The first crack appeared with a sound like snapping bone.
CRACK.
The noise echoed through the ancient temple like a gunshot.
For a moment, everyone froze.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
The sound had come from the floor beneath the altar.
Thin lines of darkness spread across the marble like spiderwebs, creeping slowly outward from the base of the cracked stone structure.
At first the fractures were small—barely visible scratches crawling through the ancient stone.
Then they deepened.
The marble groaned.
One of the Resonants frowned as he crouched slightly to examine the floor.
"That shouldn't—"
His sentence never finished.
The ground split open.
With a deafening roar, the temple floor tore apart.
A jagged wound ripped across the marble, splitting the chamber like a blade cutting through flesh. Stone slabs cracked and collapsed inward as the fracture widened violently.
Dust exploded into the air.
Chunks of marble slid downward.
And from within the opening spilled absolute darkness.
Not shadow.
Not night.
Something deeper.
Something that swallowed the light itself.
The glowing symbols etched across the relic crates dimmed instantly as the darkness expanded.
Even the faint violet glow filtering through the shattered ceiling seemed to fade near the opening.
The air changed.
The temperature dropped sharply.
A freezing wind rushed from the fracture, biting through armor and clothing alike.
Thanex felt goosebumps rise across his skin.
Then the pulling began.
At first it felt like a gentle tug.
Just enough to make his cloak flutter slightly behind him.
But within seconds the force intensified.
Air screamed toward the widening crack as if the entire temple had suddenly become the mouth of a giant beast.
Dust, pebbles, and broken fragments of stone skittered across the marble floor.
They slid faster.
Faster.
Then vanished into the black opening.
The nearest canaries panicked instantly.
"Wait—!"
One of them stumbled as the suction dragged him forward.
His boots scraped desperately against the floor as he tried to brace himself.
His fingers clawed at the stone.
But the force was too strong.
He slid across the marble, leaving faint streaks in the dust behind him.
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
His scream echoed through the chamber for less than a second.
Then it stopped.
Abruptly.
As if someone had erased the sound from existence.
"Subrift!" someone shouted in horror.
The word spread through the chamber like wildfire.
Panic erupted.
Subrifts.
Everyone who worked with Rift Gates feared them.
They were unstable fractures that sometimes formed inside larger gates—violent distortions where the energy of the Rift collapsed inward.
No one fully understood them.
But one thing was certain.
They were extremely dangerous.
Subrifts could lead anywhere.
To deeper layers of the Divine Realm.
To unknown dimensions.
Sometimes to places where even Resonants didn't survive.
Worst of all—
They were never supposed to appear in low-level gates.
Ever.
Thanex's heart pounded in his chest.
The pulling force grew stronger.
The floor beneath his boots trembled violently as the widening fracture consumed more of the temple's foundation.
Without hesitation, Thanex dropped the heavy crate strapped to his back.
The wooden box hit the ground with a loud thud.
Then it began sliding across the floor.
Straight toward the abyss.
Thanex lunged sideways.
His hands slammed against the cold surface of a fallen stone pillar.
He wrapped his arms around it just as the suction intensified.
The force nearly ripped him off his feet.
His boots scraped loudly across the marble as he struggled to hold on.
"I can make it….. I can", Thanex whispered as a wave of intense terror washed through him.
The darkness below churned like a living storm.
It wasn't just empty space.
The blackness moved.
Twisting and swirling like a massive vortex that devoured everything drawn into it.
Another canary nearby screamed.
A young woman tried to grab onto the base of a statue.
Her fingers slipped.
The suction lifted her body off the ground like a rag doll.
She vanished into the abyss.
Her scream cut off instantly.
Thanex clenched his teeth.
The pillar beneath his arms vibrated violently.
Cracks raced along its length as the collapsing temple strained against the force of the growing fracture.
Debris rained from the shattered ceiling above.
The entire chamber felt like it might collapse at any moment.
Still gripping the pillar, Thanex forced himself to look up.
Through the chaos, he spotted a figure standing near the altar.
Perfectly steady.
Completely unmoving.
Legate Valerius.
The tall Resonant stood as if the violent suction meant nothing.
His cloak barely moved.
His armored boots remained firmly planted on the fractured marble floor.
