The edge of the forest seemed a world away from anything that Ethan had ever seen. As the three adventurers approached, the air chilled down, became heavier, charged with energy that made his skin itch. The trees thinned to jagged rocks and there were patches of blackened grass all around.
Before them stood a ruin of old—a stone archway, time-worn and thickly covered by dark vines. The strange symbols etched into the stone pulsed, faintly glowed like a heartbeat.
"That's it?" Ethan demanded, his hand tensing tighter around the spear.
"That's it," Arius said, his voice tonelessly low.
Kael didn't say a word, but stood there in silence, his eyes passing about the desolate ruin. "It doesn't feel. right. Kind of like it's alive."
Arius nodded. "That's the corruption. The gateway is a tear in the fabric of reality, a point where the Fractured Realm bleeds into our world. Once we step through, we're on Voidborn turf."
Ethan's stomach churned. "And we're doing this why again?"
"To finish the quest," Kael declared firmly. "And to put a stop to whatever is happening before it gets worse."
A faint smirk played across Arius' lips. "Brave words. Let's see if they hold up."
When they reached the gate, a message flashed in Ethan's mind.
---
Shattered Realm Noticed: The Broken Glade
Level Recommendation: 5+
System Stability Warning: Unstable at times. Caution Advised.
"You're thinking like a solo player," Arius said, stepping up to the archway. "The system factors in party dynamics. With me, we stand a chance in combat."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "And how many times have you lived through a Fractured Realm?"
Arius grinned at him. "Enough."
Kael asked the question again, but before he could get another word out of Arius a small glowing stone materialized in his hand from his pocket. The artifact pulsed with an inner light casting weird shadows across the floor.
"What is it?" Ethan asked.
"A key," Arius replied. "You need one of these to power on a gate. Well for you, it seems I still possess mine."
He clenched the stone in the air and the runes on the archway ignited. Space within the arch rippled like the surface of water and became a whirlpool of dark energy.
"Well," Arius turned to them. "Last chance to back out."
Kael walked forward without hesitation. "We're going."
Ethan swallowed. "Yeah. Sure. Well, let's step through this death portal. Great swell idea."
"I like your spunk, kid." Arius grinned. "Let's go."
He nodded at nothing in particular, took three strides forward, and stepped through the portal. Gone.
Kael turned to Ethan. "Ready?"
"Nope," Ethan said, taking a great breath of air. "But let's do it anyway."
Together they stepped into the whirling energy, the world dissolving around them.
---
Welcome to the Shattered Grove
One moment, the body and mind of Ethan may take no more in the thought of it being pulled apart. And then he was up, standing, in a world utterly foreign to his own.
The Shattered Grove was an odd world-a twisted forest tortured by chaos. Trees speckled the sky, their trunks plated in black coal-like bark, reaching up for a red expanse as the branches swept out with pulsing, glowing fruit. The earth beneath their feet uneven, composed of stone, dirt, and shimmering glass.
"What the hell…", Ethan whispered, spear held tight.
"This is a Broken World," Arius said, his voice grim. "Nothing here makes sense. Do not trust your senses, and do not stray."
Kael nocked an arrow, her eyes scanning the trees. "Do we know what we're looking for?"
Arius shrugged. "The quest will update once we make progress. Until then, assume everything here wants to kill us."
Ethan groaned. "Great."
The further in they stepped into the grove, the more oppressive atmosphere seemed to weigh them down. Every rustle of leaves, every far-off sound, made Ethan grow increasingly on edge.
"Do you guys feel like we're being watched?" he asked nervously.
Kael nodded. "Keep your wits about you.".
Dark-energy orbs hung overhead, pulsing ominously.
Trial of Shadows: Cross the Bridge
Win: Cross the bridge without activating the shadow orbs.
Reward: Continue to the next zone.
Deduction: Instant death.
"Welcome to the Fractured Realm," Arius said with a grin.
"This is just the warm-up." Kael looked out at the bridge, a skeptical expression on his face.
"The orbs look like proximity traps; we are going to need to be very careful about it."
"Carefully, huh?" Arius smirked.
"Watch and learn." He walked out onto the bridge, his movements unnervingly smooth.
He wove between orbs with practiced ease, his footsteps silent on the stone.
He was across in moments, waving back at them.
"Show-off," Kael muttered.
"You're up?," Ethan said, motioning toward the bridge.
Kael nodded, smoothing her bow back into place, then stepped out onto the bridge.
She navigated through easily, trusting her instincts to guide her around the orbs.
She reached the other side safely and nodded to Ethan to come along.
Ethan breathed in. "Okay. No problem."
He moved forward onto the bridge, his heart hammering away in his chest like a jackhammer.
The orbs complained indistinctly; their power nipped at his skin as he crept along beside them.
A trickle of sweat ran down his brow while he watched each step, his grip on the spear tightening enough to ache.
Across the middle of the bridge, his foot slid on a loose stone.
The jarring made one of the orbs blaze bright, its energy crackling.
"Run!" Kael yelled.
Ethan launched himself forward just in time, barely sidestepping the orb as it released a blast of energy.
The explosion rocked the bridge beneath his feet, but he steadied himself, sprinting the rest of the way to safety.
Just in time to see him collapse on the other side, wheezing for air, Arius clapped him on the shoulder.
"Not bad, kid. A little sloppy, but you made it."
"Just barely," Ethan muttered, wiping the sweat off his brow.
"How is this the warm-up?" he asked.
"Because the good stuff hasn't even begun yet," Arius said, his grin getting even wider.
---
He walked on, the air grew colder, and now it seemed that whispering crept into the silence. The voices had been indistinct at first, like the rustling of the leaves, but soon those formed words that touched his spine with the cold.
"Turn back. Leave this place. You don't belong here."
Ethan froze. "Did you hear that?"
Kael nodded her head, pale. "The voices. They're everywhere."
"It's the Voidborn," Arius said flatly. "Trying to intimidate us-or break us. Pay them no mind."
The whispers grew to a scream, tugging at his brain. Doubts and fears he thought he'd long buried surfaced, threatening to overwhelm him. Ethan tried to concentrate on the hunt, but the whispers grew louder and fainter all at once.
"Why are you even here?" the voices hissed. "You'll never survive. You're not strong enough."
"Shut up," Ethan muttered, holding onto his spear.
Kael reached out, his hand brushing against his shoulder. "Don't go anywhere, Ethan. They are just trying to screw with your head."
She had the power to center him, and it took a few good breaths to push the voices back.
It was impossible that Arius did not raise a hint of amusement in his voice. "You're good. You two have stronger wills than I anticipated. Let's get moving."
And so, straining forward, the sigh of the grove grew still, but restlessness within still belonged. The Broken Realm tested them and took more from Ethan in one fell swoop than any revealed truth could hope to.