Ruda shattered the boarding woman’s faceplate with an empty hand cannon magazine. The opponent staggered back, spitting out broken teeth. Violet light flickered in her throat, but the knight didn’t wait for the power to manifest. A swing of her mace broke her neck, and Ruda stepped over the falling corpse, greeting the next attacker with a straight kick that dented the raider’s breastplate and hurled him out through a gaping hole in the hull.

  She hadn’t managed to reunite with Ney. Immediately after the cruiser’s fall, Paikan’s troops swarmed the Shroud of Darkness like predatory ants, burning and blasting their way inside. Captain Mikhas had assigned Ruda’s group to defend the breach, and she obeyed, considering it the best way to protect her young charges. The raiders, also wounded and disoriented, used their numerical superiority to push back the small group of crusaders, and the fighting spilled into the cargo bay.

  The walls trembled—partly from collapsing bulkheads and firefights in other compartments, partly from monstrous power surges traveling through the cables in waves. The lights flickered, often leaving the combatants in absolute darkness broken only by muzzle flashes and the glow of visors and lenses. Blood flowed freely onto the floor, and the Order’s forces retreated before the seemingly countless invasion hordes clad in power armor.

  The attackers didn’t fight as a unified whole. They followed different leaders, more eager to distinguish themselves than to execute a clear plan. Each used individual weaponry; the loss of their chieftains meant less to them. For a time, this selfishness played into the defenders’ hands, who followed instructions precisely, covered their allies’ backs, and made abundant use of explosives. Crusaders gnawed into the uneven enemy ranks, while infantry widened the breaches, distracting the Abnormals with well-aimed shots.

  It couldn’t last. Fatigue and wounds affected everyone. A knight, seemingly from the late Commander Jake’s unit, drew her last breath and fell apart under the mighty blow of a champion armed with a heavy tower shield and a long axe.

  “We’ve let them advance enough,” Ruda snarled, slamming another magazine into her hand cannon. Her shot ricocheted off the crackling surface of the shield. “Not a step further. Ready?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Execute.”

  The sacrifices of crusaders and infantry hadn’t been in vain. They had held out long enough for the soldiers to start up the armored vehicles and light tanks. Many vehicles had overturned in the crash, but their turrets and main guns were functional. Laser beams and shells lashed out over the defenders’ heads, covering the enemy ranks with explosions that swept them off their feet. Power armor provided a significant advantage over the Order infantry’s exoskeletons, but its height worked against the mercenaries.

  The boarding party’s leader stood firm, shielded himself, and brought his axe down on a technician repairing a turret lift. The blade split the infantryman in half as he pushed an ally aside. On the backswing, he severed a vein in the leg of a knight from Commander Eloise’s unit. A shield thrust knocked the crusader over, and he raised his axe.

  “Don’t even dream it.” Covering three steps so fast she became a blur, Ruda slammed into the champion, striking his shield with her elbow. Electricity arced onto her armor but didn’t reach her body, dissipating in a surge protector and providing extra power to her generator. “You value strength above all? Be honored by this demonstration before I send you to purgatory.”

  Catching the edge of the massive shield with the spikes of her mace, Ruda pulled it aside and fired three shots into the opponent’s chest. The breastplate held; she struck quickly at the fingers gripping the axe, shattering the gauntlet and damaging the hydraulics. The champion made a mistake, slamming his shield into a crusader instead of her.

  Their height and mass were too different. Ruda towered half a meter over her opponent, her weight, altered by her power, triple that of the raider, and she barely noticed the insignificant shove. The electrical discharge didn’t reach the cracks in her armor; on the backswing, she drove her mace into the champion’s helmet, knocking him off his feet. He tried to shield himself, but hooves first crushed his foot, and a merciless thrust drove a sharp spike straight through his lens and into his brain.

  Ruda opened her maw wide, emitting a guttural roar that drew the crowd’s attention. Obeying instinct, she stomped on an automatic rifleman’s knee, breaking it, and fired into a grenadier’s cracked helmet. The shell pierced his head, splattering brains onto a charging raider armed with a spear. Ruda hooked the weapon’s tip with her hand cannon, tossed it upward, and brought her mace down on his exposed neck, crushing the gorget.

  “Is there anyone here who can challenge me?!” The words leaving her mouth no longer resembled human speech.

  She growled, adding the clack of fangs to every syllable. Her wide eyes, alight with excitement, sought the next contender, proving the pack’s superiority. The blood of a rocket launcher operator aiming at her rushed to his heart, stopping it long enough for a tank shell to crush his chest. Not fully aware of how it happened, Ruda found herself in the thick of the boarders, surrounded by furious shouts, gunfire, and melee weapons capable of breaching power armor.

