Zeon's head felt like a drum solo gone wrong.
The first thing he noticed was that the world was shaking. There had not been predictions of an earthquake in Zone 12.
But he wasn't in Zone 12 anymore.
He blinked as he came to, chest tight, and he realized the world wasn't shaking...he was.
He was barricaded on all sides by transparent walls, enclosed in a see-through contraption he could only describe as a bubble.
The dome rocked, floated, then tilted, his boots slipped against the algae‑slimed surface. He sat up abruptly and banged his head on the curved ceiling. Stars exploded in his skull.
Cold water seeped through the transparent walls beneath him, drenching his worn denim. He looked down and regretted it almost instantly.
The bubble was suspended in a stream of a strange, black liquid. And it emitted a stench that nearly knocked the breath out of his lungs.
"Great," he groaned. "Caravan life upgraded to submarine."
He squinted through the plastic: Lilith's bubble bobbed beside his, half‑submerged in pitch‑black swamp water. Beyond them, mirrored spheres held other captives, men and women, eyes hollow with dread.
Zeon's vision swam between nausea and panic.
One moment they had been navigating the outlands beyond Zone 12, and the next, they were ambushed by sedating fumes. It came so swiftly, he did not catch a glimpse of the attackers before he lost consciousness.
So much for a better life.
Above them loomed gaunt figures in gas masks. No rank, no mercy. Their metal cart grated forward on rusted tracks, escorting the bubble caravan deeper into the mire.
He tested his arms. Caged in. No space to move. Perfect.
The air tasted of iron and rot. Toxic lilies pressed against the bubbles, hissing noxious spores into the sphere. Zeon coughed, eyes watering.
An eerie archway loomed ahead, remnants of a collapsed subway. The bubbles ahead of them disappeared into the shadowy darkness with an ominous hiss.
"Nope," he muttered. "Nope, nope, nope."
He pounded the wall. "Lilith!"
Her bubble shuddered. She came to with a startled cry, pressing her face to the plastic.
"Zeon?" she rasped. "What...where are we?"
He cut her off with a pointed look at the archway, a neon brochure flickered above it.
›Outlands transit: Bubble class. ›Destination: Den of Cravers.
›Price: Your sanity.
Her pupils darted. "We...We escaped Zone 12...and now this?"
He sighed and gave a half-shrug that rocked his bubble dangerously to the side. "Got picked up by some swamp cravers, apparently. Thought a little border hopping was safer than caravan life. My bad."
Lilith's face turned pale. "I thought... I thought if we stuck close to the border edge, we could slip through unobserved. Cravers never came this close." Her voice cracked. "They respected the Tier 5 ward."
"I didn't think news of Aurelion's death would spread this quickly. They have nothing to fear anymore."
Aurelion's death. It seemed to be the genesis of all his troubles and he hadn't even bonded with the High Anchor.
"I'm sorry, Zeon." She rasped.
He forced a grin. "Don't be. Your plan was good...until it wasn't. Now we're riding bubble‑taxis to the Den of Cravers. Welcome to the Outlands."
She swallowed, finger trailing circles on the inside of her dome. "We'll figure it out."
He quirked a grin despite the swelling panic. "We better. Or I'm volunteering you as tribute." He tapped his bubble. "Measure of trust."
Lilith let out a hesitant giggle. "God, you're insufferable."
He hadn't meant it as a joke.
Above them, black vines dripped luminescent spores into the air. Every few yards, grotesque plants hissed and exhaled a purple cloud.
Lilith pressed a hand to her lips. "These are Tier 1 Craver packs. Weak alone... but they travel in mobs to hunt. If news of Aurelion's death hit them, they'd rush the border. We got caught in their dragnet."
Zeon closed his eyes. "Maybe I should've stayed dead in Zone 12. At least I knew what I was."
She leaned toward his bubble. "Don't say that."
He shrugged. "We're about to arrive at their den, Lilith. Brace yourself."
The bubble pair ahead of them disappeared into the archway. And then it was them.
---
The swamp was waking up around them. Black vines writhed, slapping against the spheres like grasping fingers. Pale, leafless trees bowed under the weight of hanging moss that dripped foul‑smelling water.
The railcar shuddered to a halt, and the caravan finally stopped. They floated off‑track into a flooded clearing. The other bubbles clanged together; eliciting muffled screams. Zeon's pulse hammered as the gas‑masked figures pried open the bubbles.
