Kael's vision beca a blur as the world bent around him. A violent pull yanked at his entire being, and then, with a deafening pop, he was thrown forward, landing hard on the ground.
With a groan, he pushed himself up, the floor beneath him was cold and a glaring difference to the filth-ridden streets he'd known all his life.
The air here was different—thicker with blight, polluted with energy that made his skin prickle and his head swim—but not necessarily in a bad way.
As his eyes adjusted to the light, he beca aware of voices nearby.
"What the hell?"
"How is this possible?"
Kael turned his head and froze. Five figures stood before him, their weapons drawn and their postures tense. They were the squad of Lightforged he had seen earlier.
The boy who had sliced the Ravager's limb stood at the front, his glowing blade pointed directly at Kael. His short, ssy blond hair frad sharp features, his piercing blue eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Who are you?" the boy demanded, his voice edged with authority beyond his years.
Kael struggled to his feet, confusion writ large on his face. "I...I don't know what's happening. A second ago, I was outside, and then—"
"You shouldn't be here!" one of the squad mbers, a tall young man with dark skin and a shaved head, interrupted.
He held a massive hamr glowing faintly with Etherion. His deep voice carried a mix of shock and disbelief. "Only Lightforged can enter a Void Breach. Anyone else would've been turned to dust the mont they touched it!"
The others exchanged uneasy glances.
A girl with fiery red hair tied into a braid and a pair of daggers strapped to her hips stepped forward. Her freckled face was stern. "You're saying this... beggar survived the breach entry? That's not possible."
"I don't know!" Kael said, throwing up his hands. "I didn't do anything! I just... ended up here!"
"He's lying," the hamr-wielder said, stepping closer, his eyes narrowing. "He has to be. There's no way he's not a Lightforged."
"But look at him," said another girl, this one petite with long black hair and a calm deanor. Her silver eyes darted over Kael's gaunt fra and tattered clothing. "He doesn't look like soone who's ever set foot inside a force field city."
The leader turned to Kael. "Is that true?"
Kael hesitated before nodding. "I've never been inside one."
"That settles it," the hamr-wielder said. "He's not a Lightforged. This is just so kind of anomaly."
"An anomaly?" the red-haired girl scoffed.
The leader frowned, his grip on his blade tightening. "Enough. This doesn't change our objective. We clear the breach."
"What about him?" the silver-eyed girl asked, gesturing to Kael.
"We leave him," the leader said firmly.
The red-haired girl crossed her arms, her voice rising. "If we leave him, he's going to die. You know that."
"And if we bring him, he'll still probably die," the leader shot back. "The difference is he'd also be a burden for us."
The group went silent, tension rising slightly.
"Look, it's an E-Rank breach," the red-haired girl argued. "It's not like we're dealing with sothing out of our league. How much of a burden could he really be?"
Before the leader could respond, the ground beneath them shook. The faint vibration of energy grew louder, and the dim, empty surroundings began to flicker.
"What now?" the hamr-wielder muttered, his grip tightening on his weapon.
In an instant, the air shifted. The tallic walls of the breach warped and lted away, replaced by a vast, light-dappled forest. The scent of damp earth and greenery filled the air, but the beauty of the scene was lost on the group.
They weren't looking at the trees.
Far in the distance, dominating the horizon, lay the massive corpse of a beast unlike anything Kael could have imagined. Its body sprawled across the land, its sheer size dwarfing the mountains around it. Gigantic bones jutted out from its decomposed form, and its decayed flesh emitted a faint, sickly glow.
Kael felt his heart race, not from the sight of the beast but from the indescribable fear radiating from the squad.
"What is that?" Kael whispered, his voice barely heard.
The group didn't answer.
The hamr-wielder's face beca pale, his hands trembling as he gripped his weapon.
"This... this place is..."
Another mber of the squad, a lanky man with dark eyes and a bow slung across his back, spoke next. His voice was hollow, filled with resignation.
"How could this happen? How could we walk into our ends like this?"
Kael's gaze darted between them, his confusion mounting. He could feel the fear that gripped them, a fear that seed to co not from the dead beast but from sothing else—sothing far more terrifying.
The leader's face was grim, his knuckles white as he tightened his grip on his blade. He didn't speak, but the look in his eyes told Kael all he needed to know.
They were in a place they shouldn't be.
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