Chapter 5 - Fleshcraft and Ashblood
Kael's boots crunched over glasslike ash as he and Ravager moved eastward, away from the ruin and its ghost. The Codex map flickered within his HUD like a dying flame, marking their path with fractured data. His head still rang with that voice.
"Follow the silence."
Ravager moved ahead, limping slightly. His wounds were healing, but the bond remained delicate. Kael kept glancing at the creature—not out of fear, but curiosity. How much of it was still beast? And how much was beginning to reflect... him?
As night descended, the world bled red. The trees twisted here—unnatural. Bark peeled in wet strips. Ash floated upward instead of down.
[Zone designation: CODED RED. Biome signature: corrupted. Anomalies expected. Caution: high.]
Kael narrowed his eyes.
That's when they heard it.
Chanting.
Low. Monotone. Human.
Ravager tensed.
Kael crept forward until he reached a ridge overlooking the basin below.
His breath caught.
Dozens of them. Humans—scarred, tattooed, cloaked in bone-stitched cloth. They surrounded a massive hybrid: a horned quadruped with plates of volcanic rock fused to its shoulders. The beast's eyes were shut, and thick vines ran from its neck into the chests of the chanting humans.
Symbiosis.
[Faction signature detected: FLESHCRAFT. Status: High threat. Doctrine: hybrid merging. Belief: communion through sacrifice.]
Kael's skin crawled.
One of them collapsed. Another stepped forward and drove a bone dagger into his own thigh, offering blood to the vines. The hybrid stirred.
A massive priest-like figure stood up. His eyes glowed with a faint Codex shimmer.
"This land is memory," he intoned. "And memory demands flesh."
Kael ducked down.
"What in hell is this…" he whispered.
Suddenly—
[Alert: Bond tension spike detected. Ravager emotional index: volatile.]
Kael turned.
Ravager was shaking. Not from fear—but recognition. Hate.
"You've seen them before," Kael whispered.
The beast growled low, a rumble of something ancient.
Then the ground beneath them cracked.
"Shit."
They tumbled. Dust and gravel exploded. Kael landed hard, shoulder-first. Ravager crashed beside him.
Every head in the basin turned.
Silence.
Then—
"An intruder."
The priest extended a hand. The vines uncoiled. The hybrid beneath him awoke, eyes now open—milky and blind, but aware.
It roared.
Kael rolled to his feet.
The priest shouted, "Seize the trespasser! Feed the flesh!"
Figures rushed forward. Kael tapped the Codex.
[Combat mode: active. Improvised weaponry linked.]
He grabbed a bone spear from the ground and met the first zealot head-on. The impact sent Kael sprawling—but Ravager intercepted, claws slashing through cloth and bone.
Blood sprayed. Screams rose.
They fought together, but it was chaos. Too many.
Then Kael saw it. At the center of the basin, a node—like the one before. But this one pulsed red. Corrupted.
[Codex conflict detected. Rogue AI presence: subrooted. Access not advised.]
"Exactly what I need," Kael muttered and sprinted.
The priest noticed. He roared in fury, sending two more zealots after him.
Kael slammed his palm to the node.
Data surged.
But it wasn't clean.
[Uploading corrupted shard… Installing Synaptic Echo: Unknown Origin.]
Visions hit him like a tsunami.
A warden roaring. A tower falling. The face of a young woman—crying, screaming his name—
And a name.
Xenovorax.
Then pain.
Kael collapsed, clutching his head.
[Synchronization spike. Genome pathways reacting. Internal tether destabilizing.]
Ravager roared. The hybrid of stone and vine lunged.
Kael screamed—but it wasn't fear.
It was rage.
He stood. Blood dripping from his temple.
And he stared down the priest.
"I'm not here to offer flesh," he said, voice cold. "I'm here to take it back."
End of Chapter 5
Next: Kael awakens with a partial genome echo inside him. And not all of it is human.