The world was falling apart.
The crimson sky split into rivers of molten light, each vein crawling outward from the fortress like living flame. The air turned heavy—liquid almost—pressing against their lungs. The fortress's peak had crumbled, and from its hollow heart came a sound like a thousand storms colliding.
Selene's eyes glowed as she whispered incantations under her breath. Her barrier flickered, weak but holding. "We don't have long," she said, her voice trembling for the first time. "The atmosphere is destabilizing. If that thing keeps breaking free, Mars will collapse from the core."
Jonas clenched his jaw, pulling Eris up from the red dust. "Move! Everyone, back to the ship! Now!"
But Eris stood frozen, his pupils glowing faint silver, lost in some deep resonance none of them could hear. The ground pulsed beneath him, in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Mara ran toward him, grabbing his arm. "Eris! Wake up! You'll die here!"
He blinked—and for a brief second, she saw it. Something behind his eyes. A vision. A shadow of the same creature rising in the distance, bound by golden chains in another lifetime, another world.
He gasped. "It's calling me."
"Then ignore it!" Mara shouted. "We're leaving!"
The ground heaved violently. The mountains in the distance buckled inward, collapsing like sand piles. From the great fissure ahead, a wave of energy erupted—an invisible force that knocked them all off their feet.
Selene screamed, "The containment field just broke!"
They turned toward the fortress, and saw it.
A being of impossible scale emerged from the wreckage, half-solid, half-shadow. Its body shimmered like glass and blood, transparent yet dense. Chains hung from its limbs, glowing runes burning into its form. And above its head, an enormous ring of light turned slowly, emitting a low, mournful hum.
Liora could barely breathe. "What is it?"
Selene answered through gritted teeth. "A Remnant of the Old Realm… older than time itself. The one your ancestors sealed here."
The being's voice rolled across the horizon, every word reshaping the air:
"The seal weakens. The bearer stands before me. My freedom—draws near."
Mara turned to Eris, panic flashing in her eyes. "He means you!"
Eris held his chest, pain flooding through him. The crystal-shaped mark beneath his skin burned white-hot. "It… hurts—"
Selene's spell circle expanded around them, drawing lines of light into the ground. "Everyone inside! Now!"
Jonas dragged Liora through the forming ring, helping Mara pull Eris along. The world around them began to distort—gravity shifting, sky bending into ribbons of red and gold.
Behind them, the being lifted its head fully. Its face was not human, but shifting, constantly reforming between light and shadow. From its chest hung a single broken fragment—the Heart of Mars itself.
When its gaze fell on them, the air solidified.
"You cannot run from origin."
Selene screamed, finishing the chant. The circle exploded with white light. The team vanished just as the creature's roar tore through the land, shattering stone and sky alike.
The next moment, they crashed into the dust miles away, coughing and disoriented.
Jonas groaned, "Tell me… that thing didn't just wake up completely."
Selene looked up. In the far horizon, the fortress was gone—replaced by a rising spire of light reaching to the heavens.
"No," she said quietly. "It's awake… but not free. Yet."
The wind howled, carrying ash across the endless desert. The sky flickered between red and black like a dying heartbeat.
Eris finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "If it's not free, we still have time."
Selene turned to him. "Time for what?"
He looked toward the spire—the thing that pulsed in rhythm with his veins. "To find the other Hearts… before it does."