  Allied fire devastated everything around. APC turrets blasted craters in dark plates, rockets tossed broken bodies, and tank shells tore off limbs. Ruda laughed in the center of this chaos, killing and feeling pressure on her much-abused armor. Shockwaves, rather than causing pain upon contacting her wounds, triggered another adrenaline rush, reminding her she was alive. Thick hide kept her organs safe. Her ribcage had fused, bone proportions increased, and the human merged with the beast born of her power reveled in the fight, striving to protect her charges and prove her supremacy.

  Rare bullets and laser beams from allies ricocheted off her. Ruda had expected to be left alone, but her reckless charge into the heart of enemy positions turned the tide of battle. Joined by mercenaries, infantry, and civilian volunteers, they advanced, taking cover behind barricades rising from the floor, activated by mechanics. Allies died; before her eyes, a raider pierced a farmer’s chest with a red-hot plasma rifle barrel and immediately fell to a mercenary’s acid stream. Each death added to Ruda’s fury, helping her ignore fatigue and wounds. Together with two crusaders, supported by infantry, they forced Paikan’s minions back toward the breach.

  Behind them, more and more turrets rose, firing with perfect accuracy, avoiding allies and reaping a grim harvest from the attackers. The cruiser was returning to combat readiness, transforming into a fortress full of traps. Loudspeakers broadcast Delacroix’s cool-headed battle prayers, igniting confidence in hearts. It seemed the spirits of the Order’s fallen heroes had returned to the world of the living and stood witness to the venerable machine’s most arduous battle.

  The realization that they had a chance inspired the allies.

  “I crave a challenge!” Ruda’s heart beat like a drum. With a powerful swipe, she decapitated an idiot who leaped at her. Stepping on the convulsing body, she shot a fleeing automatic rifleman in the back. “You came here to kill and be killed! You won’t get the first, but I’ll grant you the second abundantly! Come to me…”

  The cruiser’s hull groaned. The entire pyramid tilted, turrets stopped firing for a second, the lights flickered, and the wall bulged forward. Dense, heavy clouds rushed inside, bringing scorching air from outside. Metal burst, hundreds of sharp fragments raining down on the combatants, wounding dozens on both sides. Instead of the sun, a stormy gloom penetrated inside, its fury knocking people off their feet.

  Three lights pierced its depths, and a second later, something bloodied, covered in shreds of torn hide, burst into the cruiser, tearing apart six attackers and two defenders with barely visible claw strikes. Two heads sat on its torso; thick necks, wider than Ruda herself, were adorned with broken bone collars growing from the hide. A bleeding stump gaped on its left shoulder; the monster had only one arm left, but it didn’t slow the giant in the slightest.

  “Where is he?” the two-headed hound roared in a familiar voice. “Where is the chosen one?” Its feet stepped inside, crushing those who hadn’t dodged in time.

  “Draz?” Ruda exclaimed in surprise.

  The governor drove his claws into the ceiling, tearing a hole, and a frightened girl’s cry came from above. Sylvie! Without a second thought about how she’d gotten there, Ruda lunged at the giant, bringing her mace down on his knee. The leg retreated—impossibly fast for such a titan—and the weapon clattered off the deck.

  “Hmm. Today seems to be a day for reuniting with old acquaintances,” Draz purred contentedly.

  The eye on his right head flashed, and terror flooded Ruda. She was once again a small child, thrown face down into an icy lake, listening to the overseer’s mocking voice. All the sensations of the past returned, bringing helplessness with them; she hesitated, not even trying to dodge the monstrous fist’s blow.

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  The impact hurled her through the broken bulkhead and outside. Her hand cannon cracked, falling apart; her arm broke. She landed two hundred meters from the cruiser, spitting blood. She rose on unsteady legs, hearing the clatter of falling armor fragments that had burst in a dozen places. Draz climbed out, dispatching a pack of raiders firing at him along the way. Unconcerned by his wounds, he headed toward her, whistling a tune.

  “No last words? Swallowed all your arrogant battle cries? Pity, I was hoping for a bit of a challenge,” he laughed, dodging a clumsy swing.

  The simple movement caused excruciating pain throughout her body. Broken ribs scraped against her lungs; Ruda surrendered to the inner beast’s fury, just to stay conscious. Numbly, she noticed an ankle approaching at bullet speed—and she was sent flying. Draz’s fist slammed into her back; the knight screamed. Her bladder relaxed, unable to hold moisture; her spine cracked; the mace fell as she tumbled toward the mountain’s base.

  Crashing into the rocks, her weight carved a path inside, and she rolled down an uneven cave, hearing the hiss of scorching sand falling into a bubbling spring. Ruda stopped at the water’s edge, dipping her hand into the dark water. Outside, the heavy thud of approaching footsteps echoed. She realized she didn’t care. Her helmet was gone—torn off by the blow along with a lock of hair and skin. Blood bubbled on her lips; she couldn’t stand. Her arms barely obeyed, twitching slightly; her legs rapidly grew cold from blood loss and ruptured organs.

