The being stood before them like a wound carved into existence.
Its body was half-shadow, half-armor, etched with shifting sigils that pulsed like veins of molten gold. Two crimson eyes burned beneath a jagged helm that looked forged from the fragments of stars. Every breath it took sent ripples through the air, warping light and sound.
Arlen and Lira froze — instincts screaming, senses drowning in the density of its power. The ground beneath their boots quivered as cracks of light spread outward like spiderwebs.
It spoke again, the words vibrating through the air rather than being heard.
> "You carry His spark… the remnant of the Skyborne Flame. Why?"
Arlen's voice caught in his throat. "What are you?"
The being tilted its head, studying him. The faint outline of what might once have been wings shimmered faintly at its back, now reduced to shadow and ash.
> "A warden of what was lost. A sentinel to the first breach. But you… you reek of the Celestial's breath. You are not meant to exist."
Lira stepped in front of Arlen, blades flaring with blue light. "He's not your enemy. Whatever this place is, we don't belong here, and we're leaving."
The creature's gaze shifted toward her — and for an instant, the air went silent. Then, a low chuckle.
> "Defiance. Even the mortals of this age carry echoes of old courage. But the Rift does not release what it consumes."
Without warning, it moved.
The ground shattered. Arlen barely had time to react before the creature's blade — a jagged length of crystallized void — sliced through the space he had been standing in. He countered with a burst of lightning, but the energy dissipated as though absorbed.
"Lira—!" he shouted.
She was already airborne, flipping over the creature's strike and driving her twin blades toward its neck. Metal met energy — sparks exploded, then vanished as the force sent her flying backward.
Arlen caught her mid-air with a surge of lightning, steadying her landing. "Its body absorbs mana. We'll have to hit it physically."
"Then stop holding back!" she yelled.
He gritted his teeth and focused. Blue-white arcs crawled across his arms, condensing into a storm-like halo. The air around him thickened, his aura shifting from lightning to something heavier — something colder. Frost began to form at his feet.
The being paused, voice deepening.
> "Ah… so the seal has weakened."
"What seal?" Arlen shouted, but it didn't answer — it attacked again.
The next few moments were chaos — lightning and void clashing in a maelstrom of power. Arlen's strikes grew faster, heavier, each one carrying a faint resonance of something greater. His eyes flickered silver for an instant — and the creature hesitated.
That single heartbeat was enough.
Lira lunged forward, blades forming a spiral of mana, and drove them straight through the creature's chest.
Light exploded. The ground quaked. The being let out a low, echoing sound — not a scream, but something older. A memory unraveling.
When the light cleared, it was kneeling, form flickering like dying flame.
> "You will awaken it… and when you do, the heavens will burn again."
"Enough riddles!" Lira shouted. "What are you talking about?!"
The being turned its gaze to Arlen. For a brief moment, its tone softened — no longer wrath, but sorrow.
> "Remember this name… Ardentis. The sky remembers. The frost endures."
Then it dissolved into shards of light, scattering into the Rift.
---
Silence returned — heavy, unnatural.
Arlen stood frozen, breath shallow, his lightning fading to faint sparks.
"Ardentis…" he whispered under his breath.
Lira touched his shoulder gently. "You've heard it before, haven't you?"
He nodded slowly. "In fragments. Dreams. Whispers that didn't belong to me."
The ground beneath them pulsed again, faintly this time — not a quake, but a heartbeat. The Rift wasn't done with them.
"Let's find the others," Lira said. "We can figure this out later."
They began moving through the crystalline field that stretched beyond the ruins. Each step echoed strangely, as if sound folded inward. The landscape shifted — the shattered ruins giving way to an open expanse of floating platforms and bridges woven from energy threads.
The horizon shimmered with light — a beacon pulsing like a dying star.
"That's where the readings converge," Lira said, checking her scanner. "If Kaine or Rynel are still alive, they'll be there."
Arlen stayed silent, eyes fixed on the pulsing beacon. Something about it drew him — a call he couldn't ignore.
As they walked, faint whispers drifted through the air.
Not from outside — from within.
