2025-11-21 19:33:20White light swallowed the world. Chris felt weightless, suspended in a void that stretched beyond existence. No trees. No monster. No pain. Just a cold, infinite silence. “Where… where am I?” he whispered.
A voice, not human, not alive, answered from everywhere and nowhere: Between life and death. Again.
Chris spun around. “Who said that?”
"You did. Or you will. Or you might."
“That makes absolutely no sense!”
"It doesn’t have to"
The white void flickered like broken lanterns. Fractures of light cracked across the air, forming ghostly images, shadows of a world Chris recognized.
Kael frozen mid-run. Lyra screaming his name. The Direwolf’s jaws wide. And then, Chris saw something else. A version of himself standing in a ruined city, surrounded by flames.
Another version lying lifeless on a battlefield. Another rising into the sky with glowing eyes. Another chained to a throne of bones. He staggered back. “What, what am I looking at?!”
"Possible endings. Possible beginnings".
“I don’t want any of those endings!”
"Then choose differently''
“How?”
''Survive''.
The white cracked open, and reality slammed back into him.
Chris gasped, air flooding into his lungs. His eyes snapped open, and the Direwolf was frozen above him mid-attack. “Chris?!” Lyra’s voice was shrill with panic. “Please tell me you’re alive!”
Chris sat up. “I… think so?”
Kael stared wide-eyed. “You died.”
“Pretty sure I didn’t,” Chris said.
“You DID,” Kael insisted, pointing wildly. “Your eyes rolled back. You weren’t breathing!”
Lyra knelt before him, face pale. “Your magical flow was zero. Zero, Chris. No one has zero. Even normal people have something.”
Chris swallowed. “Maybe… maybe it was just shock?”
“No,” Lyra whispered. “Something awakened inside you.”
The Direwolf growled low, stepping back. It sensed the new energy radiating from Chris, a faint pulse of silver cracking across his skin. Kael nudged him. “Uh… you scared a monster. That’s not normal.”
Chris stared at his hands. The glowing fractures were fading, but he still felt something humming beneath his skin, a thrumming heartbeat that wasn’t entirely his. “Guys…” Chris said softly. “I don’t feel normal.”
Lyra grabbed his wrist, checking his pulse. “That’s because you awakened something impossible.”
Chris blinked. “Impossible… how impossible?”
Kael muttered, “Like ‘break every law of magic’ impossible.”
Chris sighed. “Great. That sounds safe.”
Lyra tightened her grip on him. “Chris, listen carefully. What I sensed was a… snap. A rupture in your inner flow. It felt like, like your life-force tore open for a second.”
Chris shuddered. “Is that bad?”
“It’s unheard of.”
Kael crossed his arms. “It means one thing.”
Chris braced himself. “What?”
Kael said, “You awakened a Shatterpoint.”
Chris stared. “Okay. And what is that?”
Lyra exchanged a tense look with Kael. “It’s a myth, Chris. A legend. A power that awakens when someone brushes death.”
Chris blinked. “Brushes death? Like… almost dying?”
Kael gestured at the blood on Chris’s shoulder. “You don’t get much closer than THAT!”
Chris winced. “Okay, fair.”
The Direwolf snarled, slowly approaching again, less confident this time, more cautious. Lyra stood, raising her staff. “It’s not retreating.”
Kael cracked his knuckles. “Good. I owe it for the way it punted Chris.”
Chris shot him a look. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”
“Hey,” Kael shrugged. “You didn’t die. That’s a win.”
Chris sighed. “That’s… not a high bar.”
Lyra stepped protectively in front of him. “Chris, stay behind us. Your body's still unstable.”
“No,” Chris said suddenly. “I… I think I can help.”
Kael blinked. “Help? Chris, you can barely stand!”
Chris pushed himself to his feet, his legs trembling, vision still spinning. But deep inside him, the strange silver glow pulsed again. A whisper brushed his mind: Survive.
Chris clenched his fists. “No more running.”
The Direwolf roared and charged. Kael yelled, “Chris, get BACK!”
But Chris didn’t move. His body moved on its own, instinct, instinct born from something deeper. He stepped aside a split-second before the Direwolf’s claws could impale him. Lyra gasped. “That speed!”
Kael whistled. “Okay, WHAT did nearly dying do to you?!”
“I don’t know!” Chris admitted. “I’m improvising!”
The Direwolf whirled, snapping at him again. Chris dodged, barely. His heart pounded, but his body reacted faster than thought, like someone else guided his movements.
Kael jumped in, punching the beast across the snout. “Over here, ugly!”
