Jay watched as Boa sternly instructed her new recruits. They were young, bright-eyed, and nervous. Jay wouldn’t blame them. It was their first taste of action and anything could happen.

She watched as Boa instructed them to take out their umbra guns and activate them.

No umbra gun is the same, each different from the next. Umbra guns are chosen by the owner’s soul and materializes through it. And depending on the faction you were in, the gun responded with its color. For example, as Jay was watching the new recruits activate their guns, it glowed with a bright white. A clear pure ivory for the White Tigers. That being said, Jay’s own gun glowed with a dark azure blue.

Boa nodded satisfactorily and waved her hand to order them to unactivated them. The bright white simmered down and disappeared.

She then glanced up to Jay who was watching, perching on top of a light pole.

Jay recognized her signal and jumped down on the unsuspecting group. A few of them screamed, pointing their guns at her with the flare of white.

Jay grinned and gently pushed their guns down and winked at them.

She then walked up next to Boa who was looking at those who screamed disapprovingly but did not say anything. She knew they were embarrassed and there was no need to further their embarrassment.

“This is Jay, leader of the Azure Dragons. She will be helping me tonight.”

Jay waved and smiled. “‘Ello there. I’m a little bit more tolerant than Boa here, so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. And don’t be scared of me; I don’t bite. Hard.”

Boa didn’t say anything, but Jay could tell she was resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

“That is all. We move out in five.”

Boa saluted her group and walked off, Jay following.

“So what exactly do you want me to do?” Jay murmured to Boa.

Boa glanced at the group who were now talking amongst themselves.

“Who do you think is the weakest in that group?” she asked instead.

Jay studied the group. It was made up of both male and female, though this time the males outnumbered the females. It didn’t mean they were inferior to their male counterparts. Most times, Boa’s female recruits turn out to be the best of the best. Her eyes fell on a short boy who was chatting amicably with another. But Jay and the rest of the leaders were well experienced to smell fear and that boy stunk of it.

She turned back to Boa. “The one with the black jacket with white stars. He’s unsure of himself. And he’s the most volatile.”

Boa nodded. “His name is Ten. He is a good student but is hesitant in his abilities. There have been more than one occasion where he was defeated due to his hesitation and put others in harm. I want you to look after him for tonight. He needs nurturing.” She paused. “And we both know that I do not do well in that department.”

Jay laughed and patted Boa on the back roughly. “Nonsense. You may be strict, but there’s love in that stern eyes of yours.” Boa gave her an exasperated look which Jay replied with a chuckle, “But I understand. I’ll look after him.”

Boa straightened out her back and sniffed. “Then let us go.”

Tonight, Boa was leading her group on a patrol. Patrol were the most harmless of their missions. It merely meant going through their respective areas and making sure nothing was happening. It was rare for anything to happen, but there have been occasions of meeting a nibra.

Jay took the rear and watched the group bound after their leader. She watched Ten easily keep up with the group; however, he was still lingering towards the back.

Jay sped up so that she was next to Ten.

“Your first outside mission?”

The boy looked surprised at the sudden conversation but nodded.

“How do you feel?”

He pursed his lips in thought. “A bit nervous and a bit excited.”

Jay smiled as they jumped on top another building. “Then how about a pop quiz?”

He frowned. “Quiz? Are you allowed to do this?”

Jay shrugged. “Who’s going to stop me? Boa? She won’t mind.”

He looked hesitant but complied with her whim.

“Then explain what a nibra is.”

He looked confused. “But that’s a basic question. Your quiz isn’t much of a quiz.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong, my good sir. A basic question, yes, but an important one nonetheless. You have to know your enemy inside and out to truly be able to defeat them.”

“Well. Ok. Nibras stand for nigrum umbra, literally black shadow. In a nutshell, nibras are corrupted humans. Humans who were affected by the black miasma and succumbed under its pressure.”

“Hmmm. You’re walking on a fine line there. I know for sure Boa would say that is wrong.”

Ten frowned. “Then what are they?”

“Humans. That’s where you’re wrong. Nibras used to be humans until they are consumed by their corruptness. But once they start being eaten away by it, they are no longer considered humans. Or at least that is what the organization thinks.”

“You don’t think so?” Ten asked.

“Well, that’s what makes it the fine line. What separates a human from a nibra? During their transition stage, they still look like humans and still have some kind of human thought. However, since once they transition, there is no reversal or stopping it, it is inevitable for them to become a nibra.”

“Right. And since it easier to stop a nimbra in transition than a full nimbra, it is important to look for nibras in transition and destroy them.”

“And how do you destroy them? Fully formed nibras, in particular.”

“Either a headshot through the brain or straight through the heart.”

Jay nodded approvingly. “Then what causes the corruptness?”

