The creature hit the ground in a rhythm that felt less like footsteps and more like seismic warnings.
The cavern shook. Dust fell in curtains. My legs braced on instinct as the beast thundered toward me with enough momentum to qualify as a natural disaster.
Cadence shouted directly in my skull.
"Iris! Move!"
I moved.
Just in time, in instalments.
Its bulk scraped past me, claws carving a fresh signature into the cavern floor and sending rock shards skittering across the stone.
The wind of its passing nearly spun me around.
"Okay," I gasped. "Big. Very big."
"Also fast," Cadence added. "That was a 93 kilometre-per-hour sprint."
I blinked. "…WOW, you gave it a speed stat?"
"I'm narrating data."
The beast skidded against the rock, digging those stone-scoring claws in, pivoting with a roar that boomed off every surface like someone beating a war drum.
Its eyes glowed. Not red. Not mutant green. Just bright, cold, predatory yellow.
"Iris," Cadence said, tone dry, "I think you upset it."
"No," I said. "Really? I thought we were about to braid each other's hair."
The creature slammed one paw down.
The shockwave rippled outward.
I jumped back, just in time to avoid the stone plate beneath me cracking like broken ice.
"Strength level… very high," Cadence muttered.
"No stats this time ? How high?"
"Somewhere between 'breaks boulders' and 'remodels caverns.'"
The creature lunged again.
This time I didn't dodge.
This time I wanted to test something.
I lowered my stance and raised my arm to block.
Cadence shrieked. "Iris that is not ..."
Impact.
A quake rang up my arm.
But it didn't break.
The creatures momentum drove me backward several meters, boots carving streaks in the dust, but I held. Its claws strained inches from my face, sparks jumping as they carved sparks across my forearm plating.
My feet skidded. My spine rattled. My shoulder screamed.
But I held.
"Wow," I said through gritted teeth. "Okay. I'm officially stronger than I thought."
Cadence sputtered. "That was reckless, impulsive, unnecessary ..."
"Very cool though," I added.
"…I refuse to validate that."
The creature reared back, forcing me to duck as its front paw came down where my head had been. The impact cratered the floor.
Night vision flickered with the force.
Shards sprayed everywhere.
One grazed my cheek, cutting skin.
The creature leaned in, sniffed, and roared.
"Cadence," I said, "please tell me it's not after blood."
"That is absolutely what its after now."
"I hate nature," I muttered, rolling aside as the creature lunged again.
I let its charge carry it past me. As it passed I kicked out.
My foot slammed into its side.
The beast slid several meters, claws gouging trenches in the stone as it fought to slow.
Cadence whistled. "Well. That blow would have snapped your tibia before the upgrade."
"I know," I said. "Feels good."
"Please do not let that inspire overconfidence."
"No promises."
The creature turned again.
This time slower.
Now curious.
It studied me, nostrils flaring, breath huffing out in waves of warm, mineral-scented air.
Then it roared, low, throaty, rising into a challenge that vibrated the stone walls.
Cadence muttered, "Iris I believe it wants dominance."
"Tell it, it can have it. I only want to get passed."
It charged again.
This time I went forward too.
We collided with a bone-rattling, cave-shaking crash.
My hand shot up, catching its massive paw mid-swing. Pain lanced through my arm, nothing broke, but the strain was brutal.
The creature snapped its jaws at my head, I ducked, slammed my elbow upward into its chin, and heard a crack.
The beast stumbled, dazed.
I didn't waste it.
I sprinted in, grabbed its thick neck fur, twisted, and threw.
Not far ... but far enough.
It hit the stone wall with a heavy slam, debris raining around it.
Cadence yelped. "Iris! You threw a biological tank!"
"Testing things!"
The creature staggered upright, furious now, claws scraping sparks as it swiped wildly.
I dodged one swing, then another, then slid between its legs and delivered a punch to its abdomen.
It howled and slammed its weight downward.
I barely rolled out before it crushed me.
Cadence chimed in, "You are engaging effectively but inefficiently."
"I'm fighting a mountain, in a mountain!"
"I suggest fewer quips."
"Impossible."
It charged again.
This time it caught me.
One massive claw swept across my torso, sending me airborne.I hit a pillar of stone so hard it cracked.
Pain flared through my ribs and back.
My HUD flickered.
Cadence snapped, "Iris! Your plating..."
"Still attached," I grunted, pushing off the broken rock.
The creature stomped toward me.
Slower now.
Worn.
Bleeding from its maw and flank.
Breathing heavier.
Cadence murmured, "It is tiring. Wild physiology has limits. You do not."
I spat dust and grinned. "Lets be having you."
I sprinted straight at it.
The creature roared and swiped.
I ducked under the claw, leapt, planted my foot on its forearm, pushed off, and drove a full-strength punch into its skull.
The crack echoed like a rifle shot.
It staggered sideways, crashing into the cavern wall.
I didn't let up.
I slammed my heel into its jaw. Then drove an elbow into the back of its head. Then grabbed its neck with both hands and wrenched.
The beast collapsed.
Heavy.
Final.
Dust settled around us like slow-falling snow.
Cadence exhaled in my mind."…You are absurd."
"Thank you."
"That was not praise."
"Still taking it."
I stepped back from the creatures motionless body, chest rising and falling with slow, controlled breaths.
My HUD stabilized.
Battery: 92%
I blinked. "I just fought a mutant bear the size of a transport truck and lost 6 or 7 percent battery."
"Yes," Cadence said. "Which is both a relief and a terrifying precedent."
My night vision rebalanced. The cavern extended ahead, wide, open, descending deeper before rising toward a sliver of light in the far distance.
Cadence projected a map overlay. "According to updated topography… this cavern cuts straight through the ridge."
"I'm hearing shortcut."
"Yes. Provided we do not encounter additional megafauna."
"No more bears. Please."
"I cannot guarantee that."
We walked.
The cavern gradually opened. The floor sloped downward. The air cooled.
Then, slowly, light began to filter through, soft greenish daylight.
We reached the mouth of the cavern.
I stepped out ...
... and stopped.
The world ahead was alive.
Grass, real green grass, spread across rolling hills. Thin trees clung to the slopes. Patches of moss and brush dotted the landscape. Birds, actual feathered birds flew overhead in lazy arcs.
A road ran along the valley floor, a worn, well-travelled path carved by decades of footsteps, wheels, and wandering caravans.
Cadence's voice softened almost reverently."…We have left the Badlands."
I stared at the road.
At the horizon.
At everything waiting.
Cadence nudged my attention toward the road.
"We follow it?"
I nodded slowly.