ARC III THE SKY PEOPLE
Chapter 13 - Voices Above the Clouds
Veyr burned behind them. The dead megacity collapsed slowly into its own awakening abyss while black lightning split the heavens above the ruins. Entire districts vanished beneath gravity storms surrounding the Warden as emergency sirens screamed endlessly across the wasteland.
Even miles away the giant blue eye remained visible through the storm clouds.
Watching. The surviving Iron Reign convoys fled eastward through frozen highways buried beneath snow and ash. Refugee transports crawled across the wasteland carrying what little remained of Veyr’s survivors.
No one spoke much anymore.
The world itself had changed.
Einar walked ahead of the convoy alone through the frozen dunes beyond the city ruins while snow spiraled softly around him. Frost spread beneath his boots across the blackened wasteland as though winter itself followed him.
Behind him, Mordecai moved silently through drifting shadows beside the convoy.
The Death Reaper had remained unusually quiet since the battle with the Warden.
Even wounded, his presence unnerved everyone nearby. Survivors avoided looking directly at him while Iron Reign soldiers whispered nervous prayers whenever his crimson eyes appeared through darkness.
But Tenji Tenji had changed.
The Fairy drifted high above the ruined highways alone beneath the storm clouds, gliding silently between broken towers and rusted satellite arrays rising from the wasteland like giant graves.
He no longer looked calm.
Several shadow crows circled around him nervously.
Others had vanished entirely.
The Fairy stopped atop the skeletal remains of an ancient communication spire overlooking the dead plains beyond Veyr.
Then he heard it again.
A voice. Not human. Not spoken aloud.
Something singing softly above the clouds. Tenji slowly looked upward.
The storm overhead moved unnaturally tonight.
The clouds no longer spiraled around Veyr alone.
Now massive circular formations stretched across the entire horizon beneath the black sky, faint silver light flickering occasionally deep within the storms far above the atmosphere itself.
The singing grew louder. Ancient. Beautiful. Cold.
And beneath it something else pulsed through the heavens. A signal.
Tenji’s silver eyes widened slightly.
“No…”
For the first time in centuries fear touched his voice.
Far below, Einar suddenly stopped walking The Frost King slowly turned toward the sky. He felt it too.
A pressure spreading through the atmosphere beyond the storm. Ancient energy. Familiar energy.
Then the snow around him froze solid in midair.
A faint silver symbol appeared briefly across the clouds overhead. Circular. Winged. Burning softly through the storm like moonlight behind water.
Einar’s expression darkened instantly.
He recognized it. Not from this world. From before the fall of Elyria.
From ancient records hidden beneath vampire kingdoms and forbidden libraries burned during the first celestial wars.
The Mark of the Sky Thrones. Above the convoy, old communication towers suddenly activated by themselves.
Static erupted across every abandoned speaker scattered through the wasteland.
Then voices echoed from the sky. Distorted. Whispering. Not in any human language.
Iron Reign soldiers immediately panicked.
“What the hell is that?!”
“Turn it off!”
“You can’tit’s coming from everywhere!”
The voices grew louder. Some survivors collapsed to their knees clutching their heads as strange symbols flickered across nearby holographic screens and dead satellites drifting overhead.
Dr. Selene Cross stared upward in disbelief.
“There’s no transmission source…”
Kael tightened his grip on his rifle.
“Then where’s it coming from?”
No one answered. Because Tenji already knew. The Fairy drifted downward slowly from the ruined communication spire while white robes moved softly through the freezing wind.
The signal was not coming from Earth. It was descending from above the clouds.
Above the atmosphere itself. Above the dead world.
Mordecai suddenly growled low beneath his shadow cloak. The Death Reaper looked upward sharply. Then the shadows around him began moving violently. Even he sensed it now. Something ancient had entered the skies above the wasteland.
Einar watched Tenji carefully as the Fairy landed silently atop a frozen transport vehicle near the convoy.
For once Tenji avoided his gaze.
The shadow crows gathered tightly around the Fairy as though frightened. Silver light flickered briefly across Tenji’s pale skin beneath the storm.
Then vanished.
Einar finally spoke.
“…They found you.”
Silence.
The wind died completely. The survivors nearby exchanged nervous looks.
Tenji remained motionless for several moments.
Then quietly answered:
“They were never supposed to return.”
THOOM.
A deep vibration rolled through the heavens.
The clouds above split apart briefly.
And for one impossible moment everyone saw them. Gigantic silver structures floating silently far beyond the storm clouds high above Earth. Ancient. Beautiful. Terrifying.
Entire cities suspended in the sky. Then the clouds closed again. The vision vanished instantly. Several survivors screamed. Others thought they had imagined it.
But Einar knew better.
The Frost King’s eyes narrowed slightly as more silver symbols flickered across the storm above.
Forgotten celestial runes. Ancient marks from the oldest wars in human history.
Wars erased before civilization even began.
Dr. Selene whispered shakily:
“What… are those things?”
Einar’s glowing eyes remained fixed on the heavens.
Then he answered quietly:
“The Sky People.”
Tenji closed his eyes briefly. The singing above the clouds continued. And somewhere far beyond the storm something had begun searching for him.
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