CHAPTER 4

Kael took a deep breath, feeling the hum of Aetherial energy around him. The ruins of the old world stretched before him, remnants of a time before the Ethereal Shift. The whispers from the Aetherium were louder here, intertwining with the echoes of a forgotten past.

Iria stood beside him, her crimson scarf fluttering in the wind. "This place... it doesn't feel right," she muttered, fingers resting on the hilt of her blade.

"That's because it's not," Rai said, stepping forward, his cybernetic arm crackling with faint traces of Stormcaller energy. "The Dominion purged this city years ago. The fact that there's still Aetherial energy lingering means something unnatural is at play."

Kael clenched his fists. His Void Nexus pulsed within him, an unsettling reminder of the anomaly he carried. Ever since he had begun to tap into its power, the world had started to look different—colors were sharper, sounds carried weight, and every breath felt like it was tethered to something unseen.

They moved cautiously through the ruins, their boots crunching against shattered stone and twisted metal. Tessa activated a small drone, its glowing eyes scanning ahead. "I've mapped out a route to what looks like an old Dominion archive. If there's anything about the Ethereal Shift or the Aetherium's secrets, it might be there."

As they pressed on, shadows twisted unnaturally around them. Kael noticed it first—dark tendrils shifting between reality, as if something was watching from beyond.

Then the ground beneath them trembled.

A monstrous figure emerged from the ruins, its form a grotesque fusion of Aetherial energy and decayed flesh. It was an Aetherial Wraith, a being lost between dimensions. Its hollow eyes locked onto Kael, sensing the unstable power within him.

"Shit!" Rai shouted, electricity crackling to life around his fists. "We've got company!"

Iria moved first, her blade slicing through the air with precision. The Wraith howled, phasing in and out of existence as it dodged her strike. Kael felt his Void Nexus react violently, drawing him toward the creature, as if they were connected.

For a moment, everything slowed.

Kael saw into the Wraith—its existence was fragmented, torn between the Aetherium and reality. It was more than just a monster; it was a warning. A remnant of what he could become if he lost control.

With a deep breath, he let his power flow. The Void Nexus extended outward, forming a barrier of shifting darkness. The Wraith recoiled, its form flickering erratically.

"Kael, what the hell are you doing?" Iria shouted, watching as the energy around him deepened into something unnatural.

Kael exhaled sharply, retracting his power before it consumed more than just the Wraith. The creature let out one final screech before dissipating into the void, leaving behind only silence.

The group stood in stunned silence before Tessa finally spoke, her voice quiet. "That... wasn't normal."

Kael clenched his fists. He knew she was right. He had seen something in that brief moment—something buried deep within the Aetherium's fabric. And it was calling to him.

"Let's keep moving," he said, his voice steady despite the turmoil within. "We need to reach that archive before the Dominion finds us."

As they ventured deeper into the ruins, the air grew colder, and the whispers from the Aetherium grew louder.

Something was waiting for them.

The night was thick with an unsettling silence. The glow of the shattered moon bathed the ruins in eerie luminescence, casting jagged shadows that twisted like wraiths against the crumbling stone. Kael Veyrn stood at the edge of the Forgotten's hideout, his silver eyes tracing the distant Aetherial Gate shimmering with untamed power. The voices had returned—whispers slithering through his mind like echoes of an ancient chorus.

"Kael... you must remember... you must awaken..."

His breath hitched. This was different. The usual fragmented murmurs were now forming coherent thoughts. A shiver coursed through his body as he clenched his fists. Was it the Aetherium speaking to him? Or something else entirely?

Before he could dwell further, a presence materialized behind him.

"You're awake early," Iria Nox's voice was low, but not unkind.

Kael exhaled, grounding himself. "I couldn't sleep. The Aetherium... it's trying to tell me something."

Iria stepped closer, her crimson scarf fluttering in the faint breeze. "You've been hearing those voices ever since we pulled you from the Dominion's grasp. Are they getting stronger?"

Kael hesitated. He had never told her how deep the connection ran. How, at times, it felt as though something ancient was clawing at the edges of his mind, demanding to be set free.

Instead, he gave a simple nod. "Yeah."

Iria studied him carefully, her red eyes narrowing. "If it gets worse, you tell me. Understood?"

He didn't respond immediately. Part of him wanted to confide in her, but another part—the darker, more cautious part—told him that this was his burden alone.

"Understood."

---

By dawn, the Forgotten were already on the move. Tessa Varin had modified their Aetherial transporters, allowing them to pass undetected through the Dominion's scanning systems—at least for a while. They had one objective: infiltrate the Dominion's research facility in Sector V9, a place rumored to house forbidden knowledge about Aetherial Force and its true origins.

"Everyone ready?" Rai Kuroda adjusted the straps on his armored gauntlet, his electric-blue dreadlocks catching the morning light.

"We don't have a choice," Tessa muttered, tightening the gloves on her mechanical gauntlet. "If the Dominion is really studying Void Aether, we need to know why."

Kael remained silent. Void Aether… it was the very anomaly that made him different, the force that he barely understood yet wielded in moments of desperation. If the Dominion was trying to control it, then they were closer to unlocking its secrets than he was.

Iria checked her blade. "Then we move out. No mistakes."

---

The facility loomed ahead, a monolith of steel and energy barriers, pulsing with the same ominous glow as the Aetherial Gates. Kael's pulse quickened. Something about this place felt… wrong.

As they slipped past the perimeter, the air grew heavy. The further they went, the more Kael felt an inexplicable pull—an invisible force drawing him toward the core of the facility.

Then he heard it again.

"You are close now... awaken, Voidborn..."

His vision blurred. The walls around him seemed to shift, distorting as if reality itself was unraveling. He staggered, gripping his head.

"Kael?" Iria's voice cut through the haze. "What's wrong?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, the alarms blared, red lights bathing the corridor in an ominous glow.

They had been discovered.

And something inside Kael was awakening.