The ridge beyond the anchor sloped into fissured ground where obsidian teeth jutted like broken spears. Kael's cohort advanced at a controlled jog, fog trailing behind them. Every breath tasted of storm ozone—an omen that lightning stalked close.
Elias flexed the crystal-studded gauntlet he had splinted with scavenged shards. "Holding for now."
Rei twirled a dagger. "Save your big Vector tricks for something with guts."
"Glass Wraiths didn't have guts," Thorn rumbled.
"Exactly." She grinned, thin and sharp.
Kael lifted a hand—halt. Ahead, the terrain leveled into a cracked plaza paved in mirrored onyx. A dozen white torches burned around a central cairn. Silver-armored figures moved with disciplined grace: Malkyre Imperial cadets. Their moon-crest insignias winked in the torchlight.
The woman at their head—tall, poised, a web of silver tattoos curling from temple to jaw—stepped forward, spear balanced with casual precision.Ariss Valen. Kael knew her by academy reputation: the youngest strategist Malkyre had minted in a decade.
She inclined her head. "Ashwin and company. Your anchor flared bright."
"And drew competition," Kael replied. His grip on the glaive tightened.
Ariss gestured to the onyx floor. "Rupture Stones, five of them. Stabilize the majority, earn Sync. Malkyre will pursue an orderly claim. No need for unnecessary violence."
Rei's laugh was soft. "Always volunteers to let others bleed first."
Ariss heard but ignored the jibe. "Efficiency, not cowardice. Shall we—efficiently—see which doctrine the Gate prefers?" She raised two fingers. Malkyre scouts split left and right, moving like clockwork.
Kael's smile was knife-thin. "Race accepted." He turned. "Elias left flank. Thorn centre line. Veyra shadow right with figments. Rei—harass."
"And you?" Rei asked.
"I'll keep the score honest."
A pulse shimmered across the plaza. Carved stones at five compass points ignited—pale flame dancing over runes. The first team to feed Essentia into three stones would lock the anchor and gain the reward.
Kael sprinted. The mirrored floor reflected a distorted sky; every footfall left a brief after-image. He reached the nearest stone, pressed his palm, felt two Essentia units siphoned from his pool.
[Stone Claimed – Sync Pulse +1 %]Essentia 38 / 60.
Across the plaza a silver-armored scout mirrored the move. White light flared: Malkyre one for one.
Rei blinked forward—one Essentia—and ghosted behind that scout. Instead of killing, she rapped the stone with her dagger, leaving a faint red spark. "Tag," she whispered into the man's helm before vanishing in another Blink. The distraction sent the scout stumbling—and delayed their claim of the next stone.
Kael angled toward the central cairn. A tremor rippled underfoot; black glass cracked. An obsidian construct rose—a four-armed Reaver humming like a tuning-fork.
[Veil Entity – Obsidian Reaver, Plaza Sentinel]
Kael braced, slid into a free Phantom blur, deflecting a scything axe. Thorn barreled in from the side, shield glowing crimson as Emberguard drank kinetic heat. Sparks sprayed. Veyra's fox-mask figment dashed behind the Reaver, drawing its eyes with a mocking wave.
Elias planted a boot and hurled a focused Vector shove—three Essentia burned, gauntlet crystal whining. The Reaver's stance broke for one heartbeat; Kael spent six Essentia to extend Shardwalk two extra metres, phased behind the construct, and sheared twin arm joints in a single rising cut. Glass exploded into shards that the cairn absorbed like water into drought-cracked earth.
[Stone Charge Increased – Essentia Resonance +2]
Two stones now glowed Ashwin-red. Malkyre still at one.
Rei vaulted a fallen column, blinked twice more—Essentia draining fast—and tagged a third stone. Light flared; three claimed. The plaza groaned; runes raced toward their nodes.
Malkyre countered: a scout on the west edge slammed Essentia into their second stone. Ariss gutted a Reaver herself, feeding its fragments to her third. Three to three.
Tie.
Kael sprinted toward a still-neutral stone near Malkyre's line. Silver spears crossed his path—two cadets blocking. He planted, turned the glaive sideways.
"You can't hold two fronts," he called to Ariss.
"Watch me," she answered, voice cool as snowfall.