Ten frowned before smiling. “Black miasma from the utherworld. But it is not fully responsible. We all are in contact with the misama, but it is up to our strength of our minds for it not to consume us. That is why people under a lot of stress are more susceptible to it.”

“And what does a nimbra look like?”

“It’s hard to tell because nibras most of the time look like humans but with nonhuman features. Things like vampires or werewolves are in reality just nibras. It was only humans growing fangs and having a like for blood or growing claws and fur. Different things happen to nibras. But the one noticeable feature is their skin. During transition, it looks like there a black misty smoke on their skin. Like a moving tattoo. It remains even afterwards.”

“And can everybody see it?”

Ten shook his head. “Only those with the eyes. Like you and me. And that’s why we’re here.”

Jay clapped her hands. “Wow. A plus for the good student. Such textbook answers. Boa always was thorough with her teachings.”

He frowned. “Are you making fun of me?”

Jay chuckled. “On the contrary, my good sir. Like I said, as long you know your enemy, you’re stronger. Plus, how do you feel?”

Surprise etched on his face and awkwardly smiled, understanding her purpose now. With them talking about straight facts, he now had more confidence. “Better. Thanks.”

Jay smiled and ruffled his hair as he looked at her in astonished embarrassment, covering his head.

“But I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Nibras used to be humans, right? And we have to kill them. So what happens to the people who knew the human when they were a human? Isn’t it weird to have someone you used to know to suddenly disappear? The general public doesn’t know about the nibras, so they wouldn’t know what happened to whomever they knew.”

“Oh, good question. Well, the first point I want to a make is yes, the general public does not know about the nibras, but there are a select few who do. People like certain government officials, certain departments of the law enforcement, and other people know about nibras and swore never to reveal the nibras’ existence. Second is how we deal with people who knew the people before they became a nibra. Unfortunately at times, we have make it seem like the died in one way or another or have to come up with a complex reason why they are gone. It’s not uncommon, mmm, to say records have been altered slightly to better fit certain circumstances. Of course, we have a few who get a little too suspicious. We have ways of dealing with them. There are certain serums that Jo Kwon developed that makes you forget certain details. We don’t use it too often. Only when we feel like the safety of our team is jeopardized.”

“Isn’t that illegal? And wrong?”

“We have special clearance to do so. We cannot let the public know about the existence of nibras. It would only make more nibras and the whole world would go into panic. That is why only select people know. People who can help us with the public and people who can people before they can become a nibra. But it is inevitable that there are few who slip through the cracks. And that’s where we come in.”

He nodded thoughtfully. He looked like he wanted to say something, but Jay didn’t let him.

She immediately felt a chill run up her spine and pulled him down. “Get down and stay quiet.”

He immediately did as he was told as Boa and done the same and motioned to the group to be silent. She looked at Jay, and they both nodded.

They had felt the presence of a nibra directly below them. Boa gestured to the group and following her signals, they flanked the nibra from above. As they looked down, they could see it. He had grown black leathery wings with eyes black as ebony. Feathers were growing out its arms in awkward places, but it still had a human body.

But was worse was that it obvious that it had just fully transformed and was in the presence of other humans. Three bodies were littered on the ground motionless. It obvious that one of them was beyond saving. A woman with ripped out. The other two were male, and it was hard to tell if they were alive or not. Jay hoped for the former.

Boa looked at her group and motioned to a third of them, and at her command, they all jumped down and surrounded the nibra.

The nibra reacted angrily, screeching loudly which sounded too much like a human for Jay’s liking.

But not only that, Jay felt like something was wrong. She looked to Boa, but she was too busy commanding the second group on backing up the first group.

And from the corner of her eye, she realized that there wasn’t just one nibra but two. This one looked exactly the same as the first one, and Jay realized that it was a mirror copy. It was rare, but sometimes nibras have to ability of clone themselves. It was dangerous since more than one occasion it takes people by surprise, and they were just as dangerous and powerful as the original. She motioned to the third group, who was the closest to her, about the appearance of the copy.

They looked at her in worry and she smiled at them reassuringly. She materialized her own gun while the group followed suit. A shine of white surrounded her while her lone blue shimmered confidently. She was about to motion them to start attacking when she noticed that there wasn’t just one copy but several more. She cursed under her breath and started the signal. Luckily, the group weren’t horrible shooters and managed to shoot some of them. However, the ones they missed took flight.

Jay sighed. This was getting more messy than she had hoped. Her group were not prepared. They started shooting haphazardly, but Jay knew that would only make it easier for the cloned nibras to dodge.

“Stop shooting!” she tried to shout, but they couldn’t hear her.

She cursed and aimed, shooting one of them, straight through the heart. It shrieked as it fell, disintegrating into black dust.

