The Awakening of Chris Graham

CHAPTER 3 — THE PRICE OF SURVIVAL

Rain began to fall.

Not a drizzle, sudden, heavy sheets that hissed against the blood-soaked ground. The forest dimmed under the storm, shadows stretching like claws.

Chris stared at the unconscious Direwolf, chest rising and falling unevenly. Silver cracks flickered across his skin, fading and returning like unstable lightning.

Lyra squeezed his shoulder. “Chris… talk to us. What exactly did you see back there?”

Chris swallowed, still shaken by the images burned into his mind. “It wasn’t a dream. It was like, like standing between two mirrors. A thousand reflections of me, each one dying a different way.”

Kael grimaced. “That sounds… horrifying.”

“It was,” Chris whispered. “But there was one reflection that stood out. One where I wasn’t dead. I was, different.”

Lyra leaned forward. “Different how?”

Chris hesitated, struggling to find the words. “I looked… powerful. But wrong. My eyes were glowing. And everything around me was destroyed.”

Kael raised a brow. “Destroyed as in ‘oops I broke something,’ or destroyed as in”

“Flattened,” Chris said softly. “Like a city erased.”

Lyra’s breath caught. “A Death Echo.”

“A what?” Chris asked.

Lyra exchanged a worried look with Kael. “Death Echoes are mythical visions, said to appear only to those whose powers awaken through… death.”

Kael muttered, “So we’re dealing with a myth inside a myth. Fantastic.”

Chris frowned. “What does it mean?”

Lyra lowered her voice. “It means your power isn’t just awakening… it’s showing you possibilities. Futures shaped by your choices.”

Chris stared at his trembling hands. “What if I make the wrong choice?”

Kael snorted. “Well, don’t.”

Chris shot him a glare. “That’s very helpful.”

Kael shrugged. “Hey, I’m honest.”

Lyra stepped between them. “Enough. We need to move. The Direwolf’s Arc Core will attract other beasts.”

Chris blinked. “Arc Core?”

Kael gestured to the monster. “Every magical creature has a core, a concentrated mass of energy. Hunters use them to enhance their abilities.”

Chris frowned. “That sounds useful.”

“It is,” Lyra said. “But it’s also dangerous. A weak body can’t absorb one without tearing apart from the inside.”

Chris blinked. “Oh. Never mind then. That sounds less useful.”

Kael groaned. “We’re wasting time. Something else is coming. I can hear it.”

Thunder rumbled overhead. Chris squinted into the trees. “Are we sure we should stay together? I’m… not exactly stable right now.”

Lyra grabbed his arm firmly. “Chris. We’re not leaving you.”

Kael nodded. “Yeah. Somebody has to watch you so you don’t go exploding or glowing or… whatever it is you do.”

Chris sighed. “I don’t glow. It’s more of a… mild shimmering.”

Lyra smirked. “It’s definitely glowing.”

“Fantastic,” Chris muttered. “I’m a nightlight.”

Before Kael could reply, a low, guttural growl vibrated from the treeline. Lyra stiffened. “Another one?”

Kael cracked his knuckles. “I was hoping for a break.”

Chris felt the silver pulse inside him react, thrumming like a heartbeat out of sync with reality. “Something’s wrong.”

“Understatement,” Kael muttered.

“No,” Chris said. “I mean I can sense something. Like… like whatever woke up inside me is listening.”

Lyra grabbed her staff. “We don’t have time to be unsettled. Get ready.”

Branches snapped as a new creature stalked from the shadows, sleeker than the Direwolf, with obsidian-black fur and violet markings pulsing across its body. Kael paled. “A Nightfiend. Seriously? That’s worse.”

Chris whispered, “How much worse?”

“Imagine the Direwolf, but smarter, faster, hates light, and dissolves into smoke when angry.”

Chris blinked. “Oh. Great.”

Lyra raised her staff. “Kael, formation Delta. Chris, stay behind us again.”

