The early morning light is gleaming off the headstones in Blowing Rock cemetery. We’ve been training for nearly two hours. My legs feel like jelly and sweat from my brow trickles into my eyes making them burn. I’m nearly at my breaking point.

Standing beside me is the Boss, his cool grey eyes full a sadistic sort of glee, watching as I struggle to my feet. He claims to be my uncle but that won’t stop him from killing me. My fingers instinctively touch the right side of my chest. Even through the cotton of my t-shirt I can feel it, a large hole that never closes.

'You are not human. You are more! Your time is not borrowed. It is taken. That is the gift of Chimera! When you understand, you will be free.' I mouth the familiar words, the same phrase he's repeats everyday. I don’t understand what they mean but they make me angry, erasing any fear.

“Is that all you’ve got, Tao?” The Boss asks, his crooked mouth sneering at me. He slaps his metal cane against his hand, the sound echoing out amongst the graves.

“I’m just warming up!” I say.

“Then show me. Don’t hold anything back!”

Immediately, I lunge at him, a sloppy punch he easily ducks under. My fist slams into the bark of Willow, a massive 1000 year old oak. Her branches shake but she doesn’t give, the impact pushing my feet through the dirt.

“Pathetic! You must commit to every attack!” The Boss shakes his head and turns away from me. “Again!”

Hot anger pulses in my veins. I grit my teeth and launch my shin, aiming a roundhouse for his head. It’s a blind strike and it’s too late when I realize he’s disappeared. I spin through the air helplessly, my leg burying itself in Willow’s bark.

The sharp crack of splintering wood rings in my ears, painful vibrations shoot through my body. The kick was perfect. A little too perfect. My leg is buried nearly a foot in the tree.

“Not bad,” mutters the Boss, swiftly re-appearing on the other side of Willow. “But now what will you do?”

“You told me to give everything I have!”

“That’s true.” He smiles and raises his cane. “Defend yourself!”

I lift my free leg off the ground, pressing it against the bark, trying to free myself, but my other leg doesn’t budge. The Boss’s cane is only inches from my face before my eyes catch it.

'You’re really fast.' It’s all I can think before I’m hit by a lightning strike.

There is a moment of blackness and suddenly I’m on my back, staring up at the blue sky. It’s spinning slightly and that’s good because I’m still conscious. I feel the rough teeth of sharp rocks biting at my skin. In my nostrils is the bitter taste of freshly smashed marble. I sit up, shaking away the cobwebs.

A large headstone lays scattered around me. I look at what’s left of the name. Mrs. M…Barnes. I hear the Boss snort and see him leaning against Willow, a self satisfied smirk on his face. “What happened?” He asks.

“I did what you told me!”

He shakes his head. “I didn’t tell you to put yourself in a defenseless position. You think you deserve the Styx? How do you think you’ll do against the Chimera when you can’t even whip an old man like me?”

This gets me on my feet. The Styx is a boat. The Boss uses it to travel between the Ichor and the Ether, what most people call the living world and the dead. I’m not sure which is which. I only know two things about the other side; it’s where the Chimera live and it’s where I was born.

I feel a painful stab in my chest, a cold helplessness. The Styx is my answer, it can take me to where I belong. I launch myself at the Boss, aiming another low kick, an extremely low kick; he isn’t very tall.

“When are you going to show me something new?” He yawns, easily side stepping me, his cane quickly sweeping my other leg. I tumble forward, my face smacking against one of Willow’s roots.

I don’t get up right away, ignoring the taste of dirt in my mouth. Something different, huh?

I close my eyes and slow my breathing, placing my hand on the left side of my chest, listening for the steady beat of my human heart. I can feel its energy, soft and blue, guiding me deeper into myself.

There, at the center of my being, I feel the full force of my life energy. It rages, a storm of red plasma encased in the soft blue flame of my human side. It’s a fine balance. I can feel the hot center; hungry, wanting to feed. If I disturb it too much it will consume me.

Only a taste. Only what you can control.

Those are the Boss’s words and it’s all I take. Just a wisp of the softer blue energy. It feels warm, almost soothing on my fingertips. I clutch it to my chest, bringing it to the surface.

I open my eyes and slowly stand to face the Boss. In my mind I focus on the image of his cane, carefully imagining it to the last detail. The hole in my chest starts to vibrate and a blue glow starts to pulse through my shirt. With a smirk, I open my right hand. The blue energy pulses down my arm and an exact copy of the Boss’s cane forms. I grasp it tightly and rush at him. “Let’s see how you like it!”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

His eyes widen as I close in, but he doesn’t move. I’ve caught him off guard. An intoxicating excitement floods my body. I’ve never scored a hit on the Boss.

