The blue-haired girl stepped out of the room. Her eyes were distant as if she wasn't seeing what was going on around her. The black smoke swirled around her body and curled out as if searching. Syrion wanted to turn, to tell the students to run, but an overwhelming presence filled the hall. Deep, gut-wrenching fear filled him. He couldn't move and his heart slammed in his chest frantically. His brain was screaming at him to run away. From the corner of his eyes, he could see students fall to their knees whimpering. Even the guards were struggling to move. Was this part of her ability? A paralyzing fear that scrambled the brain. No. Something inside him recognized the hungry being coming towards him. It was something primal telling him there was nowhere to run.

One of the guards managed to lift his arm, shooting his stun gun. A bolt of electricity shot towards the girl, but the smoke rushed in front, swallowing it up. The other guard was quick to follow up with neutralizers. The darts zipped through the air but never met their target. The black smoke engulfed them.

He had to help them. Syrion bit down on his tongue, focusing on the pain and the taste of blood in his mouth. He forced his mind to focus on that instead of the fear.

One of the guards shouted. "Pulse!"

A vibration shot forward, clipping Syrion and causing him to fall to the side. The sound wave disrupted the black smoke, finally reaching its target. The blue-hair girl jerked back, her face twisted in confusion.

The other guard slapped his hand against the ground. "Freeze!" Ice rushed across the floor and surge up and around the girl's legs, quickly encasing her body.

The wave of fear vanished. It was like a weight lifted off Syrion. He fell back, his body exhausted from the struggle of moving against the paralyzing fear. He wasn't sure how the guards were able to fight it. He pushed himself up as one of the guards pushed a tiny silver disc on his neck.

Whatever words he was about to say were choked off. The ice around the girl dashed into a million pieces. The black smoke dissolved the ice shards before they even hit the ground. The smoke darted out, cocooning the guards.

A sharp scream came from one of the men, but the scream ended as soon as it started. The guard was sucked dry and tossed aside. The other guard struggled in the smoke's grip, shooting out ice in a desperate attempt to get free.

The primal fear was back, but this time Syrion was able to push through it. He reached out his hand. He pushed a wave of energy towards the girl. It rushed forward, but it was like hitting a wall. He would need to use something stronger.

"Binding chain," Syrion called out. A gold chain appeared in his hand. He swung it overhead before releasing it as it looped around the girl's body. Immediately her body stiffened and the smoke curled backward.

"Neutralize!" Syrion shouted and energy flowed through the chain and encased the girl.

The black smoke writhed as if in agony and it dropped the guard. Syrion could only glance at him for a moment, but what he saw made sweat trickle down his face. The guard's cheeks had grown hollow, his skin taut, as if he was starved. Syrion trembled, but held fast, pushing more of his magic into the chain.

"We have to get them out of here." It was Micah. It sounded like he was talking to the woman with the students. Syrion knew they had been too scared to move and get to safety.

"What the hell is he doing out here?" Syrion muttered as he strained to keep the chain pumping out neutralizing magic. Additional backup should be on the way after the aborted call from the guard. If he could hold off until then.

At that moment the girl started to laugh. The laughter was soft and eerie and echoed through the room. It sent a chill through Syrion. He pushed his magic harder but as he did something changed. The smoke began to rise up and he could feel it. It began to eat his magic. The black smoke gobbled up link after link.

"How?" Syrion said, dread sinking into his bones. His neutralizing abilities were strong even at orange rank. He had been tottering on hitting red for months. But even higher ranks found it hard to deal with his neutralizing chain, but this girl's magic was eating it.

He tried to push more magic forward, but before it could reach the girl the chain broke. His magic hit him like whiplash, tossing him backward. He skidded across the floor and rolled once before stopping. Coughing, he pushed himself up from the ground. He caught sight of Micah hurrying more of the students out.

Unfortunately, the girl and her smoke noticed. The black smoke surged forward, unwilling to let its meals escape. The woman in charge of the students saw the smoke rushing towards them and she raised her hand. Plants shot from her palm, forming an intricate barrier of vines and thorns.

