The restraints clamped across Kael's chest as the transport ship rumbled into motion. The engines' low roar pressed through the walls, vibrating in his ribs. Around him, the Titans settled into their seats, but silence did not follow. Voices rose quickly, sharp and restless.
"You will not even make it off the ramp before I put you in the dirt," one soldier barked across the cabin.
Another flexed until the restraints groaned. His grin flashed white in the dim light. "You? When I land, you will already be buried."
Laughter shook the cabin. Some soldiers banged their fists against the walls, others shouted their own challenges. The noise rolled like a wave, restless and eager, every voice determined to be louder than the last.
Kael sat still, his back pressed against the seat, his eyes lowered to the narrow strip of floor between his boots. He had heard the same boasts a hundred times before. He knew most of these men, had marched and bled beside them, had seen their confidence shattered in fire and smoke. Their laughter now was only the sound before silence.
The ship jolted upward, rising sharply from the hangar. The restraints pulled tight across Kael's chest, holding him firm. The lights along the ceiling flickered, red strips glowing faintly in the dark cabin. Outside the narrow slits of glass, the hangar disappeared, replaced by the black expanse of void.
The chatter did not stop.
"They say the air on the other side is poison."
"They say their blood boils when you strike them."
"They say the Elder who vanished a hundred years ago is alive and ruling them as king."
More laughter followed. A voice muttered, low and sharp, "They say too much. All I know is this: anything that bleeds can be killed."
The words earned another roar of approval. Titans slammed their restraints with their fists, the clang of metal echoing through the cabin. Kael did not join them. His lips pressed into a thin line.
At the front, the officer stood motionless. His hands clasped behind his back, his eyes forward, his armor faintly glowing. He had not spoken since they boarded, and he did not need to. His presence was a weight that held order without words.
Kael let his eyes close, if only for a moment. The vibrations of the ship carried through him, but his thoughts slipped elsewhere. He remembered his first mission as a Titan, years ago. The world had been small, unprepared. Their defenders carried spears and shields, their walls built of stone. None of it mattered. His fist had broken those walls, his steps had cracked streets. The Empire's banner had risen in hours, not days.
His name had been praised afterward, his strength honored. But Kael remembered none of the chants. He remembered the silence after the fire, the streets where voices had been swallowed forever. The ship jolted again. The hum of the engines sharpened, the sound biting like a blade against steel. Kael's eyes opened. He knew this feeling.The barrier was near.
The officer's voice finally cut through the noise. "Brace yourselves. The wall is ahead."
The chatter died at once. Every Titan stiffened in their seat, eyes fixed forward. The cabin sank into heavy silence.
The view outside the slits of glass shifted. Space itself seemed to thicken, blackness swelling until it was no longer empty but a sea alive with motion. The ship trembled as it entered the reach of the barrier. Sparks flickered along the hull. The restraints tightened sharply across Kael's chest, pressing him deeper into the seat.
The darkness rippled, alive. The air inside the cabin thickened, heavy enough to choke. Kael's teeth clenched as the hum filled his bones. It was not sound, not truly. It was weight, pressure, like the marrow of his body was being dragged toward the void.
The hull groaned. Metal screamed. Titans gritted their teeth, muscles straining against restraints that refused to yield. Some roared defiantly, voices cracking under the pressure. The barrier pressed harder, a force that sought to crush the ship in its grip.
Kael's vision blurred. The hum clawed at his thoughts, whispering warnings he could not name. His gloves trembled on his thighs, his hands tightening until his nails bit through fabric.
The officer did not move. His eyes stayed sharp, his posture steady. Even here, under the weight of the barrier, he did not falter.
The ship pressed harder. The darkness refused to yield. For a moment, Kael thought it would end here, their bodies crushed into nothing between worlds.
Then the note cracked.
The weight shattered, the hum snapped, and the black sea tore open. Light spilled through the slits, flooding the cabin.
Gasps broke the silence. Not fear. Awe.
Kael's eyes widened.
The sky outside shimmered with impossible colors, streaks of light bending like rivers painted across the heavens. Land stretched far below: rolling green fields, jagged mountains, rivers that glowed faintly as if alive. Stones floated in the air, drifting like islands, each carved with runes that pulsed in rhythm, as though the world itself had a heartbeat.
Magic.
Even through the ship's walls, Kael felt it pressing against his skin. The air was alive here, restless and watching.
The Titans quickly found their voices again.
"Look at that! Rocks floating like toys!"
"They think this is power?"
"I will bring one back as a trophy!"
Their laughter filled the cabin once more, arrogance restored as quickly as it had faltered.
Kael did not laugh. The hum of the barrier lingered in his chest, clinging to his bones. The world below did not feel like prey. It felt like something waiting.
The officer's voice sliced through their noise. "Prepare for descent. The First Battalion will strike first. Titans, we follow. Your orders are clear: break their walls, silence their resistance, recover the Elder if he lives. If he is dead, avenge him. Failure is not permitted."
The soldiers roared, striking their restraints with their fists. The chant of conquest echoed against the walls.
Kael's lips shaped the words, but his voice never left his throat. His eyes stayed fixed on the glowing rivers below, on the runes beating like hearts in the sky.
The ship tilted downward, the restraints pulling tight again. The descent began.
Kael clenched his fists, steady but heavy. Not pride. Not hunger.
Doubt.