The air in the Haven hallway suddenly turned ice cold. Kova stood still his hand outstretched as he focused his will on the space in front of him. A thin line of obsidian light appeared in the air tearing open like a wound. From the center of that darkness a presence began to pour out that felt like a physical weight against the stone floor.

  Koma stepped out of the Void.

  He did not walk so much as he emerged his feet hitting the ground with a thud that seemed to vibrate through the entire mountain. He stretched his arms wide a slow predatory grin spreading across his face as he took his first breath of the mountain air. Even with his Yen suppressed the sheer intensity of his existence made the torches along the walls flicker and die.

  "It feels small out here." Koma remarked looking around at the jagged stone walls and the distant patch of sky visible through the mountain peak.

  Kova did not respond instead turned his head toward the lower levels his voice projected with a calm authority.

  "Kaola." Kova called out his voice cutting through the silence of the fortress. "Meet us at the Roundtable. Now."

  In her room Kaola froze. The sound of Kova voice usually brought a sense of order but there was an underlying tension in the air now that made her skin crawl. She did not know Koma was out but the pressure in the atmosphere had shifted. It felt like a storm was trapped inside the mountain with her.

  She hurried out of her room her heart hammering against her ribs. She navigated down the stone stairs with her boots clicking rapidly against the floor as she descended toward the roundtable. As she reached the Great Hall she saw the massive stone doors to the RoundTable room were already open.

  The RoundTable was a gargantuan slab of black granite polished until it shone like a dark mirror. It sat in a chamber where the mountain natural waterfalls trickled down the walls into deep basins.

  When Kaola stepped into the room she stopped dead.

  Kova was standing by the head of the table his expression as unreadable as ever. Koma was standing near the far edge of the slab leaning his weight against one of the heavy stone pillars that supported the chamber. He was watching the doorway with a hungry look in his eyes.

  "There she is." Koma said his grin widening as he straightened up. "Look at you. You look like you have seen a ghost. Or maybe you just realized what happens to people who come home without what they were sent for."

  Kaola felt her knees weaken. Kova had told her that Koma wanted her dead and now here he was looming in the center of their world. She moved like a ghost her hands trembling as she pulled out the heavy stone chair directly across from her brother. She did not dare look Koma in the eye but she could feel his gaze burning into the top of her head.

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  "Sit Kaola." Kova commanded quietly. "We have things to discuss. You have returned with nothing but excuses for your incompetence and your silence will not help you here."

  "I am sitting." Kaola whispered her voice barely audible over the sound of the waterfalls.

  "You were given a simple order." Koma said his voice dropping to a dangerous level as he stepped toward the table. "Go get the boy. Bring him back alive. That was the main objective. Instead you failed. You were told to come home because you could not handle a mission and you could not handle the twins. You are a failure Kaola and now you have to look me in the eye while I decide what to do with a sister who is no longer useful."

  Miles away the settlement was draped in a heavy suffocating silence. Kota suddenly stopped his body trembling as silver energy flickered around his skin like dying embers. He stared at the row of broken down stone houses ahead his eyes narrowing.

  Leiya stopped beside him looking around the empty street with wide confused eyes. She strained her ears but heard nothing but the whistling of the wind through the broken windows. She reached out to touch his arm her voice barely a whisper.

  "Kota why are we stopping?" Leiya asked looking at the empty path. "I do not feel anyone approaching. There is nothing there."

  "Quiet girl." Kota snapped his voice raspy and strained. He did not turn to look at her his focus entirely on the rooftops. "He is here. I can feel the air cracking. It is too late to run."

  Before Leiya could ask another question the silence was shattered by the sound of tiles cracking. From the roof of a nearby stone building Hykee plummeted downward landing with a heavy thud that sent a cloud of street dust swirling into the air. He straightened up slowly his eyes wide and bloodshot with adrenaline. He ignored Leiya entirely his gaze locked onto the boy.

  "Finally." Hykee hissed a jagged laugh escaping his lips. "I thought you would never stop running. You look like you are already halfway to the grave Kota. Why not let me push you the rest of the way? I have been tracking that stench of yours for miles and I am starving for a decent show."

  Leiya gasped stumbling back as the rest of the hunters emerged from the shadows of the alleyways. Lokee walked out into the center of the street with Kana and Juno following close behind.

  "Hykee stay back." Lokee voice rang out. She stepped forward her eyes scanning the area. She could feel the poison in the air the way the Yen was dissolving the very oxygen around them. "Control yourself for once. We have a directive."

  "The boy is not a prize for you to break Hykee." Lokee warned her voice tight with caution. "Koma and Kova want him alive. If you kill him because you cannot control your urges you will be the one answering for it. Do not ignore the mission for a thrill. He is unstable."

  Hykee did not even look at her. He took a slow step toward Kota his fingers twitching with anticipation. His energy was a jagged spike in the quiet of the settlement. He stopped a few feet away his head cocked to the side.

  "Come on then." Hykee taunted his voice dripping with malice. "Make a move. I want to see if you are actually strong or if you are just a loud infection. Move first boy. Show me something that makes this worth my time."

  Kota looked up his eyes glowing with a faint sickly silver light. He knew he was outnumbered and outmatched but the sickness inside him was screaming for a release. He took a step forward the stone street beneath his feet cracking from the sheer pressure of his leaking energy.

  The two stared each other down for a heartbeat the air between them vibrating with a violent tension. Hykee watched Kota every movement a wide grin splitting his face as he gauged the boy's power. He was waiting for the first strike his energy building behind his teeth.

  "Let it leak." Hykee shouted his energy suddenly spiking as he braced himself. "I want to see what the dark looks like when it bleeds! Come on boy! Show me that power everyone is so afraid of!"