Sasha looks right through me. She’s almost my height, rare for someone like me, and yet her presence feels older, heavier. Her white skin is almost pristine, impossibly untouched for someone who’s survived this hellscape. She floats above us, wielding an energy sword, her armor humming softly as it keeps her suspended in the air. She stares down with an expression I’ve never seen on her before—unsure, distant.

  I feel like I’m at her mercy. Maybe because she’s a potential threat.

  She narrows her dark eyes and smiles. It’s a fake smile.

  “Astrid and Nico. What a surprise,” she says gently as she begins her slow descent. Her presence as a Nexus Being bends the air around her, pressing down on us and making my breath catch. My grip on Horus’s Agony tightens in response to the weight of it. She wants us to feel this pressure. She wants us to know.

  “I never thought I’d find any of you here… you especially.” Her fascinated gaze locks onto me. We may be the same age, but her eyes carry an experience unlike any other.

  They say mirrors are windows to a person’s soul. Looking at her, I can tell she’s changed. Completely. We clones carry cold gazes, assumed to have no souls.

  But Sasha’s gaze is warm. She has a soul.

  When she lands, the ground caves inward under her boots, a tremor rippling out as gravity snaps back to normal. Dust rises in a slow swirl around her.

  “Sasha. Congratulations on becoming a Nexus Being.” Nico takes his time with the words, rolling them along his tongue like something bitter.

  I glance at him. His expression stays cold, but there’s a flicker of something new…fear. His hands glisten with sweat as he stares at Sasha. Strange. I don’t feel anything radiating from her. No malice, no intent. Just presence.

  “It was… a complicated ordeal. Luckily, I had some help,” she says, that warm-but-false smile stretching across her face. “Anyway, I’m guessing you’re here for the expedition too. You must’ve received the Doctor’s message.”

  I blink, puzzled. A message? So I was right; the Doctor handpicked a group for this expedition.

  “Yes, we did.” Nico jumps in before I can speak. He doesn’t stutter, his voice smooth and steady. “We received the instructions through the private channel. It’s truly an opportunity to prove our worth.”

  The speed of his response makes everything click into place.

  ‘Sasha is loyal to Bloodhaul. Loyal to Doctor Adam. She’d do anything to please the Doctor, anything to protect the Facility. If she realizes that Nico and I are planning to sabotage it, what’s stopping her from swinging that energy blade and taking our heads off?’

  She’s the perfect success story. The brainwashed weapon we can’t kill. Not yet.

  “It’s good to see more survivors… and chosen members.” Her voice softens as she nods at Nico. “You’re indeed worthy, Nico.” Then her gaze shifts back to me, sharp and curious. “So, Astrid… how did you survive?”

  I open my mouth to respond, but she cuts me off instantly.

  “You’ve successfully gained access to Star Ether,” she says as she closes the distance between us. She raises her arm and pats my shoulder gently, like a friend. “This is incredible. It means you can become a Nexus Being, too. Congratulations.”

  Her congratulations don’t feel natural. The way her eyes linger on me twists my gut with dread. Something is terribly wrong with Sasha. She may look the same, smell the same, sound the same. But she isn’t the Sasha Bronze I know. I can’t prove it, but every part of me knows it’s true.

  “I am excited,” I murmur, my voice thin as I stare at the Obsidian Spire, the jagged terrain littered with the bones of long-dead creatures.

  Maybe it’s the cold stench of death distracting me. As a Dormant human, I’m not supposed to sense Chaos. However, I should at least feel something.

  I feel nothing. Should I worry?

  “You guys can follow me.” The plasma energy blade dissolves back into its hilt with a hiss. “I know where the first entrance is.”

  “You do?”

  “Of course I do,” she says with a low, almost gleeful laugh. “Devon and the others left beacons for us...the ones chosen by the Ashmael himself. I’m so excited to acquire his gifts. Praise the Ashmael.”

  She taps four points on her chest in a ritual gesture before clasping her hands in prayer.

  The Ashmael. I’ve heard that name before. “Praise the Ashmael indeed.” I mimic her gesture, though my hands feel like stone. I have no clue what’s happening, but I’m sure of one thing: something has happened to Sasha.

  Her suit hums as it reactivates, lifting her off the ground. She signals us forward, gliding ahead toward the supposed entrance to the Dragon Spire.

  “Who is Ashmael?” I whisper.

  Nico waits to respond, his eyes fixed on the hovering figure. His face is pale, jaw tight. “A god… I think. Almost every magical item from Bloodhaul traces back to the Ashmael.”

