Ian's hands curled into fists.He had sacrificed a piece of his soul at the gate.
But in return, he had become something more.
He turned to leave—
And stopped.
A figure stood in the tunnel ahead.
Cloaked. Hooded. Barefoot.
Not an enemy. Not a friend.
She removed her hood. Familiar hair. Pale skin. Eyes like fractured glass.
It was Selene. Only… different. Colder. Off.
"Selene?" Ian said.
She smiled.
"No," she replied softly.Then her skin split.
And the thing beneath emerged.
Black bone. Wings of smoke. A face carved like a mask. Not Selene.
Not human.
-------
The creature did not breathe.
Did not speak.
And most definitely did not look the slightest human.
It stood at the edge of the Vault's entrance—its body an impossible geometry of shifting limbs and whispering teeth.
Its head was a wheel of skinless faces, each weeping smoke from empty sockets. Limbs folded inward, and unfolded again like blooming claws made of steel.
A reach entity.
