The tunnel ran ahead in a rugged seam of stone, like a raw gash carved through the earth.
Their lamps pushed out thin cones of light, catching wet rock and jagged edges. Beyond the glow, darkness devoured distance; ten metres ahead might as well have been a hundred.
Unit 7 slowed without anyone saying it out loud.
The reverberation of their boots carried too far.
Blanchard walked just ahead of Caelum, shoulders filling the corridor. Every few steps, he turned back, making sure the light didn't break apart.
It wasn't leadership exactly. Just habit.
Caelum respected that more than most of the orders Dawson barked since he joined the cohort.
Ahead, Dawson walked as though the tunnel belonged to him. His sword rested across one shoulder, violet power flickering with every shift of resonance.
He's moving too quickly.
As though he expected something to jump them and wanted to be the first one swinging.
"Tunnel splits up ahead," Dawson said.
Two narrow passages opened in the rock a few metres ahead, both turning sharply out of sight.
Caelum advanced, moving past Dawson toward the tunnel junction, and crouched to examine the ground.
The ground was uneven with gravel and dust from the ceiling. He ran his fingers across it and felt faint grooves left by movement.
Not recent.
But not ancient either.
"Left side's been used," Caelum said.
Dawson didn't even turn his head.
"And you know that how?"
"Tracks."
Blanchard stepped over from his previous position in the corridor and stooped beside Caelum.
For a moment, he studied the ground. Then he nodded.
"Yeah, he's right."
Faint scuff marks cut through the dust. Partially smudged boot shapes lingered.
"Research team probably went that way."
Dawson shrugged.
"Or they ran from there."
"Either way, it's the same direction."
Dawson pointed his sword down the right-hand tunnel.
"I'd take the other path. Less predictable."
Before Caelum could answer, Éloise spoke.
Her speech was calm, almost quiet enough to miss.
"The signal marker is stronger to the left."
Everyone paused.
She indicated lightly toward the small beacon icon flickering on their HUD.
"The RMA node should be in that direction."
Blanchard gave a small grin.
"Well then. Guess we follow the signal."
Dawson didn't argue.
But he didn't look pleased either.
He turned left and started walking again.
Caelum gave Blancard a brief look.
"High-strata command," Blanchard muttered under his breath.
Caelum huffed softly.
"Something like that."
They followed.
The tunnel narrowed as they advanced deeper.
Blanchard had to dip his head slightly now and then to avoid scraping the ceiling. Water dripped somewhere ahead—slow, hollow. The sound carried through the stone.
Kifah walked near the centre. Her bow hung loosely in one hand, her grip adjusting every few seconds. The bandages around her fingers were dark with old blood.
She hadn't spoken since the last chamber.
Caelum noted how her eyes moved constantly between shadows and the path ahead.
She was listening. Watching. That counted for something.
Blanchard glanced back again and lowered his voice slightly.
"So," he said to Caelum, "you always end up babysitting arrogant rich kids?"
Caelum smirked.
"Seems to happen a lot lately."
Blanchard chuckled quietly and nudged a loose rock aside with his boot.
"You were the quiet one. Sat near the back. Didn't talk much but somehow still passed every test."
Caelum shrugged.
"Talking didn't help the score."
Blanchard laughed under his breath.
"Fair point."
They walked a few steps in silence.
Then Blanchard added more quietly,
"Didn't expect to see any from the old district make it through awakening."
"Neither did I," Caelum said.
Blanchard nodded once.
"Most didn't."
That settled between them for a moment.
Neither of them needed to say anything else.
Dawson stopped suddenly ahead of them.
Everyone halted.
"What is it?" Éloise asked.
Dawson pointed forward.
"Light."
At the far end of the tunnel, a faint orange glow flickered against the stone.
Not the pale distortion of rift light. Artificial.
"Emergency lamps," Caelum said.
Blanchard nodded.
"Research team's equipment."
Dawson shifted his grip on the sword. "Stay ready."
They advanced slowly.
The tunnel extended into a wider chamber.
Broken equipment lay dispersed across the floor.
