I was sixteen when I found out I would be raising my sister alone. It was hard. She cried, and I cried. She pushed me away and I'd been stuck trying to support someone that didn't want me in her life. We'd always had a sibling rivalry, but this was different. Both of us wanted warmth, food, and attention. Neither of us got it,

What brought us together was a spider.

Her scream had sent me rushing into her room at two o'clock in the morning. It was bloodcurdling, and I could hear the primal fear she was feeling. I’d walked into that room with nothing but my pyjamas and raised fists thinking that she was under attack. That was how I found out that she'd seen a huntsman spider in the corner.

I squashed it and she hugged me like I'd saved her life. From that moment on I wasn't the big brother that she'd fought with since she was in the crib. I was reliable, and willing to help her in any situation.

The scream that came from the darkness of Harold’s office reminded me of my sister's. It was a shriek that had no thought or rationality, only emotions.

My head shot toward the sound and my eyes narrowed as I tried to pierce through the veil of shadows that surrounded me. Each step of my boots let out a sharp clank as I moved, and my fingers curled into fists.

"What the heck is that?" I asked.

Miriam stepped toward me, her shoulders trembling as she gazed into the shadows. I shivered under my armor and raised my arm protectively.

“That's Glenda,” she said. She pushed back a strand of brown hair, the flames hovering above her head. "She’s the head of human resources. Well, she was.”

"If you know what's going on I’d like a heads up, because this is insane,” I said. “What do you mean she was?”

Something slammed against my armor and I jolted, but then I saw that it was Miriam’s left hand. She'd smacked it into my side and was wincing as she shook off her pain and regret.

"You don't think I'd be telling you if I knew,” she snapped. “Damn, you're hard.”

Her calm exterior cracked, and I glimpsed the fear and confusion underneath. If I wasn't wearing my helmet, she would see that my face was a mirror of her own.

Even with the armor I felt vulnerable. I thought I was helping my co-workers out during a difficult situation. Not whatever crazy horror show this was.

The surroundings were difficult to see. My helmet had covered my vision with a faint blue tint that compounded with the shadows to veil my eyesight. If I wanted to see better, I'd have to take off the helmet, and after what I'd seen, I didn't want to risk it.

"I'm feeling pretty blind here," I said. “What—”

My hand snapped in front of Miriam's forehead and my coworker shot back in shock. She looked at me in confusion, and then her face paled as she saw what I’d caught.

It was a black spike. The needle-like weapon felt spongey in the grip of my gauntlet, and I saw a dark liquid dripping off of it. It was identical to the one that had pierced through Miriam’s right shoulder.

"How did you catch that?" She said. "I didn't even see it coming.”

I looked at it in confusion. “I don't know.”

The reaction had been automatic, and it had saved her life. I'd always been good at sports and rock-paper-scissors, but this was different. It was instinctual.

For a moment I thought that I could use it as a weapon. But as my grip tightened around the spike wisps of shadows peeled off of it and enveloped my gauntlet. They crept along its metal surface, searching for a way in. I couldn't guarantee it wouldn't find one.

With a single motion I cracked it in half and let the pieces fall to the ground.

"The shadows tried to do that to me before you came in,” Miriam said. “I don't— I don't know what it would have done to me if that had hit. My shoulder already feels like it's about to fall off.”

She touched her left hand against her injured shoulder and winced. The skin around her shoulder was growing darker by the minute and her eyes were glazing over.

I clapped my hands together and Miriam snapped out of her stupor. She looked up at me in surprise and I stepped in front of her.

"I'll get you out of here, but I need you to stay focused,” I said. “Some crazy stuff is happening here, but you don't see me panicking, do you?”

I was talking out of my ass. Underneath my helmet I was sweating bullets. But she didn't need to know that. A person panicking was more dangerous in an emergency than a person that was dead weight.

"You're wearing a helmet, I can't see if you're panicking or not,” she said. “But thanks.”

She straightened her back and a glint of determination entered her eyes. With a glare she raised her good hand above her head and allowed the flames to spread their light as far as possible. As she grew more confidence, the flames in her hands grew brighter.

“That's the spirit,” I replied. "Go and open the door. I'll cover you.”

Miriam gazed at the door and shook her head. “I tried that. That black stuff covering it is stuck like melted blu tack. It won't budge.”

That put a dampener on my plan. Admittedly, it wasn't a very good plan, since all it involved was opening the door. But it was all I had.

A faint tapping sound echoed across the room, and I stiffened. My hands rose and Miriam let out a small whimper.

Something was scuttling along the walls.

“My flames won't last forever. There was a card. It said I'd only be able to do this for ten minutes at a time,” Miriam said. “That was seven minutes ago.”

