The clearing was quiet.
Too quiet.
Nyxar and Vespera stood outside the cave, side by side, staring into the forest like statues. The air felt heavy — like it was pressing on their lungs. Every instinct they had screamed run, hide, kill, and pray, all at once.
Then it hit.
That feeling.
The kind that only happens when Death itself leans close enough to breathe on your neck.
Vespera immediately shifted — bones cracking, limbs splitting, armor blooming. Her spider form unfolded, towering, all six gleaming legs poised like drawn blades.
Nyxar didn't even blink. He just summoned Bella — the armored deer — and all three mantises, their chitin shimmering like glass. The two mini bears on Belos's lap suddenly enlarged, towering with metallic growls.
Inside the cave, Ember blinked. "Yo, what are you guys looking so scared at?"
Both Nyxar and Vespera turned their heads in perfect sync, their glowing crimson eyes burning through the cave entrance, and said in unison:
"S.T.A.Y. I.N. T.H.E. C.A.V.E."
The tone was calm, but somehow every letter carried the weight of an ancient curse.
Ember froze mid-step.
Belos dropped his mini bear.
Sylas just mouthed, "Oh. Coolcoolcoolcoolcoolcool…" and slowly ducked behind a rock.
The forest went still again.
Then—movement.
Nyxar's eyes flicked to the side — a shadow darted across a tree trunk. "Mantis."
The air snapped.
Three mantises lunged, blades slicing through the dark. For a moment, there was silence—then a wet thunk. A jaguar's head hit the ground, body twitching before collapsing into dust.
Before anyone could breathe, another blur — faster than lightning — appeared behind Nyxar.
It lunged.
Vespera was faster.
Her webline shot out, catching it mid-air. She slammed it to the ground and Bella's hooves came down like a guillotine.
Crunch.
Silence again.
This time, deeper.
Heavier.
Even the wind didn't dare move.
Ember peeked her head out. "...What the hell was that?"
Nyxar's grimware shimmered to life, and new letters carved themselves in ink across the page:
New Creature Acquired: Umbrajaguar
"Umbrajaguar…" he muttered.
He de-summoned the mantises, Bella, and the bears — shrinking the latter back to their tiny cuddly forms and handing them to Belos. The kid instantly resumed playing, as if nothing had happened.
Too fast.
Too normal.
Even the narrator was suspicious.
"...Did that kid just emotionally reset in under three seconds? Someone get him a therapist. Or a helmet."
Vespera reformed, the black chitin folding back as she returned to human form, pale and calm like nothing had happened.
Sylas walked up, lantern shaking in his hand. "A what now?"
He crouched near the bodies — the two jaguars lay motionless, their black fur gleaming faintly like polished steel. He turned to Nyxar and Vespera, wide-eyed.
"Do you two have any idea what you just killed?"
Both of them blinked.
Then, in perfect monotone:
"…No?"
Sylas's voice rose. "These are Umbrajaguars! The most terrifying land predator alive! Perfect hunters! Near one-hundred percent kill rate! Their fur's tougher than steel! And your mantis just cut it like butter!"
Ember looked unimpressed. "Oh, cool."
Sylas turned to her. "No, not 'cool!' Science-breaking! Do you understand what this means?! These things are apexes of apexes! They can—"
Ember patted his shoulder. "You'll get used to this."
"I—what?! How?!"
She shrugged. "You'll just… stop asking questions. It's what I did."
The narrator chimed in, deadpan.
"Poor guy. One day he's studying mushrooms, next day he's watching a war crime against biology. Tough week for Sylas."
Sylas sighed in disbelief. "So let me get this straight — Nyxar's weird and strange, Vespera looks like a female version of him, and somehow that guarantees she's also weird?"
Ember nodded, dead serious. "Yeah, pretty much."
"What—? That's not—!"
He stopped mid-protest when he noticed Nyxar staring down at the grimware page, reading the words 'Umbrajaguar acquired' over and over. For the first time, a tiny, eerie smile tugged at the edge of Nyxar's mouth.
Vespera noticed it too.
So did the narrator.
"...Oh, good. The emotionally dead warlock just smiled at a murder cat. Definitely not ominous. Totally fine."
Vespera tilted her head slightly, crimson eyes narrowing. "You're smiling."
Nyxar blinked once. "No, I'm not."
"You are."
"Am not."
"...Creepy."
The narrator exhaled like someone who'd just survived a rollercoaster.
"And that's the story of how two walking death machines bonded over slaying the universe's greatest predator, while everyone else questioned their life choices. Tune in next time for: Sylas Tries to Science the Impossible, and Ember Probably Sets Something on Fire."