Apologize?

  Zod’s words about apologizing lingered in Tee’s head. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had done such a thing. Instead, memories of all the ways she’d annoyed Mid-Guard officials came rushing back—

  Sticking gum to their bats as she passed them at the Academy.

  Tossing fruit peels just so they would slip.

  Bumping into them deliberately and blaming it on her “poor vision.”

  They always bought the excuse because of her pale, unfocused-looking eyes. The thought made her smirk.

  And yet… she had never once needed to apologize.

  It was evening—the time when Kie would be washing up alone. She knew exactly where to find him, but her feet stayed rooted.

  Why would he get upset over something as small as a stranger mentioning his scars? He wanted to be an MG official, didn’t he? MG-offs weren’t supposed to have feelings.

  Still, part of her mind twisted the thought into something useful. If his scars were a sore spot, maybe they were leverage. She liked collecting things like that—buttons to push, weaknesses to exploit. It was always good to know how to get under someone’s skin.

  So no, she wouldn’t apologize. She couldn’t force herself to, even if she tried. Besides, he’d probably moved on already. If he really wanted to be an MG official, he’d have to become heartless eventually. Maybe he was only playing saint. His real colors would show sooner or later—and when they did, she wouldn’t feel the slightest bit guilty. If anything, she might be the one to drag them out of him.

  Time slipped by. The cadets were given the morning off from training—straight from the Commander’s mouth. Strange. Tee drifted to the courtyard instead of the kitchen, leaning against the low wall and watching the sun climb over the horizon. The cool air made her wonder what Jack was doing. Did he even notice she was gone?

  The scent of breakfast finally dragged her to the kitchen. Kie handed her a plate, and she noted the detail—gentle, not rough. Maybe he’d already gotten over what she had said to him.

  Instead of drills, the five of them gathered outside by the pool. The sky was still dark-hued though the sun had begun to rise. They lounged in silence, each claiming a chair.

  Kie sat off to the side, absorbed in his tab. He looked exactly like the troopers back in Mid-Guard who devoured the Death-Guard Saga. He didn’t seem to notice the world around him. Tee decided not to disturb him. They weren’t close anyway. He always kept himself at a distance.

  Zod’s eyes wandered across the spotless courtyard. “Saeda must’ve cleaned this up,” he said, then started a conversation.

  “Saeda, what did you mean earlier about your family being ‘non-existent’? I live with my mom, dad, and little brother. My mom’s cool but strict. My dad, though…” He grinned. “He’s the worst.”

  He launched into a story about skipping haircuts to save money for a hover-board, only for his dad to shave his head bald at home. Showing up at the Academy looking like a monk earned him endless teasing from his classmates.

  Tee, Saeda, and Miko burst out laughing. None of them could picture Zod bald. Only Kie didn’t look up.

  Saeda sighed, her gaze flicking toward Kie as if hoping he’d share something in return. Instead, she started talking about herself.

  “Fine. I live with my dad—the number one dad in the world. He’s where I get my art skills from. My mom… my real mom is also an artist, but I doubt I inherited much from her.”

  The others leaned in, curious.

  “…But my dad ruined everything when he brought that unwelcome thing into our apartment. A step-mom I never asked for.” Her tone sharpened. She sat up straighter, eyes fixed coldly on the pool. “I wish my mom never left.”

  Her voice faltered before she forced herself onward. “My parents used to fight all the time. I feel nothing for my step-mom. I doubt she even acknowledges me as her step-daughter. Whatever we are, it’s not a family.”

  Silence followed.

  The weight of it made Tee think about her own family—or lack of one. At least Saeda had a father and a step-mom. Tee had no one.

  Trying to shake it off, she suggested going to the Windy Field again. No one answered. She could’ve gone alone, but her secret was already out. And bad things happened to Xeno-victims when they wandered alone.

  The pool was tempting, but none of them had proper swimwear. Either that or they were too shy. With their feet dangling in the water, Zod half-joked about skinny-dipping at night to “bond.” He laughed at his own suggestion.

  By the time dinner ended, they wondered if the Commander had forgotten their test. That’s when alarms blared across the complex. Red lights flashed, an urgent pulse that sent their adrenaline spiking. A hologram flickered to life—the Commander’s stern face filling the air.

  “Cadets, get suited up and rendezvous at the mission base. Now.”

  They sprinted through the living complex, alarms pounding in their ears, until they stood suited-up once more on the stark white floor of the mission base. The Commander and the Lieutenant waited.

  As the cadets fastened their telecoms, the Commander’s voice carried.

