The forest didn't welcome him.
It watched.
Every step forward was uncertain, crunching through fallen leaves and tangled roots. Sunlight filtered through thick green canopies, casting long shadows that moved even when the wind stood still.
He had never seen a place like this. Not in simulations. Not through reinforced glass. This wasn't controlled. It was alive.
For a long time, he simply walked—touching the bark of old trees, tasting the cold wind, listening to the symphony of birds and insects that didn't care who or what he was.
It felt… real. Too real.
Eventually, the trees began to thin.
And beyond them: ruins.
He stopped at the edge of a crumbling stone boundary. What once might've been a thriving village now lay broken and overgrown, bones of buildings slowly being swallowed by moss and silence.
Caved-in roofs. Blackened stone. Doorways without doors. Echoes of lives once lived now reduced to scattered ash and half-buried memories.
He stepped in slowly, boots kicking up soft dust.
There was a market stall—rotted wood, baskets long emptied. A doll missing an eye. A cracked plate on the ground, untouched for years. Vines crept up walls like they were trying to strangle what was left of the past.
This wasn't just decay.
It was abandonment by force.
At the village center, a sign lay crooked, snapped at its base. Faded red paint clung to rusted metal. He brushed his hand over the surface.
Only a few letters remained:
"...dhav Pu…"
His fingers paused there, hovering over the name that no longer fully existed.
Something tugged in his chest.
A memory that wasn't his.
A flash of fire.
A voice shouting.
Someone falling.
A scream, swallowed by dust.
Then—nothing.
He moved through the homes slowly, reverently.
One had a child's handprint on the wall, scorched into the stone like it had been seared by heat. Another had a small carved idol still resting on a shelf, untouched by time but cracked down the center.
The silence thickened.
Then… he saw it.
Tucked in the far corner of the ruined settlement, half-covered by fallen beams and crawling ivy—an entrance. Carved into the side of a hill, reinforced with rusted steel bars. One of them was bent outward.
Not a cave.
A tunnel. The ground nearby was gray and dry, untouched by sunlight. A faint chill rose from its mouth, and the earth itself seemed to whisper as he stepped closer.
He knelt, brushing aside loose soil. His fingers found stone.
Scratched into it by something crude—maybe a broken knife, maybe fingers—was a single word.
A name. He said it aloud, softly. As if afraid the place would remember.
And it did.
From somewhere deep inside the tunnel, a low hum answered. Not loud. Not threatening.
But aware.
The air changed.
Something inside him responded. Light shimmered faintly beneath his skin. A flicker of Echoform stirred—just for a heartbeat—before fading back into silence.
This wasn't just a tunnel. It was a grave. A gateway.
And maybe… a warning.
High above, among the trees, another figure stood watching.
Wrapped in quiet shadows, unmoving, unreadable.
He had seen anomalies. He had hunted creatures born from broken laws of nature. He had witnessed what happens when light turns against itself.
But what he saw now—what walked through the ashes below—was something becoming
His hand hovered near the blade at his side. But he didn't move.
"Not yet."
And with the grace of a shadow stepping back into darkness—
He vanished.
The deeper Subject 7 moved into the ruins, the less the place felt like a village.
It felt like a memory etched into the ground—faded, haunted, and waiting to be remembered.
The air had changed. It wasn't just cold—it was aware. The trees stood still. The wind refused to move. Even his footsteps felt too loud. As if the land didn't want to be disturbed
Stone walls stood half-fallen. Roofs sagged where beams had burned. Vines coiled around old homes like fingers dragging the past into the dirt. This wasn't nature reclaiming a forgotten place.
This was a wound, and the forest was trying to heal around it.
He passed what might have been a central square—a stone circle choked in weeds. An old well sat sunken in the middle. He bent down beside it, brushing moss from a carved symbol at its base.
A spiral.
Split by four sharp slashes.
The same one he had seen in the visions that came after the surgical room. The same one that pulsed in the back of his mind when he touched the earth here.
