CHAPTER 105: LINES DRAWN

Chapter 105: Lines Drawn

The portal spit them out onto frozen ground just as the sky started bleeding purple. Darius rolled, pulling the hybrid children close as reality shook around them.

The scaled girl was unconscious now, her network link flickering like a dying lightbulb. The other kids crowded together, their mixed-blood powers crackling weakly.

"Where are we?" Luna gasped, blood magic still smoking from her hands. "Neutral territory," Death answered, his shadows wrapping around the children like protective blankets.

"For now." But even as he spoke, the horizon burst with light. Not the warm glow of morning – this was harsh, artificial, angry. Council enforcement ships hung in the air like metal vultures, their speakers blaring across the desert.

"ATTENTION ALL SUPERNATURAL BEINGS. BY ORDER OF THE HIGH COUNCIL, MARTIAL LAW IS NOW IN EFFECT ACROSS ALL TERRITORIES. SUBMIT FOR REGISTRATION OR FACE IMMEDIATE PURIFICATION." Celeste spat blood into the snow. "They’re moving faster than we thought."

"What’s purification?" asked the wolf-eared boy, his teeth chattering from cold and fear. No one answered. They all knew.

Darius’s phone buzzed with emergency messages. Pack after pack sending desperate notes. Some asking for help. Others... "The Moonridge Pack just surrendered," he read, his voice hollow.

"So did the Silver Valley wolves. And the Crimson Fang vampires." "They’re smart," Death said without feeling. "The Council is offering survival to those who kneel."

"And slaughter to those who don’t," Luna added bitterly. The scaled girl’s eyes fluttered open. "The network... it’s breaking. Too many hybrid children are getting dark. The Council is collecting them." "Where’s Liana?" Celeste demanded.

"If they’re moving this fast, she needs to know." Darius tried calling. No answer. Tried the pack ties. Nothing but sound. "The Council is jamming supernatural communications," Sera realized, checking her own devices.

"They’re cutting us off from each other." Above them, more ships appeared. These ones were different – slimmer, deadlier. And they were going straight down. "Purification squad," Death noticed. "We need to move." But the hybrid children couldn’t move far.

The youngest, a five-year-old with butterfly wings and witch eyes, was barely moving. Using the network was burning them out too fast. "I can buy us time," Celeste said, her ice-blue eyes burning with desperate determination.

"How?" She pulled out a crystal that pulsed with dark energy. "Blood magic strengthened by Council enhancement drugs. I can hold them off for maybe ten minutes."

"That’s suicide," Luna objected. "Maybe. But these children are the key to everything. If the Council gets them, the mixed network dies.

And if that happens, Liana loses her only chance to reach the separated supernatural societies." The ships were almost on them. Through the transparent metal, they could see Council troops in white armor.

Purification clothing. Designed to burn away supernatural energy without killing the body. Living death. "Go," Celeste ordered, dark magic already sparking around her.

"Find Liana. Tell her the truth about our stolen world. And tell her..." She paused, pain flashing across her face. "Tell her I’m sorry. For everything." The first ship fired. Not bullets – blasts of pure white light that made the air scream.

Celeste threw herself into the sky, dark magic meeting white fire in blasts that shook the earth. She fought like a demon, her power fueled by months of rage and guilt. But there were too many ships. Too many forces.

"Portal!" Death shouted, ripping open dimensional space. "Now!" They dove through just as Celeste’s scream echoed across the battlefield.

When Darius looked back, she was falling, her power broken, white light consuming her. The portal closed on her offering. They fell out in a forest Darius recognized. Pack area.

But something wasn’t right. The trees were too quiet. No bird songs. No bug buzz. Even the wind held its breath. "Where is everyone?" the butterfly-winged girl whispered. They found the answer at the pack house.

A massive building that once housed fifty magical beings now stood empty. Doors hung open. Belongings spread in the snow.

And nailed to the front door, a Council notice: PURIFICATION COMPLETE. TERRITORY CLAIMED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. "They’re gone," Luna breathed. "The whole pack. Just... gone." "Not gone," Death corrected sadly.

"Purified. Stripped of their supernatural energy and shipped to work camps. Still alive, but not magical anymore." "That’s worse than death," Darius growled. His phone buzzed again. More surrender messages. The Eclipse Coven.

The Storm Riders. The Desert Fangs. One by one, supernatural societies were kneeling rather than fighting. "Can you blame them?" Sera asked quietly. "They’ve seen what cleansing does. They’re picking survival."

