The Hollowborn hissed, twisting as light scalded its side. Its flesh rippled like half-melted wax, its arms reshaping mid-motion.
Kieran stepped back, shadow curling around his feet. He glanced to Selene. "Keep it lit."
She nodded, palm glowing like a steady flame. "I'll blind it when you say."
"Good."
Calla raised her hand—flame licked between her fingers. "I've got heat again."
"Then burn it."
The beast lunged. Rei met it mid-sprint, his shoulder slamming into its torso. Bones crunched, but Rei grunted—wounded. The Hollowborn shrieked and staggered—
Right into Calla's fire.
The explosion was tight. Controlled. A whip of flame that coiled up its side and burst across its neck. Flesh blistered and peeled. The room filled with the scent of ash and rot.
Nova followed with a blade sweep—striking clean across the exposed chest. Her daggers scraped bone.
"I hit something," she shouted. "Not deep enough!"
"It mimics thought!" Talon yelled from cover, sketching something with trembling fingers. "It's not copying voice—it's copying fear!"
The beast spun toward him.
Then stopped.
It twitched—staring into nothing.
Selene's hand glowed brighter.
Kieran saw it—the amber pulse in its chest dimming when the light rose.
"Light weakens the mimicry," he said. "It can't hold the projection."
"Then stay close," Selene answered.
Kieran flicked his blade to his left, slashing through a tendril of darkness creeping toward Rei's flank.
"We're bleeding it," Nova said. "Slow, but steady."
The Hollowborn shrieked again, stumbling. One arm collapsed into ash. Its body now dripped black mist—thick, heavy, and emotional.
It felt like grief.
Then the mist moved.
And the beast changed.
It stretched upward. Limbs longer. Teeth appeared where it had none before. Faces rippled along its chest—brief, flickering images of each of them mid-cry, mid-scream, mid-defeat.
Talon choked. "It's turning our fear into shape."
Rei cursed. "Then give it something else."
They fought again—this time tighter.
Kieran struck high, feinting low. Rei swept in after him, kinetic burst slamming the beast into the wall. Calla lit the area. Selene maintained the glow, casting radiant pulses to keep the mimicry unstable. Nova slipped in under the chaos, cutting deep behind its ribs.
For a moment, they had rhythm.
Then the Hollowborn adapted.
It disappeared.
One second there—next, gone.
The chamber pulsed.
Kieran spun, searching—
And screamed as a claw raked across his back. Blood spilled.
The Hollowborn stood behind him—faster now. Sharper. Learning.
"You see too much," it whispered, mimicking his voice again.
Selene sprinted to him, hand glowing. "Stay still!"
The light closed his wound—partially—but he was gasping.
"It's evolving," he rasped.
"No," Selene said. "It's remembering."
The air turned heavy. The beast now walked slowly. Confident.
Then it stopped.
And from its chest, one of the flickering faces solidified.
It was Calla.
Burned. Weeping.
It looked right at her.
And laughed.
Calla froze.
The flame in her hand dimmed.
The momentum was broken.
And the beast prepared to strike again.