Thanex did not know how long he had been climbing.
Time inside the Subrift had no meaning.
There was no sun to rise.
No horizon to measure distance.
No sky or ground to give direction.
Only endless darkness.
Yet somewhere very far above, through the shifting currents of the Void, a faint shimmer flickered.
The Rift Gate.
The thin bridge between the world of the living and this broken space between realities.
It looked impossibly distant.
Sometimes the light appeared closer.
Sometimes it seemed farther away again.
The Subrift twisted perception.
Distances changed.
Movement felt uncertain.
But the Void inside him whispered something faint.
A quiet pull.
An instinct.
It guided him toward the distant glow like a current beneath deep water.
Thanex followed it.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Each motion pushed him upward through the thick darkness.
The Void parted around him as he moved.
Sometimes smoothly.
Sometimes violently.
He still did not fully understand the forces now living inside him.
The Void and Chaos had reshaped him completely.
Even the way his body moved felt different now.
Each movement felt wrong.
Not painful.
Just unfamiliar.
His body was heavier now.
Denser.
Stronger.
When he flexed his fingers, he could feel the difference clearly.
The muscles beneath his skin carried far more power than before.
Every motion felt precise.
Controlled.
But also dangerous.
The Inchor of Chaos had rebuilt him into something far beyond human.
He could feel the cobalt-blue energy pulsing through his veins with every beat of his heart.
Each pulse sent waves of strange warmth spreading through his body.
It was powerful.
Wild.
Restless.
The energy did not sit quietly inside him.
It moved constantly.
Like a storm waiting to break free.
At the same time, the Void inside his soul remained cold and endless.
A vast, silent presence.
It did not move with the wild unpredictability of Chaos.
It was deeper.
Calmer.
But also heavier.
The Void dragged at him like an ocean current.
Sometimes it slowed his movements.
Sometimes it pulled at his thoughts.
As if reminding him that he now carried a fragment of something ancient inside himself.
Thanex pushed upward again.
The faint light of the Rift Gate flickered slightly brighter.
But the climb was far from easy.
Several times he nearly lost control.
The Void around him reacted to everything he felt.
When his focus slipped, the currents shifted violently.
When his thoughts scattered, the darkness began swirling unpredictably.
More than once, the Subrift tried to pull him back down.
Not deliberately.
But naturally.
The Void was not meant to release what it consumed.
Thanex clenched his fists.
The cobalt energy flowing through his veins pulsed harder.
His body surged upward another few meters.
Then suddenly the darkness around him twisted.
A wave of Void energy surged upward.
Thanex felt the pull instantly.
The current dragged against him violently.
For a moment, his body tilted sideways as the Subrift tried to reclaim him.
Thanex forced himself to stop moving.
He hovered in the darkness.
The Void around him continued churning.
Slowly.
Violently.
Then he realized something.
The movement matched his emotions.
The anger inside his chest.
The memory of Valerius standing above the collapsing temple.
The calm voice that had declared his death.
"Canaries exist to die."
The words echoed inside his mind again.
The memory ignited a surge of rage.
The Void reacted instantly.
Darkness exploded outward in violent spirals.
The currents of the Subrift twisted around him like a storm.
Thanex's body jerked as the sudden turbulence disrupted his climb.
The darkness roared around him.
Not with sound.
But with pressure.
Violent, chaotic pressure.
Thanex's eyes widened.
So it listens…
The realization both thrilled and terrified him.
The Void was responding directly to his emotions.
Not commands.
Not deliberate control.
Just raw feeling.
Anger.
Fear.
Focus.
Each emotion shaped the currents around him.
That meant something important.
Something dangerous.
If he lost control here…
He might never escape.
Thanex forced himself to take a slow breath.
The air in the Subrift was strange.
Thin.
But still breathable.
He closed his eyes.
The memory of the temple still burned in his mind.
The screams of the other canaries.
The moment the pillar shattered beneath his grip.
The feeling of falling into darkness.
He wanted revenge.
The anger was real.
Powerful.
But if he allowed it to control him now, the Void would answer that anger with destruction.
And destruction inside the Subrift meant losing the only path back.
Thanex exhaled slowly.
Again.
And again.
He had to put his emotions in check, there was no need worrying or being emotional about things beyond his control.
Besides Valerius was a Legate, A being of immense power.
Legates were second only to the Sovereigns, which was the highest rank humans had ever attained.
The Sovereigns were literal gods to humanity, and they could be counted on one hand.
There were Five sovereigns know to humanity, and the Legates were about tens of thousands in the entire human realm.
Each a prodigy of excellence and courage, There was no way he could stand to challenge a Legate, That was certainly a mad man's thought.
Thanex sighed.
Gradually, the storm around him weakened.
The swirling darkness slowed.
The violent currents faded.
The Void settled.
It did not disappear.
But it grew calmer.
Like an ocean returning to stillness after a wave.
Thanex opened his eyes again.
The Rift Gate shimmered faintly above him.
Still distant.
Still unreachable for now.
But visible.
That was enough.
He moved again.
This time slower.
More deliberate.
Instead of pushing violently upward, he let the Void guide his movement.
The currents responded gently.
Carrying him forward.
Upward.
Like a swimmer allowing the ocean to help rather than fighting against it.
The difference was immediate.
His body moved more smoothly.
The darkness parted around him with far less resistance.
Thanex continued climbing.
Minutes passed.
Or hours.
Time still had no meaning here.
But the distant glow slowly grew larger.
The Rift Gate flickered more clearly now.
A circular distortion of pale light.
The exit.
The bridge back to the world.
Thanex paused again for a moment.
The sight stirred something inside him.
A complicated mix of emotions.
That world had abandoned him.
Left him to die.
Yet it was still the only place he had ever known.
The outskirts.
The hunger.
The cold nights.
The endless struggle just to survive.
And now Valerius.
Thanex's jaw tightened slightly.
The Void stirred faintly around him again.
Not violently this time.
Just a subtle ripple.
He quickly forced the emotion down.
Not here.
Not yet.
Revenge would come at a much later date.
First he needed to escape.
Thanex resumed climbing.
The light above grew steadily brighter.
His new body moved with greater control now.
Each movement felt easier.
The Void no longer fought him as much.
Instead, it flowed around him like a silent guide.
The cobalt energy in his veins pulsed steadily.
The Inchor of Chaos remained active.
But contained.
Balanced by the deeper darkness inside his soul.
For the first time since his fall, Thanex felt something close to certainty.
He was going to make it out.
The Sub-rift Gate was still a distant star.
But the exit was visible now.
A tiny shimmering tear of pale light suspended in the darkness above him.
The Subrift currents weakened as he approached.
Almost as if the Void itself was allowing him to leave.
Thanex pushed upward once more.
Closer.
Closer.
The light grew a little brighter.
For the first time in what felt like forever, the darkness around him began thinning.
Just slightly, but surely.
The edge of the Rift Gate shimmered, an encouraging distance away from him..
Thanex extended his hand upwards.
The skin looked normal.
Human.
But beneath it flowed power that had never existed before.
Void.
Chaos.
Balance.
Thanex drew in a deep breadth.
Then he surged upward.
Toward the light.
Toward the world waiting on the other side, with renewed vigor.