Dye searched for the creature all over town. He searched every street corner. Took advantage of the high views from building tops. Even searched the perimeter of the city twice, but the wolf-like creature had disappeared.

“ARGH!” he said, frustrated. “I lost the damn thing!”

He added this to his string of bad luck the last few weeks and decided to call it a day.

“If it wasn’t for those two idiots getting in the way I would’ve finished that damn thing off.”

Who were those two boys?

Dye didn’t care.

He was so angry that no form of logic or rational line of thinking caused him to stop. He wanted to vent his frustration and the only way he felt he could do that was to beat the daylight out of whatever monster came his way.

He was so desperate, in fact, he wished for Griflore to still be around just so he could beat him down over and over and over again.

Of course, he wasn’t that lucky.

Dye was back home. His mood was blah. Recalling all the failures of the day, and the last few weeks even, left him in a constant state of gloom. He laid motionless on the couch, his limbs limp like a puppet, staring at the television.

When he heard someone enter the room, he didn’t even bother to look and see who it was. The face of his mom edged over the couch and looked at him. What was once a smile turned into concern.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” She asked.

Dye took a deep sigh, trying to mask his mood.

“Nothing, just tired,” he said miserably, hoping that would be enough to shoo his mother away.

“We interrupt this program for an important news update!” Dye’s mom turned her attentiveness toward the screen. “Earlier today, the city of Beach Shores was in complete panic when a mysterious attack shook the western part of town,” said the anchorwoman. “We go to Louie Chim, who is live at the scene.” The screen flipped over to a tall, Asian man wearing a blue suit with a pale complexion.

“I’m standing in West Beach Shores this evening where a mysterious attack took place. Almost all of West Beach Shores lay in ruins tonight due to an epic battle between what has now become known as a Xenton and a wolf-like creature of some sort.” He spoke with a clear American accent as the footage shot the damage from the scene earlier that day. “Witnesses say that the creature suddenly appeared and began its rampage at about three o’ clock this afternoon. It wasn’t until one of the Xenton; responsible for the heroic acts just a few months prior, showed up to quarantine the creature. Still, little is known about them, let alone the mysterious creature that attacked here today. Police officials are trying to conclude whether or not this creature or the Xenton, are connected with the attack months ago in any way. This is Louie Chim, reporting.”

Dye didn’t budge. The reminder of the fight left him in his melancholy state. He had wondered if his mother had finally left him. He looked up to see if she was still there, he was annoyed that she was. However, he did notice the look on her face. Her skin was completely flushed. Her eyes were stricken.

“Mom?” a level of worry allowed him to overcome his depressed state, if only for a second. “Are you okay?”

She didn’t respond. She sat and looked at the television, anticipating that something about the previous story would show. After about a moment of staring, the screen went to commercials.

“Mom?” He asked once again, finally getting her attention.

“Yeah?” She responded, not taking her eyes off of the television.

“Are you okay?” He asked again.

She hesitated before answering. “Yeah,” she said. “Where’s your father?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, his careless mood starting to take over again.

She left her son and trotted upstairs. As she did so, Jason arrived home.

“Hey Mom,” he said with a smile.

She didn’t answer as though she didn’t hear him. Jason knew he said it loud enough and his mom wasn’t the one to ignore her kids. A few seconds later a door slammed.

“What’s with mom?” He asked Dye.

Dye sighed. “I don’t know. Something must’ve spooked her.”

Between Dye and his mom, Jason couldn’t figure out who was acting weirder.

“Hey, is everything okay? Corrine stood at the top of the stairs. “Mom just blew past me and slammed the door.”

Jason put his finger over his lips and immediately melted away from sight. Corrine was surprised. She had never seen Jason use his abilities before. She heard the thumping of steps up the stairs and then felt something grab her hand. Immediately she became invisible.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Jason shushed his sister. “Dye’s acting weird. Mom is acting weird. I say we figure out why mom is in a mood because that’s definitely odd.” He whispered.

“Okay,” she whispered back.

“Follow me and stay quiet!” he said.

They walked down the hallway and as they progressed, they heard the muffled voices of their parents.

“Robert might’ve been on to something,” said Mrs. Haven.

“What, that these things are coming for what’s in our garage?”

Corrine and Jason looked at each other, both confused.

“What things? asked Corrine.

“And what’s in the garage?” asked Jason.

