Ashen stepped through the red gate and into silence.
Unlike the vast desert, this new place felt enclosed, as if the world had collapsed inward. Grey rock walls surrounded them, narrow paths winding through cliffs lit by eerie red fungi clinging to the stone. The air was damp and heavy, the scent of rust thick in his nose.
Unit 9 emerged behind him, one by one, weapons ready, bodies tense.
Reynor stepped out last.
Ashen didn't turn. But he felt the weight of Reynor's glare between his shoulder blades.
"Where are we?" Elira asked, squinting at the rocky ceiling overhead.
Sera checked her communicator. "Sector 17. Abandoned mine range. Used to be a Blood Kingdom outpost before the creatures started nesting here."
"Creatures?" Kerr echoed. "You mean like the centipede kind or the soul-melting, face-chewing kind?"
"Both," Sera replied evenly.
Reynor stepped ahead. "Let's move."
Lin shivered beside Ashen. "I liked the desert better. At least you could see the thing trying to kill you."
They descended into the ravine.
—
The path narrowed into a steep tunnel, winding downward. Old mining rails cracked underfoot. The walls pulsed faintly, like the mine itself breathed. Shadows moved where light shouldn't reach.
Ashen led in silence, his wrapped blade in hand. It vibrated faintly, like it recognized this place.
The others followed.
It wasn't long before they found the first body.
A scout. Half-eaten. Eyes glassy. His spear lay broken beside him.
Elira knelt. "Not more than a day old."
Kerr gulped. "Do you think it's still here?"
Reynor didn't answer. He was staring at the walls.
"They weren't killed by claws."
Sera looked over. "What do you mean?"
Reynor pointed. "See the chest wound? It's circular. Clean. Like something pierced him, not bit."
Ashen frowned. He saw it now too. The edges of the wound weren't jagged. They were smooth.
Reynor met his eyes. "Whatever it was, it didn't eat him. It studied him."
Kerr paled. "What studies people?"
Sera answered. "Things older than us."
They moved faster.
—
Three hours in, they reached a chamber.
It opened suddenly, like the cave had split a secret open. Red veins ran along the walls, pulsing with every breath they took. And at the center stood a stone altar.
No blood. No corpse.
Just a strange mask resting atop the altar. Pale white. Hollow eyes.
Ashen stepped forward, drawn to it.
Sera grabbed his arm. "Don't."
"It's not active," he whispered. "Not yet."
Reynor watched him. Hard.
"You know what it is?"
Ashen stared at the mask. "No. But I remember it."
Reynor took a step back. "You remember it?"
Ashen didn't explain. He couldn't. The memory wasn't his. It belonged to the blade, to the god whispering in its metal.
Suddenly, the chamber echoed with footsteps.
Not theirs.
Dozens of them. Skittering. Tapping. Climbing.
Sera spun. "Form a circle!"
From the tunnels, they came.
Not centipedes.
Not beasts.
Humanoid. But wrong.
White eyes. Elongated limbs. Jaws split in four.
Ashen's heart pounded.
Reynor raised his spear. "They're not mindless. Look at how they move."
Elira shouted, "They're circling us!"
Too many. No escape.
Ashen unwrapped his sword.
The silver gleamed like a memory brought to life.
Lin gasped. "That's… not military issue."
Reynor glared at Ashen. "What are you?"
But there was no time.
The first creature leapt.
Ashen moved faster.
Blade humming, he spun, cutting the thing clean in half. Its body dissolved into smoke. Another rushed. Another fell.
Sera joined him, pistol barking. Elira's blade sang through two more. Reynor fought like a hurricane, brutal and fast.
Kerr and Lin backed up to the altar, covering the rear.
But they kept coming.
Endless. Coordinated.
Ashen saw it then.
They weren't attacking randomly.
They were testing. Learning.
Mimicking.
Suddenly, one of the creatures dodged his slash.
The same way he dodged.
Reynor noticed too.
"They're copying us!"
Ashen gritted his teeth. "Then we stop holding back."
He called to the sword—not words, but intent.
It answered.
A pulse of silver light erupted outward, carving a barrier between them and the creatures. For a second, everything froze.
And Ashen saw it.
The original.
Tall. Masked. Watching from the far end of the chamber.
It nodded once.
And vanished.
The creatures fell still. Then retreated. One by one. Disappearing back into the walls.
The silence returned.
Sera staggered. "What just happened?"
Reynor faced Ashen.
"You knew. You knew it was down here."
"No," Ashen said quietly. "I didn't. But something in me did."
Reynor's hand gripped his spear tighter. "That sword isn't blood-forged. It's divine."
Elira looked between them. "That's impossible. Divine weapons are outlawed. Punishable by death."
Ashen nodded. "I know."
Lin asked softly, "Then why bring it?"
Ashen stared into the dark.
"Because it remembers what I can't."
Sera stepped forward. "We need to leave. Now."
Reynor blocked Ashen's path. "Not until we settle this."
Ashen stared back. "You want to fight me now?"
"I want the truth."
Ashen's voice was quiet. "So do I."
Reynor's glare softened. Just a bit.
They moved.
Back through the tunnels. Wounded. Changed.
Ashen could still feel the thing watching. Not hostile. Not yet.
Just… waiting.
When they passed through the red gate, back to the world of blood and steel, everything felt colder.
Grey was there, unsurprised.
"You saw it, didn't you?"
Ashen nodded.
Grey smiled.
"Good. Then you're ready for the real war."