The hungry shadow lunged, its form stretching across the twilight world like a wave of darkness. Ryan's scar blazed silver, and he threw himself in front of Mira, his body becoming a shield of light and shadow.
The impact threw him backward.
He crashed through the grey door, tumbling across the garden, his body leaving a furrow in the soil. The hungry shadow followed, its form expanding, filling the space where the grey door had been.
Mira screamed. "Dada!"
Ryan pushed himself to his feet. His body ached, his scar pulsed, but he was alive. The hungry shadow towered above him, its form shifting, hungry, patient.
"You cannot stop me," it said. "I have been waiting for eons. The void was my prison. Now it is empty. Now I am free."
Ryan raised his scarred hand. "You're not free. You're j
