The fissure widened with a sound like a mountain groaning awake. Dust billowed upward in thick clouds. The air vibrated so hard Ravel felt it in his teeth. Stones tumbled into the dark gap, vanishing without a sound. No bottom. No echo. Just a void.
Seris shielded her eyes. "Fall back!"
Ravel staggered with her as the ground beneath their boots shifted again. Smaller cracks shot outward like lightning lines. The valley trembled under another deep pulse. The same pattern as the pillar's awakening, only stronger.
Much stronger.
Ravel felt the sphere heat through the fabric of the satchel. Its glow pushed through the seams. Blue-white light flickered across the valley walls. A voice without sound brushed the back of his mind.
Not yet.
He sucked in a breath, nearly choking. Seris grabbed his shoulder, her grip tight enough to hurt.
"What did it do?" she asked.
Ravel shook his head. "I don't know."
"You froze. Ravel, talk to me."
"It… spoke." His voice cracked. "Not words. More like… a direction."
Seris's expression hardened. "If it's guiding you, be cautious. Nothing with power ever gives it freely."
Before Ravel could answer, a harsh screech tore through the air above them.
Seris's eyes snapped upward. "Glider."
One silhouette slid over the ridge, wings folded to navigate the narrow space. Its underside panels glowed with sensor light. The pilot leaned forward, scanning.
Ravel ducked behind a jut of rock. Seris pulled him lower. "Stay still."
The glider swooped lower, dust swirling beneath it. The pilot must have spotted the fissure. The craft banked hard and followed the new crack, skimming close to the walls.
Ravel's nerves burned.
"They're tracing the collapse," Seris whispered.
"Which means they're close to finding us."
A sudden blast of energy screamed from the ridge top. The echo siphon fired again. The beam missed the glider by a few meters and slammed into the opposite valley wall. The rock exploded outward in a violent spray.
The glider jerked wildly, losing balance.
Ravel shouted, "It'll crash!"
But the pilot recovered at the last second, pulling the craft up and out of the valley.
Seris grit her teeth. "Whoever is manning the siphon is getting desperate. That was sloppy."
Ravel didn't need reminding. The empire was willing to kill its own soldiers if it meant stopping him.
The ground rumbled again. Louder. Deeper.
Ravel looked toward the widening fissure. Shadows twisted far below, shifting like something alive. He felt the pull again — subtle, relentless. The sphere hummed in reply.
Seris tugged his arm. "We go. Now. Before this valley turns into a grave."
They sprinted toward the narrowing slope leading to the ravine. More dust fell from overhead. The walls vibrated. A jagged ridge cracked and fell behind them with a crash that shook the air.
Ravel stumbled, but Seris yanked him forward without slowing.
A final tremor surged underfoot.
Ravel heard a sound escape the fissure.A sound that did not belong to stone.
A long, low exhale.
Like something taking its first breath in centuries.
Ravel froze mid-stride. "Seris—"
She didn't look back. "Move!"
Another sigh rose from the darkness, louder this time. Almost curious. Almost aware.
Ravel felt his skin crawl. "Something is alive down there."
Seris half-turned. Her face was tight with fear she didn't bother hiding. "Exactly why we are leaving."
They pushed onward. The slope widened ahead. A sliver of open land glowed under the fading sunlight. The ravine was close.
But then something else rose from the fissure.
Light.
Not blue, like the sphere.Not violet, like the echo siphon.Something older.Grey and silver, shifting like smoke and starlight.
It curled upward in slow spirals.
Ravel felt his heartbeat stutter.
The sphere responded instantly, flashing in sharp, rapid pulses.
Seris dragged him harder. "Eyes forward! Don't let it pull you in!"
But Ravel couldn't help it. The light called to him in the same way the pillar had. The same way the sphere did. It wasn't hostile. It wasn't gentle either.
It was measuring him.
Judging him.
The sphere flashed once more.
The starlight recoiled.
Seris swore under her breath. "Whatever's waking doesn't like your artifact. All the more reason to flee."
They burst from the valley mouth just as another blast from the siphon hit the ridge behind them. The resulting quake made the entire slope collapse inward, sealing the valley entrance with a deafening roar.
Dust flooded the air. The sun dimmed behind the cloud.
Seris pushed Ravel forward, her voice sharp.
"Don't look back. We head for the ravine. We keep moving until nightfall. After what happened here, the empire will triple their pursuit."
Ravel finally tore his gaze away from the ruin behind them.
But the breath of the thing below the valley stayed with him.
Deep.Slow.Intentional.
He swallowed hard.
The empire wasn't the only force waking in the world.
And the sphere wasn't finished with him yet.