<h4>Chapter 153: Chapter 153: Death in the Nursery</h4>
Silence.
The weapon didn’t explode. The children’sbined power had turned it into harmless dust.
Dr. Webb stared at his empty hands. His mother sobbed with relief. Everyone in the room was still alive.
"We did it," Luna whispered, exhausted.
"Together," Phoenix added, swaying on his feet.
Baby ze and baby Sage had fallen asleep in their parents’ arms. Using so much power had drained them.
"It’s over," ra said softly.
"No," Frost said from the corner. Her white eyes were wide with fear. "It’s just beginning."
"What do you mean?" Kael asked.
"The whole world saw what happened here," Frost said. "Every supernatural being on Earth felt that power surge."
"So?" Ronan asked, rocking sleeping baby ze.
"So now they all know exactly how powerful these children are," Frost replied. "And some of them won’t want children that strong to exist."
"Who would want to hurt babies?" Lydia asked, holding Sage protectively.
"Supernatural extremists," Timothy said grimly. "Beings who think power like this is too dangerous."
"They’re wrong," Darian said firmly.
"That won’t stop them from trying," Timothy warned.
As if summoned by his words, shadows began creeping through the broken windows. Not normal shadows. These moved on their own.
"Shadow walkers," Dr. Webb’s mother gasped. "I thought they were extinct."
"What are shadow walkers?" ra demanded.
"Supernatural assassins," the old woman exined. "They believe powerful children will destroy the world. So they destroy the children first."
"Over our dead bodies," Kane snarled.
"That’s the n," a voice said from the shadows.
A figure stepped out of the darkness. He looked like a normal man, except his eyes werepletely ck. No pupils. No whites. Just endless darkness.
"I am Void Walker," he said. "And these children die tonight."
"There’s only one of you," Seraphina pointed out.
Void Walker smiled. "Look again."
More figures emerged from every shadow in the room. They surrounded the familypletely. At least twenty assassins, all with those terrible ck eyes.
"Shadow walkers can split themselves," Dr. Webb’s mother whispered. "Each shadow bes a separate killer."
"How do we fight them?" Kael asked.
"You don’t," Void Walker said. "You die."
He lunged toward baby ze. His shadow-de aimed straight at the sleeping infant’s heart.
Ronan threw himself in front of his son. The de pierced his shoulder instead of ze’s chest.
"Dad!" Luna screamed.
Ronan’s blood dripped onto baby ze. The infant’s eyes snapped open. Orange mes erupted from his tiny body.
The shadow walker who’d stabbed Ronan burst into mes and crumbled to ash.
"One down," baby ze said calmly. "Neen to go."
"I love our babies," Darian said proudly, even as three shadow walkers advanced on him and Sage.
Baby Sage opened his crystal blue eyes. His truth-sight zed outward.
"You’re not really here," Sage said to the approaching assassins. "You’re illusions."
Three of the shadow walkers vanished instantly.
"Fifteen left," Sage announced.
"Smart babies," Phoenix said, his golden power ring.
"Clever babies," Luna added, silver light dancing around her.
But the remaining shadow walkers weren’t giving up. They attacked from all sides at once.
Kane shifted into his massive wolf form and tackled two assassins. Seraphina moved vampire-fast, her ws ripping through shadow-flesh. Timothy used his recovered power to make three more forget how to be assassins.
But there were still too many.
Void Walker himself appeared behind Lydia, who was trying to protect both babies.
"Say goodbye to your sons," he hissed.
His de swept toward baby Sage’s neck.
But Frost appeared between them, ice armor covering her small body. The de shattered against her frozen skin.
"Nobody hurts babies," Frost said coldly. "Ever."
Her ice magic exploded outward. Five shadow walkers froze solid and cracked apart.
"Five left," she announced.
But Void Walker wasn’t finished. He split himself again. Now there were ten of him, all focusing on the babies.
"Too many," Kael panted. He was bleeding from multiple wounds.
"We can’t protect them all," ra said desperately.
"Yes, we can," Luna said firmly.
"How?" Phoenix asked.
"The same way we stopped the bomb," Luna replied. "Together."
The four children looked at each other. The babies were wide awake now, their powers humming with energy.
"Everyone hold hands again," Sage said.
"Now?" Darian asked, dodging a shadow-de.
"Now," ze confirmed, his mes keeping two assassins at bay.
"But we’re fighting," Ronan protested.
"Fighting and holding hands," Phoenix said. "Trust us."
The family formed their circle again, even while shadow walkers attacked from every direction. It was the strangest battle anyone had ever seen. People fighting with one hand, holding hands with the other.
