The roar of the earth was deafening.
Dust, light, and shards of crystal rained around them as the tunnels of Duskfall groaned in pain.
Ryn and Lira clung to the elevator's metal railing as it lurched upward, squealing against the cables. Below, the glowing cavern — the one that had given Ryn his strange new power — was swallowed by a storm of light.
"Faster! Go faster!" Lira shouted at the operator.
The old man behind the lever stared at the tremors around them. "The lift can't take more strain—!"
Before he could finish, a burst of energy shot up through the shaft. The entire platform jolted, throwing Ryn off balance. He barely managed to grab Lira's hand before he fell into the abyss.
"Ryn!"
"I've got you! Don't let go!"
The walls of the shaft cracked open, revealing streaks of glowing minerals pulsing wildly like veins filled with lightning. Energy poured out of them, surging toward Ryn — drawn to him as if he were a magnet.
The air itself vibrated. He felt something inside his chest responding — that same rhythmic hum from before, beating faster and faster.
The crystals were calling him.
And worse, they were answering.
Awakening of the Resonance
The energy struck him like a wave.
Ryn's vision flared white, and for a heartbeat, he saw through stone and metal — saw the very life threads of the crystals running beneath the mountain. Each pulse had color, emotion, and purpose.
The Ethereal Crystal's voice whispered in his mind.
"You are chosen… bearer of resonance…"
Then the vision snapped.
Ryn gasped, collapsing to his knees as the elevator screeched to a halt near the surface. The entire shaft behind them caved in with a thunderous crash, sealing the abyss.
"Ryn! What's happening to you?"
"I… don't know."
His skin glowed faintly — prismatic light tracing veins along his arm. It pulsed in sync with his heartbeat, fading only when he clenched his fist and forced himself to breathe.
The power inside him settled — but not completely. It was waiting, like a living flame under his skin.
The aftermath
When they emerged, chaos had already reached the surface.
The mine entrance was surrounded by shouting miners and guild officers. Smoke billowed from the tunnels, and the guild's banners fluttered in the dust-filled air.
Foreman Garven — a broad man with a scar across his nose — stormed toward them.
"What in the Abyss happened down there?!" he barked.
"A collapse," Lira gasped. "The entire lower tunnel—gone!"
"Gone?!" His eyes narrowed. "You two were assigned to Section Nine, weren't you?"
Ryn nodded weakly.
"There was… a chamber. Not on any map. There was a crystal—"
"A what?" Garven's expression darkened. "You broke into an unregistered zone?"
Ryn tried to explain, but Garven wasn't listening.
Two guild enforcers in armored coats stepped forward, each carrying rune-stamped rifles.
"Take them to the Guild Hall," the foreman ordered. "We'll question them there."
Ryn opened his mouth to protest, but the words froze as he caught his reflection in a shard of fallen crystal. His eyes — normally a dull brown — shimmered faintly with shifting color.
If the guild saw that…
"Lira," he whispered. "Don't say anything. Not about the crystal. Not about what you saw."
"Ryn—"
"Please."
Her hesitation lasted only a second before she nodded. "Okay. I trust you."
The guild hall
Hours later, they sat in a dim room beneath the Duskfall Guild headquarters. The walls were lined with crystal lamps that gave off a cold blue glow.
Garven and two inspectors took turns firing questions — how deep they'd gone, what caused the collapse, whether they'd found anything "unusual."
Ryn kept his answers vague.
But as the interrogation dragged on, a voice in his head whispered again. The same voice from the cavern.
"They cannot cage light, bearer of resonance…"
His heart pounded. The lamps on the walls flickered — faintly at first, then violently. The inspectors glanced around.
"What's going on with the lights?" one muttered.
Ryn clenched his fists. The energy inside him was reacting to his emotions. If it burst out here…
He forced himself to breathe, focusing on the rhythm of his heartbeat. Slowly, the flickering stopped.
When they were finally released, night had fallen.
The town was eerily quiet — most miners had been ordered to stay home. The air smelled faintly of smoke and crystal dust.
Ryn and Lira walked in silence until they reached the edge of town.
"What are we going to do now?" she asked.
"I don't know," Ryn admitted. "But that thing… it's inside me now. And the guild—"
"They'll find out," Lira said softly. "You know they will."
He nodded. The guild controlled every mine, every crystal shipment. Anyone who found something powerful and didn't report it… usually vanished.
"Then we can't stay," Ryn said finally. "We'll leave at dawn."
"Leave Duskfall?"
"If I stay, they'll take me apart to see what's inside."
Lira looked at him for a long moment, then smiled faintly.
"You're an idiot, Ryn."
"Yeah. But I'm your idiot."
She sighed. "Fine. I'll pack the supplies."
As she turned away, Ryn looked back toward the mountains.
Faint streaks of light still rose from the mine, reaching into the sky like veins of color.
Whatever had awakened down there… wasn't finished.
Elsewhere…
Far below the ruins of Sector 9, in the shattered remains of the crystal chamber, something stirred.
Fragments of the destroyed Ethereal Crystal floated in the air, glowing faintly. They pulsed once, twice—then reassembled into a sphere of shifting light.
A voice echoed through the hollow dark:
"Resonance found… awakening protocol… initiating pursuit…"
A low hum rippled through the abyss.
The crystals had chosen their host.
And the world was about to notice.