We raced out of the command section, the urgent blare of the alarm reverberating through the chambers. With each step, the Gate's integrity continued to plummet, seventy percent, sixty-one, and now a critical fifty-two.
Urged on by Grace's reckless sprint, we reached the room where the pull had begun. Her card flashed, and with a hiss, like a seal being broken after years of silence, the doors slid apart, and I froze.
Beyond them lay what could only be described as a laboratory, though the word felt inadequate the moment my eyes adjusted. Consoles lined the walls, cables snaked across the floor, and cold white lights hummed overhead. But none of that held me.
At the center of the chamber rose a towering glass cylinder, stretching from floor to ceiling like a monument. Within it churned an impossible light—layers of color folding in on themselves, spiraling and colliding as if entire galaxies had been trapped and forced to spin forever. It wasn't merely bright; it felt alive. Not something you simply looked at, but something that looked back.
As if being observed by something vast, my body refused to move.
I was dimly aware of Grace darting past me as she grabbed devices from a nearby station. Her voice was far off, like she was talking through an impenetrable haze. "Okay, we've got what we need. We can go now."
She turned back toward me, but I didn't respond.
Instead, my feet began to move on their own, carrying me closer to the cylinder, each step heavy and unreal, as if I were wading through a dream. Even the alarms that screamed of impending doom seemed to fade into the periphery, as if Nothing existed except the twisting lights behind that glass and the pull they had on me.
Before I could think or even stop myself, I summoned a spear in my hand.
And threw it.
The weapon struck the cylinder dead center. Glass screamed as it fractured, cracks racing outward in a violent web before the entire structure shattered, shards exploding into the air as the otherworldly light burst free.
Grace screamed.
Her eyes went impossibly wide as the cylinder ruptured, glass detonating outward and the contained light bursting free in a violent surge. She scrambled backward, boots slipping on shattered glass, panic overtaking all coordination. Her hands flailed for balance, but there was nothing to grab. With a choked gasp, she fell hard onto her back, skidding across the floor as she threw her arms up over her face, bracing herself for when the energy would tear her apart where she lay.
But it never touched her. Instead, the energy flowed in a controlled stream right to me.
I didn't move to stop it, didn't even try. Instead, I opened myself up to the surge as the energy fused with me, flooding every vein and nerve until I felt impossibly vast, and at the same time, terrifyingly empty. When it finally settled, the constant pull I now realized I'd carried since the moment I arrived in this world vanished in an instant, leaving behind a hollow where something fundamental had once been.
Then, as if awakening from a slumber, everything returned to me all at once as the alarm screamed overhead.
"Gate integrity at twenty-two percent."
I turned toward the others. Their faces were frozen between awe and horror. Grace had backed herself against the far wall. Her lips forming a soundless, what the fuck.
She didn't even seem to hear the alarm anymore, didn't move until Amelia stepped in front of her and snapped he fingers. "Grace!"
Amelia's voice snapped Grace back to reality. She blinked hard, swallowed, and finally forced herself upright, though her wide eyes kept flicking toward me like she couldn't quite process what she'd just seen.
"Move!" Amelia barked, shoving her shoulder. That was enough to get her going. Grace spun toward the exit and took the lead, her steps uneven at first as we sprinted for the nearest sealed door.
Her voice carried back over the pounding of our boots. "What's the condition on the surface? Is there still a fracture?"
The words tumbled out fast. Then, almost in the same breath, she corrected herself, her voice cracking with disbelief. "Of course there is. If he—" her eyes darted toward me mid-run, "—if he can just absorb that energy like it's nothing, then it's a disaster up there. It has to be."
Amelia faltered mid-stride, confusion flashing across her face. "What are you even talking about? The surface is fine, it—" she didn't get to finish as the alarm blared one final warning: Gate breach detected.
A second later, the roars began. Dozens. Then hundreds. Their guttural cries reverberated through the halls, impossibly close given how far we'd come.
Grace skidded into a console, her hands flying over the keys, more frantic than precise. "Come on, come on," she hissed. With a sharp chime, the lock released, and the door slid open.
The room beyond was lined with pods, Several of which were already missing.
"Hurry, get in," Grace urged, attaching an item to herself that expanded into what appeared to be a protective spacesuit. "I can't take the risk of trusting your words about the surface, or maybe you're just immune to the destruction up there, but I have to take precautions."
