The door creaked open. A wave of cold light rolled over them.
An army stood beyond. Rows of Concord mages in silver cloaks, silent and still. Behind them, tubes pulsing with magic. Above all of it stood her — the tall woman from Rye's dreams.
She smiled. "Too late."
Elian didn't wait.
He pulled the blue emerald from his coat and slammed it into the ground.
Light burst out.
A dome of flickering blue energy rose around them, cutting them off from the Concord. Spells hit the barrier and sizzled out. The army stepped back, shields raised.
The woman tilted her head, studying them like animals.
"We run," Elian said.
"But that won't hold them," Maeron said.
"It won't," Elian replied, voice low. "We've got three minutes. Maybe."
They turned and ran.
The ground shook beneath them. Red lights flickered. An alarm sounded far off.
They sprinted down a side tunnel, boots echoing. The walls were metal and old stone, cracked in places. Dust fell with every tremble.
"Elian!" Rye shouted. "Where are we going?"
"Down," he said. "There's an old exit under the main sector. Hidden. If it's still active, we can use it."
Behind them, the shield cracked. A loud boom rang out.
"They're breaking through already!" Eris shouted.
They ran faster.
…TheMaze…
The hallway split into three paths. Elian turned right without slowing down. They passed old storage rooms full of shattered pods, dried blood, and glowing runes.
Then came the traps.
As Rye stepped over a rune-etched tile, the air shimmered. A ghostly version of her own face flickered before her. A voice whispered something in her ear.
"You're not the first."
She blinked, and it was gone.
Jor wasn't so lucky.
A time-freeze glyph caught him mid-run, locking him mid-step like a statue.
"Jor!" Maeron yelled.
Rye slashed the rune carved into the ceiling. It sparked and faded. Jor gasped, stumbling forward.
"Thanks," he muttered, shaking.
More alarms now. Louder. Walls blinking red.
TheTruthoftheEmerald
They ducked into a side room to catch their breath. It was quiet here, like the Concord hadn't reached it yet.
Rye looked at Elian.
"That thing in your hand," she said. "What is it really?"
Elian didn't answer at first. He sat down, breathing hard, staring at the glowing crystal.
"It's not from here," he finally said. "It's not Kaelthari or Aelorian. I stole it from the magical realm. That place the Concord came from."
He looked up.
"It wasn't made to protect people. It's not a weapon. It's… alive. It wants to go home."
The others stared at the gem. The light in it pulsed, faster now, like it was panicking.
"How long do we have?" Eris asked.
Elian clenched his jaw. "A minute. Two, if we're lucky."
No one spoke.
Then the walls shook again.
"That's our sign," Rye said. "Let's move."
The Last Jump
They reached an old chamber with a circle of floating stone — a transport ring, half-buried in dust and moss. Runes lined the floor around it, but the thing was dead.
"We can't get out with that," Maeron said. "It's dead."
Elian shoved the emerald into the ring's socket. The gem's light surged, and the platform flickered to life.
"Now we can," he said.
Then the wall hissed.
Tubes cracked open.
Six Veyruun hybrids stumbled out. Not full beasts — these were half-finished. Claws for hands. No eyes. Mouths stitched shut. They smelled like fire and rot.
"Of course it's a monster room," Jor growled.
Rye stepped in front of the others. Her sword pulsed.
She ran at the nearest beast, slashing fast. Red light trailed her blade. The beast screeched, bleeding sparks.
Eris covered the left flank, daggers flying. Maeron activated a blast rune, throwing two into a wall. Jor wrestled one down with brute force, snapping its thin neck.
Elian shouted from the platform.
"Get on now!"
Maeron jumped first, then Eris. Jor dragged himself on, panting.
Rye backed away from the last beast, sword shaking with light.
Then she jumped too.
Elian pulled the emerald free. The ring spun faster. A high-pitched sound filled the chamber as the platform began to rise.
TheSurfaceBreach
The lift smashed upward through a tunnel of dirt and rock. Bits of metal crumbled. Pipes burst. Magic surged all around them.
Then — boom, they broke through the surface.
Night air hit them like a slap.
They flew out into the open, stars overhead, wind screaming. The lift slammed down into a patch of forest, sending dirt flying.
For a moment, no one moved.
Rye coughed and rolled over, looking at the sky.
Elian dropped to his knees, the emerald still in his hand.
It was dark now. Cracked.
"Is it dead?" Rye asked.
"No," Elian said softly. "Just angry."
He tossed it aside.
Behind them, the woods lit up. Far off, another rift glowed in the sky — bigger than before. It pulsed with blue light, stretching wider and wider.
"They're opening more," Maeron said.
Rye looked at the others. All of them were breathing hard. Bruised. Bloody.
But alive.
"They won't stop," Elian said. "Next time, they'll bring the real ones."
Rye stood up, holding the sword.
"Then we hit them first."
•••
After the Concord base tore open from the inside — after the breach, the noise, and the burning sky — Rye and the others didn't stop running.
They couldn't. Not with the Veyruun loose and whatever magic Elian had used still flickering behind them like a dying star.
The surface wasn't safer than underground. The breach didn't just open the way out, it opened the way in. Things from beyond — watchers, shades, whatever lived on the other side of magic — had come crawling through. Not loudly. Not in armies. Just one by one. Enough to be dangerous.
So Elian led them north, out of the woods and into the broken ridges. The old war had split that land ages ago — cracked hills, black stone, and dry grass that never grew back.
