The ruins of the Academy stretched endlessly before them, a graveyard of ambition and broken dreams. Ash drifted through the air like gray snow, coating the jagged bones of the once-mighty institution.
Evan walked ahead in silence, his long coat billowing behind him, his telekinesis instinctively brushing aside debris in his path. Aidan followed closely, eyes wide, trying to take in the devastation without losing his nerve.
> "Hard to believe it used to be a place of 'hope,' huh?" Aidan muttered, kicking a piece of rubble.
Evan gave a low, humorless chuckle.
> "Hope is just another word for control."
Aidan didn't reply. He wasn't sure he could argue.
---
They moved carefully, Evan's senses sharp. His psychic power wove a shield around them, masking their presence. Whatever hunters or scavengers remained, he had no intention of being dragged into another fight — not yet.
They needed time. Time to recover. Time to think.
A crumbling courtyard opened before them. The cracked tiles formed a twisted mosaic, half-swallowed by weeds. In the center stood a blackened tree — dead, but still stubbornly upright. Evan approached it and placed a hand against the charred bark.
For a moment, he simply stood there.
Remembering.
---
> "You were a student here once, weren't you?" Aidan asked quietly.
Evan's hand tightened into a fist against the tree.
> "No. I was a weapon they kept nearby. A reminder to the others of what they didn't want to become."
Aidan looked at him, really looked at him — and saw the weariness hidden beneath the cold mask.
> "You're not a weapon now," Aidan said.
Evan didn't answer. His mind drifted back — to the experiments, the conditioning, the endless battles fought in secret corridors.
The Psychic Reaper. That was the name they gave him.
That was the name he had embraced.
But retirement — the dream of leaving that life behind — had been shattered the moment Gravemind resurfaced. Now, his past hunted him more than any mercenary ever could.
---
They found temporary shelter in what remained of the old administration building — half-collapsed, but still standing enough to hide in. Evan reinforced the walls with unseen force, sealing cracks and masking their signatures.
Inside, they finally rested.
Aidan leaned against a dusty wall, exhaustion dragging at his frame.
Evan sat cross-legged, his mind reaching outward, feeling for threats — and feeling Gravemind's pull growing stronger with every passing hour.
---
> "What's the plan?" Aidan asked, breaking the silence.
Evan's eyes opened slowly.
> "First, we disappear. Let the world think we died here."
> "And after that?"
Evan hesitated. He thought of Talon's warning. Of Gravemind's throne in the deep. Of the new war that was coming, whether he liked it or not.
> "After that... we find out how deep this rot really goes."
---
Outside, night fell over the ruined Academy.
But far beyond the rubble and the ash, in cities and strongholds untouched by the collapse, the world was already shifting.
New powers rose.
Old alliances crumbled.
And in the shadows, whispers of the Psychic Reaper's return spread like wildfire.
---
End of Chapter 7