Sensor rigs lay knocked sideways. Crates lay open, contents spilt. A tripod bent nearly in half, as if kicked in a hurry.
The emergency lamps blinked weakly, throwing uneven shadows throughout the walls.
Someone had definitely left in a hurry.
"Looks like they panicked," Blanchard said.
Caelum scanned the room.
No bodies.
Which meant they'd gotten out.
Or at least tried to.
"Node should be deeper," Éloise said.
Éloise crouched beside a fallen sensor unit, inspecting it. She ran her hand along a cable trailing from it, tracing it as it continued further along the ground."These lines extend further down."
Dawson walked toward the centre of the chamber.
"This is where they lost control."
Blanchard frowned.
"How can you tell?"
Dawson pointed toward the far wall. Deep gouges carved through the stone.
Long. Jagged.
Definitely not made by tools.
Caelum experienced the familiar spark stir in his chest.
He breathed slowly, forcing the current to move rather than gather.
Blanchard knelt near one of the grooves and ran a gauntleted hand across it.
"That's not from bats," he muttered.
Kifah swallowed quietly behind them.
"Maybe we should move faster."
For once, Dawson didn't argue.
They followed the cables deeper into the structure.
The tunnel sloped downward in a slow spiral.
The air became colder.
And quieter.
After a few minutes, Blanchard spoke again. "You hear that?"
"Hear what?" Dawson asked.
Then Caelum noticed it too.
The dripping water had stopped.
The faint murmuring of bats was gone, too.
Simple silence.
Éloise spoke calmly from behind them.
"Predators often clear surrounding fauna."
Dawson glanced back.
"That's comforting."
The tunnel led into another chamber.
Larger than the previous one.
The RMA node stood at the centre.
A tall metallic pillar was embedded in the stone floor, cables branching along the ground like roots.
Soft blue light gleamed along its surface.
"Found it," Dawson said.
Blanchard started toward the device. "Looks intact."
Caelum did not move.
Something seemed wrong.
"Hold up."
Blanchard stopped and looked back. "What?"
Caelum pointed down. Deep grooves cut across the stone floor.
Wide circles around the node.
Blanchard knelt next to him again.
"Those aren't boot imprints."
"No."
"Scratch marks." Dawson sighed.
"You two are seeing monsters in simple marks."
Caelum shook his head. "It's too deep for tools."
Éloise slowly turned in place, studying the shadows at the edge of the chamber.
Then she spoke quietly. "We are not alone." A scraping noise came from behind them.
Stone grinding against a hard cavern. Kifah stiffened. Her voice came out just above a whisper. "Behind us."
Caelum turned.
Something unfolded from the darkness near the far wall.
An enormous silhouette lurched from the dark—twice a man's height, its shoulders nearly scraping the cavern ceiling. One huge, hazy eye glistened, blind and steady, beneath a ridge of battered stone-like flesh.
It sniffed the air with frenzied, animal sharpness, breath rasping as it hunted for warmth and movement. Thick arms ended in massive fists, one wrapped around a rugged club of solid stone, the other sliding over the ground for balance. Its legs were twisted, built for brute force, not speed.
The skin was grey and rough, encrusted with lichen and veins of iron, broken in places where old wounds had scarred over.
No hint of humanity. Just raw, feral intent. It walked with a predatory, lurching gait, club scraping deep gouges in the rock, every heavy footfall producing tremors through the chamber. The stench of earth and blood rolled ahead of it. This thing was born for the dark, and it brought the dark with it.
Blanchard rose sharply to his feet.
"Oh shit," he said.
"That explains the gouges," Blanchard said.
The creature ground its teeth, a low, rough sound rumbling from its chest.
Dawson's sword ignited with violet light.
"Finally."
Caelum stepped forward beside him.
Electric warmth flowed down his arms into the spear. Steady. Controlled.
Steady. Controlled.
"Remember the tunnel," Caelum said quietly.
"No blasts."
Dawson smirked.
"Relax, Ward."
The creature sprang.
And the chamber burst forth into motion.