So, let's talk about running into battle while your ribcage feels like it's made of shattered glass.
Pro tip: don't. Also, maybe don't do it while you're trying to keep an ancient monster from bursting out of your soul like a rage-fueled jack-in-the-box.
But there I was limping, aching, and somehow still charging toward a swarm of Hollowed like I had a death wish.
Adrian ran beside me, rifle slung over his shoulder, eyes scanning the chaos. Fires burned through city blocks like angry brushstrokes. The sky was a swirling mess of black smoke and ash, and in the distance, something enormous shrieked a sound that didn't belong on Earth. If nightmares had a voice, that was it.
"Tell me you have a plan!" Adrian yelled over the roar of explosions.
"Yeah," I shouted back. "Step one: don't die."
He snorted. "And step two?"
I grimaced. "I'll get back to you."
We ducked into a collapsed alleyway as a burst of gunfire ricocheted nearby. I pressed against a broken wall, trying to calm my breathing and—more importantly—keep the beast inside me from taking over. It was clawing at the edges of my mind, whispering promises of power, blood, and revenge.
Nope. Not today, Furry Voldemort.
I shut my eyes, focused on slowing my heartbeat. Inhale. Exhale. Focus. But then.....
"Elias!" Adrian grabbed my shoulder and pointed up.
A Hollowed, one of the larger ones eight feet of bone-white nightmare with spiked arms and a face like melted wax leapt off a rooftop, coming straight for us.
I didn't think. I moved.
One second I was human. The next? Fur, claws, muscle. My spine cracked. My vision turned blood-red. And when I looked through the beast's eyes, I saw that thing midair, jaws open.
I roared.
We collided.
My claws tore into its midsection before it could even land. It shrieked, a sound like steel grinding against steel, but I didn't stop. I slammed it into the ground, fists pounding into its skull. A part of me buried, screaming,begged for restraint.
Too late.
It was dead before I even registered how many times I'd hit it.
I looked up, chest heaving. Adrian stared at me like he didn't know whether to run or hug me. Which, fair.
"You're… you're controlling it," he said breathlessly.
I shook my head, teeth still bared. "Barely."
The fur faded. The claws retracted. Pain replaced adrenaline, and I dropped to one knee.
Adrian helped me up. "We need to move. Now."
We ducked into another alley, climbing over rubble and twisted metal. I couldn't shake the gnawing dread building in my stomach. It wasn't just the Hollowed. Something else was coming. Something worse.
We reached what used to be an underground subway entrance. Adrian punched in a code on a keypad hidden under a false tile. A steel door groaned open.
"Come on," he said.
Inside was a hidden base or what was left of it. The lights flickered weakly, and wounded fighters lined the walls. A few medics scrambled between them, offering whatever help they could.
One woman spotted me and raised her weapon. "He shouldn't be here!"
"He's with me!" Adrian snapped. "He saved my life."
The woman narrowed her eyes but lowered her gun.
"I'm Kara," she said stiffly. "Field medic. You'd better not grow fangs and eat someone."
"No promises," I muttered, rubbing my temple. "I'm trying."
Inside the bunker, the air felt heavier. Desperation clung to the walls like mold. Adrian led me to a corner and handed me a bottle of water and a protein bar that tasted like cardboard-flavored sand.
"You disappeared after the lab," he said quietly. "Everyone thought the transformation killed you."
"It almost did," I replied. "But someone found me. Some group. A woman in tactical gear, and a guy who talks like he knows everything."
Adrian stiffened. "You met the Paladins."
I blinked. "The who?"
"They're a secret branch. Operate outside the usual military. Their goal is to weaponize the Scourge... and anyone who survives it."
I exhaled slowly. "So, I'm their pet project."
"Looks like it," Adrian said grimly. "You're not the only one."
That got my attention.
"There's more?"
He nodded. "Three others. Survivors who mutated like you. But not all of them stayed sane."
Of course they didn't. Why have one cursed shapeshifter when you can have a whole pack?
"Where are they now?" I asked.
Adrian hesitated. "One joined the Paladins. The others went rogue. The Paladins are hunting them."
I rubbed my forehead, trying to make sense of everything. "So I'm stuck in a war between monsters, shadow agencies, and a virus that wants to turn the world into a horror movie."
"Pretty much."
Awesome.
Before I could spiral any deeper into existential dread, alarms blared again.
This time, it wasn't intruders.
It was something worse.
"Kara!" someone shouted. "There's something outside big!"
Everyone scrambled. I followed Adrian to the entrance and peeked through a periscope.
What I saw froze my blood.
It was… me.
Or rather, something like me. Taller, bulkier, with glowing red eyes and jagged armor-like skin. A twisted mirror of the beast I'd become.
And it was tearing through the city like paper.
"Oh no," Adrian whispered. "That's Caleb. One of the survivors. He didn't just give in he became the virus."
My breath caught. "He's not coming to destroy the city."
Adrian looked at me. "Then what?"
"He's coming for me.
Fifteen minutes later, we were setting up defenses what little we had. Trip mines. Old turrets. A few enchanted runes Kara had picked up from a black-market alchemist. (Don't ask.)
The plan? Stall Caleb. Or, more realistically, die trying.
I stood near the front line, hands clenched, trying to keep the beast in check. Every instinct screamed at me to run or transform or both.
But this wasn't just about survival anymore.
It was about taking a stand.
Caleb came into view like a living tank. His form shifted with every step part-wolf, part-human, part nightmare. The ground cracked under his feet. His mouth curled into a snarl when he saw me.
"Elias," he growled. His voice sounded like gravel soaked in venom. "You should've joined us."
"You call that a 'team?'" I shouted. "You're butchering innocents!"
He laughed a deep, bone-chilling sound. "I've seen what we can become. You're just scared to embrace it."
I gritted my teeth. "No. I just haven't given up my soul."
With a roar, he charged.
Everything exploded into motion.
Adrian fired off a burst of bullets that barely scratched Caleb's armor. The turrets spat flame. Kara hurled a smoke bomb that shimmered with runes, momentarily disorienting him.
And then we collided.
Claw met claw. Fangs snapped inches from my face. Every punch I landed barely phased him, but I kept going. For every hit he landed, I got back up. Blood dripped into my eyes. My ribs screamed in protest. But I didn't stop.
I couldn't.
The beast inside me didn't either. It howled with fury, not fear. With every second, I felt it getting stronger but this time, it wasn't taking over.
It was fighting with me.
We weren't enemies anymore. We were allies.
I don't know how long we fought. Time blurred into raw instinct and pain. But finally finally I found an opening.
Caleb overreached, his claws slicing air.
I drove my fist into his chest with everything I had beast and human and unleashed a pulse of energy I didn't even know I could create.
A shockwave blasted outward. Caleb was thrown through two walls and into the street, unconscious.
I staggered back, chest heaving, half-expecting to collapse.
But I didn't.
Adrian caught up with me, eyes wide. "How…?"
I looked at my hands. They were still mine. No fur. No claws.
"I think I finally figured out the trick," I said.
Kara approached, cautiously. "What trick?"
"Making peace with the monster."
For the first time in what felt like forever, I smiled.
Of course, the peace didn't last.
Another explosion rocked the city.
A new fleet of Hollowed emerged from the east, led by something even worse than Caleb.
Tall, gaunt, with wings made of shadow and a crown of bone.
The true Scourge.
Adrian whispered, "We're not done yet."
I nodded. "No. But now, we fight with everything."
And as the next battle began, I embraced the beast.
Not as my curse.
But as my weapon.
For the people.
For redemption.
For me...