2:11 AM, An Unnamed Alley in Jaipur
The alley should've been quiet.
But it wasn't.
A gang of five leaned against a graffiti-scarred wall, liquor bottles clinking, laughter spilling over the reek of cigarette smoke. One had a rusted blade. Another kept flipping a chain in his hands, like a nervous tick.
"Guy was screamin' like a pig," one said, still laughing. "Bet he won't snitch again."
They all chuckled — until the air changed.
Still.
Thick.
And then — cold.
A shape detached from the shadows. Long arms. Skin like stitched black mist. No eyes. No mouth. Just the sense of hunger.
"What the f—"
The thing moved.
By the time Rehan turned to run, three of his friends were already silent. One arm. One scream. One burst of blood against the walls.
He didn't look back.
Not even once.
Kai's Point Of View
It started like any other morning.
The alarm buzzed at 6:30 AM sharp. I groaned, rolled over, and slammed my hand on the snooze button. A minute later, Aria flicked my forehead with enough force to rattle my skull.
"Get up, mortal prince. We've got algebra today."
"Why do you sound like that makes it worse than fighting angels?" I muttered, half-buried under my blanket.
She didn't answer. That was strange.
Downstairs, the TV was on. News anchors, wide-eyed and nervous, spoke over shaky footage. Aria stood still as a statue before the screen, arms folded. My mom was at the stove, but her hands moved slower than usual. The smell of toast lingered like a ghost in the air.
"What's going on?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.
"Look," Aria said.
"The police are investigating the incident in Jaipur, where four bodies were discovered in an alley just after 2 AM. The sole survivor, Rehan Malik, claims the attacker was 'not human.'"
The news anchor's voice sounded normal. Too normal. Like she was reading the weather.
The screen cut to hospital footage. A boy — pale, shaking — spoke into the mic, eyes unfocused.
"I saw it… It didn't walk. It just moved, like it was always there. It had no face. No noise. Just… took them."
The broadcast crackled slightly. Then shifted to the local station logo.
"That's the third incident this week," I said.
Mom dropped the spatula. It clattered against the stove. "You should stay home today," she said, too quickly.
"Wait. Why?"
She didn't answer. Just walked toward the window and looked out, arms tense.
"Aria?" I asked. "You said these things aren't supposed to be here, right?" I pressed.
looking seriously, Aria replied— but slower than usual. "I said they don't belong here. But I was wrong."
I turned to her. "Wrong?"
Aria glanced toward the window. The sky looked normal. Birds still flew. Cars still passed below. But something in the air was different. Tighter.
"Heaven sent me here to kill you," she said, "because they feared what would happen if your powers awoke. But now… something's changed."
She looked right at me.
"Hell is opening gates too. They're not just watching anymore. They're deploying."
"I knew it-" my mom murmured.
"You mean those things—?"
"Soldiers. Scouts. Some just want chaos. Some are searching. But they're all coming here. Earth is caught in the middle of something bigger."
That explained the alley massacre. And the pit in my stomach since the last moon.
But none of it explained what was happening to me.
Somehow, we managed convince my mom and let her allow us to school.
The sky was annoyingly blue. The world outside didn't feel like it was crumbling. Kids biked past us, dogs barked, someone sold doughnuts from a food van. But Aria kept scanning the rooftops. Her hand never strayed far from the handle of her blade, although its not visible to normal human eyes.
"Do you think I'll ever get a normal morning again?" I asked, sighing.
Aria snorted. "With your bloodline? Doubtful."
"For once, I wish I was adopted."
"Technically, the world adopted you."
"Not helping."
Still, it is nice to see her taking more than usual.
We reached the last street before school. Students were crossing the road. Morning chatter filled the air.
"Ah, we finally made it without any weird things happening!" I let out a relived sigh.
"Mmmhmm" I smiled—
—and then the sky cracked.
I don't mean thunder. I mean cracked. Like glass under pressure.
A sound like a heartbeat pulsed through the street. The light warped. People froze. Someone screamed. A deep, tearing shhhrrrk split the air ahead.
And a hole tore open in space.
It was maybe two meters wide. Pure black. A gate without a door. From it, something crawled out.
Black skin, glistening like tar. Limbs like barbed spears. Its eyes were smokeless fire. It hissed—not with a mouth, but from every inch of its body.
Then three more followed.
Chaos.
People ran. Cars swerved. A kid was grabbed by a claw. I watched, frozen, as something pulled at him—not just his body, but his soul—his outline shimmered like glass in fire.
"Get back!" Aria shouted.
She unsheathed her blade. In a flash, she was between the boy and the beast. Steel met shadow. Sparks flared.
I wanted to run. Every part of me screamed to run.
But something else moved in me.
Not fire. Not rage. Just... resolve.
I stepped forward. One of the creatures turned toward me, sensing something. Its shoulders rippled, and then it lunged.
Everything slowed.
I raised my hand—no thought, just instinct. My palm faced the beast.
A pulse surged from my chest. The world brightened.
And fire answered.
A wild, spiraling blast of gold erupted from my hand, out of control and too wide. It slammed into a nearby lamppost, bending the steel and melting the base. The air stank of ozone and burning copper.
My knees buckled. My hands shook.
"Kai!" Aria shouted. "Control it!"
"I'm trying!"
The demon hissed again and charged. I took a breath—one breath—and focused everything inward.
My fingertips glowed. I visualized the shape of the blast—tighter, more like a spear than a wave.
As the creature leaped, I pushed forward.
The flame shot out—a focused jet, straight into its chest.
The beast shrieked, the sound scraping against my skull. It writhed mid-air and then crumbled into ash before it hit the ground.
I staggered back, breathing hard.
Two more remained.
They charged together. I ducked the first one's swing and rolled to the side, nearly colliding with a parked car. The second slashed toward my back,
—but Aria was already there.
She moved like wind through steel. Her blade cut through shadow. One demon split clean down the middle, vanishing into smoke. The last one leapt at her from above.
She didn't flinch. She flipped backward mid-air, blade spinning with divine precision, and cut the beast in half before her feet touched the ground.
Silence followed.
Ash drifted through the air like snow.