The air down in the root cave was heavy with earthy dampness, glowing mushrooms, and that sweet-sharp smell of Thornkin healing herbs. What a difference from the brutal wind and those black glass plains they'd barely escaped. Micah slumped against a wall made of living roots, finally letting himself breathe properly. His adaptive clothing was still humming as it shifted back from dark camouflage to its usual gray-silver—the sound felt too loud in all this quiet.
Next to him, Lio Venn crouched down, completely absorbed in examining the prototype device they'd nearly died trying to get.
The Thornkin healers moved like flowing water, silent and graceful as they patched up Kaelin Vorr's scraped arm and fixed Sera Lin's burned cloak. Sera had been waiting for them at Ironroot Grove, stepping out from the forest's edge just as those Omniraith drones were closing in—like a promise that they'd made it to safety. She looked calm enough, but her eyes told a different story. There was a bone-deep tiredness there. The forest was in trouble.
Micah rubbed his thumb across the Thornkin seed Sera had given him earlier. It should have been pulsing steady and gentle, showing their alliance and the forest's strength. Instead, the thing kept flickering—its soft green light flaring up and dimming like it was dying. His stomach twisted into a cold knot. This wasn't just from being exhausted or the leftover static from that Omniraith siren. Something was seriously wrong.
"They almost got us," Kaelin muttered, testing his hurt arm. His usual swagger was gone, replaced by harsh reality. "Another minute out there and we'd have been turned into scrap metal. Or worse." The idea of Omniraith conversion—becoming one of the 'fallen light'—made Micah's skin crawl. It was his worst nightmare, that cold, mechanical logic he fought so hard against. That distant Omniraith siren was still echoing in his head, flat and completely lifeless. The sound of a machine stating its terrible purpose.
Lio didn't even look up, totally focused on the strange device. "This thing's incredibly sophisticated," he said quietly, tension clear in his voice. He held the prototype tight, its smooth metal surface cool through his gloves. The guilt from that communication mess at the Verdant Heart still hung between him and Micah like a wall. Lio had panicked, tried reaching out to some secret Ashari research outpost for technical specs because he thought Elora's channels were compromised. His fear made sense, but it had put them all in danger. "We risked everything for this thing. Did we make the right call?" But Lio wasn't just asking about the prototype—he was asking about the moral line they were walking.
Sera glided over to them, holding out a cup carved from wood that actually glowed. "Rest now, Mountain Sentinels," she said, her voice soft and musical, carrying the forest's own gentle rhythm. "The grove protected you, just as it protects everyone who comes seeking truth." She knelt down beside Lio, her eyes falling on the prototype. "What is this metal thing that makes the forest tremble with fear?"
Lio hesitated, then set the prototype down on the dirt floor. "We're not really sure. We pulled it from a destroyed Ashari outpost after the Omniraith had taken it over. Dr. Voss wanted it back."
"An Ashari wound," Sera said quietly. "And it's getting infected."
Micah looked at her, his tiredness suddenly forgotten. "The forest... is it worse than that decay we saw at the edges?"
Sera nodded grimly. "The Verdant Heart is dying. The Omniraith don't just cut—they poison everything. Their machines, just being here, it's like shoving a cold iron blade straight into the earth's heart." She gestured toward the cave entrance. "Come on. You need to see what their invasion is costing us."
They followed Sera out of the root cave into the gentle dawn light filtering down through the Ironroot branches. The air still felt cool, but it was missing that vibrant energy Micah remembered from the Thornkin forest. Just a few steps from their safe grove, the scene hit them like a punch to the gut. The massive, ancient trees that should have had thick green bark were turning gray and crumbly, falling apart like ash when you touched them. Others had turned to stone, their branches twisted into horrible, frozen shapes. The ground was covered with fine black dust.
"It's spreading," Sera whispered, pain clear in her voice. "Every time their technology pushes in, every attack from the Omniraith war machine, it ripples through the entire root network. The forest feels each one like a physical blow."
