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Wind cut across the mountain path. Sharp. Dry. No warmth. The climb grew steeper with each step. Rocks cracked under boots. The sky held light, but no comfort. Clouds moved in slow ribbons, thin and colorless. Air tasted metallic, like old storms.
Kael led. Lysara walked at his right. Seris followed, staff raised for focus. Arin walked last, hand on his blade, eyes scanning each ridge and shadow.
They climbed without speaking. The world around them stayed silent. No birds. No shifting brush. No animals. Life avoided this height. Above, the peak waited. A thin ridge of stone shaped by old Ether storms and ancient pressure.
Kael reached a flat shelf. He stopped. The others reached him and paused.
A circle of stone sat at the center. Smooth. Unmarked. Perfectly round. No moss. No frost. No dust. The Gate to the Origin Plane.
The air above it shimmered in a faint ring. Like heat above dry sand. Waves rose and fell without sound.
Kael stepped forward. He rolled his shoulders. He breathed deep, steady. He focused each breath. Training from youth. Discipline carved into bone.
Lysara stood beside him. "When you enter, do not reach too far. Touch, do not drag. See, do not take. Hold mind with force, not faith."
Kael nodded once.
Seris tapped the staff to the stone. Light spread across the circle. Thin lines. Straight. Clean. No curve. No symbol. Only pure geometry. These lines activated the link.
Arin planted his feet. "I guard. Nothing interrupts."
Kael positioned himself at the center. The air in the circle shifted. His pulse changed rhythm. Slower. Heavier. As if his heart synced to something larger.
He lowered his eyelids halfway. His voice stayed quiet, but controlled. "Stand ready."
He extended one hand forward. Ether gathered in his palm. No flare. No swirl. Only a hard point of light, steady and contained. He held it by will alone.
The circle responded. Stone thinned. The world blurred. The ridge vanished at its edges. Cold dropped away. Sound vanished. Wind stopped.
Silence. Pure. Total. Pressing.
Kael felt gravity shift. He did not move. He anchored his feet. He braced his spine.
Then the world opened.
He did not step through. He leaned into the plane, mind first. Vision stretched. Not outward, but inward. Deep. Sharp. Direct.
Shapes formed. Not physical. Structures of force. Patterns like threads. Thousands. Millions. Crossing. Bending. Straining.
The Origin Plane.
Not a world. A system. A field of power that fed all life, all reality, all Ether.
It pulsed unevenly. Tremors ran through lines of force. Gaps appeared. Dark seams. Places where power once flowed now fractured like cracked glass.
Kael pushed deeper. Not far. Only enough to see threat. He held control with rigid focus. Muscles tensed along his jaw and back.
A presence moved in the dark seam. Heavy. Slow. Intentional. Pressure formed around the crack, like something inside trying to widen the tear.
Kael saw no form. No face. No body. Just force. Hunger. Will to consume light and silence creation. A pressure older than Afterlight. Older than the first Ether spark.
The Void.
It stretched toward him. Not fast. Not explosive. Patient. Confident.
The crack widened by one small measure.
Kael felt pain behind his eyes. Sharp. Direct. His skull felt tight. He held ground.
He spoke through clenched teeth. "It grows. Fast."
Lysara's voice reached him faint through the echo. "Return. Do not force more."
He pushed one second longer. Enough to witness acceleration. Ten fractures deepened. Five new ones formed. Ether lines shook like burning wires.
He pulled back.
The plane snapped shut around him. The mountain returned. Wind struck again. Sound rushed back. His knees bent as weight returned.
He stood firm.
He inhaled. Slow. Controlled. A small tremor moved through his fingers. He hid it.
Lysara moved close. "State condition."
Kael did not soften his voice. "Stable. Pain present. No break."
Seris exhaled tight relief. "What did you see."
Kael faced them. "The Void pushes now. No patience left. It feeds on every fracture. It grows each moment we hesitate."
Arin stepped forward. "Then war waits for none. We strike first."
"No." Kael's voice cut clean. "We do not start a civil war while the void rises. We force unity. We command truth."
"How." Arin asked.
Kael looked across the valley below. Armies moved far distant, small shapes against the plain. Lines of color. Lines of steel. Lines of fear.
"We show them what I saw."
Seris frowned. "The Accord leaders resist even facts."
"We do not ask." Kael held gaze steady. "We send vision broadcast. Ether projection across provinces. They see fractures. They see Void rise. No rumor. No doubt."
Lysara tightened her cloak. "Projection at this scale burns energy. You risk collapse."
Kael answered without hesitation. "Risk accepted."
Arin nodded once. "Tell me task."
"You hold the pass. You hold without breaking them. If they attack, slow them. Do not kill unless unavoidable. War opens gates for Void. We refuse to aid it."
Arin placed a fist over his chest. "I hold."
Kael looked at Seris. "Prepare focus towers. We send vision by midday."
Seris struck her staff to stone. "I obey."
Kael turned to Lysara. "Guard channel. Anchor my thoughts. Break the link if strain rises."
"I do not fail."
Wind picked up again. Harder now. Sky darkened at the horizon. Not storm. Ether distortion. Light bent in thin rings. The world strained.
Kael felt time thinning. Moments mattered.
He spoke with force. "We move. We broadcast truth. We end doubt."
They descended the peak with speed. Steps fast but sure. No pause. No glance back.
Halfway down, earth rumbled under boots. A tremor rolled across stone. Frost cracked. Snow slipped from a ledge and fell in a sharp cascade.
Seris looked back. "Origin pulse."
Kael nodded. "Frequency rising. Too fast."
Arin drew his blade. "Then we stop waiting."
Kael did not smile. No room for emotion. Only resolve.
"We will not let darkness rule. We force unity. We force purpose."
They reached lower ground. Ether towers in the distance glowed faint, warming for activation. Couriers waited with fast-bred mounts. Messengers looked tense but ready.
Kael raised his voice. Direct. Clear. Command.
"All provinces witness truth today. No leader hides. No province denies. The world holds by our choice. We do not fail."
Movement erupted around him. Runners sprinted. Bells rang. Guardians assembled. Healers set up stations.
Kael looked east one last time. The horizon flickered again. Thin black seam. Growing. Slow but constant.
He squared his shoulders. Breath steady. Spine straight.
"We stand against collapse."
He stepped forward.
And the war for unity began.
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