Skybound: The Atlas War

The silence after the storm wasn't peace.

It was waiting.

Kairo sat on the deck, shoulders heavy, the storm's echo still buzzing behind his ears. Around him, the crew worked in silence—rechecking sails, securing lines, eyes flicking to the horizon. No one said it, but they all felt it.

The storm knew their names.

Velka paced near the helm, uneasy. "We need to land. That kind of magic leaves a trace. If it marked you, others might sense it."

Cinder nodded. "There's a drift island cluster ahead. Big enough to hide in, small enough to keep company away."

Kairo looked at the Atlas, still pulsing faintly. "We're not hiding. Not really."

"No," Velka agreed. "We're listening."

They steered east, into a patch of scattered sky-islets—crumbled ruins and floating stone overgrown with silvergrass and echo-wind. The Cloudreaper touched down on a mossy platform, its engines sighing as they powered down.

The moment Kairo's boots hit the stone, something shifted.

Not in the air.

Inside him.

The Atlas flared—once—then dimmed. He looked around.

Shadows moved at the edge of the ruins. Not hostile. Not human.

Memories.

Velka stepped beside him, hand on her weapon. "This place… was a Watcher outpost once. One of the first. Before the Sanctum."

"And now?" Kairo asked.

"Now it's nothing but what was left behind."

The crew stayed with the ship. Kairo and Velka moved through the ruins—broken columns, skyglass scattered like fallen stars. At the center stood a cracked monolith covered in glyphs. Faint symbols spiraled across it.

Kairo touched one.

The world blinked.

Suddenly, he was somewhere else.

A voice echoed around him—deep, worn, distant.

"The boy must not awaken it."

Then another.

"If he bears the Atlas, the Sanctum will open again. It must not."

Kairo gasped as the vision shattered. He staggered back.

Velka caught him. "What did you see?"

"Voices. Watchers, maybe. Talking about me. They knew I'd come."

Velka was quiet for a long moment. Then, "They feared you would."

Kairo's fists clenched. "Why? What is it they're so afraid of?"

She looked at him. "The truth. That the Atlas doesn't belong to the Watchers anymore. It chose you."

Above them, the sky churned faintly. A new storm brewing far in the distance—but this one wasn't chasing. It was watching.

Velka pointed toward the horizon.

"There," she said. "That glow—see it?"

A silver gleam hovered on the edge of sight. Faint, pulsing, steady.

Kairo nodded. "The Watcher's Sanctum."

Cinder's voice crackled over the link-crystal. "You two might want to get back. Something's stirring up the wind again."

They turned.

From the ruins, a low hum began to rise. The monolith shook.

The glyphs began to bleed light.

Velka grabbed Kairo's arm. "Move!"

They sprinted back as the platform began to tremble, ancient engines roaring to life beneath the stone. The ruins weren't ruins anymore.

They were a beacon.

The Cloudreaper lifted off just as sky beneath them cracked open, revealing a spiral of energy coiling toward the distant Sanctum.

The Atlas on Kairo's chest burned bright.

And far off, from the silver dome in the clouds, something ancient… answered.

END OF CHAPTER 15