The wind carried a scent Kael had never known.
Fresh.
Ancient.
Alive.
He looked up at the three moons hanging over the sky.
None of them resembled Earth's moon.
One glowed silver.
Another burned with a pale blue light.
The third was cracked down the middle, held together by streams of floating energy.
"This..."
Kael whispered.
"It's beautiful."
"It wasn't always."
Aetherion's voice was quieter than usual.
Kael turned slowly.
Ruins stretched across the horizon.
Broken towers reached toward the heavens.
Collapsed bridges floated between cliffs as though gravity itself had forgotten them.
Trees with glowing blue leaves swayed in the breeze.
Crystal rivers shimmered like liquid starlight.
Despite its beauty...
Something felt wrong.
"It's too quiet."
Orion nodded.
"It should be."
He knelt beside the ground, brushing away centuries of dust.
Beneath it lay an ancient symbol.
The same star emblem Kael had seen beneath the facility.
"This world was once the capital of the Core Alliance."
Kael stared.
"Was?"
Orion closed his eyes.
"The greatest civilization ever built."
A long silence followed.
"Until the war."
The group continued forward.
Every step revealed another piece of a forgotten age.
Gigantic statues stood broken.
Ancient machines lay buried beneath vines.
Buildings towered over them despite being half destroyed.
One scientist quietly muttered,
"How could humanity never have known about this?"
Aetherion answered.
"Because humanity never came from here."
Everyone stopped.
Kael slowly turned.
"What?"
"The First World is not Earth's past."
"It is the birthplace of the Cores."
Before anyone could ask another question—
A loud crack echoed across the valley.
The ground trembled.
Birds unlike anything on Earth burst into the sky.
Orion's expression changed instantly.
"Hide."
Kael frowned.
"What is it?"
Another crack.
Closer.
Then—
A gigantic shadow crossed over them.
The group looked up.
A creature soared above the ruins.
Its wings stretched wider than the ancient towers.
Its scales shimmered like polished crystal.
Its golden eyes scanned the land below.
It wasn't a Devourer.
It wasn't human.
It was something entirely different.
The creature let out a deafening roar.
The ruins shook.
Kael instinctively reached for his power.
Aetherion stopped him.
"Don't."
"It's not hunting."
"It's guarding."
The creature circled once...
Then disappeared beyond the mountains.
Silence returned.
The scientists slowly emerged from cover.
"What... was that?"
Orion looked toward the distant peaks.
His face remained calm.
"One of the Ancient Guardians."
Kael blinked.
"There are more?"
Orion gave a faint smile.
"If even one still lives..."
He looked toward the endless horizon.
"...then perhaps this world isn't as dead as we believed."
Far away...
Hidden among the clouds...
A pair of glowing eyes watched the newcomers in silence.
Then vanished before anyone noticed.