Chapter 2
June 13, 2026
The ruins of the city were a labyrinth of shattered glass and steel, bathed in the sickly glow of a mana-choked moon. Ten giant rats—each the size of a door—scurried through the debris, their panicked squeals piercing the silence. Something stalked them, invisible but for twin orange eyes burning in the dark like hellfire.
The rats didn't see the shadow until it lunged.
A sleek, panther-like form materialized under the moonlight, towering over two meters tall. Claws like scythes flashed, and the lead rat collapsed, its throat torn open. The others stampeded blindly, trampling their fallen packmate in their terror.
Above them, perched upside-down on a gnarled tree branch, Avery Cole grinned.
"Dinner's served, Sparkle," he murmured, honey-brown hair spilling toward the ground as he took aim. His mana gun hissed, its barrel glowing faintly as he fired.
Click. Crack.
A rat's skull exploded.
Click. Crack.
Another dropped mid-stride.
The remaining rats surged beneath his branch, and Avery swore, flipping upright with fluid grace. He pulled a mana crystal from his pocket—a shard of condensed energy glowing like trapped lightning—and slotted it into the gun.
"C'mon, c'mon—yes."
He sprinted along the branch and leaped, landing squarely on the massive mana beast's back.
"Go!"
Sparkle—a creature of midnight fur and molten eyes—snarled and surged forward, her paws crushing rubble as she closed in on the fleeing rats. Avery braced his knees against her shoulders, firing shot after shot.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Bodies fell.
---
By the time the last rat collapsed, Avery's gun was smoking. He slid off Sparkle's back, boots thudding against cracked asphalt.
"Good girl," he said, ruffling the beast's fur. Sparkle yawned, revealing dagger-like teeth, and flopped onto her side with a ground-shaking thud.
Avery rolled his eyes.
"Thanks for the enthusiasm."
He knelt beside the nearest corpse, knife glinting in the moonlight. At 23, his androgynous beauty was sharpened by survival—high cheekbones smudged with dirt, a mole kissing the corner of his right eye, and a lithe frame clad in a cropped turtleneck and navy cargo pants. His hands worked quickly, gutting the rat with practiced ease.
"Jackpot," he muttered, pulling a mana crystal from the creature's chest. It pulsed faintly in his palm. Sparkle sniffed it disdainfully.
"Oh, don't give me that," Avery said, pocketing the crystal.
Sparkle huffed, her tail flicking like a whip.
By dawn, Avery had harvested seven crystals. He wiped his knife on his pants and stood, stretching stiff muscles. The horizon shimmered ominously—mana storms brewed in the distance, their kaleidoscopic lightning twisting the sky into a fever dream.
He kicked a carcass towards her. "Dinner?"
She sniffed it, gagged theatrically, and turned her head away.
Avery barked a laugh.
"You're ridiculous. This is the apocalypse, princess. You don't get to be picky."
Sparkle flopped onto her side, tail thumping a pile of rubble into dust.
"Time to go," he said, patting Sparkle's flank. The beast rose, shaking debris from her fur.
Avery slung his gun over his shoulder and climbed onto her back.
Sparkle growled, low and resonant, but obeyed.
"Think those giant buzzards are still nesting east of here?"
Sparkle's ear twitched.
"C'mon. They'll taste better than rat."
As they vanished into the ruins, Avery didn't look back. He never did.
The buzzards' nest was a fortress of bones and razor wire, perched atop the remnants of a collapsed shopping mall. Four massive birds circled overhead, their wingspan blotting out the moon. Each stood taller than Avery, feathers glinting like shrapnel, beaks curved into cruel hooks.
Avery crouched behind a rusted delivery truck, his mana gun trembling in his hands. The last crystal he'd loaded sparked dangerously.
"You take the two on the left," he whispered. "I'll handle the right."
Sparkle's tail lashed.
"No, you cannot eat all of them. Focus."
She huffed but slunk forward, her form dissolving into the shadows. Avery steadied his breath and fired.
Click. Crack.
The shot grazed a buzzard's wing, igniting its feathers in blue flame. The creature shrieked, its cry splitting the air. The flock dove, talons slashing.
"Move!"
Avery rolled as a beak speared the ground where he'd stood. He fired again, the recoil slamming his shoulder into debris.
Click. Hiss.
The gun died, its crystal spent.
"Sparkle!"
She lunged from the shadows, jaws snapping around a buzzard's throat. The bird writhed, its claws raking her flank, but Sparkle shook it like a ragdoll until its spine cracked. The remaining three circled, their eyes glowing with predatory malice.
Avery scrambled up a collapsed escalator, the buzzards' wings buffeting him with rancid air. One talon hooked his turtleneck, yanking him off-balance. He slammed his knife into its foot, black blood spraying his face. The bird recoiled, and Avery leaped onto its back, driving the blade into its neck.
They crashed into a shattered storefront, glass exploding around them. Avery's ribs screamed as he rolled, clutching the gun. The buzzard staggered, its beak snapping wildly.
Click. Boom.
Avery shoved the barrel into its open mouth and fired. The bird's head vaporized, its body collapsing in a heap of twitching feathers.
By the time the last buzzard fell, Avery's turtleneck hung in tatters, his arms crisscrossed with cuts. Sparkle limped to his side, a gash bleeding dark ichor down her leg.
"You okay?" he asked, pressing a hand to her flank. She nosed his hair, her breath warm and oddly comforting.
"Yeah. Me too."