The wind had picked up again, whipping the sand into restless swirls that obscured the horizon. The shard in Elaine's hand pulsed faintly, its glow cutting through the haze like a distant beacon.
The team moved in tense silence, their earlier encounter with the Dominion scout weighing heavily on them.
"This stronghold," Lira said hesitantly, breaking the quiet, "how do we even get close without them spotting us?"
Rivan, walking slightly ahead, glanced back. "They're using conduits. That means they'll have defenses tied directly to the shards they've collected. If we're lucky, we can disrupt their systems before they know we're there."
"And if we're not lucky?" Lira asked, her voice edged with nervousness.
Ardyn snorted. "Then we do what we always do—survive long enough to regret it."
Elaine said nothing, her focus on the shard. Its hum was louder now, a steady rhythm that seemed to sync with her heartbeat. With each pulse, she felt the weight of its energy pressing against her mind, pulling her thoughts toward the fractures.
"You cannot outrun the shards' will," the whispers said. "You are part of them, as they are part of you."
Elaine clenched her teeth, shoving the voice aside.
The Shard's Visions
As they crested a dune, the shard flared suddenly, its light casting jagged shadows across the sand. Elaine staggered, the sudden surge of energy pulling her mind elsewhere.
She was no longer in the desert.
Instead, she stood in a cold, metallic chamber filled with glowing conduits. The air was heavy with the hum of Nexus energy, and the faint echo of voices carried through the space.
Dominion scientists moved methodically between the conduits, their faces obscured by masks. At the center of the chamber stood a crystalline shard, its light flickering erratically as though resisting the energy being forced through it.
"This one is unstable," a voice said, sharp and clinical. "Increase the output and monitor the response."
The shard flared violently, sending a shockwave through the chamber. Several scientists were thrown back, but the others remained focused, their eyes fixed on their monitors.
Elaine felt the shard in her hand grow hot, its energy resonating with the scene before her.
"This is their legacy," the whispers said. "They seek unity through control, but they do not understand what they wield."
The vision dissolved, and Elaine was back in the desert, the wind whipping at her face.
"Elaine!" Ardyn's voice snapped her back to reality.
She blinked, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps. "I'm fine," she said quickly.
"You don't look fine," Ardyn said, her tone sharp. "What just happened?"
Elaine hesitated, the vision still vivid in her mind. "It's the shard. It's showing me something—Dominion's experiments. They're trying to control the shards, but they don't understand them."
"And you do?" Ardyn asked, her skepticism cutting.
Elaine met her gaze, her voice steady despite the doubt gnawing at her. "I understand enough to know we have to stop them."
Tensions Boil Over
The group pressed on, the stronghold still hours away. The wind had grown colder, and the swirling sand made it hard to see more than a few feet ahead.
Ardyn finally broke the silence, her frustration spilling over. "You keep saying we have to stop them, but do you even have a plan? Or are we just following that thing in your hand and hoping for the best?"
Elaine stopped, turning to face her. "You think I don't know how dangerous this is? I'm doing the best I can with what we have."
"The best you can?" Ardyn shot back, her voice rising. "You're letting that shard lead us into one deathtrap after another, and you don't even know what it wants from you!"
Rivan stepped between them, their tone calm but firm. "Enough. Ardyn, you're not helping."
"She's not wrong," Lira said quietly, her gaze downcast. "The shard… it's changing you, Elaine. You're not the same as when we started."
Elaine's jaw tightened, her grip on the shard firm. "I haven't changed. I'm still fighting for the same thing I always have—to stop the fractures and save what's left of this world."
Ardyn scoffed. "And what happens when that thing decides it doesn't want to save the world? What happens when it decides you're the problem?"
Elaine stared at her, the weight of her words sinking in.
A Grim Resolve
The shard flared faintly, as if responding to the tension in the air. Elaine took a deep breath, her voice steady but cold. "If it comes to that, I'll deal with it. But right now, we don't have time to doubt each other. Dominion is out there, and they're not going to wait for us to figure things out."
Ardyn folded her arms, her expression hard. "Fine. But don't expect me to follow you blindly."
"I'm not asking you to," Elaine said, turning back toward the horizon. "I'm asking you to trust me long enough to stop them."
The group fell silent, the weight of their unspoken fears hanging heavily between them.
Dominion's Shadow
As the sun dipped lower, the silhouette of Dominion's stronghold came into view—a sprawling fortress of steel and crystal, its towers glowing faintly with the energy of captured shards.
Elaine's heart tightened as she stared at it. The shard in her hand pulsed faintly, its light syncing with the distant glow of the stronghold.
"This is it," Rivan said, their voice grim. "We're out of time."
Elaine nodded, her resolve hardening. "Then we make our move. And this time, we don't leave without a shard."