The Last Veilborn

Chapter 3

She lifted her arm.

There was a deep cut across her sleeve, and although the wound underneath was not as bad as I expected, blood had already soaked through the fabric.

"You need to get that treated before it becomes worse," I said.

"I'll survive," she replied, trying to sound confident even though her face had tightened from the pain.

I looked at her.

"That's not something you joke about right now, especially when we don't know what caused the wound or whether the creature left something behind."

She stared at me for a moment, and then her expression softened as she realized I was not angry with her.

"I'm not joking," she said quietly. "I'm telling you that I'm not dying here."

Another impact shook the warehouse before I could answer.

The lights came back for half a second, and in that brief flash, I saw something standing directly behind Lyra.

"Move!"

I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her aside just as the creature slammed into the wall where she had been standing, cracking the concrete and sending fragments across the corridor.

We fired at the same time, our shots striking the creature's body before it twisted away from the impact.

The thing moved too fast.

It crossed the corridor in seconds, forcing us backward as its body shifted between the darkness and the emergency lights, and although I tried to focus on its face, I could not get a clear look at it. Its movements were wrong—too fast, too controlled, almost as if it knew exactly where our weapons were pointed before we even pulled the triggers.

"Back!" I shouted, pulling Lyra behind a support column while keeping my weapon trained on the creature.

Lyra fired again, and the shot struck the floor beneath it.

The creature disappeared through the ceiling, vanishing into the darkness above us as if the solid structure were nothing more than smoke.

I stared upward, trying to hear where it had gone.

"Did you see that?"

"Yes," Lyra answered, her breathing hard and uneven. "It went through the ceiling."

"That isn't normal."

"No," she said, lowering her weapon slightly while keeping her eyes on the ceiling. "It isn't, and whatever it is, it knows this building better than we do."

My comm suddenly activated.

"Caelan."

Eryx.

I almost dropped my weapon from relief, because hearing his voice meant that at least one of our systems was still functioning and that someone else from the team was still alive.

"Eryx, where the hell are you?" I asked, speaking quickly before the signal could disappear again.

"I'm in the communications room, but something is wrong with the system, and I need you to understand that this isn't just damage from the breach." His voice was rushed and strained. "Someone accessed the network before we entered the building."

My expression changed.

"What do you mean, someone?"

"I mean someone entered the system manually, disabled our external signal, and locked the emergency route before the impact happened." He took a sharp breath, and I could hear alarms sounding behind him. "Caelan, this wasn't a system failure, and it wasn't caused by the creature."

"I know," I answered, looking at Lyra as she listened to every word.

There was silence on the line.

Then Eryx asked, "What?"

"Someone did this," I said, forcing the words out even though saying them made the situation feel more real. "Someone wanted us trapped inside this warehouse, and they made sure we couldn't call for help."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you," Eryx replied. "The mission data was altered before we arrived, and every external connection was disabled before the breach began."

I looked at Lyra.

She had heard him too, and the fear in her eyes confirmed that she understood what this meant.

"Can you restore communications?"

"I can try, but I need more time, and I can't guarantee that the system will hold long enough for me to open the emergency route."

"You don't have time," I said, glancing toward the ceiling where the creature had disappeared. "Whatever is inside this building is moving through the structure, and it's already separated us from the others."

"I know!"

Eryx's voice cracked for the first time, revealing how close he was to losing control.

"Caelan, I'm trying to keep the system alive while something is tearing through this building, and if you want me to open that route, I need at least five minutes without anyone interrupting the power feed."

Five minutes.

We might not have five minutes.

"Do it," I said. "We'll get to you, protect the communications room, and make sure you have enough time to open the route."

"Caelan—"

The signal cut before he could finish.

I looked at Lyra.

"We're moving now, and we don't stop unless one of us is bleeding badly enough to collapse."

She nodded, tightening her grip on her weapon as she prepared to follow me.

We ran toward the communications room.

The warehouse was becoming more unstable with every second, and the floor shook beneath our feet while alarms started going off without warning. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear someone shouting for help, but the sound echoed through the building so badly that I could not determine whether it was coming from nearby or from another section entirely.

"Kael!" I shouted through the comm. "Kael, respond and tell me where you are!"

Static answered me.

"Maelis!" I shouted again, raising my voice as we ran. "If you can hear me, activate your emergency beacon and stay where you are!"

Nothing.

"Riven!"

Nothing.

I kept running, refusing to slow down even though every unanswered call felt heavier than the last and every second made it more likely that we would find another body instead of another survivor.

We reached the communications corridor and found the door half-open, its metal frame bent outward as if something had forced its way through.

I pushed it aside and entered with my weapon raised.

Eryx was on the floor.

His equipment was scattered around him, and several monitors were flashing warnings while sparks fell from a damaged control panel beside his head.

"Eryx!"

I rushed toward him and dropped to my knees, checking his chest and neck before looking for visible injuries.

He was conscious.

Barely.

"I'm okay," he said immediately, trying to push himself up even though his arms were shaking. "I'm still alive, and that means I'm okay enough to finish the override."

"You don't look okay," I replied, grabbing his shoulder to keep him from standing too quickly.

"I've looked worse," he said, forcing a weak smile that disappeared almost immediately when another tremor shook the room.

Lyra crouched beside him and began checking the wound on his side.