Shadows of the Multiverse: Fractured Duty

Chapter

The air crackled with energy as Eldric walked through the ruins of a dying world. Fragments of structures floated in the void, remnants of a once-thriving civilization. His face was marked by fatigue, but his eyes gleamed with determination.

"I'm late," he muttered to himself, his voice drifting in the unsettling silence.

He pulled a small device from his coat, which emitted a faint blue light. Looking at the hologram, he watched flickering energy lines intertwine. One of them pulsed with a disturbing intensity, so strong it seemed to want to swallow the light itself.

"She’s still moving..."

He quickly pocketed the device and looked up. The stars in the dark sky appeared to align in a strange way, as if an invisible thread connected them. A thread that had begun to unravel.

Eldric’s face hardened. He knew what was at stake was greater than any civilization could comprehend. Her presence was involved, and though he still didn’t understand her role, he knew the balance of the worlds rested in the wrong hands.

From the darkness, the sound of burning buildings creaking was deafening. Flames devoured the structures as the hooded figure ran through the shadows. The city she had once called home was burning, and no one knew why. An inexplicable chaos had erupted, and with it, a growing sense that time itself had become unpredictable.

She slipped between two narrow alleys and held her breath. Footsteps echoed nearby. A group of soldiers in black armor was inspecting the area. She watched them cautiously from her hiding place, her heart pounding.

“She couldn’t have gone far,” one of them said.

It wasn’t my fault. I don’t understand why they’re chasing me.

She clenched her fists, ignoring the voice urging her to run faster. Even though she wanted to, something inside her kept her still, as if the fate of everything was about to change.

In that moment, a sensation enveloped her—a certainty that the future was about to become even more uncertain. Something—or someone—was on its way.

The echo of hurried footsteps resounded between the crumbling buildings. She felt her breath grow ragged, the burning in her legs, the pressure in her chest, but she couldn’t stop. Not now.

Behind her, the shadows of her pursuers slid among the debris. She didn’t know how many there were exactly, but she had heard them. Low voices, short commands. They knew she was there.

A gunshot shattered the silence, hitting a shattered wall beside her. She flinched, instinctively dodging as she kept running.

Don’t let them catch you.

She turned sharply down a narrow street, her heart pounding in her chest. But then, ahead, she saw the silhouette of a man.

Not one of them.

A lone silhouette stood among the rubble, motionless, as if none of this affected him. He wore a dark trench coat that swayed slightly with the hot wind. The hood completely covered his face, revealing only a shadow where his eyes should be. He seemed untouched by fire or smoke. There was something in his stance—upright, serene, almost defiant—that didn’t match the surrounding disaster. As if he didn’t belong there... or as if the chaos itself parted around him.

The stranger said nothing. He merely watched her with a calmness that contrasted with the chaos around them. His coat fluttered in the ash-laden wind, and for a moment, she thought she could hear time stand still.

She didn’t know who he was, but something about him told her he wasn’t there by chance.

“Running again?” the man in the dark coat asked.

She clenched her teeth.

“Move!” she shouted.

He didn’t move.

“If you keep running that way, you’ll get trapped in a dead end.”

She stopped abruptly. Looked around, then at him.

“How do you know that?”

He simply smiled.

The footsteps behind her were getting closer. No time.

“damn it!” she exclaimed.

He raised an eyebrow.

“If I were you, I’d trust my instincts more. And someone with more experience.”

A flicker of anger flashed in her eyes, but she had no choice. She didn’t trust him, but between him and the men chasing her, the stranger was her best bet.

“Then what do you suggest?” she snapped.

He pointed toward a collapsed building.

“Through there.”

“That’s just a pile of rubble.”

“And you think they’ll check it?”

Another gunshot. The decision was no longer hers. She followed him.

They hid in the darkness of a half-collapsed building. She heard the men pass close by, their voices fragmented.

“She couldn’t have gone far.”

“Check sector B.”

“Something’s wrong with the sky…”

The stranger leaned toward her and whispered:

“Now comes the interesting part.”

Before she could ask what he meant, she felt a change in the air. A low, vibrating sound, as if the entire world were breathing.

She looked up.

A kind of rift hovered above the ruined city, expanding with a sickly glow. A deep roar resonated in the air, but it wasn’t a normal sound; it was as if something massive were screaming in all directions at once, without a mouth, without a shape.

She felt her body freeze. Not out of fear, but something more primal. As if her very existence was being pulled toward the rift.

The man grabbed her arm firmly.

“If you keep staring, it’ll tear the thoughts right out of your head.”

His tone was light, almost mocking, but his eyes remained fixed on the rift with a seriousness that didn’t match his voice.

She tried to pull away, but her legs barely responded.

“What… what is that?”

He smiled, but it wasn’t a friendly smile.

“The end. Or the beginning. Depends on who’s looking.”

The rift pulsed. The men searching for her stopped.

“What the hell is that?”

One of them screamed. Another tried to run, but it was too late.

A fragment of the earth floated up into the rift and vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

Then, the world folded in on itself.

The sun had returned to the sky as if nothing had happened. But the city remained destroyed. The buildings split in two. The ground cracked. Smoke rose in silent spirals.

She sat on a rock, hugging her knees. Her thoughts were still chaos.

“You know you can’t stay here,” he said, arms crossed.

She looked at him.

“I don’t trust you. I don’t know who you are.”

He shrugged.

“You don’t have to. You just have to decide what’s worse: staying in this broken world or risking seeing what’s beyond.”

She looked at the ground. The rift… that impossible void… if it came back, if it swallowed everything again…

She stood.

“Fine. I’ll go with you.”

The stranger smiled.

“Wise decision.”

They crossed through the ruins until they reached what had once been the city center. There, among the rubble of a collapsed building, was a circle drawn on the ground. Not with paint. Not with chalk. With light.

She stopped dead.

“What is that?” she asked.

“Our ticket out,” he replied.

She swallowed hard.

“I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to. You just have to cross it.”

The light of the circle flickered. There was something inside, like a blurry image of another place.

“And if I don’t want to?”

He looked at her with an amused expression.

“Then you can stay here. Maybe the rift will come back. Maybe not. Who knows.”

She glared at him.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Probably.”

She looked at the portal. Then at the ruined city.

No options.

“Fine,” she said, stepping forward.

The light of the circle intensified.

“After you,” said the stranger, with a slight bow.

She took a deep breath and crossed.

And the world disappeared around her.

The light of the portal faded.

The ground was solid beneath her feet, but the sensation of falling lingered in her body. She stumbled, trying to steady her breathing, but the air in this new place felt different—denser.

The man pulled back his hood with a slow, almost theatrical gesture, and gave a half-smile full of irony.

“Well, it’s not every day a girl runs toward me through flames. I’m Eldric,” he said, as if he hadn’t just emerged from a ruined world.

Lyara tensed, unsure whether to flee or respond. Her voice came out low, barely a whisper amid the crackling fire.

“Lyara…”

“Nice to meet you, Lyara,” he replied, bowing his head. “Now that we’re friends, could you tell me why half the apocalypse is chasing you?”

Lyara hesitated for a second. She knew. She knew what had caused all this, but saying it out loud was something else...