Amira hit the ground hard, the air knocked from her lungs. She coughed, clutching the staff as she staggered to her feet, her ears ringing from the explosion. The wasteland stretched endlessly around her, but her focus was locked on Alex. His glowing red eyes burned with unnatural intensity, but there was something else there too—a flicker of the man she knew, buried beneath layers of control.
She gritted her teeth. "I'm not giving up on you, Alex. Not now, not ever."
In the distance, Luis and Jonah had reached the fortress gates. Jonah studied the glowing veins running along the structure's surface, his sharp eyes tracing their paths. "The energy's converging somewhere inside," he said, pointing to a massive, pulsing core near the top of the fortress. "That's got to be the source."
Luis stared at the fortress with wide eyes. "You're saying we have to climb this thing? This living, evil fortress that probably has traps and, I don't know, tentacles or something?"
Jonah shrugged. "Got a better idea?"
Luis groaned. "I hate that I don't."
Amira dodged another blast of crimson energy as Alex advanced on her. The ground cracked and shifted beneath his feet, each step sending shockwaves through the earth. He was holding back—she could feel it. Somewhere deep inside, Alex was resisting the force controlling him.
"Alex, I know you're in there," she called out, her voice desperate but determined. "Whatever this thing is, it doesn't own you. You're stronger than it. You're—"
Before she could finish, Alex's hand shot out, and a wave of energy knocked her off her feet. She landed hard, the staff clattering out of her grasp.
Alex stood over her, his expression blank but his eyes burning. "I am stronger," he said, his voice a cold echo. "Stronger because of the Veil. You are too weak to understand."
Amira looked up at him, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. "You don't believe that. The Alex I know would never say that."
His hand trembled, the glow in his eyes flickering. For a moment, she thought she'd reached him—but then his expression hardened again, and the energy around him flared brighter.
Luis and Jonah slipped through a narrow crack in the fortress gates, their footsteps echoing eerily in the cavernous interior. The walls pulsed with a faint, rhythmic glow, the red veins casting ominous shadows that seemed to move of their own accord.
"This place is like a giant artery," Luis muttered, shivering. "Are we inside something's body? Because if this place sneezes, I'm out."
Jonah ignored him, his focus on the glowing veins. "We need to find the core and shut it down. Whatever's controlling Alex is tied to this place."
Luis glanced nervously at the shadows. "And what happens if the fortress doesn't like that plan?"
Jonah didn't answer. Instead, he led the way deeper into the fortress, following the veins as they snaked upward. The air grew heavier the further they climbed, the oppressive energy pressing down on them like a physical weight.
As they turned a corner, they came face-to-face with a new obstacle: a group of humanoid figures made entirely of the same glowing energy that pulsed through the fortress. Their forms were vaguely human but featureless, their movements unnervingly fluid.
Luis froze. "Oh, come on! Energy guards? Are you kidding me?"
The figures turned toward them in unison, their blank faces tilting as though studying the intruders. Then, as one, they advanced, their movements eerily synchronized.
"Run!" Jonah shouted, grabbing Luis and pulling him back the way they'd come
The energy guards pursued, their glowing forms moving faster than seemed possible. Luis and Jonah sprinted through the winding corridors, the sound of their footsteps drowned out by the guards' unsettling hum.
"This is not what I signed up for!" Luis yelled, his voice echoing.
"You signed up when you refused to stay on the ship!" Jonah shot back.
"That was different! I thought there'd be snacks!"
Back outside, Amira scrambled to her feet, gripping the staff tightly as Alex advanced on her again. She could feel the Veil's energy radiating from him, a chaotic force that threatened to consume everything in its path. But she refused to back down.
"You're stronger than this," she said, her voice steady despite the fear clawing at her chest. "You're Alex. You're my friend. And I know you can fight this."
Alex hesitated, his hand lowering slightly. For a moment, the red glow in his eyes dimmed, and his voice softened. "Amira…"
She took a step closer, hope blooming in her chest. "That's it. Come back to us. You're not alone in this."
But before she could reach him, the fortress let out a low, rumbling growl, and the ground beneath them shook violently. Alex's expression twisted in pain, and the red glow flared brighter than ever.
"No!" he shouted, his voice a mix of his own and the alien entity's. "You… cannot…"
A wave of energy erupted from him, knocking Amira back. She hit the ground hard, her vision swimming as the world spun around her.
Luis and Jonah finally found themselves in a massive chamber at the heart of the fortress. The core loomed before them, a pulsating sphere of pure energy suspended in midair by glowing tendrils. The air crackled with power, and the heat was almost unbearable.
Luis doubled over, panting. "Okay… so now what? We just… unplug the evil energy ball?"
Jonah studied the core, his mind racing. "We have to disrupt the flow. If we can sever the connection between the core and the fortress, we might be able to shut it down."
Luis gestured wildly at the glowing tendrils. "How exactly do we sever something made of pure energy? Do you have a giant pair of cosmic scissors hidden somewhere?"
Jonah ignored him, pulling a small device from his bag. "This might work," he said, attaching the device to one of the tendrils. "It's a disruptor—designed to overload energy systems."
Luis frowned. "And by 'might,' you mean…"
Jonah gave him a grim smile. "It might work. Or it might kill us. Guess we'll find out."
Before Luis could protest, Jonah activated the device. The disruptor let out a high-pitched whine, and the tendril it was attached to began to spark and writhe.
The entire fortress trembled, the walls pulsing with chaotic energy. The core's glow flickered, and a deep, guttural roar echoed through the chamber.
"Uh, Jonah?" Luis said, his voice rising with panic. "I think you made it angry!"
"Good," Jonah said, grabbing him and pulling him toward the exit. "That means it's working. Now run!"
Outside, Amira struggled to her feet, her eyes widening as the fortress began to shake violently. The red glow pulsing through its veins flickered erratically, and cracks began to spread across its surface.
Alex dropped to his knees, clutching his head as the glow in his eyes dimmed. "Amira…" he whispered, his voice raw. "Help… me…"
She ran to him, kneeling at his side. "I'm here. I've got you."
But before she could say more, the ground beneath them split open, and a massive, shadowy figure began to emerge. It was the source of the Veil's power—a monstrous, otherworldly entity that had been waiting for its moment to strike.
Amira's blood turned to ice as the creature's glowing red eyes fixed on her. It let out a deafening roar, shaking the very air around them.