"Gates?" I stammered, the word feeling foreign in my mouth. "What are you talking about? Where am I?"
The girl hopped down from the obsidian rock with the grace of a feline, landing silently in the glowing silver grass. She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she pointed her staff directly at my chest. The crystal on top flared with a cold, pale light, mirroring the two moons overhead.
"You smell of another world," she said, her voice dropping all pretense of curiosity. It was flat and analytical. "That kinetic pulse I felt earlier... that was your awakening. But it's unstable. You're a liability."
"Wait, I didn't ask to be here!" I protested, raising my glowing hands in a defensive gesture. The air between us cracked with static. The sensation was exhilarating, terrifying, and completely out of my control.
She studied me for another long moment before she lowered her staff, though the crystal remained lit. "The Gates of Descent," she explained, gesturing towards the jagged peaks in the distance. "They were sealed two centuries ago. Their reopening... well, it means nothing good for Aethelgard."
Aethelgard. The name settled on me, marking the official end of my old life.
"I am Elara," she continued, her demeanor shifting from threatening to briskly efficient. "And whether you like it or not, I'm the only reason you haven't been torn apart by a Void Wraith. Your kinetic signature is like a beacon. Come on."
She didn't wait for a response, turning and striding toward the mountains. I realized I had no choice but to follow.
As we walked, the violet sky began to bruise a deeper black. The two moons seemed to watch us, their light intensifying. Elara walked with purpose, her armor catching the ambient glow. She explained that she belonged to the Order of the Crescent, guardians who monitored Aethelgard's volatile magical fault lines.
"We thought the dimension-hoppers—the Walkers—were myth," she said over her shoulder. "Seems the myths are bleeding into reality."
Suddenly, the silver grass around us began to twist. The very ground seemed to shudder. Elara stopped cold, her hand tightening around her staff.
"Get ready," she commanded, the crystal flaring to maximum brightness. "They found you."
The shadows beneath the violet sky began to pull away from the darkness, congealing into solid, wolf-like forms with eyes that burned like dying stars. They snarled, a sound like a grinder against bone.
"Void Wraiths," Elara said, her tone laced with a grim calm. She glanced back at me. "Your awakening drew them. You caused this mess. Now, you're going to help me clean it up."
She lifted her staff, and a beam of lunar energy cut through the air, incinerating the nearest wraith. But three more rushed forward from the gloom, their jaws snapping toward us. My kinetic pulse thrummed, demanding to be released.