“No,” Chris said quietly. “I’m helping.”

Kael stared at him. “Chris, your power almost tore you apart five minutes ago.”

Chris nodded. “I know. But if I don’t try to control it now… I’ll never learn how.”

A haunting shriek tore from the Nightfiend. Chris flinched. “Is it screaming at us?”

Lyra whispered, “No. It’s calling others.”

“That’s worse!” Chris hissed.

Kael stepped forward. “Fine. Chris, you help. But you stay alive. Understand?”

“I’ll try.”

“No,” Kael growled. “Try harder.”

The Nightfiend lunged. Kael kicked off the ground, intercepting it mid-air. “CHRIS, MOVE!”

Chris dodged as the beast slashed at him. He stumbled, nearly falling, but that strange instinct kicked in again. He sidestepped automatically, guided by something deeper than thought.

Lyra unleashed a blast of wind. “BACK!”

The Nightfiend dissolved into smoke, reappearing behind her. Chris shouted, “Lyra !”

Kael tackled her out of the way. “It’s too fast!”

Chris felt that pulse again, the strange silver heartbeat. His vision sharpened. The world slowed. The rain froze midair. And he heard it.

A whisper: This is your second Shatterpoint.

Chris gasped. “No, not again”

The Nightfiend reappeared directly in front of him. Kael shouted, “CHRIS!”

Lyra screamed, “DODGE!”

Chris froze. The Nightfiend’s claws reached for his throat. And the world fractured. The forest melted away. Chris stood once again in the white void, breath trembling. “No… I don’t want to be here again. I’m not dying! I’m not!”

The voice responded: Death is not required. Only the threat of it.

Chris clenched his fists. “Why me? Why am I chosen for this?!”

''You weren’t chosen''

“Then what?”

''You were broken. And broken things awaken differently.''

Chris felt the fractures in the void pulse with his heartbeat. “You’re saying my power comes from being… damaged?”

''Every Shatterpoint starts with a fracture.''

Chris trembled. “What happens if I keep shattering?”

''You become stronger.''

“And if I shatter too much?” Silence. 

''You cease to be yourself.''

Chris staggered backward. “No. I won’t let that happen.”

;Then prove it''

Light surged, And he snapped back into his body. The Nightfiend’s claws were inches from his throat. Chris shouted, “STOP!”

A silver shockwave exploded from his body. The Nightfiend was thrown backward, slamming into a tree hard enough to splinter it. Lyra gasped. “Chris, your eyes!”

Chris blinked. “What about them?”

“They’re glowing.”

Kael grinned. “Okay, that’s new. And terrifying. Mostly terrifying.”

Chris stood slowly, feeling the new energy coursing through him. His breathing steadied. His movements felt precise, controlled. Lyra whispered, “What changed?”

Chris swallowed. “I think… I gained something.”

Kael raised a brow. “Like what? Super strength? Laser vision? The power to make monsters polite?”

Chris inhaled. “No,” he said quietly. “I can sense life-force now.”

Lyra froze. “That’s… medical magic. Advanced medical magic.”

Chris blinked. “I don’t even know basic medical magic!”

Kael nudged him. “Well, congratulations. You skipped twelve years of training.”

Chris frowned. “I don’t know how to use it yet. But I can feel every heartbeat in the forest.”

Lyra stiffened. “Every heartbeat?”

Chris nodded slowly. “Including three more Nightfiends approaching.”

Kael cursed. “Three?!”

Lyra gripped her staff. “We can’t handle that many at once.”

Chris glowed again, faint silver cracks spreading across his arms.

He whispered: “Then I’ll have to survive again.”

Lyra grabbed his wrist. “Chris, be careful. Surviving has a price.”

Chris looked into her eyes. “I know,” he said softly.

“But dying has a bigger one.”

The Nightfiends shrieked from the shadows. And Chris took a step forward.