Like ghosts born from war, the Iron Ledger emerged from the edge of the pit's dust-veiled maw. The beast hissed low, seemingly annoyed by the sudden intrusion.
The first to descend was Sergeant Tarl. Massive, broad like a war machine, the glowing geometric veins of his Echo shimmered through the steel plating of his gauntlets.
Beside him, Veyna hovered while Hask the warrior drew his sword and advanced ahead, confidence built into each of his steps.
Then Meryn, bow strung, glided into position above them on a ledge, eyes like slits, calculating wind that didn't exist. Her quiver of arrows shimmered faintly, their tip was also dipped into a strange liquid. Arken stood near, prefering the safety of the highground.
Jory descended next, crouching next to Kael and rolling him to the side, checking the arrow wound.
"You bastard," he muttered. "I'm surprised you made it this far. But this is where your luck runs out."
Kael's lips twitched in half-coherence.
Jory gave a crooked smirk and stood. "You can barely make out what I'm saying." He then turned to the white haired man beside him. "You two are lucky we are tasked with exploring this ruin as well."
Kael's world narrowed. Sound became muffled. Vision blurred at the edges. It wasn't just exhaustion. Whatever the arrow had been laced with, it was dragging him down like hands from beneath the earth. His limbs refused to obey. His breath came shallow and slow.
Beside him, Lethan trembled, his face pale. His eyes darted toward the looming beast, the Iron Ledger crew, then to the surrounding ruins, then to the abyss behind them. He was weighing options, paths, probabilities. But there was nowhere to run.
They were both caught between the hammer and the anvil.
And the hammer was about to swing.
The ground trembled. A pulse of heat rolled through the air. The beast shifted, its ribs grinding like grinding gears, its claws digging into the earth with malicious anticipation.
A shrill, bone-piercing screech cut the silence.
The beast moved first.
Like a bladed hurricane, it lunged with terrifying grace. Its body, all bone, coiled and snapped like a whip. One massive claw tore through the stone where Tarl had been standing a heartbeat earlier, shattering the rock like paper.
Tarl roared, his Echo mark surging with light, and launched his own attack after barely dodging. His gauntlets flared, one catching the claw, the other driving forward in a thunderous uppercut that cracked through the beast's carapace. Bone splintered, a spray of black ichor sizzling against his chestplate.
But the creature didn't recoil. It twisted its grotesque, skeletal head, eyes glowing with baleful crimson, and lashed out with its spined tail.
Hask was already in motion, sword glinting. He intercepted the tail mid-swing, his blade biting deep into the segmented bone. The impact jolted him backward, boots carving trenches into the dust, but he held firm. "It's fast!" he barked. "And dense?"
From the sidelines, Arken—the only one not engaged, adjusted a pair of cracked spectacles and muttered from a crumbling ledge above. "It's a Ravenspike. A relic predator, it absorbed some relics and got tougher! Don't bother with the ribs. Go for the joints or immobilize it."
Meryn's response came swift and silent. Her bow thrummed, and an arrow whistled down. It struck the beast's right shoulder then erupted in a violent explosion. The creature screeched and turned, launching a chunk of broken rib like a spear toward her position.
Meryn dove, the ledge exploding behind her in a rain of stone shards.
From below, Veyna whispered a chant under her breath. With a snap of her fingers, she sent a shudder through the ground. Chains of light emerged from the stone beneath, wrapping around the creature's front limbs, briefly anchoring it.
"Now!" Veyna called out.
Tarl grinned and charged again, slamming into the creature's side like a battering ram.
The beast staggered.
Seizing the opportunity, Jory emerged from the shadows on the creature's flank. Deadly darts shined in both his hands as he leaped and and burried them into the exposed joints of the beast.
The beast shrieked again, faltering.
For a moment, it seemed like they were gaining ground. The coordination, the speed, it was overwhelming.
Tarl absorbed the beast's heaviest blows, his plated gauntlets met bone-white claws with unyielding force. Veyna's spells bloomed continuously, weaving arcs of energy that redirected and twisted the flow of the monster's movements. Hask struck the exposed joints, blades sliding under pale armor with surgical intent, while Meryn's arrows tore paths through the beast's hide with unnatural accuracy.
Jory danced through the chaos, slipping in and out of the beast's blind spots, striking with venom-tipped darts before melting into the dark.
The creature, for all its terror found itself staggered. Not overwhelmed, but pressured. Disoriented.
On the side, Lethan watched in awe.
'Beautiful.'
Pain still throbbed under his skin, fatigue pressed against his skull, but none of that mattered. He sat half-upright, watching it unfold with wide eyes, his chest rising and falling to the rhythm of the clash.
A thrum coursed through his spine, not from fear or injury, but something deeper.
A call.
Something shifted.
The mark, his Echo, reacted.
