The tremors deepened, rising from the bowels of Oron Karth like a death knell. Obelisks cracked. Phantom runes bled from the walls like ink in water. The throne behind Ethan splintered not physically, but spiritually, its seal groaning under the strain of his reawakening.
Aelira's blades were drawn. Her eyes flicked between the shivering glyphs and Ethan. "Whatever you did, undo it."
"I didn't break it," he said, voice hollow. "I remembered it. That's what opened the door."
A low moan rumbled through the chamber. Not mechanical. Not natural.
Alive.
Aethra's voice rang through their comms, warbled and panicked.
"Contact! Multiple void-class anomalies converging. Defensive wards are degrading this site is going critical!"
Ethan staggered forward. The System was still recalibrating. His HUD blinked with corrupted data symbols in Kaelen's old code, whispers of commands etched in war-mind syntax.
[Core Seal: THRESHOLD]Status: CRACKEDEntity: ??? — Classification: EX (Origin-tier) — Dormancy: FRACTURED
A massive clang echoed from below. The floor in front of the throne buckled. Cracks webbed outward. A column of black fire speared up and from it, a shape began to rise.
First a claw. Then a mask of fused bone and starlight. Eyes like suns gone cold.
Aelira hissed. "Nope. We are not doing this here."
She grabbed Ethan by the arm. "Back to the Wraithling. Now."
They sprinted.
As they passed beneath the crumbling archways, Ethan risked one last glance back. The creature wasn't fully formed. Not yet. But it looked straight at him—as if it remembered Kaelen.
As if it hated him.
Cut to: Wraithling – Exterior Perimeter
The ship had deployed its defense systems—orbital disruptors lighting up the sky as shadow-things crawled from the ruins below. Aethra was holding them off, but not for long.
As the boarding ramp slammed shut behind them, Ethan collapsed into the captain's chair.
"Aethra! Launch sequence, now!"
"Confirmed. But… Ethan… whatever you touched down there—it's not just waking. It's reaching."
He felt it too. The System buzzed in warning, but underneath that—something else. A signal.
From beneath the throne.
And it was using his name.