The deeper they moved into the forest, the more the realm shifted around them.

The trees grew thinner, their trunks wrapped in cables like vines. Metal poles jutted from the ground at odd angles, humming with faint static. The air buzzed with invisible signals — whispers of data, surveillance, and something older, something wrong.

Brinrose pressed a hand to her chest. “The Spiral’s pulse is getting stronger.”

Elira nodded, wings trembling. “And the realm’s pulse is getting weaker.”

Elias felt it too — a tug beneath his ribs, like a heartbeat out of rhythm. “The gate fragment is close.”

Beast sniffed the air, flame flickering along his arms. “And so is the thing guarding it.”

A low vibration rippled through the ground, rattling loose wires and sending a shiver through the trees. The Spiral marks on their wrists flared in response.

Brinrose knelt, placing her palm against the soil. “It’s beneath us. Not deep — just tangled.”

Elira crouched beside her. “Tangled in what?”

Brinrose closed her eyes. “Metal. Circuits. Broken light.”

Elias stepped forward, breathlight brightening. “This realm is trying to absorb the gate.”

Beast growled. “Or the gate is trying to absorb the realm.”

A sudden crackle of static shot through the air, sharp enough to sting. The Protectors froze.

A shadow flickered between the trees — fast, jagged, glitching like a corrupted image. Not fully formed. Not fully real. A creature caught between realms.

Elias’s breathlight flared. “There it is.”

Beast shifted partially, claws forming. “Let it come.”

But the creature didn’t attack.

It watched.

Its single fractured eye glowed faintly, scanning them like a machine analyzing a threat. Its body flickered in and out of existence — part shadow, part metal, part something stolen from the Fracture realm.

Elira whispered, “It’s learning.”

Brinrose’s emberlight dimmed. “It’s adapting.”

Elias stepped forward slowly. “It’s not ready to fight. Not yet.”

Beast snarled. “Then we end it before it is.”

“No,” Elias said sharply. “If we destroy it now, the gate fragment might collapse. We need to stabilize the gate first.”

The creature twitched, glitching violently, then vanished into the trees.

Elira exhaled shakily. “It’s afraid.”

Brinrose nodded. “And confused. This realm is twisting it.”

Elias turned toward the source of the Spiral pulse. “We fix the gate. Then we deal with the creature.”

They pushed deeper into the forest.

The trees opened into a clearing — a circle of dead grass and exposed earth. In the center, half‑buried beneath wires and broken metal, pulsed a shard of fractured light.

The gate fragment.

It flickered like a dying star, leaking Spiral energy into the ground. The realm drank it hungrily, twisting it into static and shadow.

Elira stepped forward, wings glowing. “It’s worse than I thought.”

Brinrose knelt beside the fragment, emberlight flowing from her hands. “If we don’t stabilize it soon, it will tear open a full breach.”

Beast cracked his knuckles. “Then let’s get to work.”

Elias placed his hand on the fragment. Breathlight surged through him, meeting the unstable energy with steady warmth.

The ground trembled.

The wires tightened.

The air crackled.

And somewhere in the forest, the creature screamed — a sound like metal tearing and shadow breaking.

Elira’s eyes widened. “It’s coming back.”

Elias didn’t look up. “Then we finish this before it arrives.”

Beast stepped between Elias and the trees, flame rising. “Let it come.”

Brinrose’s emberlight deepened. “We don’t have long.”

Elira’s wings spread, glowing brighter. “Hold the fragment steady.”

Elias gritted his teeth as the gate pulsed violently beneath his hand. “I’ve got it.”

The forest darkened.

The creature’s shadow flickered at the edge of the clearing.

And the Spiral marks burned brighter than ever.

The battle for the gate had begun.

The ground trembled beneath Elias’s hand as the gate fragment pulsed again, harder this time. The fractured light flickered violently, leaking Spiral energy into the soil like blood from a wound.

Brinrose pressed both palms to the earth, emberlight flowing through her fingers. “It’s fighting us.”

Elira spread her wings, letting warmth radiate outward. “No — it’s afraid.”

Beast stood guard at the edge of the clearing, flame rising along his arms. “Doesn’t matter. We stabilize it or this whole realm cracks open.”

The fragment surged again, sending a shockwave through the clearing. Wires snapped. Metal poles rattled. The air shimmered with static.

Elias gritted his teeth. “Hold steady!”

Brinrose’s emberlight deepened, anchoring the fragment. Elira’s warmth wrapped around it like a cocoon. Slowly, painfully, the pulsing began to slow.

Then the forest screamed.

A sound like tearing metal and shattering glass ripped through the trees. Beast spun toward the noise, claws forming instantly.

“It’s back.”

The creature flickered into view at the edge of the clearing — glitching, stuttering, its form shifting between shadow and metal. Its single fractured eye glowed brighter than before, scanning them with cold, hungry precision.

Elira gasped. “It absorbed the realm’s energy.”

Brinrose’s voice trembled. “It’s stronger.”

The creature lunged.

Beast met it head‑on, flame exploding across the clearing. The impact shook the ground, sending sparks and static flying. The creature shrieked, its body flickering violently, but it didn’t fall back.

It adapted.

It twisted.

It reformed.

Elias tightened his grip on the gate fragment. “I can’t let go! If I do, the fragment collapses!”

