The tree was massive—an ancient giant whose roots had cracked the earth around it, whose canopy spread wide enough to shelter an army. Beneath it, Eva and Maya lay unconscious, their bodies slowly healing, their faces peaceful in a way they never were when awake.
Derek stood guard at the edge of the shade, his eyes scanning the forest for any sign of that crimson horror. Leo knelt between the two women, checking wounds, monitoring breathing, doing the things soldiers did when there was nothing else to do.
The silence stretched.
Derek broke it first. "Did you see Eva's eyes? Before we hit it?"
Leo didn't look up. "I saw it."
"They changed. Split. Like... like multiple pupils or something." Derek's voice was quiet, almost reverent. "And her teeth. They got bigger. Sharper."
Leo nodded slowly. "I saw it."
"Why did that happen?"
Leo was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was heavy with things he didn't fully understand.
"I don't know. Maybe that's one of her abilities. Something she made, or something that's been waiting." He shrugged, the gesture tired. "Maybe it's the Prime in her. Maybe it's Wolfen's blood. Maybe it's just... Eva." He looked at her unconscious face. "I don't know, man."
Derek didn't push. There were no answers here. Only questions, and the forest, and the knowledge that something out there was hunting them.
---
Somewhere in a Facility
Superior-1 stood before a massive window, her grey mask reflecting the scene below.
Thousands of robots moved in perfect synchronization—assembly lines stretching as far as the eye could see, manufacturing weapons, armor, components for something vast and terrible. In separate chambers, tanks the size of buildings held partially formed monstrosities, their organic shapes suspended in nutrient fluid, waiting to be born.
The Architects were preparing.
Not for defense. Not for containment.
For extermination.
Superior-1's hands clasped behind her back, her posture radiating cold satisfaction. The Monster Queen thought she was winning. Thought her creatures made her invincible. But numbers could be manufactured. Loyalty could be engineered.
They would kill her. One way or another.
Behind her, a shadow moved. Jenny Damber's voice floated through the air, light and amused.
"They're beautiful, aren't they? All those little soldiers, waiting for their mommy to tell them who to kill."
Superior-1 didn't turn. "They're necessary."
"They're toys." Jenny appeared beside her, leaning against the window frame, her smile wide and bloody. "But fun toys. I like fun toys."
Superior-1's jaw tightened, but she said nothing.
The robots continued their work. The monsters slept in their tanks. And somewhere in the world, a girl with a scarred face commanded apocalypses, unaware of the army being built to destroy her.
---
The Ocean
The boat was old, half-rotted, held together by hope and Umbralite. Wolfen had found it beached on a forgotten shore and spent a day making it seaworthy—or at least, making it float. The engine coughed and sputtered but kept running, pushing them through choppy waters toward a horizon that never seemed to get closer.
Zoey sat at the bow, her scarred face turned toward the spray, her eyes half-closed against the sun. Wolfen stood at the makeshift helm, one hand on the rudder, the other holding a crumpled map that Jordan had drawn from memory.
"Australia," he said, more to himself than to her. "She's going to Australia."
Zoey opened one eye. "You sound sure."
"Her pattern. The creature concentrations. The way she moves." Wolfen's golden eyes were fixed on the horizon. "She's collecting. Building an army. Australia's got more kaiju-class creatures than anywhere else on the map. She'll go there."
"And we'll be waiting."
"We'll be late." Wolfen's jaw tightened. "She's already there. Probably been there for days. By the time we arrive, she'll have half the continent under her control."
Zoey sat up, studying him. "You're worried."
"I'm always worried."
"No." She shook her head. "This is different. You're worried about her. About Lily."
Wolfen was silent for a long moment. Then, quietly:
"She's not wrong, you know."
Zoey blinked. "What?"
"Everything she's doing. The killing. The monsters. The war." Wolfen's voice was heavy. "The Architects deserve it. Every single one of them. If someone had given me that kind of power when I was her age, I would have done the same thing."
"But—"
"But she's burning herself alive." He looked at Zoey, and for once, there was no sarcasm in his golden eyes. "Revenge doesn't fill holes, Zoey. It just makes bigger ones. She's going to destroy herself along with the Architects, and she doesn't even see it."
Zoey was quiet for a long time.
Then she moved to stand beside him, her shoulder brushing his.
"Then we'd better get there fast," she said. "Before she burns completely."
Wolfen nodded.
The boat pushed on, toward Australia, toward Lily, toward whatever waited.
The hunt continued.