The Void

The team gathers near the shattered front gates, where the fortress wall had fallen. They have to keep watch until the wall is repaired. The sun dips low, painting the sky in bands of gold and violet. 
          Dosei carries an armful of vegetables, his sleeves rolled up, while Norio lugs a black cauldron behind him. Soon the smell of stew fills the air, a fragile sense of normalcy returning. 
          Rubble crouches, arranging scraps of wood into a small pile for the fire. Thunder rolls faintly in the distance. “Guess I better hurry,” he mutters. 
          A soft hand rests on his shoulder. He lifts his head, expecting Halo, but stiffens as Cinder leans in close, her breath grazing his ear. “The others might be intimidated,” she whispers, “but I’m really glad you’re here.” 
          Rubble pauses, then goes back to stacking the wood. “Uh… thanks,” he says flatly. 
          Cinder straightens, her eyes flicking toward Halo, gauging her reaction. 
          Halo looks away, feigning indifference. Inside, her blood boils. 
          Soon the stew rolls to a boil in the cauldron. Bowls are filled, steam rising into the cool air. Halo brings one to Commander Thorn, who has spent the evening pacing the breach in the wall. 
          Yumi helps Benji shuffle toward a log. His cowboy hat replaced with a bandage wrapped around his head. 
          Halo turns, bowl in hand, eyes searching for Rubble. She finds him sitting by himself on a log, head bent as he eats. Just as she moves to sit beside him, Cinder swoops in, dropping onto the space, bumping her shoulder against his. 
          Cinder smirks, victorious. Rubble doesn’t even notice the tension brewing. The only empty log left is across the fire. She lowers herself stiffly, her stew untouched. 
          The silence thickens until Dosei breaks it with a loud, exaggerated slurp. “This is delicious!” 
          Norio blows the steam off his stew, squinting across the fire. “Halo, you good? You’re acting weird today. Is it a solar flare thing?” 
          “She’s doing great,” Cinder sneers before Halo can answer. 
          “Oh, you two are finally getting along. That’s great news.” Norio grins, oblivious. 
          Halo and Cinder deadpan in unison. 
          “Sure,” Cinder says flatly. 
          “Fantastic,” Halo adds, stretching a smile that feels brittle on her face. A spark cracks in the fire, snapping the silence. 
          Rubble finally looks up from his bowl, eyes shifting between them. “Am I missing something?” 
          Cinder leans closer to him, her fingers brushing the back of his hand. “Your hands are so steady for someone who’s recently regenerated.” 
          Halo’s jaw tightens, fury simmering just below her skin. 
          Rubble catches her expression. “Ah. Got it.” He stands, crosses the distance, and settles beside Halo instead. 
          She can’t help the smile that tugs at her lips as she tries to hide it behind her bowl. 
          Across the fire, Yumi and Benji quietly sip their stew, their wide eyes following every movement like they’re watching a new episode of a soap opera. 
          The rest of the meal passes in uneasy quiet. Rubble keeps his gaze low, focused on his food, not lifting his head again until the bowls are empty. 
          Crickets chirp faintly as the team rolls out their sleeping bags, preparing for the night’s watch. Thorn leans against the stone wall, finally still after hours of pacing, though he can’t bring himself to sit. 
          Raindrops spatter the dirt. 
          “Great,” Benji groans. “Now we’ve gotta build a shelter.” 
          “Don’t you move, cripple,” Norio snaps, pointing at the bandages wrapping Benji’s head. “I’ll figure it out.” 
          “I’m not a cripple!” Benji fires back, his voice cracking. 
          The storm churns above, thunder muttering like a distant warning. The sky turns black, the moon smeared with a red tint. Trees sway and groan in the wind, their branches swaying in the wind. 
          A flicker of lightning tears across the sky, and in its brief illumination, something vast seems to absorb the light, a silhouette cut straight from the storm. 
         “What was that?” Dosei lurches to his feet, eyes wide. 
         “Now’s not the time for your jokes,” Norio grumbles, pulling his cloak tighter against the rain. 
         “I’m not kidding!” Dosei points with a trembling hand toward the meadow. “There’s something right there!” 
          “I don’t see anything,” Benji mutters, squinting into the shadows. 
          The drawbridge rattles on the far side, groaning against the wind. They peer into the darkness, but the rain veils everything. For a moment, the world feels drowned in shadow. 
          Lightning splits the sky again, searing white, and for a split second they see it. 
          A hulking figure towers on top of the drawbridge. 
          “There’s something up there!” Halo cries, her voice slicing through the thunder. 
          From the top of the raised drawbridge, a monstrous shape emerges, black as the void itself. The bridge groans beneath its weight. The Black Skelloid claws its way higher, one hand seizing the other half of the bridge. The wood moans, buckles, then snaps. 
         With a deafening roar of iron and timber, the drawbridge collapses into the canal. Water surges upward in a violent wave, slamming against the shore. The team staggers back, bracing themselves against the spray. 
         Out of the storm rises a towering silhouette, darker than the night. Its frame ripples with slime as thick and black as oil, moving across his bones like a living tide. 
          It throws its head back and unleashes a shriek as if raw terror was given a voice. 
          The team instinctively falls back, their spears extending with sharp clicks. They are a fraction of their enemy’s size. Their eyes dart to Thorn. 
          He draws a steady breath, voice cutting through the chaos. “Norio, Rubble, take its knees out. Halo, Cinder, get to its shoulders, crack its skull open.” 
          The order steadies them. The team surges into motion, splitting toward their marks. 
          Lightning tears in the sky, casting the battlefield in searing white. A glow burns within its chest. A molten core, spinning and alive, pulses behind its ribs. 
          The storm itself seems to pause, waiting for the clash to begin. 
          “It has a core!” Thorn shouts, his voice cutting through the storm. He locks eyes with Rubble. Rubble nods once, he knows. That core could power the cannon. 
          Norio lunges first, jamming his spear into the Skelloid’s knee. The creature bellows, slime spraying as its leg buckles. With a violent kick, it flings Norio back, the spear still lodged, sending him sprawling across the stones with the air knocked from his lungs. 
          Rubble charges in, his weapon crackling with electricity. Sparks scatter across the rain-slick ground, but the Skelloid’s claws lash out with monstrous speed. They slam into his chest with a wet, jarring thud. Rubble crashes into the mud, motionless. 
         “Rubble!” Halo screams. Fury ignites in her veins. She sprints forward, spear flashing as she hacks at the monster’s claws, strike after angry strike. 
          The Skelloid bends low, black slime cascading down. Its hollow eye sockets lock on her. 
          This one can see me. 
          The realization chills her, but it’s too late. Its dark hand closes around her legs, yanking her up in to the air. She dangles upside down. Her spear slips free, clattering into the mud. 
          The creature lifts her toward its mouth. Jagged teeth glisten, each row a blade. 
          Halo thrashes, pushing against its monstrous jaw, her palms pressed desperately against the slick enamel. The monster tilts her higher, saliva dripping from it’s mouth. 
          “No!” Rubble’s voice tears across the battlefield. He clutches his abdomen, forcing himself up through the pain. 
         The Skelloid shakes her like a doll, her grip slipping, fingers scraping uselessly across its teeth. 
          Then it bites down. Halo screams, the sound swallowed by thunder as its teeth sink into her arms.