A pale, uncertain dawn crept over the broken towers of Old Kestrel, painting the shattered stone and Vein-lit cracks in a ghostly blue. The group roused themselves in silence, each one stiff and wary after a night of uneasy sleep. The fire had burned low, and the air was sharp with the metallic tang of Vein residue.
Kael was the first to rise, the relic's pulse in his pocket matching the faint tremor in his own chest. He moved to the edge of the ruined station house, scanning the horizon for any sign of movement. The world felt different this morning—quieter, but also charged, as if the ruins themselves were holding their breath.
Selene emerged next, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She glanced at the harmonizer, relief flickering across her face as it glowed with steady light. "No surges overnight. That's something," she said, voice thick with fatigue.
Nirael was already checking the windship, her movements brisk but careful. "Nothing on the perimeter. No tracks, no Dominion drones. Either they're not looking for us yet, or they're better at hiding than I thought."
Lysara joined them, map in hand. "We'll need to make for the canyons by midday. If we're lucky, we'll be out of the Vein-scarred wilds before sundown."
Mira, packing up her healer's kit, paused to look at Nalah, who was staring at a patch of ground near the camp. "What is it?"
Nalah knelt, brushing aside a layer of dust. "Tracks. Not human. Something came through here last night."
Whisper, silent until now, moved closer. She traced the tracks with gloved fingers, her masked face unreadable. "The Vein is restless here. These are not natural creatures. We should move quickly."
A ripple of unease passed through the group. Kael felt the relic grow warm against his chest, as if in warning.
He caught Selene's eye. "Let's get ready. I don't want to find out what made those tracks."
As they packed, tension simmered beneath the surface. Lysara and Nirael exchanged clipped words about the route, Mira fussed over supplies, and Nalah kept glancing at the shadows between the ruins. Whisper lingered at the edge of the group, her attention fixed on the faint, unnatural hum rising from the Vein-lit earth.
Just as the last pack was stowed, a low rumble shuddered through the ground. The harmonizer's light flickered. Selene swore under her breath, hands flying to the device.
Kael drew a steadying breath, feeling the relic's pulse synchronize with the tremor. "Whatever's coming, we face it together. Let's move."
The group set off, nerves taut, the ruins of Old Kestrel fading behind them. In the Vein-lit dawn, every shadow seemed to move, and every heartbeat felt like a countdown.
They were not alone in the wilds.
---
The ruins of Old Kestrel faded behind them as the companions pressed east, the Vein-lit dawn giving way to a stark, uneasy daylight. The landscape was a patchwork of shattered earth and strange, crystalline growths—remnants of old Vein surges that twisted the land into unnatural shapes. Every so often, a shimmer in the air or a flicker of blue light would catch the eye, making it hard to tell what was real and what was a trick of the Vein.
Kael led the way, the relic's warmth a steady presence against his chest. He tried to project confidence, but every step into the wilds felt heavier than the last. He glanced back often, checking on his companions: Selene, tense and silent, her eyes darting to the harmonizer at her hip; Nirael, scanning the horizon for threats; Mira, walking close to Nalah, whose limp had grown more pronounced since the night before.
Whisper brought up the rear, her masked face unreadable, her steps nearly soundless. Occasionally she would pause, crouch, and press her palm to the ground, murmuring words too soft for the others to hear.
They moved in silence for a time, each lost in their own thoughts. It was Nirael who finally broke it, her voice low. "We're being watched."
Lysara tensed, hand drifting to her sidearm. "Dominion scouts?"
Nirael shook her head. "No. Something else. I've seen shadows moving where there's nothing to cast them."
Selene shivered. "The Vein's unstable here. If there are anomalies—"
A sudden crackle of energy split the air. The ground beneath Kael's feet vibrated, and a faint, ghostly blue light seeped up from the cracks in the earth. Whisper stopped, her posture rigid.
"Don't move," she whispered, her voice carrying an edge of command that froze them all.
A ripple passed through the Vein-lit ground, like the shadow of something massive swimming just below the surface. The air grew cold, and the landscape seemed to blur at the edges, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Kael swallowed, feeling the relic pulse in warning. "Whisper, what is it?"
She didn't look at him, her focus entirely on the shifting light. "An echo. A memory in the Vein. Sometimes the past tries to push through."
Mira clutched Nalah's arm, her voice barely audible. "Is it dangerous?"
