Hours passed, though the red sky never changed. There was no sun, no stars, only the dull, living light of the plains and the heartbeat hum that refused to fade.
The closer they drew to the fortress, the more the ground shifted from crystal to something else—smooth, black, almost metallic. Faint lines of silver ran across it, forming patterns like circuits.
Jonas crouched, running a hand along one of the glowing lines. "This isn't rock. It's… engineered."
Selene nodded slowly. "The builders of the Ark may have come from here. This could be the place their gods fled to—or from."
Liora looked up. The fortress loomed above them now, suspended by massive chains that plunged into the earth around them. Each link was the size of a transport ship, pulsing with molten veins of energy.
Mara shaded her eyes. "You see that?"
Beneath the lowest chain lay ruins—jagged towers half-buried in the crimson dust. Their edges were too clean to be natural, their surfaces etched with the same spiral symbols seen on Mars.
"Let's move," Mara said.
They entered the ruins in silence. The air here was colder, still heavy with the echo of power long gone. Shattered columns leaned against walls that still glowed faintly. The remains of statues—humanoid but alien—were scattered across the plaza.
Liora brushed her fingers along one cracked face. "They look… human."
Selene's eyes narrowed. "Not human. Something that became human. Or perhaps we became them."
Jonas gave a humorless laugh. "Fantastic. Existential crisis time."
Then Eris stopped.
At the center of the ruins stood a circular dais, covered in dust. A single shard of crystal hovered above it, spinning slowly, radiating pale light.
The hum grew louder. The shard pulsed in rhythm with Eris's heart.
He stepped closer, unable to resist.
Mara called out, "Wait! Don't touch it!"
Too late. His hand brushed the shard—and the entire ruin shuddered to life.
The ground lit up in a vast pattern of silver veins, racing outward from the dais. Symbols flared to life on the broken walls. The air trembled, and the shard dissolved into pure energy, pouring into Eris's chest.
He gasped. Visions burst behind his eyes—cities of crystal, skies of silver, beings of light and flame forging the chains that held the fortress above. And then… war. Fire. Betrayal. A shadow consuming them all.
When he staggered back, Selene caught him. "What did you see?"
Eris's voice was a whisper. "The builders. They bound something inside that fortress. The chains aren't to protect it—they're to keep it sealed."
A low groan rippled through the plains, deep and thunderous. The fortress above trembled, and from within its depths came a distant roar.
Jonas raised his rifle automatically. "Whatever's inside just noticed us."
The chains glowed brighter, one by one, as if awakening.
Mara cursed under her breath. "Then we'd better figure out how to leave before it decides we're next."
Eris stared at the black fortress and felt the pull again—stronger, clearer. Not a call for help. A warning.
Come no closer.