---
The two guards pushed Lily ahead, then one of them glanced back.
"We cannot keep this pace," he shouted.
Sekhmet’s voice came out low, rough.
"We have to," he replied.
Lily’s breathing was heavier now. Not weak, but strained.
"How many," she demanded, voice tight.
Sekhmet answered without looking.
"Too many."
Bat Bat swooped down and bit a kobol’s eye, then yelled, "Stop chasing! Ugly Dogeey!"
The kobol screamed, swinging.
Bat Bat dodged and shouted proudly, "I win!"
Sekhmet hissed, "Fly ahead and scout!"
Bat Bat blinked.
"Scout," it repeated, then shot forward, wings silent for once.
Flap...
The canyon opened ahead into a wider field of broken stone and sparse dead trees. The moonlight returned, pale and cold. Shadows stretched long.
Sekhmet’s mind raced. Wide open space meant the kobols could swarm again. But it also meant he could maneuver.
He could use his bats. He could use terrain. If he had chaos energy. His energy was near empty.
The system’s warning still echoed in his mind like a drum.
"Critical.
Low.
Collapse."
Sekhmet’s throat burned. Not from thirst alone now. From exhaustion. His body wanted to stop. But purgatory did not allow stopping.
Bat Bat returned, circling overhead.
"There!" it shouted, pointing with a tiny claw toward a cluster of boulders.
"Cave," it added, proud of using a new word.
Sekhmet’s eyes locked on the boulders.
There was indeed a narrow opening between two stones, like a crack leading into darkness.
Not a real cave. But a potential hiding place. Better than open ground.
He made a decision. "Inside," he ordered.
The two guards dragged Lily toward the opening. Lily resisted only long enough to look back into the canyon, where distant screams still echoed faintly from the three guards who stayed behind.
Her face tightened with grief. Then she forced herself forward.
They slipped into the crack.
Sekhmet followed last, turning to face the oncoming kobols.
The pack burst from the canyon mouth like a wave, howling.
KRAAAH!
Their eyes glowed faintly in the moonlight. Their weapons were raised.
Sekhmet’s blood sword trembled in his hand.
He could not fight them all. He could barely stand. He needed a delay. He reached into his void connection again, fingers shaking slightly.
Whooomp...
He pulled out the remaining minion bats.
Not ten.
Not twenty.
All of them.
PopPopPopPopPopPop!
The air filled with fluttering wings, a living cloud of red-black shapes.
Flapflapflap!
Sekhmet’s voice came out harsh.
"Swarm them. Blind them. Buy time."
The bats surged forward obediently, slamming into kobol faces, biting eyes and snouts, creating chaos.
The kobols screamed and swung wildly.
"Sky rats!"
"Kill!"
"Bite!"
The swarm did not kill kobols. It only disrupted them. But disruption was time.
Sekhmet used that time to stumble backward into the crack, closing distance to Lily and the guards.
The crack was narrow. The inside space was small but deeper than expected, like an old burrow carved into stone. It smelled of dust and old animal nests. The darkness inside was thick.
They moved deeper.
Sekhmet’s blood sword dissolved as he finally stopped outputting.
Shhhh... Pffft...
The moment it dissolved, his body sagged slightly.
The system’s warning pulsed again.
[Ding! System Notification-
The host’s chaos energy is depleted.
Status: exhaustion approaching the collapse threshold.
Recommendation: rest immediately. Hydration and blood intake advised.]
Sekhmet swallowed, throat burning.
He leaned against the stone wall inside the crevice, breathing hard.
Lily turned toward him immediately.
Her eyes were wide, not just with fear now, but with something sharper.
"What is wrong with you," she whispered.
Sekhmet’s jaw clenched. He could not tell her the truth. Not now. Not here.
Not with danger outside.
He forced his voice steady. "I used too much chaos energy," he said.
Lily frowned.
"That is all," she demanded.
Sekhmet stared at her.
"That is enough," he replied.
Lily’s eyes searched his face, catching the tension, the tightness in his jaw, the way his gaze kept flicking toward her neck without permission.
Her expression shifted.
"What happened in the camp," she asked quietly. "Before the attack."
Sekhmet froze.
The memory hit him like cold water. His mouth near her neck. His lips on her skin. His hunger, almost winning. He did not answer.
Lily’s voice lowered. "Sekhmet," she whispered again, softer. "What were you about to do?"
Sekhmet’s breath hitched. Outside, kobol screams echoed as bats fought.
KRAAAH!
Flapflapflap!
Metal clanged faintly in the distance, perhaps kobols hitting stone or each other, frustrated.
Sekhmet stared at Lily for a long moment.
His throat burned. His hunger surged again, not satisfied, not calmed.
The system itself had advised blood intake.
He could feel the truth pushing against his ribs. But he did not want to say it. He did not want to become that thing in her eyes.
Lily watched him carefully, and her expression softened instead of hardening.
"You look at me," she said quietly. "Do not lie to me."
Sekhmet’s jaw tightened until it hurt.
He looked away, voice rough.
"I was... hungry," he admitted.
Lily’s brows knit.
"Hunger," she repeated.
Sekhmet nodded once, stiff. "Yes."
Lily’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"Hunger does not make someone look at a neck like that," she said.
Sekhmet’s fingers clenched. He did not answer.
Lily inhaled slowly. Then she did something unexpected. She moved closer.
Sekhmet stiffened instantly. "Do not," he warned, voice low.
Lily stopped just out of reach, eyes steady.
"I am not afraid of you," she whispered.
Sekhmet’s throat tightened again, and his hunger surged at the sound of her voice so close.
His eyes darkened. "You should be," he muttered.
Lily’s voice stayed calm.
"I should be afraid of the kobols," she said. "Of the world. Of the gods who play games. But not of you."
Sekhmet’s gaze snapped to her, fierce and conflicted. "You do not know me," he said.
Lily’s eyes softened, stubborn.
"I knew you before," she said. "And I see you now. You are fighting yourself harder than you fought that leader."
Sekhmet’s breath trembled.
Outside, the kobol screams grew louder again, they were closer.