The roar of a gunshot cut through the air, breaking the suffocating silence. The commander’s backup, trained to respond without hesitation, immediately redirected their focus toward its origin.

“Come on!” Evee called out, her voice sharp and urgent as she sprinted through the haze of chaos. She didn’t give Emily a chance to process or second-guess. Instinctively, Emily followed, her feet pounding against the ground as they disappeared into the smoke that choked the city.

The devastation they left behind was unimaginable. With the destruction of Ebonspire Academy, River's hope for maintaining its supremacy had all but crumbled. What little control the soldiers had managed to maintain evaporated, replaced by an uncontrollable panic that spread like wildfire.

The academy lay in ruins—a massive crater at its heart marked ground zero. The once-grand institution was reduced to rubble, with nearby buildings incinerated and structures within a three-mile radius fractured, barely standing. Over five thousand lives were lost in an instant: students, teachers, researchers, visiting families. The names of the dead would linger like ghosts in the minds of the survivors.

Above the wreckage, the ash hung in the air, a thick, unnatural cloud spreading outward like the breath of some monstrous entity. It wasn’t just ash—it was tainted, carrying the residues of failed experiments, corrupted magic, and unstable technology. This radioactive fallout didn’t just kill; it transformed.

Evee’s true ability was far more insidious than a simple explosion. The ash she had unleashed twisted the laws of life and death. Those who inhaled it or came into direct contact with it were consumed. Their flesh charred and blackened, their minds dissolved into a hive-like connection. They became feral infernal soldiers, their bodies ablaze with flames no water could extinguish, their very existence a curse on the land.

These infernals rampaged through the streets, burning everything in their path—buildings, trees, people. Their screams were no longer human but guttural howls that echoed through River’s shattered streets. Mothers clutched their children as they fled blindly, desperate to escape the flames and the monsters. Some who tried to flee were caught by the ash and succumbed, their bodies becoming one with the fiery hive. The streets were filled with a madness that even the most hardened soldiers couldn’t contain.

Emily, newly teleported to Rivermirror with Evee, felt the weight of what had just happened crush her. She sank into herself, the image of her family—her parents, her sister—burned into her mind. She had abandoned them. Left them for dead. And now, she could never go back. Her stomach churned, and her hands trembled, but she forced herself to swallow the bile rising in her throat. She had to survive. To live in Rivermirror’s merciless world, she had no choice but to harden her heart.

“Who are you?” Evee’s voice broke through Emily’s haze. It wasn’t a question born of suspicion but of curiosity, as if she were trying to understand the stranger who had helped her.

“She’s with me,” a voice answered from the shadows. Hound emerged, his steps measured, his appearance unsettlingly calm and unbloodied despite the destruction around him.

Evee nodded, her gaze lingering on Emily as if in silent gratitude before walking away.

Emily and Hound traveled in silence to his hideout—an abandoned underground shelter, damp and cold. The walls were lined with symbols, runes, and inscriptions, all radiating a faint dark glow. Emily couldn’t help but feel the oppressive weight of the place as they descended deeper.

Finally, unable to hold back, Emily asked, “What do you want from me?”

Hound stopped abruptly, turning to face her. His expression was unreadable as he gestured toward the walls. “Look around, Emily. What do you see?”

“Characters, runes, inscriptions…” she hesitated, her eyes narrowing as she noticed something deeper. “... a dark attribute symbiote. What will you do with this power?”

His voice was sharp, cutting through the tension. “You help me, I keep you out of prison. You’re not here to ask questions.”

Emily stood her ground, crossing her arms. “I know you, Hound. I will not serve as an accessory to your murders or whatever you have planned.”

Hound sighed, a bitter chuckle escaping his lips. Slowly, he began to strip off his shirt, revealing the intricate runes etched across his body in deep blue ink. The sight was both mesmerizing and harrowing. “I watched my mother die, overworked as a slave,” he began, his voice trembling. “I should have pushed her off the building… It would’ve been the greatest mercy I could’ve offered her.”

Emily said nothing, sensing he needed to speak. She sat down, her gaze unwavering as he continued.

“That was the first time I killed. I killed our master, his wife… even his children. Even the girl Puck wanted.” His voice cracked, and tears began to stream down his face. “I told Puck I was done being weak. I blamed myself for her death. I promised him that, no matter what, we’d stick together. That I’d have his back. That I’d give my life for his.”

The pain in his voice was palpable, raw. Emily’s heart ached for him, but she knew this wasn’t the time for comfort.

“I started smoking and drinking, but it wasn’t enough to ease the pain and anger. Then the ether addiction began. It helped me cope with the grief. But even that wasn’t enough.”

“The side effects are great,” Emily interjected softly, “Excessive and nonstop abuse of ether is why your body depends on it. Why you burn when you transform…”

“Yes,” Hound admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “And why my emotional state is always numb. It doesn’t just take away the grief—it takes away everything. And for the first time since my mother died, I’m refraining from it. My body has to be clean for the symbiote to work.”

Emily hesitated before asking, “How are you feeling now?”

“It’s all coming back,” he confessed, his voice breaking. “My parents’ death, Puck’s murder… everything.” His shoulders shook as sobs wracked his body. “I don’t recognize myself anymore. So help me, Emily.”

Her gaze softened as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “You were a student at Ebonspire Academy, weren’t you? I’m putting my life in your hands. I know I can’t undo the past… but we can build a future from the rubble.”

Hound’s voice steadied, though the sorrow lingered. “The reason they call me Hound… it’s a name I gave myself for what I’ve done. But I want to create a world where children don’t face the horrors I did.”

Emily’s voice cracked as she asked the question weighing on her heart. “When you look far into the future you want to create, do you see River still standing?”

He hesitated, then shook his head. “No. All I see is death, anger, fire, and steel. In both River and Rivermirror. But from that destruction, we can create something new.”

Tears welled in Emily’s eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. She glanced at the runes on his chest and smirked faintly, trying to lighten the mood. “First of all, your main rune arrangement is wrong. What would you do without me?”

A faint smile crossed Hound’s lips as he muttered, “I don’t know.”