The manor dissolved into chaos.

    The sirens were louder now, blaring through the winding hallways. Voxe ran alongside each team, shifting the halls to their simplest routes. The mansion clicked and shifted like gears, rumbling into place. The ground shook.

    Dark and his team—Equinox, Lux, and Ether—tagged in front, rushing towards the doors.

    "Recruit anyone you can," Dark said when Xilef caught up with him. "I trust you to lead the others."

    Xilef nodded, and he gazed back at the newer Evolveds. He waved them over, and they broke into jogs.

    "Checkpoint?" he said. Wisps of color flared from his body as if he were steaming.

    "We'll meet at the end of the village," said Dark. "We'll wait for you."

    They stopped in the main lobby. Clothes rustled, feet stamped, and murmurs filled the air—it was tense.

    Dark faced Xilef, grabbed the back of his neck, then pressed their foreheads together. They gazed into each other's eyes with an intensity that curdled the air. Everything about them bled with determination. Everyone watched.

    "Remember what he did to you," breathed Dark, eyes flashing. "To your people." Xilef's expression hardened. "Remember what he did to us."

    Xilef nodded, squeezed Dark's shoulder, and pulled away.

    "Team!" he yelled. "Let's go."

    Xilef glanced at Dark, nodded at him, and he, Emery, and the eight Evolveds rushed out of the mansion.

    Ethan trembled among the others, face pale.

    "T.S—" he said. "What about Mark?"

    Dark flicked his team over, staring hard at Ethan. "He's my first priority," he said firmly. "I promise you, Nestor. I'll bring your friend home safe."

    Ethan swallowed, and Voxe placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him. Eyes nodded at Dark.

    "I'll update you on everything," she said. "Go."

    Dark nodded, and he gazed at Equinox, Lux, Ether. They stared at him, intense, and with a nod, they rushed out and through the Fanged Elder forest.

———

"I-I don't understand," Cibil said.

    Prada slumped against the wall, his horns tipped back. There was a stamp across his throat—as if it were branded into his skin. Everytime he made a sound, the marking would glow bright blue, and his jaw would lock. A mute spell.

He sank to the floor and seethed, fury in his eyes.

    "A..." The stamp glowed, and he grimaced. "pill."

    Cibil swallowed, and she knelt beside him, breaths shallow.

    "Try again," she said, brows furrowed beneath her blindfold. "Please, try again."

    Prada met her eyes, and even when he cleared his throat, the marking glowed, doing its best to keep him silent.

    He huffed through his nose—struggled to sit up straight—then rested his arm on the floor.

    Cibil handed him the dagger.

    Prada held it with shaky fingers. He ran the blade over his arm—just a small incision—but enough for blood to well to the surface. The markings on his face sputtered, as if the glow died in them, and he rose a hand over the blood welling to his skin.

    It didn't bend under his focus.

    Nothing. No power.

    The blood broke from the wound and slid down his arm, staining the floor.

    Cibil stared in horror.

    "How could this happen?" she breathed.

    Prada swallowed. He made a letter "A" with his hand.

    "Antinstine..." Cibil whispered. Her mind raced, and she pressed her hand against the fresh cut in Prada's arm. The blood looked stark and graphic on her pale skin.

    Prada coughed. "Visions..." was all he could say. Cibil swallowed, and she shook her head, her throat tight.

    "I didn't see this coming," she whispered, hands beginning to shake. "I-I don't see—anything." Her heart raced. "I can't see what's to come anymore."

    Horror flooded her veins. When she tried to see ahead, she was met with darkness. She could only see the end result—Antinstine's death—the swelling noise and cries—the anguish—but it cut out after that.

    Darkness meant she abused her power. It meant she showed too much.

    Prada's breathing grew shallow. "Viper..." he breathed.

    Cibil's hand tightened over Prada's arm. "I can't just leave you here," she said.

    Prada took a deep, rattling breath, then gazed at her. For the first time, Cibil felt like he made eye contact with her. Her skin crawled.

