Morning arrived slowly.
For the first time in days, the sky was blue.
No storms.
No thunder.
No rain.
Sunlight poured through Zeven's window.
He lay awake staring at the ceiling.
Sleep had become strange lately.
Not difficult.
Strange.
Every sound seemed louder.
Every sensation sharper.
Sometimes he could hear cars passing several streets away.
Sometimes he heard dogs barking far beyond the neighborhood.
At first he thought he was imagining it.
Now he wasn't so sure.
A bird landed outside his window.
He could hear its claws scraping against the metal railing.
Zeven frowned.
The bird was nearly twenty meters away.
Yet it sounded as if it stood beside him.
"Great."
He rubbed his face.
"Now I'm turning into a dog."
A knock sounded.
Then the door burst open.
Dak entered.
Without permission.
As usual.
"Good morning, ugly."
Zeven threw a pillow.
Dak dodged it immediately.
"Still ugly."
"Get out."
"No."
Dak sat on the edge of the bed.
A dangerous smile appeared on his face.
Immediately Zeven became suspicious.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"That smile means something."
"It doesn't."
"It absolutely does."
Dak stood.
"We're meeting at Matthew's."
"Why?"
"Because I'm bored."
Zeven groaned.
The last time Dak got bored, someone ended up in a river.
An hour later all five sat around Matthew's kitchen table.
Ozias was drinking coffee.
Kael looked half asleep.
Matthew looked normal.
Dak looked excited.
Which worried everyone.
"No."
Matthew said immediately.
Dak hadn't even spoken yet.
"How do you know?"
"Because I've known you for years."
Dak pointed dramatically.
"That's profiling."
"It's experience."
Ozias sighed.
"What is it this time?"
Dak grinned.
"Adventure."
The room immediately became silent.
Kael leaned back.
"No."
"Come on."
"No."
"You're boring."
"I enjoy being alive."
Dak looked offended.
Matthew rubbed his forehead.
"What exactly are you proposing?"
Dak smiled wider.
A terrible sign.
"The river."
A pause.
"The forest."
Another pause.
"The cliffs."
Silence.
"Oh absolutely not."
Ozias answered instantly.
Dak pointed.
"See?"
"This is why nobody remembers your birthdays."
"I remember his birthday."
Said Matthew.
"That's because you're nice."
"No."
Matthew answered.
"I just have a functioning brain."
For nearly twenty minutes the argument continued.
Nobody wanted to admit it.
But eventually everyone knew what would happen.
The same thing that always happened.
Dak would annoy them until they agreed.
And somehow...
He did.
Again.
By noon they were walking through town.
The weather was perfect.
Warm.
Bright.
Peaceful.
Children played in nearby streets.
People sat outside cafés.
Cars moved through the roads.
Life continued normally.
Zeven noticed everything.
Too much of everything.
A conversation across the street.
A bicycle chain turning.
Coins falling from someone's pocket.
The sound of a dog barking somewhere far away.
His senses kept catching things they shouldn't.
Things nobody else noticed.
Matthew glanced at him.
"You did it again."
"What?"
"You keep looking at things before they happen."
Zeven frowned.
"I don't know what you mean."
"Yes you do."
Before Zeven could answer, a football rolled out from a side street.
Two seconds later a little boy ran after it.
Exactly where Zeven had already been looking.
Matthew noticed.
Again.
Neither spoke.
Because neither had an explanation.
The journey continued.
The boys bought snacks.
Argued about stupid things.
Made fun of each other.
At one point Dak convinced a stranger that Kael was a professional boxer.
Kael nearly strangled him.
Everything felt normal.
For the first time since the awakening.
Normal.
Eventually the town disappeared behind them.
The forest took its place.
Huge trees surrounded the path.
Birds sang overhead.
Wind moved through the branches.
The familiar trail stretched ahead.
This place held years of memories.
Countless afternoons.
Countless adventures.
Countless bad decisions.
Mostly Dak's.
"Remember when Ozias got lost?"
Dak asked.
"I wasn't lost."
"You disappeared for six hours."
"I was exploring."
"You cried."
"I did not."
Matthew laughed.
"You absolutely cried."
The argument lasted almost the entire walk.
And for a while...
Zeven forgot about the awakening.
Forgot about the lightning.
Forgot about everything.
He was just one of the boys again.
Then they reached the river.
Crystal water rushed between enormous rocks.
Sunlight reflected across the surface.
The familiar cliffs rose in the distance.
Towering over everything.
Dak immediately pointed.
"There."
Everyone followed his finger.
The cliffs.
Matthew sighed.
"We all knew this was coming."
Nobody disagreed.
Because deep down...
That had been Dak's plan from the very beginning.
And high above the river...
The cliffs waited.
The cliffs were even bigger up close.
Massive walls of stone rose above the river.
Wind pushed against them.
The sound of rushing water echoed throughout the valley.
For a few moments nobody spoke.
They simply stared upward.
Then Dak broke the silence.
"Beautiful."
Ozias looked at him.
"You're planning something stupid."
"I'm always planning something stupid."
"Fair."
The group continued walking.
The trail leading toward the cliffs was narrow and steep.
