Helga and Mira made it out of the tunnel just in time alongside the others.

They burst through the entrance, stumbling into the open air, their lungs burning, their bodies coated in dust and dried ichor. Behind them, the cave groaned one final time—a deep, guttural sound like a wounded animal taking its last breath.

Then it collapsed.

The entrance crumbled. Stone fell. Dust exploded outward in a thick grey cloud that momentarily blotted out the sun. When the rumbling stopped, the tunnel was gone. Sealed and buried.

Helga stared at the rubble. Her chest heaved. Her warhammer hung limp at her side.

"There’s no way of telling if the others are alive," she said quietly.

Ylva stood apart from the group, her green eyes fixed on the collapsed entrance. Her claws were extended. Her tail was frozen. Her body was rigid.

She was scared.

She could feel her heart pounding—a wild, erratic rhythm that matched the panic rising in her chest. The bond she shared with Jason hummed faintly, but it was weak. Muffled. Like trying to hear a conversation through a thick wall.

"He’s alive," she told herself. "He has to be."

But she didn’t believe it.

Thalion watched her from a few feet away. His pale eyes were calm—too calm—but his hands trembled slightly at his sides.

"He is alive," Thalion said.

Ylva’s head snapped toward him. "You don’t know that."

"I do." Thalion met her gaze. He had to tried to take over his mind already and a residue of his mana remained in Jason. If Jason had died, he wouldn’t still be able to feel it.

Ylva’s jaw tightened as she barked at him.

"You don’t know that!"

"I’m the only one who does," Thalion responded.

She turned away from him, her green eyes blazing. And then she turned on Mira.

"You knew," Ylva snarled, her voice low and dangerous. "You knew the dangers in that tunnel. The spiders. The queen. The sheer danger of it all. You knew, and you didn’t say anything."

Mira’s amber eyes didn’t waver. Her tail flicked once.

"Jason knew the risks," Mira said flatly. "He signed the waiver. He chose to come."

"He didn’t know about the queen!"

"Neither did we." Mira’s voice was cold. "The queen wasn’t supposed to be here. The evolution wasn’t supposed to happen. We came here for goblins and spiders, not... whatever that was."

Ylva took a step forward. Her claws extended further.

"You should have told us."

"We told you enough."

Helga moved.

The dwarf stepped between them, her thick body blocking Ylva’s path. Her hand rested on the hilt of her warhammer—not raised, not threatening, but ready.

"Calm down," Helga said.

Ylva’s eyes were wild. She was seeing red. Her breathing was ragged. Every instinct screamed at her to tear through Mira, to make someone pay for the fear gnawing at her chest.

Helga’s grip tightened on her hammer.

"I said calm down..." Helga’s voice was low, steady. "Fighting each other won’t bring him back."

Thalion stepped forward, his pale hands raised. Mana crackled faintly around his fingers. He was getting ready to join in—to defend Ylva or to restrain Mira, or simply to survive whatever came next.

"Stop."

Mae’s voice cut through the tension like a blade.

Everyone froze.

The cow woman stood at the edge of the group, her brown eyes wide, her hands raised. Her chest was still heaving from the run, but her voice was steady.

"Are we all going to act like what just happened was normal?" Mae asked.

No one answered.

Mae pointed at the collapsed tunnel. "That thing. The insect that hatched from the cocoon. The red one. It blew through solid debris like it wasn’t there." She looked at each of them in turn. "If it could do that, there is no way in hell a cave falling down would kill it."

Ylva’s claws retracted slightly.

Mae continued. "Jason is alive. Thalion said so. And if that creature is with him—if it came out of him—then Jason might be the safest one in that tunnel." Mae said because Jason had made sure it hatched for a reason.

The tension in the air thinned, barely.

Ylva turned away from Mira. Her shoulders sagged. She didn’t apologize, she didn’t need to.

Helga relaxed her grip on her hammer. Thalion let the mana fade from his fingers.

Mira’s ears soon twitched because she heard something in the distance.

Her nose flared. Her tail went rigid.

"I hear something," she said. "Footsteps. Multiple."

Helga raised her hammer. "Friend or foe?"

Mira’s amber eyes widened. Her lips parted.

"Kaelen?" she blurted out.

She charged toward the sound, her daggers still sheathed, her body moving faster than Helga had ever seen.

From the rubble—from a narrow gap between two fallen boulders—Kaelen emerged.

The reptile was battered. His scales were cracked, his armor was shredded, and one arm hung limp at his side. But he was alive.

