Nikita felt it first.
A pressure in the air, unlike anything they had faced inside the base before.
—
On the ninth night, during routine patrols, a silent alarm flickered on the surveillance room's panel.
It wasn't a common intruder.
It was something that didn't exist in any records.
Kael, alerted, gathered the core group.
— Prepare for the unexpected.
—
The encounter took place in the suspended gardens, where the mist was thickest.
There, in the middle of the haze, a figure awaited.
Tall, dressed in ancient robes, without a visible face.
Only a presence — solid, silent, unmoving.
Otrho narrowed his eyes.
— Not from the League. Not from the Alternate Earths.
Kael stepped forward.
— Who are you?
The answer didn't come in words.
It arrived in all their minds as a dry whisper:
> "The sand opened the door. But it did not reveal who waits beyond it."
Helena shivered.
Kael stood firm.
— Are you an ally or an enemy?
Silence.
Then another message:
> "The mist clouds choices. The stone must choose without sight."
The visitor raised a hand.
In the center of its palm, a pulsing symbol — the golden hand from the artifact's stone.
Then, without warning, the figure vanished — as if it had never been there.
—
Kael remained still for long moments.
Helena touched his shoulder.
— What does it mean?
He answered in a low voice:
— It means now… we are not only fighting the forgotten.
— We are fighting what should have never awakened.
—
End of Chapter.
---
The unknown has already knocked. Strengthen the Command with Power Stones!
The Stone endures. The Mist warns. The Visitor already knows our names.