His Echoform stirred again. A quiet glow beneath his skin. Not active. Just reactive.
This place remembers me… or remembers something inside me.
He moved forward, slower now.
A cracked doorway caught his eye—just stone, open to the forest, but dark inside like a mouth that refused to close. A child's toy lay near the threshold. Burnt. Forgotten. Ashed leaves clung to the floor like old skin.
Inside, the walls were covered in soot—except one corner, where someone had tried to draw.
Circles. Stick figures. Spirals.
One side of the image had been seared black, as if fire had erupted from inside the room itself.
He stared at it, something tightening in his chest.
They didn't run.
They tried to fight.
And they lost.
Then he saw it.
In the far corner of the ruins, almost hidden under ivy and collapsed beams—an entrance.
A tunnel, narrow and broken, carved into the hillside and reinforced with rusted metal. One of the beams had been bent outward, twisted unnaturally. Not by time, but by force.
The ground around it was blackened. Lifeless. Even the vines seemed to avoid touching the stone.
Subject 7 stepped closer.
The air near the tunnel changed—colder, denser. A low hum began to buzz deep in his chest, echoing in the bones. Not heard, but felt.
He reached out and placed a hand against the stone frame.
Something answered.
Just beneath the surface, carved by desperate fingers or makeshift tools, was a name.
Faint. Shallow. But real. He whispered it out loud.
And the moment he did—his Echoform reacted again. This time with clarity. Power surged gently through his arms. The forest pulsed once, as if exhaling.
The past had heard him. High above, hidden in the trees, someone watched.
Unseen. Silent. Measuring his steps. Observing his aura. Recognizing the flicker of something dangerous—and unfinished.
This wasn't a test subject.
Not anymore. This was something awakening. And what lay beneath the tunnel? Would change everything.
The forest thinned until the shadows broke into light.
Ahead lay what once might have been a home for dozens—maybe hundreds—of people. Now, it was just bones.
Houses leaned against each other like old men too tired to stand. Roof tiles lay scattered in the dirt, cracked in half and overgrown with moss. Doors hung open, swinging slightly as if pushed by a breath the air itself didn't want to admit existed.
I stepped over a shattered cooking pot, the smell of long-dead embers faint under the damp earth. Every footstep sounded too loud here.
It felt… wrong. Not dangerous in the way of soldiers or guns.
Different. Like the air was watching me.
I turned slowly, scanning the street. My eyes caught details my mind didn't yet know how to piece together: A child's shoe half-buried in mud. Faded chalk drawings on a wall—smiling suns, crooked stick-figures. A well at the center of the village, stones blackened like it had been touched by fire not long ago.
The further I walked, the heavier the air became. My Echoform stirred—light energy tingling faintly under my skin, as if the village itself carried a story and was pressing it into me.
I didn't like it. But I couldn't stop moving There was something here I needed to see.
The street narrowed into a slope, leading to the far corner of the settlement. Broken planks and fallen beams blocked the path. I pushed through, wood snapping under my hands.
That's when I saw it.
An entrance. It wasn't obvious—not until you noticed the way the earth sagged around it, the stones leaning inward. A half-buried archway, carved with marks so faint they could've been scratches from time itself. But they weren't random. The patterns curled and hooked in deliberate lines. My skin prickled just looking at them.
The doorway was choked with debris—stone chunks, dirt, and the skeletal remains of what might have been a wooden barricade.
Something deep inside me whispered: Down there.
I froze.
The feeling of being watched hadn't left. If anything, it had grown sharper, like a pinpoint at the back of my skull. My ears caught the faintest sound—no, not sound, but movement. The rustle of a branch high above.
I didn't look up.
Instead, I knelt near the entrance, brushing dirt from one of the carvings. The moment my fingers touched it, my Echoform surged—not violently, but like a breath being held too long suddenly released. A soft glow traced the line of the mark before fading back into the stone.
The village was silent. But I knew I wasn't alone.
I pushed more of the rubble aside, the dry scrape of stone against stone echoing unnaturally loud. Every sound here seemed magnified—as if the village itself was holding its breath.
