The guardian froze mid-charge—its killing limb still raised, the red glow inside its chest flickering violently.
The golden-eyed being stood behind Elias, emerging from a black-and-gold tear in reality.Not walking.Not stepping.
Appearing, as if it had simply been there all along.
Aria held Elias tighter, her breath shallow, her body refusing to relax even in its presence.
Kellan stared in disbelief.
Jarek—half-conscious—muttered something incoherent and covered his head.
The golden-eyed watcher raised one hand.
No threat.No aggression.
Just quiet authority.
The guardian's armor shuddered.Its red eyes dimmed.Its blade-arm lowered involuntarily.
The golden-eyed being spoke.
Its voice was calm, layered, resounding like overlapping tones from a fractured bell:
"You are not permitted to touch what is mine."
Aria's breath hitched.
Mine.
The word echoed through the chamber like thunder beneath silence.Possessive.Certain.Final.
The guardian responded—its voice grinding out like metal under too much pressure:
"Overriding… protocol… resistance…"
Its limbs seized.Cracks spread across its torso.
The golden-eyed being tilted its head, almost studying it.
"Resistance," it said softly, "is irrelevant."
It opened its hand.
Nothing flashed.No spectacle.No energy blast.
Just a folding in the space between its fingers.
And the guardian collapsed.
Not fell—collapsed.
Every plate of armor, every wire, every vein of power inside it folded inward, crushed into itself like a dying star imploding under its own weight.
A heartbeat later—
nothing remained.
Only dust.
Aria's hand tightened around Elias protectively.
The golden-eyed being turned its gaze to her.
Not with threat.
Curiosity.
"You persist," it said quietly."You hold him even now."
Aria didn't lower her blade.
"I'm not letting go."
A pause.
"Interesting."
Kellan forced himself upright, breath ragged.
"What do you WANT from him?"
The creature turned its golden eyes onto him.
Those eyes—calm, ancient, hollow of anything human—made Kellan stagger back.
"What I want," it said softly, "is what he is becoming."
Aria swallowed hard.
"What is he becoming?"
The golden-eyed being observed Elias' unconscious body—white threads of threshold energy leaking out of him like steam.
"Something that should not awaken here."
Aria's pulse hammered.
"He didn't ask for this."
"No," the being agreed."He did not."
Kellan stepped forward, fury outweighing fear.
"Then leave him alone!"
The creature regarded him with the same calm indifference.
"I cannot. The moment he touched the threshold, he ceased to belong solely to your world."
Jarek whimpered from the floor.
Aria clenched her teeth.
"Then give him back."
The creature tilted its head.
"He is not taken."
Aria raised her blade.
"Then stay away from him."
For the first time, the creature's gaze sharpened by a fraction.
Almost amusement.
Almost irritation.
"You are bold."
Aria pressed the tip of her broken blade against the ground to keep her balance.
"You have no idea."
The creature stepped closer.
Kellan gripped his staff.Jarek scrambled backwards.Aria braced herself.
But the golden-eyed being did not strike.
It crouched slowly—quietly—until its face was level with Elias'.
Its voice lowered.
"You came too early," it whispered to the unconscious boy."You are not ready for the second step."
Elias stirred.
Aria's breath locked.
He was waking.
Slowly.Painfully.As if dragging himself through layers of darkness.
The creature continued:
"But ready or not… the depth will not wait. And neither will they."
Aria forced herself to speak.
"They?"
"Everything below," the creature said simply."What you defeated was a scout."
Aria went cold.
Kellan clenched his jaw.
"And the guardian?"
"A warden."
Jarek clutched his head."A warden?! That thing was a warden—?"
The golden-eyed being stood.
The rift behind it pulsed, waiting.
But it didn't step into it yet.
It turned sharply—face angled toward Elias, voice dropping lower.
"Your next threshold will break either here… or elsewhere."
Aria rose to her feet, wounded, shaking, blade in hand.
"Say it plainly."
The creature stared at her.
"He does not get to escape what wakes inside him."
Aria snapped:
"I didn't ask about him.I asked about YOU."
Kellan whispered, horrified:
"Aria… don't—"
The creature went still.
Its golden eyes dimmed to a darker glow.
"My role," it said slowly, "is to watch.To test.To claim what crosses too far."
Aria's grip on Elias tightened until her knuckles whitened.
"You're not claiming him."
Silence.
Then—
"You misunderstand," the creature replied.
Its gaze shifted to Elias again.
"He is claiming himself."
Elias choked on a breath—eyes cracking open—white light flickering beneath the lids.
Aria knelt instantly.
"Ward—Elias—look at me. Stay here. Stay with us."
Elias' lips trembled.
Something cracked in his voice.
"…Aria…?"
She exhaled softly.
"Yes. I'm here."
Elias' eyes opened fully.
White.
Not glowing.
Not shining.
White like frost over glass.
He saw the golden-eyed being.
And whispered:
"You again…"
The creature leaned slightly closer.
"Soon."
A pulse shook the chamber.
A warning, not a strike.
The rift opened wider.
The creature stepped backward into it.
Before vanishing, it said:
"Do not let him sleep.If he sleeps now… he will not wake."
And it was gone.
The rift sealed shut.
Silence followed.
Broken only by Elias' breath—raw, uneven, on the edge of collapse.
Aria cradled him, voice trembling.
"Ward… stay awake. Do you hear me? Stay with us."
Elias tried to answer.
He couldn't.
His body shook—hard enough that Aria had to wrap her arms around him to keep him from seizing.
She looked at Kellan, eyes blazing.
"Find us a way out. Right now."
Kellan nodded.
"On it."
Jarek forced himself up, pale, terrified.
"What's wrong with him?"
Aria didn't answer at first.
She held Elias, feeling the heat of the threshold energy burning beneath his skin.
Finally, she whispered:
"He's slipping."
Elias' breathing hitched.
Aria's voice broke.
"And if he falls… we lose him."