The Vanguard convoy rolled across the cracked highway, its steel wheels grinding against broken asphalt. The ruins of the outer city stretched endlessly on both sides—hollow towers, burned-out cars, streets swallowed by moss and silence.
Lucian sat near the rear of the transport, his gaze locked on the window. The horizon was a pale smear of gray, where the sun fought to break through a veil of ash. He hadn't spoken in hours. Neither had Zara.
Kai was in the front section, syncing the satellite link to the map grid. Every few minutes, static would fill the cabin as the system tried to pull coordinates from orbit. The Vanguard's communication lines were weak this far out. The air shimmered faintly, the mark of the distortion zone ahead.
"This is as close as the signal will reach," Kai said finally, voice breaking the stillness. "After this point, everything runs dark. No comms, no feeds, no backup."
Zara nodded. "That's why they sent us."
Lucian didn't respond. His fingers tapped absently against the rifle on his knee. The weapon wasn't ordinary—it had been reforged with arcsteel, the only material that survived contact with corrupted magic. But even that might not be enough for what lay ahead.
The mission was simple on paper. Locate the source crystal—the heart of a dormant dungeon that had been detected beneath the ruins. The ACO believed it was stable. The Vanguard didn't. The two sides had been at odds for weeks, and this operation was a test of control.
But Lucian knew better. Nothing about the old ruins was stable. He could feel the hum of the past underneath his skin, the same rhythm that pulsed in his nightmares.
---
The convoy stopped near a shattered bridge that spanned a dry riverbed. Kai dismounted first, scanning the perimeter with his visor.
"Radiation normal. No movement."
Lucian followed, the dry air biting at his throat. He crouched near the edge of the road, studying the ground. There were footprints—some human, some not.
"Someone's been here," he said.
"Scavengers?" Zara asked.
He shook his head. "Too deep into the distortion zone. They wouldn't survive this far out."
Kai's expression hardened. "Then we're not alone."
The team spread out, weapons raised. The hum in the air grew stronger. It wasn't sound—it was pressure, like something enormous breathing beneath the surface of the world.
Lucian glanced toward the collapsed bridge and froze. Something glowed faintly among the debris—a pulsating blue light, rhythmic and deliberate.
"The crystal," he said quietly.
They moved closer. The glow intensified with each step, spilling veins of blue light through the cracks in the concrete. Lucian's pulse quickened. The air felt charged, heavy with static. He could hear faint whispers again, words without language, memories without form.
Then, a tremor. The ground shifted, dust cascading from the bridge pillars.
"Move back!" Kai shouted.
The road split open. From the fissure rose a column of light, blinding and cold. The air rippled outward, a shockwave that threw them all off balance. When Lucian looked again, he saw it—an orb suspended above the chasm, rotating slowly. The crystal.
But something was wrong. The aura around it wasn't pure. It flickered, infected with streaks of black mist.
Zara steadied herself. "It's unstable. We need containment—"
Before she could finish, a voice cut through the air.
"You're too late."
The words came from behind them. A figure emerged from the haze—tall, armored in pale silver with a dark emblem burned into his chestplate. The ACO insignia.
Kai raised his weapon instantly. "Identify yourself!"
The stranger didn't move. "Lower your gun, Vanguard. This site is under ACO jurisdiction now."
Lucian's eyes narrowed. He recognized that tone—cold, bureaucratic, familiar.
Axel.
The friend who once warned him never to enter the dungeons. The friend who now stood aligned with the very power Lucian swore to fight.
"Axel," Lucian said quietly. "Why are you here?"
Axel's gaze locked on him. "Containment protocol. You should have stayed out of this."
"You mean you're here to cover it up," Zara said sharply.
Axel's expression didn't change. "You don't understand what you're touching. That crystal isn't a source—it's a fracture. It connects directly to the core of the old world. If it expands, everything collapses."
Lucian stepped closer. "Then we stabilize it. Not bury it."
"You think you can control what's inside?" Axel snapped. "You're not a god, Lucian."
Lucian's voice dropped to a whisper. "Neither are you."
The tension was electric.
Then the crystal screamed. A wave of energy burst outward, tearing through the bridge, shattering stone and steel. The world twisted.
Lucian barely had time to react. The ground vanished beneath him. He felt weightless, then the impact of cold metal and air. When his vision cleared, he was no longer on the surface.
He was inside the fracture.
---
The world around him was alive and wrong. The sky was a swirling sea of light and shadow. The ground pulsed like flesh, veins of crystal running through it. Every sound echoed like a heartbeat.
Lucian stumbled forward, dazed. His comm link was dead. There was no sign of Zara or Kai.
Only whispers.
You are close now.
He spun around, but there was nothing—only the echo of his own breath. The voice was the same one that haunted him in dreams.
Do you remember this place?
"No," he whispered, though deep down, part of him knew he did. The shapes, the pulse, the smell of ozone—it all felt like something buried inside his bones.
A shadow moved across the horizon. Enormous. Humanoid. Its outline flickered like fire.
The first world remembers its heir.
Lucian's hands trembled. "Who are you?"
The shadow smiled, though it had no face. The one you left behind.
Then the world cracked again, splitting in two. The light surged, pulling him deeper into the fracture.
---