The night stretched endless over the wastelands beyond Aetheron. The air shimmered faintly, heavy with leftover energy from the battles fought centuries ago. Arin and Lira moved quietly through the wreckage of old skycrafts, their steps soft against the metal dust. They had been walking for hours since leaving Eryndor's chamber. Neither spoke much. The silence between them carried the weight of what they'd seen. The wind howled across the plains, scattering fragments of old machines. Arin stopped and looked back at the distant city skyline, barely visible through the fog. "He's gone," he said softly. "Eryndor." Lira kept walking. "He made his choice. Now we have to make ours." "You talk like you've lost people before." "Everyone has," she said. Arin said nothing. The glow on his hand had faded since the fight, but he could still feel the hum of Aether deep inside him, like a heartbeat that wasn't entirely his. Every step made the energy stir, as if something inside was waiting to wake again.
By dawn, they reached the ridge overlooking the eastern cliffs. Below stretched a valley of glass—solidified sand from the Collapse, smooth and shining like mirrors. At the far edge stood the remains of a black tower, half buried in the earth. "What is that?" Arin asked. "The Obsidian Spire," Lira said. "One of Kael's first research sites. It used to study Aether shadows—energy without light." "You mean darkness?" "Not exactly. Shadows aren't evil, Arin. They're balance. But when humans tried to separate light from shadow, they created something else entirely." She looked down at the tower, her face tense. "We shouldn't be here long."
They descended the rocky slope. The closer they got, the colder it felt. The glass valley absorbed heat, muffling every sound until even their footsteps vanished. The tower loomed above them, its surface pulsing with faint black veins that seemed to move under the light. Arin shivered. "It feels… alive." "That's because it is," Lira said. "Aether experiments never truly die. They just wait."
They entered through a cracked gate. Inside, the walls were covered with strange markings—similar to the runes Arin had seen under the city, but inverted, glowing dark blue instead of gold. In the center of the hall stood a chamber, sealed by glass that reflected nothing. Arin stepped closer. Inside floated a black crystal, spinning slowly, radiating a dark aura. It was silent, yet he could feel it calling him. His heart raced.
"Don't," Lira warned. "That's not for you." "You said balance needs both light and shadow," Arin said, unable to look away. "What if this is the other half?" "That's exactly what it is," she said sharply. "The Shadow Core. It's been sealed for centuries. If you touch it, it'll consume you." Arin hesitated. The closer he got, the louder the whisper in his head became. It wasn't like the voice of the Aether—it was colder, heavier, and somehow familiar.
You seek power you don't understand, the voice said.
But you were born from me, Arin Vale.
He froze. "Did you hear that?" he asked. Lira's hand went to her blade. "Hear what?" "It spoke to me." "Then we need to leave—now."
Before she could move, the ground trembled. The crystal flared, flooding the chamber with black light. Lira grabbed Arin's arm, but the force pulled him forward. The glass around the core shattered, shards hovering midair, glowing faintly. Arin's body lifted off the ground as streams of dark energy wrapped around him. His mark of light burned through his sleeve, colliding with the shadow that reached for him.
You cannot exist without me, the voice whispered. We are the same breath divided.
Images flashed through Arin's mind—a girl with silver eyes standing at the edge of a dark city, her hair flowing like smoke. She looked exactly like him. Her lips moved, and though no sound came, he knew the word she spoke.
Brother.
Arin gasped and fell to the ground. The shadow withdrew, swirling back into the crystal, which dimmed again. Lira was beside him instantly. "Are you okay?" "I saw her," he said, still shaking. "A girl… she looked like me. Eryndor said—" "Your sister," Lira finished quietly. "The Shadow Core must be linked to her." Arin nodded slowly. "If she has that power… she's in danger. Or maybe I am." "Maybe both," Lira said.
Before they could speak further, a loud mechanical hum filled the air. From the cliffs above, drones descended—small, black, with red sensors glowing like eyes. "Wardens," Lira hissed. "They tracked the surge again." "How?" "The Shadow Core just screamed across the entire network." She drew her light-thread blade, its glow cutting through the darkness. "Go!"
Arin turned toward the exit, but the drones fired. Blue plasma bolts hit the floor around them, exploding in bursts of static. Arin raised his hand instinctively—and a wall of golden energy erupted from his palm, absorbing the impact. Both of them froze for a second, surprised. "That… was new," Arin said. "Don't stop to admire it!" Lira shouted. They ran through the corridor as more drones flooded in. The tower shook under the barrage. Arin focused again, projecting another barrier. The air shimmered gold around them. For every bolt that struck, his energy grew more intense, brighter, louder—until it exploded outward in a single blast that wiped the corridor clean.
When the dust settled, Lira looked at him, stunned. "You're learning fast." Arin fell to his knees, panting. "Too fast," he said. "It feels like it's teaching me instead of the other way around." "Then it's alive," she said. "The Aether inside you is adapting."
They climbed back to the surface, the morning light breaking through the clouds. The glass valley reflected the sunlight, dazzling and blinding. In the distance, smoke rose from the city—Kael's men were moving again. "We can't keep running like this," Arin said. "If he's after the cores, we need to find them first." Lira nodded. "There are seven in total. Light and shadow, each born from the same creation. Eryndor once said whoever unites them decides the shape of the next world." "Then we find them," Arin said. "Before Kael does. Before she does." "Your sister?" "If she's real… she's connected to me. I have to know why."
They started walking again, their figures small against the endless horizon. Behind them, deep inside the Obsidian Spire, the Shadow Core pulsed once more—darker this time, as if something inside had awakened fully.
Far away, in a city of black towers floating above the clouds, a girl stood on a balcony of obsidian glass. Her eyes, silver and cold, glowed faintly in the mist. "He's awake," she whispered. A man in armor knelt beside her. "Shall I prepare the legions?" "Not yet," she said. "Let him come to me. Light must always chase the dark." She turned toward the rising sun. "And when he finds me… the world will remember what infinity truly means."