The moment the sun dipped beneath the horizon, the forest around them transformed.
What had once been a somber, leafless expanse now twisted into something hostile—branches like claws, shadows like creeping beasts. Every rustle sounded louder, every step heavier. For Kael, the night was no longer simply dark. It was alive.
Beside him, Liora clutched her spear tighter, the crude obsidian tip still stained from their last encounter. Her expression had hardened in the days since they fled Emberreach. No more trembling, no more hesitation. She had become a survivor, just like him.
A soft chime echoed from Kael's wristband—a reminder.
The signal beacon. The one from the cryptic message they'd intercepted. It pulsed faintly on his scanner: Green Zone – Temporary Safe Shelter Detected.
"We're close," he said, voice low.
Liora glanced over his shoulder. "How close?"
"Half a klick. Maybe less."
"Could be a trap."
"Could be salvation."
They shared a look—one born from weeks of shared fear, hunger, and barely surviving. Then they moved.
The terrain shifted as they approached. What had been rugged forest floor became... tiled stone? Kael stopped, brushing leaves away from the ground. Beneath was cracked ceramic flooring. Strange markings—glyphs maybe—lined the edges, faded but unmistakable.
Liora narrowed her eyes. "Pre-Rift architecture?"
"Definitely not natural."
A low vibration stirred in the air, so subtle it was more felt than heard. The scanner blinked faster now.
Suddenly, the trees ended.
They stepped into a circular clearing, barren of foliage, as though nature itself refused to reclaim it. In its center was a domed structure, partially buried in moss and rubble. It looked like a shelter—half fallout bunker, half ancient temple.
The beacon's pulse was strongest here.
Kael approached the entrance. A thick metallic door stood embedded in the side, smeared with dirt and rust. Beside it: a panel. Somehow still active. A dim blue interface shimmered faintly.
He hesitated.
"We shouldn't," Liora said. "What if it's another AI-hive? Or worse… ferals using it as bait?"
Kael bit his lip. "We've been running for days. We're down to one ration pack and no meds. If there's even a chance this is real…"
He pressed his palm against the panel.
For a breathless second, nothing happened.
Then: click.
The door slowly creaked open, releasing a hiss of sterilized air.
Inside, dim lights flickered on automatically, casting sterile yellow light over a surprisingly intact interior. No bodies. No signs of struggle. Just a quiet, cold room with minimal furnishings and a strange, humming terminal in the center.
Liora entered behind him, weapon drawn. "Something feels wrong."
Kael ignored her for the moment and approached the terminal. The screen lit up at his presence.
Welcome, Kael Rhydan.Genetic profile: Match. Access granted.Initiating archive playback.
His heart froze. "What the hell?"
The screen began displaying a sequence of images—his family, old photos from before the Riftfall. His mother. His sister. Even one of him as a child, holding a crude wooden replica of a skyship.
Liora gaped. "How does it know you?"
"I don't know. I never—this isn't even tech I've seen before."
Then the voice spoke.
Not mechanical. Not artificial.
Warm. Human.
"Kael… if you're seeing this, then you've survived longer than any of us dared hope."
The holographic projection emerged from the console. It was a man—mid-thirties, slightly older than Kael, with sharp features and soft eyes. There was something… familiar about him.
"My name is Ardyn Rhydan. I'm your uncle. Or at least—I was."
Kael reeled. "What?"
"They told you I died in the first wave, didn't they? That's what the Reclamation files said. But I didn't. I went underground—literally. We were working on something, Kael. Something they didn't want to get out. A way to fight the corruption."
The projection gestured, and the screen changed. Now it showed schematics—biological data, neural network overlays, maps of the world before and after the Riftfall.
"The parasite that infects the land, the ferals, the sky—it's all tied to the same source. A central root system. We call it The Core. And we believe there's a way to sever it."
Kael stared at the screen. His thoughts spun, colliding with every impossible idea this stranger—his uncle—presented.
Liora leaned closer. "If what he's saying is real…"
"But you'll need the Protocol, Kael. It's embedded in your DNA. My last act before disappearing was to ensure it was passed on. That's why they couldn't track you like the others. You're off the grid—an anomaly."
"You are the beacon, Kael. And the time has come to light the fire again."
The hologram flickered, then died. The screen went black.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Kael whispered, "My entire life… they lied to me."
Liora knelt, inspecting the terminal's base. "This place… it's a data vault. And it's secure. We could stay here for a few days. Rest. Recharge."
Kael shook his head. "No. We don't have days. If The Core is real—if what he said is true—then someone's going to come looking for this data. We need to move."
He turned back to the terminal. Another soft chime sounded.
Transfer complete.Coordinates uploaded. Destination: Vault Sigma.Warning: Target compromised. Extreme caution advised.
He slid the small drive from the terminal and pocketed it. "We head there next."
Liora raised an eyebrow. "Even though it's compromised?"
Kael nodded. "Especially because it's compromised. Whatever's there, someone didn't want me to find it. That means it's important."
She gave him a tired, lopsided grin. "You're starting to sound like a hero."
"I don't want to be a hero," Kael muttered. "I just want to survive."
But deep down, something had shifted.
That hollow emptiness that had gnawed at him since Emberreach—since his mother's death—had dimmed slightly. He wasn't just running anymore.
He had a purpose.
And for the first time since the world burned, he felt like the fire inside him could burn brighter than the one that consumed it.
Outside, something stirred in the forest.
A shape. Tall. Wrong.
Its many eyes blinked in unison as it stared toward the dome.
The scent of old blood drifted in the wind.
And then… it smiled.