  He pauses, then his voice drops even lower, trembling. “But that’s the least of our problems. Sasha reeks of death. We can’t trust her. I lied about receiving the message because I saw her eyes change when she mentioned it.”

  His whisper is almost a shiver. “She was waiting for our confusion to act. That means she didn’t just arrive here. She’s been here…waiting. Guarding the entrance. I wonder how many people she’s killed.”

  My eyes travel upward. Sasha glides ahead of us, leading the way to the entrance. The journey isn’t long. The jagged rocks underfoot turn every step into a battle, making it impossible to just run.

  Now that I have a sense of what she really is, I also have a clearer understanding of my obstacles. Everyone here is after the power of a Monarch. I have to claim that power first, even if it costs my life. I’m desperate enough to tear through any obstacle, including the darkest night itself and whatever creature waits for me beyond that entrance. Nexus Being or not. I will get what I want. Death is just a small price to pay.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  [You have been invited into Dragon Monarch’s Spire]

  The system’s voice slams into my mind, and my resolve trembles. The Spire has sensed us, and the Nexus System now recognizes us as potential challengers. It's both an honor and a sentence.

  And then I see it. The entrance to the Dragon Spire. It's shaped like a doorway, a black tear in space that appears so out of place and natural at the same time. It's not just an entrance. It's a presence of its own.

  Sasha doesn’t dare to fly over it. She hovers just before the rift, her face unnervingly calm. Her gaze drifts to me, heavy and unblinking, like divine judgment.

  “You two are still Dormant…” Her voice carries authority now, stripped of the warmth she once faked. “Are you sure you want to challenge the Spire? Aren’t you afraid of death?”

  She stares down at us as though we’re insects, no longer seeing fellow clones. Only as something beneath her.

  “No,” I respond.

  “As our god Ashmael says: ‘For man shall not fear death, even at its door.’ Because death,” she pauses, her tone almost reverent, “is just another doorway.”

  She starts to shed real tears. You’d think they’re fake. Performative, in fact. But they aren’t. They slide warm down her cheeks. “In that case, I will only permit Astrid to cross. Nico is a traitor to the Blood King, and therefore, death is his punishment.”

  Nico’s face doesn’t flinch. Of course, he doesn’t. I wish she hadn’t said it. Now I have to do what’s impossible: kill someone far stronger than me, someone who could snap me like a twig.

  “I suppose we have to kill her,” Nico says to me.

  My breath trembles. Horus’s Agony sings in my hand. I inhale the hot, stale air, and the Ether in me wakes. We don’t have gravity suits to chase her into the rift. That doesn’t mean we can’t fight. We have a plan-thin as spider silk, but a plan.

  “Hmm…do you wish to fight me?” Sasha’s tone is cruelly gentle.

  “No…” I murmur. “But I don’t have a choice.” It comes out so small it might be nothing at all — a private confession to the wind. The only reason I keep going is because there’s nowhere else to go. If I must die, I’ll do it on my terms.

  Nico flexes his hand and summons a golden ring, a magic item I’ve never seen. Electricity gathers in his palm like coiling serpents. He makes a gun shape with his fingers, and lightning snaps from his fingertips.

  Sasha doesn’t flinch. Nico’s lightning slams into her with a thunderous crack. The ground shudders and smoke blooms like a rotten sun. When the haze finally curls away, she’s still there, hovering a hair above the rock. Only her armor has been nicked by the flamboyant explosion.

  ‘As expected, her abilities have manifested completely.’

  “Have you forgotten that I am more than that?” she hisses with primal disgust. Her dark eyes cut across us like knives. We aren't people to her now. Just insects under a boot.

  I steal a look at Nico. He gives me the tiniest nod. The plan is ugly and brittle: bait her down, take out the gravity rig. When she’s in the sky, she has the advantage. If she’s on the ground, she’s much easier to fight.

  So I push. I clear my throat and shout with everything I’ve got. “Fuck Ashmael, you crazy bitch!”

  It works. Rage storms across her beautiful face, and she plummets from the air like a missile, fist cocked to pulverize me for cursing her god. Blocking that would be suicide, so I dump ether into my legs and flash aside at the last millimeter. Her fist whistles past, cracking the stone where I just stood.

  Her momentum eats up the floor. She skids, her boots grinding the rock as she rips a gouge and pivots. Her wild eyes now look like those of a predator.

  This is how I tell that something is wrong with Sashwaa. It’s not just devotion or fanaticism. There’s a rot under the surface now, a cruelty that makes my skin crawl.

