The glow of the lights overhead softened as the ship returned to life, casting away the ghostly shadows that had haunted its halls.
The echo of their footsteps no longer felt ominous—just the sound of boots against metal. The oppressive dread was gone, replaced by the low hum of active systems.
Security turrets along the ceiling slid back into their resting slots. The tension in the air vanished like mist under sunlight.
Nova reached into his aether reserve, and with a quiet surge of energy, absorbed the dark core.
It shimmered briefly in his palm before dissolving into the faint blue glow of his storage. Anna raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.
She'd learned not to question the unexplainable where Nova was concerned.
They searched the ship's now-accessible areas, but aside from fragments of shattered terminals and ancient record logs too damaged to retrieve, there was little left.
Time and entropy had eaten away at anything valuable. This was a tomb, nothing more.
As they finished their search, a soft chime echoed through their comms.
[Nova, Anna. Can you hear me?]
Nyx's voice cut through the silence.
Nova touched his ear.
"We hear you."
[Good. The ship's aether resistance is gone. Whatever was jamming us has vanished. I've got control back and can initiate a jump. Come back to the docking bay. We're leaving.]
"Understood."
Nova said, turning toward the corridor they came from.
Anna followed close behind, but her eyes were glued to the portable sensor in her palm. A low, flickering spike danced across its screen.
"Nova…Something's wrong."
She began.
He paused, eyes narrowing.
"Where?"
"Everywhere. This reading—"
Her fingers trembled slightly.
A shrill screech cut her off. Metal screamed as something tore through the corridor ahead.
A massive blur shot from the darkness and slammed into them, sending Anna flying. Nova skidded back, boots digging into the ground as he raised aether around him in defense.
From the torn shadows crawled a monstrosity.
A hybrid. Its sinewy frame slithered like a serpent, but clawed limbs dug into the walls and ceiling for support.
Its eyes gleamed with a cold red glow, and half of its face was metal-plated. Tubes ran from its back into its limbs, siphoning residual aether from the air.
Patches of its flesh were stitched with iron and wire—an abomination of biology and machinery.
Anna scrambled back to her feet, gun raised.
"What is that?!"
Nova's gaze sharpened.
"A chimera."
He watched it move, noting the fluid, unnatural motion. The creature hissed, then leapt forward again. Nova's spear was in his hand in an instant, clashing with one of its claws.
"I thought chimeras were just myths!"
Anna shouted, firing her weapon—but the bullets sparked off a metallic shield the creature formed from its shoulder plating.
"They were. But this one's real. And worse—it's built for aether absorption. We need to be careful. If it starts feeding, we're in trouble."
Nova said, side-stepping a lunge.
Anna gritted her teeth.
"Tell me this isn't something left behind by the Death God."
Nova's spear sparked as it clashed against the chimera's clawed limbs.
The grotesque beast twisted with unnatural flexibility, dodging another strike. Its metallic spine rattled, gears clicking from deep within its fused ribcage.
Anna stumbled back, her weapon raised but uncertain, her breath tight in her throat.
The air reeked of burnt aether and metal.
"This thing isn't just some anomaly, is it?"
She asked, voice laced with frustration and fear.
Nova didn't immediately answer. He observed the chimera with cold focus, noting every twitch, every forced breath. Then he spoke, his voice calm despite the danger.
"This isn't the work of the god of death."
Anna blinked.
"What?"
Nova moved swiftly, redirecting a strike before it reached Anna's side.
"Despite its name, the god of death's principal law is that no life shall be tampered with. When a being dies, it should enter the realm of death pure. Untouched. Unaltered."
He dodged another claw swipe, countering with a burst of condensed aether. The chimera screeched in pain but didn't fall.
"This—"
He gestured at the abomination
"—goes against everything that god stands for."
Anna let out a short curse.
"Then who the hell would do this?"
Nova's expression darkened.
"Someone serving the god of life."
She stared at him, stunned.
"But… that doesn't make sense."
Nova parried another strike.
"It makes all the sense in the world. The god of life and its followers are obsessed with continuity—existence without limits. To them, fusing flesh with machine, absorbing aether, building horrors… it's all justifiable. They have no limits. No lines to cross."
Anna gritted her teeth, her hands tightening around her aether gun.
"So what now?"
Nova turned to her, eyes steady.
"Now? We end this. That thing has been suffering from the moment it was created. We'll grant it peace."
Anna swallowed hard, then nodded.
"Alright. Where do I shoot?"
Nova pointed to the beast's exposed side.
"Aim where the metal fuses with flesh. It's the weakest point. Hit it there, and it won't regenerate fast enough to block me."
The chimera lunged again.
Anna raised her weapon and fired three times. The first shot grazed off its plating, the second slammed into a joint and ricocheted, but the third struck true—right where sinew met cold steel.
The creature howled, its motion jerking to the side.
Nova didn't waste a second.
He pulled in his aether, condensing it into a bright, sharp-edged sword.
The energy shimmered around him, swirling like a storm held at bay. He dashed forward, closing the distance in an instant.
With one clean strike, he pierced the chimera's core—where its living and mechanical parts converged.
For a second, nothing moved. Then, the creature spasmed.
Aether bled from the wound, bright and jagged, like glass shattering in slow motion. The chimera let out one last, distorted screech—a noise that was almost grateful.
Then it collapsed.
Its parts—metal and flesh alike—shuddered and fell silent.
Anna slowly lowered her weapon, watching the creature's body dissolve into dust and smoke.
"It's over…"
Nova remained still, watching the last flickers of corrupted aether fade from the floor.
"Not quite. This wasn't random. Someone sent this thing."
"You think someone knew we'd be here?"
Nova nodded.
"Or at least hoped. We were dragged off course, remember?"
Anna clenched her jaw.
"So this was a trap."
"Possibly. But that doesn't change what we have to do next. Let's return to Nyx. We have a ship to find."
Nova turned and began walking.
Anna followed, her eyes briefly returning to the dust left behind.
"Poor thing…I hope no one else ends up like that."
She murmured.
Nova didn't answer. But in his silence, there was agreement.
Anna walked beside him in silence, her gaze distant. The echo of the chimera's final cry still lingered in her ears.
"It felt like it was begging for death."
She whispered.
Nova didn't stop walking.
"It probably was. Things like that… they're not meant to exist."
Anna looked down at her hands, still trembling.
"If followers of the god of life made that… what else are they capable of?"
Nova's eyes narrowed as they reached the corridor exit.
"Worse things. And we'll face them all eventually."
He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"But next time, we'll be ready."