I swing with a wide downward slash, but just before I make contact with his grizzled face, he brings up his cane to block. Vibrations shoot through my arm as I’m thrown back. I spin to the right, slashing wildly at his head. He easily bats my strike away.

I’m wide open.

With deadly accuracy, he hurls his cane at my chest. I cringe, closing my eyes, expecting a blow, but it doesn’t come.

Slowly, I open them. The cane is hovering in the air, inches from my chest. I glance at him and he gives me a wink. His weapon splits apart in a bright flash. Dozens of tiny balls of red energy surround me. Slowly, they take the shapes of various birds found in the cemetery, only these don’t look very friendly.

“Boss, come on. This isn’t…”

“You really surprised me there,” he says. “Didn’t think you had the guts to tap into your power! Surprise me again.”

The birds converge at once. The moment they touch my skin they explode, rocking my body in what seems like an endless chain. I try to fight against it, but the pressure is too intense. When it finally stops I’m at the bottom of a deep hole.

The Boss's face appears above me. He’s wearing the same smirk as before.

I roll my eyes. “Good one,” I say.

“I think that’s enough for today.” He reaches down with one of his bony hands. I take it, and he yanks me to the surface.

Our little section of the cemetery is a mess. Bits of Willow’s trunk litter the ground and two rows of gravestones are in smoking pieces after the Boss’s attack. I look at him and crack a smile.

He gives a satisfied nod and lowers his head, mumbling a strange series of words I can’t make out. A huge pressure suddenly presses down on me. It’s his energy. Sometimes I forget how strong he is. His grey eyes open and the ground rattles beneath my feet. I see the hole refill, the tombstones reassemble, even Willow’s trunk returns to perfect condition.

“You didn’t see the last attack coming, did you?” Asks the Boss.

I shrug. It’s not like I wasn’t trying. It was hard enough to make the cane.

“You can’t just attack. You must read your opponent.”

“But I did a lot better today, didn’t I?”

The Boss nods and gives me a smile. “You’ve been practicing. That cane was nearly perfect.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth he starts to cough. He hunches over, grabbing his chest and I feel his energy start to fluctuate wildly.

“This body is just about finished,” he says.

“How much longer?”

He sighs. “A few weeks, maybe less.”

A cold fear stabs at my chest. I’ve known this day is coming, but I can’t believe it. He can’t die. The Boss is too strong for that.

“I could go with you this time,” I say. “I’m strong enough to help.”

He stands on his tip toes and puts a hand on my head. “Soon,” he says. “But not yet. If the Chimera find you they can control the gate. Everything we’ve fought for would be lost. Let an old man handle this.”

“But aren’t we helping Chimera crossover to this world?” I ask.

He lets out another violent cough. It shakes his entire body. I notice the lines in his face, the weariness in his eyes.

“They are different,” He wheezes. “Just like me…and your parents.”

A feel a tightness in my chest. I don’t know them. Not a picture or a single memory.

“Boss...why am I here?”

He looks into my eyes. I see a soft red glow in his pupils. There is a strange pain on his face, almost like he’s guilty. “You’ll find out soon enough…”

His watch alarm sounds, the signal that the Styx is charged and ready to cross the Endless Sea. The Boss’s eyes immediately go cold. In a burst of red energy, his cane reforms at his side and he leans heavily on it. “I’m sorry…there just isn't enough time. We have to get as many through the gate as we can.”

He starts walking toward the mausoleum at the center of the cemetery but suddenly turns back to me. “If I don’t come back what do you do?”

I sigh and say a phrase I’ve repeated a hundred times. “Grab the hearts from the safe and get through the gate immediately.”

“That’s right.” His eyes are serious, but he doesn’t say anything else. Finally, he forces a strange smile. “Say hi to that girl if you want!”

I cross my arms and scoff at him. “Don’t change the subject.”

The Boss shrugs and gives me a creepy wink. Without another word he walks away, his cane grumpily digging into the ground with each labored step. I watch him walk up the steps of the mausoleum. He touches the sealed door and bows his head. Around the outer edges a strange yellow light appears and the stone slab easily slides away. He enters quickly, descending down a staircase into the darkness, the door slamming shut behind him.

He’s getting weaker. What if he really doesn’t come back?