The cadets lunged. Kael parried one thrust, kicked the man's knee, and used the nerve-echo's predictive twitch to intercept the second spear half a heartbeat early. Heel strike, elbow, crescent slash—steel rang, cadet sprawled. He vaulted over, palm slamming the stone.
Essentia 34/60. Fourth claim.
Across the plaza Elias shouted in pain—the gauntlet crystal finally shattered mid-burst, Vector backlash tossing him aside. A Reaver advanced on his prone form.
Thorn roared, intercepting. He absorbed the scythe blow—heat flared white; armour plating glowed. Emberguard over-stoked; a hiss of pain escaped his teeth as metal seared flesh. He still managed to smash the Reaver's helm, scattering shards. Veyra's sorrow-mask figment coiled around Elias, cloaking him while he crawled to cover.
Kael saw the last neutral stone—nearest to Thorn. He sprinted. Ariss did the same from the opposite flank, spear churning mirrored dust.
They collided at the stone. Spear shaft met glaive haft in a shower of sparks. She flowed like water, stabbing for an opening; he countered with narrow parries, edge clicks. Her tattoos glimmered, glancing rune-light along cheek and neck. He felt her precision—every move costless, efficient.
"No bloodshed if you step back," she murmured.
"Someone's coin has to spend," he replied, and forced her spear aside.
Ariss flicked the butt end toward his throat; Kael ducked, pivoted—free Phantom Step linking one metre. His glaive struck the stone just as her spear haft tapped it.
Rune-light burst.
System text flickered mid-air for both factions:
[Stone contested — simultaneous charge detected][Tie-break condition: Sentinel Arrival]
The plaza floor convulsed. Two Reaver titans—each twice the height of the last—rose at opposite camps. One claimed by Ashwin red, one by Malkyre white. Tie-break by combat.
Kael's Essentia sat at 30/60. Ariss retreated a single step, spear twirling. No anger—just cool reassessment.
"Win clean," she said.
"Always," Kael answered.
His team formed up: Rei massaging cramping calves, Thorn armour steaming, Veyra's illusions circling, Elias braced behind shattered crystal but eyes sharp.
The titan Reaver strode forward, four axes wheeling. Kael inhaled, felt the last pulse of nerve-echo snapping in his muscles, good for maybe three perfect beats.
He met Thorn's gaze. "Front."
Thorn nodded, shoulder-checked the axe swing, Emberguard blazing, buying two seconds. Kael spent six Essentia—Shardwalk extended—phasing through one thigh plate. From inside the titan's guard he slashed upward, severing inner joints. Veyra's fox-mask figment darted to its opposite flank, distracting. Rei blinked—two Essentia—dagger punching a joint seam. Lightning sparked through glass.
Elias, bleeding but focused, used the last intact shard in his gauntlet to channel a gravitic implosion—force folded the titan's torso inward. Glass shrieked. Thorn finished with a molten shield-bash, armour flaring white-hot; steam seared the air.
The titan burst into a cloud of obsidian shards that the contested stone absorbed. Red runes blazed.
[Regional Anchor Seized — Veilcore Sync 44 %][Essentia Pool +8]
Across the plaza Ariss's titan still fought, Malkyre cadets rallying. She glanced at Kael—an austere salute. Race lost, pride intact.
Kael inclined his head, then turned away.
Essentia topped at 38/60. Pain thrummed from Shardwalk's over-push, but victory counted more.
"Well spent," Thorn said, flexing burned gauntlet.
Rei's breath came ragged. "I need three hours of leg work after this Gate."
"We'll find you a river and a stretch band," Kael said.
Elias tucked crystal shards into a pouch. "And I need a smith's shop."
"After the next anchor," Kael promised.
Lightning split clouds overhead, revealing a distant serrated ridge wrapped in chains. Something vast strained against those links—each movement shaking the air like drumbeats.
Veyra exhaled. "Even those Glass Wraith basins looked calm compared to that."
Kael watched the bound silhouette, Sync numbers pulsing in peripheral vision. The Gate was sharpening its tests. Coin would get heavier; cracks would get deeper.
"We climb," he said, voice calm despite the thunder. "And we pay whatever it costs."
They marched on, red runes fading behind them, stormlight carving their shadows into something almost mythic.