The light faded, and they stumbled onto alien soil.
The sky above was a kaleidoscope of fractured suns—shards of blazing stars frozen in orbit, casting strange, multicolored shadows over an endless forest of crystal towers. Each tower hummed, alive with a low, vibrating song.
Lyra collapsed to her knees, gasping. "Where… are we?"
"Not in any charted sector," Ceyra muttered, scanning with her wrist device. "This place… shouldn't exist. There's no star system here, no gravity well—just… void."
"Feels like we're standing in a dream," Rhyss said uneasily.
Then the ground shifted beneath them.
Kaelen raised his blade, scanning the shimmering trees. "We're not alone."
Figures emerged—tall, slender beings with translucent skin and eyes like liquid silver. They carried no weapons, but the air around them rippled with raw energy.
One stepped forward, speaking in a voice like a chorus of bells:
"Children of the Seed. You have entered the Veil of Echoes. Few who arrive here leave unchanged."
Lyra stood, defiant despite her fear. "We didn't come here by choice. We're trying to stop something—a war that could destroy everything."
The being tilted its head, studying her. Then it reached out and gently touched her chest where the Seed's light pulsed.
"The Seed chose you. It will show you what you truly are… or it will consume you."
Before Lyra could ask what that meant, the ground split open. A black fissure tore through the crystalline soil, and from it poured shadows—creatures made of writhing darkness, with too many eyes and teeth that clicked in unison.
The silver-eyed beings didn't move.
Kaelen cursed and drew his blade. "Guess that's our welcome party!"
As the first of the shadow-things lunged, Lyra felt the Seed flare hotter than ever. Voices filled her head—thousands of whispers, all screaming one word:
"Awaken."
The world exploded in light.