Below, the mud squelched with movement. A pack of gaunt, pale beasts slinked forward, black claws, leering maws that dripped a violet ichor. They circled the cages, sniffing, and salivating. One dragged a limp prisoner out to the edge, forcing her onto a spiked tree branch. The victim cried out as vines wound around her, drawing out every ounce of terror.
The Craver's tongue dragged slowly across the wound.
Zeon swallowed bile. "Lovely."
Lilith winced. "They're the lowest of the low...They want us alive. To feed. Physically and… otherwise."
A Craver tugged on another prisoner, dragging her from her bubble with whip‑thin claws. The victim thrashed and shrieked frantically. Craver vines wound around her, squeezing until she went limp. A rough grunt of pleasure escaped the beasts as they drank her fear, tongues wrapping her up in a cocoon.
Zeon's heart hammered. "It's official. I hate swamp porn. We have to get out of here."
A shriek split the air. Lilith's eyes locked on his. "Zeon, look!"
She pointed. One Craver had pried open his bubble hatch. Black claws dripped toward him.
He braced, panic bubbling up to his throat.
And then, in that moment of pure dread, a calm settled over him.
"They just keep coming after me... I just want to live..."
Zeon's pulse hammered. He could feel the burn behind his ribs, an ache of power waiting to snap free. The Cravers snarled, leaned in, licked the plastic.
The world slowed.
He pressed his palms against the cage's interior. With a low hiss, every desperate, furious, terrified, hopeful ounce of emotion within him exploded.
[SYSTEM TRAIT ENGAGED: DEATH LUST]
Rank: Tier 5 Trait
Trigger: Life-threatening combat
Effect: +40% attack speed, +25% strength, reduced cognitive inhibition
Warning: Extended use increases emotional instability
Status: Active – Tier 1 Augmented
Snap.
The bubble cracked like thin ice. Liquid fire of adrenaline and hatred spiked through him. His fist drove through the plastic, shards slicing his knuckles. He snarled, blood splattering his sleeve.
The nearest Craver recoiled. One moment predator, the next prey.
Zeon vaulted out, wrists bloodied but arms free.
The Cravers lunged.
Zeon spun, knuckles dripping blood and rage. One leapt at him, serrated tongue flicking but he caught its jaw mid-air and ripped sideways. Bone cracked. The creature shrieked as its skull twisted unnaturally.
Another came from behind. Zeon ducked low, planted his foot, and surged. He rammed his shoulder into its gut, driving it back into the bubble with a wet, meaty crunch.
He didn't think. He moved.
Death Lust roared through him, a thrum of euphoria and chaos. He welcomed it. A Craver swung a claw, Zeon caught the limb mid-arc and snapped it off. Violet ichor sprayed, sizzling his skin.
Three circled, teeth bared.
He grinned. "Come on, freakshows."
They rushed him.
He grabbed the nearest by the throat, used it like a club to knock the others back. He spun, elbowed one in the temple hard enough to cave in its skull. Another leapt on his back, digging in. Zeon slammed himself backward into a jagged root. Crack. The parasite screeched as its spine gave out.
The last three hesitated.
Mistake.
Zeon bolted forward, driving his heel into one's knee. It bent the wrong way. He grabbed its jaw and pulled until the scream stopped. The final Craver ran.
He hurled the jagged limb of a fallen one like a spear. Direct hit. It fell, twitching.
And then silence.
His chest heaved. Death Lust still roared in his blood, begging for more.
But only the other captives and Lilith stood before him now, watching with wide, unreadable eyes.
"We should get moving." Zeon murmured to Lilith. "Before more of those things are attracted here."
Taking her hand, he ran. The system pinged in his mind.
[SYSTEM UPDATE: CORE REASSESSMENT]
› Zone 12 Mob Fury: +15%
› Lilith's Empathy Surge: +20%
› Tarn's Greed: +10%
› Border Scanner Relief: +5%
› Craver Ambush Output: +12%
› Accumulated fear of prisoners: +14%
› Craver Beast Lust: +10%
›Craver Beast F
ear: +13.99%
———
› Total Desire Charge: 99.99%
› Next Tier Threshold: 100%
› Class: Parasite – Tier 1
› Core Status: On the brink of Ascension
Initiating Ascension...