She didn't wait for a response as she began typing rapidly on the console, her fingers dancing over the interface. The distant roars of approaching monstrosities grew louder, now resembling a stampede.
Letting loose a string of curses, Grace tore open a panel. "I have to fix something real quick," Grace muttered as she dashed to another console, attempting to rectify an issue. But for every second that passed, the monstrosities got closer.
Just as desperation clawed at us, the first monstrosity lumbered into the room. Its grotesque form a nightmarish blend of rot and something else entirely, resembling a colossal hound with flesh sloughing from its body and multiple arms sprouting from its back.
"Grace, we need to go now!" Amelia shouted as the thing galloped twords us, but it didn't make it far. Moonlight chains shot from the ground to ensnare the thing before it could even reach us.
Seeing an opportunity, I summoned a dark chain tipped with a spear and hurled it at the creature, embedding it deep in its side, then channeling a surge of electrifying energy through it. The monstrosity shrieked in agonizing pain as it attempted to tear through the moonlight chains.
Though after being impaled by several magma spikes, its twisted form crumpled lifelessly to the ground.
However, the room was anything but safe as More of the nightmare-born poured in through the main hall, a flood of grotesque horrors stitched from things that should never coexist. Each creature was a blasphemy of anatomy: too many eyes in the wrong places, limbs bending backwards, mouths gaping where no mouths should be.
But then it arrived.
The crowd of abominations parted instinctively, their shrieks dying down as the behemoth hauled itself into the main chamber. Even the lesser creatures seemed to know better than to get in its way. It crawled at first, dragging itself forward on elongated arms that ended in bloated, bony knuckles. Its back scraped along the high arches of the ceiling, joints crackling like splintering timber.
Then it stood.
A living tower of rot and bone, its massive silhouette swallowed what little light remained in the hall. Its body mimicked a human's, but everything about it was wrong. Sagging muscle clung to an exposed ribcage, hunks of its own flesh sloughing off in thick strips. Its jaw hung lopsided, unhinged, trembling with a twitching anticipation that made bile rise in my throat.
But it was the eyes that froze me.
Pale and Clouded, like the Vacant eyes of a corpse, and yet somehow still focused as they darted around the room before snapping into place as it stared down at us. For a heartbeat, it looked confused. Then it smiled.
The smile didn't belong on a face like that, a childlike glee warped and twisted as it stretched too wide across rotting features, lingering for a heartbeat before it moved.
Not a run. Not even a charge.
It launched itself, limbs flailing with reckless momentum, like it didn't care whether they broke on the way. Each impact was a sickening thud of rotting flesh against steel, a chaotic mess of elbows and knees flung in every direction as it hurled itself forward, like a puppet yanked by invisible strings, its head bobbing back and forth.
Then it slammed against the wall face-first.
The metal groaned from the impact. The thing's skull bounced off with a wet crunch, but it didn't seem to feel it. Instead, it let out a garbled screech and snapped its teeth in rapid-fire bursts, a deafening, bone-rattling clack-clack-clack that echoed through the room. Chattering. Laughing. Like it was having the time of its life.
"Holy shi—!" Henry flinched so hard he fell, scrambling backward on the floor, kicking at the air.
The wall mercifully held.
The thing twitched. Jerked back. Its smile fading into something more… annoyed. And then it jammed its fingers through the gap in the doorway, nails scraping wildly as it groped for us.
Grace, still at the console, glanced back in horror.
"Grace, hurry!" I shouted, stepping forward, sword raised, trying to ignore the way my hands were trembling.
The thing shrieked again, shoving its arm deeper, and we struck together, a desperate barrage to keep it back, just long enough.
Ella attempted to restrain it with her moonlight chains, but they barely held for two seconds before snapping. Henry, using his nature-based magic, created a maze of poison thorns around the creature's legs, casting poison through the vines, as Amelia sent projectiles and magma spikes flying towards it. Moon blades, controlled by Ella, sliced into the creature, cutting into its legs.
