The sound of the noise had been pursuing us for almost five minutes.
It took me a while to realize it was not coming from the disabled ship following us.
Something enormous was passing under the veil.
It made the reinforced hull of the Iron Wraith tremble as it passed by.
Vexa studied the radar, her expression showing that I had learned to associate with bad news.
"Tell me that it is not what I think it is."
I leaned over her shoulder, looking at the radar. The red dot below us was giant.
"What?
"Something big," I said.
"Very descriptive."
"Something really big."
"That’s even worse."
Nyx appeared in the cockpit, holding two steaming cups.
She handed me one.
"Drink,"
I looked at the grayish liquid.
"What is it?"
" Coffee "
I tasted the bitter liquid and immediately understood why she did not call it something else.
It was disgusting.
"This is terrible," I said.
"I know," Nyx said with a smile.
"Good," I muttered.
"Because you are awake."
I could not deny that.
Cyra was asleep in the seat behind me, finally looking peaceful.
The light from her skin, the sign of the System in her Core, was barely noticeable, but it was there.
The System hovered quietly above me
[Crew Member : Cyra Valt ]
[Aether Core Stability : 78% ]
[Core Damage : 23% ]
[Evolution Progress : 8% ]
I frowned, realizing that her stability had dropped after the fight.
"Vexa?"
"What?"
"How far is the Dead City?"
Vexa studied the horizon.
"About two hours."
"Two hours?"
"If we maintain this pace"
I looked outside the window.
It was hard to believe that this was the place where, if reports were accurate, one of the most critical battles in Aetheria’s history had taken place.
There were no roads, no signs of civilization whatsoever; only gray wastelands and mountains of trash.
"This looks dead," I said.
"That’s why they call it the Deadlands," Vexa replied sullenly.
"What happened here?"
"The Great Collapse."
She turned the controls, changing the altitude slightly.
"Aether technology started to grow out of control."
"Sounds familiar," I said glancing at Cyra.
She looked peaceful, almost happy, but only for a moment.
Vexa followed my look.
"People built and modified machines that could control the weather, shift the tectonic plates, bend gravity to their will, and even alter living organisms at will."
"They lost control," I finished.
A flash of lightening lit up the horizon.
I realized as I saw it that the clouds were not gray but a deep blue from within.
"The Aether storms came," Vexa said.
"They ravaged the nations. Whole continents were swallowed by the chaos."
I looked outside the window.
"So, Aetheria was not destroyed,"
"Survived," Vexa corrected.
"Why?"
"Because they built the city around a giant Aether stabilizer."
I gave her a strange look.
"That is why the city has so much Aether?"
"Exactly," Vexa replied.
I looked at my hands.
It all made sense now.
The System had manifested itself in my body when I got here.
A powerful system that allowed me to upgrade technology far beyond its original state.
What if Aetheria was not the only one?
"What is the Dead City, exactly?" I asked.
Vexa sounded surprised.
"Old Aetheria,"
"What?"
"It existed before modern Aetheria became what you know today," Vexa clarified, gesturing at the horizon. "It was abandoned after the collapse."
"Why?"
"Something is there still, alive."
Nyx stopped sipping her drink.
Something?"
Vexa nodded.
"A machine."
I waited for Vexa to continue, but she did not, forcing me to ask.
"What kind of machine?"
"The kind that people stopped making because they realized how wrong they were."
That was not exactly reassuring.
The Iron Wraith soared over the Deadlands.
The sky was growing darker by the second.
The flashes of electricity became more frequent. Blue lightning struck the ground several times in the distance, the force of each blow sending waves of energy through the ground.
Cyra suddenly opened her eyes and looked around.
"Where are we?"
"The Deadlands," I replied.
"Why?"
I looked at her.
"We need something to fix your Core,"
She gave me a strange look.
"You’re taking me to the Dead City?"
"Apparently,"
"You shouldn’t."
"Why?"
"Because that’s where my family sent me,"
I froze.
"Why?"
Cyra sat up, her expression dark.
"My father did not just seal my Core,"
She turned to the horizon.
"He sent me to the Dead City."
Vexa’s hands tensed around the controls.
"You never told me that."
"I didn’t remember."
"What do you remember?"
Cyra closed her eyes, clutching her temple.
"A door
She looked at me.
"An enormous metal door at the end of the city followed by something else,"
"What?
"I do not know."
The System appeared again
[Memory resonance detected ]
[Location correlation : 94% ]
I froze, the Dead City was not just a place connected to Cyra somehow.
It was more personal than that.
"Vexa,"
"Yeah?"
"Keep going,"
She shot me an incredulous look.
"You sure?"
"No.
I looked at Cyra.
"But we need answers,"
The city appeared on the horizon an hour later.
In fact, it was not a city at first; it was a mountain range.
But the clouds have moved, revealing the tops of hundreds of towers piercing the sky like colossal black teeth.
Many of these structures were broken or leaning against each other at angles.
Several bridges hung between the buildings, and ancient airships were embedded in the walls.
Steam puffed from various cracks in the road. The whole region was covered with a thick layer of Aether mist in hues of blue.
I stared at the grayish mass that was the city.
"That’s a city?" I asked when we got close enough to see the details.
"It’s the Dead City," Vexa replied grimly.
The Iron Wraith was approaching the city’s thick Aether mist, and the ship’s systems started malfunctioning.
"The instruments are out," Vexa said.
"We have a problem."
"What? The Aether interference is affecting us?"
The ship shuddered as if it were alive.
"Can you fly?" I asked.
" Barely," Vexa growled.
Cyra stood up.
"I can guide you."
Vexa looked at her.
"How?
Cyra closed her eyes.
"The Aether.
She raised her hand, and the mist in front of us parted, revealing a narrow passage.
"You can control the city’s Aether?" Vexa asked.
"No," said Cyra.
"It appears to be responding to me."
We flew over the city, which grew impressively large with every passing second.
The buildings became more massive, and we could see various types of ancient machinery.
Some were already destroyed, while others still worked.
One such machine resembled a spider and was made of rusted metal.
It froze when it saw us and crawled away.
"Were these machines alive?" I asked Vexa.
"It is better not to say,"
Another machine was approaching us through the mist, followed by the third.
Nyx raised her rifle.
"We are not alone,"
I looked outside and saw dozens of mechanical creatures emerging from the haze.
They were not attacking us, however, simply observing.
Cyra leaned closer to the window, and all the machines turned to look at her.
Then something miraculous happened: all the robots began to lower themselves to the ground, almost as if they were bowing to her.
Nobody spoke for a moment, but the System did
[Ancient Aether Network detected ]
[User compatibility: unknown ]
[Network response: Recognition ]
I looked at the text, stunned.
"Recognition?"
Cyra looked at me.
"What is it saying?"
I hesitated before replying
"They know you,"
Her face drained of color.
Before she could say anything, all the buildings began to speak at once, a deep mechanical voice echoing off the facades
"RETURN."
The word came from everywhere at once, filling the space between the buildings and making the Aether mist twist and turn.
The machines turned to face us, and the city itself seemed to lurch forward
"THE SOVEREIGN HAS RETURNED,"
Cyra took a step back, and I instinctively reached for my revolver.
Vexa was watching the city in shock, her mouth hanging open.
Nyx muttered one word
"RUN"
The machines in the street turned to face us, and something huge and terrible rose from the depths of the Dead City.