The night fell quickly on Velora, as it always did, with the sky deepening into an endless curtain of violet dotted with stars. The wind had died down, leaving the desert unnaturally still. The four boys sat in silence around the glowing shard, their minds buzzing with the strange, unexplainable events that had just unfolded.Kade kept his eyes fixed on the shard. It pulsed faintly, a slow and steady rhythm, like a heartbeat from a distant world. The blue light was no longer blinding, but it still carried an eerie energy that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He could feel it in his bones—the rift in the sky above them, the crack in the fabric of their reality. It felt wrong, but also... inevitable.“We can’t leave it like this,” Kade said quietly, breaking the silence. He glanced at his companions.Jett, who had been pacing around the crater, his mind whirring with ideas, stopped and nodded. “I agree,” he said, rubbing his chin as he considered the situation. “This

The tunnel spat them out into a vast cavern. The walls arched high above, slick with dripping water and veins of glowing crystal. Faint echoes of their breathing and footsteps filled the space. In the center stood the spire—taller than any building on Velora, forged of clear crystal and shining with shifting hues of purple and gold. Ribbons of dark mist coiled around its base like living ropes.Kade’s heart thundered in his chest. He stepped forward, boots crunching on gravel. “This… this is the heart of the Rift,” he said, voice low. Every instinct told him danger lay ahead. The air pulsed with energy—a hum so deep it felt like music in his bones.Jett knelt by the crystal shards that littered the ground. He attached a small probe to one fragment. The device buzzed and spluttered. “These readings are off the charts,” he whispered, eyes wide. “High levels of exotic energy. I’ve never seen anything like this.”Orin stood a few paces back, arms wrapped around himself. His eyes were clos

Kade hit the ground hard, the breath knocked out of him. The world around him spun in fragments—colors twisted into shapes he couldn’t name, and time seemed to drip like melting wax. He groaned and pushed himself up.He wasn’t in the void anymore.He stood on a rocky cliff under a black sky filled with red stars. Strange floating islands drifted overhead, and a giant crack in the sky pulsed like a heartbeat. Below him, the land burned. Rivers of glowing energy snaked across scorched earth, and shadows moved like they were alive.He was alone.“Orin? Zane? Jett?” he called out, his voice echoing strangely, as if the world was listening. “Where are you guys?”A voice answered, but it wasn’t one he expected.“You’ve finally arrived.”Kade turned. Standing a few feet away was… himself. But not quite. The other Kade was older, taller, and wore a suit made of crystal and steel, glowing with the same energy that bled from the Rift.“You’re me,” Kade said, confused.“No,” the double said calm

The wind howled across the alien world as the boys stood at the edge of a cliff, staring at the broken tower in the distance.“That’s where it ends,” Jett said quietly.The tower stretched into the sky, tilted like it had been hit by a giant. Chunks of its walls floated in the air around it, held up by the same strange energy that powered this whole world. From its top, black smoke spiraled into the purple clouds above.“That place is alive,” Kael whispered, rubbing his arms. “I can feel it watching.”Zane flexed his fingers, energy dancing over his skin. “Then let’s go say hello.”They made their way through a forest of shattered glass trees. The air crackled. The deeper they went, the stranger the world became. Plants shimmered and disappeared when touched. The ground changed color with every step. Somewhere in the distance, something howled—a sound that didn’t belong in any world.“I have a bad feeling,” Orin said.“You always do,” Zane replied.“No, I mean it. This place is wrong.

One month later.The town had returned to normal—at least, on the outside.Jett sat at the edge of the school rooftop, his feet dangling over the edge. The wind blew gently, rustling his hoodie. He watched the sunset paint the sky in orange and purple.It should’ve felt like peace.But part of him still felt empty.Zane joined him, carrying two sodas. “You keep sneaking up here like a moody superhero.”Jett chuckled softly. “Just thinking.”Zane handed him a drink. “About Kael?”Jett nodded. “I keep hoping… maybe he’s still out there. Somewhere.”Orin climbed up next, holding a bag of chips. “The world almost ended, and you’re still emotional.”“I’m allowed to miss someone,” Jett said.“Yeah,” Orin said. “I miss him too.”Kade showed up a few minutes later, quieter than the others. He had been different since the Rift collapsed. Calmer, wiser. He said he remembered lifetimes of echoes—shards of lost worlds that lived in his head now.“Something strange is happening,” Kade said, sittin