His body felt heavier than it should have, completely limp in Jordan's arms. The heat that had once radiated from him was fading, but something about him had changed.
Jordan stared for a second.
William's hair was no longer just dark with faint red highlights.
The red had spread further now, slightly past where the highlights used to be—like embers slowly burning through black coal.
Jordan tightened his grip.
"What do we do?" he asked, panic creeping into his voice.
Cameron wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and looked around the collapsing world.
"We leave."
But before they could run, Cameron turned toward the portal hovering behind them.
The gray circle floated silently in the air, humming faintly like it was barely holding reality together.
Cameron lifted his staff.
Then he swung.
CRACK.
The staff smashed against the portal with all his strength.
Energy exploded outward in ripples of gray light.
But the portal didn't break.
Instead—
The world began to die.
The sky above them fractured like glass.
Huge cracks spread across the clouds as pieces of the sky itself began to fall toward the ground.
The sand beneath their feet started dissolving into nothing, blowing away like dust in the wind.
Trees snapped and toppled as the entire dimension trembled violently.
Jordan looked up, eyes wide.
"The whole place is collapsing!"
"MOVE!" Cameron shouted.
He lifted William over his shoulder and started running.
Jordan grabbed Maya's arm and followed.
They sprinted through the crumbling landscape, dodging falling pieces of sky and collapsing trees. The ground disappeared behind them as if the world itself was being erased.
Cameron ran faster, but even for him the weight of William slowed him down.
William was skinny—but dead weight was still heavy.
"Come on… come on…" Cameron muttered through clenched teeth.
A massive chunk of sky slammed into the ground behind them with a deafening boom.
The shockwave nearly knocked them over.
They finally saw it.
The ocean.
And above it—
The portal they had fallen from.
It floated in the air like a doorway back to reality.
Jordan pointed.
"There!"
They ran harder than they ever had before.
The sky was falling faster now.
The ground beneath them cracked apart as pieces of the world simply vanished into darkness.
They reached the portal.
Everyone stopped, breathing heavily.
"We jump," Cameron said.
"But William—" Maya began.
"He's too heavy to carry through."
Jordan looked at William.
Then back at the portal.
"Throw him through first."
Cameron nodded.
They counted silently.
Then Cameron lifted William and hurled him through the portal.
William disappeared into the swirling gray light.
Maya jumped next.
Then Cameron.
Then Jordan.
The collapsing world vanished behind them.
—
William's unconscious body burst out of the portal first.
Except…
They were far higher in the air than any of them expected.
Hundreds of feet above the massive Red Oak Tree.
William fell like a ragdoll toward the ground.
Below, chaos had turned into confusion.
Every person who had been attacked earlier…
Every soul that had been stolen…
Had suddenly returned.
People were waking up everywhere.
Looking around.
Trying to understand what had happened.
And now they were all staring at the sky.
Because something was falling out of it.
Maya burst out of the portal next.
Then Cameron.
Then Jordan.
All three were still midair when they realized how high they were.
"Oh no—" Maya gasped.
They dropped toward the ground.
Jordan slammed into the grass first, rolling hard before scrambling up.
Cameron landed seconds later.
But William was still falling.
Unconscious.
Spinning through the air.
Jordan ran forward to catch him.
Cameron moved too.
Maya raised her arms to summon water to slow his fall.
Then—
A blur of yellow dropped from above.
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A figure leapt from a nearby rooftop like a shooting star.
He caught William mid-air.
Perfectly.
He landed lightly on the edge of the building like it weighed nothing.
Everyone froze.
The boy stood there calmly, holding William in his arms.
He was taller than them.
His shinobi armor matched theirs almost exactly.
But his scales were different.
Bright yellow.
Like sunlight reflecting off gold.
He jumped down from the building and landed beside them.
Then gently handed William over.
Jordan took him slowly.
The crowd had already started gathering.
People surrounded them.
Phones were out.
Reporters rushed forward.
Flashes went off like lightning.
To the crowd, they must have looked like gods falling from the sky.
One reporter pushed forward through the crowd.
Ava.
Her voice cut through the noise.
"Who are you?!" she demanded.
"What are these powers?!"
"Why are shadows coming out of people?!"
"What just happened here?!"
Cameron looked at the others.
"Yeah… we're not doing this."
He pointed to the rooftops.
"Exit strategy?"
Jordan nodded.
Without another word, they jumped.
They moved across rooftops faster than the reporters could react.
Maya slid across a ledge with water beneath her feet.
Jordan leapt over a gap using a rising pillar of earth.
Cameron ran across a power line like it was a balance beam.
And somehow—
Even while running for their lives—
Cameron waved at the crowd below.
Like an idiot.
"Thanks everyone!" he yelled.
Jordan groaned.
"Why are you like this?!"
They disappeared into the city.
They eventually made it back to the coffee shop.
The place looked normal from the outside.
Warm lights.
Quiet atmosphere.
But inside—
Shu was already waiting.
The news played on the television behind him.
Footage of the battle.
Of the sky tearing open.
Of the four of them falling from the portal.
Shu didn't look surprised.
Just tired.
"Medical room," he said immediately.
They carried William downstairs.
Shu began treating their injuries quickly and calmly.
Bandages.
Healing salves.
Careful examinations.
But there was still one problem.
The yellow-armored boy stood quietly near the doorway.
Watching.
Jordan noticed first.
"Okay…"
He pointed at him.
"Who is that?"
Cameron looked up.
Then blinked.
"Yeah… I was gonna ask that too."
The boy finally stepped forward.
Shu stood beside him.
Slowly…
The boy removed his mask.
Then his hood.
He looked about their age.
Maybe a little older.
His straight yellow hair framed sharp blue eyes.
His expression was calm.
Confident.
Almost amused.
And, annoyingly…
He was ridiculously good-looking.
The boy looked at all of them.
Then over at William lying unconscious on the medical stretcher.
A small smile appeared.
"What a showing for the new Dragon Keepers."
He looked at Shu.
"Great job."
Shu's expression hardened.
"Don't patronize them."
"They just finished a hard mission."
The boy raised his hands slightly.
"Yes," he said calmly.
"But they also broke a very important rule."
Jordan and Cameron spoke at the exact same time.
"Who is he?"
They looked at each other.
Then back at the boy.
William still hadn't woken up.
He lay motionless on the stretcher.
The boy crossed his arms slightly.
Shu sighed.
Then finally said it.
"He's your guide."
The room went silent.
Shu looked directly at them.
"He's here to introduce you to the Dragon Society."
The boy smiled slightly.
"Name's kai Lightborn
