Lying to Nico is something I have to do now that I’m starting to piece together what he’s after. He already killed me once because he saw no use for me after confirming I’m not a Star Child.

  That means he needs an immense amount of Star Ether to free himself. And when he mentioned that beings of the dragon pathway might prove to be troublesome, it sounded like he knew something that was connected to the dragons.

  I don’t know how long this lie will hold, but he’s already shown me that eighty percent of an Ether reserve is absurd for a dormant human. The fact that I have it makes him suspect I might actually be a Star Child. That suspicion turns me into an asset, which means--for now--he needs me for whatever he’s planning.

  All I need is for him to keep teaching me how to channel. Then, when the time comes, I’ll kill him as payback for the wolf and the loot.

  We move through the fog for days with fewer troubles than one would expect. Now that I’ve grown stronger, I fight at Nico’s side as he shows me how to wield my abilities.

  Holding my breath in battle drains my stamina fast, and exhaustion creeps in quickly, especially against abominations that swarm in packs. But I learn to pace myself, to move with precision, to steal moments to breathe. If I don’t, I’ll collapse in the middle of the fight.

  I learn that Ether is far more than I imagined. With my pool sitting at 80% capacity, I constantly struggle to keep it down and balanced, or else I risk a fever that could very well kill me. I’m convinced this flaw comes from the loophole we’re using. If we were inside a real Nexus Event, the system would’ve smoothed out this “error.” But we’re not—and that’s exactly why I treat every use of my abilities with caution.

  “We’re almost out of the fog,” I mutter.

  A faint glow shimmers in the distance. My trusted dagger plunges into an imp’s skull, snuffing out its life.

  [You have slain…]

  I don’t wait for the message. Another imp charges me. This one is larger than the rest, its scaled skin glistening in the mist. Holding my breath, I let the rush of Star Ether ignite my body, and in an instant, I blitz forward. Four more fall in rapid succession, their corpses littering the ground in my wake.

  By the time I stop, my chest is heaving. Air burns in my lungs, and the world tilts, spinning. An imp lunges at me from behind, but Nico is faster. His fist slams into its skull, popping the head clean off in a burst of gore. Blood spatters across me. It’s hot and sticky, but I don’t care—I’m just glad I’m still breathing.

  Nico is leagues beyond me, and it shows. Unlike me, he isn’t someone who only began using Star Ether a few days ago. He tells me the power has to sink into the body, engrain itself into the system. Until then, my limit remains three and a half minutes of held breath in battle. Push beyond that, and my body tears itself apart.

  The last imp snarls and leaps, but Nico meets it head-on, driving his magic sword through its chest. He yanks it free just as the system confirms the kill. Even he’s panting now. Imps may be weak, but their numbers are a storm we underestimated when we chose this route through the mountains.

  This stretch has less fog, but it crawls with what the system calls Dark Species. Twisted corpses, beasts warped by the residue of hatred. Some died here long ago, their resentment given shape.

  You can feel it when they come close. Their hate seeps into your ears like whispers you’re not meant to hear. I try to ignore them. I don’t always succeed.

  The Nether is a war zone. That’s what we were told. But questions gnaw at me. What war? Who were they fighting for?

  The Mountain’s Spear mentioned that the ash-land corpse belonged to a servant of dragons. Which means… maybe dragons themselves fought here. And if they fought here, could this war be what drove them to Earth centuries ago?

  I stop the thought before it swallows me. Answers in this place are as deadly as the questions.

  “We should proceed. I don’t think there’s a cave for us to hide,” Nico says.

  I nod. We keep moving. No breaks. No shelter. When hunger bites, we chew sludge packets on the march and share sips of water from the same patch, rationing every drop.

  Nico talks as we walk. He explains what Star Ether does for Dormants. His voice is steady, almost casual. Mine isn’t. I can still hear the whispers.

