The rooftop was silent for a moment after the voice echoed from the portal.
Cold wind rushed across the building as the dark rift continued swirling in the air. Aarav could still feel that strange pressure inside his chest. The Shadow Beast stood between them and the portal, growling like a guard protecting something far more dangerous.
Rayan slowly peeked from behind Aarav and whispered, "Okay… new rule. From now on we never open mysterious portals again."
Zippu floated beside them nervously. "You humans opened a Dream Rift without knowing what lives inside it. That is extremely stupid."
Rayan frowned. "Hey, that is very rude… and slightly accurate."
The Shadow Beast suddenly slammed its claw into the rooftop.
CRACK.
The concrete floor split slightly.
Aarav tightened his grip on the metal rod in his hand. His heart was racing but something inside him felt strangely calm. The same blue energy slowly started glowing around his hands again.
Meera noticed it immediately.
"Aarav… your powers."
Aarav looked at his glowing hands in shock.
"I'm not doing this on purpose."
Zippu suddenly floated closer to him, examining the glowing energy carefully.
"That is Dream Energy," he said seriously. "It means the Dream World has accepted you."
Rayan raised his eyebrow.
"Accepted him? Like a membership card?"
Zippu rolled his glowing eyes.
"More like a target."
Before anyone could say anything else, the Shadow Beast charged again.
The creature moved with terrifying speed.
Aarav barely jumped aside as the monster's claw smashed into the ground where he had been standing.
BOOM.
Pieces of concrete flew into the air.
Rayan screamed, "WHY IS IT SO FAST?!"
Meera grabbed a broken pipe from the ground and threw it at the creature to distract it. The pipe bounced off the Shadow Beast's smoky body but it was enough to slow it down for a second.
"Aarav!" she shouted. "Focus on the energy!"
Aarav closed his eyes for a moment.
The world around him suddenly felt different.
He could see glowing threads of energy connecting the Shadow Beast to the portal behind it.
And far beyond the portal…
Something huge was watching.
Something powerful.
The same deep voice echoed again, softer this time.
"So the Dream Walker has finally awakened…"
Aarav's eyes snapped open.
"That voice again."
Rayan looked around nervously.
"Yeah I definitely heard that this time."
Zippu's tiny body started glowing brighter.
"That voice belongs to someone who should never wake up."
Meera turned toward him.
"Who?"
Zippu hesitated for a moment.
Then he said the name quietly.
"The Shadow King."
The moment those words were spoken, the portal behind the Shadow Beast began expanding again.
Dark lightning flashed inside the rift.
The Shadow Beast suddenly stopped attacking and stepped back toward the portal like a loyal servant.
A massive shadow slowly moved behind the swirling darkness.
Rayan stared at it with wide eyes.
"Okay… please tell me that is not the boss monster."
Zippu whispered,
"It is worse."
The air became colder.
A gigantic hand made of pure shadow slowly began pushing through the portal.
Aarav felt his heart pounding in his chest.
Whatever was coming through that rift was far stronger than the Shadow Beast.
Meera looked at Aarav urgently.
"We can't fight that thing. Close the portal!"
Rayan quickly grabbed his device and started pressing buttons frantically.
"I am trying!"
The portal started shaking violently as the machine struggled to shut it down.
The giant shadow hand suddenly stopped moving.
For a brief moment, everything went silent.
Then the deep voice spoke again.
"Run while you still can, Dream Walker."
"Because next time…"
"…I will come for you myself."
The portal suddenly collapsed.
WHOOSH.
The dark energy vanished instantly.
The Shadow Beast disappeared along with it.
The rooftop became silent again.
Rayan slowly lowered the device in his shaking hands.
"…Okay," he said breathlessly.
"That was officially the worst experiment of my life."
Aarav stared at the empty space where the portal had been.
His hands were still glowing faintly.
Meera looked at him seriously.
"This isn't over."
Zippu nodded slowly.
"The Shadow King has noticed you now."
Aarav felt a chill run down his spine.
Because deep inside he knew one thing for sure.
The battle had only just begun.
To Be Continued…