Morning came quietly over the ruins of the Crimson Fortress.The fog had begun to lift, revealing the scorched landscape around them.Ashes drifted in the wind, carried from the broken towers that once touched the clouds.William stood on what remained of the eastern wall, his cloak fluttering behind him. The sun had risen halfway, yet the light felt strange—dimmed, as if something above the world was drinking it away.Alyndra approached, her boots crunching over the debris. “You’ve been standing here since dawn.”William didn’t turn. “I know.”She stopped beside him, following his gaze toward the horizon. “You’re thinking about that voice again.”“It wasn’t the fortress speaking,” William said quietly. “That was something deeper.”“The shard?”He nodded. “It called itself the heart… but it wasn’t lying when it said it wasn’t alive. It felt more like… a part of something vast.”Alyndra frowned. “Somethin

The night stretched on long after the battle ended, yet the moon refused to fade. Its crimson glow still painted the clouds in bloody streaks, casting strange shadows across the ruins of Moonveil Village.William stood in silence as the others rested, his gaze locked on the glowing horizon. The faint chime still echoed in his mind — a reminder of the new sub-mission he had just received.“The Crimson Gate Awakens.”He didn’t need to see the rest of the system’s message to know what it meant. Every mission came with a price, and every price led deeper into the unknown.Zara approached quietly, wrapping a cloth around her arm where the wraith spawn had scratched her earlier. “You’ve been staring at that sky for too long. What are you thinking?”“That gate…” William said softly, his eyes narrowing. “It’s not just a name. The Gatekeeper was a fragment — a seal. Whatever it was guarding isn’t gone. It’s waking up.”Zara’s brows furrow

The next morning came with a silence that wasn’t peace — it was the kind that settled after something ancient had been disturbed. William stood on the balcony of the inn they had taken shelter in, overlooking the fading horizon. The world below looked calm, too calm for what he knew was coming. Wind brushed past his face, carrying the faint metallic scent of the dying gate they had sealed the night before. Zara stepped out beside him, arms crossed. “You didn’t sleep again, did you?” He didn’t respond. His eyes stayed on the distant horizon, where faint red clouds still shimmered over the far west. Kael joined them moments later, his long coat fluttering. “The energy readings are clear. Whatever’s brewing next… it’s not natural. The Gate’s pulse is traveling toward the City of Glass.” William finally turned. “How far?” “Three days if we travel light,” Kael said. “Two if we take the aerial path.” William’s lips curled slightly. “Then we’ll take the fast route.” Zara roll

The wind screamed through the mountains. Cold, sharp, and endless. William’s boots crunched on the rocky ground as he climbed the final ridge, the others trailing behind him. The Scarred Highlands stretched before them — a wasteland of black stone and broken peaks, streaked with rivers of glowing magma that cut across the land like veins. Zara pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders. “You sure this is where the next Gate is?” Kael checked the glowing scanner on his wrist. “Positive. The energy readings here are unstable, like something buried under the crust is constantly shifting. It’s… alive.” Gale squinted ahead. “Looks like hell decided to build a mountain.” William didn’t respond. His eyes scanned the jagged horizon where dark clouds twisted like smoke. The entire land reeked of burnt metal and sulfur — the air heavy enough to make breathing feel like swallowing ash. Somewhere beneath all that, the fourth Gate waited. --- The descent began at dawn. They

The world trembled.From horizon to horizon, the sky cracked like broken glass. Golden light seeped through the fractures, and the once-steady sun flickered as though it were gasping for life.Wind swept violently across the valley, carrying with it the ashes of what had once been mountains.William stood at the edge of a cliff with Zara, Kael, and Gale behind him. None of them spoke. There were no words for what they were seeing.Above them, a crimson line split through the sky — wide, pulsing, alive.Kael’s voice broke the silence, laced with disbelief. “That’s not a natural tear… it’s like something’s pulling the sun apart.”Zara gripped her blades tighter. “You think that shadow thing caused this?”William’s gaze stayed on the glowing fissure. “It didn’t cause it… it woke it.”The ground shook again, harder this time. Loose rocks tumbled down the cliffs as birds scattered into the smoky air.Gale st