Zypher stood at the edge of Neo-ilka's last district, staring out at the endless wasteland outside the limits of the city. In the neon glow of skyscrapers reflected behind him, the broken, cracked earth was stretched across in long shadows. Locals call this place "The Edge of the World." Few venture here. Few go out and do not return. Over the top of walls that might have been a mile high was something else-something different-and forgotten, where technology faded out, and the pulse of the city did not reach.
Kiera joined him, her face grim. "Are we going the right way?
Zypher scanned to his left: Kiera, Orion, Aegis, and his latest recruits, Silas and Leontios. He'd never felt less confident, yet he seemed to be irrevocably moving forward, to a call he couldn't understand. "If we're to find the next shard, we have no say in the matter. The map Silas has here indicates the Temple of Aeons's location is out there." He pointed toward the wreckage: ancient structures mixed with twisted steel.
And to lead this charge, there's Silas moving forward, his eyes flicking constantly between Zypher and the view that stretches before them. "The Temple of Aeons is real. It's where the gods buried their most forbidden relics when they left Olympus. And legend has it that time behaves differently there.as if the temple orbits between past and future.".
Orion sneered, always a skeptic. "And we're supposed to believe a temple that defies time will still be standing, waiting for us to stroll on in?"
Leontios, the mercenary who carried shadows to the table with him, sneered. "Believe what you will, Orion. The temple is guarded by more than time. Or so the tales say it's only those who hold a true purpose that enter, at least.".
Turning a final glance to the Neo-ilka, Zypher moved forward, taking the crew beyond the edge of the city and deeper out into a sea of something living, where the air became slick and gummy and was heavy with a low vibration-hum that seemed to throb in some ancient pulse attuned to each one of them. Ghostly silence held them all as they walked silently, their eyes set fast with determination to face whatever it was that waited for them.
As they moved forward into the wasteland, they began to notice some evidence of ancient ruins emerging: broken stone pillars covered in strange symbols, rusted gears, and parts of ancient machinery. They proceeded with caution. Aegis would sometimes pause to scan the surroundings. He was a self-aware robot, but even Aegis appeared unsettled here as if sensing something he could not comprehend.
The hours ticked by in a dreadful silence until finally, the outline of the temple showed on the skyline. This was quite unlike any temple Zypher had ever seen: a towering construct of both stone and metal, with pieces seeming to float in the air, joined by streams of light. It pulsed a faint ethereal glimmer and its gloom lit the desolate landscape with eerie luminescence.
Kiera shuddered. "That place… doesn't belong here. It feels like it's calling to us… or warning us."
Silas nodded. "The temple's energy is a mix of the divine and the technological. This place isn't of our world—it's an echo of something ancient, created by gods who didn't want to be remembered."
As they got closer, they saw something else—figues standing guard outside the temple, their eyes hollow, bodies melted with machinery. They were cyborgs but unlike any Zypher had ever seen in Neo-ilka. Their faces were expressionless, movements mechanical and well-synchronized.
"They're guardians," Leontios whispered. "The Forsaken. Legends say they were mortals who sought to defy the gods and were cursed to protect this place for eternity.".
orion's hand instinctively went to his weapon. "They don't look like they'd just let us pass."
Zypher threw up a hand. "Wait. Let's try something else."
He stepped forward, his heart pounding in his chest and called out clearly, "We come to Temple of Aeons seeking admittance. We are here for a purpose: to restore balance.".
The Forsaken cyborgs turned together, without blinking, their dead eyes toward him. There was a pause and then the booming sound emanating from the entrance of the temple, the doors groaning open to the entrance between them drenched in shimmering light.
Silas whistled low. "Well, that was simpler than I ever could have predicted.".
"Let's not get too cozy," Kiera whispered, her eyes leery as they stepped through the temple doors. The air was thick with power in the temple, the raw energy that pulls the minds, forcing memories and feelings.
The interior was vast, an endless series of corridors and chambers that defied logic. Lights flickered along the walls, casting strange shadows. The walls themselves pulsed, covered with a language no one of them could understand. But one thing they all knew-the symbols were not decoration; they seemed to be alive, shifting and rearranging as if they perceived the existence of the visitors.
Aegis read over the symbols, his eyes glowing with the intensity of a robot. "This language. it is a hybrid of ancient Greek and some sort of proto-coding, the fusion of divine language and programming. The gods made this as a language of control."
Leontios nodded, his voice reverent. "These are commands, spells. If we understand them, we might be able to access anything hidden here.".
The central part of the temple, deeper into its heart, they moved as Aegis deciphered symbols unlocking doorways and pathways that otherwise led to a dead end. The corridors twisted and turned as if the very temple was trying them, testing whether they were worthy of its secrets.
Finally, they came to a round chamber with a dais in the center on which lay a small, glowing ball- another fragment, pulsing with a quiet, otherworldly power.
Zypher advanced, and before he could get near it, the air seemed to distort and a ghost-like woman materialized—a hologram of a woman with fierce eyes and an aura of divine authority. She looked at them a moment, her face both filled with sorrow and resolve.