The smoke hit the barrier, sliding over it and sucking it dry. The vines barely slowed it down. The woman looked on in horror as the smoked wrapped around her. A student near her screamed, but the student's voice was cut off as the smoke slid over her as well. The smoke grew with every person it drank from. It rushed out, taking down another two students.

Syrion gritted his teeth. He had to get closer. The chain wasn't enough, so he needed to use something stronger, but to do that he had to reach her. Sweat trickled down his body at the thought, but he had to do it now.

The girl laughed as the smoke grabbed another student. It drained them and tossing them aside.

Syrion inched closer to her, trying to reach her without somehow getting sucked in by the black smoke.

"Raven!" Someone shouted. Syrion turned and saw a girl with orange hair rushing down the hall.

"Penny, stay back," Micah shouted as he helped the remaining two students.

Syrion cursed. What the hell was another student doing down here? How did she get here before backup? His thoughts halted as he noticed something change. The blue-haired girl, Raven, had stopped moving. The black smoke around her floated in the air as if waiting. Then the smoke surged forward. It ignored Micah and the students and headed straight towards Penny.

Penny stumbled back, fear danced across her face. The smoke curled around the girl. It didn't drain her. Instead, it swirled over her like it was inspecting her.

Syrion gritted his teeth. Part of him wanted to shout at the girl to run, but he couldn't waste this opportunity. He crept closer to Raven, now that most of the black smoke was focused on Penny he had a chance.

Raven was still, her eyes staring off into something only she could see. Syrion was almost there. One more step.

Raven lips moved. "More."

Penny screamed. The smoke tightened around Penny and began to feed on her. At the same time, Syrion called out.

"Binding chain." The chain wrapped around Raven once more. "Neutralize!"

Raven shuddered. The smoke recoiled, letting go of Penny to attack the gold chain.

Syrion surged forward, letting more power rush through the chain as he stepped closer to her. It felt like moving through molasses. The fear effect grew stronger the closer he got to the girl.

The smoke was quickly accumulating, eating at the links of his chain. He was almost there. He reached out his hand. The smoke pushed out with a monstrous shriek. The chain broke and Syrion was thrown to the ground.

Black smoke engulfed Syrion and he could feel something sucking at his core. He lashed out, strands of his power cutting through the smoke. His magic repelled it, but the black smoke recovered quickly and fed off his magic, draining him.

Then everything stopped.

The smoke retreated, sliding back into Raven's body. Her back arched and then the girl stumbled forward, blinking.

Syrion rolled on the ground, gasping. His body felt weak as he pushed himself to his knees. He turned his head as he watched Raven look around her. Her eyes were wide and terrified as she took in the bodies. A sound came from down the hall. Raven looked towards it. Penny was crawling, some survival instinct telling her to get away.

"Penny?"

Penny froze and turned to face Raven. Penny's eyes were wide.

"Penny, w-what happened?" Raven asked.

"Stay away from me," Penny screamed and threw her arm in front of her.

Wind surged from Penny, slamming into Raven. The blue-haired girl was knocked back, skidding across the ground. Syrion winced, waiting for the smoke to rise again, but it didn't. Raven stayed on the ground, looking at the floor, stunned.

Syrion pushed himself to his feet. His legs wobbled, but he forced himself to move. Slowly, he walked towards Raven. As he did he saw Micah stepping out of the destroyed Awakening room. He held a syringe in his hand with a grim expression. Syrion nodded to the healer and continued walking towards Raven. Once he reached her, he put a hand on her shoulder. His hand glowed with golden light. "Contain."

It was his strongest form of neutralizing magic, but it required physical contact to be used. He could feel his magic seeping into her, locking down her power. A sigh of relief went through him.

"It's okay now."

She looked up at him and he could see the desperate plea in her eyes. The desire for this not to be her fault was plain on her face.

"I've got you," Syrion said. He was too worn to feel anything, but the need for this to be over. Micah stepped on her other side. Syrion nodded. Micah injected the needle into Raven's neck.

"I'm sorry," Micah said as the girl collapsed.

Behind Syrion the sound of boots filled the hall as backup finally arrived.