---
The wind carried the taste of rust and decay.
Teik stepped out from the ruins of Hymnora, boots crunching against the glassy soil where Flow once ran like rivers of light. The world had changed. He could feel it not just in the air but in the pulse of his Histinak — the bond between life and Flow was… distorted. Tainted.
Cities that had once gleamed under the crystalline skies were now buried beneath drifting ash. The great conduits — the veins of the planet — pulsed irregularly, their rhythm faltering. Someone had tampered with the lattice of Flow that connected all living things.
Teik took a slow breath. His power had not yet returned fully, but enough to sense traces of those he once knew.
A flicker of warmth.
A flicker of pain.
He followed it.
---
Hours later, he reached the outskirts of what had once been the Sanctum of Auvrell, a neutral ground for Flow practitioners. The once-white towers were now blackened ruins, their sigils dimmed. He found the first body half-buried in dust — the symbol etched on the dead man's armor was unmistakable.
Order of the Hollow Embrace.
Kael's faction.
Teik crouched, fingers brushing the corpse's shoulder plate. It was still warm. That meant the fight had been recent — maybe even ongoing.
From behind the shattered remains of a Flow spire, movement stirred. A silhouette emerged — lithe, cautious, spear at the ready. The moment her eyes met his, the weapon clattered to the ground.
"...Teik?"
The voice wavered, almost disbelieving.
Teik turned. The figure that stepped into the light was Irene. Her once-silver hair was streaked with soot, her armor battered and torn, but her Flow still pulsed bright — fierce and steady as it had always been.
"Irene," Teik said, his tone calm but heavy with years unsaid. "You survived."
She blinked, stepping closer as though afraid he'd vanish if she moved too quickly. "You were gone. Everyone said you'd—"
"Died," Teik finished for her. "They weren't wrong."
She stared at him, searching his face for the man she remembered. "Then what are you now?"
He looked down at his hands. The veins shimmered faintly with Flow, but deeper within, his Histinak burned — something foreign yet alive. "Something that shouldn't exist," he said quietly. "But something this world needs again."
A sound broke through their silence — the deep rumble of engines. Irene's eyes widened. "They're coming."
"Who?"
"Kael's hunters," she whispered. "He's been using Flow anomalies to track whoever carries your resonance. He thinks it's… his path to ascend."
Teik's expression hardened. "Kael hasn't changed, then."
Irene shook her head. "No. He's worse. Since you vanished, he's been tearing through Flow nexuses. He says the world will reset through destruction. And people are starting to believe him."
Teik's power flared faintly in response, the air shimmering. "Then we stop him."
Irene nodded once, reclaiming her spear. "There's more. Others survived — fragments of your old team. But they've changed too. Some joined Kael. Others hide in the wastelands, hunted by both sides."
Teik turned toward the horizon. "Then we find them. All of them."
As the sound of the approaching hunters echoed closer, Teik's aura deepened — Flow and Histinak swirling into a perfect equilibrium. The ground beneath him vibrated, whispering recognition.
Irene watched, her breath catching. "You're stronger than before…"
"No," Teik said, eyes narrowing as faint figures appeared in the mist ahead. "Just more certain."
He took a single step forward — and the world around him seemed to bend.
The first of Kael's soldiers appeared, clad in jagged Flow armor, weapons glowing with artificial resonance. Teik's fingers tightened, the Flow in his palm igniting into spiraling light.
"Let's see," he muttered, "what Kael's world of ruin really looks like."
The air cracked — then roared to life as Flow surged.
---
End of Chapter 20: Part 2