In their broken arena, Solari's group were faring worse. They had distance — physical, emotional — but it wasn't saving them. Teya argued with Varek in low, fierce whispers. Sirel stood apart, laughing at something no one else found funny, lightning crackling up and down her arms in erratic bursts. And Solari — the leader, the lava-blooded fighter — sat hunched against a broken pillar, staring at her own trembling hands as if they belonged to someone else. The ground beneath her still glowed faintly, blackened stone breathing heat in shallow, dying exhales. Across the way, Varek whipped around, scanning the horizon for threats. Teya hissed something under her breath — too fast, too sharp. Solari slammed a hand into the stone beside her, teeth bared, a snarl ripped from deep inside her chest. They were cracking. Worse, they were cracking apart. Sirel's body sparked like a storm contained in human skin. Varek shifted his stance, exoskeleton humming with latent energy. Teya crouched low, metallic limbs gleaming. Solari lifted her chin — molten eyes burning with barely contained rage.
A ruin-forged creature dragged itself into full view. Daein had mysteriously vanished leaving them to the creature after defeating them. The creature's body was a patchwork — steel and sinew, gears grinding against veins, faces half-melted into its shifting torso. Dozens of mouths opened and closed soundlessly across its flesh. But its eyes — its eyes burned with the same cold, mechanical hatred that had lurked in Daein's. They only watched, too beaten and weak to fight. Solari gritted her teeth as she pushed herself to her feet, her molten eyes flickering with barely contained fury. But the heat in her gaze felt like it was starting to wane, a flame threatening to gutter out. The creature's many hands held its big eye — cold and unblinking — fixed on her with the same predatory intent that had once come from Daein, and she felt the weight of it. It wasn't just an enemy now; it was them. It knew them somehow. It had studied them. A shadow-hybrid of the ruin stretched out, creeping between them like a disease.
Teya was the first to snap, her metallic limbs gleaming in the dim light as she lunged forward, her energy blades slashing toward the creature's twisted form. She fought with a brutal grace, each movement sharp and calculated, but there was an edge to her desperation now. Her strikes came faster, wilder. The creature recoiled from the blows, but it wasn't enough. It adapted, shifting to meet each new assault, its body rearranging like an unpredictable puzzle. Teya grunted in frustration, a low growl escaping her throat as she tore through its defenses again. But the satisfaction of a hit didn't last. With every strike, she felt the ruin's whispers slip deeper into her thoughts, curling like vines, feeding on her doubts.
"Teya!" Solari called, but her voice was thin, a mere thread in the chaos.
Teya didn't respond. Her focus was solely on the creature now, her movements becoming erratic, the energy in her attacks unpredictable, as if something was pulling at her mind, distorting her vision. Across from her, Sirel's laughter cracked the tension like a whip. She threw herself into the fray, wild bolts of storm-fire streaking through the air, crashing against the creature's shifting skin with a thunderous roar. Each burst was a maddened echo of the chaos swirling around her, her body thrumming with power — but her eyes were wide, pupils dilated with frantic energy. She was laughing again, but it wasn't the confident, mocking sound from before. It was sharp, brittle, the laughter of someone teetering on the edge of something much darker. Her energy surged wildly, dancing off her in unpredictable arcs, striking at anything in reach. The crackling electricity flickered in and out of existence, wild and untamed, just like her growing madness.
"Get a grip," Varek muttered under his breath, his own hand glowing with a steady pulse of energy.
His exoskeleton hummed as he moved, fluid and precise, his focus sharp — but even he felt the tremor of the ruin beneath his feet. He saw Sirel's manic eyes before he realized she was too close. She turned to face him, her movements jerky, uncoordinated. Without a word, she swung her energy-filled arm at him, the lightning crackling toward him in a raw, unrestrained burst.
"Varek, look out!" Solari shouted, but it was too late.
The bolt hit him square in the chest, slamming him back. His armor absorbed some of the shock, but the impact sent his vision spinning, the world around him warping like an out-of-focus dream. He staggered back, barely able to maintain his footing. His exoskeleton was groaning under the strain, the strain of both the physical and the mental onslaught.
"Sirel, what the hell?!" Varek spat, staggering to his feet, the sharp edge of his anger rising as he clenched his fists.
Sirel didn't even respond. She just laughed, the sound warped and echoing in the back of her throat.
"Quit being a bitch!" Varek snarled, and in that moment, it felt like the ruin was laughing with her.
Solari's molten eyes flashed with rage, her hands shaking as the ground beneath her cracked once more, molten rock pulsing upward. She leapt forward, lashing out with the strength of someone whose temper had finally broken, but her attack was far from controlled. The lava whipped wildly across the battlefield, and she barely avoided striking Teya, who was still locked in her deadly dance with the creature.
"Everyone, stop!" Solari shouted, but her voice was thin, her breath short.
She wasn't sure if anyone was listening anymore. But in that moment of hesitation, the ruin itself sensed the cracks, the weakening of their unity. It surged forward, the abomination's limbs stretching outward, encroaching on them. It let out another low, guttural screech, like grinding metal against bone. Solari took a step back, her chest tightening. They were losing. The ruin wasn't just attacking them, it was feeding. It was feeding on their doubt. On their fear. On the broken threads of their unity. Teya, suddenly still, her limbs locked in a jagged pose, paused. For a brief moment, she seemed to come back to herself, to the team she had been fighting alongside. But just as quickly, her metallic claws twitched, her mind torn between the enemy in front of her and the whispers of the ruin filling her head.
"Teya?" Solari called again, voice softening, as if trying to reach her through the haze.
But Teya only tilted her head, her eyes gleaming with the familiar coldness they hadn't seen since the first battle. The creature responded to her movements, as if it had locked onto her. The ruin had taken hold. Solari's stomach dropped. They were all losing. Varek barely managed to regain his footing. His movements were sluggish, his reactions delayed as the ruin slowly sank its teeth deeper into him. He looked up and caught Sirel's wild eyes again, but this time, he didn't see her as a friend anymore. He saw only a fractured enemy, someone who might lash out again without thinking.
"We need to get the hell out of here," he growled, barely able to hear himself over the mounting chaos.
Solari shook her head, her molten gaze meeting his.
"There's no retreat. Not now."
But even as she said it, she realized she wasn't sure she had the strength to lead them out of this mess. There was nowhere to run to. A deep tremor ran through her, not from the ground this time, but from something inside, something cracking. The abomination lurched forward again, its twisted form flowing with unnatural grace. It barely felt the blows they struck, as if it was adapting with every strike, every swing. The whispers grew louder, filling Solari's ears with the voices of the past, angry, mournful, accusing. The ruin had not simply invaded them. It was becoming them. With a final, desperate push, Solari roared, her voice crackling with unspent fury. She hurled herself toward the creature, ignoring the strain in her body, ignoring the thrum of exhaustion buzzing under her skin as she became a human-shaped lava.
"Come on!" she shouted, to herself, to them. "We're not done yet!"
But even as they fought, even as they pushed back, the ruin's grip tightened. And somewhere, deep within the wreckage of their will, a soul-hybrid emerged.
"They are ready."