Roots crossed the ground like traps.
Loose stones rolled beneath their feet.
More than once Dak nearly fell.
Each time he blamed the trail.
Each time nobody believed him.
After twenty minutes of climbing, they reached the top.
The view was incredible.
The river stretched through the valley below.
The forest seemed endless.
Mountains could be seen far in the distance.
Even Kael stopped complaining for a moment.
"Okay."
He nodded.
"This was worth it."
Dak immediately pointed at him.
"Everybody heard that."
"He admitted I was right."
"I take it back."
"Too late."
Matthew laughed.
Ozias shook his head.
Idiots.
All of them.
Yet somehow these moments always became their favorite memories.
The boys spent nearly an hour on the cliffs.
Nobody rushed.
Nobody talked about awakening.
Nobody talked about black lightning.
Nobody talked about impossible powers.
For once...
They were just five friends enjoying the day.
Dak attempted to throw a rock into the river.
It landed nowhere close.
Kael laughed.
Then missed even worse.
Matthew somehow managed to hit the water exactly where he aimed.
Dak immediately accused him of cheating.
Nobody knew how someone cheated at throwing rocks.
Yet Dak somehow found a way.
Meanwhile, Zeven sat near the edge.
Watching the landscape.
Listening.
The wind.
The river.
The trees.
The birds.
Everything.
His enhanced hearing still felt strange.
The world had become louder.
More detailed.
Sometimes it was fascinating.
Sometimes it was exhausting.
A hawk circled high above them.
Zeven followed it with his eyes.
For a second he felt oddly calm.
Peaceful.
The first real peace he had felt since the bathroom.
Then Dak ruined it.
"Race."
Everyone looked at him.
"No."
Matthew answered immediately.
Dak ignored him.
"Race to the lower cliff."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"You're boring."
Ten minutes later they were racing.
Because somehow Dak always won arguments eventually.
Nobody knew how.
Nobody wanted to know.
The trail downward was rough.
Roots.
Mud.
Sharp turns.
Perfect.
The boys sprinted through the forest.
Laughing.
Shouting.
Pushing each other.
Almost falling.
Exactly like they had done a hundred times before.
Dak took the lead immediately.
Then ran straight into a low branch.
The impact knocked him onto his back.
The others nearly died laughing.
Even Dak laughed.
Eventually.
After his dignity recovered.
The race continued.
Kael surged ahead.
Ozias followed.
Matthew stayed close behind.
Dak complained about "sabotage."
Nobody listened.
Then Zeven accelerated.
And immediately realized something.
He was moving far too fast.
The forest blurred around him.
His feet barely seemed to touch the ground.
Branches.
Roots.
Rocks.
Everything appeared slower.
Almost predictable.
He reacted instinctively.
Dodging obstacles before he consciously noticed them.
His body moved naturally.
Effortlessly.
Like it had always been capable of this.
His eyes widened.
This wasn't normal.
Not even close.
Within seconds he overtook everyone.
The others stared.
"WHAT?"
Dak shouted.
"THAT'S CHEATING!"
"I DON'T THINK HE'S TRYING!"
Matthew shouted back.
Zeven finally forced himself to slow down.
His heart pounded.
Not from exhaustion.
From shock.
He wasn't even tired.
Not remotely.
The realization unsettled him.
Again.
Every day revealed something new.
Something impossible.
Something that pushed him farther away from normal.
The race ended near the lower cliffs.
Nobody officially won.
Mostly because Dak started another argument halfway through.
The sun slowly began descending.
Golden light painted the valley.
Long shadows stretched across the river.
The world looked beautiful.
Ancient.
Untouched.
Then Dak pointed toward the water.
The familiar grin returned.
The dangerous grin.
Immediately everyone knew.
"Oh no."
Matthew muttered.
"Oh yes."
Dak answered.
The river below churned between enormous rocks.
Deep water.
Fast currents.
A ridiculous jump.
Exactly the kind of thing they loved.
Dak spread his arms dramatically.
"Brothers."
"No."
Said Ozias.
"I haven't even..."
"No."
Dak sighed.
"Fine."
Then he pointed toward Zeven.
"You first."
The others laughed.
But Zeven remained quiet.
His eyes stayed on the river.
Something felt strange.
Not dangerous.
Just strange.
A tension beneath his skin.
A pressure.
The same feeling from the storm.
The same feeling from the forest.
The lightning.
Silent.
Waiting.
Matthew noticed.
Immediately.
"You okay?"
Zeven nodded.
"Yeah."
A lie.
Not a huge one.
But still a lie.
Because he wasn't okay.
He was changing.
And every day made that clearer.
The group slowly approached the edge.
The river roared below.
Wind rushed upward.
Dak looked down.
Then immediately stepped back.
"That's high."
Kael burst out laughing.
"You were the one who suggested it."
"I know."
"It's still high."
For a moment they simply stood there.
Looking down.
Looking at each other.
Smiling.
Laughing.
Living.
None of them knew how important this day would become.
None of them knew how much things would change.
Right now...
They were simply five brothers standing at the edge of a cliff.
Enjoying the final moments of an ordinary life.