The morning light bled through the cracks in the shattered cathedral ceiling, casting slanted golden beams across the crumbling pews and the scorched altar. A strange hush clung to the air, as if the entire world were holding its breath—anticipating a verdict long overdue.
Reina sat on the edge of a broken stone bench, her rifle laid across her lap, her eyes heavy with more than just fatigue. Across from her, Arlen tightened the straps of his armor, his jaw clenched, his expression unreadable. The silence between them had lingered since the ambush in the dead city the night before. Too many lives lost. Too many secrets still festering.
"We need to talk about what happened at the East Wall," Reina finally said, voice low.
Arlen didn't look at her. "No. We need to move."
"No," she repeated, sharper this time. "You lied. Again. You knew about the Ash Pact, didn't you?"
That caught him off guard. He froze mid-motion, his eyes flicking to hers with a hint of alarm. "Where did you hear that name?"
"From an old Enforcer log buried in the archives," Reina replied. "It mentioned a failed ritual… binding humans to creatures from the Rift. Blood-forged contracts. That's why the monsters hesitate around you. Why they never touch you."
A long pause.
Then, Arlen exhaled slowly, standing upright. The stained glass behind him, once a depiction of salvation, now looked more like a bleeding wound.
"It wasn't a lie. It was survival," he said.
"You made a pact?"
"I was sixteen," he whispered. "My brother was dying. My unit was slaughtered. The world had already ended. A Rift being offered me a choice: power, for a price I didn't understand. I said yes."
Reina stood, every part of her screaming with confusion and betrayal. "You've been bonded to one of them this entire time? And you didn't tell anyone? You brought that thing into our ranks!"
"I brought myself into your ranks. Not it," he snapped. "The creature is dormant. It feeds off… remnants of life force. But I control it. And because of it, I've saved lives you'll never know about."
Reina shook her head. "You should have told us. We could've helped you carry it."
"No one carries this but me."
From the shadows near the altar, a voice emerged—silky, ancient, and cruel.
"Oh, but she could, Arlen. She already bears the Echo."
Both of them turned sharply, weapons raised. From the gloom, a woman emerged—tall, wrapped in veils of black smoke, her feet never quite touching the floor. Her face flickered between beauty and decay with every step.
Reina's blood turned to ice. "What are you?"
"The one who owns the other half of your soul," the Rift entity replied, gazing at Arlen like a proud mother watching her favored child.
He stepped forward, hand outstretched to block Reina. "You said you would stay dormant!"
"I did. Until the Echo awakened in her," the creature purred. "She resonates with the Rift. She doesn't even know it, does she?"
Reina felt something inside her stir—some dark ember crackling at the edges of her thoughts. The voice… it had whispered to her before. During the siege. In her dreams.
"No," she breathed. "That's not true."
Arlen's expression darkened. "Leave her out of this."
The entity's eyes shimmered. "But she's already in it. You two are bound now, in ways neither of you understand."
Suddenly, the cathedral trembled. Dust rained from the rafters. A deep growl echoed from below the earth—as if the Rift had just inhaled.
Arlen turned to Reina. "We have to go. Now."
"But—"
"No time." His voice cracked. "This place is a beacon. They'll come for us. All of them."
They ran, boots pounding against cracked stone. Behind them, the entity laughed—a haunting, echoing sound that clung to the shadows.
Outside, the ruins of the city stretched like the skeleton of a dead god. Ash fell from the gray sky like slow snow. Far to the east, a ripple pulsed in the sky—the Rift flaring like an angry wound.
Reina gasped for air. "What did she mean… about me?"
Arlen didn't answer immediately. When he did, his voice was hollow.
"There's something in you. Same as me. But… different. The Echo is older than the Rift. It was what the Ancients used to seal it shut. Somehow… you're linked to it."
She stopped walking, gripping her rifle until her knuckles turned white. "So I'm not even human anymore?"
"No," he said, turning to face her. "You're more."
That didn't make it better.
They pressed on until they reached the edge of the shattered metro line. Underground, they could hide. But Reina's thoughts churned like a storm.
"How many of us are like this?" she asked. "Twisted by what's come through?"
"I don't know," Arlen admitted. "But if we don't figure it out soon, the Rift will consume everything."
For the first time in days, Reina felt something she didn't want to admit: fear. Not of the monsters. Not of dying.
But of what she might become.
And deep within her, something stirred.
Something... waiting.