Lio went pale, looking from the dying trees back to the prototype in his hands. "Is this... did we do this? Getting the device—did it cause this?" The thought was eating at him. His whole identity was built around wanting to help, to build technology that saved lives. If what he'd done had hurt their allies, he didn't know how he'd live with that.
They went deeper into the Thornkin sanctuary until they found themselves in a chamber lined with glowing pools that caught the soft morning light. The place felt safe—tree walls wrapped around them like a protective embrace, magical wards humming quietly to keep the dangers outside where they belonged. Lio got his scanning gear set up and plugged it into the prototype. When he fired up the scan, the thing let out this low pulse that somehow seemed to resonate with the Thornkin seeds Micah and Sera were carrying. It was almost musical, like they were all tuned to the same frequency. But at the same time, it made the magical protections in the room flicker and bend in ways that looked all wrong.
Kaelin watched Lio work, his rifle cradled in his arms like an old friend. "This doesn't sit right with me," he said, his voice carrying that edge it always got when things felt off. "We grabbed something we don't understand, and now the whole damn forest is dying." His suspicion—never far from the surface on a good day—was cranked up to eleven in this unsettling atmosphere.
Micah leaned in over Lio's shoulder, squinting at the data streaming across the scanner's display. The prototype's guts were nothing like standard Ashari tech. Sure, it had their trademark precision engineering, but there was something else woven in—something that felt distinctly alien. His mind went back to that Omniraith sensor node they'd found grafted into the root arch during the ambush. This device had that same wrongness to it. "It's not just a weapon," he said, more thinking out loud than talking to anyone in particular. "Hell, it's not even a simple data cache. It's like someone took Ashari tech and twisted it with Omniraith logic."
Lio's eyes went wide as fresh data started popping up on his screen. His fingers danced across the interface like he was playing some frantic piano piece. "Micah's onto something," he said, his voice caught somewhere between wonder and fear. "Look at these sub-protocols. This thing is built to connect. To interface." He stopped, staring at the readouts like they might bite him, then looked up at Micah. "It's a bridge node. Not a weapon, not a storage device... it's designed to link up with something. Or someone."
Before any of them could wrap their heads around what that meant, part of the tree wall started shimmering and suddenly Captain Nyra Tal was there—well, her hologram was. Sharp as a blade even through the projection. Behind her, some shadowy figure lurked just out of focus. Command was calling.
"Micah Satya, Lio Venn, Kaelin Vorr," Nyra Tal's voice cut through the air with military precision, no warmth anywhere to be found. "We got your report about retrieving that prototype from Gamma-Prime. Good work."
Micah felt relief wash over him, but it was quickly chased by wariness. "Captain," he said, keeping his face neutral. "We got the device, but we've hit some snags. The Thornkin Forest is having a bad reaction to this thing being here, and our scans are telling us it's some kind of bridge node meant to interface with... hell, we don't know what."
Micah pulled out his small scanner—the familiar weight of Ashari tech always made him feel more grounded somehow. He swept it over the blackened earth and the stone-dead wood. The readings were complex, showing not just environmental damage but these weird energy signatures layered over everything. This wasn't just pollution or mechanical destruction; it felt purposeful. Invasive. Like some kind of slow, coded rot.
Nyra Tal's stare could have cut glass. "Complications are secondary concerns. Dr. Voss needs immediate access to that prototype for analysis. His team is standing by." Her tone made it clear this wasn't a discussion—Command wanted their toy, and they wanted it now.
Sera stepped forward, that gentle steel in her expression that meant she wasn't backing down. "Captain Tal," she said, respectful but firm as bedrock. "This device is throwing the forest's harmony completely out of whack. If we yank it out now without understanding how it's connected to all this decay, we might make everything worse. Maybe we should work together on this?"
"Joint analysis is inefficient," Nyra Tal shot back, her tone skating right up to the edge of dismissive. "The prototype belongs to the Ashari. We'll analyze it. Your forest's harmony can wait until we understand the real threat here." The shadow beside her shifted slightly—a silent nod of agreement. The message couldn't have been clearer: Ashari priorities came first, and the Thornkin concerns were a distant second.