I glanced at the flames and frowned. So, she’d run into the cards as well. It made sense, but only in the sense that everything was crazy right now. Unlike her, I hadn't read anything about a time limit on my armor.

Hopefully that meant there wasn't one.

“Glenda. Glenda?” I asked.

My voice was absorbed by the darkness and Miriam shot me a sharp look. I didn't expect my words to get a response, but the scuttling stopped a moment later.

Then something crashed against my leg.

I lifted my foot in surprise and stepped back, but the object that had smacked against me was wedged in tight.

It was another spike.

“Oh shit—”

The words were struck from my lips as my body careened to the floor. A thin thread of shadow was attached to the end of the spike, and I grabbed at it as my body was dragged toward the window that led outside.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

I didn't want to find out what Glenda would do to me if she got me there.

“Shane!”

Miriam’s cry rang through my ears as I was pulled along the ground.

Through my visor I glimpsed something that went beyond what my mind could comprehend. Its skin exuded darkness like a wave, and even as the light of Miriam’s flames beat back the dark its body stayed impenetrable. A dozen limbs greeted my eyes as the flames illuminated the surroundings and the shadows pulled back.

Then something shot toward my hand, and I let out a yell.

A head. A mouth. A fang.

There was a sharp bang as my left arm was pushed into the ground, and an inhuman wail accompanied it. I tried to lift my hand, but it didn't respond. The force of the blow had left it numb, and I could feel the armor cracking around it.

The creature that had been Glenda raised its head and I saw that one of its fangs had been chipped. Pustules of black blood dripped from its wound onto my chest as it bit down once again.

This time my other hand was there to stop it.

I wouldn't let it bite me without a fight.

Adrenaline caused through my veins as my instincts took over. My fingers gripped the creature's mouth, and I ripped through its blackened lips with my fingers, dragging it off of me. With a surprised shriek it pulled back, giving me room to breathe.

I tore the spike out of my leg as the creature hesitated and the top layer of golden armor tore off with it.

Then something pushed me back down.

The creature had moved, and half a dozen tendrils detached themselves from the wall and pushed down on my chest plate. Sharp pain ran through me as I was hit into the ground. Each leg was layered with claws that were as sharp as knives.

One cut through my armor and slashed my arm.

I let out a yelp of pain as blood started to spill inside of my left gauntlet.

"Shane, hold her down,” Miriam’s voice bellowed through the room.

My thoughts came together for a single instant before the pain overwhelmed me, and I clamped my hands around the legs that held me down. The creature reacted immediately, pushing back and trying to wriggle out of my grip. Pain tore through my left arm as I forced my injured hand to hold the creature in place.

“[Breath of Beginning].”

The world turned the brilliant red and orange as Miriam’s voice rang out. Above me the blue tint of the visor was overwhelmed by flames that cascaded across my vision. Sweltering heat brushed against my body and my breathing grew ragged as I felt the oxygen around me burning up.

In moments it felt like I was in a sauna, and my heartbeat fiercely against my chest as the heat increased. It would only take a few more seconds for me to turn into a barbecued meal.

Then the flames stopped, and the creature above me stopped struggling.

For a second I thought it was over, and we’d killed it. But that wasn't the case. Instead, the creature had gone perfectly still, and more darkness was cascading out of its body.

Fire and shadow clashed against each other for supremacy. Miriam’s stream of flames had ended, but the creature’s skin was already bubbling and boiling. Pieces of its flesh tore off and flew into the air. Others disintegrated into ashes.

The fight was as good as over.

Seconds passed as the shadows overtook the flames across the creature’s body, and the light in the room dimmed until it was barely visible. But it was too late. The damage had been done, and now there was only suffering left.

The creature raised a single jagged claw toward me, and then it paused. Through the flames and the screams, I saw its eyes staring down at me, emotions coursing through them.

Then the claw lowered and flopped to the side. It had chosen not to attack me. Instead, its body rose up high and curled its limbs toward its stomach.

I raised my hand as the creature gave up and cupped my fingers around its head. There was resistance, but it lasted only a moment. The creature and I stared at one another, and I felt a connection. Even if we couldn't comprehend everything happening around us, we knew what death was.

And nobody wanted to face that alone.

A moment later its body stiffened, and it fell to the floor. By the time its body hit the ground it was dead. I stared at it, the final wisps of shadow and flames dying out together. Then I pushed my hands against the ground and lifted myself up.

My helmet came off a moment later, the heat within my armor too hot to bear. Waves of sweat ran down my neck, and I could feel my injured arm growing numb.

Before I could move the room was illuminated by an array of lights.

From the walls came the dim white light of the outside world, and beside me a mix of yellow, blue, and gold lights flowed out from Glenda’s husk, brightening the room. They were the same as the lights that had ejected from the blue card into me.

