Time: 11 // 50 Void (The Reset) Location: Over the Jinded Idwe / En Route to Vañujal

The Void ended.

On the horizon, Kira, the violet sun, would soon breach the edge of the world. The absolute darkness of the Reset shattered, replaced by a bruised purple dawn that bled across the sky.

The Thunderwave was vibrating violently. They were pushing the resonance engines past the red line, the hull groaning under the stress of the speed. They were still too far out.

"We aren't going to make the window," Hanjhit shouted over the roar of the engines. "At this velocity, we arrive after the Second Sun rises. The ritual will already be active!"

"We buy time," Wren said, stepping to the center of the cabin.

She activated her ChronoSpheres. Her armor plates shifted, glowing with a blinding white light. She didn't expand the bubble outward to slow enemies; she inverted it, wrapping the Thunderwave and Dava’s convoy in a localized field of accelerated time.

"Fuel me!" Wren gritted out, her veins flashing with resonance.

Emerjn stepped in, placing a hand on her shoulder. Hydro-Fuel. He pumped hydration and raw energy into her, stabilizing the volatile time-field. Outside the windows, the world blurred into streaks of violet and grey. Minutes compressed into seconds. They weren't just driving; they were skipping across the surface of the timeline.

Time: 01 // 09 Flare (First Light) Location: The Border of Vañujal / The Deep Jungle

The time bubble popped with a sound like shattering glass. The convoy skidded to a halt at the crest of the final hill.

Usually, seeing the sun rise over Vañujal was a spiritual experience. The "Lungs of the World" were a kaleidoscope of bioluminescent flora and massive, ancient trees that scraped the stratosphere. It was supposed to be a wall of vibrant green.

But as the Court looked out the viewport, the cabin went silent.

Vañujal was grey.

The massive canopy was stripped bare. The trees looked like skeletal fingers clawing at the sky. The ground was covered in a thick layer of ash, not snow. The air filtration systems on the Thunderwave whined as they filtered out high concentrations of carbon and decay.

"I can't feel it," Talia whispered, clutching her chest. "It's quiet. The jungle... it's not talking."

"It's not dead," Ouhan said, his eyes closed as he reached out with his mind. "It's screaming. But it's too weak to make a sound."

"Target ahead," Gwen announced, her voice tight. "The Kassaj didn't just bring a ship. They brought a fortress."

Ahead of them, a massive Hard-Light Wall cut through the jungle, encircling the central zone where the Tree of Life stood. Patrol drones swarmed the air like angry wasps. Heavy walkers—mechanical beasts armed with plasma cannons—stomped through the ash, crushing the dying roots.

"They are digging in for the Eclipse," Wren noted, checking the solar alignment. "They need absolute stability for the extraction. They have fortified every angle."

"Then we destabilize them," Val commanded. "Dava, take the convoy and hit the west flank. Draw their fire. We're going straight up the middle."

"Copy," Dava’s voice crackled. "Storm bringing the rain."

Time: 01 // 15 Flare Location: The Outer Perimeter

The battle began with a thunderclap.

Dava’s convoy of mining haulers didn't slow down. They slammed into the Hard-Light Wall, their retrofitted shields flaring against the impact. The "Dead Army" of Khijan poured out, firing mining lasers and using their Shadow abilities to slip through the cracks in the enemy defense, turning the west flank into chaos.

On the center line, the Thunderwave roared forward.

"Saje! Clear the sky!" Val shouted.

Saje stood on the roof of the moving vehicle, strapped in. He opened his mouth and Sang. A focused thunder boom erupted, a physical wall of sound that shattered the sensors of the drone swarm overhead. They rained down like hail, sparking and burning in the ash.

"Romar! Gwen! The Gate!"

The Thunderwave drifted, exposing the side door. Gwen and Romar leaped out.

Romar accelerated. To the enemy, he was a blur. He slapped sticky-charges onto the legs of the heavy walkers before their targeting computers could even register his presence.

Gwen raised her hands. She didn't fire; she Refracted. She caught the plasma fire from the walkers, spun it in a prism-shield, and fired it back as a concentrated beam that melted the gate hinges.

BOOM.

The walkers collapsed as Romar's charges detonated. The gate fell.

The Thunderwave boosted through the breach, crushing the debris.

