He rushed toward her, so fast he was a blur.

But just as he grabbed for her, he winced as if he’d been stabbed in the eye. He stumbled to the side and shoved the palms of his hands against his eyes. “Damn it,” he swore. “No—not again.”

Run, she told herself.

Run, Ana.

So she did.

Over an overturned pillar and around the broken head of the tallest Goddess statue, toward the back of the shrine where the tomb usually was. She ran through fractured glass on the ground and colored light from what remained of the stained-glass windows above her. Past the base of the fallen Goddess statue, around to the doorway to the inner shrine, where only the abbesses and priests of the Goddess were allowed to enter.

The heart was here somewhere—in the Goddess’s tomb. Find the tomb, she told herself, trying to keep control of her panic. Find it and get the heart and—and run.

The room was small and circular, with a pedestal in the center that used to hold a rusted water bowl that now sat knocked over beside it. Her skin crawled with the feeling that she wasn’t supposed to be here. The murals on the walls were once bright, but now the tiles were faded from years of sunlight through the missing side of the roof and the vegetation that had crept in. She could still make out most of the images, though—telling of the defeat of the Great Dark. There was the Solani’s ark, a living ship that had carried them across light-years to the Iron Kingdom, but the panels that told of the heart and what happened to it were cracked and broken, as if someone had purposefully destroyed them.

She stumbled on a piece of loose tile, glancing back to see how close he was—not close at all. Was he even following? On the other side of the circular room was a strange and intricate lock that seemed to twist in on itself, so detailed it was impossible to open without a key. Something circular? With prongs?

She glanced around—but there was nothing else here.

This was the door to the tomb. She was sure of it.

And with no way to open it, this was a dead end. She could use Talle’s grenade to blow it open—but then she would lead him inside, too.

Her fingers curled into fists.

She had unwittingly led the Great Dark directly to the Goddess’s tomb where its heart resided. Had this been its plan the entire time? Behind her, she heard footsteps come into the room. She reached for the Metroid in her underarm holster as she spun to face him.

Count your bullets. Remember where they—

Standing where Di should have been were two Messiers.

“Do not struggle,” said one.

The other followed, “For you will not esc—”

Ana didn’t give it the chance. She raised her pistol, took aim, and fired. She didn’t think.

She only counted the bullets.