Ancient structures had been built across Luminaria—older than her.

  "These are the quantum gateways," Aetherveil said. "The Architects built them, but no one knows how they work."

  She approached the largest of the gateways in the region.

  "This is our only way into the Nexus. If we use a pod, we'll never be able to return," she said.

  "Commander, I have been trying to connect with the structures. They’re resisting me." Psionus said.

  Aetherveil looked at him, and then back at the gate.

  "They’re ancient," she replied. "We’ll have to activate them the old-fashioned way."

  Lilyon raised an eyebrow. "What way is that?" she asked.

  Aetherveil shot Lilyon a smirk, then stepped away muttering to herself.

  The army spread out. They were securing the area while the three of them tried to figure out how the gateway works. Psionus placed his hands on the surface, closing his eyes. Aetherveil watched him carefully.

  "What do you see?" she asked.

  "Warnings," he replied. "They were afraid of what might come through these gateways."

  A sudden burst of energy knocked Psionus back. The celestial gut-punch slammed him into the ground hard, gasping for air. Lilyon rushed to his side.

  "It’s protected," he said through gritted teeth. "Something doesn’t want us to use it."

  Aetherveil stepped forward, drawing her sword. The blade radiated a violet hue as she raised it toward the gateway.

  "Whatever is guarding it will have to face me," she said. “Form up the Sentinels."

  The gateway erupted to life. Its circular frame flooded with a vortex of light, followed by a voice projecting from within.

  "You're not welcome, Aetherveil. Turn back now.“

  The army froze, weapons at the ready. Aetherveil stepped closer, her sword still raised.

  “Who are you?“ she asked.

  The vortex transformed into a humanoid shape radiating a blinding light. Its features were indistinct, but its glowing green eyes looked directly at Aetherveil.

  "Cryptorax," the figure replied. "I am the Tyrant's guardian. I know what you're doing, and it stops here."

  Aetherveil tightened her grip on the hilt.

  "It stops when I say it stops,” she said.

  "I am not one of those pathetic Revenants. You have never faced anything like me," Cryptorax replied.

  The portal expanded, making room for the tendrils reaching toward the Sentinels—pulling several of them in. Aetherveil watched in horror as their screams were cut short dragged into the vortex.

  "You do not understand the full scope of what you are fighting,” it said.

  With a roar, she leaped toward it. A tendril snatched her out of the air before her sword's arc could complete its journey into Cryptorax’s head.

  She was standing in the middle of a desert. She flipped down her visor to protect her eyes from the blinding sunlight. Looking around, all she could see were golden dunes and mists of sand blowing off their peaks.

  "What is this?" She asked. "Where am I?"

  She looked at her nav display. It was blank.

  She looked toward the horizon. A wall of sand was heading in her direction—fast. She knelt, pointing her face toward the ground.

  Once she was fully enveloped by the storm, it began swirling around her. She stood up, discovering that she was now surrounded by a thick wall of sand. The surface around her was drawn into it, revealing the faces of the Sentinels Cryptorax took.

  She ran to them, scooping up the sand with her hands. The fine grains scratched at her gauntlets as she whipped the earth over her shoulders.

  "Hold on. I'll get you out." she said, desperately clawing her way to them.

  The faces looked at her.

  "Why did you let this happen?"

  "No!" she shouted. "I didn't—I couldn't—"

  A towering dark figure stepped out of the wall. It approached Aetherveil, its haunting green eyes staring down at her.

  "Join me.“

  "You can never have me," Aetherveil said.

  As he reached out for her, she was pulled out of the construct. The tendril was chopped off by one of her Sentinels.

  "Commander!" he shouted, helping her up.

  As quickly as she was back on her feet, Aetherveil rolled into a leap, driving her blade into Cryptorax's eye.

  She couldn't stop her face from scrunching up at the screech it released before vanishing into the collapsing portal.

  The gateway was now ready to serve its purpose. Aetherveil stepped up to the ring—brushing her fingers across the etches created by the tendrils. She turned to her army.

  “We're moving out."

  The Sentinels began assembling into formation.

