The tunnel leading from the gutterfalls quickly split off into two paths. Thanks to Eurykhan's map and his notes on the tunnels, I was able to choose the right path with confidence. I kept up a swift pace as I traveled down it, continually glancing to my sides and behind me.

My Muse 8 in my hands, I tried not to think about what Eurykhan had written concerning the Library. I needed my head in the game, in the here and now, and not dwelling on what challenges I'd be facing on reaching the location where the texts were housed. I needed to be prepared for anything that could happen before reaching the Library – I would figure out what to do once I got there.

A sound from up ahead made me freeze. For a moment, I stood stock still before retreating to the wall of the tunnel, clicking off my illuminators. I had seen briefly the sketches of the monsters that roamed the tunnels down here. I didn't want them seeing me before I had a chance to see them.

That was when I remembered that the creatures of the Drain didn't need the light to see. But, well, I sort of did.

I rolled out of the way just in time, coming up a few feet away on one knee. Knocking my wrists together, my illuminators flickered on in time for me to see the hulking creature standing where I had been several seconds before.

My gauntlets showed me that the beast was nine feet tall, with broad shoulders leading into a slender body. Dark green scales covered its skin, with black spikes sticking out down the length of the spine. The creature was athletically built, with sharp talons on its large, three-toed feet and smaller, thicker claws on its hands. Leaning forward, arms held out in preparation to catch prey – me, in this case – the beast pivoted to look at me.

Small eyes with large pupils stared out at me, with ears set into its skull and a mouth of small, needle sharp teeth flanked by large, sharp canines. It hissed at me, squinting against the light from my illuminators as I brought my rifle up into ready position.

As it leapt forward, I pressed the trigger on my rifle. Energy sprung from the muzzle and I realized, too late, that I hadn't changed the setting from "capture" to "kill," an ability that the newer Muse rifles had which the older ones – such as my Muse 5 – lacked. The energy struck the creature but didn't slow it down.

The creature slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. My head smacked into the stonecrete and my vision blurred as I felt its claws sink into the flesh between my ribs, the claws knocking against the bone of my ribs. Hot, shooting pain rushed through me and I screamed, kicking up with all of my strength as I wrenched my rifle upwards.

As my rifle struck the creature's neck and my legs its chest, it recoiled slightly with a hiss of pain. I used that opportunity to palm at the setting panel and then jammed the muzzle upward, aiming at the creature.

But before I could fire, the creature removed its claws from my ribs and grabbed my rifle, forcing the barrel down onto my abdomen. With its other hand, it grabbed my face, the bloodied, squared tips of its claws slowly beginning to dig into my skin as it leered at me, deliberately taking its time to allow me to feel the pain. I could feel the mounting pressure on my jawbone and knew I had to act now.

Gasping for breath, I released my rifle and drew my knees up, reaching for the daggers sheathed in my greaves. Bringing my hands back to my chest, I thrust the blades up, aiming for its neck.

The creature screeched, loosening its grip, as blood spurted down into my face. Spitting out the dark blood, I stabbed up again, my eyes stinging as its fluid blinded me. Again and again, I struck it with my knives.

The beast pushed back from me, blood dripping from its scaly neck. Kicking my boots up into its abdomen and dropping my daggers, I snatched up my rifle and lifted its muzzle, centering my sights on the creature's heart. I drew my other hand across my eyes to clear my vision and pressed the trigger.

The lethal energy streaked out of the rifle, marking up the creature's chest. It screeched, rearing back onto its hind legs as I scrambled back, firing again and again.

Jerking back from the shots of energy, the creature collapsed over backwards and hit the ground with a thud. Pushing myself upright and drawing my legs up underneath me until I was kneeling, I raised my rifle and fired once more, into its throat this time. The body jerked but that was all.

I wondered if that was one of the species that Eurykhan had hunted.

Scuttling backwards until I felt the stonecrete wall against my back, I grimaced and gently probed the wounds in my sides. The pain was coming in waves now, as the adrenaline in my veins began to wear out. Blood dripped down the side of my face and I touched where the creature had dug its claws into my skin, feeling the torn indents, three on the right side and one on the left.

I pulled my pack off my back and rummaged through it for my medical supplies. I found the meld-bandage kit and, after prepping the application, undid my belt and pulled my tunic up so I could see better see the wounds etched into my abdomen. The blood had soaked into my tunic, but there wasn't much I could do about that. Taking the length of the bandage, I pressed it into my wounds, sinking my teeth into my lip to prevent me from crying out and wincing in pain before I did the same to the other side of my ribcage.

The meld-bandages would knit to my flesh and bone, substituting very well for stitches – at least for the time being. I pressed the palms of my hands into the ground and braced myself as the bandages began to mend my wounds, stitching everything back together again.

It was efficient, but it was quite painful.

As the bandages continued to do their work, I cleaned the wounds on my face and covered them with smaller, thinner bandages to soak up the blood, allowing them a moment to set and knit themselves to my face. While I waited, I noticed a glint on my wrist tracker and frowned down at it.

There were new memories on my tracker.

Memories? Where are they from? I haven't used the...oh, wait.

The beast. I'd shot it with the memory beam before switching over to the kill beam. So those memories...belonged to the creature?

Hmm. Never stolen an animal's memories before.

Bringing my wrist up, I tapped on the tracker and a three dimensional screen flickered up. There were several memories my rifle had copied from the monster before I changed beams. The Muse 8 was much swifter at performing the copying than my Muse 5 had been.

I tapped one of the files and an image filled the hovering screen.

The beast was lying strapped to a metal table, screeching as it thrashed its head back and forth. Its claws drilled against the table as a scientist approached it, cautiously.

"The brain matter transferal has been a success," the scientist intoned, to the drone that hovered over his left shoulder. "Subject 2A's brain has accepted the matter from Donor 24. I'm noticing flickering in the brain scan, showing increased memory function over Subject 1A."

The scientist circled the creature. "Everything else is maintaining homeostasis. Organs functioning excellently, blood flowing smoothly, skeleton holding muscle mass beautifully. This specimen is everything we'd hoped for."

He turned to his desk, the drone settling onto his shoulder. "Finally, an intelligent hunting reptile." He paused, seeming to savor his next words. "Just the next step towards the Intelecta Rex."

Slapping the tracker on my wrist, the screen and memory faded as I sat in stunned silence. I'd heard about the experiments performed close to a century ago now, where Kycenan scientists had begun building creatures with the capacity to think intelligently about their actions. At first, the public had been supportive. But then, they had seen exactly what was coming out of the lab and the creatures were not only forced down into the Drain, the labs had been shut down and the scientists disgraced. That monster had been one of those experiments.

I checked on the meld-bandages and found that they had knit themselves pretty firmly to my ribs, same with the ones applied to my face. Wrapping a white bandage around my ribcage and securing it tightly, I adjusted my tunic over it and strapped my belt back into place.

I rose to my feet, rifle in my hand, my illuminators on, and stared down the tunnel after checking Eurykhan's map. I was almost at the Library. I was almost there. Then I would have to get inside.

Eurykhan's words on the Library flashed through my mind. Make sure you watch the Shadows.