Dawn broke pale and cold over the battered city. Police cars circled the street where the fight had ended, but Zindra, Liyaya, and Kethra were already gone — slipping through alleyways into the hidden parts of the city no one cared to notice.
They didn't stop until they reached the outskirts, where the crumbling streets gave way to old woods — a patch of green untouched by concrete and steel. Birds called softly in the treetops as morning light filtered through mist.
Here, deep among the mossy trunks, Zindra stopped at a ring of ancient standing stones — older than any human city. At the center lay a circle carved with Cynean runes, faintly glowing like embers waiting for breath.
Liyaya looked around, her arm still bandaged from the battle. "This is where you talk to your people?"
Zindra nodded. "When Cyne's explorers came to this world centuries ago, they left hidden gateways. Places of power, bound to the soil. This is one of them."
Kethra knelt beside the stone circle, tracing the runes with her fingers. "We shouldn't stay long. If the Council senses we're defying them—"
Zindra didn't answer. He stepped into the circle and knelt, pressing his palm flat to the cold stone. The runes flared to life — pale blue fire spreading outward in veins of light.
A hum filled the clearing, low and deep. The air shimmered — and then above the stones, a flickering window opened. Shapes of robed figures appeared, their faces hidden by shimmering helms of light. The Council of Cyne.
A voice echoed from the portal, cold and distant: "Sentinel Zindra. At last you speak."
Zindra rose to his feet, every word measured. "I've contained the first fragments. But Sanavak grows bolder — and Earth is vulnerable."
One of the figures leaned closer, the helm's light shifting. "Yet you stay hidden. You defy recall. You hide behind humans."
Liyaya bristled at that but stayed silent beside Kethra.
Zindra's fists clenched at his sides. "I do what I must to stop Sanavak. This world is worth protecting. I need more resources — more weapons, more scouts."
Silence. Then another voice spoke — older, cracked like ancient stone: "Earth is expendable, Sentinel. The fragments feed slowly here — we can fortify Cyne and abandon this world if necessary. Better sacrifice one than lose the core."
Zindra's heart went cold. "You'd let billions die?"
The Council's helm lights pulsed in unison. "The mission is Cyne. You are Cyne's. Obey."
Beside him, Kethra's jaw tightened. Even she seemed rattled. Liyaya stepped forward, unable to hold her tongue. "He won't abandon us! He's more human than any of you know."
The Council ignored her — but their focus shifted to Kethra. "Scout Kethra. Detain the traitor sentinel. Return him to Cyne."
Kethra's eyes flicked to Zindra — then to Liyaya — and her hand drifted to her side where a hidden blade gleamed under her cloak. For a heartbeat, Zindra thought she might obey.
Then Kethra stepped forward, placing herself between Zindra and the portal. "No."
The Council's glow flickered — a ripple of surprise.
Kethra's voice was steady. "I stand with my sentinel. And with this world."
The Council's vision darkened. The forest air turned icy. "Then you are both outlaws. Earth's ruin is on your hands."
The portal collapsed in a crack of cold air. The runes flickered out. Silence fell among the stones.
Zindra looked at Kethra — no longer just a scout but now an exile beside him.
Liyaya stepped into the circle, grasping his hand. "Then we stand together — against Sanavak and Cyne if we must."
Above the trees, the wind stirred, whispering through the branches like an omen. The hunters of shadows had just become fugitives — and the real fight was only beginning.