  As the first of them stepped through the gateway, she thought about those faces. Every soldier who stepped in, she felt her chest caving a little more.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  It was now her turn to cross through.

  "It is pointless. You will all die."

  >>>>>***********************<<<<<

  The capital city felt hollow. Its streets were nearly deserted except for the presence of Eldaran guardsmen patrolling in formations. Drones hovered overhead, repeating the same cold decree.

  “We are under a state of emergency. Anybody found violating the permanent curfew edict will be arrested on sight.“

  The message looped endlessly.

  Coran and Thalor walked aimlessly through the streets. Their footsteps sounded sharp against the empty facades, each sound swallowed by the abandoned buildings.

  “You see it, don’t you?” Thalor asked, his voice low. “She’s not here to help us.”

  Coran exhaled, shaking his head.

  “It was only a matter of time before someone stepped up,” he said. “With everything falling apart, she’s looking to exploit whoever she can.”

  Thalor stopped abruptly, turning to face him.

  “We need to convince the others,” he said. “Arros could go either way, but Castle? He’ll never agree.”

  “Castle is a soldier,” he said. “He fought his way to his post, not by learning the politics of strategy.”

  Thalor studied Coran’s face, searching for any sign of turncoat.

  "So what do we do?" he asked.

  Coran sighed, rubbing his temple.

  "We be careful. If we push too hard, we'll lose them before we even make our case," he said.

  Thalor scoffed.

  "If we don’t push at all, we’ll be standing in front of a firing squad wondering why we didn’t stop this sooner,” he said.

  Coran looked down the dimly lit streets, taking note of the drones zooming between every building.

  “She will show them herself,” he said. “Her recklessness will show the council as the casualties mount.“

  Thalor clenched his jaw, his masseters tightening into rock hard masses.

  “How many will die before that happens? We still need to protect ourselves from the Nexus.“

  Coran didn’t answer right away. His gaze followed the patrols as they passed. The guards weren’t looking for threats—they were maintaining a theatre of control.

  “Enough,” he finally said. “Enough that even Arros will have no choice but to see the truth.”

  Thalor exhaled sharply.

  “I'm not sure I'd wager on that,” he said.

  A buzzing sound grew louder as one of the drones drifted closer. The mechanical voice repeated its warning.

  “State of emergency. Curfew violators will be detained.”

  The drone hesitated for a fraction of a second before moving on.

  “They’re scanning us,” Thalor said.

  “Of course they are,” Coran replied.

  Thalor’s hands curled into fists.

  “They're my drones. They should know who I am.“

  He took a deep breath, calming himself down.

  “We can’t just wait. We need to act before she does,” he said.

  “What exactly do you suggest? We have no leverage,” Coran said. “We don't even have allies outside of the one who haven't picked a side.“

  They walked silently up the palace steps, the marble worn from years of ceremonial processions. The Eldaran sentries at the gate didn’t move. The massive gilded doors were sealed shut by the guards as they entered.

  “We need to do something before she consolidates power,” Thalor said. “Once she has the council under her control, it's over for us.“

  “If we can't get them on our side, then we'll choose for them,” Coran said.

  >>>>>***********************<<<<<

  Aetherveil and her Sentinels breached the edges of the Abyss. Their radiating silhouettes could be seen against the dark horizon.

  Her ears started ringing. Whispers began spilling into her head.

  “Your friends will die here."

  Images of Psionus and Lilyon flashed in her mind—gurgling on their own blood as Revenants gored them. Around her, the air began to ripple like water while dark tendrils crept up behind her. She turned around and everything went dark.

  Reaching for her sword, she discovered the sheath empty.

  The tendrils slithered toward her, damnation permeating from their presence. She couldn't see them, but she knew they were there—hunting for her.

  Psionus pulled her back into the construct. "Aetherveil—"

  "I know," She interrupted. "Let's just keep moving."

  The deeper they marched, the more she choked on the miasma of despair.

  "Turn back.“

  "It's hopeless for you here."

  Aetherveil and her army began to approach Glitchar's fortress. It was a massive structure suspended above an incomprehensibly deep chasm. It looked like a castle whose blocks were endlessly shuffling.