I gathered every shred of energy I had and released it in a concentrated bolt of lightning, the strike staggering the creature and halting it for a heartbeat. But the pause only fed its rage. With a guttural snarl, it forced its massive hand through the opening anyway, shoving it inside without hesitation. Bones popped and slid out of place as it squeezed forward, uncaring of the damage, its oversized fingers clawing blindly toward Ella.
I lunged before it could reach her. A blade flashed in my grip, and I brought it down hard, severing one of the creature's fingers. It recoiled, tearing its hand free as a deafening roar of rage shook the air.
Yet, our victory was short-lived. Smaller, more agile abominations swarmed into the room, overwhelming us. Amelia, thinking quickly, tried to barricade the doorway with molten metal, but it was slow-moving, while Henry covered the walls with thorny vines. This makeshift barrier slowed down some of the attackers for a few precious seconds before they broke through.
I turned to see if Grace was done, but the sight of all those tangled wires made my heart drop.
Suddenly, a grotesque flesh Harpoon Shot into the room, impaling Amelia in the shoulder, and attempted to pull her out to be consumed. Ella frantically summoned moon blades and severed the gruesome appendage. At the same time, Benjamin rushed to Amelia's side, dragging her back, and quickly tended to her wounds.
Our efforts to hold back the onslaught were collapsing, both figuratively and literally, as the wall gave way, letting another creature force its way through. I rushed it, sword flashing, and brought it down in a spray of blackened gore.
I barely had time to turn before something hit me.
The impact drove the breath from my lungs as a flesh hook buried itself deep in my gut. I looked down in horror. To see that beneath its torn, rubbery skin writhed a mass of pale worms that forced their way into my stomach.
I nearly retched at the sight, but forced myself to bring my sword down to sever it. But I was a fraction too late.
The line went taut, and I was ripped off my feet, dragged violently from the room to come face to face with the lifeless eyes of the undead giant once more as its foot descended, engulfing my vision.
Ella Adams
I watched in sheer horror as Atlas was yanked out of the room, a grotesque spear piercing his chest. My voice caught in my throat as I cried out for him, desperate to help, but a vile abomination lunged at me. Instinctively, I activated my Moon chains, restraining the creature and buying a few precious moments.
Meanwhile, the colossal giant loomed overhead, raising its massive foot, ready to crush Atlas. My heart pounded in my chest, a dull roar in my ears as I helplessly watched, trapped in the impending disaster. Time itself seemed to slow, dragging out the horrifying moment as the monstrosity's foot descended, its sheer weight enough to reduce Atlas to nothing.
Then a flash.
A violent explosion erupted beneath the giant's foot, obliterating it in an instant. A force unlike anything I had ever seen burst forth, a fusion of Void and Galaxies twisting together in a chaotic, terrifying dance. Atlas rose, his form no longer fully human, but something beyond comprehension.
I barely recognized him.
His body shimmered with cosmic energy, shifting like a living nebula, fragments of the universe itself woven into his very being. Stars burned within his silhouette, constellations shifting as if he were a fragment of the night sky given form.
Then, he lifted his head.
His eyes…
They were no longer human.
They blazed like the fire of a thousand suns, burning with an intensity that felt ancient, as if they had witnessed the birth and death of galaxies. The sheer weight of their presence sent a chill down my spine.
Then, with a deafening pulse of raw power–like the heartbeat of a god–the ground convulsed.
Stone and steel tore upward as if yanked by invisible claws. Spikes exploded outward from every surface, jagged, twisting pillars of sharpened metal and fractured stone. They burst from beneath the ground, the walls, even the ceiling, shrieking through the air like the fangs of the earth itself. Anything caught in their path was impaled instantly.
Monstrosities were flung back, pinned grotesquely to the walls like broken marionettes, limbs dangling, mouths frozen mid-scream. The chamber transformed into a hellscape of spears and shadows. The emergency lights above flickered wildly, some sparking, others dying completely before plunging the room into pulses of darkness.
But within that chaos, Atlas stood, his body glowing like a star about to collapse. The spikes hadn't touched him. If anything, they bent around him, his radiant form untouched amidst the carnage, casting sharp shadows against the death impaled around him.
The giant loomed above him, now missing half its foot, yet undeterred. With a low groan, it raised its massive hand ready to bring it down.
Yet it never reached him.
The moment its hand descended, it simply vanished, dissolving into oblivion, leaving nothing but a twisted, grotesque mess in its wake.