> The seal breaks when frost meets storm…
The lost flame must remember its crown…
Wake, Ardentis… the Celestial Thrones crumble.
Arlen stopped in his tracks, clutching his head as the voices grew louder. Lira turned sharply. "Arlen! What's wrong?"
"They're calling me…" he murmured. "Voices — thousands of them…"
A surge of blue-white light erupted from his chest, forcing Lira back. His aura flared uncontrollably, cracking the ground around him. The frost spreading from his feet began to freeze the air itself.
"Arlen!" she shouted again, running toward him.
He looked up — his eyes glowing faint silver — and whispered, "It's happening again…"
Then, all at once, the energy vanished. He collapsed to one knee, trembling.
Lira caught him, breathing hard. "You need to stop doing that."
He managed a weak smile. "You think I do it on purpose?"
But before either could say more, they heard it — faint, distant shouting.
"Lira! Arlen! Over here!"
They turned. Through the haze, Rynel and Kaine were waving from a fractured bridge ahead. Relief surged through Lira's face as they ran to meet them.
When they finally reunited, the tension broke slightly — brief, but grounding.
"You two are insane," Rynel said, half laughing. "We thought you were gone."
"Same," Lira said. "The Rift swallowed us."
Kaine frowned. "No. It shifted you. I've been tracking dimensional anchors — the Rift rearranges its internal space every few hours."
Arlen exhaled. "Then we're trapped in something alive."
Kaine nodded grimly. "And it's learning."
---
They decided to rest briefly near a cluster of glowing stones that pulsed with faint warmth — one of the few stable areas they'd found. Lira patched a cut on Arlen's arm, though he barely felt it. His mind was elsewhere.
The name — Ardentis — echoed through him like a heartbeat. The voice of that being. The visions. It all fit too cleanly to be coincidence.
"You're thinking too hard again," Lira murmured, eyes fixed on him.
He gave her a sidelong glance. "How can I not?"
She smiled faintly, though there was sadness behind it. "Because sometimes, answers come when you stop trying to force them."
He looked away. "And sometimes they come when you're too late."
Before she could respond, the ground beneath them trembled slightly.
Kaine's scanner blinked red. "Energy spike — east side."
They stood immediately.
Rynel drew his bow. "Another guardian?"
Kaine shook his head slowly. "No. Something bigger."
The light on the horizon — that distant beacon — began to flare violently. It pulsed in sync with the Rift's heartbeat, each rhythm stronger than the last. The entire space began to twist again, light folding like fabric.
"Brace yourselves!" Lira shouted.
The world around them shattered like glass — and reformed.
They stood now in what looked like the remnants of a massive temple, suspended in nothingness. Pillars of energy held the fragments of the structure aloft, and at its center stood a single throne — ancient, broken, and glowing faintly with frost.
Arlen's breath caught. He knew this place. He didn't know how, but he did.
The others looked to him, confused. "You've seen this before?" Kaine asked.
Arlen stepped forward, voice distant. "In my dreams. Every time the storm called my name, it showed me this throne."
As he approached, the frost spread across the floor again, connecting to the base of the seat. The symbols carved into the stone flared to life — and the same voice echoed once more.
> "Welcome home, Fragment."
Arlen froze.
The throne's glow intensified, revealing faint silhouettes around it — statues of beings with wings, their faces broken or eroded. The air thickened with pressure, like standing beneath an ocean.
Lira whispered, "What is this place?"
Kaine's scanner sputtered uselessly. "No readings. This is… outside all known spatial constants."
The light from the throne reached toward Arlen, enveloping him. He could feel it — memory clawing its way to the surface.
Flashes:
— A storm tearing through the stars.
— Wings of silver and frost.
— A shattered crown falling through light.
— His own voice whispering, "Seal it all away."
Arlen fell to his knees, gasping. Lira caught him, panic in her voice. "Arlen!"
He looked up, eyes glowing faintly with silver and blue. "This throne… it's mine."
The chamber shook violently. The throne's light pulsed once more — not in welcome, but warning.
> "Then remember, Ardentis… if you reclaim your crown, you will awaken them."
And with that, the Rift screamed.
---