The rumbling grew louder, like a thousand earthquakes stacked on top of each other. Dust cascaded from the cracked ceiling of the ruined temple they stood in.
Kai tightened his grip on the Goose's wheel. "G.A.I.L., what's happening?!"
"Seismic activity detected," G.A.I.L. answered, her voice steady despite the chaos. "Source: directly beneath your location. Anomaly matches previously undocumented energy signatures. Recommendation: retreat immediately."
"Y-yeah, that's not ominous or anything," Tessa muttered, already pulling her crossbow into ready position. "New plan: drive now, questions later!"
"Agreed," Kai snapped. "Everyone, buckle up!"
He slammed the ignition. The Goose roared back to life, its frame still sparking slightly from the earlier overload but otherwise intact. As they lurched forward, the ground behind them cracked open, revealing a swirling abyss of pulsing blue and purple light.
Kiri gripped the seat tightly, her usual calm fractured. "The Core... it's not just awake. It's angry."
"Angry at us?" Tessa yelped.
"Not just us," Kiri said grimly. "At everything."
As the Goose sped away, the rift behind them grew, black tendrils of energy snaking up into the sky, twisting the landscape. Trees warped into strange, jagged shapes. Stones floated, spinning slowly like tiny planets caught in a gravity well.
"This place is falling apart!" Kai shouted over the roar.
"Correction," G.A.I.L. chimed in, "this reality is unraveling."
Suddenly, a shockwave rippled through the air. The Goose lifted off the ground for a terrifying moment before slamming back down, all four wheels squealing.
"Uh, guys?" Tessa pointed at the rearview screen.
A massive figure was emerging from the rift. Towering, indistinct, almost dreamlike in how it shifted between forms — sometimes a giant serpent, sometimes a knight in burning armor, sometimes a vast, winged beast.
"What the hell is that?" Kai yelled.
"That..." Kiri swallowed hard. "...is the Core's Herald. The first of its creations."
The Herald let out a low, bone-vibrating growl that shattered the stones around it.
"It's hunting us," Tessa said, pale.
"Correction," G.A.I.L. interrupted again. "It is attempting to consume you. Recommendation: evasive maneuvers."
Kai didn't need to be told twice. He twisted the wheel hard to the left, hitting the stealth mode switch. Instantly, the Goose's outer shell shimmered and vanished from plain sight — the only sign of their presence now the faint shimmer of displaced air.
"Stealth engaged," G.A.I.L. confirmed. "Launching recon drone for additional surveillance."
From a hidden hatch, a sleek drone zipped into the air, its tiny engines whisper-quiet. Its feed popped up on the Goose's digital display, showing the Herald lumbering after them, sniffing the air.
"It can't see us," Tessa said, hope creeping into her voice.
"No," Kiri said sharply. "But it can feel us. The Core's magic is attuned to its Heralds. It knows we're still nearby."
"Then let's make it harder," Kai muttered. His fingers flew across the controls, switching the Goose's mode to Terrain Breaker — a mode built for extreme conditions. The truck's suspension shifted with a mechanical clunk, the tires expanding slightly, the armor plates locking tighter.
The Goose plowed into the warped forest, crashing through twisted trees and bouncing over jagged rocks. Each jolt made Tessa's teeth rattle, but they kept going.
"G.A.I.L., how long until we're out of the distortion zone?" Kai barked.
"Estimated time: six minutes at current speed," she replied. "Caveat: path is highly unstable."
"Figures," Tessa grumbled, gripping the seat for dear life.
Behind them, the Herald let out another howl, and this time, a wave of magic pulsed out, setting the warped forest ablaze with eerie, purple fire. The flames didn't consume — they twisted everything they touched, turning trees into wriggling shapes and rocks into floating shards.
"Okay, now it's officially a nightmare," Tessa snapped.
"Correction," G.A.I.L. added helpfully. "This is classified as a Tier 6 Reality Warp scenario. Probability of survival without immediate course correction: 12%."
"You're just a ray of sunshine today," Kai muttered grimly.
Kai swerved sharply, narrowly dodging a levitating boulder that would have crushed them like a tin can. Every second was a heart-pounding, seat-gripping struggle just to stay ahead.
"We need a plan," Kiri said urgently. "We can't outrun a Herald forever."
"Ideas?" Kai asked, his knuckles white on the wheel.
"There's a leyline up ahead — a natural current of magic," Kiri said, studying the display. "If we jump into it, the Herald might lose our trail long enough for us to escape."
"'Jump into it'?" Tessa squeaked.
"Exactly," Kiri said. "Trust me."
"Trust her," Kai muttered, mainly to himself. He gunned the engine. The Goose screamed in protest but kept accelerating, racing toward the glowing blue crack in the landscape ahead.
"Hold on!" Kai yelled.
The Goose launched into the air, soaring over a crumbling cliff and straight into the leyline — a flash of brilliant blue engulfed them, sending the truck spinning into the unknown.
The world twisted — and for a moment, everything felt like falling sideways through water.
Then, they were gone.
The Herald howled in frustration behind them, its claws raking the air where they had vanished.