The Blood Seed pulsed faster as Vyx blood seeped into its jagged surface.
Red tendrils slithered from the half-buried shard and spread across the camp, crawling over stone, dirt, and ash like veins searching for a heart. After several tense breaths, a beam of crimson energy erupted from the seed into the air a few feet above it.
Space began to split vertically.
A rift formed.
Marek stared at the opening gate and released a long, trembling breath.
"He's not going to like this…"
Far from the camp, near the inner edge of Dome One, the Ark's main world-sized barrier, a massive broken monument loomed against a horizon of endless space.
Half of it had been sheared away by time, or by whatever ancient violence the Ark had endured long ago, leaving behind a hollowed shell that looked out over the endless drop below. The remaining structure leaned into the absurdly massive curve of the barrier like a dying giant resting its shoulder against an unfathomable mountain wall.
Inside one of its many chambers, two Blood Guards felt a sudden change in the air.
They turned toward the source and saw one of the dormant Blood Seeds awaken. Its surface pulsed heavily, each beat stronger than the last.
"You see that?" one guard asked.
"Yeah," the other said. "Tell Dezcrin one of the seeds is opening."
The first guard nodded and hurried away, his boots echoing against the cold floor.
Behind him, the seed's pulse intensified. Old tendrils unfurled from its base, feeding on the sudden rush of nourishment and spreading across the chamber like a red web.
The guard skidded to a halt in the center of the throne hall.
The room was breathtaking in its desolation.
Directly behind the throne of bone, there was no wall. Only the massive reinforced transparency of Dome One's skin. Beyond it lay the jagged, uneven line where the rest of the monument had been violently severed ages ago.
Past that, there was only the infinite black of the cosmos, the cold glow of distant stars, and the colossal planet the Ark orbited, its curve swallowing half the view like a silent god.
Sitting on that throne would feel like sitting on the edge of eternity.
A heavy door thudded open along the left wall.
Dezcrin emerged from the side corridor, his massive Vyx silhouette cutting across the starlight. His exoskeleton clicked against the cold floor as he approached the center of the hall, followed by his silent multi-species guard and the ethereal Omnixum drifting in his wake.
The violet crystal in his skull whirred.
He did not look at the throne.
He looked straight at the trembling guard.
"Why are you here, Blood Guard?" Dezcrin asked, his voice like stone grinding against stone. "Don't tell me someone actually used one of my Blood Seeds."
The guard dropped to one knee.
"My Lord. One of the Blood Seeds has stirred. It is reforming into a gate. It will stabilize within minutes."
Dezcrin paused. His violet eye clicked as it processed the report.
"Someone has found something of value," he said. "Let us see whether this treasure is worth my attention."
"One more thing, my Lord…"
The guard hesitated, his voice dropping.
Dezcrin's eye snapped back to him with a sharp whine.
"Speak."
"The gate's signature is local. The source is only a handful of miles from the Ark's edge."
For the first time in a long while, Dezcrin went completely still.
"What?"
The word did not merely leave his throat.
It vibrated through his chitinous armor.
Minutes later, Dezcrin stood before the awakened seed.
The Blood Seed chamber was built for use, not display. Jagged alcoves lined the walls, each one holding dormant Blood Seeds reserved for later use, buried into the stone like hearts waiting for blood to wake them. The active seeds rested in shallow channels across the floor, and every crimson vein running through the old grooves converged on the one that had begun to stir.
Its pulse filled the chamber with red light.
For a moment, no one moved.
Even the Omnixum drifting behind Dezcrin went unnaturally still, its faint glow dimming as if the air itself had tightened around his anger.
The Blood Guard kept his head lowered.
"How close?" Dezcrin asked.
The guard swallowed. "A handful of miles from the Ark's edge, my Lord. Still within Dome One. The signature is unstable, but confirmed."
Dezcrin's violet crystal eye narrowed into a thin, burning slit.
"Impossible."
No one answered.
No one was stupid enough.
The Ark was vast beyond comprehension, and Dome One alone was large enough to swallow nations beneath its curve. Crossing from one edge to the other was possible, but only for those prepared enough, strong enough, or desperate enough to survive the journey. Yet the territory near this part of the Ark's edge belonged to Dezcrin. His crews patrolled it, his Blood Seeds marked it, and most creatures with sense knew better than to wander too close.
No one opened one of his Blood Seeds so close to his territory unless they were desperate, dying, or stupid enough to become both.
His claws flexed once, scraping against the stone floor.
"Who carried that seed?"
The kneeling guard hesitated.
Dezcrin's voice dropped lower. "Do not make me ask twice."
"One of the outer batch crews, my Lord. The group sent to inspect the uncharted cave near the lower wilds."
A slow silence followed.
Then Dezcrin turned his head toward the awakened Blood Seed. Its red pulse beat through the chamber like a second heart.
"They found something," he said.
The guard remained silent.
Dezcrin's skull plates shifted, the faintest sign of curiosity slipping through his anger.
"Or something found them."