Nolan woke before sunrise the sky still dim with the faint glow of early morning. Kaelun stood watch on the ridge its silhouette outlined by the faintest shimmer of blue mist that clung to its scales. When Nolan pushed himself up from the ground Kaelun’s head turned slightly acknowledging him without words.
You did not sleep did you
Guardians do not sleep when the wind carries warning
Nolan stretched his stiff arms. The air felt colder now sharper. When he looked east the horizon seemed to pulse again though faintly.
Did it move during the night
Yes the shadow shifted toward the riverlands
So we go there
Not yet Kaelun said We must find the first echo
Nolan blinked. The what
When a rift opens it leaves behind echoes Places where the worlds overlapped and left scars
Nolan rubbed his temples. These echoes what do they look like
Twins of places that do not belong Kaelun answered You will know when you see one
Nolan sighed. That did not explain anything and Kaelun knew it.
They descended the ridge taking a narrow sloping path that wound between rocks shaped by old storms. Nolan held onto Kaelun’s tail for balance whenever the ground dipped too sharply.
When they reached level earth again Nolan saw tracks in the soil not from Kaelun and not from anything he recognized. The prints were large circular almost floral with petal like grooves spreading outward.
What made these
Kaelun sniffed the ground.
A driftstalker
That sounds friendly
It is not hostile unless threatened
Then we should not threaten it
Agreed Kaelun said But driftstalkers gather around echoes They feed on unstable energy
So we follow the prints Nolan said
Yes they lead to what we seek
They walked across the plains until the grasses gave way to cracked patches of pale dry earth. The ground darkened with each step turning from tan to gray as if the color had been drained away.
Nolan felt the change in the air. The wind moved strangely. Sounds echoed even when nothing made noise.
Kaelun slowed.
We are near
The ground ahead shimmered like heat waves rising from asphalt. But Nolan felt no warmth only a cold that pressed against his skin like thin needles.
Then he saw it.
A tree.
But not a normal tree.
It looked like a perfect copy of an oak he remembered from his hometown in Arizona but twisted into the soil here like someone had ripped it from another world and set it down without caring how it rooted. Its leaves were wrong too shaped like feathers shimmering faintly.
Nolan whispered.
That is the echo
Yes Kaelun replied
He stepped closer. The air around the tree vibrated. The trunk pulsed like there was liquid flowing inside but the bark remained still.
Kaelun watched him with sharp attention.
Touch it and it will show you the rift’s direction
Nolan hesitated then placed his palm flat against the trunk.
The world snapped.
He saw flashes of desert sun blinding glare off dusty rocks wind whipping past broken fences coyotes howling distant sirens and then the shed the light the warm sand like glow pulling him.
Then something else.
Behind him
Following
A shape with no outline only hunger like a hole in the world not made of darkness but made of absence the kind of void that swallowed meaning swallowed sound swallowed living things.
Nolan jerked his hand away gasping. The tree’s feathered leaves rustled violently though no wind blew.
Kaelun stepped forward pressing its forehead gently against Nolan’s shoulder.
What did you see
Something followed me Nolan whispered Something formless
Kaelun’s voice grew tense.
Then it is worse than I feared
The tree’s trunk cracked. A thin line of light seeped out from the break like a wounded vein. The ground trembled.
Kaelun moved into a defensive stance.
Nolan stepped back eyes wide.
Is the echo breaking
Yes Kaelun growled The shadow found the trail
The tree split open.
From inside the crack a wave of pressure surged outward like a silent explosion. Nolan was thrown to the ground. Kaelun leaped in front of him using its body as a shield.
The wind screamed though no air moved. The echo collapsed into itself dissolving into gray dust.
In the center of the dust a shape flickered.
Small thin like a child’s frame but hollow no face no features only empty shifting pieces of shadow trying to form a body but failing.
Nolan’s heart pounded.
What is that
Kaelun bared its teeth.
A fragment of the hunger That is what slipped through
The shadow fragment staggered forward its movements jerky like a broken puppet. It made no sound yet Nolan felt its intent pressing into his mind.
Kaelun roared a deep trembling sound that shook the earth.
Nolan stay behind me
The fragment lunged.
Kaelun struck with its tail. The shadow shattered into pieces like glass breaking underwater. The fragments drifted upward turning into black dust carried off by an invisible current.
Nolan breathed hard.
Is it gone
A fragment only Kaelun said The whole will be stronger and it now knows your presence clearly
Nolan swallowed.
Then let it come We will stop it
Kaelun looked at him a slow proud glow rising in its eyes.
Keeper from another world your courage grows
Nolan dusted dirt off his sleeves.
Yeah well courage is all I have right now
Kaelun lowered itself so Nolan could climb onto its back.
Then hold tight We chase the rift before the shadow gathers again
Nolan gripped Kaelun’s scales steadying his breath.
The real battle was ahead.