The Awakening of Chris Graham

Chris Graham hit the ground so hard the breath punched out of his lungs. “Get up!” Kael shouted, his voice sharp, urgent. “Chris, move!”

“I, I’m trying!” Chris rasped, scrambling backward through dirt and broken roots. Above him, the forest canopy shook as the massive shadow lunged forward.

The beast came crashing out of the trees, a wolf-like monster with scales instead of fur, eyes glowing like molten gold. Chris’s heart hammered. “What is that ?!”

“A Scaled Direwolf,” Lyra snapped, wind whipping around her as she raised her staff. “And it’s not supposed to be anywhere near this region!”

The creature snarled, lowering its head. Chris froze. Lyra screamed, “Chris, don’t you dare just sit there, MOVE!”

“I can’t outrun that thing!”

Kael stepped in front of him, fists crackling with faint red energy. “You don’t have to outrun it. You just have to not die!”

“That’s, THAT’S NOT ENCOURAGING!”

The beast lunged. Chris rolled, barely avoiding the crushing weight of its claws. A tree exploded beside him, splinters raining down. Kael charged forward. “HEY! Scaly! Over here!”

Lyra added, “Wind Binding, LOCK!”

Her spell streaked forward like a razor gust, wrapping around the creature’s limbs. It staggered, snarling, struggling against the wind ropes. Chris gasped, “Good, good! It’s slowing down!”

“No,” Lyra whispered, her face draining of color. “It’s breaking free.”

Cracks split through her spell. Kael glanced over his shoulder. “Chris. Serious question. Do you have anything you’re good at?”

Chris swallowed. “...I’m good at staying alive, mostly by accident.”

“You better prove it!”

The wind bindings shattered. The Direwolf roared and charged, straight at Chris. “WHY ALWAYS ME?!” he yelled, bolting the opposite direction.

Lyra shouted, “Chris, LEFT! No, YOUR OTHER LEFT!”

“That IS my left!”

He stumbled, tripped over a root, and crashed to the ground again. Kael cursed. “He’s gonna die.”

Lyra clenched her jaw. “Not today.”

She sprinted toward Chris, staff glowing. “Hold on! I’m coming! Just stay still!”

“Staying still is literally the opposite of what I should be doing !”

The Direwolf lunged. Chris rolled. The monster’s jaws snapped inches from his head. He felt its hot breath, smelled the metallic tang of blood, heard bones crunch somewhere behind him.

“RUN!” Lyra screamed. “Chris, RUN!”

“I AM RUNNING! This is me! Running! Horribly!”

The Direwolf swung its tail. The impact slammed into Chris’s ribs like a battering ram. Pain exploded through him as he was flung into a fallen log. Lyra’s eyes widened. “Chris!”

Kael shouted, “No, don’t move him! That hit looked bad.”

Chris clutched his side, coughing. “I, I’m fine. Probably. Maybe. I think.”

Lyra knelt beside him. “You’re bleeding.”

He managed a half-laugh. “That seems like a problem for future Chris.”

“No,” she said sharply. “That’s a problem for right-now Chris.”

Her hands glowed with soft blue light as she pressed them to his ribs. Then she froze. “Chris… something’s wrong.”

“Wrong how?” he said through clenched teeth.

Kael scanned the trees. “We don’t have time for ‘wrong.’ The Direwolf’s coming back!”

“Chris,” Lyra whispered, trembling. “There’s… there’s no magical flow inside you.”

Chris blinked. “Well, yeah. I don’t have a power.”

“Everyone has a power,” Kael said. “Even weaklings.”

“Wow,” Chris muttered. “Thanks.”

Lyra shook her head, voice shaking. “No, Kael, listen. His flow isn’t weak. It’s, gone. Like something stole it from inside him.”

“What ” Chris started.

A branch snapped behind them. All three turned. The Direwolf had circled around silently, and now stood directly behind Chris. Lyra whispered, “No… not in time…”

Kael clenched his fists. “Chris. Don’t look back. Just… don’t.”

Chris’s heart pounded. Every hair on his neck rose. “Guys…” he whispered.

“Is it right behind me?”

“Chris,” Kael said quietly, “I’m sorry.”

The Direwolf lunged. Chris twisted, trying to dodge, but the monster’s claws crashed into him. Teeth sank into his shoulder, dragging him across the ground.

He screamed. Lyra shrieked, “LET HIM GO!”

Kael charged, but he was too far. Blood hit the dirt. Chris felt his vision blur, the world tilting sideways. His body felt weightless. Warm. Cold. Numb. “No…” he whispered. “Not like this…”

Something inside him cracked. Not physically, Something deeper,  A spark, A tear, A shattering, A voice echoed through his mind: You should be dead. Why aren’t you?

Chris gasped. “Who… who’s there…?”

Light burst behind his eyelids. A rush of energy tore through him. His heart kicked back to life like lightning. “Chris!” Lyra shouted. “Chris?!”

He surged upright, eyes glowing faint silver. The Direwolf snarled, confused. Chris didn’t feel pain anymore.

Chris looked at his trembling hands, Electric-white cracks of energy pulsed across his skin, like broken glass glowing from within. “I… I’m not dying,” he whispered.

Lyra stared. “No. You’re not. Chris, you’re awakening.”

Chris blinked. “Awakening what?”

The forest went dead silent. Even the Direwolf hesitated. Lyra breathed, “A Shatterpoint.”

Kael whispered, “That’s impossible.”

Chris looked between them, bewildered. “What’s a”

The Direwolf lunged again. This time, Chris moved before thinking, His hand shot up, catching the beast’s jaw mid-snarl. Kael’s jaw dropped. “He, he caught it?!”

Chris stood, pushing the monster back as though a new strength had ignited within him, He whispered, voice trembling with shock,  “I think… I think I’m not useless anymore.”

The Direwolf roared and charged a third time. Chris screamed, and everything went white.