Alex sat beneath the towering crystals that bordered the clearing, the glow from the shard in his hand dimming as his energy steadied. Raze lay beside him, her deep blue fur glowing faintly in the dim light, while Aura perched quietly on a nearby jagged stone, its silver feathers casting a soft halo around them.
For the first time in what felt like days, Alex let his mind wander. The thought hit him suddenly, sharp and cold.
What happened to them?
His family—his younger brother, Ethan, with his endless curiosity; his mother, who never let fear dictate her choices; his father, stoic but full of quiet strength. Were they safe? Had the rift's Enerion storms reached them?
The faint image of his family's home surfaced in his mind: the old, sturdy house on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by towering trees. What had it become? Was it still standing, or had the Enerion surge turned it to rubble?
"Mom… Dad… Ethan," Alex whispered, his voice barely audible.
Raze looked up at him, tilting her head as if sensing the shift in his thoughts. Alex reached out, scratching behind her horn.
"I promised I'd protect them," Alex said softly, his voice strained. "But I'm here. And they're out there, dealing with… whatever the hell Earth's turned into."
Aura let out a faint trill, its light pulsing softly.
Alex clenched his fist around the shard, the golden light flaring briefly.
"I have to get back to them," he said, his voice firmer now. "Whatever it takes."
Ethan Kiyoshi pressed his back against the splintered remains of the fence that had once marked the edge of their backyard. The air was thick with ash and faintly glowing spores, swirling in the faint light of a burning Enerion storm on the horizon.
"Stay down!" his mother hissed, crouched beside him. Her eyes burned with fierce determination, and the faint glow of Enerion markings traced along her arms—lines that hadn't been there a month ago.
Ethan's father crouched nearby, gripping a makeshift weapon—a heavy piece of rebar wrapped in chains. His own markings, jagged and deep red, pulsed faintly along his forearms, a reminder of the mutations the Enerion storms had forced on them.
The Kiyoshi family had been changed like everyone else when the rift tore into their reality. The storms hadn't just devastated the city; they'd transformed it. The familiar streets were now twisted paths lined with glowing fissures. Creatures prowled the ruins, their bodies warped by Enerion.
"We're surrounded," Ethan whispered, clutching a shard in his trembling hands. It was a weak one, barely glowing, but it was all he had.
"Focus," his father said, his voice low but steady. "We've handled worse."
Ethan swallowed hard, nodding. He glanced at his mother, whose hand glowed faintly as she pressed it against the ground. A shimmering barrier of light flickered to life around them, an ability she had only recently discovered.
"They're closing in," she said, her voice tight.
The first creature appeared—a hulking form that had once been a dog. Its fur was gone, replaced by jagged crystalline growths that jutted from its back. Its glowing eyes burned with feral rage as it charged the barrier.
Ethan flinched, but his father was already moving. With a powerful swing of the rebar, he struck the creature's side, the impact sending it sprawling.
Another creature lunged from the shadows, its twisted form barely recognizable. Ethan raised his shard, channeling what little energy it held. A thin beam of light shot out, striking the creature's leg and slowing its advance.
"Good, Ethan!" his mother shouted, reinforcing the barrier as another wave of creatures approached.
Her markings flared brightly as she poured more energy into the barrier, the strain evident on her face.
"We can't hold them all," she said through gritted teeth.
"Then we don't," Ethan's father said. "We take them down first."
He surged forward, swinging the rebar with brutal precision. The glow of his markings intensified, each strike amplified by the Enerion coursing through him.
Ethan scrambled to his feet, his shard glowing faintly as he joined the fray. He wasn't as strong as his father or as skilled as his mother, but he had learned to fight—he had to.
The creatures were relentless, but so were they. Together, the Kiyoshis pushed back, their combined efforts driving the beasts away. When the last creature fell, its twisted form dissolving into faint motes of light, the family collapsed against the ruins, their breaths ragged.
Ethan's mother sat down heavily, her glowing hands trembling. She wiped a streak of dirt from her face, her markings dimming as the strain faded.
"Too close," she muttered.
"We made it," Ethan said, though his voice lacked confidence.
His father leaned against a broken wall, his weapon resting beside him. "Barely."
Ethan stared at the shard in his hand, its faint glow a reminder of how fragile their strength was compared to the world they now faced.
"Do you think Alex is still out there?" he asked quietly.
His mother's gaze softened, though her expression was still tense. "He's alive," she said firmly. "Your brother's tougher than any of us. If anyone can survive out there, it's him."
Ethan nodded, though doubt lingered in his mind. The Enerion storms had changed everything. The Alex he remembered—his older brother who always seemed invincible—might not be the same anymore.
"I hope he's okay," Ethan whispered.
Back in the rift, Alex pushed forward through the crystalline forest, his thoughts still lingering on his family. Every battle, every step closer to understanding the rift, brought him closer to one truth: Earth wasn't the same.
His shard pulsed faintly in his hand, a steady rhythm that mirrored his determination.
"They're out there," Alex said to himself. "They're fighting, just like I am. And I'll find them. No matter what."
Raze barked sharply, drawing his attention back to the present. Ahead, the forest opened into a wide plateau, the distant glow of another structure visible on the horizon.
"We're not done yet," Alex said, his voice firm.
With Raze and Aura by his side, Alex stepped forward, the weight of two worlds driving him onward.