The warning came too late.
By the time the air shifted—by the time the static bled into the marrow of their bones and the shard in Arix's chest pulsed like a war drum—the Aberrants were already upon them.
The first wave came fast.
From the blackened horizon, figures poured like liquid shadow—wrong shapes, glimmering skin, limbs that bent and snapped in unnatural rhythm. Aberrants. Rift-born. Things that shouldn't exist but did.
Selis activated the perimeter drone. Kael dropped into position, his rifle already tracking. Calyx braced beside Arix, her breathing steady, her eyes locked forward.
Thorne moved to the front.
He didn't ask. He didn't wait.
He just stood there, hammer in hand, as if daring the void to come closer.
The ridge gave them a high-ground advantage, but it wouldn't last. The Aberrants climbed fast, claws digging into rock, eyes glowing like coals.
"Target the lead!" Kael barked. "They're linked!"
Selis dropped two with a disruption bolt. Kael's shot shattered a third. But for every one that fell, two more surged forward.
> [System Alert: Aberrant Nexus Field Detected – Unknown Modifier Present] [Recommendation: Retreat or Reposition]
Arix activated Echo Shift and blinked down into the lower slope. His blade hummed with Riftlight as he cut through the front line, each motion guided by instinct—and something deeper.
Calyx covered him. Her rifle never stopped. Even when one got too close, she dropped her gun and drew a blade, fighting at his back. Together, they moved like pieces of a whole.
But they were losing ground.
An Aberrant broke past the front and leapt toward Selis. She turned just in time to blast it with a plasma burst, but a second one struck from the side. Its claws tore into her torso, throwing her into the rocks. She hit hard, armor shattering with the impact.
"Selis!" Kael screamed.
Blood sprayed across the stone. She wasn't moving.
Kael abandoned his post and ran to her, dodging past another Aberrant. He slid to her side, triggering a med-stim with one hand while lifting his rifle with the other.
"She's alive," he called. "But barely—she's bleeding out!"
Thorne roared, charging through the line. He smashed two Aberrants aside and reached Kael's position just as another attacker lunged. Thorne's hammer crushed it in midair.
"Cover me!" Kael shouted. Thorne stood over them like a wall of iron.
"I've got you!"
Kael worked fast, injecting Selis with a stabilizer and applying pressure to the wound. Her eyes fluttered.
"You're not dying here," Kael muttered, voice raw.
They lifted her together. Thorne moved backward with her slung over his shoulder, still swinging his hammer to keep the Aberrants at bay.
"Fall back to the relay point!" Thorne yelled.
The team responded. Arix cut down another enemy and leapt back toward higher ground. Calyx fired a flare round to mark their retreat path. The Aberrants were swarming now, converging like insects to flame.
Then came the Entity.
It rose from the rear like a god of bone and crystal—ten feet tall, limbs like swords, a core glowing with violet fury. The ground buckled beneath its weight.
It focused on Thorne.
> [Alert: Aberrant Origin Entity – Riftborn Alpha – Class: Devourer]
Thorne didn't falter.
He handed Selis off to Kael and turned.
"Get her out," he said.
Kael hesitated.
"Go!" Thorne bellowed.
Kael ran.
Thorne met the first strike and held.
The Entity's blade crashed into his hammer, sparks flaring. Thorne braced himself, boots skidding back across the rock. But he didn't fall. He pressed forward, swinging wide and low. The hammer caught the Entity's side and knocked it off-balance.
Another strike. Another block. Thorne twisted, caught the creature beneath its arm, and launched it backward with a grunt. It rolled, screeching in static fury, then surged forward.
They traded blows—massive, seismic, violent. Stone cracked. Lightning arced. For a moment, it looked like Thorne was winning. He struck the core once, then again. The Entity reeled.
"Come on!" Thorne roared, swinging with all his might. The hammer connected—bone splintered. The core cracked.
On the ridge, Calyx moved to help—just as a stray Aberrant pounced. She turned too late. Its claws raked her leg, tearing through armor and flesh.
She screamed, crumpling.
Arix shouted her name, racing to her side. He cut the Aberrant down, but the damage was done. Calyx tried to stand—collapsed again.
"I can't—" she gasped. Blood seeped from the torn muscle.
Arix looked up.
Thorne was still fighting.
The Entity staggered, sparks flying from its wounds.
Then it changed.
Its core flared. Limbs reformed. It moved with new speed, new precision.
It ducked Thorne's next swing and drove its blade through his chest.
The hammer dropped.
Thorne coughed, blood blooming down his armor.
But he smiled.
He grabbed the Entity's arm and pulled it closer.
"Burn," he whispered.
The grenade on his belt detonated.
Light and fire swallowed the cliff.
When the smoke cleared, the Entity was gone.
So was Thorne.
What remained was little—a blackened crater, fragments of armor fused to the stone, and the hammer, scorched and half-buried near the edge. There was no body. No blood. Just silence.
Kael knelt beside the hammer, his jaw tight, shoulders trembling. Calyx turned away, her leg buckling slightly as she leaned on Arix for balance. Selis, barely conscious, murmured something no one understood.
They didn't speak.
Arix retrieved the hammer. It was hot to the touch, vibrating faintly with residual energy. He wrapped it in cloth and strapped it to his back, cradling the weight like it might break.
"What do we do?" Kael finally asked, voice hoarse.
Arix looked toward the ridge—the trail leading away from the cliff.
"We carry what's left," he said.
"And when we're safe..." Calyx added, "we bury what we can."
---
The morning after was colder than any they remembered.
Kael was the first to rise, checking his gear in silence, shoulders set like stone. Selis stirred slowly, wincing as she adjusted her gel-wrapped side. Her breaths came in shallow, controlled draws.
Calyx sat apart from the others, her braced leg stretched stiffly in front of her. She held her coat tightly around herself, but not for warmth. Her eyes were fixed on the hammer lying across Arix's pack—wrapped in scorched cloth like something sacred.
Arix approached without a word and lowered himself beside her.
"He was more than just the shield," she said quietly. "He was the weight that grounded us."
"He still is," Arix said. "We're just not ready to let go."
She nodded once, and the silence between them deepened.
> [Echo Signature: Residual – Hammer Imprint Logged]
The system registered it—quietly, reverently. Whatever had fused with the hammer was dormant now. Waiting.
Arix didn't mention it. Not yet.
When Calyx finally stood, he stood with her.
They didn't look back at the pack or the stone-scarred ridge behind them.
But they carried it with them. Every step.
---
That afternoon, they reached a weathered communication node embedded in the rocks. Ancient tech, barely functional, but Selis managed to hook into the signal relay.
"I've got pings," she said. "Old-world distress codes. Some are looping on repeat."
"Survivors?" Kael asked.
"Or traps," she said. "But there's one close. Ten klicks north."
Arix looked to Calyx. She nodded.
They moved forward.
The weight of Thorne's sacrifice made every step heavier.
But none of them hesitated.