But it worked.
The children’sbined power created a dome of light around the entire family. The shadow walkers couldn’t prate it.
"Impossible," Void Walker snarled. "Shadow always defeats light."
"Not our light," Luna said.
"Our light is made of love," Phoenix added.
"And love is stronger than fear," Sage said wisely.
"Love burns fear away," ze finished, his mes dancing higher.
Void Walker and his remaining copies circled the dome of light, looking for weaknesses.
"There," one of them said, pointing. "The old woman. She’s not really part of their family. Her connection is weak."
Dr. Webb’s mother was indeed the weakest link. She’d only just joined them. Her guilt and shame made her light dimmer than the others.
"I’m sorry," she whispered. "I’m not strong enough."
"Yes, you are," Dr. Webb said suddenly. He squeezed his mother’s hand tighter. "I forgive you, Mom. For everything."
Her light zed brighter instantly.
"Marcus," she sobbed. "My dear boy."
"I’m not a boy anymore," Dr. Webb said. "But I’m still your son."
Their reconciliation sent a wave of healing power through the entire circle. The dome became blindingly bright.
All the remaining shadow walkers screamed and dissolved.
Except one.
Void Walker himself stood outside the dome, untouched by the light.
"Clever," he admitted. "But love won’t save you from what’sing."
"What’sing?" ra demanded.
"The Purge," Void Walker said. "Every supernatural extremist group has united. Vampires who think your children are too powerful. Werewolves who believe they’re abominations. Witches who want their magic for themselves. Fae who see them as threats to the natural order."
"How many?" Kael asked grimly.
"Thousands," Void Walker replied. "They’re calling it the Children’s War. And it starts at dawn."
"We’ll be ready," Luna said bravely.
"Will you?" Void Walker asked. "Because they’re not justing for you four. They’reing for every supernatural child on Earth. Every witch child. Every werewolf pup. Every vampire fledgling. Every hybrid baby."
"What?" Seraphina gasped.
"They believe your children’s power will contaminate all supernatural children," Void Walker exined. "So they n to kill them all. Just to be safe."
"Monsters," Lydia whispered, holding her babies closer.
"We’re the monsters?" Void Walkerughed. "You’re the ones who created children with god-like power. You’re the ones who broke the natural order."
"We fell in love," ra said simply. "That’s not a crime."
"It is when your love threatens reality itself," Void Walker replied.
He began fading back into the shadows.
"Six hours until dawn," he said. "Six hours until the Purge begins. Use them wisely."
"Wait," Phoenix called out. "Why are you telling us this?"
Void Walker paused. "Because I had a child once. A beautiful little girl with silver eyes. She could see the future."
"What happened to her?" Luna asked softly.
"Extremists killed her," Void Walker said quietly. "They said she was too dangerous. That her visions would upset the bnce."
"Then why are you working with them?" Sage asked, his truth-sight reading the assassin’s pain.
"Because if I help them kill your children," Void Walker said, "they promised to bring my daughter back."
"Death doesn’t work that way," ze said gently. "Dead is dead."
"I know," Void Walker admitted. "But hope makes people do terrible things."
He vanishedpletely.
The dome of light flickered and died. Everyone was exhausted.
"Six hours," Kael said grimly.
"Thousands of enemies," Ronan added.
"All the supernatural children in the world at risk," Darian concluded.
Baby Sage looked up at his parents with those wise crystal eyes.
"Don’t worry," he said calmly. "We have a n."
"What n?" ra asked.
Baby ze smiled, mes dancing around his fingers.
"We’re going to save everyone," he said simply. "Even the bad guys."
"How?" Luna asked her baby brothers.
"By doing something no one expects," Sage replied.
"What?" Phoenix pressed.
Both babies grinned identical mischievous grins.
"We’re going to surrender," they said together.
Before anyone could ask what they meant, baby Sage’s truth-sight showed them all a vision of the future.
What they saw made everyone’s blood run cold.
The Purge wasn’t just about killing supernatural children.
It was about starting a war that would destroy both the human and supernatural worlds.
And the only way to stop it was for the four most powerful children in existence to walk straight into the enemy’s trap.
"Absolutely not," every parent said at once.
"Absolutely yes," all four children replied.
"It’s the only way," Luna said.
"The only way to save everyone," Phoenix added.
"Trust us," Sage said.
"We know what we’re doing," ze finished.
But as dawn approached, one terrible question remained unanswered:
Could four children, no matter how powerful, really save the world?
Or would they die trying?
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