Donovan led them to the other end of the warehouse and slid his card through the sensor. The locks yielded, and he escorted them into the brilliantly-lit room where his technical creations lie.

“Incredible. Is this what you’re researching?” Olivers asked.

Donovan hung his lab coat on a hook on the wall, revealing his black undershirt. “I believe cybernetics to be an uncharted frontier of technical advancement. For years I wanted to devote my time to expounding on my ideas. Cybernetic engineering could be of great asset to humans, given proper nurturing and development.”

“What’d you want to show us?” Tarik said.

“Yes. Over here.”

They followed Donovan to a table lined with computer monitors, loose drone parts, random tools, and schematics. He logged into one of the computers, bringing up a blue screen, followed by dozens of file folders and application icons. He proceeded to click on different folders, eventually opening a real-time video stream. Five different black-and-white windows panned before them, each showing different areas of the country.

“This is amazing,” Olivers said.

“Tarik, what was the number drone you saw?” Donovan asked.

Tarik took out his phone. “Oh, it was…it says, 002:A.”

“Thank you.” Donovan clicked on one of the five windows and entered some commands on the keyboard. He right-clicked his mouse and hit a function called RESTART STREAM. The screen began to rapidly rewind the drone’s surveillance footage. Donovan carefully watched the footage speed by, finally stopping the video upon seeing a blurry figure on the screen. He paused it briefly. “What in the world?” He hit the play button and they all watched with horror as the dark angel appeared in the drone’s field of vision while chasing it.

“That’s it,” Tarik said. “That’s what destroyed it.”

Donovan’s eyes glued to the screen, unblinking against its harsh, white light. “It couldn’t be,” he said to himself. “All the stories were true.”

“Donovan?”

He cringed when Miles touched his shoulder. “I can’t believe it was true.”

“What was?”

Donovan leaned over the table, his knees wobbly. “During the war I received numerous reports of odd disappearances across the country. You mean to tell me this was the culprit? Just what in the name of hell are we dealing with?”

“I told you, these monsters are real, and there’s thousands more out there,” Tarik said.

“I initially built these drones to combat the Arugians—but deep down I knew there was something more sinister at work.”

“Nobody believes it, and we’re gravely outnumbered because of that,” Miles said.

Donovan leaned back up, straightening his rumpled coat. “I’m afraid I can’t offer much more help to you three, but if I were to mass-produce these drones, it could give us an advantage.”

“You think you could?” Tarik said.

“It’s possible, given proper government clearance and financial backing. What is your next move?”

“We’re going to speak to Mayor Bricker about forming a search party,” Miles said.

“I see. In this case he’s going to need proper convincing.”

“In what way?” Olivers said.

Donovan hung his lab coat on the wall. “Gentlemen, is there room for one more in your cars?”

* * * * *

Kori huddled against the passing night winds, weaving aimlessly through the woods. He zipped his vest to its limit and buried his arms tightly in his chest. The rattling of some bare tree branches clacking together spooked him as he tiptoed across the dark wilderness. He’d caught a sniffle, occasionally sneezing and sniffing. “I’m so scared…I can’t see.” An owl’s hooting made him trip, and he fell into some leaves. He leaned up and frantically searched the area. A few other birds flapped overhead, filling the quiet air with their cawing. Dark shadows blanketed the landscape, which fell unsettlingly still after the winds died. Even his bright yellow vest turned a drab, dirty-mustard color amid the stark blackness. He felt a thousand miles away from everything. “Help!”

Kori held his hands in front of him, the only extension of his senses to protect him from his external environment. He softly bumped around trees, tripped across stones, and tapped the ground with his shoe to check for pits. “Hello? Anyone out here?” A break in the trees allowed him some spare moonlight, giving him some sense of his surroundings. In a small clearing he stopped to take a break. Kori plopped on the ground against the trunk of a tree, rummaging in his pockets. “No food.”

A light crunching of leaves ahead made him flinch. Off to his left, a tiny gleam flickered against the dark green backdrop of the woods. He got quietly up and waited, and a burly dog with black and brown fur pounced from the bushes, its eyes reflecting in the dark. The grunting mutt sniffed around the ground before confronting the boy, glaring at him eye-to-eye. Kori sidled rigidly to the right, his eyes glued to the shadowed animal. He couldn’t decipher anything but its arrhythmic panting. As it stepped forward, an odd light permeated from its body. “It’s a dog?”

Its pointy ears perked up, and once again fixed its eyes on Kori. They brightened with a red light, blazing like candle flames. Kori tried to contain his gasping, virtually pinned down by terror. Without warning, the animal lunged at him. Kori cried out in horror, and curled up onto the ground. On the verge of mauling him, the thick-bodied canine stopped inches away from him. It recoiled unexpectedly in mid-air, then stomped back on the ground, barking ferociously. Kori peeked through his teary eye at the dog’s confounding antics. It jumped and swiped the open air as if under an odd hex. Kori timidly got back up and carefully scooted away. What’s it doing?

Another gust of wind combed through the trees, shaking their highest limbs. Kori nearly stumbled against its cold ferocity. Another flock of crows burst from the foliage, stirring up even more commotion. He fell down and ducked away from the obnoxious frenzy. Kori got up again and walked as quickly as he could away from the bucking dog. Before he could get much further, the distant flickering of flames beyond the trees halted him. He brushed through until he could see the source of the light, a small fire built within the knothole of a large tree trunk. Kori crouched behind the brush to observe the unusual scene. Three people stood with their backs to him, positioned in a triangular formation. The foremost person stood before the wide tree with a revering, statuesque quality. The other two held the same odd stance. A bright lantern hung on a nearby branch.

Who’re they? Kori thought.

The three robed strangers eventually lowered their arms, having finished their odd ritual.

