The sky tore open without warning.
Alex was in the command center, studying the ancient texts with Sebastian, when a sound like splitting metal ripped through the air. The ground shook. The walls trembled. A crack appeared in the sky itself, a wound in reality that bled darkness.
"What the hell?" Jaxon yelled, his hand instinctively reaching for his weapon.
Alex was on his feet in an instant. The darkness inside him surged, recognizing something familiar in that rift. Something ancient. Something hungry.
"We need to get outside," he said. "Now."
The team ran to the courtyard. The rift was massive, stretching across the sky like a wound. Dark energy pulsed from it, corrupting the air, the ground, everything it touched.
"What is it?" Elena asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Alex
