“I’m so glad to finally meet you,” Priest Urban says, sitting across from Alexia at a small wooden table in the back room of the church. The dim light from a single stained-glass window paints the walls in muted reds and golds. “Your father speaks of you often. We’re good friends.”

  “Oh, really?” Alexia shifts in her seat, eyes lowering. “I… wouldn’t know. I haven’t talked to him since we fought. I was so angry, and now that he might be gone…” Her voice trails off, guilt softening the edge of her words

  “How long have you been feeling this guilt?” Priest Urban asks, his tone calm but probing. “Do you believe it’s your fault that the two of you drifted apart?”

  Alexia’s head snaps up. “He pointed a gun at me,” she says, her voice sharper than she means. “I think I’m well within my rights to be upset about that.

  Silence lingers between them. Her gaze drops to her hands folded on the table.

  “…But still,” she murmurs, “I wish I’d talked to him about it. Maybe it wouldn’t have changed anything, but… at least I’d know I tried.”

  “So, her father,” Sid says, leaning forward a little. “You said you know where he’s going?”

  Before the priest can answer, Alexia cuts in quickly. “Yeah—he could still be alive.” Her voice carries a flicker of hope, too fragile to hide.

  “Well,” Priest Urban begins, folding his hands together, “right after the dragon appears, something strange happens. A house just—appears. As if it’s been dropped into the middle of Superior National Forest out of nowhere.”

  He leans forward slightly, voice lowering. “And inside that house… lives something evil. An alien unlike any the Department has ever faced. It’s powerful—too powerful. Some say it can see the future, or read minds.”

  “Thank you,” Sid says, glancing toward Alexia.

  “You’re right, Sid,” she replies, determination tightening her voice. “We have to get going. The longer we wait, the less chance my father has.”

  “Farewell, my children,” Priest Urban says softly as he turns and disappears through the doorway near the bathrooms. His footsteps echo down the hall—steady, deliberate—until the sound fades, leaving only silence behind.

  The two of them step out into the cool air, the church doors closing quietly behind them. Sid glances around the empty street.

  “Where’s Liddle?” he asks.

  “Oh—yeah.” Alexia pulls out her phone. “She said she’d be waiting for us. I’ll send her a message… maybe she already started looking for Markus.”

  A minute later, Liddle’s reply buzzes across Alexia’s phone:

  Went to the forest house. I’m alright.

  Alexia exhales, half relieved, half tense. “She says she’s fine—but that’s just one more reason to hurry.”

  She reaches for Sid’s hand, her Mahoishi stone glowing faintly between her fingers. “Hold on.”

  Light ripples around them, and in the next heartbeat, they stand at the forest house’s entrance.

  As they step into the house, the lights flicker weakly, casting long shadows across the walls. The air is still—too still. Rows of bookshelves line the entryway, packed tight and untouched, their spines gleaming like they’ve just been cleaned.

  “This place seems deserted,” Alexia says quietly, glancing around.

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  Sid crouches beside one of the tables, running a finger along the edge. He frowns. “There’s no dust. If your father’s team already raided this place, whoever lives here must still be around—and they’re hiding. Keep your guard up.”

  A faint croak breaks the silence.

  Sid’s eyes dart toward the sound—a frog perched on one of the shelves, its throat pulsing slowly in the dim light.

  Oh… is this really her house? Sid thinks, unease crawling up his spine as more croaks echo from somewhere deeper inside.

  A low, shifting noise comes from inside the walls—something crawling, scraping along the beams. The sound grows louder, circling them.

  “Get down!” Sid shouts.

  Before Alexia can react, the floor splits open beneath them. The world tilts, and both of them plunge through, crashing hard into the darkness below.

  The impact knocks the air from her lungs, but Alexia pushes herself up, her Mahoishi staff already glowing faintly. She presses it to her chest, whispering a quick healing spell as warmth spreads through her limbs.

  “You okay?” she asks, reaching toward Sid.

  He groans, sitting up amid the dust and broken boards. Alexia sweeps the light of her staff across him, her eyes scanning for injuries.

  “I’m fine,” Sid says, pushing himself to his feet. He runs his hand along the wall, searching for a light switch. When he finds it, the bulbs flicker weakly to life—casting pale yellow light across the basement.

  Alexia’s breath catches. Two bodies lie sprawled on the floor near the far wall, their uniforms torn and stained with dried blood.

  Sid crouches beside them, frowning. “They look like cops… maybe members of the Alien Department.”

  Alexia’s skin goes pale, a sickly green tinge creeping up her neck. “So… does that mean my father is—”

  “Alive,” Sid interrupts firmly. “If he were dead, his body would be here too.”

  “I remember watching those two practice their gunfire…” Alexia’s voice rises, breaking into a shout. “Awful. Just awful!”

  He stands and moves toward a half-open door on the other side of the room. It creaks as he pushes it wider, revealing a narrow stairway leading deeper underground.

  The air is damp and heavy, carrying the metallic tang of rust and old blood. Water drips steadily from somewhere above, each drop echoing through the narrow stone corridor like the ticking of a broken clock.

  Chains hang from the walls, their shadows long and uneven in the flickering light. The torches burn weakly, struggling against the weight of the darkness, their flames bending with every faint breath of air.

  The walls themselves seem to sweat, black with mildew and streaked with faint handprints. A low mist coils around the floor, hiding the uneven stones beneath.

  Farther in, the corridor widens into a small chamber. Iron bars divide the space—a crude cell barely large enough for a man to kneel. The smell is stronger here, something between damp earth and decay.

  A single lantern hangs outside the cell, its light swaying gently, throwing distorted shadows across the figure slumped inside.

  “Dad…” Alexia’s voice trembles as she steps closer to the cell. The dim light flickers over the bruises on his face, the cuts along his arms. His uniform hangs loose on him, and his usual confident posture is gone. “You look awful,” she whispers. “Your frame’s thinner, your smile’s… tired. Is it really you, Dad?”

  Marlion lifts his head, eyes widening in disbelief. “Alexia?” His voice cracks, raw from thirst and disuse. “How did you get here?”

  He pushes himself toward the bars, urgency flaring in his eyes. “You shouldn’t be here—leave me! Get yourself out of this place before they find you.”

  “No,” Alexia snaps, her grip tightening on her staff. “We’re getting you out.” She swings at the lock, the staff ringing against iron.

  “Why put in the effort?” Marlion rasps. He slumps against the bars, voice rough with regret. “I wouldn’t have run into danger for you. I would’ve just stayed in my office, so sure that my job was the most important thing.”

  “You saved me before—remember the tiger?” Alexia’s voice cracks, but she swings at the lock again.

  Marlion’s hands clench into fists. “Why did I have my own daughter fight aliens? You were just thirteen when I brought you in. I’m a failure of a father.” His head drops. “Just let me die.”

  “If you’re really sorry about it, then you won’t take the easy way out,” Alexia says, lowering her Mahoishi. The glow fades from her staff as she gives up on breaking the lock.

  “She probably keeps the key on her,” Sid says quietly. “We’ll have to get it from her.”

  Alexia tries opening a portal directly into the cell, but her magic flares and fizzles against a shimmering barrier—a ward woven into the bars.

  “Fine,” she says at last, determination sharpening her voice. “Sid and I will get the key. Just stay there.”

  She shoots her father one last look, then turns and sprints up the stairs with Sid at her side. The door at the top is open when they start climbing.

  By the time they reach it, it’s closed.