Kael moved swiftly through the outpost's corridors, his footsteps silent despite the urgency pressing him forward. The glowing panels on the walls flickered as if reacting to his presence, casting eerie reflections against the metal surfaces. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, each revelation sharper than the last. His body, still infused with the wilds' energy, felt attuned to the very earth beneath him. The connection was undeniable now, stronger than ever.
But that connection was becoming a double-edged sword. The wilds had not just shaped him; they had become something far more sinister, twisting the land and the people who had dared to experiment with its forces. The elites—the wealthy who had abandoned Earth—had only made it worse. The remnants of their technology and their hubris spread like a disease, threatening the very balance Kael had once sought to protect.
He couldn't allow their plans to come to fruition.
Kael reached a narrow stairwell leading deeper into the outpost's heart. His senses, heightened by the wilds' power, picked up the faintest vibrations—human voices, low and tense, speaking in hushed tones. The door at the top of the stairs slid open with a quiet hiss, revealing a small control room bathed in the soft glow of multiple monitors.
Three figures stood around a central terminal, their faces obscured by the dim lighting. Kael's hand went instinctively to his spear, but he didn't strike immediately. The voices drifted toward him, their words fueling his growing anger.
"We need to accelerate the process," a woman's voice said, firm and commanding. "The resistance is more organized than we expected. If they get wind of our true plan—"
"Then we'll deal with them like we've dealt with every other obstacle," interrupted a second voice, cold and disdainful. "The serum is ready. We just need to stabilize the final phase, then we'll be able to extract the full potential. The last hurdle is Kael—he must be neutralized."
The name hit Kael like a blow to the chest. They knew him. They feared him.
"I told you," the woman persisted, "he's too unpredictable. His connection to the wilds is not something we can control. It's the same anomaly we've been studying all along, but it's evolving. It's not just an enhancement—it's changing everything. We have to act fast before he learns the full extent of his power."
Kael's grip tightened around his spear, and a deep, primal urge stirred within him. These people were playing god with forces they didn't understand, treating Earth and its resources like tools for their twisted vision of evolution. The land had rejected them, but they had refused to accept that.
A third voice, quieter but just as dangerous, spoke up. "If we push forward, we risk everything. The wilds are unpredictable, yes, but the planet itself... the biological energy we're harvesting from it... if we push too far, we may never be able to reverse it. Earth could—"
"Earth is already lost," the first voice snapped. "We're not here to fix the planet. We're here to save ourselves."
Kael's breath caught as their words sank in. This wasn't just about their failed experiment. It wasn't just about power or control. It was about survival—survival at any cost, even if it meant destroying the world they had once sought to conquer.
Kael's thoughts turned to the fragments of the Wilds' Heart. He had to find them. He had to understand what was happening to Earth, to the land, to himself. The more he thought about the energy coursing through him, the more he realized that the wilds weren't just a force to be tamed or manipulated. They were alive. And they were speaking to him, guiding him toward something greater.
But what? And at what cost?
The woman's voice again broke the silence. "If Kael finds out what we've done, if he learns the truth, we'll lose everything. He's the last piece, the final experiment we need. The serum will only work if he..."
Kael's mind snapped back to the present. They were talking about him. They were talking about him like an object, a tool to be used and discarded. The anger inside him surged again, but he kept it under control. There was more to learn. More to understand.
He needed to know what had truly happened to Earth. And he would stop them—no matter the cost.
Kael took a breath, gathering the wilds' energy around him. The power surged through his veins, and for a brief moment, he felt a connection to everything—the earth beneath his feet, the trees swaying in the distance, the very air that pulsed with life. The whispers of the land were louder now, clearer. They weren't just guiding him; they were warning him.
With a final glance at the figures in the control room, Kael stepped into the shadows once more, moving silently toward the next phase of his journey. The answers he sought were close—too close to ignore.
And as he moved, the earth seemed to shift beneath his feet, as if the very land knew the danger he was about to face.