Night pressed low over Elton, thick and suffocating, as if the sky itself were holding its breath.
From the hilltop house, the town looked harmless—lanterns glowing softly, roofs resting peacefully beneath moonlight. A lie. Amanda stood at the threshold, her cloak pulled tight around her shoulders, fingers trembling despite her effort to stay still.
Master Xavier did not look back.
"We move," he said. "Now."
Amanda followed, every step heavier than the last. She was scared; the fear of everything going wrong clung to her like gum.
She kept telling herself the same thing: 'Papa will be there.'
They descended the hill, leaving safety behind. The path narrowed as stone gave way to cracked earth and scrub. Ahead lay the outskirts—a broken stretch of land where old roads dissolved into dirt and the forest marked the boundary between towns.
Freedom waited just beyond it.
They stopped.
Moments stretched thin, sharp with anticipation.
Then—movement.
A figure emerged from the dark, staggering slightly before steadying himself. Andrew stepped into the moonlight, bruised, bloodied, but unbroken.
Amanda's breath hitched.
"Papa."
He crossed the distance in seconds, hands shaking as he cupped her face.
"You're here," he breathed. "You're really here."
Tears spilled freely now. "I thought they—"
"They didn't," he said fiercely. "I wouldn't let them."
Andrew's eyes rested on Master Xavier, who stared back in bewilderment. Neither spoke; now was not the time.
Master Xavier raised a hand. The Guardians shifted, forming a close perimeter.
"We are out of time," he said turning to Andrew. "Once you cross, you do not return. No matter what you hear."
Andrew understood immediately. His jaw tightened.
"You're staying behind."
Hunter met his gaze. "Our faces weren't seen. Leaving would seem suspicious, and these numbers would be even more so."
Andrew nodded once, then turned back to Amanda. He took her hand.
Amanda glanced back once more at everyone she was about to leave behind.
"Thank you," she said, giving a small, strained smile.
They stepped toward the forest.
Boots scraped stone.
"On the ground!!!"
Amanda barely registered the words before force slammed her down. Pain exploded through her shoulder as rock met bone. Her cry tore through the night.
Andrew spun. "Amanda!" He was held back by three other officers.
Red lights flared.
Purge officers stepped from the darkness—too many, too organized. Guns raised, Aetheryte barrels glinting like predator eyes.
A trap. An ambush.
A familiar voice cut through the tension, calm and cold.
"Everyone freeze."
Emma Adams stepped forward, weapon steady, eyes sharp as glass. She took in the scene in a single glance.
"So," she said evenly, "this was your plan all along."
Andrew dropped slowly to his knees, hands shaking—not with fear, but rage.
Emma's gun never wavered as she looked at Andrew.
Andrew laughed once—sharp, bitter.
"You planned to kill me. Why would I trust you?"
Emma's jaw tightened. "You have magic. That alone makes you a danger to the entire human race. My job is to protect humans."
Jace took a careful step forward. "We are not your enemy."
Emma's eyes flicked to him. "Don't move."
Jace stopped but didn't back down. "You're chasing the wrong people. Trust us."
She let out a short, humorless breath. "Trust you? Why would I ever trust creatures who wield the very thing that nearly wiped us out?"
Hunter's voice cut in, calm but firm. "We've protected this town longer than you can imagine. We've never harmed a single human."
Emma scoffed. "That doesn't make you humane."
Her expression hardened. "Your magic almost destroyed our town years ago. We bled because of it. We found a way to repel it—and now you want understanding?"
Katara clenched her fists. "That was the war. We had nothing to do with it. We were just the aftermath."
"I don't want to hear it," Emma snapped. She raised her weapon higher. "Everyone on the ground. One wrong move, and I swear, you'll be blasted into pieces."
The Purge officers moved in.
Steel boots. Clicking safeties.
Amanda cried out as pressure increased on her back.
"Don't touch her!" Andrew roared.
Emma's finger tightened on the trigger. "Last warning."
Andrew's hands shook. His breathing changed—low, controlled, dangerous.
Emma's eyes widened. "Andrew—don't."
But he was already chanting.
The Guardians tensed—but didn't move. One wrong step and they'd be dead before hitting the ground.
Amanda struggled. "Andrew—"
Andrew inhaled.
The air trembled.
The words were ancient, torn from somewhere deep and buried. Power surged outward—
The shockwave hit like a collapsing world.
Purge officers were thrown back violently, bodies slamming into stone and earth. Trees groaned as branches snapped.
The Guardians dove for cover as the force ripped through the clearing.
Silence followed—ringing and unreal.
Andrew was already moving.
He pulled Amanda up, placing himself in front of her, one arm shielding her instinctively.
Hunter met his eyes. Now.
Andrew didn't hesitate. He grabbed Amanda's hand and ran, using magic to clear a straight path, sending anyone who tried to obstruct them flying.
"Stop them!" Emma shouted, firing.
Cody reacted instantly, ripping open a distorted portal a few meters in front of the fired bullets. The bullets vanished into it, reappearing harmlessly elsewhere.
The Guardians surged forward. The officers were already weak, some still unconscious from the shockwave.
They also charged with their Aetheryte weapons.
The Guardians suppressed their powers to weaken the crystals' reaction. Being trained combatants, they pushed through.
Master Xavier used long-range magic to support and protect himself from any that slipped through the Guardians' defense.
Emma fought to pick up her gun but Iris kicked it away from her hand just in time before she could reload it. It came down to hand-to-hand combat. Emma fought hard—but she was human, and a critical strike from behind sent her crashing to the ground, weapon skidding across dirt and stone.
Breathing hard, the Guardians regrouped, scanning the forest.
Andrew and Amanda were gone.
For one fragile moment, it felt like victory.
Then—
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
The sound echoed wrong, too deliberate.
"Well," a voice said smoothly, "that was entertaining."
The temperature dropped.
Shadows twisted as a tall figure stepped forward, coat brushing the ground like spilled ink. Behind him, something darker moved.
Eric hung in its grip.
A shadowed creature held him by the throat, lifting him effortlessly, his body limp, barely conscious.
"Eric!" Hunter shouted.
Zarin smiled.
Zarin.
"Impressive," he said lightly. "But ultimately pointless."
"Now," he said softly, "shall we discuss the stones?"
Darkness claimed Eric whole.