“I told you we should’ve got rid of that thing but you were so insistent we keep it.” Mr. Haven replied.

“Listen, what’s done is done. We have to think about the kids. Especially now that we have them all back. Keeping it there will put them in danger.” Mrs. Haven said back.

“What do you suggest we do?”

“We hand it over to your brother. At least he can keep it protected until this blows over.”

“Fine! I’ll give him a call.”

There was a moment of silence. Jason and Corrine heard footsteps approaching the door. Just as they were about to move, their mother spoke again.

“After this is done, we will need it back.” she said.

“Good luck with that. Once the military learns about what we have we are never getting it back.”

Mrs. Haven didn’t reply.

As the siblings listened outside, the door knob turned prompting the two to move out of the way. They both retreated to a corner; Corrine keeping her hand on Jason to remain invisible. Their mother emerged and closed the door behind her. As she was walking away she turned and looked intently at her bedroom door. She scanned the area as though she could see Jason and Corrine, staring directly at them as they hid in the corner.

They both paused.

Even though they knew she couldn’t see them, Jason held his breath. Corrine put her hand over her mouth to silence her breathing. Both of their pulses raced.

After a few seconds of gut-wrenching suspense. Mrs. Haven looked away, shrugged her shoulders and descended down the stairs. Both Corrine and Jason sighed.

“Wait, what’s in the garage?” Sam was intrigued. It was obvious as he began his calculating-scanning with his eyes.

“We don’t know,” said Corrine. “At least I don’t know, considering I’ve never been inside there.”

Sam, Corrine and Jason were in Jason’s room. Everything was rearranged and taking advantage of the extra bed, Jason pushed the two together and made him an even bigger bed. With that being done, the room was more spacious than before.

“And what wolf-like creature?” Sam asked again.

“Dunno,” Jason replied. “The news said Dye fought one this afternoon.”

“That’s weird,” said Corrine. “I would think he would’ve said something.”

Sam pondered. “Dye has been acting strange lately. I’m not sure he’s thinking straight.”

“Where is he now?” Corrine asked.

“He fell asleep.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“I say we find out what’s in the garage.” Jason prompted.

Sam looked at him. Something made him hesitate but his curiosity tugged him. “Sure, let’s go!”

They waited until the middle of the night. The garage was dusty, cold and in some places damp. It was mostly used for storage which is why no car had been parked there. The three siblings rummaged through the junk, trying to find whatever it was they were looking for, which they didn’t have a clue.

“Ha! Dude my old fishing line!” said Jason, picking it up and swinging it as though he was about to cast a line.

“Whoa! Watch that thing!” said Corrine.

“Oh – sorry.”

He put the line back down where he got it and continued searching.

Sam checked near their dad’s work bench. Tools were nicely organized and the workspace was clean. He checked underneath everything he could find. Still, nothing stuck out to him.

Corrine wandered through the place not sure what she was looking for either. Suddenly, something got her attention. It wasn’t anything physical, per say, but it was more of a feeling.

During her training, Arayan taught her various applications she could use her powers for. From creating swords from light, to being able to use her gravity to fly, but there was one thing she was able to teach herself. Ever since being back, Corrine had been keeping a small gravity field around her body. This would allow her to prevent any unwanted guests from commandeering her body again, but this also came with a secondary feature. She was now able to detect energy fields wherever she went. It took a moment for her to get used to the many electromagnetic fields that were present in any city, but she was able to fine tune her comfortability in no time. She figured that being able to detect energy fields, especially those that would be supernatural, would be like an early warning system for any big bad that came strolling into town.

However, right now, she was picking up on something that was incredibly odd. She looked around the garage and was trying to find whatever was tugging on her gravity. It was getting uncomfortable the closer she got to whatever it was.

Could it have just been the powerlines?

Highly unlikely. She had learned that energy, both natural and supernatural, feels differently. Something humming as a result of city lines was more of a vibrating feeling. Like a bee caught in a bag, which was very uncomfortable for her. But something supernatural, it was more of a tugging. She felt it when she returned home. The Ka of her brothers tugged on her immensely because of the simple fact that energy attracts other forms of energy.

As she wandered, the tugging got stronger. Jason looked up and saw Corrine aimlessly wandering. Jason psst at Sam who looked at Jason looking at Corrine.

“Corrine?” asked Sam.