    "Get the... others," Prada struggled to say, the marking glowing at his throat. His brows furrowed, and he tilted his head aside. "You hear it?"

    Cibil swallowed. The sirens blared in her ears at full force, and her mouth fell open. Then the rushing of Evolveds in the hallways, and the shouts of orders.

    The lights flickered overhead.

Chaos.

    "You're... in the present now," said Prada. He managed a smirk, his markings flickering. "Go... do what... we planned." He coughed, and a line of blood ran down his lips. "Without me."

    "You need a healer—"

    "I won't... die," chuckled Prada, drawing in a rattling gasp. He pointed to the glowing stamp on his throat. "Stom's... spell."

    Cibil clutched onto Prada's arm, tears welling beneath her blindfold. She didn't know what to do, now that she couldn't see ahead. Now that her visions weren't guiding her.

    She was lost, helpless—blind. Forced to act on instinct, on impulse.

    "Go," said Prada, pulling her hand away. "It's time."

    Cibil lingered, breathing hard, then stood, gazing down at Prada.

    It's time, rang his words.

    Her fists clenched, and her heart pounded in her chest, in her ears. They had been planning a resistance against Antinstine for years—waiting and watching and hoping—and it was finally here. Dark and his people would ambush and end the chaos. Would end Antinstine's rule.

    She took a deep breath, rushed out the door, and tore her blindfold off.

———

Dark and the others crowded around the treeline, hidden by night and its shadows. Their gazes were alight, breaths bated, bodies on edge.

    "Let's go," breathed Dark.

    Lux cast a projection over them, hiding them in plain sight, and they rushed down the village streets. Evolveds passed by them, unaware of their presence. Most of their eyes were wild—like they'd given into the animalistic urges of their powers.

    Dark held down his earpiece.

    "Fill me in on Cherub," he said.

    "A power enhancer," said Eyes, curt. "Appeared a day ago. It's boomed in hours."

    Power enhancer, thought Dark as he and the others continued through the village. He narrowed his eyes at an Evolved swallowing a glowing pill.

    "And?" said Dark. "Can you see what it's doing?"

    "It's more than what it says," said Eyes. "It's making people's powers go violent. Like High Evolveds."

    The closer they got to the City, the louder the sirens got. They swelled with volume, and when they fell back into a pause of quiet, Dark could hear the yells. The crashes, tire screeches.

How could things go so wrong in so little time?

    Dark glanced at a line of houses as they rushed by, and the memory of Mark running away flashed in his head. He remembered the horror he felt when he saw Mark in the field; remembered the branches whipping past him as he chased after him.

    He remembered finding Mark, trembling on the ground, then using his powers on him.

    He shook the memory away. That was in the past.   

    They reached the edge of the village, crossed over the stone road, and crouched behind a wall of concrete. The City dazzled like a star against the night, glittering with pinks, purples, and blues.

    The sirens still wailed, but the shouts, the cars, the commotion—it had all ceased. It was quiet.

    Too quiet.

———

"Try and contact Mark," said Eyes, pointing at Ethan. "We need him somewhere safe when the others attack."

    Ethan nodded, and he grabbed the device on the table with trembling hands. Voxe stood beside him, staring up at the screen with furrowed brows. Ze had closed off the room so it was inaccessible to any intruders.

    Ethan clicked a button, and the device began to buzz. A sound pulsed from it.

    "Come on, Mark..." breathed Ethan, breaths trembling. "Come on, Mark, please..."

———

Prada's eyes fluttered open at the sound of buzzing.

    He gazed at Viper's bed, brows furrowing. With a grunt, he crawled over to the source of the sound, hands clutching onto the bed frame. He felt around in the nooks and crannies, then pulled out a cold, glass vial and the source of the buzzing—a phone-like device.

    He huffed and pressed the single button, tossing the vial aside.