  “My earlier words may have hinted at another practical test. But the elders have sensed another fragment. Based on your exam performance, it makes sense to throw you into the real waters. Maybe facing actual danger will spark those god-like powers the elders told me about.”

  God-like powers?

  The five teens exchanged uneasy glances. They all had abilities, sure—but none of them were extraordinary. And none of them had ever revealed the full extent of their powers to the Commander.

  So how did he know?

  The ground beneath them glowed red, and in an instant they were pulled into a new location. A sickening lurch twisted in their stomachs as they landed, back to back, bracing themselves.

  Pitch-black darkness swallowed everything.

  A deep growl rolled through the void, followed by heavy thuds that shook the floor. The sound alone was enough to set their nerves on edge, but instead of panic, instinct took over.

  Their blades shimmered into existence.

  The first strike came from nowhere. Then another. Soon, attacks poured in from every direction. The cadets swung their swords wide, cutting at shadows, the sharp clang of steel meeting something unnaturally hard ringing out. Every hit was followed by the crunch of a body collapsing to the ground, as if their enemies were made of stone.

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  Gnashing screeches echoed around them—jagged, guttural sounds that conjured images of gaping maws lined with rows of razor teeth. Still, none of them asked what they were fighting. In the dark, there was only the rhythm of strikes, crashes, and the rasp of their own breathing.

  Then silence.

  Only their heaving chests broke the stillness.

  Miko flicked on the beam of her telecom flashlight. The others followed, their pale light revealing what the darkness had hidden.

  They froze.

  The creatures sprawled across the ground were three-legged, each the size of a barrel. Their skin was rough, like it had been carved from rock, etched with glowing symbols that flickered faintly before fading. Where swords had struck, their bodies crumbled to dirt.

  Saeda crouched, peeling off one glove. She placed her palm against the cold surface of a corpse. None of them questioned her; it was her habit to search for visions through touch. After a long moment, she exhaled. “Nothing.”

  Before anyone could respond, the tunnel walls around them flared to life. Symbols lit up along the stone in every direction, blazing bright—then shattered away into darkness.

  The ground quivered.

  Dust rained from above as chunks of rock fell from the ceiling. Then came a single booming roar that seemed to shake the tunnel itself.

  Flashlights snapped toward the source.

  Tee’s eyes glazed with foresight, piercing the shadows ahead. The image she caught made her blood run cold—tunnels collapsing, stone splitting, destruction rushing toward them.

  “Run!” she shouted, already bolting.

  The others followed, sprinting at blinding speed as the tunnel behind them caved in, pulverizing everything in its path.

  Relief washed over them when they burst into an opening. The cave collapsed behind, throwing a gust of dust and gravel past their legs.

  They stared.

  The chamber was massive, a towering chasm lit by clusters of radiant crystals glowing from the ceiling above. And in the center—

  A stone golem.

  It stood on four massive legs, its body armored, its head encased in jagged helm-like plating. Atop it gleamed a single golden rock, pulsing with light.

  Their breath caught.

  Cracks ripped across the golem’s surface. Its body crumbled away, collapsing into rubble, but the golden rock remained suspended in the air, shining brighter than ever.

  “That has to be the fragment,” Saeda breathed.

  “Remember, we’re here to kill the Harbingers,” Tee snapped.

  Kie’s eyes narrowed. “If they want the fragment, we can use it to lure them out—and finish them.”

  The others nodded.

  They approached cautiously, keeping their distance. When the fragment floated within reach above them, Miko leapt for it—but the stone seemed to rise higher, slipping just beyond her grasp. The others tried, each attempt ending the same way.

  “Let me try.” Zod stepped forward, raising his hand. “My pulling ability—never tested it on something this far, but…” He focused.

  The air vibrated. Another tremor rattled the ground as small stones tumbled around them. Slowly, inch by inch, the fragment drifted downward, pulled by an invisible force.

  “It’s working,” Miko whispered, a smile breaking across her face.

  The moment it came within arm’s reach, Kie snatched it from the air.

  The ground convulsed violently. Cracks split the ceiling, blinding light pouring through. The floor pitched upward beneath them, as if the earth itself was rising. Dust rained down as boulders broke loose.

  They summoned their swords, shielding themselves from falling debris.

  A swirling vortex tore open ahead, revealing flashes of trees, patches of blue sky. Their only escape.

  Without hesitation, they leapt.

  The chasm collapsed behind them, the force of the closing vortex flinging their bodies across a graveled ground.