"They’re choosing slavery," Darius shot back. "Maybe. But they’re alive." The scaled girl struggled to her feet, her network connection barely working.

"I can still reach some of the mixed children. The ones the Council hasn’t caught yet." "What are they saying?" "That Liana is stuck. The Council surrounded her area with purification barriers. She can’t get out, and we can’t get in." Darius felt his heart stop. "Is she okay?"

"For now. But the walls are closing. They’re not trying to capture her – they’re trying to contain her until the Void Feeders come." "The Void Feeders are coming here?" "They’re already here," Death said, pointing at the purple sky.

"Those aren’t clouds." Above them, reality was folding like paper. Massive shapes moved through the tears – things that hurt to look at directly. The Void Feeders were flowing into their realm like cosmic cancer.

"How long do we have?" Luna asked. "Hours," the scaled girl mumbled. "Maybe less. Once they start feeding, they won’t stop until everything is eaten." "Then we end this now," Darius decided.

"We break through the Council barriers and reach Liana." "With what army?" Sera wanted. "Half the supernatural groups have surrendered. The other half are in hiding or cleansed."

"With them," Darius said, pointing at the mixed children. "They’re the only ones who can still reach across dimensions." "They’re dying," Luna objected.

"Using their power any more will kill them." "And not using it will kill everyone," Darius responded harshly. "Including them." The scaled girl met his eyes. "She’s right. We’re all dying anyway.

But if we link the full hybrid network together, just once, we might be able to punch through the barriers." "What about the different supernatural communities? The ones trapped in other dimensions?"

"They’re ready. They’ve been ready for ages. They just need someone to open the door." "And Liana?" "She’ll have to make the choice. Become the Guardian of all dimensions, or watch everything burn."

The butterfly-winged girl tugged on Darius’s sleeve. "Mister? I can feel my friends. All the mutant children. They’re scared, but they want to help." "Are you sure?" "We’ve been talking to each other our whole lives.

We know this is what we were born for." Darius looked at each child. All of them were flickering now, their mixed-blood power burning them from the inside. But their eyes were determined. "Okay," he said finally. "We do this. But we do it right.

One chance, full power, straight to Liana." The scaled girl nodded and closed her eyes. Immediately, her scales blazed with light as she linked to hybrid children around the world. "London network, online."

"Tokyo network, ready." "Sydney network, connecting." "São Paulo network, standing by." Dozens of voices, speaking in different languages but unified in goal.

Every hybrid kid on Earth, linking their power together. "The Council knows what we’re doing," Sera warned, checking her scanners. "Purification squads are moving toward every hybrid child location."

"Then we better be fast," Darius said. The network glowed brighter. Reality rippled as dimensional walls began to crack.

Through the tears, they could see other worlds. The Crystal Wolves of Dimension Seven, howling in languages that preceded speech. The Shadow Vampires, their forms changing between states of matter.

The Storm Witches, calling down lightning from strange skies. All of them, ready to return. "The door is opening," the scaled girl gasped, her light getting dangerously bright. "But it won’t hold long. And once it shuts..." "We know," Darius said softly.

"Thank you. All of you." She smiled, and for a moment, she looked like the kid she should have been. "Tell Liana we believe in her." The portal exploded open, showing a path through folded space directly to Liana’s territory.

But as they prepared to dive through, Death grabbed Darius’s arm. "Wait," he said quickly. "Something’s wrong. The Void Feeders aren’t just following us. They’re moving us." "What do you mean?"

"This is too easy. The Council wouldn’t just let us reach Liana unless..." Unless they wanted them to. "It’s a trap," Sera realized. "They want us to bring Liana and the hybrid network together in one place." "Why?" The scaled girl’s eyes went wide with fear.

"Because the Void Feeders don’t just eat power. They eat links. If we link everyone together..." "We make one big meal instead of many small ones," Death finished grimly.

The portal was already pulling them forward. The hybrid children were too weak to stop the link. And somewhere in the distance, Liana was waiting, unaware that her rescue might be her death. "Do we risk it?" Luna asked.

Above them, the purple sky split open fully. The Void Feeders were through. Reality began to dissolve at the edges as they started eating.

"We don’t have a choice," Darius said, grabbing the nearest hybrid kid. "Everyone in. Now." They dove through the opening just as the world behind them started to unravel.

But as they fell through folded space, Darius couldn’t shake the thought that they were falling into something’s mouth. And that something was very, very hungry.