Chapter 14 - The Sky Tomb
The sky above Veyr no longer belonged to Earth. The storm had spread across the entire horizon now, a colossal rotating veil of black clouds and silver lightning swallowing the poisoned heavens above the wasteland. Beneath it, the ruins of the dead megacity continued collapsing inward around the awakening Warden.
Entire districts had vanished overnight. The giant blue eye still watched from within the storm surrounding the crater where Veyr once stood.
And above it all something ancient drifted silently beyond the clouds. The surviving convoy had stopped several miles east of the city ruins beside the skeletal remains of an abandoned transit fortress buried beneath snow.
No fires burned tonight. No one slept.
The celestial voices continued whispering faintly through dead communication systems while silver symbols occasionally flickered across the clouds overhead like distant stars trapped beneath water.
Most survivors avoided looking at the sky entirely.
But Tenji remained outside alone.
The Fairy stood atop a frozen observation tower overlooking distant Veyr while white robes drifted softly through the freezing wind. Shadow crows circled restlessly around him before vanishing one by one into darkness above the storm.
He could hear them clearly now. The voices beyond the sky. Calling him. Searching.
Einar approached silently behind him.
Snow spread gently beneath the Frost King’s footsteps across the steel platform.
“You knew this would happen,” Einar said quietly.
Tenji did not answer immediately.
For several moments only the wind spoke between them.
Then the Fairy finally whispered:
“No.”
His silver eyes lifted toward the clouds.
“I only knew they would eventually wake.”
THOOM.
A deep vibration rolled through the atmosphere.
Far above the storm, silver light pulsed briefly behind the clouds.
Einar’s expression darkened.
“The Sky Thrones are descending.”
At those words Tenji finally looked uneasy.
The Fairy rarely showed emotion.
Never fear. Yet now something ancient moved behind his calm silver gaze.
“They should not exist anymore,” he said softly.
Einar studied him carefully.
“But they do.”
Suddenly one of the shadow crows screamed.
The bird spiraled downward violently before dissolving into black feathers midair.
Then every nearby electronic device activated simultaneously.
Static exploded across dead monitors inside the refugee camp while old satellite dishes buried beneath snow slowly rotated upward toward the storm.
Dr. Selene rushed from the command shelter carrying a glowing scanner.
“You need to see this.”
Moments later, the trio gathered around an ancient holographic projector inside the ruined transit fortress.
Kael stood nearby with several Iron Reign officers watching nervously.
Selene activated the projector.
A distorted three-dimensional map flickered above the table.
The ruins of Veyr appeared first.
Then the storm overhead.
Then something hidden within it. A gigantic floating structure slowly materialized above the dead city.
Everyone fell silent.
The structure resembled an enormous cathedral suspended in the clouds high above Veyr. Silver towers extended outward from a central circular palace glowing faintly beneath layers of black storm clouds.
Ancient bridges floated disconnected in the air around it.
Entire sections appeared ruined. Broken. Abandoned. Yet still impossibly beautiful.
Kael stared upward at the projection.
“That thing was above us this whole time?”
Selene nodded slowly.
“It wasn’t visible before the Warden awakened.”
Tenji looked away immediately.
But Einar noticed.
“The Sky Tomb,” the Frost King said quietly.
Selene frowned.
“You know it?”
Einar’s glowing eyes remained fixed on the projection.
“Only from legends.”
The hologram shifted again.
Ancient scans revealed portions of the floating structure hidden beneath debris and ice accumulated over centuries.
Then new symbols appeared across the projection. Murals.
Massive carvings lining the interior walls of the floating city.
Humanoid figures with flowing robes and glowing halos descending from the heavens.
Winged structures floating above oceans and mountains.
Ancient human kingdoms kneeling before silver-eyed beings beneath black stars.
And among them Tenji’s people. The Sky People.
Kael stared uneasily at the images.
“They look human.”
“No,” Einar answered softly.
“They only resemble us.”
The hologram displayed another mural.
This one damaged heavily by time.
It depicted gigantic celestial structures descending from space while enormous black entities rose from beneath the Earth below them.
A war.
Ancient beyond comprehension.
And at the center of the mural stood a single silver figure surrounded by black crows.
Tenji.
Or someone like him. The room became silent.
Selene slowly turned toward the Fairy.
“…Who are you?”
Tenji said nothing.
The lights flickered violently.
Then all power inside the transit fortress died instantly.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Outside the storm above Veyr opened briefly.
Silver light poured downward through the clouds.
And for one impossible moment the floating structure descended lower.
Everyone saw it clearly now.
The Sky Tomb.
Gigantic.
Ancient.
Hovering silently above the ruined megacity like a forgotten palace abandoned by gods.
The celestial voices grew louder immediately.
Beautiful. Cold. inhuman.
Then a beam of pale silver light descended from the floating ruins directly into Veyr below.
Toward the Warden.
Toward the crater.
Toward something awakening beneath the city.
Tenji stepped backward slowly. The shadow crows around him scattered in panic.
Einar noticed immediately.
“…They came for the Warden.”
The Fairy’s silver eyes darkened slightly.
“No,” he whispered.
“They came because the Warden is waking.”
Then something moved inside the storm above the Sky Tomb. A gigantic silhouette drifting slowly between clouds and silver towers.
Watching the wasteland below.
Watching Tenji.
And for the first time since anyone had known him the Fairy looked afraid.
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