Night fell quietly across the Deadshard hills.
Kael sat beside a cracked stone slab, sharpening Kureha with methodical strokes. The blade didn't need it. But the motion helped him think.
Kyo sat across from him, elbows on his knees, eyes on the fire they hadn't lit.
"We thought it was just a system anomaly at first," Kyo said, voice low. "A corrupted thread. Maybe residual static. But nothing we ran picked up anything. No errors. No flags. Just... Sarah. Screaming."
Kael glanced up. "How long did it last?"
Kyo looked down at his hands.
"She stopped screaming after the second day. Not because it got better. Because her voice gave out."
---
The moon broke through the dead clouds above, casting fractured light across the clearing.
Kyo's expression was unreadable.
"She didn't move anymore. Didn't speak. Just stared. Sometimes we'd find her standing in corners. Facing the wall. Like she was listening to something."
Kael didn't interrupt.
"The captain kept her in the central hall. Didn't let anyone near her unless he trusted them. Eventually… even that stopped. She was locked in a sealed room. Only Ravel had the code."
Kael set the blade down gently. "And the rest of the guild?"
"Worried," Kyo said. "Then restless. Then scared."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"There were rumors. People started saying the System did this. That something buried deep in its code saw Sarah — and cursed her. Not random. Not accidental. Chosen."
Kael's brow furrowed. "Chosen for what?"
Kyo shook his head.
"No one knew. Not even Thorne."
---
That name changed the air between them.
Kael leaned forward slightly. "He was already there?"
"He joined a few weeks before Sarah collapsed," Kyo said. "Bright. Talented. Talked like a leader. Acted like one, too."
He gave a dry laugh.
"He made us feel like we were doing something important. Not just surviving. But building something better."
Kael's expression stayed unreadable.
"What changed?"
Kyo's voice darkened.
"Sarah changed. And so did he."
---
The wind picked up. Distant thunder rumbled, too far to worry about.
"Thorne started asking questions," Kyo said. "Why did the System allow this to happen. Why did we keep obeying it when it turned a blind eye? Why the only way we were allowed to grow was by killing things that used to be human."
He looked up at Kael.
"And some of what he said made sense."
Kael didn't answer.
Kyo continued.
"He said if the System wasn't going to save her, we would. No matter the cost."
---
Kael stood, brushing ash from his coat. "What did Locke say?"
"Nothing. At first. Then one day, he gave Thorne command of a private squad. Five of the best. Missions off-grid. No system tracking. No record. Not even HUD logs."
Kael's gaze sharpened.
"What kind of missions?"
Kyo's voice dropped.
"We called it… artifact retrieval. But we never knew what the targets were. They weren't weapons. Not items. Just strange things. Things that didn't fit."
Kael's hand flexed by his side.
"The first one they brought back pulsed," Kyo said. "It didn't show in inventory. Didn't emit heat. But everyone who touched it got headaches. Nightmares. Even the AI interpreter crashed."
Kyo stared into the dirt.
"They said it whispered Sarah's name."
---
Kael didn't move.
"They built a chamber for it," Kyo said. "Next to her room. Ravel thought if it was connected to her… maybe it could explain something. Maybe it could fix her."
His jaw tightened.
"Thorne kept pushing for more."
Kael's voice came flat. "What did he want?"
Kyo looked him in the eye.
"Results. Sacrifices."
---
They stood at the edge of the clearing now. The trail ahead dipped into a shallow valley. Mist clung low to the ground.
Kyo pointed.
"There was a village there once. New settlers. The system never marked it — too low-level. They asked us for protection."
Kael felt something twist in his gut.
"We said yes," Kyo said. "Then Thorne ordered us to test a suppression field."
Kael turned to him. "Suppression?"
Kyo nodded. "He said the village's system signal could interfere with Sarah's recovery. That it needed to be silenced."
His voice was cold.
"They didn't resist. Didn't even know we were coming. We cut their HUD access. Their comms. Their emergency links."
Kael stepped back.
"You wiped them out."
Kyo didn't deny it.
"I didn't go on that mission," he said. "But when they came back… they didn't speak. Just handed over another artifact. Said the resonance was stronger this time."
---
Kael clenched his fists.
Kyo's voice dropped to barely a whisper.
"I saw Sarah again after that. Just once. She was smiling. Not a happy smile. Just… teeth. Eyes hollow. Skin too pale."
He paused.
"And she whispered a word I've never heard before. Not in any language. But it still made my vision blur."
Kael exhaled slowly.
"Why didn't you leave then?"
Kyo shook his head.
"I thought we could still fix it. Thought Locke would snap out of it. Thought Thorne didn't mean it."
A long silence followed.
"Turns out," he said quietly, "we were already gone."
---
📍 Checkpoint Reached: Suppression Field Echo Zone – Visibility Low
⚠ Emotional Tension High – Kyo's Stability: [Wavering]
🗡 Next Objective: Reach the last known outpost of the original guild.