The crystal pulsed faintly in my hand, its glow soft but persistent, like a heartbeat made of light. Every now and then, it sent a ripple of energy through my fingers, resonating with the faint hum of the dagger at my side.

The others kept close as we moved through the forest, their steps cautious and deliberate. The encounter with the Ecclesion soldiers had left us on edge, but the weight of the crystal’s significance pressed harder than any threat of pursuit.

“What’s it doing?” Farron asked, his voice hushed but carrying just enough irritation to make it clear he wasn’t thrilled about our new toy.

“It’s searching,” I said. “Or maybe calling. The energy feels... directional.”

“Directional,” Jessa repeated, frowning. “As in, it’s leading us to the next Nexus?”

“Or warning whoever’s there that we’re coming,” Ryla said sharply.

The possibility made my stomach churn. The crystal wasn’t just a fragment of the Nexus; it was a tool. If Ecclesion had been using it to locate the other sites, it stood to reason that it might serve as a beacon for more than just us.

“We’ll need to move fast,” Jessa said, her hand resting on the hilt of her blade. “If Ecclesion was tracking the next Nexus, there’s a chance they already sent reinforcements. We can’t afford to wait for them to regroup.”

I nodded, gripping the crystal tightly. Its faint hum seemed to respond to my thoughts, a subtle shift in its rhythm that made the energy feel... alive.

As we pressed deeper into the forest, the terrain grew more uneven. The trees were older here, their gnarled branches forming a dense canopy that blocked out much of the fading sunlight. The air was thick with the scent of moss and damp earth, and the faint sound of running water echoed in the distance.

“Keep an eye out,” Ryla said, her sharp gaze scanning the shadows. “If the Echoed show up again, they won’t let us walk away this time.”

“Assuming Ecclesion doesn’t get to us first,” Orin added, his tone grim.

“Or something worse,” Farron muttered. “Because, let’s be honest, it’s always something worse.”

The sound of water grew louder as we followed the crystal’s faint pull. Soon, the forest opened into a wide clearing, dominated by a shallow river that cut through the landscape like a silver thread.

The crystal pulsed brighter, its rhythm quickening as I held it toward the water.

“This is it,” I said, stopping at the edge of the riverbank. “The Nexus is close.”

“How close?” Jessa asked, her voice tense.

Before I could answer, the crystal flared brightly, sending a sharp pulse of energy through the air. The water rippled violently, and the ground beneath our feet trembled.

“Close enough,” Farron said, taking a step back.

The tremors subsided as quickly as they had started, leaving the clearing eerily still. The crystal’s light dimmed slightly, its hum steadying into a slower, more deliberate rhythm.

“It’s reacting to something,” I said, studying the way the crystal pulsed. “There’s a Nexus nearby—it’s just a matter of finding it.”

Jessa nodded, her gaze fixed on the river. “We’ll split up. Orin and Ryla, take the east side. Farron, you’re with me on the west. Ash, keep working with the crystal and see if it gives us anything else to go on.”

“And if it starts screaming again?” Farron asked.

“Then you’ll know we’re close,” Jessa said, her tone flat.

The group dispersed, each pair moving cautiously along the riverbank. I stayed near the water, holding the crystal aloft as its glow reflected faintly against the rippling surface.

The hum grew stronger as I moved north, its rhythm shifting into a steady pulse that matched the faint thrum of energy in the air.

This wasn’t just residual energy from the Nexus. It was something... more.

I stopped at a cluster of rocks near the water’s edge, the crystal’s glow flaring brightly as I approached. The air here felt denser, charged with an invisible tension that prickled against my skin.

The rocks were covered in faint carvings, their patterns almost imperceptible in the fading light. I traced a finger along one of the symbols, feeling the subtle vibration of energy beneath the stone.

“These are runes,” I muttered to myself. “Like the ones in the fortress.”

Before I could examine them further, a shadow moved at the edge of my vision. I spun around, the dagger in my hand before I even realized I’d drawn it.

The figure that stepped into view wasn’t Ecclesion.

It was him.

The traveler stood at the edge of the clearing, his cloak dark against the muted colors of the forest. His face was obscured by the hood, but the faint glow of the runes on his armor caught the light, making him seem both ethereal and impossibly real.

“You again,” I said, my voice steady despite the storm of emotions his presence stirred.

He didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he stepped closer, his movements deliberate but unthreatening. “You’ve found another shard,” he said, his voice calm but edged with something I couldn’t place.

“Shard?” I asked, holding up the crystal.

“The Nexuses are not whole,” he said. “Each one is a fragment of a greater whole. The energy they contain is incomplete, fractured. This... shard is proof of that.”

I tightened my grip on the crystal. “If the Nexuses are broken, then why protect them? Why not destroy them and be done with it?”

The traveler’s hood shifted slightly, as if he were studying me. “Because to destroy them is to invite destruction. The barrier is all that stands between this world and the void. To weaken it further is to hasten the end.”

His words sent a chill through me.

“What’s in the void?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

The traveler was silent for a long moment, the air between us heavy with unspoken meaning.

“Everything,” he said finally. “And nothing.”

Before I could press him further, Jessa’s voice rang out from the other side of the clearing. “Ash! We’ve got company!”

The traveler turned sharply, his posture shifting as the faint sound of footsteps reached us from the trees.

Ecclesion.

“Go,” he said, his voice sharp. “If they find you here, they’ll kill you—and claim the Nexus for themselves.”

“And leave it for you?” I shot back.

His gaze burned beneath the hood. “You don’t understand what you’re dealing with. If they take it, the barrier will fall. If you stay, you’ll die.”

I hesitated, every instinct screaming to defy him, to demand answers. But the sound of Ecclesion’s approach grew louder, and Jessa’s shout came again, this time filled with urgency.

“Go,” the traveler repeated, his voice hard. “This fight is not yours. Not yet.”

I didn’t have time to argue.

Clutching the crystal tightly, I turned and ran, the faint hum of its energy a constant reminder of what was at stake.

The forest blurred around me as I rejoined the others, their weapons drawn and their expressions tense.

“What happened?” Jessa demanded.

“Later,” I said, my breath ragged. “We need to move. Now.”

As we fled deeper into the forest, the traveler’s words echoed in my mind, each one heavy with meaning.

The barrier will fall.

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Everything and nothing.

The Nexuses weren’t just fragments of power—they were pieces of something larger, something that should never be whole again.

And whatever lay on the other side of that barrier, it wasn’t waiting patiently for us to figure it out.

It was already moving.

We ran deeper into the forest, the faint hum of the crystal still pulsing in my hand like a second heartbeat. The trees blurred past us, their gnarled branches clawing at the dim sky as if trying to pull the light back into the earth.

The sound of Ecclesion’s pursuit echoed faintly behind us, the crunch of boots against frozen ground and the low murmur of voices growing louder.

“They’re gaining!” Ryla hissed, her bow drawn as she glanced over her shoulder.

“Keep moving,” Jessa barked, her tone sharp. “We’ll lose them in the denser parts of the forest.”

The terrain shifted as we pressed on, the ground sloping downward and the trees growing thicker. The air grew colder, the faint scent of damp earth replaced by something metallic and sour that clung to the back of my throat.

“What is that smell?” Farron muttered, his voice tight as he ducked under a low-hanging branch.

“Rot,” Orin said grimly. “Something’s wrong here.”

The crystal’s hum quickened, its glow flaring briefly before dimming again. I held it up, watching as the light flickered erratically, the pulse of its energy becoming uneven.

“It’s reacting to something,” I said.

“Something we don’t want to meet,” Farron quipped, though his voice lacked its usual levity.

We burst into a clearing, the sound of Ecclesion’s pursuit momentarily drowned out by the rush of a wide, sluggish river cutting through the forest. The water was dark, almost black, and the sour metallic smell was stronger here, making the air feel thick and heavy.

The crystal pulsed brighter, its glow illuminating faint carvings on the riverbank. Runes—similar to the ones I’d seen before, but these were jagged and distorted, their shapes broken and incomplete.

“This is it,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “The Nexus is close.”

Jessa’s eyes scanned the clearing, her blade already in her hand. “We don’t have time to stop. Ecclesion’s right behind us.”

“Then we make time,” I said, stepping closer to the runes. The crystal’s hum grew louder, vibrating against my palm as if urging me forward.

The ground beneath the runes shimmered faintly, the faint outlines of a hidden entrance becoming visible as the crystal’s light passed over them.

“There,” I said, pointing to the faint outlines of a stone archway partially buried beneath the riverbank.

“An entrance?” Ryla asked, her bow trained on the forest behind us.

