The forest floor heaved as the creature tore itself free of the collapsing tunnels. Soil burst upward in chunks. Roots snapped like bones. The moonlit clearing shook beneath my feet until it felt like the world itself wanted to roll me off its surface. Beau tightened his grip on my arm just long enough to steady me, then placed himself on my right side while Jack moved to my left. Their wolves growled in unison. The sound vibrated in my chest.
The creature pulled the last of its mass through the cracked earth and straightened, taller than the surrounding trees. Its silver eye burned bright in the shadows. Chips of metal fell from its limbs as it adjusted to the open air.
“Prime Unit,” it said. “Surface breach confirmed. Proceed to core integration.”
“Not happening,” I said.
My aura fla
