Chapter 12 12
The sound came again but deep enough to be felt in the bones before it was heard.
Kratos froze where he knelt. His fingers tightened unconsciously against the cracked ground as his breathing slowed, not out of control but because something in him was listening.
Actually listening “No” he whispered.
Lyra turned to him immediately “What is it?” she asked.
Kratos didn’t look at her, hia eyes were fixed ahead, toward the exposed passage leading deeper into the base, the direction Karthik had come from and the direction he had left open.
“It’s not him” Kratos said.
Zephyr frowned slightly “Then what is it?”
Kratos swallowed. The feeling in his chest wasn’t panic anymore, it wasn’t confusion but It was recognition.
“It’s waking up” he said.
The ground beneath them trembled again and no one mistook it for aftershock. It was rhythmic, like something vast shifting its weight slowly beneath layers of stone.
Lyra stood, her grip tightening on her weapon “We need to leave now”.
But she didn’t move yet. None of them did because the sound came again, and closer. A low drag followed by something that almost sounded like a breath.
Zephyr exhaled slowly, tension building in his shoulders “That’s not structural damage”.
“No, it's not” Kratos said quietly.
His voice had changed again. Footsteps echoed behind them as Thorne rushed into the corridor, his usually controlled presence now edged with urgency.
“We’re evacuating the lower levels… Now!” he ordered.
Lyra turned sharply “What is it?”
Thorne said immediately “The core is reacting”.
Kratos shook his head immediately “No”.
Everyone looked at him. Thorne’s eyes narrowed slightly “No?”
Kratos stood slowly, his movements steady but cautious, like he was testing the ground under his feet without fully trusting it “It’s not the core” he said.
A pause, then he looked toward the broken passage “It’s under it”.
Zephyr’s jaw tightened “There shouldn’t be anything under the core, right?” his breath shuddered, you could sense the fear in him.
Kratos gave a dry, humorless breath. “There shouldn’t be a lot of things happening right now but it is happening anyways”.
Then, the ground split, a jagged crack tore through the corridor, slicing between them with a violent snap of stone. Everyone stepped back instinctively, dust bursting upwards.
The crack didn’t stop, it was spreading slowly at first then faster and from it, pure darkness leaked out.
Lyra’s voice dropped “What…the…hell… is that?”
No one answered because no one knew, except Kratos but not fully, not consciously but something inside him did. His voice came out quieter and lower “it’s like me”.
The darkness shifted, like it had heard him. Then, something moved inside it, like a shape, rising slowly, like it wasn’t in a hurry.
Kratos couldn’t look away, his chest tightened not from fear, but from something pulling at him like a connection that was unavoidable.
“What could that be?” one of the survivor asked.
Zephyr stepped forward slightly, positioning himself between Kratos and the crack “We’re not staying here to find out”.
Lyra nodded quickly “Move!”
She grabbed Kratos’s arm “Now”.
That broke it. Kratos blinked, like he had just come out of a trance. They turned and ran, the corridors beyond were chaos.
Astros fighters moved in every direction; some carrying injured, others shouting orders that overlapped and collided. Weapons clanged, boots hit the ground hard, voices rose in urgency and fear.
Kratos ran beside Lyra and Zephyr but everything felt distant, like part of him was still back there. Still watching.
“What the hell is going on?” Zephyr muttered.
“No idea” Lyra answered, pulling someone out of their path “But it’s not just Erebus anymore”.
Kratos didn’t speak, because the sound; that deep, dragging presence was following. Not physically but inside him. Every step he took, it felt closer.
They turned into a wider corridor and stopped.
Half of it was gone Not damaged but gone. Torn open like something had forced its way through from the inside.
Kratos stared “That wasn’t them”.
“No, it wasn’t” Zephyr said quietly.
First time they agreed on something together. A low rumble echoed again, and sounded closer.
Lyra turned “We need to get to the command wing now”.
But before they could move, Kratos stopped again. His breath caught “Wait” he ordered.
Lyra turned sharply “What now?”
Kratos didn’t answer immediately, because the feeling, that connection just spiked suddenly. He turned his head slowly, back toward the direction they came from.
“It’s following” he said.
Zephyr frowned “What is?”
Kratos didn’t respond because he saw it at the far end of the broken corridor— Something stood. Not fully formed. Not fully visible. But was just there, and watching and waiting.
Lyra followed his gaze and froze “that’s not a soldier”.
No one moved because whatever it wasn't attacking, wasn’t rushing forward, wasn’t reacting like an enemy and It was just… standing there. Like it had been expecting them.
Kratos took a slow step forward.
“Don’t” Lyra warned immediately.
But he didn’t stop because something inside him was answering it.
“I know you” Kratos said quietly.
The thing didn’t move but the air around it shifted. Like it was responding.
Lyra grabbed him again, harder this time. “Kratos, let's go!”
He hesitated just for a second, the thing tilted its head and in that small, unnatural movement, Kratos felt it clearly. Recognition and not curiosity or confusion. Kratos’s chest tightened violently and before he could react, the ground beneath them cracked again, forcing them back.
Lyra didn’t wait this time. She pulled him hard. “We’re leaving. Now!”
This time, Kratos didn’t resist but still as they ran, he didn’t look away because he couldn't. And the thing in the darkness, watched him go. Without moving and without following.
Like it already knew he’d be back.