The very air trembled around Atlas, the battlefield warping beneath his feet. The ground collapsed inward, matter crushed and compacted by an unseen force. For a moment, the destruction hung suspended, glowing with an unearthly, freezing energy.
Then, with a mere flick of his hand, the condensed mass launched forward, striking the towering giant with an unstoppable force.
The projectile tore through the giant's head, flash-freezing it in an instant. A heartbeat later, the frozen mass detonated, bursting apart in a violent spray of ice and shattered flesh.
For a moment, the giant remained standing.
Then its massive frame began to tip.
Stone cracked beneath its heels as it toppled backward in a slow, unstoppable descent. Then came the boom. The ground shuddered as its massive body finally struck, the thunderous impact sending dust and debris cascading from the ceiling. When the tremors faded and the air cleared, the behemoth lay still as the corpse it should have been.
Only then did the power leave him.
Atlas's cosmic form unraveled, the radiant energy peeling away in fading strands before vanishing entirely. His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, breathless and unmoving, left in the wake of the destruction he'd wrought.
I was frozen, stunned beyond movement. The world felt muffled, as though I'd been dragged underwater, my ears ringing and my limbs impossibly heavy. Sound reached me in fragments, warped and distant.
Grace's voice broke through first. "I fixed the pod! Get in!" I saw her slide into one of the capsules, the motion slow and unreal, as if I were watching it through glass.
Everything else dissolved into noise. Shouts blurred together, stripped of meaning, their urgency felt rather than understood. Benjamin rushed past me, grabbing Atlas by the arm and practically dragging him toward the pod. "Move!" he shouted, his voice sharp and insistent as he turned back toward me. "Get in, now!"
Still in a daze, I stumbled forward, my legs feeling like lead, but it seemed the universe wasent done. The room shook violently as an enormous figure burst through the wall, a being so massive it made the giant zombie we'd encountered earlier seem insignificant. I could only stare, my mind refusing to process the scale of the creature as panic erupted around me.
A rough shove jolted me forward, and I was suddenly inside the capsule. The hatch slammed shut, sealing me in with a hiss. Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, a jolt threw me against the wall of the pod as it launched upward with incredible force.
The acceleration was immediate and unforgiving, pressing everyone to the capsule's sides as it shot through a tunnel. The walls blurred past, and the pod shook violently, the air inside vibrating with the sound of rushing wind and strained machinery. Voices rose around me, panicked shouting and half-formed curses, but I couldn't focus on the words. My thoughts were scattered, the chaos inside the pod matching the chaos in my head.
With a deafening crash, the capsule punched through the ground, blasting shards of earth and twisted metal outward as we erupted into open air.
We flew far above the ground, higher and higher, till we eventually slowed, and for a breathless instant the pod hung there, suspended above the chaos below, utterly weightless. My stomach floated somewhere behind my ribs as the world seemed to hold itself together by sheer stubbornness.
And within that frozen moment, I heard Henry's resigned voice.
"Oh fu…" he started, but his curse was abruptly cut off as the pod lurched downward.
Gravity reclaimed us, and we plummeted. The fall was a chaotic blur of rattling metal and weightlessness that turned my stomach.
When the pod finally hit the ground, the impact was brutal.
The world snapped white, and sound vanished, replaced by a high, piercing ring that drilled straight through my skull. My body was thrown forward, limbs colliding with metal and flesh alike as we slammed into the floor in a tangled heap.
Dust and debris billowed through the pod, turning the air thick and choking. I lay there, unmoving, the ringing in my ears swallowing everything else. Voices reached me only as vibrations, muffled and meaningless, as if spoken through layers of water.
Seconds stretched as I lay there utterly in shock
Gradually, sensation crept back in as I registered the cold press of the floor beneath my cheek and the taste of grit in my mouth. Even the ringing began to fade into a low hum as groans surfaced from the haze.
Someone shifted nearby.
Grace was the first to push herself upright, coughing as she waved dust from her visor. "Is… is everyone okay?"
Benjamin groaned as he rolled onto his side, wincing. "I think so," he muttered, his movements sluggish as he sat up. Henry, still sprawled out, let out a muffled, "Barely."
