The dropship broke atmosphere hard.
Cloud layers tore apart around it—
Not naturally.
The moment the hull pierced through the upper layer, the sky fractured with light.
Lines.
Faint at first—
Then clearer.
Golden.
Sera leaned forward slightly.
"…That's not weather."
Kael didn't respond.
Because he could already see it.
Not just the light.
The structure beneath it.
The clouds weren't clouds.
They were layered energy fields—
Interwoven like overlapping shields, stretching across the planet in massive, shifting patterns.
Ancient.
Still active.
"Stabilizers are fighting interference," the pilot said over comms.
The ship shook—
Hard.
A surge of energy arced across the hull—
Not lightning—
Something cleaner.
Structured.
Kael's eyes tracked it.
The arc didn't strike randomly.
It followed a path.
A pattern.
"Drop vector is unstable," the pilot continued. "We're forcing entry."
The ship pushed through the final layer—
And the world opened.
Eryndor.
It didn't look like Virelia.
It looked older.
Massive stone structures rose from the terrain—impossibly tall, their surfaces carved with intricate rune patterns that pulsed faintly with golden light. Entire sections of the landscape floated, broken from the ground but held suspended by thin strands of energy stretching between them.
Mountains weren't just mountains.
They were shaped.
Carved.
Built.
And the sky—
Was filled with drifting fragments of architecture.
Pieces of a civilization that had never fully fallen.
Just…
Stopped.
"…This place is still running," Sera said quietly.
Kael stepped forward.
Because something about it—
Felt familiar.
The dropship descended toward a fractured plateau.
A broken structure sat at its center—once a massive gate or tower, now partially collapsed, its upper half suspended in the air above it by strands of glowing energy.
"Landing zone compromised," the pilot said.
"No clear stable ground."
Kael looked down.
The surface wasn't stable.
But it wasn't random either.
"Set it down," he said.
The pilot hesitated.
"…That's not—"
"Set it down."
The dropship descended.
The ground shifted beneath it—
Not collapsing—
Adjusting.
The structure beneath the landing struts realigned—
Flattening just enough—
Holding.
The ship landed.
Hard.
But stable.
Sera looked at Kael.
"You did that."
He didn't answer.
Because he wasn't sure if she was right.
The ramp lowered.
Air rushed in.
Different from Virelia.
Not heavy.
Charged.
Every breath carried something sharp—like energy brushing against their lungs.
Kael stepped out first.
Boot hit stone.
The surface reacted.
Not visibly—
But he felt it.
The structure beneath him—
Recognizing.
Sera followed.
Weapon up.
Scanning.
"This place is too quiet."
Kael looked ahead.
The ruins stretched outward in massive, broken layers. Stairways that led nowhere. Bridges suspended between floating fragments. Columns split apart but still standing, held together by thin, glowing threads.
Nothing moved.
But nothing felt dead.
A sound.
Low.
Deep.
Like something powering up.
Sera turned.
"…You hear that?"
Kael didn't answer.
He was already moving.
Toward the center structure.
The ground shifted.
A crack formed ahead of him—
Not breaking—
Opening.
Golden light spilled through it.
Lines of energy surged outward across the surface—
Connecting.
The entire ruin—
Activated.
"Kael—" Sera started.
Too late.
Something rose.
Not from the ground.
From the structure itself.
Stone fragments lifted—
Pulled together—
Forming shape.
Not organic.
Not Bloomed.
Something else.
Ancient.
A construct.
It stood tall—
Humanoid—
But built from layered stone and energy, glowing lines running through its body like veins of light.
Its head turned.
And locked onto Kael.
Then it moved.
Instantly.
Faster than its size should allow.
It crossed the distance in a single step—
Stone cracking beneath it—
Kael reacted—
But not by blocking.
He stepped.
The air shifted—
Golden lines flashing across his vision—
He moved before the strike landed.
The construct's arm slammed into the ground—
Where he had been.
The impact shattered the stone—
Sending fragments upward.
Kael grabbed one mid-air—
Twisted—
Drove forward—
And slammed it into the glowing seam along the construct's side.
OH THAT WAS CRAZY MOMENT
The fragment shattered on impact—
But the energy inside the construct—
Burst outward.
The glowing lines flickered—
Destabilized.
It staggered.
Sera fired—
Rounds striking exposed sections—
Forcing it back.
"It's not reacting like the Bloom!" she shouted.
Kael moved again.
This time—
He saw it.
The pattern.
The energy flow inside the construct—
Shifting.
Preparing.
He stepped forward—
Not attacking the body—
But the connection.
His blade cut across the glowing lines—
Perfect timing.
The energy inside it collapsed inward—
Then exploded outward in a controlled rupture.
The construct froze—
Then—
Fell apart.
Stone hitting the ground in heavy pieces.
Silent.
Sera lowered her weapon slightly.
"…That wasn't the same."
Kael looked at the remains.
"No."
A pause.
"It's older."
The ground pulsed.
Once.
Then again.
Stronger.
Sera looked up.
"…That wasn't the only one."
Kael already knew.
Because now—
He could feel it.
Not one.
Dozens.
Maybe more.
Deep within the ruins.
Waiting.
Far away—
Deep beneath Eryndor—
Something ancient shifted.
Not reacting.
Awakening.