Chapter 28 – The Hunger for Fire

  Eo remained still, coiled within the shifting mist, observing the ember-wreathed creature. The battle had not yet ended, but something in the air had changed.

  The creature, now wary of Eo’s adaptability, pulsed its flames in steady bursts, its body trembling with tension. It knew instinctively—its fire had not driven him away. It had failed to burn him out.

  Eo, on the other hand, was learning.

  This was different from any fight before. Mist was fluid, adaptable, a medium he could manipulate and control at will. Bloodlust was raw, instinctual, an unshackled force that strengthened his physical form. But this—this fire—was something that resisted both.

  It couldn’t be controlled like Mist.

  It couldn’t be consumed like flesh.

  And yet, the creature in front of him wielded it with ease.

  Eo’s hunger stirred. He had to know why.

  With slow, deliberate movements, he shifted his form again, lengthening his tendrils into fine, whiplike strands. Instead of rushing in, he encircled the creature, testing its reactions. Each pulse of fire followed a rhythm, an automatic response to danger.

  It doesn’t just burn.

  It reacts.

  The embers weren’t mindless—they followed instinct. They flared when the creature sensed danger, when its body recoiled or flexed. That meant they were an extension of its very being, tied to its survival.

  Eo tightened his form, adjusting his approach.

  If he couldn’t overpower the fire, he would have to smother it.

  The mist thickened, surrounding the ember creature, pressing in from all sides. The creature reacted violently, its body flaring up like a living torch, but Eo was ready. He didn’t force the mist against the flames this time. Instead, he let it absorb the heat.

  The burning sensation spread through his mist, but not in destruction—this time, he let it pass through, flowing along his body rather than resisting it.

  And then, he struck.

  A tendril lashed forward, wrapping around the creature’s center, not crushing, not suffocating—but restricting movement.

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  The moment it panicked, the flames surged wildly—burning hot, burning bright.

  And in that moment, Eo devoured.

  His body coiled inward, consuming the creature whole, absorbing its essence, its fire, its very existence.

  The embers flickered, struggling, resisting—until, finally, they were no more.

  Eo felt it immediately.

  A new presence within him.

  The fire had not simply disappeared—it had merged.

  For the first time, something alien burned within him, an energy unlike mist, unlike bloodlust. It did not dissolve into his form as Mist had. It remained.

  Flickering.

  Waiting.

  Eo pulsed, his body vibrating with something new. Something he did not yet understand.

  But he would.

  He always did.

  --

  Eo's body twisted, spasming violently as the unstable fire clashed with the mist within him. He had fought countless battles, adapted to new discoveries, and forced himself to grow—but this was different. This was not an enemy he could outmaneuver or a trick he could analyze.

  This was inside him, tearing him apart from within.

  His tendrils flickered, struggling to maintain form. The once-fluid mist rippled erratically, failing to obey his command. Sparks of amber light pulsed through his translucent body, spreading through his form like wildfire, uncontrolled and untamed.

  And then, the weight of exhaustion crashed over him.

  His senses dulled. His vision darkened.

  His body—once so sharp, so alert—became numb.

  Eo lost consciousness.

  His small form, barely a speck against the vast ocean, drifted downward, carried by the gentle currents of the abyss. The deeper he sank, the further he fell from the light above.

  For the first time since his existence began, Eo was utterly helpless.

  The water grew colder, the pressure more intense, yet his body did not react. His tendrils floated lifelessly, the faint glow of mist and bloodlust dimming as the transformation within him continued beyond his control.

  Tiny creatures, sensing an opportunity, skittered closer, drawn to his faint energy. But as one dared to reach out—a pulse erupted from Eo's unconscious body.

  A wave of fire and mist, perfectly fused, pulsed outward.

  The scavengers scattered.

  The ocean floor awaited.

  And Eo kept falling.

  ---

  Deep within the abyss, beyond the reach of light, something stirred.

  Nestled within a massive underwater gorge, a creature of unfathomable size lay in slumber. Its immense body coiled within the trench, tentacles drifting lazily in the frigid currents.

  A ship-wrecker—that was what the surface-dwellers called it.

  A beast feared by pirates and sailors alike. Its presence alone was enough to turn daring expeditions into whispered legends, its colossal tentacles capable of dragging entire vessels into the depths without leaving a single trace.

  For centuries, it had remained undisturbed, lurking in the shadows of the deep. The abyss was its domain, and nothing had ever dared to challenge it.

  Until now.

  A ripple—faint, but unmistakable—spread through the water. A disturbance, alien yet familiar. Something small, yet powerful.

  One of the beast’s massive eyes flickered open, an abyssal void of ink-black darkness, tinged with the faintest glow of bioluminescent veins.

  Its many limbs curled inward, sensing something falling.

  Drifting.

  A presence unlike any it had encountered before.

  The colossal kraken-like creature remained still, its senses sharpening, watching as the tiny, unconscious form of Eo descended toward the ocean floor.

  The water trembled.

  The beast shifted.

  And from the darkness of the gorge, something began to rise.