Ashes of the Sky

The mountains were alive with whispers.

Elliot felt it first—a faint vibration in the air, like the hum of the spire but softer, almost melodic. The higher they climbed, the louder it grew, threading through the jagged rocks and icy winds. The sky here was darker, the green veins pulsing faster, as if the atmosphere itself were straining to hold together.

By dawn on their fifth day in the mountains, they reached a narrow pass where the rock walls closed in around them like skeletal fingers. The air was thinner here, each breath a battle, and frost clung to their clothes. Lila lagged behind, her steps sluggish, her breath visible in sharp, ragged bursts.

"We need to rest," Mia said, her voice strained. She gestured to Lila, who had slumped against a boulder, her face ashen.

Elliot hesitated, scanning the horizon. The coordinates Dr. Patel had given them pointed to a valley just beyond the pass, but the path ahead was steep and treacherous. "Ten minutes," he said. "Then we keep moving."

While Mia tended to Lila, Elliot climbed a nearby outcrop to survey the route. The valley below was shrouded in mist, but through the haze, he glimpsed something massive and unnatural—a structure, or perhaps a formation, that didn't belong. Its edges were too smooth, too symmetrical, carved into the mountain itself.

*The heart.*

He hurried back to the others, his pulse quickening. "There's something down there. We're close."

Mia helped Lila to her feet. "Let's hope it's worth it."

---

The descent into the valley was a nightmare of loose scree and biting winds. By the time they reached the mist-shrouded basin, the sun had vanished behind the green-tinged clouds, leaving them in twilight. The structure Elliot had seen was now fully visible—a colossal archway of black stone, its surface etched with symbols identical to those on the spire.

Lila froze, her eyes wide. "It's… it's *singing*."

Elliot heard it too—the same resonant hum as the spire, but layered with something darker, a dissonance that made his teeth ache. The archway stood at the center of a circular clearing, surrounded by towering monoliths arranged in a pattern that mirrored the carvings. The ground beneath their feet was unnervingly smooth, as if worn down by centuries of footsteps.

Mia stepped forward, drawn to the arch. "This is it. This is where we're supposed to go."

"Wait," Elliot warned, but she was already moving, her hand outstretched toward the stone.

The moment her fingers brushed the archway, the world *shifted*.

The air rippled like water, and the valley dissolved into a blur of light and shadow. Elliot stumbled, disoriented, as images flooded his mind—a planet thriving, then withering; civilizations rising and crumbling; a cycle of destruction and rebirth, over and over, each time leaving the world weaker, emptier.

*You see now,* a voice echoed, not from the arch but from everywhere. *The balance was broken long before you.*

When the vision cleared, Mia was on her knees, trembling. "It's a tomb," she whispered. "A tomb for every world that came before us. The heart… it's not a thing. It's a *gate*."

---

Before Elliot could respond, the ground lurched violently. A crack split the archway, snaking up its surface, and the hum swelled into a deafening roar. From the fissure poured a seething black mist—the same darkness that had swallowed the city.

"Run!" Elliot grabbed Mia and Lila, pulling them back as the mist surged forward. It moved like a living thing, consuming the monoliths, the trees, the very light.

They sprinted for the valley's edge, the mist at their heels. Lila screamed as it grazed her arm, the fabric of her sleeve dissolving instantly. Elliot dragged her forward, his lungs burning, until they stumbled into a narrow cave hidden in the rock face.

The mist halted at the entrance, swirling angrily before retreating, as if repelled by some unseen force.

Panting, Elliot turned to Lila. Her arm was red and blistered, but the injury was superficial. "What *was* that?" she gasped.

Mia stared back toward the valley, her face haunted. "A guardian. The gate doesn't want to be found."

Elliot's mind raced. The vision, the archway, the mist—it all pointed to a truth far larger than they'd imagined. "The spire said the heart could restore the balance. But if the heart is a gate… what's on the other side?"

Mia met his gaze. "A way to reset the cycle. Or a way out."

---

That night, as they huddled in the cave, the whispers returned.

Lila heard them first—voices in the wind, pleading, warning. *Turn back,* they said. *You do not belong here.*

But Elliot couldn't turn back. The archway was their only lead, and the mist, though deadly, had revealed a pattern. It retreated at dawn, when the green veins in the sky dimmed. They would have one chance to cross the clearing and reach the gate.

As the others slept, Elliot kept watch, his thoughts churning. The spire's words echoed in his mind: *Find the heart. Restore the balance.*

But what if restoring the balance meant erasing their world to start anew?