Beneath the Threshold

Location: Subterranean Spiral – Unknown Depths, Tavara

The further they descended, the less the world above felt real. The staircase twisted into a narrow shaft, smooth and perfect as if sculpted by something beyond human skill. Each step was etched with glowing inscriptions in an ancient dialect Damien instinctively understood—though he had never seen it before.

> "Only the bearer of dual blood may awaken the gates."

"Dual blood?" Nora asked, running her fingers along the markings.

Damien didn't answer at first. His mind was unraveling fragments—of a childhood hidden from him, whispers of experiments, voices calling him the 'Convergence.'

Suddenly, a gust of warm wind surged up the stairs, carrying the scent of ash and metal.

They reached the bottom.

The tunnel opened into a colossal underground cathedral. Towering statues lined the sides—half human, half machine. Their eyes gleamed with dormant energy. At the far end, a set of sealed stone doors stood beneath a symbol: the same insignia that marked Damien's back when he was born—one his mother had hidden from the world.

He stepped forward, the pendant now burning in his grip.

Nora drew her gun instinctively. "Damien, wait."

"I have to do this," he said.

The moment he touched the doors, everything froze. Time. Sound. Even light.

And then… a pulse.

The doors didn't open.

Instead, his surroundings melted away, and Damien found himself standing inside a void of white mist. Opposite him stood a man—tall, cloaked in shadows, with eyes that mirrored his own.

The figure spoke. "You are not ready. But they are coming. The Awakened. The Scourge. And only one path exists: Become the Flame… or be consumed by it."

"Who are you?" Damien demanded.

"I am what you could become."

With a flash of light, Damien was hurled back into the real world. Nora caught him again.

The doors had cracked open.

From inside, a faint heartbeat echoed… like something sleeping for centuries had just stirred.

Then a voice—not Damien's—echoed from the relic:

> "The Line has returned."

Nora turned sharply. "Did you hear that?"

He nodded grimly.

"They know I'm here now."

And far above, on the surface, a signal pulsed across hidden frequencies.

Enemies began to converge. And so did allies.

A new war was coming. But this time, Damien wouldn't run from it.