The deeper I cleared, the more I could see of the archway's true shape. It wasn't just a hole in the ground; it had been built to last. Thick stone blocks framed it, etched with curling lines and jagged cuts that looked almost alive in the shifting light. Some of the markings were faint, worn thin by time. Others were sharp, like they'd been carved yesterday.
I traced one with my fingers. A faint hum traveled up my arm, into my chest. My Echoform stirred again—light energy flickering just beneath my skin.
For a moment, my vision swam.
I saw a flash—not of the village as it was now, but as it had been. Houses standing tall. Smoke curling lazily from chimneys. Children laughing near the well. Then—fire. Shadows moving fast. Screams.
The vision broke, leaving me on my knees, palms pressed into the cold dirt. My breath came heavy.
Whatever this place was, it had seen something terrible.
I stepped closer, peering into the black mouth of the tunnel. The air that rolled out was cold—not the damp chill of an old cellar, but the kind of cold that felt like it came from something deeper. Something that had been waiting.
Inside, I could make out the first few meters—stone walls reinforced with corroded metal ribs, a floor littered with debris. Beyond that, nothing but shadow.
I bent down, placing my hand flat against the ground at the entrance.
The hum returned, stronger this time. My Echoform pulsed, and faint lines of light crawled along the carvings in the arch, like veins waking after a long sleep. The light didn't spill out into the village. It stayed close, almost… guarding the entrance I narrowed my eyes.
*This isn't just a tunnel. It's a seal.*
The sense of being watched sharpened, almost like the air behind me shifted. I didn't turn. Whoever—or whatever—was out there could wait. I ducked my head and stepped into the darkness.
The sound of my boots hitting the stone floor echoed down the passage. Dust stirred in the air, dancing briefly in the thin strip of light from the village above before vanishing into black.
Somewhere ahead, in the dark, something moved.
The air thickened with every step. The scent shifted from dust to something metallic—sharp, almost like blood but colder, cleaner.
The tunnel sloped gently downward, the metal ribs groaning softly under unseen weight above. I brushed my fingers against the wall; the stone was smooth, unnaturally so, as if it had been cut by a precision far beyond anything the ruined village could have built.
A faint drip echoed from somewhere ahead.
I moved carefully, my senses stretched thin. My Echoform stirred in tiny bursts—like the tunnel itself was breathing against my skin.
Then I saw it.
At first, I thought it was a boulder wedged into the wall. But as I drew closer, its shape sharpened—broad shoulders, a compact muscular frame, a short muzzle framed by a soft mane, rounded bear-like ears perched above sharp feline eyes that were… closed.
The creature was encased in a jagged shell of stone, mid-crouch as though frozen while ready to spring. But its features were surprisingly gentle, even… cute.
For a second, I forgot where I was.
Something about it tugged at me. My Echoform pulsed quietly under my skin, reacting to the faint glow in the cracks of the stone shell.
I stepped closer. The glow brightened as my hand hovered over it, like the creature knew I was there. Without thinking, I touched the stone.
The moment my palm made contact, the ground trembled.
A deep rumble rolled through the tunnel. Dust rained from the ceiling. The glow in the cracks blazed, racing along the stone in spiraling patterns before exploding outward.
The shell shattered, shards flying across the tunnel as a shockwave of raw force shook the earth. I stumbled back, catching myself against the wall.
When the dust cleared, it stood there—fur a deep golden-brown, mane streaked with faint silver, eyes like warm amber.
It blinked at me, tilting its head slightly, almost curious.
The ground was still quivering beneath my boots. This was no ordinary creature.
But in that moment, it simply padded forward and sat down—calm, breathing slowly—watching me like it had been waiting.
When the dust cleared, it stood there—fur a deep golden-brown, mane streaked with faint silver, eyes glowing faintly in the dim tunnel light. Its paws were wide and heavy, claws pressing into the stone floor with a low scraping sound.
It didn't hesitate.