I managed to shift, pulling myself out from under someone's leg and onto my hands and knees. My limbs felt heavy, every movement slow and deliberate. Around me, the others were doing the same, each unsteady as they found their footing.
As we finally stood, swaying unsteadily, a harsh grinding sound followed the sharp hiss of escaping air. The capsule door trembled before it fell completely off, crashing to the ground with a heavy thud that vibrated through my feet. I winced at the noise, my ears still ringing from the chaos we'd just endured.
Grace was the first to step out, her form vanishing into the cloud of dust that billowed around us. Henry groaned from where he was sprawled on the floor, dragging himself toward the opening. He practically crawled out, rolling onto his back with a wheeze as he stared up at the sky. "I'm good… I'm good," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
I rehearsed those same words in my head. I'm good. But my legs felt like jelly, and the faint ache in my chest made it hard to believe. Finally, I gathered enough resolve to stagger forward. Shielding my eyes from the blinding light of the twin suns, I stepped out of the capsule. The air was crisp and cool, a stark contrast to the stifling heat of the capsule, and with it carried the faint aroma of pine and earth.
My eyes adjusted, and the forest around us came into view. Vibrant green stretched out in every direction, the canopy swaying gently in the breeze. Birds sang a melodic tune that seemed almost surreal after everything we'd just been through. For a fleeting moment, I was lulled by the scene's tranquility, but then my gaze landed on Grace.
She was kneeling in the middle of the clearing, her head bowed as soft sobs shook her shoulders. I blinked, my daze lifting as I took a step toward her, unsure if she was hurt. My lips parted to call out, but something in the way she knelt, utterly overwhelmed, held me back.
The forest whispered around her, serene and alive, but in the distance, past the vibrant greenery, a ruined city loomed. Its decaying buildings, overtaken by ivy and moss, painted a stark picture of loss. The golden light of the setting suns bathed the ruins in a bittersweet glow, casting long shadows that felt like remnants of another world.
Amelia and Benjamin emerged from the capsule, carrying an unconscious Atlas between them. His limp form hung heavily between their shoulders, a stark reminder of how close we'd come to losing everything.
I lingered for a moment longer, the sun's warmth on my skin, grateful to finally breathe fresh air again. My feet shifted against the grass, the sensation grounding me as I took it all in. We made it out, I thought, though the relief was tinged with an unshakable sense of fragility.
Grace still hadn't moved. Amelia must have noticed as well, because after gently laying Atlas down near the edge of the clearing, she approached and knelt beside her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Grace?" she said softly.
There was no response at first. Grace's helmet tilted slightly as though she was looking at the ground, her breath coming in uneven gasps. Then, slowly, she reached into her bag and pulled out a sleek device. With a press of a button, her suit shimmered and began to retract. Piece by piece, the bulky material dissolved into a compact form, revealing Grace's face for the first time. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, her eyes red and puffy. She raised a trembling hand to wipe them away, taking a deep, shaky breath as she finally looked up at the open sky.
"Twenty-four years," she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion. "I never thought I'd see the suns again."
Her words hung in the air, heavy with meaning. My chest tightened as I tried to imagine twenty-four years in that suffocating place, never knowing if she'd make it out. The thought made my own relief feel small by comparison.
Amelia gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "You're here now," she said softly. "You made it."
Grace sniffled and nodded, still staring out at the forest. Her fingers curled into the grass, as if testing the reality of it. "It's more beautiful than I remembered," she murmured, her voice steadier now but still filled with wonder.
Nearby, Benjamin sat down with a heavy sigh, wiping the sweat from his brow. "I can hardly believe we made it," he breathed, as though he needed to remind himself.
I glanced at Henry, who was still lying flat on the ground. His hand lazily gestured toward the sky. "Can't believe I'm saying this," he muttered, "but I might actually be glad to see daylight again."
Emily chuckled faintly from her spot against the pod. "Henry, if you're getting sentimental, I think we've been through too much."
Her remark earned a weak laugh from him.
Grace stood slowly, brushing dirt from her knees before turning toward Amelia. She extended her hand with a small smile. "Grace Foster," she said, her voice warmer now. "It's nice to meet you."
Amelia shook her hand firmly, her expression matching Grace's warmth. "Amelia Grayson," she replied. "The pleasure's mine."