"Welcome to ELYRIA. The last paradise of mankind."
A soft feminine voice boomed from holograms stationed at various points throughout the dome.
The Sphere.
It's what they call it, due to its spherical appearance.
The AI's voice was warm, almost too warm for something synthetic. It echoed through the city's central intercom system, gliding over the spires of the white and blue plated buildings that peirced the sky like a ghost in the wind. Hover-trams zipped along invisible rails, leaving glowing blue trails behind them. Citizens in different colored uniform attire filled the streets, walking in rhythm beneath skies that always seemed to stay a little too blue.
"A planet of peace and harmony"
The voice continued as people went on with their everyday lives. Their uniforms had different colored markings at the arm and neck strips but had a similar silver base. Blue indicated you're a healthcare worker, amber— an engineer, black indicated you're a student, and so on. But people of far greater importance, they had white tags.
"Here, under the dome, humanity thrives safe from chaos, safe from fear."
The Dome loomed like a second sky, a shimmering— almost reflective, the shield curved into the distance with no clear beginning or end. Its inner walls projected the illusion of clouds and sun to imitate earth. A memory of the fallen planet. To the public, it was a sweet gesture— a way to forget what lurked beyond the dome.
Beyond that barrier was the void: an unforgiving planet haunted by demonic creatures. Creatures with one purpose— To destroy. The reason for their arrival is unknown. One day, there was peace, the next... unforgettable chaos. The creatures they called 'Voidhounds', they didn't appear in spaceships or alien pods like in the movies, no. They appeared out of thin air. A portal. A tear in reality. A void.
"Thanks to ORIZN, peace has been maintained for nearly a century…"
High above, a transmission tower radiated a blinding blue. The holographic billboards flickered, and the voice stalled with a small, mechanical stutter.
"…with the help of our heroes, our saviours: the VOID KNIGHTS."
On every corner, their faces lit up the giant screens.
Krey, the commander and leader, his expression was stoic, his sword was raised high- below the 'void knights' write-up.
Beside him stood the other three:
Cira, the second in command, holding her disc blades with a calm look, she was fierce, composed, and well respected.
Tamie in mid-spin with her spear, showing a wicked grin, She was a tech genius and had a hand in the designing of their weapons.
Jaylin, the son of one of the major sponsors of ELYRIA, was slightly behind, both arms crossed with eye brows furrowed.
People stopped to watch, offering small and gentle claps. A child excitedly rushed to a nearby hologram of the void knights, eyes gleaming. The adults chuckled—but their laughter was kept at a minimum to prevent 'noise pollution'.
"Within the Dome, there are no borders. No poverty. No war. Only unity."
A man scanned his wrist at a vending panel, receiving a nutrient block. A woman with tired eyes walked her child to the ORIZN education centre, as she talked nonstop about wanting to become a void knight. Drones floated overhead, blinking blue eyes, watching everything.
The sphere's voice faded out, the final words calm but firm.
"…and remember… ORIZN is always watching "
The line went dead.
-
Beneath the shining illusion of paradise, fear roamed quietly.
At precisely 14:27, the sky cracked open.
A shriek tore across the sky—inhuman, spine chilling, vibrating like metal grinding against metal.
Then came the sirens.
"VOID BREACH DETECTED."
" REPEAT. VOID BREACH DETECTED. SECTOR THREE. ALL CIVILIANS RETURN TO SHELTER PODS."
The Dome's streets turned to chaos. Holograms blinked red. Drones swarmed in patterns, herding civilians into shelters that opened from the ground.
Although they were already used to it. Children screamed. A man dropped his tablet as he fled. Everyone desperately sought shelter. No matter how perfect a world can be, it's impossible to eradicate fear.
The blinking lights, red-eyed drones, the sirens.
Everyone knew what that meant.
It meant the hounds were here.
-
Far from the panic, the eastern skies gleamed with chaotic colours. The wind turned erratic, and a colourful rip began to appear. It was mesmerising— almost beautiful even. Who knew such a beautiful phenomenon could harbour such dark monsters?
