stood.

"Try not to die before then."

And then—

He was gone.

The city was still again.

Kael and Ronan barely managed to stand.

The weight of the mark was gone, but something was wrong.

Kael clenched his fists.

He wasn't stronger. He wasn't weaker.

He was different.

Ronan didn't say a word.

Because this wasn't just a loss.

It was a message.

They weren't just beneath Elias.

They didn't even matter.

But Kael knew—

This wasn't over.