The creature moved faster than thought.
One moment it stood in the crater.
The next—
It was inside the village.
A man tried to run.
He didn't make it two steps.
The creature's arm elongated, stretching unnaturally as it pierced through his chest. No resistance. No hesitation.
Just—
Erasure.
The body collapsed like it had never mattered.
Screams erupted.
People scattered in every direction, their fear raw, animalistic. But there was no escape. The creature didn't chase them.
It chose them.
One by one.
Precise.
Intentional.
As if it were following a pattern only it could see.
Gideon watched.
Not frozen.
Not helpless.
Observing.
Something inside him stirred—not horror, not anger—
Recognition.
"This is wrong…" he whispered.
But not in the way others meant it.
Wrong like a memory misplaced.
Wrong like a story told out of order.
The creature turned.
For the first time—
It looked at him.
The world went silent.
Even the screams seemed distant now, like echoes fading into nothing.
The void where its face should be pulsed.
And then—
A voice.
Not heard.
Felt.
"Found you."
Gideon's heart pounded.
"Who… are you?" he asked, his voice steady despite everything.
The creature took a step closer.
Its form flickered, unstable, as if reality struggled to keep it contained.
"You don't remember," it said.
The same words.
The same tone.
Gideon's chest burned. The symbols beneath his skin flared brighter, responding—reacting.
"I remember enough," Gideon replied.
The creature tilted its head.
"Then why are you still weak?"
Silence.
Then—
Something snapped.
Not outside.
Inside.
A surge of energy tore through Gideon's body. The ground beneath him cracked as the air warped around him.
Pain followed.
Blinding.
Overwhelming.
But beneath the pain—
Power.
Raw.
Ancient.
Hungry.
The creature stepped back.
Not in fear.
In acknowledgment.
"Yes…" it whispered. "That's it."
Gideon's vision darkened at the edges. The world bent, distorted, as if it were being pulled toward him.
"I don't know what I am," he said, his voice no longer entirely his own.
The creature's form twisted, almost… smiling.
"That's the problem."
It lunged.
And this time—
Gideon didn't move away.