From the tear in reality, a shape began to emerge—too large, too fast, too wrong.
It moved with fore limbs far too long for it's body and hind limbs short enough to make them look out of proportion. Its skin was rough— almost impenetrable with glowing purple veins and long razor-sharp claws. It had black spikes along its back, which continued all the way to its long reptile-like tail. Its face was the worst of all— a long, deformed snout with scattered, sharp teeth protruding from its mouth. It focused its six pitch black eyes, with a tint of puple hue, on the floor as it stepped out of the void. It raised its horn into the air and let out another blood-curdling screech.
And behind it, more followed.
-
A low hum filled the sky.
A black aircraft sliced through the clouds—sleek, silent, unmarked. It hovered above the breach point, releasing a hiss of compressed air as its underside split open.
Four shadows dropped, landing in perfect sync.
Their boots cracked the ground, and each figure glowed with a different colour.
Krey stepped forward. His black armour gleamed under the purple sky, glowing white streaks pulsing along the seams. His jet black hair fell over his reflective mask made of lumenium * [An indestructible glass produced by ORIZN]
A long, curved blade rested across his back. His expression never changed—stone-faced, pale green eyes unreadable.
Beside him with a similar suit, Cira twirled her blade-discs with fluid grace. Her brown hair in a high puff bun as purple sparks trailed her every movement as her eyes—one blue, one brown—narrowed in focus.
Tamie spun the spear in her hands, green light radiating from the energy core embedded in its base. She tied her bob blonde hair in a messy bun and cracked her neck, eager to fight. Her brown eyes glimmered with excitement.
Jaylin came last, holding his gun a bit too tight, his steps less certain than the rest. Blue light glowed around his gloves and suit. He nervously brushed his ginger hair out of his face, his blue eyes darting round in anticipation.
HUDs * [Heads up display] flickered on inside their helmets. The team synced.
[BIO-SIGNS: 4+ UNITS. UNKNOWN MUTATION INDEX.]
[WEAPONS: ONLINE.]
[MISSION: NEUTRALIZE. PROTECT THE DOME.]
Krey's voice was steadfast as always. "We hold the line here. Nothing gets past us."
"Copy," Cira said, already taking position.
Tamie grinned. "Time to stretch."
Jaylin muttered, "Why do they always come when I'm on shift…"
The first Voidhound lunged.
Tamie was the first to react, and she eagerly leapt forward, meeting the beast mid-air. With a jab of her spear, the beast screeched and fell to the floor. But it wasn't dead. It charged at her with its one horn and crazy eyes. Tamie didn't run. Instead, she tightly gripped her spear with a smirk as she waited for the hound to reach a close proximity. Before she could react, a spinning disc shaped blade with a purple glow swiftly moved past her, slicing the beast's head off.
"Aww— oh, come on, Ceecee! I totally had that!" Tamie yelled in annoyance as she met Cira's eyes with an annoyed glare. To which Cira just rolled her eyes.
"Focus Tamie, this isn't a playground." Tamie pouted in response. They were both cut off by the screeching of the other two Voidhounds. One charged in the direction of Tamie and Cira, while the other at Krey and Jaylin.
"You're mine, buddy!" Tamie bolted towards the beast with Cira following suite.
The third came at Jaylin—fast. He fired, the pulse shot grazing the creature's side. It retaliated, swiping with razor claws. Jaylin stumbled, almost dropped his gun. Jaylin fumbled to tightly grip his gun, missing every shot he fired.
"Shit! SHIT! SHIT!!" He cursed as the voidhound drew closer. He tried to scramble to his feet, but it was too late. The hound pounced, and Jaylin covered his face with an arm waiting for the hit— but it never came.
Jaylin looked up in surprise to see krey in front of him. His sword in the beasts mouth as he gripped both ends of his sword, holding the beast back. The beast focused its eyes on Krey as it desperately clawed at him, Krey's eyebrows twitched, slightly surprised.