Micah could feel the alliance straining around him like a rope about to snap. The Ashari were all about getting things done fast with their tech, even if it meant cutting some moral corners. The Thornkin? They cared about keeping nature in balance. Sure, they needed each other to survive, but these differences kept threatening to tear everything apart. He looked over at Lio, who seemed torn, then at Kaelin, whose hand had somehow found its way toward his rifle without him even realizing it.
"We've got to decide," Micah said, turning back to the others as Nyra Tal's hologram flickered out. "Ashari Command wants that prototype back in Elora right now. But Sera thinks moving it could make things worse for the forest." He stared at the dying trees, felt his Thornkin seed beating irregularly in his chest, and thought about those weird energy readings his scanner had picked up. "We still have no clue what this 'bridge node' thing actually connects to, or why the hell the Omniraith left it at that outpost."
Kaelin let out a quiet snort. "Just return it. Orders are orders. We're not here to argue with tree spirits."
Lio twisted his hands together, eyes darting between the prototype and Sera. "But what if it really is causing all this decay? And if the Omniraith put it there on purpose..." He didn't finish the thought, but the chill running down his spine said enough. "We need to figure out what it's doing to the forest before we go moving it around."
Sera just watched them, patient as always. "The heart whispers," she said softly. "But when it warns you, you'd better listen."
Micah took a long breath. Logic said follow orders. Survival said understand the threat first. Trust meant respecting what their allies were telling them. He glanced at the prototype, then at Lio's worried face—worry mixed with that spark of curiosity he always got when faced with a puzzle. Micah remembered that faint energy signal he'd picked up earlier. It was close. Maybe if they checked it out with the prototype still here, they could actually learn something useful.
"Alright," Micah said, his gut making the call. Going against direct orders felt risky as hell, but his scout instincts—sharpened by years of barely surviving on the surface—were screaming that they were missing something big. "We're splitting up."
Kaelin's head jerked up. "Splitting up? Are you out of your mind?"
"Kaelin, you take the prototype back to Elora," Micah said, keeping his voice steady but firm. "Get it to Dr. Voss. Tell them about the forest dying and what my scanner found. Make sure they know it's some kind of 'bridge node.'"
"And what about you two?" Kaelin asked, suspicion written all over his face.
"Lio and I are going to check out that weird energy signal my scanner caught," Micah explained. "It's not far from here. If it's connected to the prototype or whatever the Omniraith are doing to the forest, we need to understand it before we just hand over the keys." He looked at Lio. "You in?"
Lio nodded without missing a beat, his uncertainty melting into determination. "Absolutely. If this tech is killing the forest, we need to know why."
Kaelin hesitated, then grudgingly gave in. "Fine. But don't get yourselves killed out there. That prototype isn't worth dying over."
While Kaelin wrapped the prototype carefully in Thornkin cloth and strapped it to his pack, Micah and Lio got their gear ready. Lio fiddled with his scanner, tweaking the spectral filters to focus on that mysterious energy signature Micah had detected. Micah checked his adaptive suit and the shape-shifting device he always carried. The Thornkin seed in his chest pulsed erratically, matching the tension hanging thick in the air.
As if responding to their decision to investigate, the prototype suddenly blazed brighter from inside Kaelin's pack. A low, thrumming pulse rolled out from it, stronger than anything they'd felt before.
The ground beneath them shuddered. This wasn't the familiar rumble of Ashari machinery in the distance or that unsettling vibration from Omniraith drills. This tremor felt different—alive somehow, but twisted by something cold and mechanical.
Micah and Lio caught each other's eyes as the prototype triggered something buried under the forest floor. Whatever mystery they were dealing with went way beyond just the device itself—it was connected to something much bigger.
The ground shook again, harder this time. Deep beneath the Thornkin sanctuary, hidden under all those roots and layers of earth, something dangerous was waking up.