  It wasn’t the fortress that concerned Aetherveil most. It was the legions forming in front of it. They were dark, shapeless bodies. As the Sentinels got closer, their features became increasingly clear.

  These were no ordinary soldiers.

  These were players fully integrated into the Nexus. A green glow radiated from their eyes. The legions advanced in silence, their movements in near perfect unison.

  They were puppets.

  Without warning, they charged toward the Sentinels.

  As the two sides ran full speed toward each other, a wall formed in front of the Sentinels' line.

  The front ranks collided with it with a thunderous crash. The wall dissolved, revealing a tidal wave of these digital apparitions.

  The ground melted and reformed, swallowing soldiers only to spit them out into different places.

  Walls materialized and collapsed around them, cutting off retreat or herding them deeper into the battlefield.

  The Revenants' claws screeched against the Sentinels' armor, their sharp edges tearing through the plating that offered nearly zero protection from the razored claws.

  The Sentinels wavered under the endless flood. For each one killed, they were replaced by two more. Their bodies reassembled into new horrors, even more powerful than before, further bolstering their ranks.

  Through it all, Psionus’s voice sounded in their minds.

  "Left flank collapsing—reform!"

  Even his telepathy couldn’t silence the whispers. They crept back into Aetherveil’s mind.

  "You can’t save them.“

  "This is their end—and yours."

  She gritted her teeth, blocking out the voices as she pressed forward. The weight of her armor felt heavier with every step. By the time they reached the fortress, only a fraction of the Sentinels remained. Their formations were failing against the legions.

  Glitchar was constantly breaking and reforming, its carapace held together by yellow arcs of static. Its face was a blank black canvas of pixels with two green orbs levitating off its polyhedral head.

  "Glitchar!" she roared.

  Glitchar didn’t respond. Instead, it raised a hand and hurled bolts of energy at her.

  Aetherveil deflected them with her sword, the force shoving her back.

  "You fight for nothing. Look around you. You're giving me more conscripts," it said.

  Aetherveil watched as her fallen Sentinels were revived, their power armor under Glitchar's control.

  "No!" she shouted, lunging at it.

  The clash shook the entire construct.

  Glitchar’s strikes were frenzied. Each blow landed like a bomb.

  Aetherveil’s movements were calculated. Each swing of her sword was promising its end.

  Every arc of her sword that collided with its razor hands released a blinding flash and a ripple of force. It teleported past her, around her, next to her near instantaneously.

  Around them, the battle continued—Sentinels and Revenants locked in a struggle between life and death.

  "I don't need to destroy your army, Aetherveil. You will do it yourself," it said.

  Aetherveil couldn't contain her rage. She could only see Glitchar. Its body was flashing and sparking under her furious assault.

  Her sword connected with its head, shedding off some of its protective carapace. For a brief moment, she saw something inside of it—a frame of the player it once was, screaming silently for his release.

  She hesitated.

  It nearly cost her. Glitchar’s razored arm swung wide, grazing her side and sending a wave of pain through her body, forcing her on one knee.

  The next blow Glitchar threw was the opening she needed. With everything she had, she buried her sword into its chest—into and through the player imprisoned beneath its skin.

  Glitchar let out an ear-piercing screech as his form exploded into countless shards of light. The blast wave shattered nearby digital Revenants and collapsed the fortress, its blocks cast across the construct like burning comets.

  Aetherveil was thrown to the ground, gasping for air as she recovered from the crushing pressure of its unpredictably massive release of energy.

  When she finally got back up, the battlefield was silent. The Sentinels' armor were deeply scarred by the fighting. She watched as the wounded were being dragged away, groaning in agony.

  She looked down at Glitchar's remnants.

  "You haven’t won."

  The voices mocked her. They questioned her. Aetherveil tightened her grip around the sword's hilt. She barely recognized the reflection on the blade's surface.

  "Commander?" Psionus's voice got her attention.

  She looked at him and nodded. "Let's get out of here. We need to regroup."

  As they prepared to return through the gate, she thought to herself.

  “Is the Nexus breaking, or am I?“