"What do you want?" I asked.

I wasn't expecting an answer, but to my surprise the lights flickered in response and shot toward me. The blue lights engulfed me first, closely followed by the golden ones. Once again, I felt like I'd gotten a full night's rest, and the pain in my left arm lessened to a sting. Then, a moment later, it disappeared.

The yellow lights didn't join the others as they rushed toward me. They went straight for Miriam, and the woman stepped back in shock and raised her hands defensively.

It didn't stop the yellow lights from melting into her skin.

When they were done, all that was left in front of me was a creature with leathery skin and a dozen limbs. It had a bulbous back and resembled a spider more than a human. In fact, there was nothing left of the woman it had once been.

I lowered myself cautiously and brought my hand around its head. Then I used my fingers to lower its eyelids. I hadn't known Glenda, but as I stood over what she'd become I could only feel pity and confusion.

The full reality of the situation was starting to hit me now that I wasn't in immediate danger. My chest felt like it was going to explode, and claustrophobia enveloped me as I became acutely aware of the armor that wrapped around every crevice of my body.

"Are you okay?" Miriam asked.

I took a deep breath. It didn't help the jumble of emotions I was feeling, but it did give me something to focus on.

"Are you?” I turned toward Miriam.

She was stretching her hands with a strained expression on her face. There was none of the pain I'd seen in her eyes before.

“It's gone,” Miriam held her right hand out, and flexed her fingers experimentally. “My wound, I mean.”

I stared at her and then examined her shoulder. She was right. The black spike that had previously been there had disappeared. The wound had also healed. There was still blood around it, but her muscles were no longer blue and black, and the stab wound was covered by fresh white skin.

It was like she had never been injured in the first place.

She glanced at the body and her cheer disappeared. Her fingers trembled as she brought her hand to her pocket, pawing at her pants. Then her frown deepened.

"Do you have a phone? Harold took mine,” she said.

“A phone?” I stared at her blankly. “Oh. OH.”

I’d forgotten about my phone in the panic of the skyscraper’s destruction. And the ensuing fight with whatever the heck Glenda had turned into had only put it deeper into my mind.

My gauntlet smacked against my leg plating as I reached down toward my pants. My cheeks burned red at the basic mistake, but when I raised my hand again to take off the armor, my phone was in my hand.

I stared at my hand in shock, but the urgency of the situation pushed me to ignore the insanity of what had just happened.

My armored fingers tapped against the screen and my heart sank.

There was no signal.

I still tried to call my sister, and then my friends, but there was no response. Even the call to the emergency services didn't go through. It was like I was trying to make a call from inside a bunker.

"Crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap,” I said.

Strands of brown hair brushed past me as Miriam walked to the edge of the office. Now that Glenda’s shadows had disappeared the windows were once again bright with sunlight. What had seemed like an eternity to me had actually only been a few minutes. Normally people would be arriving at work or having breakfast in their homes.

"Shane, look,” her voice floated toward me.

There was a catch in her tone that made me pause. Her eyes were glued to the window, and I slowly brought my head up to see what she was looking at.

The first thing I noticed was the sun. Or rather, the lack of sun. The space where the golden star had shone brightly had been replaced with a mass of white lights criss-crossing the sky. The entanglement looked like a net that had been cast over the planet, and they were responsible for the pale white light that was shimmering in through the window.

As my heartbeat quickened my eyes were drawn to the city below us. The white lights weren't the only change to the surroundings.

There was a saying that Victoria was the garden state of Australia. That made Melbourne the garden capital. I'd always thought that it was a fitting name, but right now the title couldn't be further from the truth.

Below us was pure destruction.

Flames littered the sky and buildings across the city had collapsed into each other. Across the roads and bridges were a mess of cars and people. It was hard to see the finer details from so far up, and I didn't want to risk getting up close to the window and have it collapse on me, but one thing was clear.

It was impossible for a single earthquake to do so much damage.

“What's that?” Miriam asked.

Her gaze was stuck on a single spot, and I followed it. Beyond the ruins of the city buildings and streets was a cloud of smoke and dust that rose to the sky and blocked the white lights from view.

Then I saw something move from inside the cloud and my breath caught in my throat.

It was larger than a tower, but I couldn't see what it was through the dim light and smoke. Several large objects trailed behind it in the shadows of the smoke. They looked like tails. Or tentacles. For a single moment it rose through the air, a single shadow illuminated by the lights surrounding the world. Then it disappeared.

Silence stretched out between us as we stared at the cloud. My chest tightened and I curled my fingers into a fist, the inside of my gauntlet absorbing the sweat gathering in my palms. The sight before me was the final straw.

My co-worker was safe. I was safe. My goal had been completed.

And I was not okay.