"Everyone retreat!"
The lead Reaper's command cut through the chamber.
The other two Reapers immediately moved toward the portal.
Silver symbols appeared along their weapons.
Vikram grabbed Rive by the shoulder.
"We're leaving."
Rive didn't move.
"Not yet."
"Rive."
"It's using my family's voices. I want to know why."
"And I want you to remain alive long enough to find out."
"Technically, I'm already—"
"Finish that sentence and I'll throw you into the nearest wall."
Rive blinked.
"…You know, for a Guardian of the Afterlife, you're surprisingly violent."
"I'm developing new hobbies."
Lysara hurried toward them.
"Both of you, stop arguing!"
She pointed toward the portal.
The creature was pulling itself farther into the chamber.
Its enormous hand was followed by a long, skeletal arm covered in black markings.
Everywhere its fingers touched, the stone lost its color.
The Reapers attacked simultaneously.
"Judgment: Severance!"
Three silver beams struck the creature's arm.
For one second, the entire chamber turned white.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!
The creature roared.
Its arm recoiled.
But the silver energy didn't cut through its flesh.
Instead, the markings on its arm began glowing.
The Reapers immediately retreated.
The lead Reaper looked at its weapon.
A crack had appeared along the blade.
Lysara stared.
"That thing absorbed your judgment?"
The Reaper's voice became colder.
"It has adapted to the laws of this realm."
Rive raised his hand.
"Question."
Nobody looked at him.
"Can we adapt to the law of leaving?"
Vikram grabbed the back of his coat.
"Excellent suggestion."
He began dragging Rive toward the exit.
Rive stumbled after him.
"Wait! I can walk!"
"Then start doing it faster!"
They had almost reached the broken doorway when the creature spoke again.
"Rive…"
He stopped.
Vikram's eyes narrowed.
"Don't listen."
The voice changed.
Not his mother.
Not his father.
Someone else.
Someone younger.
Someone Rive hadn't heard in a very long time.
"Rive, hurry up! You're going to miss the bus!"
Rive's entire body went rigid.
He knew that voice.
He knew that laugh.
He knew the ridiculous way the speaker dragged out the last word whenever he wanted to annoy someone.
Arin.
Rive slowly turned.
A small figure appeared inside the darkness.
A boy in a school uniform.
Messy hair.
A crooked smile.
Hands shoved into his pockets.
The Arin Rive remembered.
Not the Devourer who had attacked him.
Not the enemy who had tried to take his soul.
The boy who had once been his best friend.
"Arin…?"
The figure smiled.
"Took you long enough."
Rive's eyes widened.
For a moment, he forgot everything.
The battle.
The Reapers.
The creature.
He only saw his friend.
Then the figure spoke again.
"Hey, idiot."
Rive's lips parted.
"You remember me?"
The figure nodded.
"Of course I remember you."
Rive took a step forward.
"Arin…"
Vikram caught him.
"Rive, look at his shadow."
Rive frowned.
"What?"
"The shadow."
Rive looked down.
The boy stood inside the darkness.
But he had no shadow.
Instead, a second figure stood behind him.
Tall.
Faceless.
Its hand rested on Arin's shoulder.
Rive's heart sank.
The boy's smile widened.
"Come on, Rive."
He extended his hand.
"Let's go home together."
Rive stared at him.
Then he whispered something that made Vikram tighten his grip.
"Arin never called me an idiot."
Vikram looked at him.
"What?"
Rive's eyes filled with tears.
"He always called me genius."
A faint, broken smile appeared on his face.
"Usually when I did something stupid."
The figure's smile vanished.
Rive stepped backward.
"You're not Arin either."
The boy's face began to distort.
Its features stretched unnaturally.
Its eyes turned completely black.
Then it laughed.
Not like Arin.
Not like a human.
Like something that had spent centuries learning how to imitate happiness without ever understanding it.
"Excellent."
The figure dissolved into smoke.
The enormous creature withdrew its arm slightly.
"You're learning."
Rive clenched his fists.
"Then here's something else you can learn."
His voice trembled.
"Stay away from my family."
The silver line beneath his skin began glowing.
"And stay away from my friend."
The creature became still.
Then it spoke one final sentence.
"Which friend, Rive?"
The portal suddenly flashed.
For a split second, Rive saw two figures inside the darkness.
One was Arin.
The other—
Was himself.
Both stood on opposite sides of a door.
And both were reaching for the same key.
Then the image disappeared.
The portal slammed shut.
BOOM!
The shockwave threw everyone backward.
When the dust settled, the enormous creature was gone.
Only a small black mark remained on the chamber floor.
Three circles.
Connected by a silver line.
Rive stared at it.
Vikram slowly stood.
"Everyone alive?"
Lysara raised one hand from beneath a pile of broken stone.
"Define alive."
Vikram pulled her free.
"You're a ghost."
"Then define not destroyed."
"Good enough."
Rive remained motionless.
His eyes were fixed on the symbol.
Vikram approached him.
"Rive?"
He didn't answer.
"Rive, look at me."
Slowly, Rive lifted his head.
"Vikram…"
"What is it?"
Rive swallowed.
"I think it knows Arin."
Vikram glanced at the symbol.
"I think it knows far more than that."