The ground beneath them pulsed faintly, as though it had a heartbeat. Each throb sent waves of dull heat through their boots. The air shimmered, thick with ash that wasn't quite ash—more like fragments of light breaking apart.
Selene was the first to stand. Her staff flared to life, its glow fighting the red haze. "Stay close," she said, voice steady but low. "This place answers to its own laws."
Mara turned a slow circle, scanning the empty plain. "No wind. No sound. Just that… hum."
They all heard it then—a deep vibration, not from any direction, but from everywhere at once. It was the same rhythm that had shaken Mars, now magnified a hundredfold.
Jonas adjusted his rifle, scowling. "If this is the Heart, it's a real welcoming host."
Liora crouched, pressing a hand to the soil. Her face tightened. "It's not soil. It's crystallized essence. Whatever lives here—it bleeds power."
Eris said nothing. His eyes were fixed on the inverted fortress in the distance. The chains that held it glowed brighter with each pulse, connecting the fortress to the horizon like veins.
Selene followed his gaze. "It calls to you."
He nodded once. "Yeah. And it knows I'm here."
They began walking toward it, boots crunching over the crystal plain. The silence was suffocating—until the ground twitched.
Mara froze. "Did you feel that?"
Before anyone could answer, the plain cracked open. Thin fissures raced outward, glowing white-hot. From within rose columns of black mist, twisting together until they formed shapes—human at first, then stretching, distorting, sprouting long, blade-like limbs.
Jonas fired without waiting for an order. The blast cut through one shape, scattering it into smoke, but the mist reformed instantly.
"They're not solid!" he shouted.
Selene raised her staff and struck the ground. Rings of light rippled outward, slowing the mist-shapes, forcing them back. "They're echoes again—but stronger. Drawn to Eris's light."
The creatures circled, whispering in broken tones. "Sovereign… return… the Heart… break the chain…"
Eris's glow brightened until his shadow vanished completely. The whispers grew frantic, more urgent.
Liora called out, "Eris, you can't keep answering them—they'll pull you apart!"
He took a step forward anyway. The nearest creature lunged. Reflex took over; his hand lashed out, and a pulse of silver fire erupted from his palm. The blast tore through the mist, burning a path through the air.
The other creatures recoiled—but they didn't flee. Instead, they melted back into the ground, their whispers fading into the hum.
The plain sealed itself, as though nothing had happened.
Mara exhaled slowly. "Whatever this place is, it's testing us."
Selene nodded grimly. "No. It's testing him."
Eris looked back once more at the fortress hanging upside down against the blood-red sky. The chains thrummed louder now, and somewhere deep inside, something answered in return.
He said quietly, "Then we keep going. Because whatever it wants… we need to know why."
The group started forward again, the hum following like a pulse beneath their feet.