The first light slid across the fractured horizon, painting the ruins in pale gold and ash. The world looked fragile in that hour — like a mirror glued together wrong.
The crimson golem still knelt at the edge of the cliff, unmoving. Its glow had faded to a faint pulse, like a dying ember that refused to go out. Around it, the group stirred to life. Aurora was the first to wake, groaning as she rolled off her phoenix's wing and stretched like a cat.
"Still alive. Fantastic," she muttered, rubbing her eyes.
Lyra was already on her feet, bow in hand. The wind tugged at her hair as she scanned the horizon. "Something's off," she said softly.
Peter materialized from the shadows beside her, quiet as always. "You feel it too."
Alex sat up slowly, rubbing at the faint crimson veins that still glowed beneath his skin. The Core pulsed once — not warning, not hunger, just awareness. Something was close.
Then the air shifted. A faint vibration hummed underfoot — subtle, like a note held too long on an invisible string.
Lyra's bowstring tightened. "We're not alone."
From the fog between the ruins, two figures emerged. A boy and a girl, both dusty and pale from hiding. The boy looked nineteen, lean but built for movement, a sword slung across his back with cracks of blue light running down its blade. The girl beside him was about eighteen, her hands glowing faintly with fractured energy, eyes alert and cautious.
Aurora's phoenix hissed. Peter's shadows flared, curling protectively around the group.
The boy raised his hand slowly. "Easy," he said, voice calm but firm. "We don't want a fight."
"Yeah?" Lyra's arrow glimmered with frost. "Then step back."
The girl's glow brightened — defiant, almost teasing. "We've been hiding here for three days. You're the ones who woke half the realm with your lightshow."
Alex stood now, the Core pulsing brighter at their presence. His instincts sharpened — there was something about the two of them. The hum in the air wasn't danger. It was resonance.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The boy hesitated, eyes flicking to the golem behind Alex. "Jason. This is Amanda." His jaw tightened. "We're Fragment bearers. Like you."
That last sentence hit like a thunderclap. Lyra lowered her bow slightly, but her fingers stayed near the string. Aurora stopped mid-yawn. Even Peter's shadows paused.
Amanda crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. "You don't look surprised."
Alex met her gaze. "Because the Core recognized you before I did."
A ripple of crimson light pulsed from his chest, and both newcomers stiffened. Jason's sword flared with blue light; Amanda's glow split into small orbs floating around her hands.
Aurora sighed. "Oh, perfect. Power flexing at dawn. My favorite."
Peter's voice cut through, cold and low. "If you're really Fragment bearers, prove it. Or we assume you're spies."
Jason's eyes darkened. "You think I'd crawl out of the ruins to pick a fight with him?" He nodded toward Alex, whose Core burned like a small sun. "We felt that thing from half a mile away. Thought a monster was tearing through the plane."
Amanda took a step forward, her tone shifting from sharp to wary. "Then we saw what you did — controlling that golem. That's not normal fragment power."
Lyra frowned. "You've seen others?"
"Enough to know most can't do that." Jason's sword lowered a little, but the blue cracks along it still hummed. "We were hiding from the Architect's scouts. They've been hunting us — rounding up bearers for something big."
The group went silent at that. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Alex glanced at his team. "You believe them?"
Peter's expression stayed unreadable. "I believe they're scared. Whether it's of us or something else, we'll find out."
Aurora flicked a strand of hair out of her face. "Can we skip the interrogation and get to the part where we all share trauma over campfire breakfast?"
Amanda blinked. "You're… weird."
Aurora grinned. "Thank you."
Jason finally sheathed his sword, though tension still crackled around him. "We were going to move at first light. But if you're heading toward the Rift Spire, we'll come with you."
"The Rift Spire?" Alex echoed.
"It's where the Architect's influence is thickest," Jason said. "And where the next Fragment pulse is due."
Amanda glanced between them. "You've felt it too, right? That pull?"
Alex nodded slowly. "Yeah. The Core's been restless since last night."
For a moment, no one spoke. The five of them — six, counting the silent golem — just stood there in the breaking light, fragments of power humming in quiet harmony. Rivals, maybe. But all marked by the same impossible thread.
Lyra lowered her bow completely, though her eyes never softened. "If you travel with us, you follow our rhythm. No secrets, no surprises."
Jason smirked slightly. "No promises, but fine."
Amanda chuckled. "He says that to everyone. Don't take it personal."
Aurora muttered, "Oh, this is going to be fun."
They moved soon after, packing what little they had. The dawn stretched wide and endless ahead of them, broken spires piercing the clouds like the bones of dead gods.
Alex walked last, letting the others drift ahead. His fingers brushed the mark on his chest — the Core pulsing faintly.
> Fragments gathering… the cycle nears completion…
The whisper returned, faint but clear, like a voice echoing from deep water.
He froze, the hairs on his neck rising.
Cycle?
"Alex?" Lyra called back.
He shook his head, forcing a small smile. "Coming."
As the group disappeared into the ruins, Jason and Amanda's silhouettes merged with theirs — a fragile alliance born from dawn tension and mutual fear. None of them noticed the faint red symbol that appeared in the dust where Alex had stood: a circle split into six shards, each glowing for a moment before fading.
The world wasn't done testing them.
Not even close.
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Tagline:
> The fragments are waking. And some remember who shattered them.