CHAPTER 79: CH 79: TIME.

"And that’s your first mission guys. Save all those still in the building."

They all just stared at him for a second, not sure if he was insane or definitely insane.

"How are we supposed to find the kid?" Micheal Anderson finally.

"It’s not just the kid that’s stuck in the building." Alex pointed out. "It’s a six floor complex— that means there are approximately five to eight apartments per floor...

And the entire thing is gonna go down in about ten minutes so I suggest you get in there."

He raised the remote for them to see, pushed a button and in the next second Alex dissolved like ash before their eyes.

"Alright guys." Aegon tried to draw their attention. "There’s six floors and five of us. So here’s what we do—"

"I’m going in." Ren said as he took off running into the burning building without a plan.

"What?!" Aegon screamed as he was his evanescent figure disappearing into the smoke.

"Aegon." Quinn called him. "We don’t have time for this. The building is coming down soon."

"Alright we head in. Quinn you take the first floor, Mira you’re second, Micheal third and I’ll take the fourth... Whoever finishes first goes to the upper floors."

They nodded in brief agreement before sprinting into the building.

Aegon immediately headed for the steps. But they were none as the wood was so weak even a step would’ve broken it.

"Mira? Could you freeze the steps."

Mira stepped forward, stretched her hand as frost shot out and stabilised the stairs. They sprinted up together and soon started to separate.

Aegon stepped onto the fourth floor alone, the smoke rolled low making even seeing a chore. He squinted his eyes as he proceeded forward, checking every apartment.

"Hello?!" He called out for any survivors. "I’m here to help!"

He got no answer as he proceeded to the fifth floor. The air was practically suffocating, every breath was clawing and fighting his lungs within him.

He managed to push through but his voice was significantly more strained. "Is anyone here?" He wheezed out and fell to a single knee.

*Cries*

Just as his lungs give up he hears the cries of what seemed to be a child in an apartment. Aegon gets back up on his feet and chases it down.

~BAM~ He kicks down the door but the inside is mayhem, broken window glass littered the floor, a part of the roof’s support had broken off and broke a hole through the floor.

And the smoke was even thicker here, it covered everything, he squinted his eyes to the point he could barely see and used the walls and the cries of the child to guide him to its location.

He got to the child’s crib as it wailed in a room an inch away from being inhabitable. He grabbed the baby from its crib and placed his head against his chest and made his way out of the building.

He got out and took a sharp breath of air. The others were already out, well all except for Ren.

The child’s frantic mother ran over to him as soon as she saw her child. "My baby." She said as she took him from Aegon’s arm and hugged him tightly. "Thank you." She said, as a bittersweet smile rode her cheeks.

’How the hell are you not real?’ He thought but said nothing as it would be inappropriate, but then again, would she really care?

"D." Micheal called for Aegon. "Ren’s still in the building."

"What? How." Aegon asked. "We checked every floor, didn’t we?"

"We didn’t check the top." Mira pointed out.

"Why don’t we just leave him?" Quinn said flatly. "The mission is about to end anyway. What’s the point?"

"The point is the suffocation is real." Aegon turned back to the building. "And I don’t exactly think principal Miller would love the idea that we left a teammate there to die."

"We have about 4 minutes left."

Micheal added.

"That’s all I need." Aegon narrowed his eyes as he dove back into the apartment.

This time he was on a mission. Quick and easy, find Ren and get out. He checked every room on every floor before finally getting to the top floor.

Ren stood in the corridor, leaning against a wall like the place around him wasn’t burning.

"Ren?" Aegon said hesitantly, unsure of what was going on. "What are you doing man? We have to get out of here."

"You are all so predictable." Ren pushed off from the wall. "Of course you came to play the hero."

Aegon swallowed hard, realising that this was Ren’s plan. He glanced down a little lower to his figure—his shadow was missing.

Aegon’s pulse thrashed in his ears—partly from the sprint, partly from the way Ren’s calm didn’t match his building.

His body stood there.

Aegan didn’t breathe. Didn’t blink. Didn’t mistake what he was seeing.

"Your shadow..." he muttered.

Ren, eyes reflecting the orange blaze around them. "Yeah. That’s the least of your worries."

The flames crackled, swaying like they were leaning in to listen.

Aegon didn’t wait. He snapped his fingers and a thin arc of fire rippled across his knuckles—small, sharp, controlled. The air around him vibrated with heat.

Ren didn’t move. Not physically.

His shadow did. It finally moved from the corner.

It peeled off the floor in a violent twitch, stretching upward like a tar-black serpent, then lunged at Aegon with a sound like ripping cloth.

"Shit—!" Aegon dove, barely avoiding the tendril as it slammed into the burning wall and sent embers exploding everywhere.

He rolled across scorching floorboards and threw a fireball mid-spin, aiming not at Ren but the shadow.

Wrong move.

The shadow split like smoke and reformed behind him.

"Enough!" Aegon screamed as fingers sparked a ring of fire around him warding off the shadow. "We’re done here."

Ren never once smiled. Like he and joy had nothing in common. "We’re done when I say we’re done." He pushed himself to the side and disappeared into his shadow.

Aegon circled him. Waiting to see where he would emerge from but he still had the ring of fire to protect him.

Ren didn’t come back. Aegon’s shadow betrayed him.

His own shadow stretched out it’s hands and tripped him. He turned back up to see Ren walking towards him.

He’d intentionally avoided phasing in case they were cameras or something watching them but he’d had enough.

He pushed back to his feet and waited for Ren’s hands. It didn’t take long before he shot out a tendril but Aegon phased through it.

Baiting him closer. Another. Another. Until he was inches away.

He took a deep breath. Puffed out his cheeks and let a rip. ~FWOOSH!~ as fire engulfed everything and illuminated the room.

Ren had, as expected, dove into the shadows for protection. And when the flames finally settled he returned.

Aegon’s grin spread. He tapped on his wrist from Ren to see. "We’re out of time."