Behind him came the two female vampires—pale, silent, their red eyes scanning the group with cold curiosity.

Mira stopped inches from Kaelen. Her hands hovered in the air, wanting to touch him, to confirm he was real.

"You’re alive," she said.

Kaelen grunted. "Barely."

Helga pushed forward. "Where’s Jason? Where’s the little meat?"

Kaelen’s yellow eyes swept the group. He counted heads. Ylva, Thalion, Mae, Mira, Helga.

"He stayed behind," Kaelen said.

Ylva’s claws extended again. "What?"

"He stayed to fight the queen. To kill it." Kaelen’s voice was steady, but there was something in his eyes—something that looked like respect. "He saved my life."

Ylva stared at him. "He saved you?"

"Not alone. There was a vampire. A pure blood. Caelus. He did most of the fighting." Kaelen paused.

Silence soon followed.

Thalion’s pale eyes narrowed. "He came back for you and you allowed him to stay?"

"The same reason you didn’tstop him when he chose to find me," Kaelen looked at Ylva. "Your mate is either the bravest idiot I’ve ever met, or something much more dangerous."

Ylva didn’t know how to respond.

The two female vampires exchanged a glance. They had seen this before—loss, fear, the desperate hope that made people believe anything. They didn’t care much about the pink-skinned stranger or his monster. They had lived too long for that.

But they said nothing.

Ylva stood in the center of the group, her arms wrapped around her chest. Her face was blank.

She didn’t know when the tears started.

They fell silently down her cheeks—warm, wet, uncontrollable. She reached up and wiped them away with the back of her hand.

"Huh?" she muttered.

More tears fell. She wiped again. They didn’t stop.

Her hand trembled. Her breath hitched.

Thalion sighed. He looked away, giving her privacy.

The ground shook once again and they all assumed it was the tunnel having a second cave in.

Everyone tensed up as they recalled Mae saying the ant king wouldn’t be killed by this which meant there was a chance it could be the one emerging.

The rubble at the cave entrance exploded outward—boulders flying, dust billowing, stone cracking. Blood-red tendrils poked through the debris, pulsing like veins, pushing the rocks aside.

Three figures emerged from the dust.

Jason walked first, his pink skin covered in dust and ichor, his clothes torn, his face bruised. But he was standing. He was smiling.

Caelus followed close behind, his red eyes dim, his white shirt soaked in blood—some his own, some not. His arms hung heavy at his sides.

And behind them both, the ant king.

But he had regressed.

No longer the towering, six-armed monster that had consumed the queen. He was small now—no larger than a goblin—standing on two legs, his red chitin smooth, his black and gold eyes calm. He walked beside Jason like a loyal pet.

"Jason!" Ylva rushed toward him.

She crashed into him, her arms wrapping around his neck, her face buried in his shoulder. Her claws retracted. Her tail wrapped around his leg. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Jason staggered but caught himself. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey," he said softly. "I’m okay."

Ylva pulled back. Her face was wet. Her eyes were red.

Jason tilted his head. "Are you... crying?"

Ylva quickly looked away, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. "No. Dust. The cave collapsed. It’s in my eyes."

Jason chuckled. "Sure."

He looked past her at the others. Helga, Mira, Thalion, Mae, Kaelen.

They were all staring at the ant king with fear and worry in their eyes.

Their bodies were tense. Their hands were on their weapons. Their eyes were wide.

Jason raised a hand to calm them down.

"It’s fine," he said. "He’s under my control."

Mira’s amber eyes narrowed. "Under your control?"

"He’s the one who killed the queen." Jason glanced at Caelus, a smirk playing on his lips. "Unlike some blood-bending vampire who just stood there and watched."

Caelus’s red eyes flashed.

"I was fighting her for a long time before you arrived," Caelus said through gritted teeth.

"And yet, my bug did it in one hit." Jason shrugged. "Funny how that works."

Caelus kissed his teeth in irritation—a sharp, angry sound. He pushed past the group and joined his sisters, the two female vampires. They exchanged quiet words, their red eyes occasionally flicking toward Jason.

Ylva grabbed Jason’s arm. "Don’t antagonize the pure blood vampire."

"I’m not antagonizing. I’m just stating facts."

"You’re going to get us killed."

"Probably." Jason grinned. "But not today."

He looked at the ant king, who stood patiently at his side, his black and gold eyes fixed on Jason.

"Today, we won."