She raised her hand calmly, as if to say don’t interrupt. Sam and Jason waited in suspense for what she was doing. As she walked, her eyes looked around until they came to a corner. There were boxes stacked up and old picture frames littering the area.

“There’s something behind all this stuff.” she said.

“How do you know?” asked Sam.

“Just a hunch…” she replied. She raised her hand and using her gravity grabbed the heavy boxes and moved them off to the side. After Jason grabbed the last of the picture frames, there was something big wrapped in a cloth. In the corner it stood up at a few feet.

“What is that and has it always been here?” asked Jason.

“Maybe. It was under all this junk. Mom and Dad clearly tried to hide it.” Sam replied. “Let’s bring it over to the work bench and see what it is.”

Jason went to grab it.

“NO —” halted Corrine. “Don’t touch it!”

“What? Why?” Jason replied, confused at Corrine’s sudden apprehension. She almost had half a mind to tell them about her gravity field, but to her it was her little secret. At least for now.

“There’s something weird about what's wrapped in that cloth and it aint good.”

“How do you know?” Jason asked immediately.

“A woman has her secrets. Now stand back.” Corrine grabbed the object with her gravity and it moved from its resting place gracefully. She guided it over to the work bench and laid it down gently.

“Okay, let’s see what this thing is!” Jason grabbed a box cutter and cut the ropes. He and Sam removed wrapped cloth and as they removed the final wrapping, something ghastly sat on the bench.

It had a black blade as though made from obsidian. Its reflective surface was magnificent but at the same time gave off bad vibes to the trio. As they moved their eyes down the weapon it looked as though the hilt had an edge with spikes flaring out. The sharp edges and curves made it look as though it had wings on either side. All of that came to a point in the form of a hilt with red tapings criss-crossing along its cylindrical shape. In the center, it looked as though an eye was sealed shut.

Strapped all around this horrible looking item was a glowing binding. Like a shimmering twine.

“This thing looks ugly,” said Jason.

“No kidding! What’s mom and dad doing with this thing in our garage?” asked Sam

“Who knows, but look at this,” said Corrine. She pointed out the shimmering twine. “It looks like this thing is sealed.

“What do you mean sealed?” asked Sam.

“It’s like a warding.” Corrine felt this energy too. In fact, it felt as though this energy was holding back whatever energy the blade had.

“How do you know?” Jason asked with an intrigued tone.

“Arayan did something similar while we were away training. He used it to bind Dye’s power in order for Dye to break it by becoming stronger.”

“Wait! You’re saying that whoever did this has ties with Arayan?”

“I don’t know! I’m just telling you what I know!”

Then a thought occurred to Sam. Jason noticed him computing.

“Oh man, he’s doing it again,” said Jason.

“You don’t think….” Sam started, gathering his thoughts further. “You don’t think Mom and Dad know, do you?”

“Know what?” asked Corrine.

“Everything. About the Xenton. About Arayan. About the Ancient Times. Could they know about us?”

“Whoa, dude! Slow down! We don’t even know what this thing is or if it's connected with anything we know.”

“Then why is this thing bound by a spell that Arayan can do?”

“I never said Arayan could do it. I said it was similar. I don’t know what this is.” Corrine replied.

“Still, why is this thing here?” said Sam, circling back to his original question.

“Beats me bro,” said Jason. “Let’s just put this thing back and forget we ever saw it.” Unexpectedly, Jason reached for the weapon with his bare hand.

“No!” said Corrine.

But it was too late. The moment he touched the blade the binding disintegrated.

Dye slowly opened his eyes. The room was dark. He felt something in his ears. A ringing of sorts that he couldn’t place. He tried to turn over and go back to sleep but the faint ringing began irritating him. He grabbed his phone and found the time to be three in the morning.

“Whoops…” said Jason.

“What just happened?” asked Sam.

“I told you not to touch it!” snapped Corrine.

“I’m sorry! Force of habit!” Jason was distraught. As his response would suggest he really didn’t mean to.

“What are you guys doing?” Dye strolled into the garage rubbing his eyes.

“Dye? How did you know we were in here?” Asked a curious Sam.

“I don’t know,” he yawned. “I heard this —” he paused. He saw what was sitting on the bench and immediately became mesmerized by it.

“What is that?” he asked with a mindless glare in his eyes. He walked closer towards it.

“Whoa there little brother!” said Jason, stepping in front of him.

“Get out of my way,” he said aggressively.

Jason furrowed his eyebrows with dismay.

