The road beyond the Verdant Realm was a scarred wasteland, the air thick with the scent of burned earth and decayed magic. Kael and Thalassa moved cautiously, their boots crunching against brittle soil that had once been fertile. The deeper they traveled, the more the landscape bore signs of the Nexus's collapse—rivers turned to mist, trees frozen in time, their leaves crumbling like dust.
Kael's grip tightened on his staff. He could feel the earth's pain beneath his feet, an aching tremor that pulsed through the land like a dying heartbeat.
Thalassa walked ahead, her gaze sharp, her steps steady. She hadn't spoken much since they left the ruins of Kael's village, and though Kael had questions—about her, about the Nexus, about the strange beast she had commanded—he kept them to himself. For now.
A flicker of movement in the distance made them halt.
Among the wreckage of a ruined outpost, figures scavenged through broken structures. At first, Kael thought they were survivors, but as they drew closer, he saw that their movements were too deliberate, their postures too tense. These people weren't just searching for food or shelter. They were looking for something specific.
A low whistle cut through the air. The scavengers froze. Then, in an instant, weapons were drawn.
"Who goes there?" a voice called out.
Thalassa raised a hand, water forming in a defensive swirl around her. "We're just travelers."
A man stepped forward, his dark robes lined with faded sigils. He was lean, with graying hair and sharp eyes that studied them both with wary intelligence. A satchel filled with old scrolls and broken artifacts hung from his side.
"Travelers don't make it far in these lands," he said. "Especially not ones carrying magic."
Kael exchanged a glance with Thalassa. He could feel something from this man—an aura of knowledge, of understanding.
"Who are you?" Kael asked.
The man hesitated, then sighed, as if resigning himself to the inevitable. "Eryndor," he said. "A scholar. And if you're heading toward the Nexus, then you need to hear what I've learned."
Kael frowned. "What do you mean?"
Eryndor gestured toward the ruins. "The Nexus isn't just breaking on its own. It was designed to fail."
Silence stretched between them.
Kael's stomach twisted. He had expected the Nexus to be unstable, perhaps even beyond saving—but sabotage? That changed everything.
Thalassa, however, didn't look surprised. Her expression remained unreadable, but Kael caught the way her fingers flexed slightly, the water around her shifting like an unspoken thought.
Eryndor turned away, motioning for them to follow. "Come," he said. "There's more you need to see."
With hesitation but no other choice, Kael and Thalassa stepped into the ruins, where secrets of the past waited to be uncovered.