"We're in!" Hanjhit shouted. "But we have company!"

A second wave of Kassaj forces emerged from the treeline. These weren't drones. They were Elite Guards in white armor. Hundreds of them. They formed a phalanx, blocking the path to the Tree.

"We can't fight them all and stop the ritual," Sarode growled, watching the enemy numbers swell. "There are too many. We'll be bogged down for hours."

Val looked at the tactical map. The enemy was surrounding them. The Khijan army was pinned down on the west flank.

"We need a miracle," Talia said, summoning a wall of withered vines that were instantly burned away by plasma fire.

"No," Val said, looking at the sky. "We need the people."

Suddenly, the proximity alarms screamed.

"Multiple contacts entering from all fronts!" Gwen yelled. "Hundreds of them!"

Val looked up through the skylight.

The purple sky was filled with ships.

They weren't warships. They were cargo haulers. Personal skiffs. Agricultural dusters. Luxury yachts. Some were held together with tape; others were gleaming chrome. They poured over the horizon like a swarm of angry bees.

"This is Freighter Iron-Will," a voice crackled over the open channel. "We saw the broadcast. We are with the Heir."

"This is the University of Tsujan Science Division," another voice said. "We are jamming their targeting scanners."

"This is the Fisherman's Guild of Mmirabe," a rough voice shouted. "We're dropping heavy nets on their walkers!"

The civilian fleet descended. They didn't have heavy weapons, but they had mass. They rammed drones. They dropped cargo containers on tanks. They swarmed the Elite Guard, creating total chaos.

Val watched, tears pricking their eyes. The kingdom wasn't walls. It was Ide.

"They cleared the path!" Val shouted. "Go! Get to the Tree!"

Time: 01 // 45 Flare Location: The Inner Circle / The Tree of Life

The Thunderwave couldn't go any further. The roots of the Great Tree were too thick, rising from the ground like mountains.

The team bailed out, sprinting through the ash.

The Tree of Life loomed ahead. It was a monstrosity of nature—a trunk so wide it looked like a skyscraper, with branches that vanished into the clouds.

But it was wrong.

Thick, black cables were drilled into the bark, pulsing with a sick, violet light. They ran down to a massive machinery platform built at the base of the tree.

Standing on the platform were two figures.

Vaelor, the Kassaj of Fire. He wore armor made of pure obsidian, burning with an internal flame. Zhajul, the Sovajori of the Light of the Sacred Flame. He was wrapped in a prismatic cloak that seemed to bend and distort the air around him, making him painful to look at directly.

Suddenly, a high-pitched whine tore through the air. The royal transport ship from Tsujan shrieked overhead, landing hard on the ash just meters from the platform. The landing struts crushed the dying soil.

The ramp hissed open.

Fyn, the Royal Driver, marched down. He moved with a cold, mechanical stiffness. He was dragging Selon and Kym by their magnetic cuffs. They stumbled, disoriented and weak, their armor scorched.

"Just in time," Vaelor boomed, his voice sounding like a volcano erupting. "The batteries have arrived."

Fyn shoved the parents toward the machinery, where open glass tubes waited to receive them. The tubes had identical tech to the ones they used on Val.

Val stopped. The team fanned out behind them, weapons ready.

"You're late," Vaelor laughed, looking at the Court. "The Eclipse has begun."

Val looked up. The single moon was sliding over the first sun. The sky was darkening rapidly. Yet only 15 pulses remained until the second sun arose.

"Let them go," Val commanded, their voice calm but echoing with the power of the Court.

"You think you can stop us?" Vaelor laughed, stepping down from the platform. He drew a sword made of pure, unstable plasma. "I am the Fire that cleanses. I am the God of this new world."

"And I am the Light that blinds," Zhajul said smoothly, stepping forward. He didn't shout; his voice was a harmonious, terrifying hum.

Val looked at the team.

"Wren, Hanjhit, stop the Pilot from hooking them up!" Val ordered quickly. "Talia, Ouhan, stabilize the roots. Sarode, Gwen, Saje, Romar, Emerjn... we take the Kassaj."

"What about you?" Sarode asked.

Val ignited their aura, a blinding mix of starlight and prismatic color.

"I take the center," Val said.

Vaelor roared and charged.