The water was no longer calm.
What once gently carried them through the hidden cave had turned into a dark tide—a slow pull from beneath the surface, as if something unseen had awoken and was waiting… watching.
Serah stirred, resting her head against Thorn's bare chest. "That felt like a dream."
Thorn kissed her forehead softly. "It was real. Every second."
But just as he was about to say more, he stiffened.
His eyes darted toward the narrow cave entrance, ears sharpening at a strange sound… something unnatural.
Metal grinding against stone.
Thorn stood quickly, helping Serah to her feet. "Get dressed. Now."
Serah's instincts flared. "Is it him?"
Thorn's body already began to change—his back swelling slightly, thorns rising slowly from his spine.
"Yes. He found us."
---
Before they could climb to safety, a splash echoed from the cave mouth.
Something slid into the water.
Not a man. Not a beast.
Project Hollow.
Its red visor glowed under the surface like a shark's eye, slicing through the black waters as it moved with terrifying precision.
Serah grabbed her gun.
Thorn pulled her back. "No use. Bullets bounce off him."
"Then how do we stop it?!"
Thorn's eyes locked onto a jagged wall of quartz spikes behind them. "I'll collapse the cave."
Serah grabbed his arm. "You'll bury us too."
His voice was firm. "I'll buy you time. Find the exit behind the moss wall. It leads back to the cliffs."
"I'm not leaving you—"
Thorn cupped her face. "You are. For our child."
Her breath hitched. He kissed her hard—deep, desperate. And then, without another word, he shoved her toward the glowing moss wall.
Serah stumbled through it, vanishing into darkness.
---
Alone, Thorn turned to face Hollow.
The monster emerged from the water like a nightmare born of steel and shadow. Dripping, silent, with rotating spikes ready to launch.
Thorn roared.
From his back, dozens of porcupine thorns erupted, slicing through the air like a storm of arrows.
They clashed—thorn against steel.
Water exploded. Rock shattered.
But Hollow was learning. Adapting.
It caught one of Thorn's spines mid-air, analyzed it with a flicker of its eye, and launched it back with triple the speed.
SLASH!
Thorn stumbled—his shoulder bleeding.
This was no longer a test.
It was war.
---
Meanwhile, Serah burst from the other end of the cave into blinding sunlight. She gasped for air, clutching her stomach.
"I'm coming back for you," she whispered, tears falling. "Don't die, Thorn. Please…"
But then she froze.
Just a few meters away, hidden in the brush…
Scientists. Cameras. Needles.
They'd been waiting.
A tranquilizer dart shot out—missed her by inches.
Serah ducked and rolled into the wild, her heart thudding.
Two enemies.
One jungle.
Nowhere safe.
---
Back in the cave, Thorn fell to one knee. Blood mixed with water around him.
Hollow approached, slow and deadly.
"You won't… take me…" Thorn growled.
But Hollow raised one mechanical arm—spikes whirring—and aimed at Thorn's heart.
A hiss.
A click.
A glow.
Then—
BOOM!
The cave ceiling collapsed in a rain of fire and stone.
---
Above, Serah turned as a muffled explosion shook the earth beneath her.
"No…"
Her scream echoed into the forest.
Was he gone?
Was he buried beneath?
She fell to her knees, shaking.
Behind her, someone whispered—
"You shouldn't have come alone."