Kai trudged forward, his steps careful on the glass-like surface beneath him. The pulsing patterns beneath his feet seemed to react to his presence, shifting and changing in response to every step he took. He wasn't sure if it was alive, a machine, or something entirely beyond his comprehension. The air was thick, electric, filled with an unseen force that made his skin prickle. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
"This place is wrong, man," Aiden muttered behind him. "Feels like we're walking through some kind of dream, or like... reality's trying to spit us out."
Kai didn't respond immediately. He was too focused on the massive structures looming in the distance, stretching impossibly high into the swirling sky. They weren't normal buildings. They shifted subtly, their forms rearranging every few seconds like they couldn't decide what shape to take.
"I don't think this is a normal dimension," Kai finally said. "It's... unstable. Like it wasn't meant to exist—or maybe we weren't meant to be in it."
Aiden exhaled sharply. "That's not comforting."
The deeper they went, the more unnatural the world became. Time didn't feel consistent—one moment their movements felt sluggish, like they were wading through thick air, the next they moved almost too fast, their steps unnaturally light. The sky wasn't just one color; it rippled like oil, shifting between deep purples, golds, and electric blues. Distant flashes of lightning without thunder illuminated the horizon, revealing glimpses of things moving far away—things too big to comprehend.
Kai tried not to focus on that.
"We should find shelter," Aiden said, rubbing his arms. "I don't like being out in the open like this."
Kai nodded. "Let's head toward those structures."
As they approached, Kai felt the pressure around him increase, like the very air was trying to push them away. His fingers twitched. His body felt too aware, as if something was pressing into his mind, watching him.
And then, they found something unexpected.
A marking.
It was carved into a section of the ground where the glowing symbols had dimmed, as if something had disrupted the flow of energy. Kai knelt down, brushing his fingers over it. The engraving looked human-made.
Aiden crouched beside him. "This means someone else was here, right? We're not the first?"
Kai's heart pounded. "Looks like it."
Aiden exhaled in relief. "That means there might be an exit. Someone had to get in and out of here."
Kai wanted to believe that. But something about the marking felt wrong. The edges weren't just carved into the ground—they looked burned, like they had been seared into existence by something that wasn't a tool.
And then he noticed something else.
A trail.
The ground ahead showed faint indentations, too structured to be natural. Footprints.
Someone had been here.
Kai stood, following the marks with his eyes toward the shifting structures ahead. "We're not alone."
Aiden groaned. "I was really hoping you wouldn't say that."
They continued forward, the sense of unease growing with every step. The landscape felt denser now, the shifting air pressing closer. The markings on the ground grew more frequent, forming patterns that shouldn't make sense—symbols twisting in on themselves, loops that didn't fully close, lines that overlapped in ways the human eye couldn't quite follow.
Kai tried to focus, but the more he looked, the more his head ached.
"Stop staring at them," Aiden warned. "Feels like they're trying to pull you in."
Kai shook himself out of it, tearing his gaze away. "Yeah. Let's keep moving."
The structures were closer now, and as they neared, something shifted in the air again.
A sound.
Faint, rhythmic.
Not like the screeches from before. This was... a voice.
Kai froze, and Aiden stopped beside him. They weren't imagining it. The whisper was faint, but human.
It was coming from the direction of the footprints.
Aiden tensed. "I don't know if we should follow that."
Kai wasn't sure either. But deep inside him, he felt it again—the pull.
The same feeling he had when the rift first touched him.
Something was waiting for him in the shifting city.
He took a step forward.
And the whisper called his name.