The Graveyard of Giants
The Elysian Dawn drifted through the carcass of a dead star system, its skeletal planets orbiting a collapsed sun. The first world they approached was a husk, its surface scarred by continent-sized fissures that wept black vapor into the void. Kairos pressed his hand to the viewport, the mark on his wrist throbbing in time with the planet's labored hum.
"Atmosphere reads as toxic," Anara said, her fingers dancing over the ship's console. "Radiation levels… gods, they're off the charts."
Li Na strapped a respirator to her face. "The god's been here. Recently."
"How can you tell?" Kai asked, though he already knew. The mark itched, whispering of cold shadows and hungers older than stars.
"The fractures." Li Na pointed to the fissures. "They're claw marks."
The First Trial: Dust and Shadows
The landing party touched down in a valley of ash, their boots sinking into ground that crunched like brittle bone. Ruins loomed ahead—spires of blackened alloy, their surfaces etched with spiraling glyphs that pulsed faintly.
"This isn't Sunsworn design," Anara muttered, brushing ash from a glyph. "Older. Angrier."
"Precursor tech," Veyra-7's voice crackled in their earpieces. "The kind that makes gods… or kills them."
A tremor shook the valley. The ash rose, coalescing into humanoid shapes—soldiers with hollow eyes and jagged blades.
"Echoes," Li Na hissed, drawing her daggers. "Don't let them touch you."
Kai's plasma blade cleaved through the first specter, but it reformed instantly, its ash-body swirling with void-crystal shards. "Anara! The ruins!"
She was already sprinting toward the nearest spire, her scanner blaring. "There's a power source beneath us! I can—"
The ground collapsed.
The Altar of Teeth
They fell into a chamber lined with teeth. Not stone, not alloy—actual teeth, each the size of a starship, their roots fused to the walls. At the chamber's heart sat a throne of fused vertebrae, a skeletal figure slumped atop it.
"Not a god," Li Na breathed. "A king."
The corpse's skull turned, its empty sockets fixing on Kai. "Welcome, child of Isvalla."
The mark on Kai's wrist burned. [Corruption Threshold: 30%.]
"You knew her," he said, stepping closer.
"I devoured her kin," the corpse laughed, its jaw clattering. "She was the last. Until you."
Anara aimed her pistol. "What are you?"
"A lesson." The corpse's hand twitched. The teeth-rattled, dislodging a holocron from the throne. "Take it. And see."
The Memory of Blood
The holocron's light engulfed them.
They stood in a vibrant city, its skies teeming with winged beings—Isvalla's people. The king from the throne, alive and radiant, addressed a crowd. "We will ascend! No longer slaves to the stars!"
The memory fast-forwarded: the king's scientists tearing open a black hole, siphoning its power. The singularity birthed the first Veil fragment—and the first Storm. Isvalla's kin revolted, but the king consumed them, their essence fueling his ascent… until the Storm turned on him.
The city collapsed. The king's final scream echoed: "We were wrong. Seal the fragments. Bury them. Bury everything."*
The holocron dimmed. The corpse disintegrated, its throne crumbling.
"He wasn't a god," Kai said. "Just a tyrant with a god complex."
Li Na pocketed the holocron. "And we're following his path."
[The mark pulsed: You already are.]
The God's Gambit
The Dawn's alarms blared as they breached the next dead world's orbit. This one was intact—a teeming jungle planet, its surface veiled in emerald mist.
"Life signs?" Anara asked.
"None," Veyra-7 said. "But the trees… they're moving."
Kai's mark flared. "It's a trap. The god's here."
The jungle exploded. Vines as thick as skyscrapers lashed the ship, dragging it toward the canopy. Li Na sliced through the viewport, grappling hooks in hand.
"Jump!"
They repelled into the mist, landing in a clearing where the trees formed a perfect circle. At its center stood Cassian, his eyes clear, his hands outstretched.
"Kai! Thank the skies—"
Li Na's dagger was at his throat before he finished. "Prove you're real."
Cassian's smile faltered. "The farm… you let me tend bluestar fields. My wife's name was Lira. You loved her like a sister."
"It's him," Kai said, but the mark seared a warning. [Corruption Threshold: 40%.]
"I escaped," Cassian said, gripping Kai's arms. "The god's weak here! We can kill it, but I need your help—"
Anara's pistol cocked. "How?"
"With that." Cassian pointed to the holocron in Li Na's belt. "It's a key. To the god's prison."
[The trees began to bleed.]
The Unmasking
The prison was a pit—a mile-wide chasm exhaling frost. Cassian led them to its edge, the holocron humming in his hands.
"Drop it in," he urged. "It'll destabilize the god's core!"
Kai hesitated. "How do you know that?"
"The same way I know you still blame yourself for me." Cassian's voice softened. "But this ends now, brother. Trust me."
Li Na stepped between them. "Don't."
Too late.
Cassian's eyes flooded with void-dark. The holocron screamed, activating. The pit's frost vaporized, revealing a pulsating heart of black ice—the god's true form.
"Thank you," Cassian's voice deepened, harmonizing with the god's. "For the key. For the throne."
He plunged the holocron into his chest.