The dunes stretched endlessly under a bleached white sun.
Heat shimmered across the horizon, turning the air itself into a trembling veil.
Reina led the way, silent and focused, her eyes sweeping the wasteland for signs of cover or danger.
Silo trailed close behind her, dragging his boots through the sand.
"So… Reina," Silo started, breaking the silence. "You ever think about what you'll do if we actually find this cube thing? Maybe wish for a better haircut? Or a personality upgrade?"
Reina didn't even turn. "Keep talking and I'll wish for silence."
"Wow," Silo grinned. "So violent. You sure you weren't trained as an assassin or something?"
"Keep walking."
Silo smirked and fell back a little, undeterred, tossing questions into the wind as if hoping one would land. "What about food? Or water? Or, I don't know—shade? You planning to find those with your scary glare too?"
Reina's sigh was long and theatrical. "Silo, if I ignore you hard enough, will you disappear?"
"No promises," he said cheerfully.
Behind them, Luke chuckled quietly. Elias, walking beside him, was quieter today — eyes far away, steps mechanical.
"You're thinking too much," Luke said.
Elias blinked. "Hm?"
"I can read your mind," Luke teased. "You're imagining what it'll be like when you hand the Tessarect to the Nova. What he'll say. What rank you'll get. Am I close?"
Elias's grin broke through like sunlight after rain. "Maybe. You think they'd make me a Royal Guard? Or something higher?"
Luke shrugged. "With that ego? They'll probably make you the next Nova."
Elias laughed — a genuine sound for the first time since the fall. He slung an arm around Luke's shoulders. "Maybe this wasn't exile after all. Maybe it was a mission, and we're the ones who'll bring back what everyone else lost."
Luke smiled faintly. "Yeah. Maybe."
They walked in silence for a while, the wasteland whispering around them.
It was Silo who spotted them first. "Uh… guys? Tell me I'm seeing that right."
Ahead, across a patch of cracked earth, a small herd of creatures grazed. Slender, long-limbed, their coats a dusty gold that shimmered faintly in the light.
The group stopped, eyes wide.
"What… are those?" Elias asked.
Reina tilted her head. "I've never seen anything like them."
"They look peaceful," Luke murmured. "Graceful, even."
The creatures lifted their heads occasionally, twitching their ears, then dipped again to nibble the sparse tufts of grass that clung to the sand. For a moment, everything was still.
Then, suddenly, every creature froze.
Their heads shot up in perfect unison, eyes locked skyward.
"What's happening?" Luke whispered.
The herd bolted.
In an instant, they scattered across the dunes, leaping and kicking up fountains of sand before vanishing into the distance.
Elias blinked. "What the hell scared them?"
Reina's tone turned sharp. "Don't wait to find out. Run."
They sprinted toward the nearest ruins — a cluster of collapsed towers and hollowed-out shells of buildings half-swallowed by dunes.
Luke threw himself behind a slab of concrete, dragging Elias down beside him. Silo and Reina crouched nearby, breathing hard.
The air trembled.
A low, resonant hum rolled through the desert — deep enough to rattle the bones.
Then the shadow came.
Massive, gliding across the ground like a dark tide.
Luke dared a glance upward.
Something enormous was circling above the dunes. Not quite a creature, not quite a machine — wings of metallic membrane shimmered under the sun, each movement smooth and silent. The air beneath it distorted with every pulse of its engines—or lungs.
There were two of them.
They descended slowly, scanning the surface below. Long, jointed limbs extended, digging into the sand as they landed — their heads tilting, sniffing, listening.
Luke's pulse hammered in his throat. They were the same silhouette he'd seen that night — the monsters that had stalked the ruins.
The things began to scavenge, talons tearing through the sand. One of them leaned low, its head unfolding in segments, revealing a pulsing light within. It emitted a clicking sound, rhythmic and alien.
"They're searching…" Reina whispered. "Scanning."
"For what?" Elias breathed.
Reina shook her head slowly. "Not what — who."
The creatures prowled for several minutes, the air around them vibrating faintly. Then, with a synchronized motion, they straightened, spread their wings, and launched upward again — vanishing into the haze.
Only when their shadows disappeared did anyone breathe.
Silo slumped back, clutching his knees. "Okay, so, I vote we never go outside again."
Luke glanced at Reina. "You said you'd heard stories about these things before. What are they?"
Reina hesitated, brushing dust from her gloves. "You really want to know?"
Luke nodded.
She looked up toward the empty sky. "They're called Omegas."
Elias frowned. "Omegas?"
Reina nodded grimly. "That's what the Nova Guard called them. They're not from our world — at least, not anymore. They were the enemy that destroyed the old cities. They're the reason the other Novas fell."
Luke's eyes widened. "You mean… the Twelve?"
"Yes," she said. "The War of the Twelve wasn't against rebels or traitors like they tell us. It was against them — the Omegas. The Novas were fighting an invasion from the sky. One by one, they died holding the walls, until only the current Nova survived."
Elias stared in awe. "So the Nova's still fighting them?"
Reina nodded. "That's what we were told. He's been holding them back ever since — building the walls higher, keeping the city alive. Every day we mined, every resource we gathered — all of it went into powering the defenses, preparing for their return."
Luke exhaled slowly. "And the Tessarect?"
"Was the weapon — or the shield," Reina said. "Nobody knows exactly. But it was the key to the Nova's power. When it was lost, the tide of war shifted. The Novas fell, and the city turned inward to survive."
Elias ran a hand through his hair, disbelief and admiration flickering in his expression. "So all this time, the Nova's been fighting them alone? Protecting everyone?"
Reina's lips curved into a faint, almost sad smile. "That's the story."
Elias's eyes lit up with something new — awe, pride. "Then we have to find the Tessarect fast. If we bring it back, we can help him win the war."
Luke smiled faintly, watching him. "Now that's the Elias I know."
"Damn right," Elias said, straightening. "We're not running anymore. We're soldiers now."
Silo groaned. "Correction — you're soldiers. I'm still a professional survivor."
"Then survive by following orders," Reina said dryly, stepping out from the ruins.
Silo made a face but followed.
The four of them emerged into the sunlight once more. The desert stretched ahead, vast and endless, yet no longer empty. For the first time, it felt like it held purpose — hidden truths buried beneath its silence.
Luke shielded his eyes and looked toward the horizon, where the faint shimmer of another ruin glowed in the heat.
"Let's keep moving," he said quietly. "We've got a relic to find."
They began walking again — small figures crossing the golden expanse, their shadows trailing long and thin behind them.
Above, the wind whispered through the air, carrying with it the faint metallic echo of something vast and distant — the sound of wings.