  Right when she’s about to attack me, Nico doesn’t waste a beat. He fires another lightning shot straight at her head. This one sings; Sasha winces. This is proof that she’s not invincible, as we thought.

  She reorients toward him, and her body vanishes in a blur of motion. She slams into Nico with her full force. He takes the hit and his body ragdolls across the ground, thrown like a puppet with its strings cut. He groans but isn’t down. It was bait, too. He expected the exchange.

  While she’s distracted, I move. I switch to the Trusted Dagger. The light blade sings as I move in a desperate dash. I swing. My aim is to destroy the rig attached to the back of her suit. It is underneath a special aluminum casing. If I stab that metal, I can get to the rig.

  My blade kisses the aluminum. Shit. I forgot to channel Ether into the weapon.

  Sasha’s eyes land on me for just a second, and I freeze instantly. Her killing intent belongs to a monster. I stagger and let go of my breath, leaving me open for a brutal attack.

  Her fist slithers at me like a king snake and hits me in the chest. The feeling of my ribs caving in and piercing my lungs leaves me distraught. I drop the Trusted Dagger as the force behind her strike sends me flying into a few rocks. Without the Ether, the injuries turn out to be much worse.

  I passed out from the pain immediately.

  The next time I open my eyes, Sasha is standing in front of me. She has something in her bloody hand. A lifeless head. And not just any head. Nico’s head. He’s dead.

  I will be joining him soon.

  I don’t remember how I got knocked out in the first place. The pain in my lungs hasn’t gone yet. But I won’t die from this. We had underestimated her. She fought like she had always been a Nexus Being. Like she has always had these abilities, which is all kinds of wrong.

  There is only one answer in my mind: Adam.

  “Great…you’re still alive.” She does not smile. “The Ashmael said that something is wrong with you. If it makes you any better, this Traitor died begging for his life. But first,”--she drops his head and picks up a severed arm with a guantlet on it— “can you tell me where he got this?”

  I stay quiet. Nico's dead. I don’t even know how or when he died. What I know is that we’ve been discovered, and I’m next.

  “Not going to talk, I see. Sigh, I guess I have to refresh your memory.”

  She points her right hand at me and flicks her fingers. I sense a distortion in space, and something invisible shoots at me.

  What comes next is a wave of pain as an invisible force starts tearing through my shoulder like a drill. Blood, flesh, skin. It all pains the area as the invisible attack makes its way through my shoulder.

  I cry and scream. None of that phases through someone I’ve known for fifteen years. She just watches me with a cold, uncaring gaze. The minutes of pain feel like hours of gruesome torture. I run out of tears and my finally voice breaks from the screams. Why couldn’t I have been a normal child? This is all wrong and those bastards know that!

  By the time it stops, my right arm has detached itself from my body. My shoulder is gone. I want to die. Why am I still alive?

  “Alright. Since you can’t answer that. Next question…” Sasha sounds much more dull. I can still hear the sound of my own screaming in my ears.

  “How did you find out about the expedition?”

  I lift my head and face her. I smile, then croak out a single word. “Why?” I need to know why she would turn on the people she has grown up with. Why does she have so much faith in a man who doesn’t even see us as living beings?

  She walks to me. The sound of her boots is nonexistent. She then leans in to me, and our eyes meet once again. She taps something on her suit's chest area. There is a strange emblem of a lion's head. I've seen that before, but I can't think where. It belongs to a corporation in the Planetary Alliance.

  As I try to think, a message plays from Sasha's Suit.

  “Sasha Bronze, Subject 15. You have been selected by the hand of our god Ashmeal to participate in the first expedition in another realm. Your mission is to find the Heart of a True Dragon and acquire a gift from the stars for our god. Do this and you will be granted Paradise. May the hand of Ashmeal be with you.”

  The message stops with a click. That wasn’t Adam’s voice.

  “I am here because I have been chosen for a greater purpose. The god Ashmeal will free us one day. It is unfortunate that you will be around to see that day.”

  “Don’t worry...hehe.” I laugh bitterly. "I will be." I know my curse will let me see that day, even when I don’t want to.

  ‘I will have to try again. She’s stronger than both of us. To kill her, I will have to get more creative. Yes. Let’s try this again!’

  "You have no Soul. I don't have to pray for you."

  With that, Sasha's hand reaches into my chest and rips out my still beating heart. What a brutal death by someone I considered my friend.

  I won’t forget this.

  [You have died]