It pulsed, once. Then coiled like smoke, the ink on his skin writhing and rearranging. Its edges burned with new intricacy, forming unfamiliar shapes, shifting as if it readied itself.
He gasped, then glanced over to Kael. The relic tucked inside his inner pocket stirred continuously, as if answering the change.
Lethan's hand moved on its own, reaching inside the pocked and grabbing the relic. Bringing it to his face, the ring-like circlet shone with a crimson aura. It was mystical, the obsidian surface of the irregular relic paled while the red veins surged and flowed like the turbulent water of the sea.
Another moment passed.
The relic cracked, then shattered into dust.
Lethan took a deep breath in before his body slumped.
His head fell back gently against the stone wall. Eyes closed, lips parted slightly, like a man slipping into slumber.
* * * * *
The fight had raged for what felt like hours.
The Iron Ledger's seamless rhythm had fractured. The beast had adapted.
Crimson steam hissed from between its ribs. Chunks of shattered bone had fallen like ivory shards across the battlefield, but still it stood, angrier, faster.
Its tail had learned to bend unnaturally mid-swing, flicking like a whip with surgical intelligence. The claws no longer lashed randomly, they hunted. And its skeletal jaw, cracked in two places, now widened further, revealing a core glow that throbbed like a heart.
It twisted with a roar and slammed into Tarl, sending the Echo bearer flying across the battlefield, his armor caving in from the impact.
Upon landing back on the ground it spared no time and turned towards Veyna, leaping towards her immediately. It spun, treathening to slam its tail on the feeble human.
"Fall back!!" Hask shouted. Barely arriving in time to raise his sword to block the attack.
Sparks flew and the ground cracked from the impact. Hask spit out blood as the deadly strike sent tremors through his body.
Veyna focused herself and raised her hand, launching another round of energy bindings towards the Ravenspike. The beast lowered itself and sprung back, dodging the dangerous binding.
"Damn it! What kind of Ravenspike is this?!" Jory regrouped with the party, cursing in a worried tone.
Veyna took a moment to catch her breath, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead.
"I– I don't know... It's fast." She paused. "... And much too durable."
The party gathered closer, their formation was broken but the illusion of numbers kept the monster at a safe distance.
The Ravenspike held its distance, prowling on the edge of broken stone, tail flicking, its ribbed frame rattling with low, angry breaths. Its eyes darted between the worn-out fighters, calculating. The Iron Ledger regrouped, forming a loose arc around Veyna. Tarl's breathing was ragged, his shoulder hung limp, and a part of his skin seemed to solidify and crack, most likely due to the consequences of using his Echo.
The silence wasn't peace.
It was weight, tension before the strike. And yet, the strike never came.
Because something moved in the mist.
Not a charge. Not a stumble.
A walk.
Slow. Measured.
From the place where Kael's unconscious form still lay slumped, a lone figure emerged.
Lethan.
But not quite.
He moved like someone disconnected from their body, as if his skin were just clothes, worn for convenience. His steps were calm, but there was no human rhythm to them. His posture too balanced, too… centered. And most disturbingly, his eyes, once gray and dull with exhaustion, were now bright crimson, like twin coals burning in a pit.
A cold breeze swept across the ruins. Dust whispered in small spirals at his feet. No one made a sound.
Not even the Ravenspike.
All eyes watched as the white haired man stepped slowly into the center of the battlefield, where broken pillars and blood marked the fiercest clashes.
He stopped.
Smiled.
A strange, absent kind of smile. As if remembering a melody from long ago.
Then he spoke.
"I remember. The heat. The noise. The sound of chaos!"
His voice didn't seem entirely his. There was a deeper resonance layered beneath it, something ancient and quietly furious.
The Iron Ledger crew froze.
Veyna furrowed her brow. "What… did he say?"
Tarl groaned and tried to rise, leaning heavily on one knee. "Who cares? Is this moron trying to get himself killed?"
The Ravenspike recovered first. It moved, a blur of motion, claws out, ready to swing its tail like the scythe of death.
But Lethan didn't flinch.
His eyes darted towards the lunging figure of the monster, glancing in disgust.
"Begone, mongrel."
In a split second the blood scattered over the cold stone swirled. Coiling lances, crimson and sharp, pierced up.
One shot through its shoulder, halting its pounce mid-air. Another one came right after, going right through the creature's tail, sending bone splinters in all directions.
Lethan didn't stop there, he raised his hand and a third spike made of blood coiled itself in the air. The jagged spike that burst through the monster's chest, the sound wet and final.
The creature twitched once and then stopped moving entirely.
Lethan sighed and lowered his gaze along with his hand. The Ravenspike dropped from the air like a broken doll, crashing hard enough to crater the earth beneath.
Silence returned as the dust settled.
Lethan, or whatever wore his shape, turned his head, glaring at the Iron Ledger party.