“Looks like it,” I said. “And it’s probably where the Nexus is.”

Jessa didn’t hesitate. “Orin, Farron—hold the line. Ryla, with me. Ash, get that thing open. If Ecclesion catches up, we won’t have time for subtle.”

I nodded, gripping the crystal tightly as I knelt near the archway. The runes etched into the stone pulsed faintly, their light responding to the crystal’s energy.

“Come on,” I muttered, pressing the crystal against the largest of the runes.

The response was immediate.

The runes flared brightly, their jagged edges smoothing as the stone began to shift. The air vibrated with a low hum, and the ground trembled as the archway groaned open, revealing a narrow tunnel leading downward.

“Got it!” I called, stepping back as the archway finished opening.

Jessa turned to the group, her voice sharp. “Inside, now!”

We moved quickly, slipping into the tunnel just as the sound of Ecclesion’s pursuit reached the edge of the clearing.

Orin and Farron were the last to enter, their blades drawn as they backed into the archway. “They saw us,” Orin said, his tone grim. “They’ll be on us in minutes.”

“Then we don’t stop,” Jessa said, her blade glinting faintly in the dim light of the tunnel. “Whatever’s down here, we find it fast.”

The tunnel was narrow and winding, its walls lined with more jagged runes that glowed faintly as we passed. The air was colder here, the metallic scent replaced by a faint, bitter tang that made my skin crawl.

The crystal’s hum grew louder with each step, its light casting long, distorted shadows against the walls.

“This place feels wrong,” Ryla said, her voice tight.

“It’s old,” I said. “Older than the other sites we’ve seen. Whatever this Nexus is, it’s different.”

“Different how?” Jessa asked.

I shook my head, the words sticking in my throat. “I don’t know. But we’re about to find out.”

The tunnel opened into a wide chamber, its walls and floor covered in intricate carvings that pulsed with faint light. At the center of the room stood the Nexus, its crystalline structure jagged and uneven, as if it had been broken and rebuilt over centuries.

The energy it radiated was chaotic, pulsing erratically and sending faint ripples through the air that made my head ache.

“This one’s unstable,” I said, stepping closer.

“Can you stabilize it?” Jessa asked, her voice sharp.

“Maybe,” I said, holding up the crystal. “If this shard is part of it, it might—”

Before I could finish, the air in the chamber shifted. The runes on the walls flared brighter, and the faint sound of footsteps echoed from the tunnel behind us.

“Ecclesion,” Jessa said, her blade already in hand.

“And they brought friends,” Farron added, drawing his bow.

The first soldier appeared at the edge of the chamber, his golden armor catching the light of the Nexus as more followed behind him.

“Hold them off!” Jessa shouted. “Ash, do what you need to do!”

I stepped closer to the Nexus, the crystal’s energy flaring in response. The jagged structure seemed to shift as I approached, its chaotic hum growing louder until it filled my head, drowning out the sounds of the battle around me.

The crystal’s light pulsed in time with the Nexus, their energies aligning as I held the shard closer.

“Come on,” I muttered, pressing the crystal against the Nexus.

The reaction was immediate.

The Nexus flared brightly, its jagged edges smoothing as the chaotic energy began to stabilize. The hum shifted, becoming a steady pulse that resonated through the chamber.

But with the shift came a new sound—a low, resonant groan that seemed to come from deep within the earth.

“What did you do?” Ryla shouted, her voice cutting through the din.

“I don’t know,” I said, stepping back as the Nexus began to glow brighter.

The ground beneath us trembled violently, and the light from the Nexus pulsed outward, filling the chamber with blinding brilliance.

As the light faded, the air grew deathly still.

And then, from somewhere deep below, came a sound.

A voice.

Low, echoing, and impossibly ancient.

"The barrier weakens. The path begins to open."

The words sent a chill through me, their weight pressing against my thoughts like an unrelenting tide.

This wasn’t just another Nexus.

It was a key.

And we had just turned the lock.

The chamber fell into an eerie silence, the glow from the Nexus dimming to a faint pulse that illuminated the jagged carvings on the walls. The voice—deep, resonant, and ancient—still echoed in my mind, its words a warning and a promise.

"The barrier weakens. The path begins to open."

“What was that?” Farron asked, his voice tinged with fear. His bow was still drawn, the tension in his posture mirroring the unease that had settled over all of us.

“I don’t know,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. My hands still tingled from the energy of the crystal, now dormant in my palm, as if its purpose had been fulfilled.

