The transition out of the collapsing spire left Aria and Ilara disoriented. The ground beneath them was hard and cold, and the sky above spun in slow spirals. The emergency relay had flung them far—miles, at least—and for a moment neither of them spoke, just gasped for air in the middle of a desolate cliffside overlooking the ruined valley of Ashreach.Smoke still curled up from the remains of the spire in the distance.Ilara sat up first. “Still alive?”Aria groaned. “Barely.”They looked at one another. Bruised, burned, bleeding—but breathing. Aria’s right arm hung limp, and Ilara had a long gash across her temple, blood matting her hair. But they had done it. The conduit was gone.Ilara helped Aria up, and together they hobbled down a narrow path cut into the cliff. Their comm devices had been fried during the feedback surge, so there was no contact with the others—no way of knowing if Samuel had succeeded on his end. All they had was faith.By nightfall, they reached a small outpo

The crack in the sky widened, a rift of searing violet and black unfurling across the heavens like a bleeding wound. From the peak of the obsidian tower, the Gatekeeper extended one long finger toward the horizon, murmuring incantations no human tongue could pronounce. The rift responded, pulsing like a living thing—expanding.“Begin the breach,” he whispered.Far below, Samuel’s team had just returned to Mirror Valley with the corrupted shard secured. Ilara was stabilizing the containment unit, her palms glowing faint blue as she sealed it with a protective matrix.Samuel stood still for a long moment, eyes fixed on the sky. “It’s started.”Sarah’s voice came through the communicator, urgent and clipped. “We’ve got the kid. Sentinel’s down—but not destroyed. It’s dormant. He tethered to it. I don’t think it’s willing.”Samuel replied, “Get to the valley. Fast.”Joey’s voice chimed in. “Yeah, that may be an issue. The forest’s shifting. Like... the trees are changing directions.”Ilar

Samuel stood frozen, the weight of Coren’s words pressing on his chest like a vice. The others slowly gathered behind him, forming a loose semicircle around the newly emerged figure. The chamber seemed to hold its breath, the floating symbols dimming slightly, as if even the remnants of the old Nexus were waiting.“You were the architect?” Ilara’s voice was sharp with disbelief, but beneath it ran awe. “That’s impossible. The records say the architect died in the initial breach.”“I did,” Coren said, his voice calm, deliberate. “Or at least, a version of me did. My consciousness was fragmented—scattered across the Nexus’ core during the collapse. What remained was stored here, buried beneath the plains and protected from the Gatekeeper’s reach.”Samuel stepped forward. “Why?”“To survive,” Coren said simply. “To preserve the original vision. The Nexus wasn’t supposed to control—it was supposed to connect. Empower. But ambition corrupted it. You’ve seen the result.”Joey frowned. “So…

The group moved through the mountain pass in silence, every step echoing the weight of what had just transpired. The Cradle of Echoes had taken more than just memories—it had chipped away at their foundations. Even now, Samuel felt like a thread pulled too tightly, the crystal’s remnants humming faintly in his pack like a phantom heartbeat.Joey walked ahead, unusually quiet. Sarah moved with sharp, clipped motions, as though forcing herself to keep marching would hold her together. Kael occasionally glanced at Nyra, whose expression remained unreadable, but her hand never strayed far from her weapon.Ilara kept close to Samuel, though neither of them spoke.When they finally broke from the mountains, a desolate plain stretched out before them—dry, wind-blasted, and cracked like an ancient map. In the far distance, barely visible in the shimmering heat, stood a single, twisted tower of obsidian stone.“That’s the Signal Spire,” Kael said quietly. “One of the old conduits. The Gatekeep

The desert wind blew relentlessly over the shattered remains of the Nexus outpost, where sand had buried half the structure overnight. A makeshift fire flickered inside the ruined hall, casting long shadows along the cracked walls. Samuel sat alone, still reeling from what he had seen in Lin’s memories.Across the room, Ilara leaned against a pillar, silent. Her silver eyes glowed faintly as they watched the horizon through a fractured window. She hadn’t spoken since they returned. Neither had Dareth.Samuel stood, flame twitching under his skin, still raw from the mental tether he had risked to bring Lin back. And now, Lin rested in the tent just outside—breathing, safe, but marked.He approached Ilara. “You knew, didn’t you?” he asked. “That touching the shard would show me... that.”Ilara tilted her head slightly. “You needed to see it.”“Why?” His voice held a tremor of accusation.She met his eyes. “Because you’re not ready to face the Gatekeeper unless you understand what he onc