It wasn’t night yet.

  The bronze sky still held a faint, sickly glow—but panic had already set in.

  The blood trails.

  The scratches carved into stone.

  The deliberate way they circled the camp, pointing inward.

  Everyone knew what was coming.

  Some of the survivors huddled together, backs pressed against the boulders, weapons clenched so tightly their knuckles had gone white. Others paced restlessly, eyes snapping toward every rustle of grass, every whisper of wind. A few simply sat where they were, staring into nothing, faces pale with the kind of resignation that came when fear had nowhere left to go.

  Michael noticed Jason trying—again—to summon something. Anything. A shield. A crate. A weapon. His hands glowed faintly, flickered… then died.

  Again.

  Jason swallowed and lowered his hands, shoulders shaking.

  Sarah knelt beside one of the older survivors, murmuring prayers that sounded less like faith and more like pleading.

  Even Reinhardt kept his scope trained on the horizon, scanning slowly, methodically. Watching. Waiting.

  No one slept after that.

  They couldn’t.

  Michael refused to be alone.

  He stayed near the center of the camp, back pressed to a boulder, bow resting across his knees, eyes constantly moving. Every shadow felt closer than it should have been. Every sound lingered too long.

  When Nathan suggested he take watch with someone else, Michael shook his head.

  “I’m good here.”

  The night deepened.

  Time stretched thin, elastic, each minute heavier than the last.

  Eventually, nature called.

  Michael stood. “I need to piss.”

  Nathan was on his feet instantly. “I’ll go with you.”

  Jessica rose as well. “Me too.”

  Nathan didn’t argue.

  The three of them stepped beyond the boulders—just far enough for privacy, not far enough to lose sight of the camp lights. The glow flickered weakly behind them, distorted by tall grass and uneven stone.

  Michael finished quickly. The others waited.

  Then—

  A scream.

  Human.

  Raw.

  Female.

  Emma.

  The sound came from the camp.

  They sprinted.

  Michael’s boots pounded against the warm soil. The camp should have been right there—past the boulders, thirty meters at most—

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  But the boulders were gone.

  The camp was gone.

  The grass stretched endlessly in every direction. The sky pressed lower, heavier, wrong. Even the air smelled different—less smoke, more rot.

  Nathan spun in a full circle. “What the hell—”

  “We were right there—” Jessica’s voice cracked. “I could see the lights—”

  Michael’s heart slammed against the implant.

  {Kevin—}

  {It’s not spatial,} Kevin said sharply. {It’s perceptual. Something rewrote your sense of direction. The camp still exists. You just can’t find it.}

  Michael swallowed. “Can you guide us back?”

  A pause.

  {No. The distortion is active. Every direction you think is ‘back’ is wrong.}

  Cold spread through his chest.

  They were lost.

  Thirty meters from safety.

  They ran anyway.

  Grass whipped at their legs. Gravity dragged every step, turning panic into exhaustion. The scream came again—closer, then farther, then suddenly from behind them.

  Michael skidded to a stop. “Wait.”

  Nathan and Jessica halted.

  Silence.

  Then a new sound.

  Soft.

  Wet.

  Tearing.

  From the left.

  Michael turned.

  A shape loomed.

  Tall. Thin. Its neck stretched impossibly long, peering over the grass. Pale feathers shifted subtly, blending with the bronze gloom. Massive claws glinted—curved, black, longer than his forearm.

  It resembled a Therizinosaurus only in silhouette.

  Everything else was wrong.

  The Hollowjaw Stalker.

  It tilted its head.

  No roar.

  No growl.

  Just silence.

  Jessica raised her rifle.

  The creature moved.

  Not fast. Not slow.

  Inevitable.

  One claw flashed.

  Jessica’s scream ripped through the night.

  For half a second, nothing happened.

  Then her right arm separated.

  Bone. Muscle. Skin. Severed in one perfect, surgical stroke.

  The limb hit the ground with a wet thud, her rifle still clutched in lifeless fingers.