The ground beneath us trembled faintly, like the last echoes of an earthquake fading into stillness.

Jessa’s sharp voice cut through the tension. “We don’t have time to wonder. Ecclesion’s still in the tunnel. We need to move.”

I turned toward the others. The faint sounds of footsteps and the clink of armor echoed down the passageway, growing louder with each passing second.

Ryla was already nocking an arrow, her sharp gaze fixed on the tunnel entrance. “They’re almost here.”

Jessa gave me a hard look. “What’s the status on the Nexus? Did you stabilize it?”

I nodded, though my confidence felt shaky. “It’s not going to explode, but it did... something. I think the crystal triggered a reaction.”

“A reaction like that voice?” Farron asked, gesturing wildly. “Because if that’s the kind of reaction we’re dealing with, I vote we never do it again.”

Before I could answer, the first Ecclesion soldier stepped into the chamber, his golden armor catching the dim light of the Nexus. Behind him, more soldiers poured in, their weapons drawn and their faces grim.

“There!” one of them shouted, pointing toward us.

“Form up!” Jessa commanded, her blade already in hand.

The chamber erupted into chaos.

The first wave of soldiers charged, their boots pounding against the stone floor. Ryla’s arrows flew with deadly precision, striking down two before they could close the distance. Orin and Jessa moved as one, their blades flashing in the dim light as they met the soldiers head-on.

I activated Shadow Veil, the familiar hum cloaking me in darkness as I darted around the edges of the fight. The dagger in my hand pulsed faintly, the remnants of Nexus energy still resonating within it.

Farron loosed an arrow at one of the soldiers, his movements quick and deliberate. “These guys don’t quit!” he shouted, dodging a blow from a sword that came too close for comfort.

“They won’t stop until we’re dead,” Jessa said, her voice sharp as she deflected another attack.

I slipped behind one of the soldiers, the hum of Resonance Strike flaring as my dagger found its mark. The energy coursed through the blade, cutting through the soldier’s armor as he crumpled to the ground.

But for every soldier we brought down, another seemed to take their place.

“They keep coming!” Orin shouted, his blade locking with an Ecclesion longsword.

“We can’t hold them here,” Jessa said, her tone grim. “Ash, is there another way out?”

I scanned the chamber, my eyes darting to the runes on the walls. The carvings shimmered faintly, their light pulsing in time with the Nexus.

“There!” I pointed to a narrow passage hidden behind the Nexus, its entrance partially obscured by the carvings.

“Go!” Jessa barked, her blade slashing through another soldier as she cleared a path.

Ryla was the first to reach the passage, her movements quick and precise as she covered our retreat. Farron and Orin followed, their weapons still drawn as they glanced over their shoulders.

Jessa and I were the last to move, herding the group into the narrow tunnel as the remaining Ecclesion soldiers surged forward.

“Block the entrance!” Jessa shouted.

I turned, raising the crystal toward the runes on the wall. The shard flared briefly, its energy reacting to the carvings. The tunnel entrance groaned, and a section of the wall collapsed, sealing us off from the chamber.

The silence that followed was deafening.

The air in the tunnel was cold and still, the faint glow of the runes providing the only light. We stood there for a moment, catching our breath as the weight of what had just happened settled over us.

“Is everyone okay?” Jessa asked, her voice cutting through the quiet.

“Still breathing,” Ryla said, though her tone was tense.

“Barely,” Farron muttered, slumping against the wall.

I held up the crystal, its light now faint and steady. “We’re safe for now, but that won’t hold them for long. They’ll find another way around.”

Jessa nodded, her expression grim. “Then we keep moving. We need to figure out where this passage leads—and what that Nexus did.”

“What about the voice?” Orin asked, his gaze fixed on me. “The barrier, the path—what does it mean?”

I hesitated, the weight of the traveler’s warnings pressing against my thoughts. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I think we just made it worse.”

As we moved deeper into the tunnel, the faint hum of the Nexus began to fade, replaced by an oppressive silence that felt almost alive. The runes on the walls grew darker, their glow flickering as if struggling to maintain their light.

The traveler’s words echoed in my mind, heavy and unrelenting.

The barrier weakens. The path begins to open.

The Nexuses weren’t just keys—they were locks.

And we had just turned one.

Whatever lay on the other side of that path, it was no longer waiting.

It was coming.