swallowing space

They left before first tremor.

The air was thick with moisture, the fog heavier than usual — clinging to the jungle like wet cloth.

Kael led the way, silent as always, inside Ravager Mk. III.

Behind him, Lugger crawled forward, tires sloshing through the mossy terrain. Tyren was at the wheel this time, Oris manning the tech bay.

They were hunting again.

The target: a winged, mid-tier Kaiju identified through distant echo patterns and previous roar markings. Its corrosive breath had melted a ridge two nights ago.

This one was dangerous, fast, and strategic.

Kael was ready.

---

Back at the cave, the mood was anything but calm.

Lisette sat sharpening her new combat knife with slow, practiced drags — just like Kael.

Kira watched her from across the fire pit, arms folded.

Freya didn't bother hiding her annoyance anymore.

"So," Freya muttered, "planning to model your entire personality after Kael now?"

Lisette didn't look up. "Funny. I thought jealousy made people quieter."

Kira raised a brow. "Girls—"

"No, let's talk about it," Freya said, stepping forward. "Every day since Kael saved you, you've been acting like you're the last oxygen tank in a decompressed ship."

Lisette stood.

"I admire strength. Is that so wrong?"

Freya's voice sharpened. "You admire him because he ignores you. It's textbook."

"Better than fawning over someone just because they're the only one who hasn't snapped at you," Lisette snapped back.

Kira stepped in, hands raised. "Enough—"

But Freya wasn't finished. "You're not special, Lisette. We all watched him fight. But you're acting like you fought beside him — like you belong next to him."

Lisette's lip curled. "Maybe because I do."

The silence that followed was molten.

Then Kira, quieter than both, whispered: "This place is breaking us."

No one argued.

Because it was true.

---

In the jungle…

Kael stood motionless in the shadows of twisted roots.

Above him, the winged Kaiju circled through the misty sky — its wingspan at least fifteen meters, its body sinewy and green-scaled.

Its head ended in a sharp hook-like crest, and its mouth pulsed with green vapor.

Kael gave the signal.

Tyren's voice crackled through comms. "Ready to back you from the east. Stay in line of sight."

"Roger that," Oris added.

Kael surged forward, boosters flaring.

The Kaiju noticed.

---

It dove.

Kael flipped mid-sprint, boosters screaming, and launched upward just as the beast unleashed a corrosive cloud of sizzling acid.

It missed by inches.

Kael's blade caught the creature's wing joint — slicing tendon and flesh.

The Kaiju howled and spun violently, losing air balance, but recovered quick.

They clashed again in mid-air — steel and scale tangling mid-jump — and Kael punched his blade into its neck.

For a moment, victory.

Then the Kaiju's eyes shifted… and it retreated.

---

Kael landed hard, sliding against broken stone, and looked up in disbelief.

Tyren: "What the hell?"

Oris: "It's running—?"

Kael: "No."

He chased.

But the Kaiju wasn't fleeing randomly.

It was heading toward the east ridge.

And Kael realized too late — this was another Kaiju's territory.

Suddenly, the ground trembled — not like footsteps, but like a living heartbeat beneath them.

A second Kaiju — unseen — roared from beyond the hilltop.

Kael skidded to a stop.

Oris: "Kael! Pull back! That zone's marked red on our map!"

Tyren: "That flying bastard used us to trespass."

Kael cursed under his breath.

Strategic. Calculated.

The Kaiju used another monster's turf as a safe zone.

If Kael followed, he'd fight two at once.

---

He backed off.

Rage burning beneath his skin.

But he wasn't reckless.

Not anymore.

---

Back at the cave…

Silence had returned.

But not peace.

Lisette sat near the forge, hands trembling as she tried to reset one of the heat coils.

Freya hadn't spoken to her since the argument. Kira had gone silent too.

The crack in their trio now felt like a canyon.

But even through the tension… all three shared one emotion:

Fear.

Not of each other.

But of the fact that they were falling apart.

And Kael — the one thing that made them feel safe — was miles away, risking his life again.

---

Lugger returned three hours later.

Kael stepped out, blade still stained with blood.

He didn't say much — just:

"Target escaped."

He walked inside without looking at anyone.

Lisette watched him disappear into the darker part of the cave.

Her fingers clutched her pendant — an old piece of carved metal from her past unit.

It was warm.

But her chest was cold.

---