'Did it just focus its eyes?'
In a quick motion— he moved his sword to the right, slicing the beast's bottom jaw clean off. Black blood spewed from it mouth as it gripped what was left of its jaw in pain. Krey, seizing the opportunity, delivered a final blow. A clean slice through the beast, dividing it into two. Its eyes faded into black, indicating it was dead. Jaylin sprung to his feet and quickly muttered a 'thank you'.
Krey didn't look at him. "If you can't be useful, then stay out of the way." He walked away from Jaylin, who wore a shocked expression, but it quickly changed to rage as he clenched his jaw in anger.
They're watching.
He thought to himself as he looked up to see ORIZN drones, monitoring their activity— broadcasting them. He gripped his gun and walked forward with the rest of the group. Tamie and Cira had long since taken down the second void hound. But it wasn't over.
More emerged from the breach.
The team got into position.
Krey narrowed his eyes. His blade hummed louder.
"Here they come, remember— aim for the head." Then the battle really began.
Krey moved like light, slicing through hound after hound. The black blood hissed against his armour, but he didn't stop. He slammed a boot into one's jaw and drove his sword through its mouth. Cira threw her discs like boomerangs. They sliced and decapitated the beasts returning to her hands. Tamie, with her spear, jumped from above, striking the beasts on their head. Jaylin shot the beasts with his plasma gun. He wasn't as fast as the others but still managed to kill the hounds.
They fought until the last beast was killed.
Silence fell.
The field was still.
The only sound was the heavy breathing inside their masks and the hum of the aircraft overhead.
Krey wiped his blade. "Status report."
"All Voidhounds have been terminated," Cira replied as she scanned the area.
Jaylin stood shakily. "Hah- was it just me, or were that a little bit stronger?"
Tamie shot him a confused expression. "They seemed the right amount of strong to me." Jaylin just rolled his eyes in response and mumbled some inaudible things to himself. The ship made its way towards them and landed in a clear area.
"What's his problem?" Tamie asked Cira, who was approaching her.
"I don't know, and I don't really care. Let's head back to base, we're finished here, " Cira said, making her way to the aircraft. She didn't really care to address Jaylin's never-ending sour mood. I mean, why would she? ORIZN would edit them to look like a picture-perfect, happy team anyways.
"You coming?" She turned to Krey, who was crouched beside a dead voidhound.
Krey made a slight hand gesture for them to go on as he examined the body of the first beast he killed. Its flesh was dense as usual, nothing new. But he couldn't help but think back to when he killed it, Its eyes… weren't just glowing. They were focused.
Watching.
Just then, Krey's wrist comm was activated.
[CHANNEL OPEN - ORIZN HQ]
"All Knights, return to base." A voice from their wrist comms ordered.
Krey grabbed his sword from the ground and stood upright, raising his wrist to his mouth. "Copy, returning to base now."
Krey made his way to ship with calm, composed stides as the clean-up bots started with the disposal of the bodies of the beasts.
He tried to shake off the voidhound from his head. For decades, the voidhounds have shown no new advancements.
It was most likely nothing, but he will still discuss it with HQ.
-
END OF CHAPTER.
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INFO:
● HUDs: Heads-Up Displays — a futuristic digital interface that shows information directly in front of a character's eyes, usually on a transparent screen or visor.
Info shown can include:
Voidhound locations (like heat signatures or glowing outlines)
Knight vitals (heart rate, armour status, energy levels)
Weapon stats (charge level, ammo)
Mission updates from ORIZN HQ or The Sphere
3D maps or combat analytics
● BIO-SIGNS: (short for biological signs) are real-time indicators of a person's physical condition. They're tracked through devices like HUDs and used to monitor the health and status of a character during missions.
● HOVER TRAMS: They are are futuristic public transport systems that use light-based, magnetic technology to move quickly and silently across the city inside the dome.
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