Lyra unleashed a blast of wind that staggered the monster. Chris charged in to help, But a violent throbbing ripped through his chest.
He dropped to his knees, clutching his heart. “Nngh, what’s, what’s happening?!”
Lyra spun toward him. “Chris?!”
A pulse of silver radiated from his chest, faint but not human. The forest trembled. Leaves fluttered. Even the Direwolf recoiled. Kael stared. “Uh… that’s not normal magic.”
“No kidding!” Chris gasped. “Feels like, feels like my insides are on fire!”
Lyra knelt beside him. “Your Shatterpoint is unstable. It needs time to settle!”
“Well, tell it to settle faster!”
The Direwolf, enraged, lunged again. Kael cursed. “It never stops!”
Lyra lifted her staff, panting. “I can’t keep my spells stable with Chris emitting whatever THAT is!”
Chris forced himself up, vision swimming. “I… I’ll distract it.”
Kael snapped, “Chris, you can’t even stand!”
Lyra grabbed his arm. “Don’t be reckless!”
Chris whispered, “If I don’t help, you’ll both die. I saw it. In… that place.”
Lyra froze. “What place?”
“Between life and death,” Chris said softly. “I saw… possible futures.”
Kael stared. “What kind of futures?”
Chris’s voice dropped, shaking. “Ones where I wasn’t there to help you.”
Lyra’s eyes widened in horror. Kael swallowed. “You’re serious.”
“I wish I wasn’t,” Chris whispered.
The Direwolf snarled, crouched, ready to pounce again. Chris stepped forward. Kael grabbed his shoulder. “You sure you wanna do this?”
“No,” Chris said honestly. “But I have to.”
Lyra whispered, “Then we stand with you.”
The Direwolf roared and charged. Chris shouted, “Kael, left flank!”
“On it!”
“Lyra, wind burst on my signal!”
“Ready!”
The monster leapt. Chris stepped forward, heart pounding, body shaking. He waited, Waited “NOW!”
Lyra unleashed a tornado-force blast from behind him, slamming into the Direwolf’s side. Kael darted in from the left and punched it in the ribs.
The beast staggered. Chris jumped, not high, not strong, but enough, and slammed his palm against the Direwolf’s head.
A burst of silver energy rippled outward. The Direwolf convulsed, roared, then collapsed into the dirt. Silence.
Kael breathed hard. “Is… is it dead?”
Lyra lowered her staff. “No. Just unconscious.”
Chris swayed. Kael caught him. “Whoa, easy. Don’t die again.”
Chris muttered, “Dying wasn’t the hard part. Coming back was.”
Lyra leaned in close, studying him with trembling eyes. “Chris… what did you see in that place?”
Chris hesitated. “The truth,” he whispered. “And something worse.”
Lyra exchanged a worried look with Kael. “What was worse?”
Chris looked down at his trembling hands. “The feeling that whatever awakened inside me… isn’t done.”
Wind rustled through the forest. A cold silence settled over them. Kael whispered, “Chris… what exactly are you now?”
Chris swallowed hard. “I don’t know,” he said quietly.
“But I think the world is about to find out.”
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CHAPTER 9 — The Forest That Breathes
Branches whipped across Chris’s arms as he and Elliora sprinted through the pitch-dark forest. Every tree looked the same, tall shadows with twisted limbs, clawing at them as if trying to slow their escape.The ground was uneven, root-choked, unforgiving. Behind them, the echo of that cold, resonant laugh clung to the air like poison. “Chris, left, NOW!” Elliora shouted.He swerved wildly just as a slicing arc of compressed air tore through the trunk behind him. The tree, ancient, thick, solid, exploded into splinters.Chris gasped, “He’s not even trying to hide where he is anymore!”“He doesn’t have to!” Elliora yelled, grabbing his hand and pulling him forward. “His range is insane, he can hit us from anywhere!”Another shockwave hit the ground where they stood moments before. The earth cracked open, soil erupting upward in violent plumes. Chris stumbled, nearly falling. “Elliora, how do we stop him?!”“We DON’T stop him!” she snapped. “We survive him!”Chris swallowed panic. “He sa
CHAPTER 8 — The Footsteps Behind the Silence
The tunnel ahead was narrow, the air thick with dust and the lingering echo of the chamber’s collapse. Chris forced himself forward, one shaky step after another, his mind racing far faster than his footsteps.Elliora kept glancing back at him. “Chris… are you sure you’re okay?”“No,” he said bluntly. “But stopping isn’t going to help.”She exhaled sharply. “You just learned someone’s been trying to kill you since before your powers awakened. It’s allowed to… rattle you.”Chris slowed, jaw tightening. “I’m past rattled. I’m angry.”Elliora nodded once. “Good. Anger can keep you alive, just don’t let it blind you.”Before Chris could answer, the corridor lights flickered. Once. Twice. Then died for a full second. Elliora froze. “That wasn’t structural. That was magic interference.”Chris whispered, “From the collapse?”“No. Something else.”A faint sound drifted through the dark, a soft tapping, rhythmic, deliberate. Tap… tap… tap.Chris turned, heart pounding. “Is someone following us
