Marcus/Rocco
The forest felt different when you walked into it on purpose. Before, it
had always been reaction.
A response to something already happening. Now-
We were the ones going in first.
Tracking. Hunting. It changed the air.
Or maybe it was just me.
"Okay," Noah said behind me, brushing out of his face, "I'm just gonna
say it now- if this turns into one of those 'we walk in circles and get
ambushed' situations, I'd like it on record that I called it."
Riley didn't even look at him. "You call everything."
"Exactly. Statistically, I'm due to be right."
Callie kept walking ahead of them, silent, focused.
I didn't say anything. Because right now, I was leading.
Seraphina's words from earlier hadn't left my head.
You lead this one.
Not assist or follow. Lead.
I slowed slightly, scanning the ground again.
At first glance, it looked like nothing.
Just dirt. Leaves. Broken twigs. But if you focused.
Really focused-
You could see it. Disturbances.
Weight where there shouldn't be. Patterns that didn't belong.
"It shifted," I said.
The others went quiet behind me.
"Where?" Riley asked.
I pointed slightly to the right, toward a denser patch of trees.
"There."
Callie moved forward, crouching briefly.
A second passed, then she moved.
"… He's right."
Noah blinked. "Wait- actually?"
"Shocking," Riley muttered.
"I always believed in him," Noah said.
"You didn't."
"I believed quietly."
I ignored them and adjusted course.
The deeper we went, the quieter it became.
No birds, no wind. Just that subtle pressure building in the air.
"We're close," Callie said.
I nodded.
I felt it too.
I raised a hand slightly.
"Stop." They did.
That still felt strange. But no one questioned it.
"Positions," I said.
Riley shifted slightly behind me, already scanning the surroundings.
Callie moved to the right without needing direction.
Noah paused for a second.
"… I assume I'm the bait?"
"Stay behind me," I said.
He nodded once. No jokes this time.
"Got it."
We moved forward.
The demon burst from the trees. And I moved first.
Steel flashed as I stepped into its range instead of backing away. Its
claws tore toward my chest.
I slipped inside the attack. One blade caught its wrist, the other
slashed low.
The demon twisted sharply, avoiding the deeper cut. Too smart. I pivoted
immediately and slammed a low kick into its thigh.
The impact cracked through the clearing. It staggered half a step.
Enough. I stepped in hard, driving my elbow toward its jaw. But the thing bent
backward unnaturally, dodging before swinging again.
I ducked under the claw, feeling them cut through the air above my head.
That was too close.
I answered instantly with a knee to its ribs before spinning into a
roundhouse kick that slammed the side of its skull.
The impact sent it skidding through the dirt and leaves. Not pausing, I
chased it immediately. Feeling the constant pressure.
"Left side!"
Riley's voice snapped through the clearing.
I turned just in time to see another demon burst from the trees- but
Riley was already moving. Way faster than a normal person should've been.
She intercepted its path with a broken branch, knocking its strike
off-course before twisting away cleanly.
She wasn't human fast. Not anymore.
The bracelet pulsed faintly against my wrist and somehow, I understood.
The realm energy wasn't affecting just me anymore.
The second demon lunged toward Riley again-
Noah moved first. Not panicked or sloppy but focused.
He grabbed Riley's arm and yanked her backward just before the claws
tore through the space, she'd been standing in.
"Okay," he muttered, breathing hard, "that was
definitely too close." Then his eyes sharpened instantly.
"Marcus- duck!"
I dropped without hesitation. Something whipped over my head.
Callie's whip.
It wrapped around the demon's neck before violently yanking it sideways
into a tree hard enough to crack bark.
The first demon recovered fast.
It rushed me again with animalistic aggression. I met it head- on.
This time I stopped thinking. The bracelet surged again and my body
followed.
It struck. I parried with one blade while stepping into clinch range,
trapping its arm briefly before driving repeated knees into its midsection.
One.
Two.
Three.
The creature roared violently, forging space between us-
I spun with the momentum instead of resisting it. My heel smashed into
the side of its knee joint with a snap.
The demon dropped lower, and I finished it immediately with an axe kick.
My heel crashed down on its skull with explosive force, the ground cracking
beneath the impact.
The demon stopped moving.
The second one was already breaking free from Callie's whip. I turned,
too slow.
It lunged straight toward Noah. But Noah didn't freeze.
His expression hardened. "Riley!"
The two of them moved together without hesitation.
Riley slid low beneath the demon's swing while Noah grabbed a fallen
branch and slammed it across the creature's face hard enough to stagger it.
It wasn't enough to kill it, but enough to survive and buy time.
I was already moving.
The bracelet surged harder this time, power rushing through my limbs as
I closed the distance in a blur.
I thrust one blade forward, the demon dodged.
Expected.
I released the blade completely. The creature hesitated.
Mistake.
I stepped inside its guard and drove a vicious elbow into its throat
before catching the falling blade mid- air with my free hand. Then I spun, both
blades crossed cleanly through its torso.
Silence.
Heavy breathing filled the clearing. Leaves drifted slowly back to the
ground.
Nobody moved for a second. Then Noah exhaled sharply.
"…Okay," he said between breaths, "I think we should all acknowledge
that I was amazing back there."
Riley stared at him.
"You hit it with a stick."
"A tactical stick."
Callie rolled her eyes with a faint smile.
But I barely heard them. Because I noticed something else.
Riley.
Noah.
Their movements had been sharper. Faster than normal.
The bracelet pulsed faintly against my wrist again. And somewhere deep
in the forest.
Something responded back.