Rune coiled, perfectly hidden in the shadows of the ruined store. He waited. A predator never rushed. His prey, the three lesser Awakened, were still bickering about scavenging for supplies, utterly oblivious to the deadly presence stalking them.
The muscular man with the axe stepped towards a wobbly shelf. This was his chance.
With a horrifying speed he'd never possessed before, Rune lunged. He made no sound, a ghost of destruction. The ax-wielding man reached for a can of food, when a sudden cold draft brushed against the back of his neck. He spun around, but it was already too late.
Rune's claw was there. Not a punch or a slash, but a brutal, twisting motion. Rune gripped the man's ax-wielding arm, and with an iron will, he warped the joints, tore the muscles, twisting the arm into an impossible angle, bones grotesquely protruding. A piercing scream of agony ripped through the air.
"What the hell?!" The stout man with the shockwave ability spun around, his face contorted with fear. He raised his hand, a grey energy beginning to coalesce.
But Rune was faster. He didn't lunge forward; he used his power. A strange sensation surged in his palm, and a chunk of flesh from the ax-wielder's twisted arm suddenly shot out like a projectile, flying straight into the stout man's face. The fleshy mass splattered, obscuring his vision and making him reel back for a crucial second.
That was all Rune needed. The nimble woman, who had been trying to retreat, suddenly felt her legs grow heavy. Rune hadn't touched her, yet a brutal will distorted the tendons in her legs, making her collapse in searing pain. She screamed, looking down at her strangely contorted limbs, unable to flee.
Rune wasted no time. He strode towards the stout man, who was still struggling with the clinging flesh on his face. "Information," Rune growled, his voice guttural, "or you'll become something you don't want to see."
The cold ruthlessness in Rune's voice, combined with the horrifying sight of his comrades, terrified the stout man to his core. He stammered, trembling, urine soaking his pants. "I-I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
Rune nodded. This was only the beginning. He would crush every weak link, extract every tiny piece of information, until he could reach those who had betrayed him. And then, the true nightmare would begin.