A storm of constellation shards howled downward—each fragment a compressed sector of corrupted thread. The Prime Weaver towered at the eye, cloak aflame with pilfered Heart-Core energy.
Lin Xi's Last Mantra
Lin Xi planted Spiral Stone on the spindle rim, blood beading as he forced one final seal glyph: 破 (break). A shockwave of pure Qi tore a 350-metre corridor through raining shards, exposing the Weaver's left flank and the glowing Heart-Core capsule stitched into his cloak.
Then Lin collapsed, pulse faint but steady.
Aiden (comm): "Corridor open—thirty-second window!"
Shadow Feint
Nephis leapt first, cloak remnants spinning into a spear. He struck the seam above the Core capsule, ripping a swath of cosmic fabric. Star-fire sprayed; the Weaver reeled.
But a hidden lash of code-thread snapped back, impaling Nephis's shoulder and pinning him mid-air. With a roar he severed it, but he fell, spiralling toward a lower gantry.
Aiden vaulted over him, landing on the cloak's ragged ledge. Dawnheart pulsed in his harness as he drove both hands into the flaming seam—searching for the Core's crystalline casing.
Heat flayed his skin; memories of every prior trial flashed—Maze of Whispers, Coral Safeguard, Wellspring bloom.
He found the capsule, but glyph-locks flared: six concentric loops of Weaver code. He had seconds.
Maya's Override
From the dais, Maya launched a triple-burst hacking sigil, grafting the cracked Mirror-Shard fragment as a remote key. The loops flickered:
Ω-Loop > Neutralised
Sigma-Loop > Cracked
Alpha-Loop > RESISTING…
The Weaver sensed intrusion. Mask constellations flared crimson. "You steal what you do not fathom."
He hurled a solar-shard javelin. Cassie intercepted—lantern beam diffracting the projectile into harmless sparks—but the rebound knocked her to her knees, lantern sputtering.
Heart-Core Extraction
Alpha-Loop still glowed. Aiden, skin blistering, pressed Dawnheart against the lock. Filaments of newborn light threaded into ancient weave, singing counter-notes the Weaver had not anticipated.
The loop disintegrated.
Aiden yanked—The Heart Core tore free.
A shock concussion ripped outward. Weaver cloak panels blew open; stolen energy spiralled into loose threads. All Guardians staggered.
Dawnheart and Heart-Core resonances collided in Aiden's arms—wild, out-of-phase. He could barely hold them.
Maya: "Get them to the spindle cradle—synch or we implode!"
But the spindle dais lay one hundred metres below—and the corridor Lin had cleared teemed again with descending shards.
Cassie's Lantern Sacrifice
Breathing ragged, Cassie rose. Lantern core glowed past safe limit. "Path… clear," she whispered, gaze meeting Aiden's. He shook his head—too late.
She smiled through tears, dialled the lantern to maximum aperture, and hurled it skyward.
A sun-column of pure dawn erupted, vaporising descending shards, carving an open chute straight to the cradle. Cassie collapsed, lantern frame molten slag.
Aiden's shout caught in his throat, but there was no time. He slid, surfing the beam, cradling both cores.
Cliffhanger – Dual Ignition
He slammed into the spindle dais. In a single motion he laid Dawnheart Filament and Heart Core into adjacent recesses.
A tremor shook the Nexus. Threads across every horizon lit—white for Dawnheart, crimson for Core—then began to braid.
Yet above, the Prime Weaver stabilised, cloak regenerating, mask repairing. He dove, claws extended, intent on ripping the cores back before full resonance.
Countdown glyphs flashed across the Loom:Global Sync In — 12 k cycles … 11 k …
Aiden, dizzy, braced for impact, knowing if the Weaver reached the dais before sync completed, everything—Loom, worlds, friendships—would unravel forever.