They lingered at the cave mouth.
The twisted creature's words still hung heavy in the air, gnawing at the edges of certainty. The inside of the cave wasn't deep—it looked shallow from the outside—but something about the darkness inside now seemed bigger, as though the cave bent inward into something more than space.
Leo held his spear loosely, gaze drifting between Mira and Aric.
Mira was pacing, her fists clenched. "This doesn't make sense. Farseer projections said the Tower wouldn't react this early. It shouldn't have seen us."
Aric crossed his arms, unusually tight-lipped. "Maybe the data was incomplete. Maybe the Tower's sentience is more advanced than the Department expected."
Leo blinked. "Farseer? What's that?"
They both froze for a second, as if only just remembering he was there.
Mira waved it off quickly. "Nothing. Doesn't matter."
"It does matter if it's why the Tower's changing," Leo said, stepping forward. "You said you were placed here. By who?"
Aric let out a long, slow breath. "The Farseer Department. It's a branch of the state—back home. They research dimensional anomalies. The Tower appeared seven years ago, and they've been watching for entry events ever since."
Mira added, voice low and bitter, "We weren't just chosen. We were trained for this."
Leo stared. "So this was never random for you."
"No. But it was supposed to stay under the radar," Aric said. "The simulations showed minimal response from the Tower if the entry vector was subtle. But this..." He glanced toward the dark passage. "This is anything but subtle."
Mira stopped pacing and stared into the tunnel.
"Maybe it wasn't us that triggered it," she muttered. "Maybe it was him."
Leo stiffened, but before he could respond, a rumble rolled out from deeper inside the rock. Dust sifted down from the ceiling.
They turned, weapons and senses sharpened.
The tunnel sloped down suddenly and widened—unfolding into a vast underground cavern lit by veins of glowing crystal that pulsed with pale blue light. The space felt ancient and wrong, as though it had existed longer than the rock around it.
In the center stood a figure.
It towered over them, easily ten feet tall, with coiled muscle carved from living granite. A bull's head crowned its massive frame, its horns curved upward like obsidian scythes. Its eyes burned gold beneath a furrowed brow. In one hand it gripped a massive axe, black and chipped with old battle.
The air thickened instantly.
Primal strength.
It didn't speak. It didn't move. But it radiated power—raw, grounded, undeniable. Leo staggered back half a step as his instincts screamed.
Then he saw it—faint glimmers of light beneath the creature's hide, clustered along its torso and limbs.
Three.
Three qi points, open and thrumming with refined essence.
Aric said nothing. Mira exhaled slowly.
Leo felt the hairs on his arms rise.
This wasn't just a fight.
This was a message.
The Tower knew who they were now.
And it had sent something to match.