The creature’s scream faded into the distance, swallowed by the hum of metal towers and the whisper of data streams drifting through the forest. Elias stood at the edge of the ravine, breathlight dimming as he watched the last flicker of the creature’s shadow vanish between the trees.

Brinrose stepped beside him, emberlight still glowing faintly along her palms. “It’s heading toward the city.”

Elira’s wings tightened. “Toward people.”

Beast growled low in his chest, flame simmering along his arms. “Then we go after it. Before it decides to tear someone apart.”

Elias nodded, but his gaze lingered on the direction the creature had gone. “It’s not hunting randomly. It’s following something.”

Brinrose tilted her head, listening to the ground. “A signal. A pattern. This realm is full of them.”

Elira added softly, “And it’s learning how to read them.”

The Spiral marks on their wrists pulsed again — not with urgency, but with direction. A faint tug pulled them forward, toward the distant glow of Neo‑Veridia’s skyline.

Elias exhaled. “The Spiral wants us to follow.”

Beast smirked. “Good. I was hoping for a chase.”

They moved quickly, weaving through the thinning forest. The deeper they went, the more the natural world gave way to metal. Trees stood beside steel pillars. Roots tangled with cables. The air buzzed with invisible currents, carrying fragments of voices, warnings, and encrypted chatter.

Elira shivered. “This realm is loud.”

Brinrose nodded. “And afraid.”

Elias slowed as they reached a ridge overlooking the outskirts of the city. Neo‑Veridia sprawled below them — a labyrinth of neon lights, towering structures, and endless surveillance drones drifting like mechanical fireflies.

Beast crossed his arms. “How do people live in this?”

Elias shook his head. “They don’t see what we see. They don’t feel what we feel.”

Elira’s wings dimmed. “But the creature does.”

A sudden burst of static crackled overhead. A drone zipped past, its sensors flickering erratically. It wasn’t tracking them — Spiral concealment held — but it was tracking something.

Brinrose pointed. “It’s following the creature’s trail.”

Elias watched the drone disappear into the city. “Then the creature is already inside.”

Beast’s flame flared. “Then we go inside too.”

Elira hesitated. “We need to be careful. This realm doesn’t understand magic. If someone sees us—”

“They won’t,” Elias said firmly. “Not unless we choose to be seen.”

Brinrose stepped forward, placing a hand on his arm. “But someone already did.”

Anya.

Her name hung unspoken between them.

Elias looked toward the forest behind them, where she had stood only hours before — trembling, curious, unafraid.

“She won’t follow us,” he said quietly. “But the creature might find her again.”

Beast’s jaw tightened. “Then we make sure it doesn’t.”

The Spiral marks pulsed once more, brighter this time — a warning and a guide.

Elias turned toward the city. “Let’s move.”

They descended the ridge, slipping into the neon shadows of Neo‑Veridia — unseen, unheard, but not alone.

Somewhere in the maze of metal and light, the creature waited.

And the Protectors would find it before it found anyone else.

The moment the Protectors crossed the threshold into Neo‑Veridia’s outskirts, the realm reacted.

Lights flickered overhead, neon signs stuttering between colors. Drones drifted off their programmed paths, their sensors glitching as Spiral concealment brushed against their circuits. The air buzzed with static, as if the city itself sensed something it couldn’t categorize.

Brinrose pressed a hand to her chest. “This realm doesn’t like us here.”

Elira nodded, wings tucked tightly against her back. “It’s trying to read us. But it can’t.”

Beast smirked. “Good. Let it stay confused.”

Elias scanned the narrow alley they’d slipped into — metal walls rising on either side, pipes hissing with steam, cables snaking across the ground like roots. “Stay close. The creature came this way.”

A faint scorch mark marred the wall ahead — not from fire, but from corrupted energy. The metal around it warped inward, as if something had passed through without fully existing.

Brinrose crouched beside it. “Its form is destabilizing.”

Elira’s voice softened. “It’s in pain.”

Beast snorted. “It’s dangerous.”

Elias nodded. “All three can be true.”

They moved deeper into the city, slipping between crowds unseen. People hurried past them — workers in metal‑lined coats, couriers with glowing visors, children clutching neon toys. None of them sensed the Protectors. None of them saw the shadows flickering overhead.

But the city did.

Screens on the walls glitched as they passed, displaying distorted images:

a winged silhouette

a burst of flame

a Spiral symbol flickering for half a second

Then the images vanished, overwritten by advertisements and warnings.

Brinrose shivered. “This realm is trying to show us.”

Elira whispered, “Or warn us.”

A sudden burst of static crackled through the alley. Elias turned sharply.

“There.”

A trail of corrupted energy streaked across the pavement — faint, but unmistakable. The creature had dragged itself along the ground, glitching in and out of existence as it moved.

Beast crouched, touching the mark. “It’s losing stability.”

Brinrose frowned. “Or shedding it.”

Elira’s wings trembled. “It’s adapting again.”

Elias followed the trail with his eyes. It led toward a cluster of towering buildings — the industrial district, where machines hummed day and night.

