The tremors hadn't stopped.
Even after the Veiled agent collapsed, even after the pulse from the Hollowed Ring faded, the ground still vibrated beneath their feet — faint but steady, like a giant's footsteps echoing from far away.
Shoto stood motionless, eyes locked on the spire in the center of the ring.
Elizabeth closed the journal in her lap, her face pale. "That thing in the sky… it wasn't just passing by."
"It was falling," Shoto muttered. "Whatever it is, it landed somewhere nearby."
A gust of wind pushed through the clearing — dry, unnatural, almost like the world itself was exhaling. And then—
Footsteps.
Crunching through the trees behind them.
Shoto turned sharply, hands sparking with elemental energy.
Three figures emerged from the woods. Two guys, one girl — all armed with scavenged weapons and covered in dirt, cuts, and raw determination.
The girl stopped dead the moment she saw who stood at the edge of the clearing.
"…Brandon?"
Brandon, who had just arrived alongside KJ minutes earlier, froze.
"Riley?"
She dropped the crowbar in her hand and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a crushing hug. "I thought you were dead," she whispered.
Brandon blinked, stunned. "I thought you were."
Shoto lowered his hands, still tense. "You know her?"
Brandon nodded. "Yeah. From home."
Riley stepped back, eyes flicking to the others. "We woke up here weeks ago — in some dark forest filled with things I don't ever want to describe again. Thought we were the only ones."
One of the other strangers — a quiet guy with cracked glasses — added, "Then we saw the sky tear open over this place."
"We followed it," Riley said. "Figured if anything made sense in this world, it'd be here."
⸻
"You're… Shoto, right?" the taller of the guys asked, stepping forward slowly. "I didn't know you personally, but… I knew Braydon. We were in the same chem class. He disappeared the same day we did."
Elizabeth looked stunned. "Wait — you're from Earth?"
All three nodded.
"We've been fighting to stay alive ever since," Riley said. "Dodging monsters, barely sleeping. It's hell out there."
The boy with the glasses rolled up his sleeve.
A glowing mark twisted across his arm — just like KJ's.
"You have one too," KJ said, his voice quiet.
"Started showing up after the third storm," the boy replied. "That's when the dreams started. The voices."
KJ's expression darkened. "Yeah. I know the feeling."
⸻
Elizabeth opened the journal again. More ink had appeared — fresh, sharp, and messy.
"Not all who fall through the veil are friends."
"Some are brought to serve it."
"Choose who you trust. Or die beside them."
⸻
A long silence fell over the Hollowed Ring.
And in the north… something massive moved again.
Roaring.