"It can be," Whisper replied. "If we disturb it, it might try to make us part of its story."
The group stood perfectly still as the ripple of Vein energy passed beneath them. For a moment, Kael thought he saw figures flickering in the blue haze—shadows of people, marching in silence, faces twisted in fear and pain. Then, as suddenly as it began, the vision faded. The ground stilled. The air warmed.
Nirael released a breath she'd been holding. "Let's keep moving. Quickly."
They hurried on, the silence now thick with unspoken dread. Kael's mind raced with questions, but he kept them to himself. Whatever haunted these wilds was older and deeper than any Dominion patrol.
As they crested a low ridge, Lysara pointed to a line of distant, jagged canyons. "That's our way out. If we reach the canyons by nightfall, we'll have a chance to rest somewhere safer."
Selene nodded, but her voice was strained. "Let's not stop until we're there."
Behind them, the Vein-lit wilds seemed to watch, waiting for the next ripple, the next memory to surface.
And ahead, the canyons promised both shelter—and new dangers.
---
By late afternoon, the wilds gave way to the fractured rim of the canyons. The land dropped away in jagged steps, Vein-lit fissures splitting the earth and casting eerie blue shadows across the rocky descent. The air here was different—thinner, charged, every breath tinged with the metallic taste of Vein energy.
The group paused at the canyon's edge, catching their breath. Nirael scanned the horizon with her battered scope. "No sign of Dominion patrols. But I don't like how quiet it is."
Selene checked the harmonizer, her brow furrowed. "The Vein lines are stronger here, but… wrong. Like something's twisting them beneath the surface."
Nalah crouched, studying the ground. "Tracks again. Whatever was following us last night came this way. And it's not alone."
Kael felt the relic pulse at his chest, stronger than before. He glanced at Whisper, who stood perfectly still, her masked face turned toward the canyon depths.
"What is it?" Kael asked, voice low.
Whisper's reply was barely more than a breath. "The Vein is awake. And it's watching."
A sudden, sharp crack split the silence. The ground beneath Lysara's feet buckled, sending a shower of pebbles skittering into the canyon. Mira grabbed her arm, pulling her back just as a fissure yawned open where she'd been standing.
From within the canyon depths, something moved—shadows swirling, coalescing into forms that flickered between memory and matter. Blue-lit figures climbed the walls, their faces blurred, their movements jerky and unnatural.
Selene's voice trembled. "Are those… echoes?"
Whisper nodded, her voice grim. "The Vein remembers pain. These are fragments—remnants of those lost in the Sundering, trapped in the current."
Nirael drew her sidearm, but Kael held up a hand. "Weapons won't help. We need to move—now."
The group scrambled along the rim, searching for a path down. The echoes surged after them, their wailing cries echoing through the canyon. As the companions ran, the Vein's energy pulsed in time with their footsteps, the ground trembling with every surge.
Mira stumbled, nearly falling into a fissure. Nalah caught her, pulling her to safety. "Stay close!" she shouted over the rising howl.
Kael felt the relic grow hot against his skin, its pulse matching the rhythm of the Vein. He closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses, trying to calm the storm. For a moment, the echoes faltered, their forms flickering.
Selene saw the change. "Kael—whatever you're doing, keep doing it!"
But the strain was immense. Kael's vision blurred, the world spinning with Vein-light. He felt himself slipping, the relic's power threatening to pull him under.
Whisper stepped to his side, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder. "Let the Vein flow through you, not consume you. Remember who you are."
With Whisper's help, Kael found his center, the relic's power settling into a steady thrum. The echoes slowed, their cries fading to a distant murmur. The canyon stilled.
The group pressed on, breathless and shaken, but together. As they reached a narrow ledge overlooking a sheltered hollow, Nirael called a halt.
"We'll camp here tonight. No fires. No noise. We wait out the Vein's mood."
The companions huddled together, the canyon's shadows pressing close. Above them, the sky darkened, Vein-light dancing in the clouds. Below, the echoes drifted, restless but contained—for now.
Kael sat in silence, the relic warm in his palm, Whisper beside him. He knew the Vein's trials were only beginning. But as the others settled in, bruised but unbroken, he felt a fragile hope take root.
They had survived the wilds. The canyons—and whatever secrets they held—awaited at dawn.
---