Chapter 11 — Blood in the Rift
The night before it happened, Tyler's tent glowed faintly with lamplight.
His squad huddled inside, the nobles leaning close around the map his father had given him. Red marks dotted the parchment—safe hunting grounds, known nests, and routes only a noble family could afford to know.
Marcus smirked, tapping one claw-like fingernail against a mark. "Red scorpions worked. The poison daggers are strong. Another day or two, and we'll have more than enough strands to get home fat and happy."
Tyler shook his head, his smile thin and sharp. "Happy isn't enough. Look around camp. Who's getting attention? Not us. It's that orphan Standfeild. Him and his little band of rats."
Darius scoffed. "They're nobodies. They've barely pulled feral DNA."
"Maybe," Tyler said, eyes glinting in the lamplight. "But two of them already awakened Traits. Mara with those Abyssal Flames, and that fox-girl with her tails. Traits are worth more than a hundred DNA strands."
The tent went quiet.
Marcus leaned forward. "You're saying…"
"I'm saying tonight, we take what should have been ours from the start," Tyler finished. "Power isn't given. It's claimed. My father didn't put me in here to come back empty-handed. He expects results. We'll bleed the rats dry, and the System will reward us."
He looked at each of them in turn. "No hesitation. No mistakes. They die, and we rise."
His squad nodded, fire gleaming in their eyes.
---
By dawn, our squad was already on the move.
The Rift's light poured thin and pale between the twisted trees, dew clinging to the leaves. My legs felt heavy, but hope pushed me forward. Three days of nothing but feral scraps—we needed more. Something real.
"We'll head toward the ridgeline," I said, adjusting the straps on my pack. "The scouts saw mutated movement there. Could be dangerous, but it's better than another damn boar."
Mara cracked her knuckles, blue-black flames dancing faintly across her palms. "Good. I'm tired of cooking pig meat."
Kira's tails swished behind her, sharp grin cutting across her face. "I say bring it. Let's hunt something that can fight back."
Rob chuckled nervously. "Just don't get us all killed."
I tried to laugh with him, but something in the air felt off. Too still. Too quiet.
We didn't know we were being watched.
---
The ambush came fast.
One second we were creeping through the underbrush, eyes scanning for beasts. The next, green light flashed—and Rob went down screaming, a dagger buried in his chest. The blade hissed, veins blackening as poison spread.
"Rob!" I shouted, spinning—
Too late. Mara cried out, two daggers slamming into her side. Flames burst from her hands, searing the trees, but her legs buckled. She fell to her knees, fire sputtering as her breath came ragged.
Figures stepped out from the shadows. Tyler at their head, five nobles at his back. Each carried the same curved daggers, glowing faintly with venom.
Tyler smiled like a wolf. "Standfeild. Did you really think rats could hold on to power? Tonight, it comes home where it belongs."
The System's voice rang cold and merciless:
[System Notification]
– User Mara: Abyssal Flame Trait lost upon death.
– Transfer complete: User Darius has inherited Abyssal Flame.
Blue fire bloomed in Darius's hands, identical to Mara's. He laughed, throwing a stream into the air that lit the forest canopy.
"No," I whispered.
Kira roared, her body snapping into fox form, claws tearing across a noble's chest. Three tails lashed like whips, cutting deep grooves into the dirt.
But Marcus was waiting. His dagger plunged into her ribs, venom pulsing. Her tails flickered, body collapsing as blood soaked the ground.
Her eyes found mine. "Avon…"
Then the light went out.
[System Notification]
– User Kira: Three-Tailed Hybrid Trait lost upon death.
– Transfer complete: User Marcus has inherited Three-Tailed Hybrid.
Marcus transformed instantly, fur bristling, three tails swaying with terrible strength. He flexed his claws, laughing. "Better already."
---
We fought. Gods, we fought. Hank swung his spear, only for another dagger to pierce his throat. Steve screamed once before fire—Darius's stolen fire—swallowed him whole.
I parried one strike, then another, but every blow drove me back. The poison daggers were too fast, too deadly.
Tyler advanced slowly, twirling his blade. "Look around you, Standfeild. Your rats are dead. Their gifts are mine. And you? You'll join them soon enough."
He kicked Mara's body aside like garbage.
Something in me broke.
I lunged, rage burning my veins. My sword met his dagger with a crack of steel, sparks flying. For a heartbeat, I thought maybe—just maybe—
But another noble's tail whipped my side, slamming me into a tree. My vision blurred. My body wouldn't move.
Tyler's smirk widened. "Power isn't earned. It's taken. And today, I take yours too."
---
I stumbled back, heart hammering, lungs on fire. Behind me, the forest thinned, opening onto a cliff.
And below—nothing. A black gulf where no light reached. The Abyss Rift.
Tyler's voice rang out behind me. "Run, Standfeild! Run into the dark! But even if you survive the fall, you'll never rise. You'll never be more than a rat gnawing at scraps."
His nobles laughed, their stolen flames and tails flickering in the night.
I looked once at Mara's body, at Kira's still form. My friends. My family. All gone.
My fists clenched. My teeth ground together.
If I stayed, I died. If I jumped, maybe worse.
But the choice wasn't mine anymore.
I leapt.
The Abyss swallowed me whole.