The creature's roar echoed through the chamber like a sonic blast, shaking the metal walls and forcing Alex to plant his feet to stay upright. Kaela was still dazed in his arms, the aftershock of the stasis chamber's shutdown visible in her trembling body.
The Ravager didn't stop.
It moved like a nightmare—too fast for its size, every step a seismic quake. Its limbs were mismatched: a raptor-like claw on one side, a brutal clubbed appendage on the other. Serpentine scales covered one half of its torso, the other armored like a beetle. Its eyes glowed an icy cyan—no soul, no thought. Just cold, programmed fury.
"Move!" Lena shouted, yanking Maya behind a containment column just as the Ravager slammed into the platform.
Alex rolled away with Kaela, flames erupting instinctively from his back to cushion their fall. The Dragon Core inside him pulsed with rage and fear, feeding him strength, but also testing his control.
He laid Kaela down gently behind a broken console. "Stay here. Don't move."
Kaela weakly grabbed his wrist. "A-Alex… it… learns…"
"I know," he whispered, gently prying her hand off.
Across the chamber, Maya launched two shock discs toward the Ravager, aiming for its jointed limbs. They hit—and fizzled.
"It absorbed them!" she yelled.
The Ravager twisted its body grotesquely, its back arching as electricity ran across its spine. Then, with a snarl, it released a mirrored pulse of energy ten times more powerful. The shockwave cracked the floor, slamming Maya backward into a control panel.
"Maya!" Lena shouted, running to her.
Alex stood, eyes locked on the creature as flames danced across his body. "It doesn't just reflect powers… it amplifies them."
Specter's voice crackled through their comms. "Confirmed. The Ravager's neural lattice adapts faster the more frequently you use a single ability. Vary your attacks. Unpredictability is your only weapon."
Lena dragged Maya to cover. "You hear that, Dragon boy? Stop being predictable."
Alex didn't answer. He launched himself at the Ravager, flames wreathing his fists as he struck. One punch landed squarely on its torso, sending molten cracks through its beetle armor—but as he followed with a fire-infused kick, the Ravager grabbed his leg mid-motion and threw him across the chamber.
Alex crashed through a glass panel, skidding to a stop near one of the mutant containment pods.
Before he could rise, the Ravager was on him again—ripping the pod from the floor and hurling it like a missile. He ducked, rolled, and ignited a burst of dragon flame beneath his feet, launching himself back into the air.
Mid-flight, he remembered something Specter said earlier.
"It adapts to powers… not techniques."
Flames were power. But the way he used them… that was skill.
Alex gritted his teeth and shifted his flames into propulsion, not offense. He zipped around the chamber in erratic patterns, leaving afterimages and vapor trails to confuse the creature's tracking. The Ravager lunged, but every time, Alex darted just out of reach.
"Lena!" he shouted through comms. "What's its weak point?"
She checked a readout Specter had uploaded. "Its spine! Right at the base—before the neural adaptations can reroute. But it's shielded most of the time."
Alex glanced back—then dove toward the floor, skidding and hurling a plume of white-hot flame across the ground.
The Ravager dodged—but Alex had expected that.
He feinted left, twisted in midair, and launched himself over the creature's back. The fang blade—still sheathed—shimmered in his grip as he brought it down toward the Ravager's spine.
At the last second, the creature spun.
Its serpent tail whipped upward—slamming into Alex's ribs mid-air.
He tumbled, gasping, pain exploding through his side. The fang blade clattered to the floor.
Kaela, barely able to sit up, screamed his name.
The Ravager stomped toward him, one slow step at a time.
Alex tried to rise—but couldn't.
Blood ran down his side. The Core inside him flickered erratically.
Get up.
The voice wasn't his. It was deeper, ancient—echoing from within the Dragon Core.
Are you afraid?
Alex gritted his teeth. "No…"
Then rise.
In a surge of golden flame, Alex's body lifted from the ground—eyes burning bright orange, scales momentarily flashing across his arms and collarbones. The pain was still there, but it no longer controlled him.
He was the flame now.
The Ravager lunged.
Alex didn't dodge.
He caught the beast's claw in mid-swing—flames erupting in a spiral around his arm. His other hand called the fang blade back to him like a magnet, the weapon slamming into his grip.
He didn't hesitate.
He drove the blade into the Ravager's spine—deep.
The creature howled. Blue sparks exploded from its body, twitching as circuits overloaded and neural pathways fractured. Its legs gave out. It collapsed in a heap, steam hissing from its back.
For a moment, all was still.
Then, it moved again—just slightly. A low growl escaped its throat.
"It's not dead," Lena said, limping toward them.
"It's dying," Alex replied, panting. "But not dead enough."
Specter's voice echoed through their comms. "Leave it. The extraction team is inbound. Kaela's window for survival is closing."
Alex turned to her.
She was trying to stand, leaning against the broken console, tears in her eyes.
"You came for me," she whispered.
"Always."
---
The team moved quickly now, carrying Kaela between them as Specter guided them back through the lower tunnels. Explosions rocked the fortress above—the Veilborn distraction had turned into a full assault.
"They're pulling resources from the southern vault," Specter reported. "We have a five-minute window to reach the tunnel exit."
They ran.
Alex, despite the pain in his ribs and the flickering of his Core, led the charge. Lena followed behind, covering their rear. Maya triggered smoke flares and sensor jammers as they moved.
By the time they reached the exit shaft, the entire facility was on high alert. Drones swarmed above, gunships descending through dust and smoke.
Specter raised a hand, eyes glowing behind his mask.
"For this moment… I'll remind them why I was their greatest mistake."
He stepped forward and unleashed a wave of anti-Core static—crashing the drones, jamming the comms, and scrambling the targeting systems.
"Now!" he shouted.
They leapt into the old transport shaft—an angled tunnel rigged with gliders and rail pads. One by one, they slid down into darkness, chased by the sound of collapsing metal and howling sirens.
---
They didn't stop running until they were half a mile out, hidden in the jagged edge of the canyon where the Veilborn had set up evac pods.
Sira helped stabilize Kaela. Maya checked the fang blade for fractures. Lena collapsed on a rock, finally breathing again.
Alex stood at the edge of the ridge, watching the fires burn in the distance.
Kaela, wrapped in a cloak, walked up beside him.
"They'll come again," she said.
"I know."
"You can't do this alone."
He looked at her. "I'm not."
Behind him, Lena, Maya, Sira, and even Specter stood together—scarred, tired, but alive.
The storm had only just begun.