Elira moved to his side, wings glowing brighter. “Then we hold it together. Beast — keep it away from him!”

Beast roared, shifting fully — wolf head, dragon body, phoenix wings blazing with golden fire. He slammed into the creature again, claws tearing through corrupted shadow.

The creature retaliated, its limbs stretching into jagged metal spikes. It struck Beast across the chest, sending him skidding backward through the dirt.

Brinrose gasped. “Beast!”

He rose slowly, flames dimmed but not extinguished. “I’m fine. Ugly thing hits hard.”

The creature turned toward Elias.

Its eye pulsed.

It sensed the gate fragment.

It wanted it.

Elira stepped in front of Elias, wings flaring wide. “You’re not touching him.”

The creature lunged again — but this time, Brinrose slammed her hands into the ground. Emberlight erupted upward, forming a barrier of glowing roots that wrapped around the creature’s limbs.

It shrieked, glitching violently.

Elias felt the fragment stabilize beneath his hand. “Just a little more—”

The creature twisted, breaking free of the ember‑roots. It flickered behind Beast, then behind Elira, then behind Elias — moving faster than before, its form stuttering like a corrupted signal.

Brinrose’s eyes widened. “It’s learning our patterns!”

Elira’s wings snapped open. “Then we change them!”

She launched upward, wings slicing through the air. A burst of warmth struck the creature, knocking it sideways. Beast followed with a blast of phoenix fire, pinning it against a metal pole.

For a moment, the creature faltered.

Its form flickered.

Its eye dimmed.

Elias felt the gate fragment pulse one last time — then settle.

“It’s stable!” he shouted. “The fragment is sealed!”

Brinrose sagged with relief. “Finally.”

But the creature wasn’t finished.

It let out a distorted, broken roar — then vanished in a burst of static, disappearing into the deeper forest.

Beast snarled. “Coward.”

Elira landed beside Elias, wings folding. “It’s not running. It’s regrouping.”

Brinrose nodded. “And it’s getting stronger.”

Elias rose slowly, wiping sweat from his brow. “It’s not done with this realm.”

Beast cracked his knuckles. “Good. Neither are we.”

The Spiral marks on their wrists pulsed again — not with urgency this time, but with warning.

Something was coming.

Something bigger.

And the creature they had just fought was only the beginning.

The clearing slowly settled into silence, though the air still buzzed with leftover static. Elias stepped back from the stabilized gate fragment, flexing his fingers as the last of the Spiral energy faded from his skin.

Brinrose rose beside him, brushing dirt from her palms. “The fragment won’t collapse now. But it’s not healed. Not fully.”

Elira nodded. “This realm keeps pulling at it. Like it wants the Spiral’s power for itself.”

Beast snorted. “Or something in this realm wants it.”

A faint tremor rippled through the ground — not from the gate this time, but from somewhere deeper in the forest. The Protectors turned as one.

Elias narrowed his eyes. “That wasn’t natural.”

Brinrose closed her eyes, sensing the vibrations. “It’s the creature. It’s moving fast.”

Elira’s wings fluttered. “It’s heading toward… something bright. Something loud.”

Beast cracked his knuckles. “Then we follow.”

They moved quickly, weaving between metal poles and tangled roots. The deeper they went, the more the forest changed. The trees thinned, replaced by skeletal towers humming with electricity. Wires hung like vines. Screens flickered with half‑formed images — faces, numbers, warnings — all glitching in and out of existence.

Brinrose shivered. “This realm watches everything.”

Elira hugged her wings close. “And it doesn’t blink.”

A sudden burst of static crackled overhead. A drone zipped past, its lights flickering erratically. It didn’t see them — Spiral concealment held — but its sensors strained toward something ahead.

Elias frowned. “It’s tracking the creature.”

Beast growled. “Or the creature is tracking it.”

They pushed forward until the trees opened into a narrow ravine. At the far end, a cluster of old surveillance equipment lay half‑buried in the dirt — cameras, antennas, rusted panels still blinking with faint power.

And in the center of it all pulsed a signal.

A bright, rhythmic beacon.

A signal that did not belong to this realm.

Brinrose gasped. “That’s Spiral energy.”

Elira stepped closer, wings glowing. “But it’s… distorted.”

Elias knelt, examining the beacon. “It’s a piece of the gate. A tiny shard. The realm must have pulled it here.”

Beast scanned the treeline. “And the creature followed it.”

As if summoned by his words, a low, broken growl echoed through the ravine. The creature flickered into view atop a rusted tower, its fractured eye glowing brighter than before.

Elira’s breath caught. “It absorbed more energy.”

Brinrose whispered, “It’s becoming something new.”

The creature crouched, limbs glitching, preparing to leap.

Elias rose slowly. “It’s not attacking us.”

Beast narrowed his eyes. “Then what is it—”

A burst of static cut him off.

The creature turned sharply — not toward the Protectors, but toward the distant city lights beyond the forest.

Elira’s wings stiffened. “It’s leaving.”

Brinrose’s voice trembled. “It’s heading toward people.”

Elias felt the Spiral marks burn hot against his skin.

The creature wasn’t running.

It had found its next target.

And the Protectors would have to stop it before the realm — and someone in it — paid the price.