Chapter Thirteen: The Sky That Answered
1397 Words
The sky answered me.
At first, it was only a ripple.
The silver weapon forming above the castle—bright enough to rival the sun—flickered slightly, as if the energy feeding it had been disturbed.
The hunters noticed immediately.
Their glowing eyes snapped toward me.
So did Lucien’s.
The silver power burning through my veins surged again, hotter than before, spreading across my arms and shoulders like living lightning.
The symbols on my skin shifted.
Changed.
Unlocked.
I gasped as the ground beneath my feet cracked.
Stone shattered outward in thin lines that glowed faintly with the same silver light now spilling from my body.
Davies stared in stunned horror.
“That’s… that’s not just power.”
Lucien’s voice was quiet.
“No.”
His crimson eyes gleamed.
“It’s authority.”
Above us, the lead hunter’s weapon flickered again.
The massive sphere of destructive energy trembled like a star on the verge of collapse.
The hunter’s voice echoed across the courtyard.
“Command interference detected.”
Adrian frowned.
“Command interference?”
Lucien didn’t take his eyes off the sky.
“Her power is disrupting their system.”
The hunter corrected him immediately.
“Prime origin command recognized.”
The courtyard went still.
I blinked.
“What command?”
But the answer came before anyone could speak.
Because suddenly—
The silver sphere in the sky dimmed.
Its violent glow weakened.
Then slowly… it shut down.
The hunters froze.
Davies’ jaw dropped.
“You just… canceled their attack.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I said quickly.
But even as the words left my mouth, another wave of energy surged through me.
And somewhere deep inside my mind—
Something responded.
A distant, ancient presence.
Like a machine waking up after centuries of silence.
Lucien exhaled softly.
“Fascinating.”
The lead hunter’s voice sharpened.
“Unauthorized command issued.”
Its glowing gaze locked onto me.
“Prime origin interference confirmed.”
The creature fighting in the courtyard suddenly roared.
With one massive swing of its arm, it hurled a hunter through the castle’s outer wall.
Stone exploded outward.
Dust filled the air.
But the creature’s glowing eyes were fixed on the sky.
“You should not have done that,” it rumbled.
I turned toward it.
“Done what?”
Its chains rattled as it stepped closer.
“Awakened the system.”
A cold chill slid down my spine.
“What system?”
Lucien answered quietly.
“The one that built them.”
Above us, the rift in the sky began to change.
The silver tear widened.
But instead of hunters descending—
Something else appeared.
A structure.
Massive.
Ancient.
A floating ring of dark metal slowly emerged from the glowing rift.
It dwarfed the castle beneath it.
Miles across.
Covered in the same glowing runes that burned across the hunters’ armor.
Davies staggered backward.
“That’s not a portal.”
Lucien’s voice was softer than usual.
“No.”
“It’s a gateway.”
Adrian stared upward in disbelief.
“A gateway to what?”
The creature answered.
“Their world.”
The enormous ring in the sky pulsed once.
A deep vibration rolled through the air like distant thunder.
Every hunter in the courtyard immediately stopped fighting.
Their weapons lowered.
Their glowing eyes turned upward toward the structure.
The lead hunter spoke again.
“Central authority online.”
Davies whispered a curse.
Lucien looked almost delighted.
“Well.”
“Now things are getting interesting.”
The massive ring rotated slowly.
Then a beam of pale silver light shot downward from its center.
It landed directly in the courtyard.
Twenty feet away from me.
The stone beneath it melted instantly.
Forming a perfect circle of glowing energy.
The hunters stepped back.
Clearing space around the beam.
Davies grabbed my arm.
“That looks like a capture device.”
Lucien raised an eyebrow.
“Or a throne.”
The creature’s deep voice rumbled again.
“Do not step into it.”
I wasn’t planning to.
But the moment the beam appeared—
The silver energy inside my body surged again.
Stronger than ever.
The symbols across my skin burned like fire.
And suddenly—
My feet moved.
