The Herald's massive form shifted, its countless eyes focusing on Marcus with what might have been surprise. *"You wish to negotiate? You are barely stable in your new form, and your military forces are preparing weapons that could vaporize this entire building."*"Which is why we need to move fast." Marcus stood up from the ruined hospital bed, testing his new body. He was taller now, his proportions slightly off from human normal, and reality seemed to blur around him like he was standing in two places at once. "Amanda, I need you to get Elena, Sophia, and Sarah somewhere safe. Then contact whatever government agency is in charge of this disaster and tell them I'm attempting first contact."Amanda moved closer, studying his transformed appearance with clinical detachment. "You look like shit, by the way. Very cosmic horror meets failed science experiment.""Thanks. That's exactly the confidence boost I needed.""I'm serious, Marcus." Her expression softened slightly. "You're barely

The tactical team's weapons were useless. Marcus knew it before they even tried, but the captain gave the order anyway. Bullets passed through the wound in the sky like raindrops through fog, disappearing into the wrongness without effect."Fall back!" the captain screamed into her radio. "All units fall back! We need—"Her words cut off as the presence from beyond reality reached down. Not physically, but with something worse. Intent. Purpose. Hunger that had consumed entire dimensions.Marcus felt it touch his mind, and the contact nearly shattered him.*BRIDGE. FOUND. MINE.*The voice wasn't language, wasn't communication. It was inevitability, a statement of fact written into the fabric of existence itself. The Devourer had been searching across infinite realities for something like Marcus, and now that it had found him, nothing would stop it from claiming its prize."Marcus!" Elena was shaking him, but her voice sounded distant. "Marcus, stay with us!"He wanted to respond, wante

The Devourer's realm was agony made manifest.Marcus had expected chaos, had prepared himself for something horrible, but nothing could have readied him for the sensation of reality itself trying to unmake him from the inside out. Every cell in his transformed body was screaming, trying to decide whether to exist or not exist, and the answer kept changing from moment to moment."Stay together!" he shouted, though he had no idea if sound even worked here.He could feel the others through their connections. Elena's grip on his hand was the only solid thing in a universe of uncertainty. Amanda's presence burned like a beacon of supernatural fire. Sophia's analytical mind was trying to process the impossible. Sarah's determination cut through the chaos like a knife. And the Herald's alien consciousness provided a framework that helped them all maintain cohesion.*"This is... worse than I remembered,"* the Herald's voice echoed through their shared connection. *"The Devourer has grown stro

Marcus woke up on a rooftop, which seemed to be becoming a habit. Except this wasn't the hospital rooftop—this was somewhere in downtown, and the sun was setting instead of rising, which meant time had done something weird again."Welcome back to the land of the living," Amanda said from beside him. She was sitting on the ledge, dangling her legs over the side like they weren't forty stories up. "Well, mostly living. You're still about thirty percent interdimensional horror."Marcus sat up, checking himself. His body was still transformed, still showing those alien patterns under his skin, but it felt stable now. Controlled. Like he'd found a balance between human and whatever the hell else he'd become."What happened? Where are the others?""Safe. Mostly." Amanda pointed across the rooftop where Elena was sitting with her back against an air conditioning unit, looking exhausted but alive. Sophia was nearby, frantically typing on her tablet while Sarah stood guard with her weapon draw

The government secure facility was a converted military base on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by enough security to make a prison look welcoming. Raven's credentials got them through three checkpoints without question, which told Marcus exactly how much pull she had with whatever organization she worked for."Who do you work for, exactly?" he asked as they walked through sterile corridors that smelled of antiseptic and fear."Whoever pays the best at the moment." Raven's ember eyes glinted with amusement. "Right now that's a coalition of governments trying to prevent supernatural chaos from destroying human civilization. Tomorrow, who knows?""Comforting," Amanda muttered.They'd brought the core team—Marcus, Amanda, Elena, Sophia, and Sarah. The Herald had stayed behind, claiming that its presence might be too inflammatory in a government facility. Marcus suspected it was actually gathering its people, preparing for whatever might come next.The final checkpoint led to an obs