  “There are many things Star Ether can do. Some colonies use it as an abundant energy source through energy stones and crystals. Others use it as fuel for space travel, although not for long-distance travel. There’s still no alternative for cold fusion energy,” Nico says. His voice carries a quiet weight, as if he’s explaining something he’s repeated a hundred times before. “We dormant humans are like birds learning to fly. We become part of the stars, but we still have to prove ourselves to the system, to show we’re worthy. That’s why Nexus Events exist. They come, humans challenge. If we win, we become more. If we lose, humanity pays the price.”

  He pauses, his gaze narrowing. “But through the Nether realm, we don’t have to pay a price when we lose. It’s a win. And honestly… quite a genius move by Bloodhaul.”

  “So you’re saying Nexus Events are worse than this?” I ask, my voice barely steady.

  “You have no idea, Astrid.” His tone sharpens, and then he lifts his eyes toward the faint light ahead. “Humanity only has about three hundred Nexus Beings, but millions have participated since these catastrophes began centuries ago.”

  That number crushes me. My chest tightens, a chill running along my spine. Were things really that bad? Were Nexus Events truly that impossible?

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  Nico continues, his voice low and steady. “And even those who survive don’t come out the same. They’re broken. Scarred. Some lose their humanity altogether and vanish into the stars, wreaking havoc on random planets.”

  I slow, my steps faltering. A thought creeps into me, sharp and unsettling. My eyes dart to him. “Why are you telling me all this? And how do you even know all of this?”

  “Because you’re a star child… and the only chance I have.” His words are hushed, almost swallowed by the fog. His eyes shift constantly, scanning the shifting haze, watching for movements that aren’t there, or maybe are.

  “A chance to what?” I press, my heartbeat rising.

  “To freedom.”

  The word slams into me. My lips twitch. Freedom. There’s a way out of Bloodhaul.

  “Freedom?” I echo.

  “Vaguely, yes,” he answers, his eyes narrowing with conviction. “The previous group was sent here to find something… a spire that points to the sky. It’s not alien, but from the same reality the constellations come from. And it’s said to hold the heart of a true dragon.”

  “A True Dragon.”

  The words spark something deep inside me. They don’t feel like a memory. No, it’s different. It’s as if I’m meant to know them, as if they’ve been whispered to me a thousand times before, etched into my very being.

  When I try to speak, my voice falters, breaking apart like glass. This has never happened to me.

  “…wha…what is that?” The stutter forces its way out, raw and jagged. There’s something wrong with that name. Is it because I walk the Dragon Pathway?

  “I have no idea,” he says flatly. “But it’s the key to what will make me a legendary Nexus Being. And you will help me get it because you’re a Star Child of the Dragon Pathway.”

  A cold weight settles in my chest. Now it makes sense why he tried to kill me. I’m on the Dragon Pathway. The moment I lay eyes on the True Dragon’s Heart, I’d want it for myself. Of course, he wouldn’t trust me.

  But then why does he need a Star Child? Does it have something to do with the entrance to the spire?

  I start to piece it together. He must have already played out most of the possible outcomes.

  ‘He was looking for the True Dragon heart, and I would just be a problem if I were just a dragon pathway, and that’s it. However, he’s willing to risk that because I’m also a “Star Child” of the dragon pathway.’

  “And what’s in it for me if I help you?” I ask, halting in my steps.

  The path we’ve walked into is a tight corridor of rock and mist. My size gives me an advantage here. If it comes to a fight, I can move quicker than someone like Devon—with his hulking frame and muscles sculpted for war. His demigod body was built to dominate open battlefields. But here, in this confined space, the balance shifts.

  The rocks burn beneath my boots, radiating heat that seeps straight through. My bodysuit’s coolers are useless, sweat dripping down my neck in heavy beads. Maybe that blessing is useless.

  Nico glances back at me, his face half-shadowed by the mist. “I will use the power I gain to free you from Bloodhaul. Isn’t that what you want?”

  My head tilts, slow and hesitant, before I nod.

  “I do… want that. But I don’t trust you one bit. Not when you were planning to leave me in that cave and turn me into some experiment.”

  He clicks his tongue, sharp and mocking. “Tsk… We’re already experiments, Astrid. And how sure are you I was gonna kill you?”