Then sudden shot caused the group to stop shooting and look at her.

“Listen up! You can not shoot them wildly! What did you learn about destroying them?”

They looked scared and nervous but understood her words.

“Heart or brain, ma’am!”

“Then let’s get shooting!”

The group calmed down and aimed properly this time. The clones easily dodged the erratic bullets being shot. But now that the group calmed down, they were more wary. They were smart enough not to get too close, circling the group quickly in unpredictable movements.

But two of them were shot through the head a few seconds later, falling down and disintegrating.

Jay looked to see Ten sigh in relief and grin at the person next to him who Jay believed was called Mark. They high-fived each other and smiled.

Jay focused and shot the last one through the heart. The group lowered their weapons.

“Good work,” she murmured.

She saw the disappointed looks on their faces, obviously ashamed of their previous behavior.

“Are you going to sit there and mope? For a group of new recruits who never seen real action before, you did well. You’ll learn from your mistakes and become better next time. Do not let anybody tell you otherwise.”

The group looked at each other and nodded.

Jay looked at the other two groups. It looked like they were finishing up as well. The nibra was putting up a fight, but Boa was not letting it go that easily. She jumped down; her group following suit.

She noticed Ten and Mark near and walked up to them, slapping them on the back. “Good job, boys. Boa would be proud.”

They looked at her in surprise and grinned proudly.

A sound of a thud was heard and the original nibra fell, dissolving away.

Boa looked at Jay and nodded before going towards the bodies. She looked at the woman first, crouching down and closing the woman’s open eyes shut. She moved on to the next one, checking his pulse before shaking her head. She moved to the last one but before she could react, the body moved, putting a knife to .

Everyone moved, tense and nervous.

The boy was shaking, eyes darting from side to side.

“Do-Don’t move!” he shouted.

Nobody said anything, only watched.

Boa looked down at the boy’s arm and frowned.

Jay could see it too, the start of a misty black. But Jay didn’t feel comfortable about it.

She looked up and saw one of the girls on the team perched on a building, aiming her gun at the boy.

At that split second, Jay moved faster than one could blink. She grabbed the boy’s arms, twisting it behind, causing him to cry out in pain. He released his grip on Boa and dropped his pocket knife.

Boa brushed her sleeves delicately and stared at Jay with narrowed eyes.

Instead of making it so that he was a clear shot for the girl shooter, Jay was in front of him.

“Wendy, don’t shoot until my command,” Boa said to the girl sniper on the roof. Jay could see the girl relax only the slightest, but her finger still remained on the trigger.

“What are you doing?” Boa asked bluntly.

“Don’t shoot,” Jay merely replied.

“He’s starting his transition, Jay. You know the rules.”

Jay shook her head. “No.”

“Jay,” Boa said more sternly. “There’s no hope for him. I know you don’t like killing anybody in transition, but…”

Jay shook her head again, this time more furiously. She didn’t know why, but she felt that the boy could be saved. Even though his skin was swirling with black. Even though the rules deemed him as dead man.

“I’m taking him in.”

Boa narrowed her eyes. “And what do you mean by that?”

Jay glanced back at the boy and then back at Boa. “I need to make a team, no? He’s on it now.”

Boa glared at her. “You’re speaking madness.”

Jay didn’t say anything. She merely turned around and crouched down where the boy was nervously backed into the wall.

He looked like he was no older than twenty. His black hair covered his forehead in wisps. Blood and dirt were smeared on his cheeks and hands.

“Don’t be scared, but I need you to calm down.”

He looked at her suspiciously, nervously, and angrily.

“My name is Jay. And please believe me when I say that you’re safe with me.”

“Jay,” Boa started to say but stopped when she saw her glare. She backed down knowing that Jay would be hard to deal with if she was angry.

Jay looked at the boy and cupped his cheeks in her hands. She could feel him shaking, and she remembered things from her past that made her close her eyes. And without another word, she pressed her lips gently on his matted forehead on his hair.

And in that instant, he calmed down, eyes starting to brim with tears. He curled in a ball as she gave him a hug. Both Jay and Boa knew in that moment that the black mist creeping on his arms was gone.

Boa stared at them in disbelief and shook her head. She knew that Jo Kwon was going to love this. But she, for one, didn’t like it.

She raised her hand and motioned to her group. “Let’s go home.”

They moved out, secretly giving glances at Jay and the boy but didn’t say anything, leaving them behind.

Jay took a crouch back and brushed the hair out of the boy’s eyes. His pale colored eyes looked at her with desperation and confusion.

She sighed and gave him a lopsided smile. “You have pretty eyes. What’s your name, boy?”

He blinked at her, looking down before looking back up at her.

“Seungcheol. Choi Seungcheol.”