The clouds were no longer clouds. They were a sea of red and gray, turning slowly above the city like an eye that had just awakened.Wind screamed between the broken towers. The sound carried far, shaking glass that had already shattered. Lisa felt it in her bones; it was the same rhythm that once came from the Hive, steady, slow, alive.Across the eastern sky, lights moved, first dots, then shapes. Airships. Dozens of them, black and wide, their undersides glowing pale blue. The insignia of Division Aegis gleamed on their hulls. Serra saw them first through the smoke. “They’re here.”Lisa turned to Kevin. “Stay close to me, no matter what happens.”He nodded, eyes huge. “Is it him they’re after?”“Yes,” Serra said. “They think they can cage a god.”She motioned to the small band of survivors in the rail yard. “Move! Underground routes, now!”The group scattered, dragging packs and children through a broken tunnel entrance. The air hummed with the charge of approaching engines. Lis

The next morning rose silver-blue instead of gold. Clouds drifted low, torn open by lines of light that cut through the horizon, slow, deliberate beams that pulsed with rhythm. From the highest point of New Crest, Jonah watched them move. The air trembled softly with every pulse, as though the city’s heart was learning a new beat.“They’re closer,” Serra said behind him, lowering a pair of cracked binoculars.“How many?” Jonah asked.“Six. Maybe seven. All walking the same line, straight toward us.”Kevin leaned on the rail, eyes wide. “They look like buildings.”Lisa stood beside him. “Buildings don’t walk.”She was right. Even from miles away, they could see the things’ motion, slow, certain steps that left glowing impressions on the earth. Each was as tall as a mountain, slender towers with long legs of metal that folded and unfolded like insects made of light. Their bodies shimmered with moving patterns of blue and white, shifting like breath beneath skin.Jonah rested both han

The world shook like a drum. Jonah gasped as the red and blue light clashed inside the spiral, each pulse slamming through him like thunder. His chest burned. His heartbeat wasn’t alone anymore. Another rhythm pounded beneath it, slow, heavy, powerful. It wasn’t human.He dropped to one knee, pressing a trembling hand against the glowing floor. “Stop,” he whispered, but the spiral didn’t listen.It was breathing faster, each pulse shaking the air around him. “Jonah.”The voice came from nowhere, soft, desperate. “Can you hear us?”The blue light flickered weakly, forming faint shapes again, faces made of light. Lisa’s voice echoed through them. “Jonah, wake up!”He blinked hard. “Lisa?”“She’s not here,” whispered another voice, colder. “Only what you remember.”Jonah turned and saw the shadow, Olos again, half-formed in the red glow. “You don’t belong here.”Olos smiled faintly. “I built this place. Every heartbeat inside it still remembers my hands.”Jonah’s jaw tightened. “Then yo

The light around Jonah began to breathe. It rose and fell in long waves, like a sleeping giant inhaling. The blue and gold glow that once filled the spiral now shifted in colors Jonah didn’t recognize, pale silver, deep red, soft white. The air was warm, vibrating with an energy that didn’t belong to any single shape.Jonah stood still, afraid to move. The ground under his feet was no longer solid. It rippled like calm water, holding him up only because the light wished it to. His heartbeat echoed through the space, each pulse coming back slower, heavier, then the whispers returned. Soft at first. Then louder. Hundreds. Thousands.Voices layered over each other, deep, high, rough, soft, blending into a single presence that felt both gentle and overwhelming. Jonah clenched his jaw. “Show yourselves.”The light ahead of him thickened, separating into threads that twisted like living lines. The threads rose together, forming a tall shape, no face, no eyes, only a figure made of shift

The explosion threw everyone back. Lisa hit the ground hard, covering her head as a wave of blue and gold light burst from the cracked tower. People screamed. Dust rose into the air like smoke. Metal debris clattered against stone. “Lisa!” Serra shouted, grabbing her arm. “Are you hurt?”Lisa coughed, waving the dust away. “I’m fine, Kevin?! Kevin!”She spun, panic rising in her chest. Kevin lay beside a broken wall, the glowing sphere clutched tightly in his hands. His eyes were wide with shock.Lisa slid toward him on her knees. “Kevin! Talk to me!”He blinked slowly. “It talked.”Lisa froze. “What?”Kevin swallowed hard. “Jonah. I heard him through the sphere.”Serra knelt on his other side. “What did he say?”Kevin tightened his grip on the warm sphere. “He said ‘Don’t run.’”Lisa stared at him. “But the tower said ‘run.’”Kevin’s voice cracked. “Jonah sounded scared.”Serra exhaled sharply. “This is getting worse.”Lisa turned toward the destroyed tower. The metal still glowed f