The morning wind blew cold as Kael stood near the exit.. The sky was full of dark clouds, and the air smelled like burned metal and dust. Behind him, the soldiers packed the last supplies into a long, armored crawler.
They were leaving Outpost Varin.
Aria walked up to him, now wearing her battle gear again.
"Are you ready to move?" she asked.
Kael nodded. His body still felt weak, but he could walk. The strange Spiral inside him, whatever it really was, had started to feel alive again. Faint, but present.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"To the military base near the Riftspire," Aria said.
"And if GenCore finds us?"
Aria looked calm. "Once we are there, no one will dare to touch you as long as you are with me"
Kael followed her into the crawler, trying to ignore the tight feeling in his chest.
The crawler drove fast across the dry plains. Kael sat by the window, watching ruins pass by. Tall broken towers and crushed metal reminded him of the world he used to dream about, but this wasn't a dream.
It was what was left.
Aria sat across from him, studying a glowing map. She looked calm, but Kael could feel her watching him. Every now and then, her eyes flicked his way.
She didn't ask questions yet. But she would.
Far behind them, hidden among rocks, a stranger in a dark cloak crouched on a cliff. His face was hidden, and his hands held a small scanner.
It beeped softly.
The trail left by Kael wasn't visible to most. But the Spiral had left a trace in the air. This stranger could feel it, like a scent only he could follow.
"He's moving fast," the man whispered. "But not fast enough."
He touched a symbol on his glove.
A broken spiral glowed faint red.
Then he disappeared into the rocks.
Back inside the crawler, Aria finally broke the silence.
"You've changed," she said.
Kael looked at her. "How?"
"You're quieter. But sharper."
Kael nodded slowly. "The Spiral isn't gone. It's still inside me. Just… resting."
Aria didn't respond, she didn't know what he was talking about. She just watched him with thoughtful eyes.
The crawler drove toward a dark line of cliffs in the distance. Just beyond those cliffs, Kael saw a strange shimmer in the air, like light bending.
The Riftspire.
A magical world hidden behind the barrier.
That's where he needed to go.
To get stronger. To fix the Spiral. And to understand what he was becoming.
He didn't know what waited inside.
But he knew his life would never be the same again.
------------------------------------------------------
End of Chapter 7 of volume 2