With a sudden roar, it lunged straight at me.
I tensed, my Echoform instinctively surging to the surface, light sparking under my skin. My body prepared to counter—muscles coiling, every nerve screaming to strike first.
But something inside me—some quiet, inexplicable pull—made me hold back. I didn't know why.
The creature closed the distance in seconds, its shadow covering me entirely. My breath locked.
And then—
Instead of slamming me into the wall, it skidded to a stop just short of my chest. Its warm, heavy head pressed against me. I staggered under the sudden weight. Then, I felt the rough, steady motion—
It was licking me.
Slow, deliberate swipes of its tongue, almost like it was… greeting me.
I froze, staring down at the strange mix of bear and lion now sitting obediently at my feet, amber eyes looking up with something almost like joy. The deep rumble of a growl vibrated through its chest—not a warning, but a purr.
It knew me. Or thought it did.
My Echoform flickered softly, not in defense now, but in response. For a strange moment, the tunnel didn't feel like a tomb.
It felt like a meeting long overdue.
It didn't move away after licking me. Instead, the creature gave a small, almost satisfied chuff and… leaned in closer.
Before I could react, it clambered up.
A heavy paw landed on my shoulder, then another on my chest. I staggered back a step, surprised at how easily it climbed despite its size. In a swift, fluid motion, it was scrambling up my side like a massive housecat.
The next thing I knew, its warm weight settled across my right shoulder. One paw draped lazily over my chest, the other hooked gently around the back of my neck.
It sat there—perfectly balanced, head held high like a king surveying its territory.
I just stood in the middle of the tunnel, dumbfounded, feeling the faint vibration of its purring travel through my shoulder.
Its tail flicked slowly, brushing against my back as it looked down the tunnel, then back at me with an expression that almost seemed to say:
Alright. I'm coming with you. For some reason, I didn't mind.
The light ahead grew brighter with each step, the stale tunnel air giving way to the open scent of wind and sun. The creature's tail flicked against my back as it shifted its weight, its claws gripping lightly so it wouldn't slip.
We reached the mouth of the tunnel, and the ruined village came into view again. Sunlight spilled over broken rooftops and crumbling walls, scattering dust motes in the air. The warmth hit my face, and I realized just how long I'd been underground.
The creature lifted its head toward the light, nose twitching, ears swiveling. For a moment, it just breathed in, like it had been trapped away from this world for far too long.
As I stepped out fully, my boots crunching over the cracked stone, the creature gave a soft rumble and settled more comfortably on my shoulder—as if it had already decided this was its rightful place.
Somewhere beyond the quiet of the village, a distant, muffled sound echoed—low and deliberate. Not natural. I froze. The creature's ears pricked forward, and its tail stilled. We weren't alone. By the time I reached the center of the village, the sun had long dipped below the horizon.
Moonlight spilled over the broken streets, softening the jagged edges of collapsed houses. The air was cool now, carrying the faint scent of dust and old wood. I found a half-broken step near the remains of a well and sat down, letting my body sink into the stillness.
The creature shifted on my shoulder, curling its tail around the back of my neck. Its warmth was comforting, like a small campfire in the quiet ruin.
I leaned forward, elbows resting on my knees, and let out a slow breath. My body ached, but not from wounds—just from being alive too long without rest. My mind was still trying to stitch the last hours together.
Or was it days?
I wasn't sure anymore.
As my eyes grew heavier, thoughts blurred into fragments—flashes of things that didn't feel like they belonged to today.
A metallic taste in my mouth. The sound of rain against glass.
The muffled hum of a voice giving orders.
A pair of eyes staring back at me from across a battlefield, filled with fire and grief.
And then—warmer images.
A child's laughter.
The quiet rustle of leaves in a wind I swear I'd felt before.
A weight in my hands… a weapon, though I couldn't see its shape.
They came and went like ripples in dark water, impossible to hold, yet too vivid to ignore.
The creature's breathing matched mine, slow and steady. I felt my muscles loosen, the world tilting gently toward sleep.
