captured

The old man hadn't expected the boy to land a hit—much less knock Peter unconscious. That was never part of the plan.

Everything had been a carefully timed taunt against Grey. They only stayed in one location long enough to bait his Gift without letting it trigger. It worked solely because of Peter's ability, which required his conscious presence to maintain control. But now, they were at a dangerous threshold.

This duel had dragged on too long. The boy was nearing his limit. The old man could see it in the way his shoulders dropped between each exchange. Finally, he thought, the boy was spent.

Peter had pinned him down. With a sigh, he started preparing a doorway—their escape route to a new location.

Then—boom.

A sudden explosion of force. Even the old man's seasoned eyes barely followed what happened next.

In a flash, the boy moved—his body a blur of raw energy. Less than a second. Just as Peter initiated the shift.

A loud thud echoed.

The house groaned. The anomaly—alive in its own mysterious way—shuddered like it was in pain.

They couldn't see outside. Their "windows" were merely Peter's doorways. But the old man didn't need to see.

He knew exactly what had happened.

Chains of Bondage.

He had trained the technique himself. Precise. Unforgiving. Irreversible.

Only one man could have cast it with this level of accuracy.

Grey.

Had they been in a normal house, the chains would have shot straight through the structure and latched onto them—targeting anything classified as "living." And an anomaly counted.

That was the twist.

They themselves weren't bound.

But the house was.

And because Peter's doorways were shut, they were trapped inside.

The old man's stomach twisted. He could already picture the network of glowing ethereal chains, encircling them—crushing every potential form the anomaly could take.

It couldn't morph. Couldn't move. Couldn't escape.

Grey had caught them in his net.

They themselves weren't bound, but they were trapped. No doors. No windows. And Edward knew exactly what Grey had done—he'd wrapped the entire anomaly in chains, preventing it from shifting forms.

Chike lay still on the floor, barely conscious. His final burst of power had burned through him like wildfire, leaving his limbs heavy and cold. Whatever that surge had been—it wasn't his. He'd never felt anything like it before. But deep down, he knew it came from Ofor.

He glanced up and saw Edward's face, pale and tight with fear. For the first time, the old man looked rattled. That alone told Chike how dire the situation was.

He tried to speak but couldn't. His chest tightened. His vision blurred.

Am I dying?

"Come on," Ofor growled. "You're not."

His voice rang loud inside Chike's mind.

"You've only been captured. That tremor you felt was the house trying to shake off the binding. It's complicating things. I'll calm it."

There was a pause. Then:

"Give or take... we've got five minutes."

Chike's eyes widened. He looked to Edward, who was still frozen in thought. No time to waste. He staggered toward the old man and shook him.

The moment his hand made contact, he felt it—

A warm pulse flowing through Edward, moving downward into the floor.

Chi.

The house reacted immediately. Its walls vibrated with life. Across the room, shadows twisted as furniture dissolved into black, viscous slime. The edges of the space curled inward, shrinking.

"It's alive..." Chike murmured.

"The Chi fed it," Ofor confirmed. "But it's still trapped. It can't shift out—not with the chains."

Danger Sense screamed in Chike's head. Something was coming. Something worse.

He turned to Edward, panic in his eyes.

The old man met his gaze calmly.

"In this part of the forest," he said softly, "Grey is the least of our problems."

Chike's breath hitched. A greater threat? Worse than Grey?

"Don't worry…" Edward continued, "...that's why I'm shrinking the space. To stop other anomalies from entering."

Chike's knees buckled. His mind was unraveling. Other anomalies? He thought only one could inhabit a structure.

"Seven," Ofor answered. "Seven can live in a house at once. And they are not... cooperative."

"If they sense the host is vulnerable, they'll fight for it. Distort the space from within. Tearing us apart with it."

Now it all made sense. The walls were pressing inward. The ornate beds and chairs melted into sludge, sinking back into the floor. The room was collapsing on itself.

Soon, only a small space remained—barely enough for Chike, the old man, and Peter's unconscious body.

Two minutes left.

Then it came—

A strange, pale light bled through the darkness like breath on frozen glass. It pulsed faintly at first, then grew, casting long shadows across the shrinking walls. Chike stared, unsure of what he was seeing—until trunks began to rise.

Trees.

Not fully formed, ghostlike—bark as translucent as fog, leaves glowing faintly green. Roots curled through the air, searching for ground, only to be wrapped in gleaming silver chains. The light fought to grow. The chains fought to bind. The room trembled from the struggle.

"It's trying to create an exit," Ofor whispered in his mind.

Then—a voice.

It wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. It cut through the walls of the anomaly and straight into Chike's soul. Deep, ancient, almost cracked with age, but layered beneath its chill was something warm—something long forgotten.

"You are the chosen one. I left a message for you…"

The words curled around his spine like a memory he never had.

And then he knew.

The voice belonged to the being in the anomaly itself.

but it seem sentient, and calm. unlike what he'd thought a demon would be.

The floor beneath them widened. The walls bent and twisted outward. Enough space for three. The old man didn't hesitate. He shoved Chike forward, dragging the unconscious Peter behind him.

When they stumbled out, Chike turned back—and what he saw left him breathless.

The hideout had become a tree.

Towering. Monolithic. Its bark pulsed with veins of Chi. Chains wrapped around its limbs, pulling tighter. Its branches curled inward, like it was bracing itself for death. Then—silence.

And the noise came.

A crack from deep within. The trunk split slightly. Then again. Bark shattered outward in splinters.

The tree screamed.

Chike sensed it, several anomalies. that ominous aura. Deafening sound as they clashed. What remained of the tree was gradually torn to pieces. Only surviving part had silver chains clutched to it.

Chike backed away, heart pounding. He had barely caught his breath when Edward placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

His voice low and grim.

"They're here."