They walked beside Echo-Ward at dawn.
The beast's massive legs churned the black plain into dust. Its core chimed softly with each step—an echo of Kian's heartbeat in stone and magic. On its shoulder, he stood with Veyna pressed against his back, still pale from using her flame command. Below, settlers clung to platforms built into its flank. Kess moved among them, offering calm words and quick summons of light to chase away creeping dread.
The Shattermarch lay before them: a broken sea of ash and jagged silhouettes. No landmarks rose above the gray horizon. Every shape could be a mountain, a corpse, or a trap. Every step threatened to swallow them whole.
[Navigation Module: Unavailable]
Region: Uncharted
Recommendation: Proceed by System Echo
Kian closed his eyes, listening to the hum through his interface. He could sense the faint signatures of both systems vying for control—Codex pulses seeking structure points, Predation whispers tracking beasts in the distance. He nodded.
"Keep moving south," he called down. "The Old Roads should lie that way."
A murmur ran through the walkers. The Old Roads—ancient highways paved long before the Cataclysm—were rumored to still hold shards of civilization. If they could find a stretch intact, they might heal, resupply, or steer the beast toward safety.
Midday – The Ash Plains
The sun was a dim glow behind thick ash clouds. The air tasted of metal and old smoke. Every breath felt like breathing through a sieve.
Marra's successor—Jerie, a young scout with quick eyes—peered into the haze. "I see ruins, maybe ten minutes ahead. But they look... half-sunken."
Kess joined her at the edge of the platform. "Those are the remains of Garranor's Gate," she whispered. "A walled city swallowed after the first Shatter. Walls still stand in places—but many have collapsed inward."
Kian studied the vision. He raised his hand to Echo-Ward's command glyph. The beast slowed, re-angled its legs to approach at an easier slope, and set foot in the half-buried moat.
They dismounted on broad stone steps that led to a shattered gatehouse. The walls on either side lay mostly buried—only carved reliefs of soldiers and siege engines peered above the ash like broken teeth. Doors had long since rotted; only iron frames remained.
He stepped inside first, boots crunching on fine ash. The courtyard beyond was choked with rubble and the twisted husks of siege machines. Overhead, the Codex Tower's light shone faintly—Echo-Ward's signal nudging them onward.
"Spread out," Kian said. "Search for stores. Water. Anything useful."
Exploration – Lost Supplies
Veyna and Gellon headed right, toward a collapsed stable. They pried at doors with crowbars until sunlight filtered in through gaps. Inside, wooden stalls were half-eaten by ash, but barrels lay upright. Veyna's eyes widened as she found a cache of sealed waterskins and rations—pickled roots and dried meats.
She loaded them onto a salvager cart and sealed the hatch. "We have food," she called.
Gellon wiped sweat from his brow. "This place saved us today."
Across the courtyard, Kess knelt by a ruined fountain. Once, water would have cascaded in marble tiers. Now, it was dry—but in the trough she found metal flasks stamped with old noble crests. "Medicinal water," she murmured. "Alchemist's brand. Probably carbon-filtered."
She stocked her satchel and rose, handing one flask to Kian. "For you." He nodded, unscrewed the cap, and drank deeply.
Jerie returned from a hushed corner, carrying a broken arc-lamp. "I found this—if I can repair it, we might get light when the ash grows too thick."
Kian studied the lamp's crystalline core, then turned to Veyna. "Can you ignite a core beam from that? Something small."
She nodded, extracting her flame command with trembling fingers. A pulse of blue fire danced over the crystal, and it sparked to life—casting a soft glow that banished shadows.
They collected more supplies—tools, spare iron, a handful of flintlocks. Every find felt like an ember in the cold ash.
Approaching Dusk – Echo in the Distance
As twilight bled across the plain, a low thrum echoed beneath their feet.
Toren, who had stayed behind to study Echo-Ward's gait, pointed to the distance. "Another walker. But it's broken. And... it's calling."
Kian activated his Codex scan. A massive silhouette swayed on the horizon—another walking fortress, but collapsed at its joints, crawling like a wounded titan. Runes flickered erratically on its surface.