How long have I really been awake? The question echoed inside me, softer each time.
I didn't have the answer. Maybe I didn't want it yet. Somewhere between thought and dream, I drifted away. And for the first time since this began, I slept.
Morning came slow, spilling pale gold over the broken rooftops of the ruined village. The air was cool and still, the kind of quiet that felt almost too perfect. I stretched my arms, my body still heavy from sleep, and the creature on my shoulder shifted lazily, its tail curling around the back of my neck.
Then my senses screamed.
A sharp crack split the stillness. The world seemed to slow as I twisted to the side. A streak of blinding white shot past my cheek—close enough that I felt the heat—and slammed into the ground where I'd been sitting. Stone shattered, dirt sprayed into the air, and the smell of scorched earth filled my lungs.
The creature landed beside me in one smooth motion, fur bristling, teeth bared. Its warm amber eyes ignited into a fierce, glowing red. The rumble in its chest grew into a roar that rolled through the empty streets.
From the trees beyond the village, movement flickered.
Shapes emerged from the shadows—at first like beasts, but not quite. A hulking wolf-shape, tall enough to look me in the eye; a jaguar-thing with lean, twitching muscles; and something with curling ram horns that glinted in the morning light. All three stood unnervingly still, watching us from the edges of the rooftops and tree branches.
Then they moved.
The wolf-shape dropped from a branch, claws scraping against the cracked ground as it lunged at me. The jaguar blurred in from the left, and the horned one barreled forward from behind.
The creature at my side met them halfway, leaping high and slamming into the jaguar mid-air. Claws raked across fur and fake hide, sending the attacker tumbling. The wolf's massive claws swiped at my head, but my body was already moving, instinct pulling me lower. I rolled under its strike and slammed my elbow into its ribs. The sound of bone cracking was sharp, but the thing only stumbled before snarling again.
The horned one reached me next, its speed surprising for its bulk. It swung a jagged axe toward my chest. I caught the handle with one hand, twisted, and brought my fist up into its jaw. The force lifted it off the ground and sent it crashing through a half-standing wall.
But there was no time to breathe—these things didn't know the meaning of retreat. The jaguar recovered and lunged again, but this time my creature intercepted it, jaws clamping down on the attacker's shoulder. The roar that followed was deafening, echoing off the village ruins.
The wolf circled me, fast, its eyes never leaving mine. It feinted left, then struck from the right, but I stepped into its swing instead of away from it. My punch drove into its midsection like a hammer, sending it skidding across the cracked stone. It smashed into a dead tree, snapping the trunk in half before collapsing in the dirt.
I smirked despite myself. Yeah… I could get used to this.
The last of them came for me again—the horned one, slower now but desperate. It swung wildly, the axe whistling through the air. I sidestepped the first blow, ducked under the second, and buried my fist in its gut. The sound of air rushing from its lungs was almost satisfying. It flew back, colliding with the other two attackers in a heap.
I didn't waste the moment. From the wreckage of the nearby houses, I tore strips of rope and bound them to the thick trunk of a dead tree. Their breathing was heavy but steady, and as I knelt to check their restraints, I noticed something strange.
Their "fur" wasn't real. …Beneath the wolf mask was… human skin.
I pulled the jaguar's mask away next. And when I reached for the third—the horned one—I froze.
It wasn't a "one" at all.
It was a girl.
Her face was fierce even in unconsciousness, her features sharp and framed by tangled hair that glistened faintly in the sunlight. Dirt streaked her cheek, but it didn't dull the strange, unexpected beauty that hit me harder than any of their attacks.
My jaw literally dropped. I just stared at her, forgetting for a moment that I was in the middle of a ruined village with three bound enemies.
Something twisted in my chest. Warm, unfamiliar. I didn't understand it—but it felt dangerous in its own way.
I realized I was staring far too long, the air around me suddenly heavy. The creature at my side tilted its head, looking between me and the girl as if it knew something I didn't.
For the first time in my life, I felt… unsteady. And it wasn't because of the fight.