  Tee crashed hard against the ground, rolling across the gravel until her momentum slowed. Dust scraped her throat and tickled her nose, forcing a cough as she struggled to push herself upright.

  The rumble of falling rocks faded into scattered echoes, pebbles cascading off her back in a discordant patter. A swirling haze cloaked her vision, thick with grit. Through the murk, she caught glimpses of glowing symbols etched into the ground—radiant for a heartbeat before fracturing and vanishing.

  Beneath her hands, the surface glittered with white gravel, its sheen reflecting the harsh sunlight above. After so much darkness, the brilliance was blinding, stabbing into her eyes until she had to squint.

  “Is everyone alright?” Zod’s voice cut through the haze, edged with concern.

  “I had the fragment just a second ago—where is it?” Kie’s voice carried sharp urgency.

  “There!” Miko cried, her tone spiking with excitement—before breaking into a startled gasp.

  Tee blinked rapidly, trying to clear her sight. And then she saw them.

  Figures.

  Her stomach tightened.

  The Harbingers.

  The ground beneath her and her comrades continued to rise, steady but undeniable, lifting them higher until it reached the level of the surrounding terrain. Towering trees framed the horizon, but none of them moved, entranced by the silent, mysterious figures only a few feet away.

  For a moment, they forgot the shifting earth beneath their feet.

  Tee instantly recognized the three figures from the elders’ hologram briefing. Cloaked in black, they stood before the cadets—an unsettling presence beneath the blazing sunlight. Unlike the grainy mug-shots from the meeting, these were full-bodied, undeniable, their details stark and real.

  One of them, who had been seated cross-legged on the ground, slowly rose. Tee’s eyes widened in shock. His hair was a startling shade of gray, his skin an unnatural ash hue. And his eyes—void of color, nothing but deep darkness pierced by a single white dot in place of a pupil.

  The man in black.

  Sade.

  A cold dread seized her as the truth sank in—she hadn’t hallucinated his image on the hologram. He was real. He was a Harbinger. But then why had he visited her? Something about it was wrong. She wanted to ask her comrades if they’d seen him too, but that was not the time.

  His hair, cut in a neat jaw-length bob, gleamed under the sun, its brightness almost blinding. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if sunglasses would make it easier just to look at him. His face was rigid, frozen in an expression that radiated quiet severity.

  He didn’t acknowledge her. Instead, his expression carried the same weight of disappointment her old math tutor had shown when staring at a disastrous test score—an unimpressed, hollow look, as though the very sight of her was enough to sap his will to live.

  Did he not see her? Was he ignoring her? Or was Tetra right—was that all in her head, a hallucination she needed counseling for?

  As a black creature perched on Sade’s left shoulder stirred, Tee couldn't help but feel a shiver of unease creep down her spine. It resembled a bird, with four blood-red eyes that stared ominously, its darkness blending seamlessly with their dark attire. She averted her gaze, only to fixate on the second figure.

  That one possessed a head of black hair, neatly cut in a similar bob style that partially obscured the face. Behind the dark strands, a glimpse of something black where the eyes should be, peering out. With the same pallid gray skin. Lilith, the leader of the Harbingers.

  The tallest among them stood like a shadowy statue, towering at the height of a door. The hood over his head concealed his face in complete darkness, an oddity in the bright sunlight. Not even the faintest hint of a nose could be discerned. Legion.

  The trio of mysterious figures fixated their gaze from a tantalizing distance. Clad in identical black garments that shimmered with an enigmatic sheen, their attire extended the full length of their arms.

  Flowing like ethereal dresses, the fabric cascaded down, revealing a long slit at the center of their waist. As the ends of their clothing stirred with the faintest movement, an impenetrable darkness seemed to lurk behind.

  Kie, determined to retrieve the fragment, made his way towards it with unwavering resolve.

  In a mere instant, the hooded figure vanished from his distant vantage point, reappearing with uncanny swiftness behind the golden rock. The sheer speed and otherworldly nature of his movement sent a chill down Kie's spine, halting him in his tracks, well clear of the mysterious artifact.

  A chorus of thousands of deep voices, resonating in eerie unison, emanated from beneath Legion’s hood. The sheer force of their words sent shivers rippling through the bodies of Zod, Tee, Saeda, and Miko, causing their brows to furrow with unease and apprehension.

  "We merely seek to have a bit of fun with them," the collective voices intoned, their tones reminiscent of an amplified, rusty, haunting engine. “It will all be over before they know it.”

  The unsettling words hung in the air, leaving an ominous foreboding in their wake, as if plucked straight from the depths of a chilling horror movie.

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