He only took a second to get her outstretched hand. It held with firm grip and it was surrounded by an energy in the air around her.
"what's happening?" Aiden stammered. Panic could have shattered his voice in two.
No time to explain here," she snapped. She pounded the hilt of her sword onto the pedestal with the other hand, and the metallic sphere exploded into a vortex portal. The air around them rippled, the chamber shaking violently. "Jump!"
She didn't wait for him to answer, tugging Aiden forward, and they both leapt into the portal.
Aiden thudded on to a cold floor of obsidian. The woman stood up. She was inspecting the surrounding area.
"What place is this?" Aiden asked himself, holding in his ribcage.
She did not respond. Instead, she stepped toward the edge of what seemed to be a titanic platform suspended in an interminable void. Beyond the platform, pieces of smashed landscapes floated in the air: cityscapes, forests, deserts, oceans—all torn asunder and floating in impossible gravity.
"This. is what is left of the Nexus," she said, her voice heavy with sorrow. "The heart of the multiverse.
The multiverse?" Aiden repeated, trying to understand it all.
She looked back at him, her hard, sharp eyes lessening to look at him. "Yes. Your world is not the only one. There are many worlds, all joined through the Nexus. But something is seriously wrong. That rift you saw? It's expanding. It is unraveling reality.
Aiden inhaled sharply as her words hit him. "And you think I'm supposed to stop it?"
"I know," she said. "The Nexus chose you. That sphere back in the tower was its way of marking you as the Traveler. You're the only one who can access the gates to the other worlds and fix what's been broken."
But Aiden barely had time to think of an answer when the cavern was split by a deafening crack. One of the bits of land floating in space smashed, sending its pieces into the abyss.
"They're here," she said tightly, unsheathing her sword; its blade glowed like liquid silver, the same light as her armor.
A swarm of shadowy things emerged out of the dark. It resembled the beast that had risen in the forest but smaller: humanoid in form, red eyes glowing bright, with claws and jaggedness. The bodies seemed as if they were made out of smoke and shadow as they contorted.
The woman stepped ahead of him. "Step behind me.
The first of the creatures lunged, and she moved with breathtaking speed, slicing through it in a single motion. The creature disintegrated into a cloud of ash. But for every one she struck down, two more seemed to take its place.
Aiden's heart thumped in his chest. He glanced about for anything, anything that could be useful. His eyes came upon a glowing rune etched on the platform's surface. Without thinking, he touched it.
The moment his fingers touched the rune, a jolt of energy ran through him. He saw visions of broken worlds, ancient wars, and the Nexus itself: a gigantic structure at the center of everything. He felt a connection to the platform as if it were an extension of his own body.
The rune blazed bright, and a flash of light exploded from the ground, incinerating several of the shadowy creatures.
She looked back, her eyes wide in shock. "You sealed? Untrained?"
"I… I don't know how I did it!" Aiden stuttered.
She snorted, yet she swiped at the next creature. "Or maybe you're not completely useless after all."
The remaining creatures faltered. Their red eyes blinked and hesitated, as though unsure whether to come forward or not.
"They are retreating," she says, her voice wary. "But that is not a positive sign."
"Why isn't that?
"Because it means their master is coming."
Before Aiden could process her words, the void around them darkened. A chilling wind swept through the platform, and a deep, guttural voice echoed in the air.
Traveler… it rumbled, each syllable vibrating in Aiden's chest.
A gigantic figure emerged out of the darkness—a monstrosity wrapped in darkness, its face hidden beneath a jagged obsidian helm. And in its hand, there was a huge blade pulsating with an eerie red glow.
The woman stood up in a defensive position. "That's a Warden," she said, voice grim. "One of the Nexus's former guardians. The rift has corrupted it."
The Warden lifted its blade and the platform lurched under them. Aiden staggered, his arm wrapped tight around the woman.
"We can't fight that thing!" he bellowed.
"Not now," she agreed. "We need to get to the Core."
"The Core?"
"The central node of the Nexus," she told him, pulling on his arm. "If we make it there, we could have a shot at stabilizing the rift for a while so the Wardens don't quite take out everything.
"And how do we get there?" she asked him.
She indicated another shining rune on the platform. "That's a gateway. Touch it, think of the Core."
Aiden hesitated. "What about you?"
"I'll hold this thing off as long as I can," she said, voice firm. "Now go!"
Aiden nodded, his fear giving way to determination. He sprinted toward the rune, the Warden's blade crashing down behind him and just missing his heels.
He arrived at the gateway and touched his hand to the rune. As before, energy swept over him, and the platform broke up into light.
When Aiden's vision cleared, he found himself standing in a vast chamber filled with intricate machinery. Gears the size of buildings turned slowly, and rivers of glowing liquid energy flowed through conduits in the walls. At the center of the room was a massive crystalline structure, pulsing with a rhythmic light.
"The Core," he whispered.
But before he could take another step, the air in the chamber shimmered, and a new figure appeared—a man dressed in dark robes, his eyes glowing an unnatural green.
"Welcome, Traveler," the man said, his voice dripping with malice. "I've been expecting you."