I crossed the threshold between ruin and life just after dusk.
My boots cracked through scorched gravel, the ridge I stood on crumbling with each step as I descended toward the fields.
The green was real. Too real.
So vivid it almost blinded me.
After a month of nothing but ash and fire, it felt like stepping into a dream I hadn't earned.
Mist clung to the soil, thick with life. Trees hunched low over the trail ahead, their limbs crooked, not from decay, but from age. Nature here had survived where everything else had burned.
I didn't know what kept it alive.
But I envied it.
In the distance, past the rolling green, I saw it: high walls, jagged metal, crumbling stone stitched together with desperation.
A settlement.
I picked up my pace. Legs sore. Mind hazed. But still steady.
Each step I took forward echoed with a strange sensation—like the land itself didn't trust me.
That's when I saw it.
A shimmer.
Invisible until you got too close.
A barrier.
I slowed.
Most barriers are programmed or powered by tethered force signatures—NULL codes, Essence frequency locks, sometimes even Interlogue parameters.
But I had none of those.
Still, it was there—buzzing in my ears as I drew close, like static wrapped in a whisper.
I reached my hand out.
Expected resistance.
There was none.
The air bent around my arm as I passed through.
The barrier didn't repel me. It didn't scan me. It just... shivered.
And I walked through it like it wasn't there at all.
That was a problem.
Because alarms screamed a second later.
Sirens wailed, piercing the evening air like they hadn't sounded in weeks.
Motion lights ignited on towers made from welded scrap and reinforced stone. Searchlights scanned the outer edge of the town like panicked eyes.
I didn't run. Didn't raise my hands.
Just stood still.
Watched.
Waited.
Then I heard them.
Footsteps. Heavy. Armed.
Four. No—six of them, coming fast from behind the walls.
The first emerged with a rifle the size of my torso. Crude tech. Bolt-loaded.
He aimed it straight at my head.
"ON YOUR KNEES! NOW!"
Another man appeared beside him—taller, gaunt, face weathered by years of dust and blood. His eyes scanned me like a machine.
Two more flanked him, younger, armored in mismatched plates and old Dracus helmets. Probably salvaged from corpses.
One woman joined last, her eyes sharper than the rest. A commander, maybe.
All of them looked ready to kill.
And none of them expected what they saw.
"The hell is he?" "He came through the barrier…" "That shouldn't be possible." "Is he... Dracus?"
The commander stepped forward, weapon raised.
"You. Identify yourself. Now."
I tilted my head slightly.
My voice came out dry. Like gravel soaked in smoke.
"Matte."
"Full name. Designation. Affiliation."
I stared back at her.
"Don't have one. Don't need one."
She didn't like that.
Neither did the man next to her.
He stepped forward, rifle lowering slightly.
"You're human?"
I nodded once.
He squinted. "Then how the hell did you pass through our veil? That barrier would liquefy any Dracus that touched it. Even Interlogues trigger it."
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know.
The commander signaled her team.
They surrounded me.
One tried to grab my arm. I stepped back.
"Easy," she said. "You want in, you cooperate. Eurix doesn't need another freak in its gates."
I let them cuff me.
Not because I had to.
Because I wanted to see what was behind those walls.
The Stronghold of Eurix wasn't a city.
It was a scar.
Buildings leaned sideways. Wires stretched like veins between light poles that barely worked. People watched from cracked windows with eyes like loaded weapons.
Every face I passed wore the same expression:
Exhaustion.
They weren't afraid of me.
They were afraid of everything.
Children clung to rusted metal beams in the alleys. Old men sharpened knives that were more patchwork than blade. The few women I saw didn't flinch at the alarms still echoing overhead.
They were used to it.
Everyone here had lived on the edge too long to blink at danger.
The woman leading me said nothing as we walked.
I caught a glimpse of her name etched into the pauldron strapped to her shoulder:
SYLA.
She finally spoke when we entered what passed for a command tent.
Dim. Dusty. Lit by salvaged glow-strips.
"You came through the Mortar Zone? Alone?"
I nodded.
"That's suicide."
I didn't respond.
She folded her arms.
"No one makes it through that place. Not without a squad. Not without serious tech. And definitely not without Null or an Interlogue." She paused, eyes narrowing. "So what are you?"
I met her gaze.
"Alive."
She stared at me for a long second. Then another.
And finally... She smirked.
Not warmth. Not welcome.
But maybe— Respect.
They uncuffed me.
I walked the town alone for a bit after that.
The people of Eurix didn't approach.
Didn't run.
They watched.
Measured me.
As if trying to figure out whether I was the threat they should be praying for...
Or the one they should be running from.
I could hear the whispers behind me.
"He came through the barrier." "Not possible." "Looks human... but did you see his eyes?"
I ignored it.
Found a quiet spot between two wrecked caravans near the back wall.
Sat down.
Let the silence return.
Eurix wasn't peace.
But it wasn't fire either.
And for the first time in months...
I wasn't running.
The quiet didn't last.
It never does in places like this.
Not when everyone's waiting for the next scream.
Not when the walls are held together with rusted steel and desperation.
I kept my head down for a while, leaning against the remains of what used to be a transport caravan. Its tires had melted into the stone years ago, but someone had thrown a canvas sheet over the side like a tent, probably for shade or sleep.
I didn't sleep.
Didn't feel safe enough to.
Not because of the people.
Because of me.
Because the longer I sat still, the more I felt that thing in my chest… stirring again.
Not Essence. Not power.
That other thing.
The one that took over in the Mortar Zone. The one with red and black eyes. The one that didn't feel pain when its fists shattered bone.
I wasn't sure if I'd tamed it.
Or if it was just waiting.
Footsteps.
Light.
Quick.
Someone was approaching.
I didn't move until the shadow broke over me.
A boy. Maybe sixteen. Skin darkened by sun exposure, hands twitching with nervous energy. He had a jagged scar across his right cheek and a metal pipe strapped to his back.
Not a threat.
But not harmless either.
He cleared his throat.
"You, uh... you the guy who walked through the barrier?"
I glanced up, nodded once.
He looked at me like I was a story come to life.
"They said it shouldn't be possible."
"It isn't," I replied.
He blinked, then laughed nervously. "You always that cryptic?"
I didn't answer.
He scratched the back of his head, then sat cross-legged a few feet away—just outside striking distance.
Smart kid.
"My name's Kael," he said. "I run supplies around the Stronghold. Kinda like a runner."
I nodded slowly. "Matte."
"Cool. Weird name, but... cool."
He paused, then leaned in a little. "Are you really human?"
I turned my eyes on him—slowly.
He saw them.
The way they still shimmered faintly in the dark. Not Essence. Not quite.
He didn't ask again.
Just nodded.
"Thought so," he muttered. "You don't move like one of them."
We sat in silence for a bit longer.
Eventually, he stood.
"People are scared of you, you know."
"I know."
He didn't say anything else. Just gave a tight nod and jogged off into the maze of alleys beyond the command tents.
I leaned my head back.
Stared up at the ceiling of broken stars above me.
And for a moment...
I let myself hope.
Not for safety.
Not for peace.
But for purpose.
The kind of purpose that only comes after losing everything and still choosing to stand up.
This place wasn't home.
But maybe, just maybe...
It was the beginning of something that could lead me there.
Wherever that was now.