Creak... creak...
A low hum followed. Then silence. Everyone in the room turned toward the portal window, breath held.
A look of astonishment spread across Ashley's face as she peered through the glass.
Victor bolted for the door without a word.
Ashley kicked off her heels.
Myth gently tugged at Sira's shoulder and grabbed her hand.
"Follow me. Let's go," he whispered.
Sira snapped out of her daze and quickly rose to follow him.
Walker was already at the door, just behind Victor.
Moments later, Myth, Sira, and Ashley stood outside the lab, facing the portal.
The core of the portal was vibrating violently—blue energy crackling in unstable, sparking arcs.
Panicked voices echoed throughout the room. Shouts, commands, warnings—all blending into the steadily rising hum from the core.
Then—
WEEOO WEEOO WEEOO...
Evacuation alarms blared to life.
Red lights flashed overhead. The chamber turned crimson.
Technicians were scrambling, some already hooked into nearby machines, furiously typing with their laptops plugged in.
Victor and Walker pushed through the chaos, moving straight toward the pulsing energy.
The portal core shimmered, pulsed again—harder this time.
A thrum of unstable energy rippled outward, causing the floor beneath them to vibrate.
Myth felt Sira's hand trembling in his grip. He glanced at her—wide eyes, pale face, frozen.
Then he raised his voice, loud enough to be heard over the sirens and chaos.
"Sira, toward the portal—now. It's the only way we stay safe. Walker's a Rook... and there are too many Bishops near the portal to keep us safe. We won't outrun the disaster"
He tugged her arm sharply, not waiting for an answer.
Sira hesitated—but her feet moved. Fear had taken over, but so had trust. She followed.
Behind them, Ashley now barefoot, she followed Myth and Sira, her perfect features twisted with something rare: worry.
Blue lightning sparked again, scattering across the floor like wild veins.
People began abandoning posts, pushing past each other toward the exits, faces twisted in fear.
Through the chaos, Myth, Sira, and Ashley moved fast—cutting through the storm toward the portal.
The core continued to destabilize.
Then—Myth spotted Walker speaking to one of Vonn's assistants.
Scanning the area, Myth searched frantically. "Ashley! Grab my hand—look for Victor!"
Ashley took his hand without hesitation and nodded. Her eyes were alert—worried, but surprisingly composed.
They had already located Walker. Now they needed Victor.
And then—
A sudden crack in the air.
A towering ice pillar burst from the ground, high up, forming near a machine beside the portal.
Everyone froze, eyes drawn to the frost-covered monument.
At its base stood a man, calmly closing his laptop amid the chaos.
Victor.
A voice cut through the noise—
"Victor! Do it—now! There's no time!"
Victor looked up and spotted them—Myth, Sira, and Ashley standing together.
The ice pillar groaned as a branch of ice extended rapidly in their direction.
"Ashley! Grab it!" Myth shouted.
He turned his head in the direction of walker gesturing Victor and yelled again, "Victor—Walker's near Vonn!"
Victor scanned the crowd, searching for Walker. He couldn't see him—but extended another ice branch, higher this time, hoping it would reach.
Ashley gripped the cold branch with one of her hand.
Walker, who had seen the pillar earlier, understood in that moment—Victor was a Bishop.
And now, another icy branch reached toward him.
No time to think.
Walker ran—and leapt.
His fingers closed around the frozen limb.
BOOM.
.....
Silence.
A numb stillness blanketed everything.
Myth opened his eyes—slowly, groggily.
His head throbbed. The world spun.
One hand still clutched Sira's. The other, Ashley's.
They were lying on the ground.
The air felt… different. Unfamiliar.
His ears rang with a low buzz, but slowly—muffled sounds began creeping in. Echoes. Voices. Distant. Unclear.
His stomach churned violently. A wave of nausea rose up his throat.
He rolled slightly to the side, hand tightening instinctively on Sira's.
The ground beneath him was cool. Grainy. Not the lab floor. Not the polished tiles.
It was… dirt?
"Ugh…" he gagged, but held it in.
He blinked hard. Once. Twice.
The light here was dim—filtered and grey, like a storm frozen in time.
Myth looked ahead. Walker still clung to the ice branch, steadying himself. Victor stood by the ice pillar, one hand resting on it, his eyes scanning their unfamiliar surroundings with sharp precision.
Then—
"Myth… are you okay?"
A faint, muffled voice reached his ears—Sira's. He turned his head, groggy but alert.
"Yeah… I'm okay," he said instinctively. "How about you?"
"I'm fine, I think. Where are we?" she asked, eyes wide with concern.
Myth sat up, breathing deep. The air here was musty, old.
"I think… we're in the Undercity. Ashfall's portal only links to here. Either way, we need to get our bearings." He paused, rubbing his temple. "Can you check on Ashley?"
Sira nodded and crawled over to Ashley, who sat slumped against the stone floor. Her eyes were unfocused, but her breathing was steady. Slowly, she was adjusting.
Victor turned back to them. "I'm pretty sure we're near the portal access area in the Undercity. There'll be guards patrolling. We need to move. Fast."
Myth pushed himself to his feet, his legs shaky but holding.
He took in the room—old stone walls, cables snaking across the floor, dim lights flickering above. It looked like some abandoned maintenance bay… or maybe a checkpoint.
Walker stepped silently toward the door and leaned close, peering out into the corridor beyond.
Shuuu—
A hiss of air.
Everyone turned toward the sound. Walker looked back, raised a finger to his lips.
Stay quiet.
The silence stretched.
Then, from somewhere in the distance—
A scream.
.....
Creating a fake identity and crafting a false story, Myth had lured the detective into investigating the portal—hoping to gather classified data and trigger questions from the inside.
But that alone wouldn't be enough. Time wasn't on Myth's side.
He needed an insider. Someone inside the system.
The private detective's reports included technical schematics and employee data—enough for Myth to start narrowing down targets. He needed to know how they lived, how they thought, how they broke.
Bribery. Deception. Blackmail—whatever worked.
From that list, he narrowed it down to four employees: two in core analytics, two in maintenance. All viable. But one stood out.
Victor.
Myth was confident he could win him over.
But even with Victor on board—and the detective digging deeper—Myth knew he couldn't do this alone.
Once he reached the Undercity, he'd need protection. Support. Fighters. And Myth wasn't one.
So he needed teammates.
That's where Sira came in.
Myth understood just enough of her ability to use it. If Sira wanted Myth to have teammates , the odds would shift. Subtly. Quietly. But enough to matter.
That's why Walker cooperated so easily.
That's why Victor agreed to override the portal protocols.
Because Sira hoped Myth would have teammates.
But even all of this wasn't enough.
The portal couldn't just function—it had to malfunction.
And so, on the day they arrived in Ashfall, Myth planted one more seed in Sira's mind.
He said casually, " let's hope population thins out a little."
Three days. That's what he told her.
And three days later, just when Myth formed his team, the portal cracked apart.
Sira's story grade was high—equal to the portal's core. Her influence subtle but potent. Combined with the unstable conditions and Victor's secret recalibrations...
Disaster was inevitable.
It worked.
And through it all—his lies, his planning, his manipulation—there was only one thing that haunted him.
He betrayed his best friend.
The one person who trusted him. Whose family trusted him.
Myth hated himself for that.
But he also knew—without Sira, without her powers—he'd never have dared try.
He felt guilt. Yes.
But now, the pieces were in place. The plan had worked.
And Myth had everything he needed.
This was the beginning.
This will be the start of his extraordinary task.