“Dude! NO!” said Jason, firmly standing his ground.

Corrine felt something else starting to tug at her gravity. She turned towards Dye.

“We need to get Dye away from this thing!” Said Corrine.

“What? Why?” Sam asked.

“Don’t ask questions! Just get it out of here!”

“Where am I supposed to take it?”

“AWAY FROM HERE!” Corrine said hastily.

Dye stepped up to his brother.

“Get out of my way, Jason!”

“You’ve been acting like a dick lately and I don’t like it!”

Sam was hesitant to touch the blade. Before he did he armored up his hand and then secured the blade. He hit the garage opener and the door started to open. He armored up the rest of his body, getting ready to take off when the door was open. Just as the doors were fully lifted, standing there, in their driveway was a blue furred, wolf-like creature standing tall on its hind legs.

“Um, guys!” said Sam.

The beast saw the blade Sam had and lunged towards him.

Sam took flight to avoid the attack. The beast clawed the air trying to get Sam.

“Guy’s a little help?” said Sam. “I know it's three in the morning, but like, can we not wake the whole neighborhood?”

Dye took his eyes from Jason and looked towards the driveaway. There he saw the beast he fought yesterday.

“There you are!” said Dye, grinning evilly. “I’ll kick this thing’s ass instead!”

Jason was appalled. He didn’t know what to do or how to confront his own brother just now. Would he have been forced to fight him?

Dye ignited his fist and approached the beast.

“HEY! REMEMBER ME?!”

The beast turned towards Dye and just as he was about to fry the monster, a golden barrier was erected between him and the beast, deflecting Dye’s attack. When Dye realized what happened. He looked up and there were the two boys from yesterday.

“YOU!” Dye growled. “Always getting in the way!”

Zeta and Stro looked at Sam, holding the dark blade.

“Where did you get that?” asked Zeta curiously.

Sam didn’t respond. He was overwhelmed with what was happening right now. Mostly worried that the commotion probably woke the neighbors.

Stro turned to Zeta. “Looks like we were right, but where’s Asaun?”

“I don’t know. Things have changed. We know why the Coalts haven’t invaded yet.”

“So what do we do now?” asked Stro

“The seal was broken. King Cerberus knows it’s here. Now it’s only a matter of time.”

As though it could not only hear their conversation, but could also understand it, the Coalt immediately fled.

“Oh no you don’t!” Stro flew after it.

Zeta let down his spell and stared at the siblings. When he saw Dye try and burn the beast, he realized he was the Xenton from earlier. Seeing Sam in his armor, Zeta deduced that he had found the remaining Xenton. Then he looked at the blade and made a decision.

“I understand that you are the Xenton of Earth. The ones responsible for destroying one of the Zincas, Grifore.”

Sam, still hovering in midair, held onto the blade. Dye eyed him intently while Corrine and Jason emerged from the garage to see who was speaking. Zeta pointed at Sam.

“That is why I am entrusting this task to you. There is a plot to acquire that weapon by a whole army of the creature you just saw. Their king will stop at nothing to have it. Which is why you must protect it until I locate its guardian.”

The four siblings looked up at him, including Dye, who had seemingly calmed down, hearing his words. “I do not know how you came to have that weapon, but your world will fall if you let the wrong hands have it.”

With that being said Zeta flew off after Stro, leaving the siblings alone in the night.

“What the hell was that about?” Asked Jason.

Sam descended and let down his armor, dropping the blade by accident. “I am so confused right now.”

“So am I,” said Corrine.

“I saw those two yesterday. They stopped me from taking out that monster.”

“There is so much to unpack here. Let’s get this back —”

“IT IS THREE IN THE MORNING!” All four of them looked to their front door and standing on the porch were both of their parents. They were wrapped in their robes, seemingly trying to fight off the chill of the early morning. “You mind telling me what you’re doing out here?” Their father along with their mother hastily approached the siblings. Their anger quickly turned into unsettlement when they saw what Sam was holding.

“How did you get that?” Their father asked. He was clearly spooked.

Sam stumbled over his words before he was able to say, “From in the garage.”

“Give it to me! And get inside!” said their mother.

Sam backed off from the blade and allowed his mother to pick it up.

Mrs. Haven took it back inside of the garage with her husband staying in the driveway.

“Call Robert! Today!” She said with sternness.

Mr. Haven nodded his head as she began wrapping up the weapon.