The road to the mountains was long and silent. The air grew colder the higher we climbed, the ground shifting from dust to stone, then to frost. The Riftlight above shimmered like a second sky, alive and restless. It never slept. It never dimmed.
The refugees followed behind us, their small fires flickering weakly each night. Many of them had lost everything. Some carried relics, others carried nothing but their memories. Kael kept them organized, his calm presence like a wall between them and the despair that chased us.
I tried to focus on the path, but the Riftlight whispered to me constantly. It spoke in fragments, in echoes of languages I almost recognized. Sometimes it sounded like my mother. Other times, it was just static, like the hum of a machine trying to speak through broken circuits.
By the third night, sleep had become impossible. I stood at the edge of the camp, staring at the horizon. The wind carried flakes of white ash, glowing faintly in the darkness. I thought of Earth, of the hum of my laboratory, of my computer screens covered in equations that once made perfect sense.
Now, nothing did.
Kael approached quietly, his boots crunching on the frost. "You haven't slept again," he said.
I smiled faintly. "Neither have you."
He shrugged. "I don't trust the sky anymore. It feels like it's watching us."
"It is," I said softly. "Everything is connected to the Rift now. The air, the light, even our thoughts."
He studied me for a long moment. "And you. You're connected more than anyone."
I looked down at my hands. The faint blue glow beneath my skin pulsed in rhythm with the Riftlight. "It's inside me," I whispered. "When I touched the Gate Heart, something changed. It's like I can feel the balance between both worlds."
"Can you control it?"
"I don't know. But it feels like it's learning from me. Or through me."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Then we need to reach the Skyforge before it learns too much."
By dawn, the mountains stood before us like jagged teeth biting into the clouds. A storm brewed at their peaks, swirling with blue fire. Between the cliffs, we could see a faint golden glow.
"That's it," Kael said. "The Skyforge."
It looked like something out of a dream. Towers of smooth stone and light rose from the mountain's heart, suspended above the ground by invisible energy. Bridges of glass connected the towers, and on every surface, ancient runes pulsed with gentle rhythm.
When we reached the outer gates, a group of monks stood waiting. Their robes shimmered faintly, threaded with silver symbols that looked like circuitry. Their eyes glowed faintly white.
One stepped forward and bowed. "Welcome, travelers. You have walked the path of the Rift." His gaze lingered on me. "Especially you."
Kael shifted, uneasy. "We seek shelter and answers. The Rift is spreading faster every day."
The monk nodded slowly. "You will find both inside. Come."
They led us across a bridge that sang when we stepped on it, each footstep resonating with a tone that faded into the air. The energy of the place was calm but powerful, like standing inside the memory of a storm that had forgotten how to rage.
Inside, the halls glowed with living light. Strange machines floated beside candles. Scrolls of glowing text drifted through the air as if weightless. Everything here was a perfect balance of old and new, faith and science, magic and logic.
One monk, older than the rest, approached and looked at me closely. His voice was soft but certain. "You are Gateborn."
I hesitated. "You know what that means?"
He smiled faintly. "The first of your kind came here long ago. From a world beyond the veil of stars. She too sought to control the Rift, and in doing so, she created the Skyforge. You walk the same path."
My pulse quickened. "Who was she?"
"She called herself Aris Tanabe."
The name hit me like a blade of ice. "Tanabe," I whispered. "That's my family name."
The monk nodded. "Then your coming was not chance. It is return."
Kael looked between us. "You mean she's related to Akiya?"
"By blood, or by spirit. It does not matter. The Rift remembers its makers."
The monk gestured toward the heart of the temple. "Come. The Skyforge has waited for you."
The inner chamber was vast and circular, the ceiling lost in mist. In the center stood a massive ring of stone and light, hovering above a pool of still water. Energy flowed through it like veins of molten silver.
As I approached, the ring came alive. Symbols burned into brightness, spiraling faster and faster until they formed a pattern I knew by heart. It was the same design I had used for my portal experiment back on Earth.
"This shouldn't exist here," I said softly.
Kael looked around warily. "Maybe it followed you."
The monk stepped forward. "No. It called you. This is the first Gate. The one that bridges both worlds. When your ancestor left this place, she left it asleep. You have reawakened it."
The floor trembled slightly. The reflection in the water rippled, showing not our faces but another world—Earth, faint and blurred, like an image behind glass.
I fell to my knees. "It's still connected."
Kael's voice was quiet. "Then you can go home."
I shook my head. "No. If I open it now, both worlds will collapse. The energy isn't stable."
The monk raised a hand. "There is a way to restore balance. You must find the two remaining fragments of the Gate Heart. Only when the Heart is whole can the Rift be tamed."
"Where are they?"
"One lies in the city of glass beneath the western sea. The other sleeps in the hollow forest where the stars never shine."
Kael exhaled slowly. "That's a long way."
The monk smiled faintly. "Time itself bends within the Rift. Distance is not what it used to be."
I stared at the reflection again, my heart heavy. Earth looked so close. My home, my lab, my friends. Yet it felt farther away than ever.
Kael placed a hand on my shoulder. "We'll find them. Both of them. Whatever it takes."
I looked up at him. His eyes, usually sharp and cold, held something softer now. Trust. Maybe even hope.
"Thank you," I said quietly.
The monk stepped back and bowed. "Rest tonight. Tomorrow, your journey begins anew. But remember this, Gateborn. Every step you take changes both worlds."
That night, I dreamed.
I stood inside a storm of light. The Rift surrounded me, endless and alive. From its center came a voice, calm and familiar.
"Akiya," it said. "You cannot save both worlds."
"Then I'll save one," I whispered.
The voice laughed softly. "That is what she said too."
I reached out, and for an instant, I saw her. My ancestor, Aris Tanabe. Her face was my own.
The vision shattered, and I woke gasping. Outside, dawn was breaking again. Kael stood at the edge of the terrace, watching the sun rise over the sea of clouds.
He turned when he heard me. "You were dreaming again."
"Yes," I said, walking to his side. "But it felt real."
He smiled faintly. "In a world like this, maybe that doesn't make much difference."
The wind carried the scent of frost and light. The world below glowed faintly blue. Somewhere beyond those clouds, two more fragments waited.
And with them, the answer to everything.
"...to be continued....."