Deep within the dark forest, far beyond the Hellfire Walls, the group of five sat gathered around a small, crackling campfire. The flames cast dancing shadows across the faces of Eli, Gina, Natasha, Kevin, and Thomas. Above them hung a full moon, bathing the forest floor in a pale, silvery glow.

  “It’s an unusually quiet night,” Natasha whispered.

  “It’s a full moon,” Thomas replied, his eyes fixed on the dense canopy overhead. “There’s more light at night then. The demons tend to remain calmer.”

  Eli, who had remained silent the entire time, slowly turned his head. He stared at Gina with intimidating intensity, his gaze sharp as a blade. “So where is this Benny?” he asked, his voice low and impatient.

  At that very moment, from the deepest shadows of the forest, a single purple light appeared.

  An eye.

  It stared at them—round, unnatural, unmistakably demonic. The group reached for their weapons in unison. The tension sharpened to a razor’s edge.

  “Natasha, what do we do?” Thomas asked, his voice tight. “A purple eye—this is an A-rank!”

  Before Eli could move, in the blink of an eye, the glowing purple eye was directly in front of him. The rest of the figure remained shrouded in darkness, but the intense violet glow was impossible to miss.

  It wasn’t a demon.

  It was a human—with a demon’s eye.

  “Easy, everyone! It’s Benny,” Natasha said with an awkward laugh. The tension slowly drained from the air, though the shock lingered.

  Benny’s purple eye locked onto Eli. He leaned forward, completely ignoring the rest of the group. “I see what you are,” he whispered.

  In a flash, Eli drew his dagger and slashed toward Benny’s throat.

  “You don’t know anything about me!” he shouted.

  Benny’s purple eye flared brightly. He saw the energy surging through Eli’s body, the rage coiling into his arm, the precise lethal angle of the strike. The violet energy flowed from Eli to Benny—an imperceptible transfer of information.

  Benny sidestepped effortlessly.

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  Eli’s blade sliced through the air, missing Benny’s neck by a hair’s breadth.

  “Calm down!” Natasha shouted, stepping forward—but it was already too late.

  Fully focused now, Eli lunged again, a swift, deadly strike aimed at Benny’s head. He expected Benny to block it.

  He didn’t.

  Benny’s body became a graceful whirlwind. He ducked beneath the blow and countered instantly, one of his twin knives flashing toward Eli’s abdomen.

  Eli reacted with blinding speed. His body moved before Benny’s motion was complete. He caught the blade with his bare hand.

  The impact rang out like steel striking stone—yet his skin bore no mark.

  Impossible, Benny thought. A flicker of confusion crossed his face before his calm expression returned. He’s stronger than he lets on.

  Eli pressed the attack. His dagger skimmed past Benny’s face, so close Benny felt the rush of air. Benny dodged, moving like a phantom, his remaining blade slashing through empty air in lightning-fast arcs.

  Eli parried every strike. He seemed untouchable.

  Thomas and Kevin stood frozen at the edge of the firelight, hands hovering near their weapons. They wanted to intervene, but the pace was too fast—too chaotic. Gina watched with a tense expression. She trusted Benny, but the sheer speed of the fight unsettled her.

  Amid the storm of motion, Benny found his opening.

  He sensed the dormant network of energy within Eli—felt how Eli was holding back. Benny exploited that knowledge. In a single second, he was behind Eli.

  With both knives, he locked Eli’s arms and trapped his legs. Benny’s combat mastery—his precision, agility, and strength—was extraordinary. This time, Eli couldn’t break free.

  He fought with everything he had, but it felt as though Benny’s style was superior.

  Benny’s purple eye seemed to smile.

  With a swift, lethal motion, Benny struck Eli at the temple. The blow was controlled and precise.

  Eli collapsed, his body going limp.

  The group stared in shock.

  Gina knelt beside him, fingers pressed to his pulse. She looked up at Benny and nodded.

  “He’s still alive,” she whispered.

  Benny knelt next to the unconscious Eli.

  “Rest,” he murmured. “I know what you are. And I know you’re holding back. I won’t say anything.”

  As Eli slipped into darkness, he faintly heard Natasha’s voice.

  “Benny? Was that really necessary?”

  The words drifted like wind—too distant to grasp. Then there was only darkness.

  …

  Eli opened his eyes.

  Soft light filled the room. He lay on a bed—soft, comfortable, something he hadn’t experienced in a very long time. Back in District Fire, they slept on hard, frozen ground.

  He looked around. The room was bare, containing nothing but the bed. The walls were raw wood, the floor plain and unadorned.

  Where am I? he wondered, unease creeping into his chest.

  In a flash, the fight with Benny replayed in his mind—the purple eye, the inhuman speed. A dull ache throbbed at his temple, a faint echo of the ruthless strike.

  The door opened.

  Thomas and Kevin entered, their voices loud and casual.

  “Hey Eli, how are you feeling?” Thomas asked, a hint of concern in his tone.

  “Fine,” Eli replied hoarsely. “Where are we?”

  “Glad you’re okay,” Thomas began, glancing around for a chair that wasn’t there. “That fight between you and Ben—”

  “Where are we?” Eli snapped, his voice sharper now.

  Kevin answered instead, his light tone unchanged. “We’re at an RT outpost. Benny was on a mission here and found some others. They’re downstairs.”

  Eli’s eyes widened. His unease deepened.

  Other people?

  Thomas, misreading Eli’s silence, continued. “Hey, Eli… who’s Lucy? And what’s Latinia? You were muttering those names in your sleep…”

  Eli’s expression hardened. His eyes sharpened, a deep frown forming.

  The names.

  He knew them.

  Exactly who Lucy was. Exactly what Latinia meant.

  They were buried secrets—truths he had hidden from himself and the world. A jolt of fear shot through him.

  They know. How could they know?

  “I have no idea,” Eli lied, his voice slightly softer.

  Kevin laughed. “Haha, Thomas, leave him alone! Probably just one of his girlfriends!”

  Still laughing, Kevin and Thomas left the room. Kevin paused at the doorway and glanced back.

  “When you’re ready, Eli, come downstairs.”

  Eli was left alone.

  In the empty room, silence pressed in around him.

  He knew the names hadn’t been a dream. They were echoes of a past he remembered—a past he had buried.

  And now, at his most vulnerable moment, it was beginning to surface.