The moonlight shone eerily through the cracks in the battered walls of their new hideout. Sam lay on the cold stone floor, staring up at the fractured ceiling, still buzzing from the Rift battle. His mind refused to quiet. Each time he closed his eyes, the image of the Watcher's chains slashing toward him would replay, over and over.
"You good?" Rael asked, sitting nearby, watching the flickering light from their makeshift campfire.
Sam nodded, though he didn't feel it. "I don't know. Just… trying to make sense of it all."
Rael leaned back, stretching his legs. "You're not the only one. We're all still trying to piece together what happened with the Rift."
"Yeah, but this is different. It's like… it's like they were calling me," Sam murmured. "Like those figures, Lapu-Lapu, Bonifacio, they… they saw something in me."
Rael's expression softened. "Maybe they did. Maybe that's why you're the one the Rift's connected to. All I know is, you've got a lot more in you than you realize."
Sam rubbed his temples, trying to shake the fatigue and confusion, but it wouldn't budge. The walls of the room seemed to close in on him. He needed to get up. He needed to move.
He stood up abruptly, the movement sending a sharp pain through his head. His veins flared with heat and pressure.
"You okay?" Valencia's voice was sharp, watching him from across the room.
Sam nodded, though his voice faltered. "I… think I need to go outside for a minute."
Rael shot a glance at Valencia. She nodded, giving Sam the space he needed.
Stepping into the cool night air, Sam's feet crunched on the gravel as he walked toward the edge of their camp. The city around him was quiet. Too quiet. As though everything was holding its breath.
He paused, staring at the dark skyline. Something about this place felt wrong, and it wasn't just the aftermath of their last fight.
The ground shifted beneath him. Not a tremor. Something more subtle. A vibration, deep inside, like the Rift was calling to him again.
Without warning, he fell to his knees. The earth around him seemed to ripple. His Vein flared.
A voice whispered in his mind.
"The Echo of Silence will soon fall. Do you hear it?"
Sam gasped for breath, shaking his head. "Who—who's there?"
No answer. Just the rhythmic hum of the Rift, growing louder, pulling at him. He could feel it now—an ancient force, distant but close, tugging at his soul.
Then, a shadow fell across him.
Rael stood above him, worry etched across his face. "You hear that too?"
Sam looked up at him, trembling. "Yeah. I don't know what it is, but… it's real."
Rael's expression hardened. "We need to get back to the team."
They turned, heading back toward the others. But Sam couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.
Back inside, Valencia was already studying a map of the city, marking off areas where Rift activity had spiked. "Something's coming," she said, her voice low. "And we need to be ready."
Sam's gaze flickered to the map, then back to Valencia. "Do you think it's related to what we felt out there?"
"I think," she began, pausing as though choosing her words carefully, "we've only scratched the surface of what's happening with the Rift. Something big is shifting. The Echo isn't just a warning. It's a countdown."
Rael scowled. "A countdown to what?"
Valencia didn't answer right away. Her eyes narrowed, as if reading something on the map only she could see. Then, she finally spoke.
"The Watcher wasn't the only one trapped in the Abyss. There's more."
Sam clenched his fists, feeling the weight of their next steps bearing down on him. "Then what are we waiting for?"
Valencia's eyes met his. "We wait for the right moment to strike."
The air felt thick, tense, as if the very world around them was holding its breath. Sam couldn't ignore the gnawing feeling that something dark was coming. The Rift wasn't just opening; it was pulling them toward it.
And Sam was no longer sure if he was ready for what was about to unfold.