Even as stones and debris flew past him toward the abyss, Valerius remained calm.
Untouched.
Thanex's eyes widened.
The other Resonants were struggling.
Some had been dragged halfway across the floor before they managed to grab onto pillars or broken statues.
But Valerius stood there like an immovable mountain.
The Legate slowly raised one hand.
Golden light erupted from his armor.
The sudden brightness filled the chamber like a miniature sunrise.
Runic patterns ignited across the plates of his armor as energy surged outward.
Thanex felt the pressure instantly.
The power radiating from Valerius was overwhelming.
The golden light expanded outward in a powerful wave.
Several Resonants who had been sliding helplessly toward the fracture suddenly jerked backward.
Invisible force yanked them across the floor.
Their bodies shot through the air and landed safely near the Legate.
The golden energy wrapped around them briefly before fading.
Thanex stared in disbelief.
Valerius had just neutralized the pull of the abyss.
Not entirely—but enough to drag multiple people to safety.
The Legate had the power to fight the subrift.
Hope flickered in Thanex's chest.
Valerius could save them.
All of them.
All he needed to do was repeat the technique.
Just once more.
But Valerius didn't raise his hand again.
Instead, his gaze shifted.
Away from the struggling canaries.
Toward the shattered crate Thanex had dropped earlier.
Its contents had spilled across the marble floor.
Tools.
Lanterns.
Rope.
And one small metal container.
A relic case.
It had rolled several feet away and now lay wedged against a piece of broken stone.
Faint glowing symbols pulsed across its surface.
Valerius stepped forward.
The violent suction seemed unable to move him at all.
His boots pressed firmly against the floor as he calmly walked through the chaos.
Thanex's stomach twisted.
The Legate bent down and picked up the container.
The glowing symbols across its surface flickered briefly as his fingers wrapped around it.
Valerius studied the relic case for a moment.
Almost thoughtfully.
Then he turned.
His gaze fell upon the struggling canaries.
Thanex locked eyes with him.
For a brief second, hope returned.
Valerius had already proven he could resist the subrift.
He could save them.
All he needed to do was act.
A nearby canary screamed desperately.
"Help!"
The man clung to a shattered statue, his fingers bleeding as he struggled to hold on.
"Please!"
Valerius looked at him.
His expression didn't change.
Calm.
Almost bored.
Like someone watching insects crawl across the ground.
The screaming man's grip slipped.
The suction tore him away from the statue.
His body shot backward into the abyss.
Silence followed instantly.
Thanex felt something inside his chest turn cold.
Valerius had made his choice.
The Resonants.
The relic.
Those things mattered.
The canaries did not.
The pillar beneath Thanex suddenly cracked.
A loud SNAP split through the stone.
The structure fractured under the strain of the growing subrift.
Chunks of marble broke away.
He looked pleadingly at the taciturn Legate with the utmost urgency burning with unshead tears in his eye. He had never felt such horror and hopeless before.
Thanex's grip slipped.
His body lurched violently forward as the suction seized him.
He clawed desperately at the broken pillar.
His fingers scraped across the stone.
But there was nothing left to grab.
The abyss pulled him across the floor.
His boots shattered fragments of marble as he slid toward the widening darkness.
He caught one last glimpse of Valerius standing near the altar.
Holding the relic case.
Watching.
The Legate seemed to hold no malice towards them, just plane indifference. He cast a glance towards Thanex.
Valerius spoke.
Cold.
Neutral.
"Canaries exists to die".
The word settled across the minds of the canaries, hot jolts of anger and terror washed over Thanex.
Then the ground vanished beneath him.
Thanex fell.
Cold air rushed past his body as he plummeted into the endless void.
Above him, the temple shrank rapidly.
The figures of the Resonants became distant shadows.
Then even those disappeared.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Thanex kept falling.
Seconds passed.
Then minutes.
Still he fell.
The abyss stretched infinitely below him.
Deeper than any Rift he had ever heard of.
Then a terrifying realization crept into his mind.
He wasn't just dying, he seemed to be fading.
He should have hit something by now.
Stone.
Ground.
Water.
Anything.
But the fall continued.
The darkness around him felt alive.
Watching.
Waiting.
And in that endless void…