The night had grown quiet again.
Too quiet.
The camp rested beneath towering trees while silver moonlight poured softly through the branches above. The fire from earlier had burned low, leaving only glowing embers that pulsed faintly in the darkness like dying stars.
The river nearby flowed gently, its sound calm enough to lull even restless minds into sleep.
For the first time since escaping the prison—
They had rested.
Mia slept near the fire, wrapped lightly in a blanket. Sio Jun rested against the base of a tree a short distance away, though even in sleep her body remained tense, as if years of survival had taught her never to fully relax.
Harris lay opposite the campfire, one arm beneath his head, breathing slow and steady.
And Lee Kung—
Dreamed.
Or perhaps it wasn't a dream.
Darkness surrounded him completely.
No sky.
No ground.
Only endless black stretching in every direction.
Then—
A faint glow appeared ahead.
Blue.
Ancient.
Familiar.
His sword.
The Sword of the Dragon King floated before him silently, its blade humming with quiet energy.
Lee Kung frowned slightly.
"…Not again."
The sword pulsed.
Then the voice came.
Deep.
Calm.
Ancient beyond understanding.
"Wake up."
Lee Kung's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"Wake up now."
The voice carried urgency this time.
Sharp.
Warning.
Instantly, Lee Kung's eyes snapped open.
The camp was dark.
Still.
But something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
His instincts screamed before his mind fully understood why.
He sat up immediately.
And saw them.
Shadows.
Moving silently between the trees.
Tall black figures cloaked in darkness itself.
Dehaska's soldiers.
Lee Kung's eyes widened.
"HARRIS!"
One of the shadows had Harris slung over its shoulder while several others surrounded it protectively.
Harris was unconscious.
Lee Kung moved instantly.
"WAKE UP!" he shouted.
The force in his voice shattered the silence of the forest.
Mia jolted awake immediately.
Sio Jun's eyes snapped open, glowing faintly gold on instinct.
"What happened?!" Mia asked.
"They took Harris!"
Everything exploded into motion.
The shadows darted through the trees instantly, moving with unnatural speed.
Lee Kung grabbed his sword and sprinted after them without hesitation.
"Move!" he shouted.
The others followed immediately.
Branches snapped beneath their feet as they raced through the forest. The shadows ahead moved in coordinated patterns, teleporting between dark spaces with terrifying precision.
One vanished—
Then reappeared farther ahead.
Then another.
Then another.
Like a chain.
Like they had planned this perfectly.
"They're coordinating their jumps!" Mia shouted.
Lee Kung narrowed his eyes.
His breathing steadied.
No panic.
Only instinct.
He watched carefully.
The movement pattern.
The timing.
The rhythm.
And suddenly—
He understood.
"They're not teleporting randomly," he said sharply.
Sio Jun glanced toward him while running.
"What?"
"They're rotating positions!"
Another shadow vanished ahead.
Lee Kung reacted instantly.
"Left!"
Without hesitation he lunged sideways—
And caught one of the shadows the exact moment it reappeared.
The creature hissed violently as Lee Kung slammed it into a tree.
"You're not getting away."
The others kept moving with Harris while two shadows stayed behind.
One lunged directly at Lee Kung.
The second vanished.
Lee Kung's eyes sharpened immediately.
Behind me.
He spun instantly.
CLANG!
A dark blade collided against his sword as the second shadow attempted to stab him from behind.
Lee Kung gritted his teeth and forced the attacker backward.
"You're predictable."
The first shadow attacked again, but Lee Kung ducked beneath the strike and drove his elbow directly into its chest before slamming the hilt of his sword against its face.
The creature staggered.
Sio Jun arrived beside him instantly, claws extended.
"Where's Harris?" she growled.
The shadow laughed.
Not normal laughter.
Something distorted.
Broken.
Almost inhuman.
"He belongs to the Lord of Shadows now."
Lee Kung's expression darkened instantly.
Another shadow lunged toward Mia from above.
Before she could react—
Sio Jun vanished.
A blur of silver and gold.
CRACK.
The creature slammed violently into the ground before dissolving into dark ash.
Lee Kung grabbed the remaining shadow by the throat and slammed it against the earth hard enough to crack the ground beneath it.
"WHERE DID YOU TAKE HIM?"
The shadow only laughed harder.
Its body twitched unnaturally beneath Lee Kung's grip.
"You are already too late."
Lee Kung's anger flared instantly.
His sword glowed brighter.
Blue energy crackled faintly around the blade.
"Tell me."
The shadow grinned through the darkness.
"You cannot stop what comes next."
Lee Kung's jaw tightened.
For one brief moment—
His control slipped.
And he threw the creature violently across the clearing.
Straight toward Sio Jun.
She didn't hesitate.
The moment the shadow flew toward her—
She pounced.
Her glowing claws tore through the darkness with terrifying force.
The shadow barely screamed before she ripped through it completely.
Dark energy exploded outward.
Then—
Nothing.
Only ash drifting through the wind.
Silence fell briefly across the forest.
Heavy breathing filled the air.
But Harris was still gone.
Lee Kung looked deeper into the trees ahead.
The remaining shadows had escaped during the fight.
Taking Harris with them.
Mia stepped closer slowly.
"They planned this…"
Lee Kung nodded grimly.
"Yes."
Sio Jun's claws slowly retracted, though anger still burned in her glowing eyes.
"They wanted to separate him from us."
Lee Kung tightened his grip on his sword.
"No," he said quietly.
His expression darkened.
"They wanted Harris specifically."
The realization settled heavily over the group.
Not random.
Not opportunity.
Targeted.
Calculated.
Which meant only one thing.
Dehaska knew.
Somehow—
Dehaska knew about Harris.
And if that was true…
Then whatever waited ahead was far worse than they imagined.
The wind moved softly through the trees again.
But now it no longer sounded peaceful.
It sounded like warning.
And somewhere far away in the darkness—
Harris finally began to wake up.