Veyra led Kael and Aria across the fractured landscape, through tunnels of glowing stone and over bridges that twisted in on themselves. The deeper they went, the stronger Kael felt the pull of the Nexus — a humming vibration that made the hair on his arms stand up.
Finally, they arrived at a hidden sanctuary — a city entirely built inside a dimension folded into itself. Buildings floated, streets curled in impossible loops, and rivers of light flowed upward. Revenants of every shape and age walked cautiously, some half-formed, some grotesque, some eerily human.
"This is Refuge," Veyra said quietly. "The survivors of other worlds. We gather here to train, to learn, and to survive. But… few come unscathed."
Kael's chest tightened. He noticed Revenants staring at him with a mix of hope and fear. Some whispered his name — "Anomaly Three…" — and looked away.
One Revenant, a massive figure with translucent skin and glowing veins, stepped forward. "You're the one they warned us about," he said, his voice like gravel. "The dual-resonant. If your shadow awakens fully…" His words trailed into silence, leaving Kael with an icy dread.
Aria took his hand. "We'll figure this out," she whispered. "We have to."
Veyra led them to a central chamber, where holographic images of multiple worlds rotated in the air. Each was a node of the Nexus, some thriving, some corrupted, some collapsing.
Kael stepped closer, studying the projections. He realized the enormity of what they were dealing with: the collapse wasn't just one planet, one universe — it was all of reality, unraveling thread by thread.
He swallowed hard. The mark burned again. The whispers were louder. And deep down, he knew:
He was the only one who could stop it — or the first to fall.