“Damn, go find out what that stupid dog is doing,” the oldest man said. “He’s killing my concentration.”

“You go,” a female voice said. “You’re the weakest one here anyway!”

“Watch your mouth! Unless you wanna settle this the old-fashioned way,” said her brother.

They approached one another, squabbling.

“You’ll never be a good as me, and you’re two years older.”

“I’ll prove it,” the teenaged boy said, weaving his hands around.

“Stop it,” the third person said. He slid off his hood and stood between them. “Neither of you bickering babies will survive long enough acting like that.”

“Tell her to quit talkin’ bullshit about me.”

“Quit bein’ lame with magic,” the girl said.

Amid the quibbling Kori veered to his right, inching closer to the lantern. Finally within its reach, he crept around the trunk and slowly removed it from the branch.

“Reina, stay with me so we can finish. Erol, bring Hadius back here,” the man said.

“Fine.”

Kori crouched behind the tree, dimming the light by covering it with his hands. He felt around the metallic base and shut off the switch, darkening the area more.

“What was that?” the man said.

“The lantern,” Erol said.

With no ready plan Kori started moving through the woods as quietly as possible, clutching the lantern under his vest. Way to go, stupid!

Reina, a few meters ahead, caught wind of the occurrence. She whistled out loudly, summoning their dog Hadius bolt into action.

“That way,” the man said.

They fled from the fire-lit clearing and took off into the woods, listening for the snapping of branches and leaves in Kori’s tracks. The vivid glare of Hadius’ eyes helped guide their way, and soon they caught sight of their crafty evader.

“Stop at once!” the man yelled.

Hadius stormed past him, eventually catching up with Kori. He slid to a stop, staring down the salivating jowls of the enraged dog. The three strangers caught up with him, surrounding him on every side.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Erol said while removing his hood, unveiling his sleek, thin face and shoulder-length black hair. He and Reina held up their hands and conjured an unusual light from their palms, casting its luminosity onto the frightened eight-year-old.

“I wasn’t doin’ nothin’,” Kori said, shielding his eyes.

“Other than stealing our lantern!” the man said.

Kori caught a glimpse of his pasty face, marked with weird patterns. His lifeless, grey eyes leered at him. “I just wanna get outta here. I’m lost.”

“You should’ve stayed lost, boy. For now you’ve only found trouble.” He threw his hand up, commanding his four-legged pet to rise up and tackle Kori from behind. As Kori fell, the lantern slipped from beneath his vest and clanked on the ground. He quickly rolled up and watched Hadius standing there, gritting its teeth and ready to burst at the seams.

“Let me show you the forces you’ve disrupted!”

Hadius unexpectedly sprouted two additional heads, identical to its original. The duplicate heads thrashed violently, each with its own personality and sharp, lusty jaws.

“W-What’d you do?” Kori said nervously.

“I don’t know who you are, but you will repay us for your interference.”

“Here, you can have it back,” Kori said, tossing the lantern toward him.

“Too late for that, child. Hadius, come forth.”

The three-headed beast jumped over, gnashing its jaws. Kori rolled aside and grabbed the lantern. When Hadius circled back, he swung the lantern and struck one of its heads. Another head chomped down on the lantern, crushing its glass covering with its teeth. Kori scooted away and hit his back against a tree trunk. He quickly felt around the ground, scooping up a handful of dirt and a small stick. He hurled the clump of dirt into Hadius’ eyes, and blocked the animal with the stick. It bit down on the stick, reducing it to scraps. Kori jumped away from Hadius, his arms held to his sides, sweating and huffing. The man behind him waved his arm and released his command over the dog, its two demonic heads burrowing back into its fur.

“Enough of this futility.”

He rushed forth and struck Kori’s gut with a flick of his arm. Kori hit the ground on his back, then Erol and Reina dragged him onto his feet. Kori caught a look at their faces, their dull, grey eyes sparking with hideous yellow flashes. He wriggled and kicked his legs to get free. Erol let go of Kori’s arm and punched his cheek, stumbling as Reina pushed him away. With barely any light, Kori utilized the stunning flashes in their eyes to gauge their positions. Reina swung with her leg, and Kori jumped up to knock her off balance. He caught himself, and waited as Erol ran over, then jumped aside and yanked his robe. He stooped down to kick Erol’s leg and knocked him to the ground.

“You’re dead!” Erol said through his teeth.

He flipped back up and lit into Kori with his shoulder. Kori fell against a tree and endured another heavy punch to his stomach. Kori opened his eye and held up his arms, trembling under Erol’s sharp jabs. The force shook Kori off balance, and Reina snuck in and kicked him in the back. Kori finally hit the ground, nearing his limit. The violent trio gathered around him, casting their bright stares unto the defenseless boy at their feet. They each held out an arm, their hands meeting in the middle.

“I don’t know who you are, foolish boy, but you trespass on sacred grounds. We are claiming this land to honor the spirits of our ancestors. They inhabit this forest, and no harm shall befall it, nor us,” the strange man said.

Their telepathic abilities begun to synchronize, radiating a green spell from their bodies. Its light fell over Kori’s body, and an unearthly force dragged him into the air. Their muffled chanting fell on his ears, growing louder with every word. The strange force carried Kori back over to the mighty, flaming tree. The flames suddenly drained of their lustrous brightness, and dimmed to a sickly, dark purple color.

“You will answer to the underworld for your actions.” A deep rumbling churned within the trunk, causing the very ground to shake. Two thick roots erupted from the soil and rose upward like writhing serpents, awaiting the man’s command. Kori’s body sailed towards them, grabbed by the bark-covered roots. They grew even higher up, with Kori suspended between them by the arms. He dangled over them like a marionette, drooping from exhaustion. “Now your fate lies with them, boy.”