The roads beyond the hills were cracked, half-buried beneath creeping roots and ash-blown dust. Old highways that once linked entire cities now served as military routes, guarded, scanned, and controlled. The further they walked, the more armored drones buzzed overhead.
Kael kept his hood low and his eyes forward. Aria walked beside him, calm but alert, dressed in the full uniform of her rank. Two of her squadmates flanked them, silently clearing the path ahead.
A military checkpoint loomed in the distance, a high metal wall wrapped in static fencing and auto-cannons. On the far side, faint light shimmered, like the ripple of heat off stone.
The Riftspire portal.
It didn't look like much. Just a circular gate embedded in the rock, humming with a dull violet glow. But something inside Kael stirred the closer he got. The Spiral within him, though injured, reacted to the Rift like it recognized it.
He staggered slightly.
Aria noticed. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Just... felt something."
She nodded, not pressing. "The Riftspire isn't just a place. Some say it's alive. Like it calls to certain people."
Kael looked up at the gate.
It wasn't calling him.
It was waiting.
At the checkpoint, an officer stepped forward and scanned their IDs. His eyes lingered on Kael a moment too long.
"This one's not registered."
"He's a late recruitment under my field clearance," Aria said smoothly. "Special case. Under evaluation."
The officer raised an eyebrow. "Director's orders are to flag unknowns near this portal."
"I'll handle it," Aria said, stepping closer. Her tone shifted, firm, commanding. "Unless you want to explain to your superior why a high-rank field commander's orders were blocked."
The officer hesitated. Then nodded. "Proceed."
The gate doors groaned open.
Kael's heart pounded as they stepped inside the containment corridor. The world behind them fell away, replaced by violet mist and glowing panels that lined the walls.
Then, the portal pulsed.
A low hum filled the air. Kael felt it in his bones.
And then…
Whispers.
Not in his ears. In his blood.
"Spiral detected…
Gene thread unstable…
Realm resonance: Acceptable."
Kael stiffened. Aria glanced back.
"You hear that?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Hear what?"
He didn't answer.
Inside the gate's inner chamber, glowing rings of light spun faster, syncing with the genetic signature of those passing through. The room was quiet, but Kael felt like he was standing in a storm.
This place knows me.
Or it knows what's inside me.
He took a step forward.
And the Spiral twitched.
Not a flare. Not power. Just a reminder.
It was still alive.
Aria held out a hand. "Ready?"
Kael nodded.
She pressed her palm to the gate console.
The Riftspire's portal flared open, a silent burst of colorless energy tearing through the air. Wind rushed out of nowhere. The smell of something alien, like metal and thunder, hit Kael's senses all at once.
And then…
They stepped through.
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End of Chapter 12 of volume 2