The sound thundered through the chamber again—closer this time. Not just loud, but felt, like the heartbeat of something monstrous pounding against the ancient metal bones of the earth. The air shimmered faintly, disturbed by old energies flickering to life.
I stood beside the central control pillar, my hands still warm from tracing the last array segment we had activated. Father's hand hovered near his blade, and even before he said anything, I knew: we had little time.
"Igris," he said, his voice calm but clipped, "the creature outside… it's no ordinary husk. That thing's been merged—forcefully. A Huskbeast."
Huskbeast. A fitting name. My Void senses picked up its grotesque signature: corrupted anima stitched to broken bones, muscles held together with necrotic willpower, its mind long devoured and replaced by pure rage. It wasn't just approaching. It was hunting.
Dozens more husks followed it, like carrion feeding on the momentum of something far worse.
But we had this place.
"Can we use the arrays to fight it?" I asked, already moving to the console again. Its surface, unlike anything I had seen, pulsed with interlocked symbols. Layers of runes, glyphs, and sigils—each powered by different energies—flowed through the system in an intricate dance.
Father stepped beside me, scanning the data.
"Yes," he said slowly, "but not easily. These are old… maybe from the last era before the Collapse. Advanced, autonomous arrays. You'll need to interface carefully. Try to find a controller ward."
I closed my eyes briefly and let my senses drift. With Solara's insight, Nyssara's analytic calm, and Raven's guiding presence, the threads of energy began to unfold for me like a blooming diagram. The console was no longer a wall of ancient script, but a symphony of purpose—interconnected, multi-layered, alive.
I placed my palm on the surface. The array pulsed beneath my hand, testing me.
And I responded.
A stream of data rushed into my mind—not words, but shapes, structures, intent. A blueprint of command protocols.
I initiated an override.
For a breathless moment, the array resisted. Then, something clicked. The system yielded.
"Got it," I said, breathless. "I've got control of the internal defensive protocols."
The floor vibrated. The sound of stone shifting and metal clanking echoed through the walls. In the outer corridor, panels slid open to reveal dormant wards. Crystalline emitters burst into activation. Arcane light danced down the length of the halls.
"It's coming," Father warned, his sword half-drawn.
"Not alone," I replied. "The facility is awake now."
The first husks reached the threshold.
I activated Ward Cluster V-3, labeled Purging Fire. A grid of flame-bearing runes ignited the hallway. Screeches rang out as fire engulfed the first wave of undead. They writhed in silent agony, burning away without resistance. But more came. Too many.
Then I heard it.
A deep, animalistic roar echoed through the corridors—so loud the control array shivered beneath my hand. The Huskbeast had arrived. Its limbs were bloated with corpse-matter, metal shards jammed into its shoulders, and half a dozen skulls hung like trophies across its back.
Father moved before I could. He threw down a sigil blade trap, and a field of glowing light cut across the room just as the Huskbeast rammed into it. Its thick flesh was momentarily slowed—but not stopped.
"Igris! Collapse the corridor! You have full command!"
I hesitated only a second. Then I swiped through the array interface, finding Directive 12.8 – Structural Denial. I gave it a voice command: "Activate. Collapse eastern corridor. Now!"
Booming cracks followed. Pillars burst. Runes overloaded. The floor caved in under the beast's weight, dragging it down into the lower levels of the facility.
Silence.
Breath. Pulse. Void.
Then the backup husks tried to climb in from the breach.
I redirected turrets and ward emitters. My father cut down those that slipped through with his aura blade, his movements swift and surgical. Together, we held them back until the last husk fell twitching on the scorched floor.
Then, for a time, all was still.
We moved to a more secure section of the facility, sealing the entrance behind us with overlapping array locks. The room was circular, bathed in soft blue light. Consoles hummed faintly, and floating data-plates orbited the center—a knowledge hub.
I approached, compelled.
A simple word etched across the central plate caught my eye:
ARCHIVE
Father watched quietly as I navigated through it. "What is it?"
"It's… it's a memory vault," I whispered. "Engineers and artificers—some of the last ones before the Collapse. They stored their notes here… research, combat routines, energy manipulation protocols. Hundreds of them."
As I opened one of the logs, it played a flickering image—an old projection of a man in an armored coat, speaking in a strange dialect. I didn't understand the words, but I understood the intent. Concepts on adaptive arrays, runic fusion, automated barrier design.
More logs followed.
One on modular weapons linked to aura pulses. Another on converting ambient anima into shielding layers. These were no longer just forgotten curiosities. They were seeds. Ideas. Power.
Something shifted in me.
As if somewhere, buried deep in my soul or past life… this knowledge recognized me. Some of it stirred faint memories—techniques, blueprints, diagrams I hadn't learned, but had once known. Not faces. Not names. Just knowledge. Usefulknowledge.
I would return here. Someday. Not as a child learning from his father—but as a sovereign gathering the wisdom of the lost world.
As the archive dimmed and the adrenaline faded, I sat with Father beside one of the projection pillars. We didn't speak at first.
Then he said, "You handled yourself well. Thought clearly under pressure. Used what was in front of you."
I smiled faintly. "You always told me to learn from everything."
He ruffled my hair, and for a moment, there was warmth again—calm after the storm.
But it wouldn't last.
I knew that Huskbeast wasn't the last thing we'd face. And I knew now… I wasn't just training to survive anymore.
I was preparing to rise.
To conquer.
To remember.