The walls screamed.
The glyphs that had once glowed with calm blue light now blazed an angry crimson, pulsing like veins about to burst. Every symbol twisted, writhing as if alive, each stroke bleeding shadow instead of light.
Layla's sword snapped up instantly, her eyes narrowing. "They're inside."
Cole flared like a bonfire, flames licking his arms and shoulders. "Good. Saves me the trouble of hunting them down."
Rhea pressed one painted nail to the wall, lips curling in both awe and fear. "Not possible… unless someone invited them."
The air shuddered.
And then the whispers became screams.
The chamber's stone cracked open, spiderweb fractures racing across the walls. From them poured a dark, shifting swarm—glittering eyes, elongated limbs, faces that weren't faces but endless mouths.
The hive.
Layla slashed the first that lunged, her blade cutting through oily flesh that dissolved into smoke. She barely had time to exhale before two more replaced it.
"Cole!" she barked.
Already on it. Fire burst outward in a sweeping arc, roasting a dozen creatures into cinders. The chamber lit like a furnace, shadows writhing violently.
But for every one that burned, another clawed its way through.
"This isn't a breach," Rhea hissed, eyes darting. "This is a flood."
Isla stumbled back, hands over her ears as the whispers clawed into her skull. Her eyes glowed faintly, static sparking across her hair.
"No, no, no—" she gasped, knees buckling. "They're calling me. They know me."
Layla cut down another creature, heart slamming against her ribs. "Stay with me, Isla!"
But Isla's voice changed. Deeper. Resonant. Almost like the hive itself.
"They don't just know me," she whispered, sparks crackling down her arms. Her gaze lifted, electric and wild. "They were made from me."
Everyone froze—even in the chaos of blades and fire.
"What the hell did you just say?" Cole roared, blasting another monster apart.
Isla's body shook violently. Lightning erupted from her palms, tearing through the hive with raw, uncontrolled power. The swarm shrieked as half their number disintegrated in a single blast.
Her scream echoed after it, full of both agony and rage.
Layla grabbed her shoulder, grounding her. "Focus, Isla! You're not them—you're you!"
Isla's gaze flickered, torn between herself and the voices. "I… I don't know who that is anymore."
Rhea's laugh cut through the tension, sharp and mad. "Oh, this just got delicious. The little spark is their source? No wonder they're obsessed!"
Cole lunged at Rhea, flames exploding from his fists. "You knew!"
Rhea danced back, cackling even as the heat singed her hair. "Not knew—guessed. But isn't it beautiful?"
"Beautiful?!" Cole's roar shook the chamber. "She's breaking apart!"
"Or breaking free," Rhea countered, eyes gleaming. "Tell me you don't feel it—she's stronger than all of us."
The swarm surged again, filling the chamber wall to wall. Layla's sword blurred, carving through shadows, her every strike precise and furious. Cole became a blazing shield, flames forming a barrier that kept Isla standing.
But the hive adapted. Claws broke through the fire. Jaws snapped at Layla's blade, refusing to dissolve. The glyphs on the wall pulsed faster, feeding the swarm instead of repelling it.
"They're using the glyphs against us!" Layla shouted.
Rhea swore under her breath, racing to the wall. She pressed her palm against the glowing runes, chanting words that made the stone vibrate. "I can reverse it—but I'll need time!"
"Time we don't have!" Cole snapped, flames blasting outward again.
"Then buy me some," Rhea snapped back.
Isla staggered forward, eyes blazing like lightning storms. The whispers screamed in her head, tearing at her sanity, but she forced the words out.
"They want me to surrender. To join."
"Then don't," Layla said firmly, killing another hive spawn. "You're stronger than them."
Isla's lip trembled. "But what if I'm not?"
Layla met her gaze, steel steady despite the chaos. "Then I'll cut them all down beside you. Every last one. You hear me? You are not alone."
For a flicker of a second, Isla's breath steadied. Her sparks gathered—not wild and chaotic this time, but controlled, condensed into her palms.
The next blast she released wasn't raw lightning—it was precise, spearing through the hive like a blade of thunder.
The swarm shrieked in unison. The whispers faltered.
And the glyphs… cracked.
Rhea screamed as her spell backfired, throwing her across the chamber. The walls shuddered, half the runes shattering into dust.
The hive howled, pouring faster now, as if desperate to stop what Isla had begun.
Cole caught Rhea by the collar, hauling her upright. "What did you do?!"
"Nothing!" she coughed, eyes wide. "She did it—your precious little lightning rod broke the binding."
Layla's heart clenched. "Isla… what did you unleash?"
Isla's voice was quiet. Too quiet.
"The hive was never trapped here," she whispered. "It was… sealed. And I just set it free."
The chamber walls exploded outward, stone shattering as a tidal wave of shadow poured in. Not dozens. Not hundreds. Thousands.
The sanctuary wasn't a safehouse. It was a prison.
And Isla had just torn the doors off.
Cole's flames roared higher, desperation replacing rage. "We can't hold this!"
Layla grabbed Isla's arm, pulling her toward the stairs. "We run! Now!"
Rhea laughed even as she stumbled after them. "Oh, darling, now the real dance begins!"
The swarm chased them up the stairs, the whispers deafening, the ground trembling under their flood. Isla's lightning lit the stairwell, Cole's fire scorched every claw that reached too close, Layla's sword never stopped moving.
But the hive wasn't slowing.
Not this time.