The world trembled as silence settled over the ruins.
Ash drifted through the air like pale snow, catching the faint light of the fractured sky. Ethan pushed himself upright, his vision still buzzing with static from the surge. Every nerve felt raw — alive and yet hollow.
The spire that had erupted moments ago now stood cracked and glowing faintly, its veins of gold pulsing to a slow rhythm. The sound beneath it — that low, resonant hum — was no longer just vibration. It was a heartbeat.
“Ethan…”
Maya’s voice was faint but steady inside his head, her tone distant, like she was speaking through a storm.
“It’s stabilizing. Whatever you triggered — it’s forming a network again.”
He looked around. The wasteland stretched for miles in every direction but scattered across the horizon. Fain