“The creature is heading somewhere specific,” he murmured. “Somewhere with strong signals.”

Brinrose nodded. “Somewhere it can feed.”

Beast rose, flame brightening. “Then we cut it off.”

They followed the trail through the maze of alleys until they reached a wide street bathed in neon light. Holographic signs flickered overhead, projecting shifting images of products, warnings, and government messages.

But one sign glitched violently as they approached.

A single fractured eye flashed across the screen.

Elira gasped. “It’s watching us.”

Elias stepped forward, breathlight rising. “No. It’s watching the city.”

The screen flickered again — this time showing a distorted map of Neo‑Veridia. A pulsing red dot blinked near the forest’s edge.

Brinrose’s eyes widened. “That’s where the woman was.”

Anya.

Beast growled. “If the creature goes after her—”

“It won’t,” Elias said firmly. “We’ll stop it.”

The Spiral marks pulsed, guiding them forward.

The hunt was no longer just about the creature.

It was about who it might reach first.

And the Protectors would not let that happen.

The deeper the Protectors moved into Neo‑Veridia, the more the realm pushed back.

Lights flickered overhead in rapid bursts, like the city was blinking too fast to keep up. Screens on the walls glitched with distorted faces and fractured symbols. Drones drifted in erratic spirals, their sensors struggling to interpret the Spiral energy brushing past them.

Brinrose pressed a hand to a metal railing, wincing. “The realm is unstable. Every step we take shakes it.”

Elira nodded, wings tucked tight. “It’s not built to handle magic. Even concealed, we’re… loud.”

Beast smirked. “Good. Maybe the creature will hear us coming.”

Elias shook his head. “It already has.”

He pointed toward a narrow service corridor ahead — a tunnel of pipes, flickering lights, and humming cables. A smear of corrupted energy streaked across the floor, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.

Brinrose crouched beside it. “It’s shedding more of itself.”

Elira’s voice softened. “Or losing pieces.”

Beast growled. “Either way, it’s close.”

They followed the trail into the corridor. The air grew colder, sharper, filled with the metallic tang of static. The walls vibrated with distant machinery, and the lights overhead flickered in a rhythmic pattern — almost like breathing.

Elias slowed. “Do you feel that?”

Brinrose nodded. “A pulse. Not Spiral. Not realm.”

Elira whispered, “The creature.”

A sudden burst of static crackled through the corridor. The lights went out for a heartbeat — then flared back on, revealing a distorted shadow flickering at the far end.

The creature.

Its form was worse now — limbs stretched too thin, metal plates fused with shadow, its single fractured eye glowing with a cold, hungry intelligence. It twitched violently, glitching between positions, as if reality couldn’t decide where to place it.

Elira gasped. “It’s mutating again.”

Brinrose’s emberlight dimmed. “The realm is rewriting it.”

Beast stepped forward, claws forming. “Then we stop it before it finishes.”

But the creature didn’t attack.

It turned.

It looked past them — toward the city center, where neon lights pulsed like a heartbeat.

Elias felt the Spiral marks burn hot against his skin. “It’s not hunting us.”

Brinrose’s eyes widened. “It’s hunting signals.”

Elira’s wings trembled. “It’s heading toward the strongest source of data.”

Beast snarled. “Where’s that?”

Elias answered quietly. “The surveillance hub. Near the forest. Near where she was.”

Anya.

The creature twitched violently, then vanished in a burst of static, slipping through the corridor like a corrupted ghost.

Brinrose rose quickly. “We have to move.”

Elira nodded. “If it reaches the hub, it could tear open a breach.”

Beast cracked his knuckles. “Then we catch it first.”

Elias turned toward the direction the creature had gone, breathlight rising. “The Spiral is warning us. This is where the paths converge.”

The city lights flickered again — once, twice — then steadied.

A calm before the storm.

The Protectors broke into a run.

The hunt was no longer just about stopping the creature.

It was about reaching it before it reached her.

And the realm itself seemed to hold its breath.

The Protectors sprinted through the narrow corridor, their footsteps silent against the metal floor. Neon light spilled across their path in fractured beams, flickering in time with the creature’s unstable pulse. Every sign it left behind grew sharper, more deliberate — as if it finally understood the shape of this realm and how to move through it.

Brinrose kept her emberlight low, sensing the vibrations beneath the ground. “It’s accelerating. The signals ahead are stronger.”

Elira’s wings tightened. “It’s following a pattern. Something familiar to it.”

Elias felt the Spiral marks burn hotter. “Not familiar. Attractive. The realm’s surveillance network is pulling at it.”

Beast growled. “Then that’s where we’ll find it.”

They rounded a corner and froze.

A massive tower loomed ahead — a skeletal structure of antennas, blinking lights, and humming panels. Data streamed through the air in visible waves, bending around the tower like a storm of information.

Brinrose inhaled sharply. “This is the hub.”

Elira whispered, “And the creature is already inside.”

A burst of static crackled from the tower’s upper levels — a scream, distorted and metallic.

Elias stepped forward, breathlight rising. “This is where it begins.”

And somewhere in the city, someone the creature should never reach was already in its path.