The light that erupted from the relic was blinding, searing through the room like a violent storm. Iris's hand, still touching the surface of the artifact, felt as though it was being ripped apart by an invisible force. Her vision blurred, and for a moment, she couldn't breathe. Every nerve in her body screamed in agony, yet something else—something darker—whispered in her mind, calling her to embrace it.
"Iris…"
The voice was deep, resonating with ancient power. It wasn't the Nexus. It was something else—something older, more primordial. The moment she made contact with the relic, it had awakened.
The crew scrambled to her side. Arkan's hand grasped her wrist, trying to pull her away, but the relic's energy kept her in place, locked in a trance-like grip.
"Iris!" Arkan shouted, panic creeping into his voice.
But Iris didn't hear him—not really. The voice in her head, soft yet commanding, drowned out everything else. It spoke to her in a language older than the stars themselves, offering her something she couldn't refuse.
"Join me, child of the Nexus. Together, we will reshape this universe."
Her body trembled, torn between the urge to release the relic and the seductive pull of the power within it. The presence inside her—the Nexus—was silent now, as if it, too, recognized the force that had awoken.
"I... I can't…" Iris gasped, her voice barely audible. She could feel her strength waning, like the relic was draining her very essence.
Then, the blinding light began to fade, leaving a heavy silence in its wake. The room returned to its dark, desolate state, but the power of the relic still lingered. Iris fell to her knees, her body shuddering with the strain of holding onto her will.
"You are not ready," the voice echoed one last time before it faded into nothingness.
The crew rushed to her side. Arkan knelt beside her, his hands gripping her shoulders as he tried to steady her.
"Iris," Arkan said, his voice soft but firm, "look at me. Focus on me, not the relic. You can fight this."
Iris's eyes fluttered open. Her pupils were dilated, her breathing shallow, but she managed to meet his gaze. "It… it wanted me to join it. To become one with it."
"It's the relic's influence," Luna said, her voice tight with concern as she crouched beside them. "It's been dormant for centuries, but the moment you touched it—"
"—It recognized her," Kairo finished, his voice grim. "It's a sentient artifact, and it has its sights on Iris. She's its vessel."
Iris's head snapped toward the relic. It lay in the center of the chamber, dormant once again, but she could feel its presence like a dark heartbeat. The room seemed to hum with a low, sinister vibration. It was waiting for her, calling her.
"We need to destroy it," Iris said, her voice trembling but filled with resolve.
"Destroy it?" Kyra asked, disbelief coloring her voice. "How do we even begin to do that? This thing is older than anything we've ever encountered."
"We don't have a choice," Arkan said, standing up and looking around the chamber. "This thing can't be allowed to fall into the wrong hands."
Luna quickly accessed the station's data again, her fingers moving over the console. "There's a fail-safe here, but the process is… it's not simple. The relic is part of something much larger—something connected to the very foundation of the Nexus. We'll need to disable it from the inside."
Iris stood, her body still weak but her resolve growing stronger with each passing second. "Then we do it. We're not leaving here without ending this."
The Heart of the Relic
The deeper sections of the station seemed to resist their every move, as though the very walls were trying to prevent them from getting any closer to the relic's heart. The ancient symbols on the walls glowed dimly, pulsing with an eerie rhythm, and the air was thick with a sense of foreboding.
"This place… it's alive," Luna muttered, her gaze scanning the hallway ahead. "The relic is part of a much larger network. It's connected to the Nexus in ways I can't fully comprehend."
"We don't have time for theorizing," Arkan said, his voice urgent. "We need to stop it now."
They continued down the narrow corridors, the hum of the station growing louder in their ears. The closer they got to the core, the more the walls seemed to close in on them. The air grew colder, and the darkness felt oppressive, as if the station itself was fighting back.
They arrived at the central chamber, where the relic rested upon a pedestal of shifting stone. It had grown even more powerful, its light pulsing with an ominous intensity. The floor beneath them seemed to ripple with energy, as if the very foundation of the station was vibrating with life.
Iris stepped forward, her heart pounding in her chest. "This is it," she whispered.
"We're running out of time," Luna warned. "The longer we stay here, the more the relic's influence will spread. It's already starting to disrupt the station's core systems. If we don't disable it now, this entire place will collapse."
Arkan turned to the others. "We'll need to work quickly. Kyra, Taron, cover the perimeter. Luna, get to work on disabling the fail-safe."
As the others moved into position, Luna rushed to a terminal beside the relic, her fingers flying across the interface. "I'm in," she said, sweat beading on her forehead. "But it's going to take a few minutes to initiate the shutdown process."
Iris stood beside her, every fiber of her being screaming to touch the relic again. The pull was undeniable, and with every second that passed, she felt the Nexus stirring within her, a furious tide crashing against the shore of her mind.
"You can do this," Arkan said softly, standing beside her. His hand briefly brushed hers, grounding her. "We're all with you."
Iris nodded, her breath steadying as she focused on the task at hand. The relic's power throbbed in the background, but she fought to ignore it, drawing strength from her friends and the knowledge that this was their only chance.
"Done," Luna said suddenly. The terminal blinked green, signaling that the fail-safe had been deactivated.
"Now, what?" Kyra asked, her voice tense.
"We destroy it," Iris said, her voice filled with resolve. She turned toward the relic, preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice.
As she stepped closer, the relic's light flared violently, and the voice inside her mind returned.
"You cannot destroy me, Iris. I am the doorway to the future. You are nothing without me."
But Iris wasn't listening anymore. She reached out, gripping the relic with both hands, and with a final, defiant cry, she pulled it from its pedestal.
The station trembled, the walls cracking and the very ground beneath them beginning to shake. The relic screamed, a sound unlike anything they had ever heard. But Iris held fast, channeling everything she had learned, everything she had become, into one final, destructive act.
With a surge of power, the relic shattered.
The Collapse
The station's core exploded in a flash of light and energy, sending shockwaves through space. The Shadowfang was rocked by the force of the blast, but the crew had already retreated to the safety of their ship.
As the crew watched the station crumble from the distance, Iris stood at the viewport, her body still trembling but her heart light. The pull of the Nexus was gone. The relic was no more. And for the first time in what felt like an eternity, she was free.
"We did it," Arkan said, his voice thick with relief.
Iris nodded slowly, a small smile tugging at her lips. "For now, at least."
But as the crew sailed back into the unknown reaches of space, the echo of the relic's power still lingered in her mind, a reminder that their journey was far from over.