  I did everything I could. She stared at the water, seeing no reflection. My service is over. The beast within growled, but Ruda could no longer hear its roar, realizing her power was dying with her. She wouldn’t be able to get Grisha to safety, wouldn’t help Rustam find happiness, wouldn’t be able to protect Sylvie…

  Enough. Ruda bit her tongue, forcing herself to stay in the world of the living by sheer will. Who else do the children have besides me? Who else can the allies rely on? I’ve already let friends down once.

  It won’t happen again.

  Pulling herself up with her last strength, she splashed into the water and suddenly saw the faces of every child who had perished from the vile Glow that had granted her power. Forgive me. She whispered with torn lips. But there was no fury or contempt on their faces. They weren’t angry and didn’t demand her death. Ruda didn’t know if this was a hallucination or reality, but the souls reached out to her, supporting her. She blinked, making a decision. Not cursed. I still have responsibilities here.

  The beast roared with renewed vigor.

  Ruda joined it, tearing down the last barriers she had erected in the path of her power.

  ****

  “Wake up.” Sylvie dragged an operator away from the hole left by the claws. How the hell did that monster know we were here? The man in his mid-twenties didn’t respond. A trickle of blood ran down his temple, but he was breathing. “Great time to sleep!”

  “It’s fine.” Ney sat in the operator’s chair, awkwardly pressing keys with broken fingers. “Decimus, help me, enter the password…”

  “Not that console!” Grisha shouted. “You need the plasma emitter control panel. The artillery needs to charge…”

  “It’s okay.” Ney exhaled through his teeth. On the display, the monster sent Ruda flying into the mountain, opening the cave entrance. Sylvie couldn’t imagine what the knight must be feeling, watching his beloved being brutalized, but he remained an island of calm for the children. “I recognized the voice. It’s Draz. The vile bastard is heat resistant, so I won’t take risks. We’ll fill him with something he definitely can’t digest. Rustam, Tsereg! Have you pulled out the wounded?”

  “Yes, sir,” the kids responded, freeing two operators’ legs from the rubble.

  “You… you’re right…” Grisha whispered.

  Sylvie looked away from the wounded man. The veins on Grisha’s head had swollen—thick, pulsating cords, a sign he had started foreseeing again, asking new questions of his power. She had no idea how often he had ignored the doctor’s advice today, but at the sight of the nosebleed, she stepped forward.

  The artillery cabin changed. Rustam and Tsereg’s bickering turned into the morning squeaks of vultures; the tapping of fingers on keyboards became the lowing of cusacks awaiting breakfast. The rubble that had crushed the panels to the right thinned, unfolding into a green meadow. Ney’s back lost its color, swirled, and transformed into a wooden cottage—completely untouched, with a familiar bronze flower-shaped handle that brought tears to Sylvie’s eyes.

  The door opened, and She walked out. Mom was smiling, wiping her hands on her apron. Seeing her daughter, the stout woman gasped and knelt.

  “Sylvie! Where have you been?” a gentle voice asked.

  “M-mom?” Sylvie stopped. “B-but you died. Bandits nailed you to the estate and burned it. I saw it!”

  “There, there, calm down.” Mom reached out her hand. White, unmarked by the usual tan. “Bad people visited our village, but God brought me back.”

  “Y-you’re alive?” Sylvie wanted to rush to her, but her legs wouldn’t obey.

  “I will be if you do one simple thing. God needs a sacrifice. That brute, Ney, is actually a very vile type.” Mom wrinkled her nose. “You saw it yourself. Pick up the pistol. Shoot him, and I’ll come back to you.” She smiled a loving smile.

  “I… I can’t,” Sylvie stammered. “Ney is a friend. He protects us…”

  “Why do you need any protection other than God’s?” Mom wondered. “Of course you can, my little piggy. Aim at the back of his head and pull the trigger. It’s so simple, and you’ll be rewarded with reunion with me. Isn’t that wonderful?”

  “Wonderful… miracles don’t happen. I’m sorry, Mom.” Sylvie lowered her head. “You can’t bring back the dead.”

  “Stupid simian!” Mom spat, rising. Red glints danced in her eyes. “I offer everything on a silver platter, and still your kind answer with stubbornness. Fine, go to hell with the sow!”

  The vision vanished, and Sylvie found herself in front of Grisha. She wiped away her tears, cursing the fear that had caused the hallucination, and embraced the boy. He flinched as her fingers slipped a pill into his mouth.

  “Sorry,” Sylvie said. “But I won’t let your head explode, Grisha.”

  “I can’t see the future,” he said. The swollen veins had subsided. “Not at all!”

