The march through the wasteland did not ease For days the four wandered with no clear path only the pull of the Nexus guiding Koda forward through broken lands where nothing lived The rift overhead grew wider its black light spilling down across the world twisting the air into mirages bending stone into shapes that should not exist The land itself seemed to rebel against them
Ryn dragged his fists across his shoulders his knuckles split raw and scarred He had fought too many battles in too few days but his grin did not falter He laughed at the silence as though mocking the void itself
Ryn : Hah this world really wants us dead it keeps sending beasts and men and shadows but here we are still breathing
Lyra did not answer Her eyes scanned the ridges of glasslike stone the shadows that pooled in cracks too deep to measure Her face carried suspicion and calm in equal measure Her veil shifted at her heels restless always alive She spoke at last her voice sharp as the blade of her darkness
Lyra : Breathing for now That is all
Aria walked between them her steps slow but steady Her hands glowed faint with light as she pressed them to her own arms again and again as though holding back wounds unseen Her voice was soft but certain
Aria : The world itself is bleeding from the rift These lands are wounds and we are walking through them Each step deeper into the scar tears us apart as well
Koda remained silent His blade strapped across his back dim but heavy His chest burned with the Nexus mark each pulse louder each breath heavier The whispers did not fade They grew clearer
Voices : Do not fight it you are not a man you are the end
He touched his chest gripping the mark as if he could silence it with his hand His eyes burned not only with the fire of the Nexus but with doubt He had seen himself before as the Astral Reaper and with each battle each moment where the fire consumed him he felt that vision clawing closer
The ground beneath them shifted not with tremor but with something more unnatural The stone folded inward bending like water A cavern mouth opened at their feet vast wide glowing faint with light not from fire but from crystals embedded in the walls
Lyra raised her shadows ready her eyes narrowing
Lyra : It is not natural A trap or something worse
Ryn spat onto the ground fists clenched
Ryn : Then we go in If the world wants to hide monsters under our feet let us drag them out and break them
Aria shook her head her hand rising to calm him
Aria : No this place is not born of the Abyss it is older I can feel it
Koda stepped forward the Nexus pulsing brighter as if calling him The crystals within the cavern glowed in rhythm with his chest He spoke his voice low but steady
Koda : It is not a trap It is a path The Nexus wants us here
Without another word he descended into the cavern his blade heavy at his side The others followed though unease pressed against their steps
The cavern stretched downward into the earth a spiral of crystal and stone The walls glimmered with shifting colors not light but memory Scenes flickered across the surfaces battles long past skies unbroken lands still alive People laughing crying praying The walls showed a world before the rift
Aria touched the crystal her eyes wide her voice a whisper
Aria : These are memories The earth itself remembers what it once was
Lyra's shadows recoiled from the images her voice sharp but quieter than usual
Lyra : Then let us not linger on ghosts We have no time for memories
Ryn stared at one wall where warriors clashed with beasts far larger than mountains His grin returned fierce
Ryn : Hah now that is a fight worthy of legends I would have enjoyed that war
Koda walked silently his eyes fixed upon the memories The Nexus burned brighter with each image as though feeding on them or perhaps awakening them He could feel the weight of the past pressing upon him
At last they reached the heart of the cavern A vast chamber opened before them the ceiling so high it vanished into darkness The floor was smooth crystal and at its center stood a throne not of gold not of bone but of pure fractured light The throne pulsed as if alive and upon it rested a figure
The figure was neither man nor beast It shimmered translucent its form shifting between warrior king and shadow Its eyes glowed with starlight its voice filling the chamber without sound
Figure : Bearer of the Nexus you have come at last
Koda froze his blade trembling at his side
Koda : Who are you
The figure rose from the throne its body towering yet weightless Its presence filled the chamber pressing against the hearts of all four
Figure : I am the Echo of the First Nexus the memory of the one who bore the fire before worlds were torn before skies were broken I am not alive I am not dead I am only what remains
Aria's breath caught her voice trembling
Aria : A bearer from before the rift
The Echo turned its gaze upon Koda its light piercing
Echo : Yes and you walk the same road I did You burn with the same fire and you will face the same end
Koda tightened his grip on the blade his voice low
Koda : I will not end as you did I will endure
The Echo's voice thundered with sorrow and fury alike
Echo : That is what I once said That is what every bearer has said And yet look around this world is broken because I failed because I became the fire instead of mastering it You will fail too you will become the Reaper and erase all that remains
Lyra stepped forward her shadows sharp her eyes cold
Lyra : Then what is your purpose here Ghost if all you offer is despair
The Echo turned to her its light dimmer its voice softer
Echo : To warn to test to see if there is any bearer who can walk the path without becoming the end
Ryn cracked his fists stepping beside Koda his grin defiant
Ryn : Hah then test him Break him if you must but he will not fall He has us
Aria nodded her light flaring brighter her voice steady
Aria : He is not alone That is the difference He has us and we will not let him fall
The Echo regarded them all its form flickering between shadow and star Its voice grew louder the chamber trembling
Echo : Then prove it Bearer draw your blade and face me If you endure I will open the path If you fall then the Nexus will claim you now
Koda raised his blade the fractured stars within it burning His chest seared his breath heavy but his eyes steady He stepped forward his voice strong
Koda : Then test me
The chamber erupted into light The Echo moved with impossible speed a blade of pure starfire forming in its hands It struck and Koda met it steel against light the clash shaking the cavern Lyra's shadows surged shielding him from the force Ryn roared charging fists blazing against the echoing strikes Aria poured light into them mending their wounds as the battle unfolded
The chamber became a storm of fire shadow fist and light The Echo was not a man it was memory given form unbound by flesh unyielding Each strike tested not Koda's blade alone but his soul Every whisper of the Nexus grew louder every moment closer to consuming him
Echo : You are nothing but fire You are the end You cannot endure
Koda roared his blade flaring arcs of fractured stars tearing against the Echo
Koda : I am not fire alone I am more I endure because I am not alone
The Echo staggered its form flickering its light dimming Aria's healing light wrapped around Koda steadying him Lyra's shadows pierced through the Echo's form Ryn's fists broke its blade into shards of starfire Together they struck and the Echo collapsed its body shattering into fragments of light
Silence followed the chamber trembling The fragments of the Echo drifted upward into the throne The voice returned soft now filled with sorrow and hope alike
Echo : Perhaps perhaps you are different Then walk the path Bearer for if you fail there will be no world left to save
The throne pulsed once then cracked light spilling outward A path of pure crystal formed stretching into the dark beyond the chamber The Echo's voice faded as its light vanished
Echo : Walk and endure
The four stood together their bodies battered but their spirits unbroken Koda lowered his blade his chest still burning but steadier His voice low but firm
Koda : Then we walk together
They stepped onto the path the cavern behind them fading into silence The rift above pulsed wider darker the world trembling as though sensing the fire within Koda growing brighter The road ahead was endless the trials unending but they walked forward
And far away the Crownless King raised his hand armies marching banners breaking skies drums thundered across the land His hollow eyes burned with hunger his voice carrying like a curse
Crownless King : Let him endure let him grow stronger for when he is brightest I will devour him whole
The storm gathered the world burned and Koda walked forward into the path of eternity