The ground wouldn't stop shaking.
It pulsed beneath their feet like a living thing, each tremor stronger than the last, as if something deep below the earth was struggling to break free.
Emily stood frozen for a moment.
Her breath shallow.
Her chest tight.
That voice—
It echoed again.
Faint.
But closer now.
"Come back…"
Her fingers trembled.
"…no," she whispered.
Alexander turned sharply toward her.
"What is it?"
Emily didn't answer immediately.
Her eyes were locked on the glowing cracks spreading across the battlefield. The golden light beneath them had changed.
It wasn't just light anymore.
It felt like a presence.
Watching.
Waiting.
Calling her.
"It's not just the core," she said finally, her voice low and strained. "There's something else down there."
Daniel swallowed hard.
"…please don't say that like it's a bigger problem."
Emily took a slow step forward.
The moment she did—
The energy reacted.
A violent pulse surged from the ground.
