Here's a tip: if you ever find yourself sneaking into a death-worshipping cult's hideout in the middle of the night, rethink your life choices.
Seriously.
I was doing just that kneeling next to Royce and Adrian on the outskirts of the old train station, staring at the Scourge's territory, which looked like the set of a horror movie someone forgot to turn the lights on for. Fires flickered from rusted braziers, casting shadow-puppets of doom on crumbling concrete pillars. Creepy chanting echoed across the field, like the worst meditation retreat imaginable.
"Remind me again," Adrian muttered, "why we didn't wait for morning?"
"Because morning's when people expect you," I said, narrowing my eyes toward the half-collapsed buildings crawling with robed freaks. "Also, the element of surprise isn't a morning person."
Royce made a strangled noise. "This is suicide."
"Possibly," I replied. "But tactical suicide."
That didn't exactly inspire confidence.
I scanned the perimeter. A frontal assault would be like poking a hornet's nest with your face. The Scourge weren't just weird they were organized. And they had numbers. Bad combination.
Then I saw it a half-buried tunnel entrance, choked with rubble and God-knows-what else. Maintenance access, probably. Sewer tunnel if we were lucky. Murder tunnel if we weren't.
"There." I pointed.
Royce followed my gaze and groaned. "Of course. A sewer. You've officially lost your mind."
"Complaints noted," I said. "Now let's move."
We slinked into the shadows like a squad of heavily armed raccoons. The tunnel greeted us with a breath of rot, mold, and despair. The kind of smell that punches your nostrils and steals your will to live.
"Ten bucks says this is where hope comes to die," Adrian whispered.
"Make it twenty and I'll throw in dignity," Royce replied, nose wrinkling.
We descended into darkness, our footsteps muffled by sludge and water dripping from the ceiling like it was trying to build suspense. Royce led, blade drawn. I followed, senses sharp. Adrian trailed behind, muttering things that I'm pretty sure would've gotten him exorcised in certain religions.
That's when we heard it.
A growl.
Not a dog-growl. Not even a monster-growl. This was something deeper. Hungrier. A sound that made your spine file for early retirement.
"Everyone freeze," I said.
Too late.
Something moved on the ceiling. Fast. Wrong.
A shadow dropped down like gravity owed it money. Adrian almost became monster chow, but I grabbed his collar and yanked him back as the thing slammed into the ground hard enough to make the tunnel shake.
It looked… cobbled together. Limbs where limbs shouldn't be. Joints bending backward. Flesh stitched with metal and was that a human face sewn to its shoulder?
"Guys," Adrian choked. "What. Is. That?"
"Something that shouldn't exist," I muttered, heart pounding.
Royce swore, raising his rifle.
The creature shrieked and lunged.
I barely dodged. Its claws gouged the wall where I'd been a second ago, sending concrete shrapnel flying.
Royce and Adrian opened fire. The tunnel lit up with muzzle flashes. Bullets tore into it, but it didn't stop.
It didn't even slow down.
It went for me again.
This time, I didn't dodge.
I caught its strike midair. My enhanced muscles screamed in protest. Bones creaked. But I twisted and snapped its arm like a twig.
It shrieked in a pitch that could curdle milk.
Then I drove my fist into its skull. Something crunched. The creature spasmed.
And stopped moving.
"Okay," Adrian said, panting. "On a scale of one to NOPE,this is a solid RUN."
"They're making monsters," I said quietly, staring at the remains. "They're experimenting on Hollowed. Or maybe people."
Royce looked like he wanted to punch something, preferably the universe. "The Scourge are insane."
"More than that," I said. "They're planning something big."
And that's when we saw it.
We emerged from the tunnel's end, hidden behind a broken retaining wall overlooking the Scourge's main gathering.
If the train station above was creepy, this was downright apocalyptic.
Torches ringed a bone-and-metal altar like a fiery mouth. Scourge members knelt in perfect formation, masked and silent, like they were waiting for their dark lord to show up.
And chained at the center was a Hollowed.
But not just any Hollowed.
This one was huge. Built like a nightmare. Its body was a map of scars and crude symbols burned into the skin. Its eyes glowed with intelligence.
It wasn't just a monster.
It was aware.
Standing beside it was the Scourge leader,an emaciated man with robes that looked like they'd been stolen from a haunted thrift store. He raised his arms.
"Tonight," he declared, voice echoing unnaturally, "the new era begins. The strong shall rise. The weak shall be devoured. We have tamed the curse."
The crowd erupted in cheers.
"Tamed?" Royce whispered. "They've domesticated a Hollowed?"
"No," I said. "They think they have."
I stared at the Hollowed. It was straining against its chains, trembling with barely restrained fury.
"Look at its eyes," I whispered. "It knows. It's waiting."
Adrian gulped. "For what?"
"For us," I said. "To cut it loose."
Royce stared at me like I'd just suggested hugging a crocodile. "You want to release that?"
"They want to control it," I said. "I'm not letting that happen."
"Great," Adrian said. "We die for your sense of justice. Cool. Love it."
I didn't wait.
I moved.
I exploded from the shadows like a cannonball, crossing the distance in seconds. The first cultist didn't even have time to scream before I dropped him with a throat punch. The second one flew ten feet from a kick to the chest.
Then chaos broke loose.
Royce and Adrian opened fire. Cultists scattered like startled roaches.
The leader shrieked. "STOP THEM!"
Too late.
I reached the chains, planted my feet, and pulled.
They snapped like twigs.
The Hollowed roared.
Then it moved.
It tore into the Scourge like a tornado made of claws. People screamed. Blood flew. Bones snapped.
It was glorious.
And horrifying.
And kind of satisfying, not gonna lie.
The ritual disintegrated into pure carnage. I weaved through the chaos, disabling cultists, dodging strikes, until the only one left standing was the leader.
He stumbled back, robes soaked in blood, eyes wide. "You don't understand… this world belongs to them now. We were chosen!"
I stepped forward. "Then un-choose yourself."
I punched him.
He didn't get back up.
The fires burned low. The chanting stopped. The Hollowed was gone,vanished into the night.
We stood in the aftermath, blood and ash swirling in the air.
Royce dropped onto a stone slab, exhaling. "We should be dead."
Adrian collapsed beside him. "Agreed. We're officially insane."
I didn't respond.
I was staring at the altar.
Something was wrong. Beneath the broken chains, under the ashes, there was a symbol. Carved deep into the stone. It pulsed faintly.
And it wasn't Scourge work.
It was older.
Much older.
My stomach dropped.
"They weren't just worshiping the Hollowed," I said quietly. "They were trying to awaken something."
Royce blinked. "Like what?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "But I don't think this is over."
A wind blew through the ruins.
In the distance, a howl echoed deep, long, and not at all human.
Adrian sat up. "Uh… was that the Hollowed?"
"No," I said. "That was something else."
Something worse.
Somewhere out there, something ancient had stirred.
And it was calling.
I didn't know what lay ahead. I didn't know if we'd survive it.
But one thing was certain:
We had just stepped into the real lion's den.
And the lion?
It was waking up.