  “No need to. We’ll face it. Together,” she promised.

  “Trouble.” Decimus touched Ney’s shoulder, pointing at the display.

  The two-headed mutant had stopped walking toward the cave and turned back to the cruiser. Lava dripped between the teeth of the central head, and the right head’s single eye stared unerringly at them. With swift strides, the beast headed for the breach, clearly intending to reach them.

  “He’s coming for me,” Grisha whispered.

  “Let him.” Ney didn’t look up from his work, manually inputting commands to charge the large-caliber guns. “He won’t get you…”

  “Hey!” Rustam exclaimed. “What’s that?!”

  Sylvie tore her gaze from the monster and looked at the cave. A wave rolled out.

  ****

  Ruda spread her arms, sinking to the bottom. Broken bones returned to their places, knitting together. Powerful muscles wrapped around them, noticeably moving her limbs. Her middle fingers fused with the adjacent ones, turning into thick claws. Dark skin finally gave way to azure scales, densely covering her growing body, creating calories in defiance of nature’s laws. Ruda’s nose elongated forward, widening and turning into a pear-shaped appendage. Short antennae grew from its sides.

  Her jaw cracked, opening twice as wide as normal to accommodate fangs designed more for slashing than tearing. Her hooves split apart, giving way to inhuman five-toed feet with webbing between the toes. Touching the stones with her fingertips, Ruda shot upward, her half-thousand-ton bulk breaching the water’s surface. She twisted gracefully in mid-air; the river obeyed her will, flowing out.

  Tiny water spheres rose above the stream, which was turning to steam upon contact with the scorching surface. They hung in the air, and Ruda waved her three-fingered paw, sending three dozen drops flying at Mach twenty into the back of Draz, who stood by the cruiser. The mutant roared, arching backward from the small bloody craters marring his hide, and turned around. The right head’s eye flashed.

  The one who had emerged from the cave cast off the pitiful attempts to cloud her mind. Fury—animal and human—merged into an unyielding will, and Ruda ran toward Draz. Now he was only a meter taller. Storm clouds enveloped the beast, assailing the knight like a gale but failing to slow her. She didn’t see her opponent with her eyes, but her water perception conveyed the image of the central maw opening.

  Ruda struck Draz’s muzzle with her elbow, deflecting the head aside. A burst of flame engulfed the approaching raiders, reaching all the way to the second fallen ship. Ruda ducked, dodging a claw thrust, and lashed her leg at Draz’s knees, knocking him over. She ran on all fours beneath him and struck his back with a chop, sending the enormous carcass flying upward.

  Now this was so easy… The surge of power exhilarated her, but she knew this attack had done little harm to the slaver.

  She leaped, landing above Draz, and with a mighty kick sent him face-first into the ground, tearing open his lower back. Pushing off with her paw from the space between two cruiser guns that were being brought to bear, she sped after her prey, thrusting both hands into the widening crack and rising dust clouds.

  The paw pierced the veil, grabbing her by the wrists. A knee painfully slammed into her forearms; Draz pulled Ruda toward him, driving his knee into her stomach. Pushing the woman back, he rained down a hail of straight kicks to her face and abdomen, mercilessly tearing her hide. Both heads laughed, but the mirth quickly faded. Instead of retreating, Ruda remembered Chernogor’s lessons and grabbed his ankle between thrusts. Spinning around, she flung Draz over her, slamming him straight into the glassy sand path. Planting her foot on the mutant’s spine, she wrapped both arms around his central neck.

  Draz braced himself on the ground with one arm and drove both heads, along with Ruda, straight through the glass, reaching the rock beneath. Roaring with effort, he plowed a furrow with Ruda’s back, painfully grinding his bony bracer into her arm. She rose above him and jerked sideways as he spun in the crater, breaking the earth. A paw slid across her face, slashing her cheek with claws; a fiery spit seared her shoulder, darkening the blue scales and cauterizing the flesh.

  She drove her right hand into Draz’s underbelly, finding his entrails. Panicking, he rammed his elbow into her throat, throwing her back. A sweeping kick to her knee staggered the knight; claws carved deep furrows in her chest. A knee strike sent her flying back, rolling a hundred meters away from him.

  “Is this your limit?” Both of Draz’s heads spat bloody saliva. His hand gathered the loops of pulled-out guts, stuffing them back in. “Not impressed. You could have been my rival yesterday, but after my ascension, you’re fit only to be a chew toy.”

  Ruda straightened up. The blows she’d received didn’t echo through her body; thick hide had prevented the claws from reaching her arteries. She felt magnificent.

  “Claimant,” the knight growled, opening her maw wide. Within, fury mingled with joy at meeting a worthy trial.

  “I’ll devour you and shit you out before nightfall,” Draz promised. Both dog-like heads bared their fangs.