The cityscape loomed around them, its skeletal remains a haunting reminder of what humanity had lost. Evelyn, Reaper, and Mia had barely escaped the Matriarch's lair, but they weren't safe yet.
The air thickened with an unnatural presence. A low, wet clicking noise echoed through the shattered skyscrapers.
Perched atop a crumbling rooftop, silhouetted against the dying sun, a nightmare given form.
The Crimson Harbinger.
Its flesh shimmered like molten sinew, pulsating with an eerie glow. Elongated claws twitched at its sides, and spiked tendrils curled from its spine, weaving through the air like living whips.
In a flash of red and shadow, the Harbinger lunged.
Reaper barely shoved Evelyn aside before razor-sharp tendrils speared into the ground where she had stood.
Mia screamed, unloading her pistol into the creature's chest.
The bullets ripped through it—only for the wounds to close instantly.
Evelyn's stomach dropped. "It's regenerating."
The Harbinger let out a screeching howl, its tendrils lashing outward.
Mia dodged—barely. A tendril slashed across her shoulder, tearing into flesh. She stumbled, blood spilling down her arm.
Reaper roared, leveling his shotgun. He fired—point-blank.
The Harbinger moved faster than sight.
One moment it was there—the next, it was behind him.
The tendrils wrapped around his throat and slammed him into a car. The metal caved beneath the impact.
Reaper choked, struggling against the vice grip.
Evelyn grabbed a broken metal rod from the rubble. With a desperate yell, she drove it into the creature's side.
The Harbinger hissed. For the first time—it hesitated.
Reaper tore free, gasping.
Mia, bleeding but furious, hurled a flash grenade.
The Harbinger shrieked, its body convulsing. The light disrupted its shifting form.
Reaper didn't waste a second. He grabbed Evelyn and Mia, dragging them toward a derelict subway station.
The Harbinger recovered almost instantly, its glowing tendrils writhing. It crouched, preparing to lunge again—
Then, a sound rumbled in the distance.
A deep, guttural roar.
Not from the Harbinger.
Its head snapped toward the skyline, its tendrils twitching.
Then—in a blur of red, it vanished into the night.
Evelyn shuddered. "It wasn't hunting us."
Reaper wiped blood from his lip. "No." His voice was grim.
"It was running from something worse."