Dawn crawled slowly over the jagged ridge, spilling muted gold over the ground as Sylvion's group moved onward. The air felt heavier the deeper they traveled, like each breath tugged at invisible threads binding the world together.
Kael walked close to Sylvion, eyes darting to every shadow.
Lyra flew overhead, scanning the terrain.
"Still nothing," she called down softly. "But the silence here is wrong."
Varyn stopped suddenly.
"It's not silence," he growled. "Listen."
The three listened.
At first—nothing.
Then Kael heard it.
A faint, distant whisper. Like voices layered over each other, too many to count. Hundreds. Thousands.
"…Sylvion," Kael whispered, "what is that?"
Sylvion didn't answer immediately. His gaze was fixed far ahead—past the ridge, past the horizon.
Toward a shimmering distortion in the air.
A tear.
A crack.
A rift.
Energy leaked from it like smoke, curling and weaving into the wind. Shadows bent toward it. The ground seemed thinner around it.
Lyra descended, wings trembling.
"Oh no," she whispered. "Oh no."
Varyn clenched his jaw.
"Impossible. The Rifts should be sealed."
Kael looked between them, fear crawling under his skin.
"What's a Rift?"
Lyra answered, voice unsteady:
"A place where the world brushes against something that should never touch it."
Sylvion finally spoke.
"It's not just a Rift."
His eyes darkened.
"It's awake."
The whispering grew louder now—voices overlapping, pleading, screaming, echoing from somewhere beyond comprehension.
Kael's breath hitched.
"Is something… inside it?"
Sylvion stepped forward.
"Many things. Some searching for escape. Some searching for you."
Kael stumbled back.
"For me? Why me?!"
Sylvion's aura flared—soft but commanding.
"Because you are connected to more than you understand.
More than you should understand."
Varyn approached the Rift cautiously.
"Should we seal it?"
Sylvion shook his head.
"No. If it opened on its own… something opened it from the other side."
Lyra's wings folded tight.
"Then something is crossing soon."
A cold wind swept downward, the temperature dropping instantly. Frost shimmered across the ground in a widening circle.
The Rift pulsed—once.
Twice.
Then it tore open wider.
Kael screamed and stumbled back as a massive wave of energy surged outward. Lyra shielded him with her wings while Varyn braced himself against the shock.
Sylvion alone didn't move.
His eyes glowed with a light that didn't belong to this world.
And from the Rift…
A shape emerged.
Not fully formed.
Not physical.
A silhouette of layered worlds and collapsing galaxies.
A Fragmented Being—a creature born where existence breaks.
It whispered in a thousand voices:
"—child of radiance—
—echo of the forgotten—
—Kael—Kael—Kael—"
Kael's heart stopped.
"Why is it saying my name?!"
Sylvion raised his hand.
Reality tightened around his fingers.
"Stay behind me."
The creature screeched—a rippling sound that bent space. The wind reversed. The sky dimmed.
It lunged.
Straight for Kael.
Sylvion moved faster than sight—one step, one flash of white. His palm struck the air and everything froze.
The creature, mid-lunge, hung motionless.
The wind.
The dust.
The world.
Even the Rift flickered, confused by the interference.
Sylvion spoke, voice echoing like a god's whisper.
"You do not touch what is mine to protect."
The creature screamed without sound as Sylvion closed his fingers.
The silhouette shattered into stardust.
Time resumed.
Kael collapsed to the ground, shaking.
Lyra knelt beside him.
"Kael… breathe. You're safe."
Varyn exhaled slowly.
"That was no ordinary Rift-spawn. Someone sent it."
Kael looked up at Sylvion, trembling.
"Why… why do these things keep coming for me? What am I?!"
Sylvion turned.
His expression was not cold.
Not soft.
But true.
"A beacon," he said.
"A spark created from something far older."
Lyra whispered:
"Something that even the Black Hole once bowed to."
Kael's eyes widened.
"No… No, that can't be me. I was just a normal kid—"
Sylvion knelt, gently gripping Kael's wrist.
"You were never normal.
You were just unaware."
Kael swallowed hard.
"Then what happens now?"
Sylvion looked toward the Rift, which still pulsed ominously.
"Now," he said, "we find out who opened it…"
The air dropped another degree.
"…and why they're calling for you."
The Rift throbbed once more.
And something answered from the other side.