Ochieng's breath came in ragged gasps. His mind refused to accept what had just happened.
Cassandra was gone.
Not dead. Not injured.
Just—gone.
One moment she had been there, trembling, fear in her eyes. The next, the creature had lifted its clawed hand, and she had disappeared like a wisp of smoke.
Ochieng's fists shook. His body felt like a coiled spring, ready to explode.
"WHERE IS SHE?!" His voice thundered through the underground tunnels, bouncing off the ancient stone walls.
But the creature did not answer.
It simply stood there, unmoving, unbothered.
Lin Feng's grip on his sword tightened. His face was pale, but his stance was firm.
"Ochieng, we need to—"
"I DON'T CARE WHAT WE NEED TO DO!" Ochieng spun around, his eyes wild with rage. "I'm not leaving without her."
The creature tilted its head slightly, as if amused. Then, without a single sound, it took a slow step forward.
Ochieng lunged.
His vision turned red, his veins burned, his muscles screamed—but he didn't care.
His fist shot forward with inhuman speed.
And it collided—
With nothing.
The creature vanished right before impact.
Ochieng stumbled, his momentum carrying him forward. He barely managed to stop himself from crashing into the stone wall.
The cavern fell silent.
The air was thick. Heavy. Unnatural.
Ochieng spun around, eyes scanning every inch of the tunnel.
Nothing.
Not even a trace of the thing that had taken Cassandra.
His breath came out in harsh, uneven bursts. His fingers dug into his palms, his nails nearly breaking the skin.
Gone.
Just like that.
Lin Feng exhaled slowly. "Ochieng…"
Ochieng didn't look at him. He couldn't.
His mind was racing.
What was that thing?
Why did it feel like it knew him?
And more importantly—where did it take Cassandra?
His vision blurred for a moment, his head pulsing with the remnants of the battlefield vision from before. The armored figure's words echoed in his mind:
"You will remember… soon."
Ochieng clenched his teeth.
"I need to find her." His voice was low. Dangerous.
Lin Feng nodded, stepping beside him. "We will."
But Ochieng could hear the doubt in his tone.
He didn't blame him.
Because, for the first time in his life, Ochieng wasn't sure if finding Cassandra was even possible.
Not when their enemy was something that could erase people from existence without a trace.
Not when the shadows of his past were finally starting to wake up.
And not when he himself was beginning to realize—
That he was no ordinary man.