    "Mark—" came Ethan's voice through the speaker. "Mark! Are you there?"

    Prada's brows furrowed, but now that he thought about it, it made sense. Viper was a human in disguise—Mark must have been his real name.

    "Prada," he managed out. He could tell the spell was beginning to break—Stom, the Evolved who put it over him to mute him, must have been distracted. He cleared his throat. "I'm Viper's—Mark's... friend."

    "Where is he?"

    Prada swallowed, and he wiped the blood from his lip. The marking sputtered angrily at his neck.

    "I don't know," he answered, throat sore. "I can... look for him."

    A few voices mumbled in the speaker, conversing. Ethan took a deep breath through the speaker.

    "Okay," he said firmly. "Tell him we're coming. Tell him that—that Dark is coming with reinforcements. And he needs to hide somewhere safe."

    Prada clutched the device. "On it," he said.

    He clicked it off, threw it to the floor, and struggled onto his feet. When he caught sight of Cibil's blindfold, he grabbed it and stowed it in his pocket. Then stumbled out the door.

——

"Eyes," breathed Dark, looking past the concrete wall. "What's going on?"

    Their earpieces fizzed. No contact. Dark looked at the others, and Equinox stirred, eyes glowing in the darkness.

    "We don't know what we're walking into," said Equinox. "I can slow time. Give us a bit of a buffer."

    Ether's brows curled. "You have to save your energy," she breathed. Even Lux nodded in agreement.

    "I'm still recovering from back there," they said.

    Dark took a deep breath and huffed. "It's better to use the alleyways," he said. "We'd have to be careful for rogues, but we'd be out of sight."

    Dark pressed his earpiece again. "Eyes," he said. "Eyes, do you copy."

    The line fuzzed again, and the group exchanged glances, breaths tight. The plan was already crumbling.

    There were a series of clicks, and Eyes picked up.

    "I'm having trouble with the firewalls," she said. "It's like there's another Evolved resisting me."

    Dark cursed under his breath. How could someone know what they were doing?

    "Can you see the City, at least?" said Dark. "Everything's just went quiet."

    The earpieces fizzed again before Eyes answered. "No," she said. She cursed. "It's all static."

    Dark closed his eyes and breathed out, keeping himself calm. They would have to go old school if the footage didn't give.

    "We're still waiting for Xilef and the others," said Dark. "We'll update you when they come."

    "Sorry, Edwards," said Eyes. "I'm trying my hardest."

    "Don't be," said Dark. "Antinstine's planned something big, and we had no way of seeing it. It's not your fault."

    Eyes sighed through the line. "I'll check Xilef's status."

———

Xilef had lured out all the Evolveds in Centauri Park without a word.

Emery and the others watched him with fascination, blinking. Xilef was like a magnet, and whenever the wisps of color flared over his shoulders, another Evolved came out of their house.

In a matter of minutes, all of the Evolveds in Centauri Park responded to Xilef's magnetic pull. They crowded in the streets, gazes searching and lost. When Xilef walked up to them—Emery and the others tagging along—their faces fell into realization. The wailing sirens, the unease in the air... it all clicked together.

Years ago, when Dark had been exiled from the City, he made a deal with the Evolveds loyal enough to stay by his side. Provide them a community and homes from the ones lost in the City, and in exchange, their service in whatever he needed.

They recognized Xilef's face, even after all this time.

    Xilef gazed at each of them, breaths steady. The crowd broke into murmurs and glances, on edge, wavering at the constant croon of sirens.

Xilef tipped his chin up, and the murmurs ceased. The wisps of color at his shoulders flared like fire.

"Ready?" he said simply.

The large crowd exchanged glances, fell into murmurs...  then began to rustle with life. Parents nudged their children towards three people, friends shared hugs, and lovers gave short kisses.

The crowd stilled, and Xilef turned around, leading them towards the City.

Thank you so much for reading !! I'm so excited omgGGgggg

Have a wonderful day,

Love, Kass xoxo