“Water.” Taj stood in the lake. 

The evening was peaceful.
The sky stretched in a deep, dark gray—cloudless. 

The water was perfectly still, shifting in shades of green and blue. Treetops mirrored in the surface, casting shadowy reflections across the lake.

He remained calm. The water reached just below his chest, his upper body bare. 

His face was tilted toward the sky, as if gazing at the moon. 

But his eyes were closed.

Taj drifted, lost deep within his mind.

…

“We need to catch it.” Song heard Wei’s whisper.

They were watching something in the distance. Both were focused and tense.

Unpleasant yellow dust, still hot from the day, was everywhere.
In their ears, eyes, noses, and hair, sand was everywhere, even if they wore their special clothes.

The Deserts. Such charm.

It wasn’t completely dark yet, but the sun wasn’t brightly shining anymore either.

Two hundred steps away from them, something was moving. It was tugging at a dead body lying on the sand with a screech. 

It didn’t glance around as if it weren’t afraid of anything.
Also, it didn’t notice them. 

Not yet.

“Catch, don’t kill. We need to succeed this time,” Wei repeated. “Transport to room three. Lan is waiting, she confirmed.”

Song nodded.
No need to make more sounds.

They looked at each other, and, as they agreed on the action, they took off together.

…

“One blow of the wind, and it all changes—it flows. A different tone of light makes the whole lake look like a different place.” 

Taj looked around. “Water. Amazing.”

He closed his eyes again; he felt happiness in his heart. Taj dove into the water to swim.

…

“It has two Crystals, not one! You from the left, me in the front, first these hands,” Wei hissed to Song.

A minute later, the two of them tried to immobilize the creature.

It was different from the ones they had encountered before.
Killing it would have been easy. 

But they needed to catch it—to examine it later. They would rather not damage anything.

The task was difficult.

…

Taj emerged from the water. 

It dripped from his hair, tied in his usual ponytail, flowed down his body, and returned to the lake.

He was calm. He couldn’t remember if ever, when in the City, he had felt so calm. 

There was no anger in him. 

He stood still, in the same place as before. This time he was looking at the moon.

…

The moment they captured it, they transported where they usually conducted their investigations.

The labs were located deep in the woods.

They were completely at the edge of the Sect boundaries. They were also nearby Song’s old residence.

This creature was especially furious when captured. 

They encountered problems keeping it unharmed. And they were unlucky this day, as suddenly the creature broke free. It managed to escape their hands when they were trying to catch it again.

“It is heading to the woods and then the lake. Let’s go!” Song heard Wei’s shout.

They transported themselves there.

…

It was breathing quickly. 

It didn’t recognize the smell; it didn’t know what it was. 

Typically, it was sand, and there were only a few smells. Now there were many smells everywhere. 

There were obstacles. It ran fast, bumping into things around it, hitting one tree, then another, becoming more panicked with each bump. 

But it kept running. 

It was running; it was running away. 

Its Crystals illuminated the way.

…

They transported near the lake, certain it ran this direction. 

Both were focused on observing the woods. They could hear it already, running fast.

“It will be surprised when it runs into the water. It should slow down. We need to kill it. It cannot run further,” Wei whispered.

Song nodded and turned to look at the lake. And he froze.

There was a person in the lake, standing with their back to them. Black hair wet.

Wei followed his gaze. But, Song noticed, he didn’t seem worried.

“Kill!” Wei shouted a single word.

…

It was running so fast that when it ran out of the woods, it shot into the air. 

It wanted to stop, but with its momentum, it ran onto the surface of the lake. It was as if it were sliding on it; it started to croak; it didn’t know the water; it didn’t know what it was, and the panic grew greater. 

It used energy of its Crystals, which were both burning. 

It was so afraid of what it slid on that when it felt the familiar smell, it could only do one thing. 

Attack.

…

Taj had already noticed there was a familiar type of energy approaching him. He tilted his head to listen and slowly turned his body to confirm what it was. 

He saw it when it was halfway toward him. 

Then he suddenly heard Wei’s voice—a command. He knew what to do. 

Taj awakened his Crystal.

…

Song could only watch.

Crystaler roused his energy and slightly relaxed his body, preparing for the fight.

The creature threw its clawed hands forward, clearly intending to attack. A panic attack, difficult to defend against, especially when the opponent was that strange.

But Song could only watch now.

…

Taj avoided the first claws with a dance movement.

When he dodged, he made a move with his hand, morphing a spike as he had done during the arena fights. He cut one of its hands.

It howled and tried to reach his throat with the other claw, but Taj wrapped around its body, bypassed it, and cut it again.

Blood sprayed around, and it screeched.

Injured, it submerged itself halfway into the water but then tried to grab something. In a final movement of pain and anger, it opened its jaw, trying to bite.

Taj stuck his spike into its eye, aiming to reach the brain.
It silently sank into the water, dead.

All peace was illusory. 

Taj sighed heavily.