CHAPTER 7 — A Name Written in Blood
The corridor trembled as Chris pressed his back against the cold stone wall, trying to steady his breathing. The torches flickered violently, shadows breaking apart and reforming like hungry creatures.“Elliora,” he whispered, “whatever’s inside that chamber… it knows my name.”Elliora stepped closer, staff raised, her eyes narrowing at the sealed door ahead. “You heard it too, didn’t you? That whisper. Like it was… expecting you.”Chris swallowed hard. “Yeah. And that’s the part that terrifies me.”A deep pulse rippled through the air, slow, rhythmic, like the heartbeat of something enormous. The ancient symbols carved across the door glowed faintly, lighting the cracks around it.“Chris,” Elliora said carefully, “are you sure you want to open this? We still don’t know why that crystal reacted to you. Or why your veins lit up.”“Running won’t change whatever’s happening to me.” Chris forced a weak grin. “And besides, that thing already knows I’m here.”Elliora stared at him for a lon
CHAPTER 6 — THE FALL AND THE FATEFUL ECHO
Wind screamed past Chris’s ears as the three of them plummeted from the shattered academy window. The stone courtyard rushed up so fast it blurred. Chris flailed. “THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA!”Kael roared back, “WE DIDN’T HAVE MANY OPTIONS!”Lyra’s braids whipped wildly in the air as she thrust her staff downward. “Wind, Cushion!”A blast of air erupted beneath them. Their fall slowed, barely, before all three crashed into a soft, dirt-filled garden bed. Chris bounced once. Then twice. Then face-planted.Lyra groaned. “Kael… remind me never to do that again.”Kael spat dirt. “You jumped before I did!”Chris lifted his head weakly. “Guys… my soul just left my body and came back wearing a ‘What the hell?’ T-shirt.”Lyra laughed breathlessly. “You’re alive. That’s good enough.”Sirens blared across the academy grounds, arcane alarms with the pitch of wailing banshees.Kael cursed. “They triggered lockdown!”Shouting erupted in the distance. Shadows of wardens sprinted across the courtyard
CHAPTER 5 — THE WARNING THAT SHOULDN’T EXIST
The dust from the vanished Shardwraith still hung in the air like ash. Chris coughed, waving it away as he struggled to stand. His legs felt like wet rope, shaky, unreliable, and far too aware of nearly dying twice today.Lyra put a hand on his arm. “Chris… slow down.”“I’m fine,” he said automatically.“You’re not fine,” she replied, softer.“And you don’t have to pretend you are.”Chris hated how that made his chest tighten. Kael scanned the chamber with his flame-blade still drawn. “Focus. If that thing said ‘others,’ then we need to move.”Chris looked up sharply. “Move where? There is nowhere safer than the school, right?”Kael didn’t answer. That silence hit harder than any monster. Lyra’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Chris… Shardwraiths don’t retreat. Ever. Their whole existence is to reclaim broken power.”Chris exhaled shakily. “Okay. Follow-up question: what happens when they succeed?”Lyra looked away. Kael answered instead. “You disappear.”Chris blinked. “Disappear as in
CHAPTER 4 — THE BOY WHO SHOULD HAVE DIED
Chris blinked into the dim torchlight as Kael guided him deeper through the hidden tunnels beneath the academy. The stones felt old, older than the academy itself, etched with faint runes that pulsed whenever he walked past.Lyra kept glancing back at him. “Chris… are you sure you’re okay walking? Your body just awakened from a near-death event. You should be resting.”“I’m walking because every time I lie down something tries to kill me,” Chris said. “So no, standing is safer.”Kael snorted. “You’ve got a point.”Lyra sighed. “You two are impossible.”The corridor widened, opening into an underground chamber lined with tomes, shattered relics, and suspended crystals vibrating with faint hums.A long stone table sat in the center, buried under scrolls. Chris eyed the mess. “Wow. What is this place? A library? A cave? A fire hazard?”Kael grinned. “Welcome to the Archive of the Unsaid.”Chris paused. “That’s a horrible name.”“It’s meant to be ominous,” Lyra said.“Well, it’s working.
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