The silence of the outpost was broken by a distant tremor.
Alex jolted awake, his instincts flaring. The crystal embedded in his palm pulsed faintly—once, twice—like a heartbeat. The others stirred one by one, reaching for weapons or activating defensive wards.
"What was that?" Veridia asked, already moving toward the outer corridor.
"Underground," Soren said grimly, placing his hand against the stone floor. "Something's moving beneath us. Big."
They hurried to the outer edge of the outpost. The earth had cracked, splitting like dry parchment. From within the jagged crevice, a low, echoing whisper rose—barely audible, yet unmistakably… intelligent.
"Do you hear that?" Nyssa asked, her voice hushed.
Alex stepped closer.
"Return... the fragment… restore what was broken…"
He didn't realize he had moved until Veridia grabbed his arm. "Alex—don't listen to it."
But it was too late. The crystal in his palm flared, searing with heat. Alex collapsed to his knees, eyes wide.
Suddenly, the world around him shifted.
He was no longer in the outpost.
He stood inside a cavernous void, surrounded by monolithic ruins that floated through space like broken pieces of a puzzle. Chains of gold and black mist snaked through the air, wrapping around a massive shape far in the distance—a shape bound and breathing.
The Nameless Horror.
It was asleep, and yet… watching him.
A figure stood before him, robed in tattered starlight, its face masked and voice echoing with time.
"You carry the last key," the figure said. "The fragment of what we sealed eons ago. The seed of memory. Of will."
"Who are you?" Alex asked.
"A remnant," the figure replied. "Of those who defied the imperial bloodlines… before they became what they are. We imprisoned the Horror. But the cost… was everything."
Alex clenched his fists. "Why show me this now?"
"Because you walk the line between destruction and salvation," the figure said. "Because your blood—your defiance—makes you the first to hear us in millennia. And because soon… it will wake."
The world collapsed like shattered glass.
Alex gasped, his body flaring with cold sweat. Nyssa knelt beside him, gripping his shoulders.
"You vanished for a moment—then you screamed."
He stared at his palm. The crystal was dim again, but the pulse lingered. Not just in the gem—but in Zeta itself.
"I saw it," Alex whispered. "The Horror. And someone else… someone ancient."
Soren's face turned pale. "Did it speak to you?"
"It warned me."
Veridia stood. "Then we have to move fast. Whatever's buried deeper in Zeta… it's calling to you. And not just you."
They all turned as a gust of unnatural wind swept through the outpost, carrying with it distant growls—feral and bone-chilling.
Nyssa's hand found her blade.
"We're not alone anymore."
Alex rose to his feet, his eyes burning with new determination.
"No," he said. "But we'll face it together."
In the darkness beyond the outpost, shadows stirred.
And Zeta watched them all.