Chapter 4 — The First Rift Mission
By noon, storm clouds writhed around the crack overhead like ink swirling in water. Kael watched them with a knot in his throat. The fracture in the sky wasn't just widening—something inside it was stirring.
Rhyne packed gear into his cloak with practiced efficiency. "A new Rift opened east of the village. Small. But small ones never stay that way."
Kael tightened his grip on his blade. "We're going there?"
"We have to. If something crosses through and we're not there to stop it…" Rhyne gave a grim shrug. "You saw what one Riftspawn did."
Kael didn't need the reminder.
As they set off through the forest, Kael's nerves crackled with each step. Shadows felt deeper. The wind felt colder. Birds had stopped singing. Even the Ember marks on his arm pulsed faintly, as if sensing what lay ahead.
"Rhyne," Kael said quietly, "how long have you been hunting these things?"
Rhyne didn't look back. "Long enough to know we're losing."
Kael swallowed hard. "Then why keep fighting?"
A rare softness flickered across Rhyne's expression. "Because someone has to."
They reached the Rift minutes later—a swirling blue tear hovering a few feet above the ground, warping the air around it like heat over flame. Grass wilted in a perfect circle. The forest held its breath.
Kael stepped closer. "This one looks… small."
Rhyne stiffened. "Size doesn't matter. What matters is what comes through."
As if summoned by his words, the Rift shuddered.
A slender creature crawled out—pale, long-limbed, with a single glowing eye and a mouth stretched too wide. Unlike the shadowy brute Kael had faced before, this one moved with eerie grace.
"A Wispclaw," Rhyne murmured. "Fast. Venomous. Don't let it touch you."
The creature hissed—and vanished.
Kael spun wildly. "Where—?"
It appeared beside him in a blur. Kael barely dodged, rolling across the ground as its claws carved a tree trunk like butter. His arm burned; the Ember responded.
"Focus!" Rhyne barked.
Kael braced himself, letting instinct and flame guide him. A burst of blue fire erupted from his hand, catching the Wispclaw mid-lunge.
It shrieked—and dissolved into drifting smoke.
Kael exhaled shakily. "That… was harder."
Rhyne nodded grimly. "And the next ones will be worse."
Above them, the crack throbbed with deeper, darker light—like something massive was drawing nearer.