Andrew didn't stop walking when the courtyard settled around them. His boots clicked once against the stones before the light of Lisa's still-active staff flared again.
"Wait," she said, voice hoarse but determined. "I can piggyback off the anchor while it's still hot. We don't have to pause. We can shift now."
Jason swore under his breath. "We're in no shape to run straight back."
"Then we go," Andrew said flatly. His back was still to them, shoulders stiff. "We're not giving them time to reset. Open it."
Lisa looked at the others. Seraphina's face was pale, Ryo's eyes unreadable, Lilienne rubbing blood from her palm where the barrier had bitten into her skin. Jason shook his head once but didn't say no.
Lisa drove the crystal staff down again. The circle on the stones reignited, mirror shards floating upward like fragments of ice. "Coordinates," she whispered. "Nearest stable signal. Same planet. Different zone."
The portal flowered open, its edges bright and wavering. No one hesitated long. They had learned what hesitation cost.
Jason went first. Ryo followed, vanishing into the shimmer. Lilienne stepped through, her braid whipping behind her. Seraphina glanced at Andrew, then at Lisa, then walked forward.
Andrew was last again. He gave Lisa a single nod. "Close it after."
Then he stepped through.
The jump through Lisa's second portal was harsher than the first. They were spat out into sunlight and sound, hard stone under their boots, the sting of hot wind on their faces. Andrew dropped into a crouch, already scanning. Jason rolled to his feet, weapon up. Lilienne's braid whipped in the dry gust as she caught her balance. Ryo pivoted like a blade, taking in every line of the horizon. Seraphina stumbled, one hand clutching the edge of Lisa's coat.
Lisa held her staff upright, the mirror shards circling its tip like frozen stars. "Coordinates locked," she breathed. "We're through."
Andrew stood and froze. "Valtan."
The others blinked, following his gaze. The space where Valtan should have been right between Ryo and Lilienne was empty.
"Where is he?" Jason asked, frowning.
"He went through after Lisa," Lilienne said slowly.
"No," Ryo murmured. His dark eyes flicked from one teammate to another. "He didn't."
Andrew turned, scanning each face. "He did. He was behind Seraphina."
Seraphina's mouth opened, then closed. She stared at her own hands as if they might hold the missing piece. "I… I don't remember him stepping through."
Lisa's fingers trembled on the staff. "I had him on my tether. I had all of you. Six signatures plus mine. But now…" She flicked through the glowing lines of code above the staff. "Only five."
A flicker of unease crawled across the group. They were standing on a wide terrace carved into the cliffside, the canyon yawning below and the city rising above them, alive with movement and color. But the noise of the alien civilization faded under the sudden hole in their memories.
Jason swore softly. "When was the last time any of us actually saw him?"
"Back at the Citadel," Lilienne said at once.
"No," Andrew said. His voice was taut as wire. "We talked after the anchor set. He handed me his map. He told me to…" He stopped, blinking hard. "No. That wasn't here."
Seraphina clutched her temples. "It's like a gap. Every time I reach for it, it slides away. Like it's not allowed."
Ryo's jaw tightened. "Someone took him. Or something. And they took our memory of it too."
Andrew turned on Lisa. "Check the portal signature again."
"I am." She snapped the words. "It's gone. Like it was never there."
For a heartbeat, none of them spoke. The city behind them pulsed with sound and movement, a thriving organism indifferent to their sudden loss.
Andrew's fists clenched. "We're not leaving him."
Jason glanced at the crowd. "We don't even know where to start."
Lilienne's voice was low. "And whoever did this knows we're here."
In the distance, tiered buildings rose like steps toward a central spire, each facade painted in blocks of red, green, and ochre. Bridges of woven metal spanned the canyon, humming with energy.
Jason stopped dead. "This… isn't ruins."
"No," Lilienne said, voice tight. "This is a city."
Figures moved across the terrace around them. Humanoid but not human. Their skin was pale grey, their eyes deep-set and amber, their clothing layered in dark fabrics trimmed with shining thread. They looked once at the newcomers, paused, then went back to their tasks without alarm.
Seraphina clutched Andrew's arm. "They aren't attacking."
"They don't even look surprised," Jason muttered.
Lisa's mirror staff dimmed as she checked the coordinates hovering above its tip. "Same planetary field. This is connected to the lattice we saw before. But the energy signature here is… cleaner. Structured. Controlled."
Ryo crouched at the edge of the terrace and peered down. The canyon floor far below shimmered with a river of molten light. "A power grid."
Andrew scanned the nearest buildings. Balconies crowded with watchers. Mechanical constructs wheeling crates. Thin banners whipping in a steady updraft. It was too organized to be an outpost and too functional to be a temple.
"We move," he said. "Find a safe point. Decide our next step."
Jason wiped black residue from his blade and holstered it. "Before or after they notice we're armed to the teeth?"
"They've already noticed," Andrew replied. "They're not reacting. That means we're either expected or beneath their interest."
Lisa's mouth tightened. "Neither option is good."