---
Their faces were smeared with blood. Their eyes glowed dull red. Their mouths opened and closed slightly as if tasting the air.
They looked less like Slik guards now and more like creatures wearing guard uniforms.
Sekhmet’s stomach twisted again. He could not take them with him. Not without Lily seeing. Not without Lily asking.
Not without Lily fearing. And he did not want fear in her eyes yet. Not until he could explain in a place that was not trying to eat them. He could put them in the void land. Because Lily was there. When she wakes up she will see them.
Sekhmet’s voice came out low, firm. "You two," he said.
The ghouls turned their heads toward him instantly. Their obedience thread pulled.
"Yes," the first rasped.
"Hold here," Sekhmet ordered. "Kill anything that enters."
The second ghoul’s eyes flickered, hunger and rage mixing.
"And you," he asked, voice rough. "Where do you go."
Sekhmet did not answer fully. He said only, "I bring her out."
Then he stepped back into the cave, away from the entrance. He moved fast toward the deeper pocket where he had opened the void tear earlier.
He focused.
Whooom...
The void tear opened again, trembling in the air.
Sekhmet stepped through. Sound muted. Quiet returned like a blanket. He rushed to Lily and knelt.
Her eyes fluttered. She was waking. Her lashes trembled.
She murmured faintly, confused. "Sekh... met..."
Sekhmet’s chest tightened.
He wanted to tell her to stay asleep. He wanted to keep her safe. He wanted to protect her from what he had become.
But he could not knock her out again without making this worse.
So he leaned close and spoke softly, voice lower than he usually allowed.
"Lily," he said. "Listen to me."
Her eyes opened halfway. She looked at him, disoriented. "What... happened..."
Sekhmet kept his tone calm.
"We are hiding," he said. "You are safe. Do not stand. Do not shout."
Lily blinked slowly, trying to understand. Her gaze drifted to his mouth. There was still a faint smear of blood at the corner.
Her eyes widened. "Blood," she whispered.
Sekhmet’s jaw tightened. He wiped his mouth quickly with his sleeve, too late to undo what she saw.
Lily’s breathing quickened. "You... you are hurt," she said.
Sekhmet shook his head. "No," he said. "I am not hurt."
Lily stared at him harder, then looked around at the void land, confusion turning into fear.
"Where are we," she whispered.
Sekhmet exhaled slowly. "A place where I can hide things," he said. "A storage land."
Lily’s brows knit. "Storage," she repeated, voice thin.
Sekhmet nodded. "I will explain later," he said.
Lily swallowed hard. Then, faintly, even through the muted void, they could hear echoes of violence outside.
Clang...
A kobol scream.
A ghoul growl.
CRUNCH —Shhk!
Lily froze. Her eyes widened further.
"What is that," she whispered.
Sekhmet’s chest tightened. He forced his voice steady. "Enemies," he said. "My... allies are delaying them."
Lily’s gaze snapped to him. "Allies," she repeated slowly. "Who."
Sekhmet did not answer. He could not. Not yet.
The system spoke inside Sekhmet’s mind again, reminding him his time inside void land was limited.
[Ding! System notification-
Warning: host presence in Void Land exceeding safe threshold soon.
Estimated remaining safe duration: short.]
Sekhmet clenched his jaw. He stood and lifted Lily again, this time more carefully.
"Hold on," he told her.
Lily’s hands gripped his coat instinctively.
"Sekhmet," she whispered, voice shaking. "What is happening."
Sekhmet’s eyes softened for a moment, just a moment.
"I am keeping you alive," he said.
Then he stepped back through the void tear with her.
Whooom...
Sound slammed back in.
The cave entrance roared with chaos.
The fang-captain had pushed forward, barking orders. Kobols climbed over their dead, trying to force the chokepoint.
The ghouls fought like demons. The first ghoul had its teeth in a kobol’s shoulder, tearing.
CRUNCH!
The second ghoul’s claws raked a kobol’s face, ripping an eye out.
Scrrrk!
The fang-captain stabbed with a heavy spear, trying to skewer a ghoul through the chest.
Clang!
The spear struck the ghoul’s armor and glanced off.
Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed. He could not let the fang-captain break through, not while he carried Lily.
He needed an opening..He lifted his hand, focusing Blood Control Lv2. He reached for the blood inside the fang-captain’s body.
It was harder than manipulating spilled blood, but not impossible now.
Sekhmet felt resistance, like trying to pull a rope tied to a wall. He pushed anyway.
The fang-captain stumbled. Its eyes widened. It snarled, confused, feeling something tug inside its veins.
Sekhmet used that half-second.
He formed a blood tether from spilled kobol blood and wrapped it around the fang-captain’s spear arm.
TCH—!
He yanked.
The fang-captain’s arm jerked sideways. The spear missed.
Sekhmet stepped forward and kicked the fang-captain in the chest with nightmare-boot strength.
THUD!
The fang-captain slammed into the wall outside the entrance, ribs cracking.
CRACK!
It gasped, stunned.
Sekhmet did not waste the moment. He formed a hardened blood spike and drove it through the fang-captain’s throat.
Shhk!
The captain gurgled, eyes wide, then fell with a Thud!
The kobols froze. Their strongest was dead.
Fear rippled through the pack.
Sekhmet’s voice came out like a blade.
"Run," he snarled.
The kobols hesitated, then their instinct screamed louder than their hunger.
They backed away, dragging wounded, howling.
KRAAAH!
They retreated into the canyon shadows, not fully gone, but pushed back enough to buy minutes.
Sekhmet did not chase.
He turned and ran with Lily again, leaving the cave behind, leaving the ghouls behind for now.
The ghouls watched him go. The first ghoul’s face twisted, something like betrayal flickering.
But the instinct thread held. They stayed and held the line, because he ordered it.
Sekhmet ran into the night, carrying Lily away from the cave, away from the smell of blood, away from the sight of changed guards.
Lily clung to him, eyes wide, voice trembling.