One step forward.
Then another.
Davies tightened his grip on my arm.
“Stop!”
But I couldn’t.
It wasn’t my body moving.
It was something deeper.
Something ancient calling me forward.
Lucien noticed immediately.
“You’re not controlling it.”
I shook my head weakly.
“No.”
The creature roared.
“Resist it!”
But the pull was overwhelming.
Like gravity itself had turned against me.
The beam of light pulsed again.
The hunter’s voice echoed from above.
“Prime origin recall initiated.”
Lucien’s eyes darkened instantly.
“Recall?”
Davies understood first.
“They’re taking her back.”
The creature slammed its chained fist into the ground.
“I will not allow it!”
It lunged toward the beam.
But three hunters intercepted it instantly.
Their weapons flared.
Silver chains of energy wrapped around the creature’s arms and chest.
Pinning it to the ground.
The courtyard shook with the force of its roar.
But the hunters held.
Lucien stepped forward.
His crimson eyes burning.
“I’m afraid that option is not available.”
One of the hunters moved toward him.
Weapon raised.
Lucien smiled faintly.
“Oh, good.”
“Something to do.”
He moved faster than sight.
The hunter’s spear shattered in his hand.
Lucien’s fist slammed into the hunter’s chest with enough force to launch it across the courtyard.
Adrian blinked.
“I forgot how terrifying he is.”
But even Lucien’s attack didn’t stop the beam.
The light grew brighter.
Stronger.
My body moved another step toward it.
Then another.
Davies tried to pull me back.
But the force dragged both of us forward.
The hunter’s voice echoed again.
“Prime origin retrieval required for system restoration.”
Lucien turned sharply.
“Restoration of what?”
The answer came immediately.
“Universal balance.”
Davies froze.
“Universal—”
Lucien finished the sentence quietly.
“—means control.”
Above us, the massive ring in the sky pulsed again.
More shapes moved behind it.
More hunters.
Hundreds of them.
Descending slowly through the gateway.
The creature’s voice trembled with fury.
“This is how it began.”
Lucien glanced toward it.
“You’ve seen this before.”
“Yes.”
The creature’s glowing eyes burned.
“They arrive.”
“They secure the origin.”
“And then…”
Its voice dropped into something darker.
“They erase everything else.”
Silence slammed into the courtyard.
Davies looked horrified.
“That’s genocide.”
Lucien nodded slightly.
“Efficient genocide.”
My body moved again.
Closer to the beam.
The light wrapped around my legs now.
Pulling harder.
Lucien appeared in front of me instantly.
His hand grabbed my wrist.
The silver energy around my skin flared violently.
For a second—
The beam flickered.
The hunter’s voice sharpened.
“External interference detected.”
Lucien leaned closer.
His voice was low.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
I met his eyes.
“What if I have to?”
Lucien’s smile vanished.
“That is not an acceptable outcome.”
Above us, the gateway flared brighter.
More hunters stepped through.
The sky was filling with them.
An army descending.
The creature roared again as it struggled against its restraints.
“You must not leave!”
Davies shouted.
“If they take you, it’s over!”
The hunter’s voice echoed again.
“Final retrieval phase.”
The beam of light intensified.
The ground cracked.
The pull became unstoppable.
My feet lifted slightly from the ground.
Lucien’s grip tightened.
For the first time since I’d met him—
There was real anger in his voice.
“Absolutely not.”
The silver energy inside my body exploded outward.
A shockwave blasted across the courtyard.
Hunters were thrown backward.
The beam flickered wildly.
The giant gateway in the sky pulsed violently.
And suddenly—
A new voice echoed from the structure above.
Not mechanical.
Not emotionless.
Ancient.
Powerful.
Curious.
“Prime origin…”
The entire battlefield froze.
Even the hunters.
The voice continued.
“After six hundred years…”
The light in the sky intensified.
And the voice spoke again.
This time with unmistakable interest.
“You are finally awake.”
- Writer