  Blood poured—not sprayed. Thick, heavy ropes of it, dragged downward by the planet’s crushing gravity.

  Jessica staggered back, eyes wide, mouth opening and closing. No sound came out. Just a wet, choking gurgle.

  Nathan fired.

  Muzzle flashes tore through the dark. Bullets ripped through pale feathers. The Hollowjaw staggered—barely—but didn’t fall.

  It lunged again.

  Nathan dove, shoving Michael aside.

  The claw descended—

  —and caught Nathan across the chest.

  Armor tore like cloth. Flesh ripped. Ribs cracked audibly.

  Nathan hit the ground hard, blood pooling instantly beneath him.

  The creature stood between them and Jessica.

  Her chest rose once.

  Twice.

  Then stilled.

  Eyes open. Empty.

  Nathan coughed blood, eyes locking onto Michael.

  “Run—”

  The Hollowjaw turned.

  Its hollow jaw opened. Circular teeth glinted.

  Michael’s right arm burned. Dream source energy surged, forming a blade in his grip.

  He swung.

  Too late.

  The claw descended.

  Pain exploded.

  Michael’s scream tore the night as his right arm separated at the shoulder.

  He hit the ground hard.

  The Hollowjaw loomed over him.

  Nathan dragged himself forward, blood trailing behind him. His voice broke.

  “Jessica…”

  Tears mixed with blood on his face.

  The creature tilted its head once more.

  Then stepped back into the grass.

  And vanished.

  Michael lay on the warm soil, blood pooling beneath him.

  His right arm was gone.

  The stump ended in ragged meat and bone just below the shoulder. Blood pulsed in thick, slow waves, gravity dragging it down his side in heavy ropes. Pain was distant at first—then it came roaring back, white-hot, threatening to tear him apart.

  Kevin screamed inside his head as dark-blue light erupted, sealing the wound. Flesh cauterized violently. Pain flared like fire.

  Michael groaned—and ran.

  Legs pumped through the crushing weight of Terra-0689. Every step felt like wading through tar. Grass sliced at his thighs. Behind him, the wet tearing sounds had stopped.

  The silence was worse.

  Nathan’s voice cracked through the dark.

  “Michael—go! I’ll distract it!”

  Michael slowed.

  Go back. Help him.

  {RUN,} Kevin snapped. {If you stop, you both die. His evolution is unstable. The energy output alone could kill you.}

  Michael looked back.

  Nathan was on his knees, chest torn open, armor hanging in strips. Blood soaked the soil beneath him. Jessica’s body lay arm’s reach away—arm severed, eyes open and empty.

  Nathan raised his fist and charged.

  The Hollowjaw tilted its head.

  It opened its hollow jaw.

  Emma’s voice came out.

  Soft. Scared.

  “Mom… I’m scared.”

  Nathan froze.

  The creature tilted its head again.

  This time Jessica’s voice.

  “Nathan… I love you…”

  Tears spilled from his eyes.

  The stalker lunged.

  Nathan collapsed onto his side, chest screaming agony.

  Blood pooled beneath him. Warm. Heavy.

  Jessica’s body lay so close.

  I’m sorry, he thought. I couldn’t protect you. I couldn’t protect any of them.

  The Hollowjaw circled him patiently.

  Then spoke—in his own voice.

  “I failed them.”

  Something inside Nathan cracked.

  Not broke.

  Cracked.

  Like a shell under unbearable pressure.

  And beneath it, something old stirred.

  The implant on his wrist burned.

  [ARCHETYPE: SUPERSOLDIER]

  [STATUS: EVOLVING]

  [WARNING: EMOTIONAL THRESHOLD EXCEEDED]

  [BERSERKER STATE ACTIVATING]

  [INITIATING CRISIS EVOLUTION]

  Nathan’s scream tore across the plain.

  Not pain.

  Rage.

  The Hollowjaw retreated.

  Michael didn’t look back.

  He ran.

  The bronze plain stretched endlessly.

  And somewhere behind him—

  reflective eyes followed.