That's where they found the cave. If you could even call it that. More like a half-collapsed tunnel, shallow and cold. It was just enough to stay hidden from the sky. That was all they needed.
They had no real plan. No map. Just silence, smoke-stained skin, and a stolen emerald with a heartbeat.
Rye took first watch. She didn't volunteer. She just didn't want to sleep.
She sat by the fire, sword across her knees. Her fingers were sore, still trembling from the fight underground.
The others were asleep.
Elian leaned against the cave wall, the broken blue emerald in his lap. Its glow had faded, but a faint pulse still beat inside it — like a slow, angry heart.
"We'll move before dawn," he said without looking up. "They're hunting us."
Rye nodded. She didn't need to ask who they were.
Eris curled up near the fire, twitching in her sleep. Jor snored softly, one arm resting on his pack. Maeron slept near the mouth of the cave, facing out, sword beside him.
Rye kept her eyes on the dark outside. Nothing moved.
Then the fire shifted.
Just a flicker. A gust.
Rye blinked. Was someone standing
She stood up fast, heart racing.
"Elian."
He looked up. The emerald pulsed once, brighter.
Too late.
A shape dropped from the ceiling. Silent. Long claws. Its skin shimmered like smoke.
A Warden Blade.
It landed behind Rye, blade raised.
She turned just in time.
Steel met steel. Sparks flew. Her sword glowed red-hot. The Warden's blade hissed — not metal, but bone and fire.
Another one appeared behind Maeron.
He didn't wake in time.
It stabbed down — but Elian was already there, hand glowing with spell-light. He shoved the Warden back with a blast of blue force.
Jor woke with a roar. Eris rolled away, knives flying.
The cave became chaos.
Trapped
Two Warden Blades blocked the exit. A third crawled down from the wall, face stitched shut. Its head twisted sideways as it moved.
Eris slashed one in the knee. It didn't flinch.
Jor tackled another into the fire. It didn't burn.
"They don't die!" Eris shouted.
"They're not alive," Elian said. "They're bound magic. Concord made."
"Then unmake them!" Jor shouted.
Elian raised the emerald. It flickered, weak. "It's cracked! I don't have enough power!"
Rye swung hard at the closest Warden. Her sword cut deep. For the first time, the thing stumbled back — sparks leaking from its chest.
The sword glowed brighter.
The red neon lines along the blade pulsed, like veins. The edge extended — sharper, longer. Almost alive.
But Rye's arms shook. Her breath was uneven.
The sword wasn't hers. Not yet.
The Rift Opens
Outside the cave, thunder rumbled — but not from a storm.
A glow bloomed in the sky above the trees.
Blue and white. Spinning.
A rift was opening, and something stepped through.
A shape of silver mist and robes that moved like smoke. No eyes. No mouth. But its voice echoed inside their skulls.
Give it back.
Rye dropped to her knees, clutching her head. Her vision blurred. So did the others.
Only Elian stood tall.
"I took it," he said. "You want it, come and—"
No more time.
The mist figure flew into the cave without touching the ground. The Warden Blades turned toward it. They hesitated.
Then they knelt.
Even monsters feared this thing.
"The hell is that?" Maeron whispered.
"A Covenant Shade," Elian said. "Sent by the magical world. It doesn't care about us."
The Shade raised one long, smoky hand. The fire died instantly. The air froze.
The emerald does not belong here. Return it or be erased.
Elian stepped forward, breathing hard.
"I need more time."
Time is a lie.
The Shade raised its arm again.
But the broken emerald pulsed. Brighter. Angry.
And suddenly — the Warden Blades turned.
Their heads snapped toward Elian. One lunged.
Rye threw herself between them, her blade slicing upward. A burst of red energy knocked the Warden back.
Another grabbed Eris by the throat. Jor broke its arm and pulled her free.
Elian dropped to one knee. The emerald pulsed harder. "I can't stop them!"
Split Second
The Shade floated forward.
It didn't walk. It didn't breathe.
Rye raised her sword toward it. "Stay back!
You cannot fight a law.
But the sword — her father's sword — blazed red.
The blade extended again. A second pulse wrapped it in flame.
She stepped in front of Elian.
"He's not giving it to you. Not yet."
The Shade paused.
For the first time, it tilted its head — not confused, but interested.
Its voice dropped lower, colder.
You speak with fire, but know nothing of the cost.
We have your brother with us.
Rye's heart stopped.
What?
If you are not ready to release the emerald… then will your brother perish?
Rye opened her mouth. "Wait—what do you mean? What brother?"
You were not told everything.
And just like that, the Shade vanished.
Gone in a blink. No sound, no glow.
The Warden Blades collapsed into ash.
Silence fell.
Elian slumped back, gasping. The emerald cracked again, then dimmed.
"I bought us a day," he said.
"One day," Maeron repeated. "That's all?"
"That's all we ever get," Elian whispered.
No one noticed Rye had gone quiet. She stood still, sword lowered, face pale.
Brother?
She had no memory of one.
But something deep inside her shifted. A small, cold part of her that had been quiet all her life… stirred.
Why would the Shade lie? And if it wasn't a lie — who had hidden that truth from her?
Eris touched her shoulder. "You okay?"
Rye didn't answer.
She looked toward the stars, her grip tightening on the sword's handle.
"Next time," she whispered, "I want answers."
And in the distance, the rift pulsed again — quiet and watching.