Chapter 22: Into the Outlands
The decision hung between them, a silent pact forged in desperation and resolve. The citadel, with its organized recovery efforts and distant leaders, was no longer their place. Every second spent there was a second Talia spent in the dark.
They didn't say goodbye. They simply left, slipping through the chaos of the wounded plaza like ghosts. No one tried to stop them. They were just three more weary figures in a city full of them.
Their journey took them away from the gleaming spires and humming thoroughfares, into the older, quieter sectors of the Dream Continent. The architecture changed, becoming less crystalline and more organic, as if grown from solidified light and memory. The crowds thinned, the faces of the dreamers here more wary, their forms often stranger, reflecting older, more personal dreams.
Finally, they reached the edge.
The Outlands weren't a place on any map. It was where the organized will of the Dream Continent faded, and the raw, unformed stuff of dreams took over. The sky here wasn't a curated dome of auroras, but a swirling, chaotic canvas of bleeding colors and half-formed thoughts. The ground beneath their feet ceased to be solid, becoming a misty firmament that solidified with each step only to dissolve behind them. Strange, ephemeral structures rose and fell in the distance—castles made of sorrow, forests of forgotten laughter, oceans of pure, unmotivated anxiety.
The air hummed with a different frequency. It was wild, potent, and deeply unsettling.
"Cheerful place," Juno muttered, her voice small against the vast, whispering weirdness. She kept her hands slightly raised, tiny crystals flickering nervously around her fingertips. "Really gives you that 'welcome, please enjoy your stay' vibe."
"The rules of reality are… suggestions here," Calyx said, his sharp eyes scanning the shifting landscape. He seemed more alert than ever, his healer's senses attuned to the spiritual turbulence. "Don't focus on any one thing for too long. It might focus back."
Kael led the way, his gaze fixed ahead. The hollow ache had been replaced by a single, driving purpose that was a beacon in the chaos. He could feel it—a faint, sickly pull from the deepest, darkest part of the Outlands. The Lady's realm. Talia's prison.
"This way," he said, his voice barely more than a breath, but it carried absolute certainty.
They walked for what felt like hours, though time had no meaning here. The environment reacted to them. Paths of firm light would appear under their feet only to crumble into void a moment later. Whispering tendrils of nostalgia would try to wrap around their minds, showing them half-remembered moments from their own lives—Kael's parents smiling, Juno winning a childhood race, Talia reading under a tree—before Calyx would sharply tell them to "Ignore it. It's not real. It's just emotional static."
The further they went, the darker it became. The swirling colors in the sky deepened into bruised purples and blacks. The pleasant, half-formed thoughts twisting in the air became sharper, meaner. Whispers of doubt, of fear, of anger.
"We're getting close," Calyx warned, his voice tense. "The corruption's influence is thinning the barrier. Don't listen to the whispers. They're stronger here."
You're not strong enough, a voice that sounded like Marco's hissed in Kael's ear. They'll forget about you,a perfect imitation of Juno's voice sighed from a passing cloud of mist. You failed her,Talia's voice, full of cold disappointment, echoed from the shadows.
Kael clenched his fists, shaking his head. "Ignore it," he growled, repeating Calyx's advice like a mantra.
Juno wasn't faring as well. She had her hands clamped over her ears, her eyes squeezed shut. "They won't stop," she whimpered. "It's like they know everything I'm afraid of."
"Because they do," Calyx said, grabbing her elbow to steady her as the ground beneath them liquefied for a moment. "They feed on it. Your fear makes the path for them."
Suddenly, Kael stopped. Before them, the semi-formed landscape simply… ended. It dropped away into an abyss of pure, absolute blackness. It wasn't an absence of light; it was an absence of everything. Concept, form, dream—it all ceased to exist at that edge.
And from that abyss, a palpable pull emanated. A gravitational tide of pure malice. This was it. The drain at the bottom of the dream realm. The corrupted realm was on the other side.
"Well," Juno said, her voice trembling as she peered into the void. "This looks… super safe and not at all like a terrible idea."
"The pull is strong," Calyx observed clinically, though a muscle in his jaw twitched. "If we step to the edge, it will likely take us. There will be no coming back the same way."
Kael didn't hesitate. He looked at his friends—Juno, terrified but stubbornly loyal; Calyx, pragmatic and reluctantly brave. They had followed him this far.
"We're not coming back without her," he said.
He took the final step to the precipice. The pull intensified instantly, a cold wind howling from nowhere, tugging at his clothes, his hair, his very spirit.
Juno grabbed his hand, her grip vise-tight. Calyx placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
Together, as one, they let the darkness take them.
Author's Note: A New Beginning — "Beyond Technology: Dreamers Realm"
Hey everyone, it's Voxcode here.
First, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who's read, supported, and followed the journey of Beyond Technology so far.
After much thought (and a ton of late-night rewrites), I've decided to release a fully updated version of this story under the new title:
💫 "Beyond Technology: Dreamers Realm" 💫
This isn't just a rewrite — it's a rebirth. The plot runs deeper, the world expands wider, and the characters—Kael, Talia, and Juno—shine brighter than ever. You'll uncover secrets about The Beyond, The Tranceeds, and even the mysterious Premodal Being that were only hinted at before.
If you've enjoyed this journey so far, I promise the new version will draw you even deeper into the dream… and maybe, the nightmare that lies beneath it.
Thank you for walking this path with me. Your support is what gives this universe life.
Stay tuned for Beyond Technology: Dreamers Realm — and prepare to dream once more.
With gratitude,
– Voxcode