Dylan pushed the door open. The door creaked…more like roared open. The air here was thick. He could almost touch it. It was filled with that unseen force that made the walls pulse like a living heartbeat.
His fingers traced the carvings as he walked. The story on the walls continued but with more detail. Celestial warriors locked in planet wrecking battles, titanic beings whose very presence warped reality itself. Some wielded light so pure it burned away darkness, while others radiated evil so much it seemed to consume the very stone they were carved into.
It was more than just a war. It was a primordial war.
Dylan swallowed. The further he went, the stronger the feeling of shifting energies became—one moment suffocating, the next soothing. It wasn't natural. It wasn't random. The energies were both of equal strength at equal intervals
He tightened his grip on the rusted knife he carried, the only weapon he had left.
He walked forward until suddenly his right foot stepped on something.
'Click'
A sharp click sounded in the chamber.
Dylan barely had time to react before the ruin came alive.
The air buzzed with a rising hum. Symbols along the walls shobe brightly, casting eerie blue and red light across the chamber. A deep, mechanical groan reverberated through the space, followed by a sudden whirring sound—something terrible and deadly, waking from its slumber.
Then the movement.
From the walls and ceiling, metallic robots unfolded, their skeletal frames unfurling from hidden compartments in the stone. Their eyes burned with the same dual glow that illuminated the chamber—one side a brilliant blue, the other a sinister crimson.
Defense robots. Prime Constructs, as they were called or supposed to be called were titan sized robots. Mostly guard robots. Huge chunk of metal.
But these ones… these ones were huge but human shaped. No excess metal. The robots were sleek and smooth but deadly. They looked a lot like those titans carved on the walls, carrying the same aura and destructiveness.
Dylan's heart pounded. It was the year 5170 and yet he had never seen such high level tech. It wasn't from this era. This tech was from far far in the future.
A high-pitched beep sounded.
Then they attacked.
Blaster fire rushed towards him, searing through the space where he had stood just seconds before. Dylan dove, rolling behind a collapsed pillar as sparks hit the floor.
He gritted his teeth. There were three robots, their sleek metallic forms hovering weightlessly as they adjusted their aim. One moved first, swooping down with terrifying speed. Dylan threw himself backward just as an energy blade shot out from its arm, slicing cleanly through the stone where his head had been.
'Damn!'
There was no way in hell he could fight them head-on.
He darted toward a broken section of the ruin, using the rough and rocky terrain to his advantage. The robots followed, their sensors scanning, recalibrating. They didn't hesitate. No emotion. Just pure, calculated efficiency and extreme speed.
Dylan grabbed a loose chunk of stone and hurled it at the nearest robot. The rock shattered on contact with the robot's face. The dust covered the air for a few seconds, but it bought him enough time to sprint toward a higher platform. If he could just—
A sudden explosion rocked the chamber. Dylan barely managed to stay on his feet as another blast of energy tore through the ruin, sending debris flying.
They weren't playing around.
He looked around and saw a large, fractured pillar hung above, its base already weakened by time. An idea sparked in Dylan's mind.
He turned sharply, leading the robots toward it.
Blaster fire chased him, but he was already in motion. At the last second, he leaped toward the wall, kicking off the surface to reach a ledge. The robots adjusted their aim—
Too late.
Dylan slammed his knife into a brittle section of stone, yanking downward with all his strength.
The pillar gave way.
With a thunderous crash, the massive slab collapsed onto the robot, burying two of them beneath rubble. Sparks flew, and the ruin vibrated from the impact.
One robot remaining
It hesitated, scanning the wreckage of its fallen units. That moment of pause was all Dylan needed.
He grabbed a fallen metal rod and swung with everything he had. The strike connected with the robot's sensor core, sending it spinning midair. Before it could recover, Dylan lunged, grabbing onto its neck of exposed cables and yanking out a cluster of exposed wires.
A violent spark. A shriek of failing machinery.
The robot twitched, then fell limp, crashing to the floor with a final, defeated whir.
Silence returned to the ruin.
Dylan stood there, panting, his body aching from the fight. His fingers were trembling—not from fear, but from the raw surge of adrenaline still coursing through him.
Half-buried beneath the rubble, nestled in the remains of what must have been an ancient huge pedestal, was a shard.
But not just any shard.
It glowed.
A fractured piece of something far greater. Its rough surface pulsed with two conflicting energies—one side shone with an ethereal blue light, calm and cool like the depths of the ocean. The other radiated a deep, violent crimson, flickering like fire, raw and untamed. This was definitely the source of the extreme temperatures and aura here.
Dylan's breath hitched.
The aura it exuded was overwhelming.
It was as if two opposing forces had been fused into one, constantly at war yet somehow whole. The sheer presence of it resonated through the ruin. The pulsation of the walls increased as if they recognized the shard.
Dylan was a thief or at least his environment had made him one. He saw something nice and instinctively, his hand stretched forward to take it or inspect it at least. If only he knew it wasn't his instincts moving him. It was the shard calling him. The closer his fingers went, the stronger the pull.
Fingers met the surface of the shard.
And then—
BOOM!!
A blinding light engulfed the chamber.
Dylan's vision shattered. His mind tore open.
Memories that weren't his flooded his thoughts—battles fought across dying stars, warriors clad in impossible armor clashing with beings that towered over planets. A voice—whispering in a language he didn't understand, yet somehow knew.
Pain. Power. Eternity.
His body stiffening as the conflict energy from the shard flowed into his body. He could feel it clearly, every nerve ignited in both agony and clarity. His thoughts sharpened, twisting into something more. The ruin itself seemed to acknowledge him now, as if his very presence had changed.
Then—silence.
The light faded.
Dylan collapsed to his knees, his breath ragged.
He looked around him, he was no longer in the ruin.
He was everywhere.
Flashes of memories that weren't his slammed into his consciousness like a tidal wave.
***
Vast empty space.
Two seeds glowing in the darkness taking energy from the nothingness.
Two seeds of different energies.
One, oceanic blue exuding pure calm good.
The other, fiery blood red exuding untamed, raw, malevolent evil.
***
The seeds merge with a bang, shattering into different fragments.
A being emerges from the blast. A product of this blast. He had, embodied in him, the powerful energy of the two seeds.
***
Vast Space
The being moving through space alone gathering fragments of the blast that made him.
***
Vast Space
The being floating, this time not alone, a female version of himself and four younger versions. Only that two of these children didn't look like their parents. They were monstrous. Extremely monstrous and evil.
***
Vast Space
Planets have formed now. A single fragments of the great cosmic blast floated and landed on a planet Dylan knew too well.
Earth.
The landing came with a bang and life began on Earth.
***
Dylan watched that fragment move through the hands of different humans until it was worshipped in a temple. This temple. This ruin.
***
Then the visions ceased.
He was holding a fragment of creation in his hands.
Dylan was usually carefree but he knew the gravity of what he held.
And in his palm, the Echo Shard was now a metal oozing with endless energy. It was no more glowing but Dylan could feel the power in it. The Shard was weaker but Dylan… he could feel immense power flowing through his mind.
Suddenly, his head felt woozy and with a thud, he fell on the concrete floor fast asleep