Kael woke to a silence that felt heavier than death itself.
The fractured sky above stretched endlessly, clouds hanging like shattered glass, but there was a rhythm in the air — a faint vibration, subtle yet unmistakable. It pressed against his chest, threading through his veins, a pulse he knew before he could place it.
He staggered to his feet, gaze scanning the ruins around him. The land had shifted while he slept — cracks widened, dust swirled in unnatural patterns, and the wind carried whispers he couldn't identify.
Then he heard it.
A voice, faint, like a candle flickering in the dark. Not sound, but a feeling — a tug on the very edge of his soul.
Mira…
His eyes widened. He spun, searching the horizon, but there was no one. Just the shattered plains, empty yet alive with residue of the Vault's power. His chest tightened; every heartbeat felt amplified, echoing against the walls of reality itself.
The pulse returned, stronger now — like a drum beating in the distance, a rhythm he knew intimately. His vision blurred. For a moment, he saw her silhouette, shimmering like heat over a desert, ghostly yet tangible.
"Mira?" His voice was rough, cracked, barely more than a whisper.
The world responded.
A ripple passed through the fractured sky. Light bent toward him in faint golden arcs, like the reflection of her energy, stretching across the ground in lines only he could see. He staggered forward, compelled, heart racing.
Every instinct screamed caution — he had faced the Behemoth, survived battles that would have killed any mortal, yet this… this was different. It was her, and it was beyond the reach of reason.
The pulse intensified, now synchronized with his heartbeat. Each step he took resonated against it, and for a fleeting moment, he felt the world lean toward him. Trees shifted, rivers swayed, even the clouds above appeared to bend toward the invisible force.
Kael stopped. Closed his eyes. Reached out with more than his hands — with his mind, his soul.
He felt her clearly then, a spark of life threading through the void, tangled in shards of memory and light.
She was near. Alive, somehow, and calling.
But the connection was unstable. The pulse jerked violently, pulling him forward and backward, as if reality itself resisted her return. Pain shot through his skull. He fell to his knees, the sigil on his chest burning with furious intensity.
"Hold on," he groaned. "I… I'm coming."
A shadow passed above — not the Watcher, not a creature of the Vault, but something else. Something waiting. Kael's pulse quickened. The light around him flared, responding to the invisible thread of Mira's essence.
And then it happened.
A ripple in the air, like a stone thrown across a pond. He saw her — not fully formed, just a shimmer, but unmistakable. Her outline solidified for a heartbeat, golden and fragile. Her eyes, when they met his, were wide with recognition and fear, as if she had glimpsed him across a thousand worlds.
"Mira!" he shouted, lifting his hands toward her. The ground shivered beneath him, energy radiating outward, bending light and shadow alike.
But the moment shattered. The pulse jerked violently again, pulling her away. The image flickered, breaking apart like glass.
Kael fell forward onto his hands, chest heaving. Blood rose at the corner of his lips. The sigil on his chest flared brighter than ever, feeding on his desperation.
"She's here… I can feel her," he murmured, voice trembling. "I won't lose you again."
The world responded faintly — a whisper in the wind, a shimmer in the broken sky, and somewhere, in the distance, a heartbeat matching his own.
Kael rose, fists clenched, determination burning through the fear. He didn't know where she was, didn't know what force held her back, but he felt the path. And he would find it.
No matter what.
Kael moved forward, each step measured but frantic. The pulse of Mira's essence tugged at him like a lodestone, pulling him across the fractured plains. The ruins of villages, trees split in half, and rivers flowing backward all blurred as he pushed onward, his senses consumed by the rhythm of her soul.
Every step sent echoes through the air, a faint resonance that made the fractured sky hum in response. The wind itself seemed to guide him, brushing his face like whispered instructions, carrying scents that were hers and yet impossible.
But the path was not free.
From the shadows of collapsed towers and skeletal trees, shapes began to emerge — lingering Watchers, fragments of the Behemoth's kin. Their forms were less defined, twisted by the energies of the Vault, glowing faintly with corrupted blue light. They drifted toward him, silent and patient, drawn to the pulse he followed.
Kael tightened his grip on his sword, the sigil on his chest flaring in warning. Light danced across the blade as he swung, slicing through a shadow that lunged with unnatural speed. The energy of the Watcher fragment screamed, evaporating into sparks that danced in the air before vanishing.
He pressed onward, dodging and striking, the world around him warping with each heartbeat. The pulse of Mira's essence grew stronger — a rhythmic pull, a tether that guided him even as his own power threatened to overwhelm him.
Then the ground trembled. A fissure tore through the plain ahead, jagged and alive with energy. From its depths, a low, guttural roar resonated, shaking Kael's teeth. The largest of the Watchers yet emerged — skeletal wings spread wide, eyes blazing blue, claws digging into stone.
Kael's pulse synchronized with hers — a golden beacon against the corrupt darkness. He charged. Each strike he delivered was fueled not only by rage and desperation, but by the thread connecting him to Mira. The Watcher lunged, claws slashing through air, but Kael's light shielded him, fragments of gold scattering like fire across the ground.
He leapt, slashing through one of its wings. It shrieked, a sound that split stone and air, but did not fall. Another strike barely missed his chest, knocking him back several meters. Pain exploded through him, and he stumbled, blood streaking his face.
He gritted his teeth. "I will not… let you… stop me!"
The pulse surged violently, and for a moment, Kael saw her again — clearer this time, golden light surrounding her, reaching for him across the void between worlds.
He ran. Faster. Swinging, leaping, tearing through the corrupted Watchers that tried to block him. Every strike of his sword, every motion, was guided by the heartbeat in the air — Mira's heartbeat.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the ground beneath him flattened. The pulse was stronger, concentrated, almost tangible. The horizon glimmered with golden light — her presence, no longer distant, growing nearer with each step.
Kael collapsed to one knee, chest heaving, eyes scanning. And there she was. Mira, corporeal again, glowing faintly, disoriented, yet unmistakably alive. The light around her flickered with each heartbeat, tethered to his own.
"Mira!" Kael shouted, pushing past exhaustion, rushing toward her. She looked up, eyes wide, recognition and fear dancing across her features.
Before he could reach her, the air shattered with a scream — another Watcher, larger, more monstrous than the fragments he had faced, rose from the fissure behind her. Its claws glinted in corrupted light, and its gaze locked on the golden thread connecting Kael and Mira.
Kael didn't hesitate. He stepped in front of her, sword raised, body trembling from exhaustion and power. "Stay behind me," he said, voice low but unwavering. "I'll get us through this."
The pulse surged again, stronger than before, and the fractured sky bent downward, streaks of gold tracing the path between them. Kael gritted his teeth, feeling the weight of the world, the Watcher, and the pulse of Mira's life all converge on him.
And he stepped forward, into the storm.