Predation Protocol whispered: Potential prey. Potential threat.
He frowned. "That's another hybrid—someone else made a Living Construct."
Veyna's eyes darkened. "Could be ally. Could be enemy."
He turned to Kess. "Your record-magics—can you sense intent?"
She closed her eyes, calling spirit-images from her scroll. After a moment, she opened them. "Intent is... fragmented. This one isn't aligned to Empire. But it's wounded, unstable. If it collapses, it'll breach its own core."
He looked back at Echo-Ward. "If it dies, it could trigger a system purge—more Systemborn."
He nodded. "We go to it. We stabilize or we destroy."
Nightfall – The Wounded Bastion
They rode Echo-Ward out of the ruins and across the ash to meet the other construct.
Its steps faltered; its walls creaked. At its core—an orb of cracked crystal—shimmered like a dying star. Its gait left scorched trails in the ash.
Gellon dismounted. "I can help with the mechanics." He produced tools and approached the walker's leg—fanshift plates loose, runes sputtering.
Veyna stepped forward, hand outstretched. Flame flickered against frost-bite cold. She pressed her palm to the broken core. Fire didn't consume; it seeped into the cracks, weaving new life between shattered runes.
[Predation Protocol: Treating Construct as Living Entity]
Tentative acceptance. Mutually beneficial.
[Codex Alert: Hybrid Overlap Detected]
Allowing limited remote repair.
The construct groaned—like steel on bone—as plates realigned. Sparks flew. Gellon hammered plates into place, while Veyna wove mana-fire into the core's fractures. Kess murmured memory-glyphs, anchoring the construct's fledgling sentience.
After long minutes, the giant took a shuddering step—and stood.
It rumbled once, low and curious, then turned its head—an angular mass of stone and fire and crystal—toward Kian.
[New Ally: "Harrowforge" Activated]
Behavior: Guard the Seedpoint
Core Stability: 56%
Pending: Calibration to Kian's signal.
Kess smiled wearily. "That's its name, I think."
Kian nodded. "Harrowforge." He unstrapped a length of rope and tied a coil around its leg. "Welcome aboard."
Midnight – Vigil by the Forge
Under the dim lamp of Veyna's crystal, they set camp on Harrowforge's broad shoulder. The walker crouched low, like a giant at rest, runes glowing faintly.
Kian sat with Veyna and Kess around a small fire. Behind them, Gellon and Jerie patrolled the edge.
The air was thick with ash and unspoken questions.
Veyna spoke first, voice quiet. "That was... harder than I thought. Treating it like living flesh."
He took her hand. "Everything's alive here—the world, the ash, the systems. It's not just about fighting."
Kess unrolled her scroll. "Telemetry shows Harrowforge's core is stable—but only just. We'll need to graft additional conduits or it'll collapse again."
Gellon returned, boots crunching. "Predators nearby. I saw shadows. Not constructs. Something organic—and hungry."
Predation Protocol pinged in Kian's mind: Prey. Danger. Adapt.
Codex countered: Build defenses. Fortify perimeter.
He exhaled. "We'll hold. Echo-Ward, Harrowforge, and us. Tomorrow, we find the Old Roads. For now, rest."
Dawn Approaches – A Promise
Kian woke to the first pale light seeping through ash clouds. He stepped from his makeshift platform on Harrowforge and looked down at the plain.
No footprints marked their passage. No sound except the walkers' soft hum.
He turned to Veyna, still asleep on a fur-lined cot. Her flame mark had receded overnight, leaving only faint embers in her veins.
And beside them, Kess studied runes in the ash, Jerie packed supplies, Gellon sharpened blades.
He placed a hand on Harrowforge's shoulder plate. "We move at sunrise. Into the Shattermarch, our next home."
The construct rumbled in assent.
He looked to the horizon—an unbroken line of gray peaks.
A challenge.
And Kian Vale, the Unchosen Architect, smiled.
"Then let's walk between the teeth of the world."
End of Chapter 18