  He smirks. That smirk stretches across his face—infuriating, crooked, smug. The kind of smirk that makes my fingers itch to shove my dagger through his eye. Nico is unhinged. Dangerous. A monster in the shape of a man. I’ll deal with him later, once I have my hands on the power he’s after.

  “This is the jungle, Nico. I’ll kill you if it means I live another day. And I’m a hundred percent sure you’ll do the same. We’re wild animals. We’re desperate, hungry, clawing for a way out.”

  I don’t know this world. Not its rules, not its monsters. But I know human nature. Nico will kill me if given the chance. And I’ll let him think he can—because the longer he talks, the more I learn. Still, the True Dragon’s Heart doesn’t belong with him. It belongs with someone tied to the dragons. To me.

  But first, I need him to lead me to the spire. I also need to decide how to end him. He’s the better fighter, stronger, faster, sharper. A clean fight would get me killed. Which means I’ll need to be clever. A knife in the back is too obvious. But Poison? Yes…that would work. It's slow, quiet, inevitable. To top it off, I get to savor the feeling of seeing the life drain from his eyes.

  Yes. I’ll kill him with poison.

  ‘But where do you find poison strong enough to kill someone with a unique genetic code?’

  “Yes… This is the jungle,” he says, voice low and threatening. “So don’t slow me down.”

  The tension between us coils tighter, a wire stretched to the brink of snapping. He’s worried about what I could become. I’m worried about the fighter he already is.

  And under this fog, between the predators lurking in the shadows, it feels like my real enemy is this boy I’ve decided to survive with. I will have to grow eyes on the back just for so

  After all, humans are monsters that bite when you least expect them.

  ***

  For days in the fog, I focus on mastering the Mirror Necklace and its avatars. At first, it’s disorienting. I often feel like I’m stepping out of my own body. The avatars move with my strength, speak with my voice, and even mirror my personality with eerie accuracy.

  But there’s a problem, especially in combat. My control slips. There’s a lag between my command and their action, a delay that comes without warning. I don’t have the mental capacity to sustain a whole fight through them. Still, that’s fine. Even a moment’s distraction is enough to tilt the scales. And the advantages far outweigh the drawbacks.

  [You have slain a Dark Species, Thunder Wolf]

  I grin at the glowing message. One of my avatars battles through the fog with Nico while I search for poison. Right now, I’m wedged inside a narrow underground passage, scanning for anything lethal enough to kill him.

  I’ve slain a few creatures along the way—some venomous, but none potent enough to overcome our engineered bodies.

  Gods… if only I had his gauntlet.

  After squeezing through more tight spaces, I reach a much darker area. That’s not a problem for me, but the narrow crawl leaves me feeling suffocated, as if the stone walls are slowly pressing inward. The air here is heavier, almost damp with something metallic, and every breath feels like I’m swallowing heat and dust.

  Finally, I crawl into a chamber that opens wider than I expect. It's a hidden cavern with a pond at its center. The water glows faintly turquoise, casting an eerie light against the jagged stone. It looks beautiful, almost divine, but the longer I stare at it, the more wrong it feels. The surface doesn’t ripple. No sound of dripping water. No insects (not that I expected any).

  Just silence. It's, in fact, too silent.

  The air is thin, warm, and every instinct in me screams to turn back. A cold shiver worms its way down my spine despite the heat. This place doesn’t feel dead. It feels watchful.

  I summon the Trusted Dagger, its weight grounding me as I steady my breath. The dread presses on me like a mountain, every second stretching longer than the last. My skin prickles. My chest tightens. Something is here. I just can’t tell where it is.

  Click.

  The sound is soft but sharp, echoing across the cavern walls.

  Click…click…click.

  The noise skitters closer, tapping against stone like claws, like bones snapping in sequence. My stomach knots, and my pulse surges into my throat. I don’t need to see it to know. My body already knows.

  The air grows colder, heavier, as though something vast has shifted in the shadows around me. My dagger trembles in my grip.

  Then the message appears, glowing like a curse.

  [A King Dark Species is looking at you]