Skybound: The Atlas War

The ground quaked beneath their feet.

Above them, the Sanctum cracked with a long, deep groan—stone and sigil unraveling like old parchment. Light leaked from fractures in the dome, not sunlight, but something ancient, otherworldly. The Hollow Sky was no longer dormant.

Cinder cursed under his breath. "Whatever you did, kid… you woke it up."

"I didn't do anything," Kairo said hoarsely, still kneeling. "It did something to me."

The glyphs on the Atlas spiral ring now shimmered in tandem with his pulse. Each beat of his heart sent out a soft ripple in the air—barely visible, but strong enough that even the smoke from the grenades seemed to avoid him, parting like a respectful tide.

Velka knelt beside him, eyes flicking to the monolith. "We need to move. That thing is unraveling the chamber. Fast."

"No," the Emissary said, voice trembling. "Not unraveling. Releasing."

As if to answer her, the monolith cracked further—and from its core, a stream of data-light surged into the Atlas. Glyphs twisted and danced across its surface in a dizzying spiral. Kairo's eyes glazed over as his consciousness slipped—

—he was flying.Not with wings. With will.He soared above a broken sky, where airships burned and stars wept ash.And at the center of it all, a second Atlas—complete, glowing—waiting.

"Kairo!"

Velka's voice yanked him back.

Vaelstorm had recovered, blade drawn again, but his expression had changed. Gone was the arrogance; in its place, calculation. He had seen something in the blast—something that shook even him.

"You're connected to it now," Vaelstorm growled, pointing his blade. "But you don't understand it. That power will kill you before it saves you."

"Then why does it feel like I've always had it?" Kairo asked quietly, standing. His hair fluttered slightly in the windless dome. The Atlas pulsed in his hand without effort.

Vaelstorm's eye twitched. "Because it's rewriting you."

Another tremor rocked the chamber.

The Emissary's voice cut through the chaos. "We must leave. Now. The Hollow Sky is collapsing. It was never meant to be opened."

"But—" Kairo began.

"No arguments!" Velka grabbed his shoulder. "You unlocked something. That's enough for now. Survive first."

Cinder laid down a cover of crackling flame between them and Vaelstorm's regrouping soldiers. "Exit's above, through the lift shaft!"

As they sprinted toward the old Watcher lift, the monolith finally fractured completely—shattering into a storm of light and whisper. The walls of the dome trembled.

Above, the Sanctum's floor broke apart.

And the Hollow Sky erupted.

They emerged not into ruin—but into rebirth.

The Sanctum's tower now floated in midair, no longer tethered to its foundation. Massive chunks of skyrock levitated around it, forming a slow orbit. Sigils burned in the open air. The whole region crackled with ancient power, awakened after centuries of sleep.

Skycrafts from Vaelstorm's armada circled the Sanctum's remains—but hesitated to engage. They had seen the light. They had felt the pulse. Even the most fanatical among them sensed it—

Something sacred had been disturbed.

Kairo stood on a broken ledge, wind tousling his hair, the Atlas in his hand alive with warmth and strange gravity. He looked down at his palm—where a faint spiral mark now shimmered, etched into his skin.

"Is that… part of the seal?" Velka asked, breathless.

"I think," Kairo murmured, "it's a key."

The Emissary joined them, hair disheveled, robes torn. But her gaze was clear.

"The first gate is open. And with it, a fragment of the truth. You now carry what the Watchers feared and the Court rejected. You must be ready for what comes next."

Kairo's fingers tightened around the Atlas.

"What is coming next?"

The Emissary looked up.

"Reckoning. And rebirth. The Hollow Sky was only the beginning."

Far above, the sky shimmered—and beyond it, faint shapes moved in the clouds. Not ships.

Eyes.

Watching.

END OF CHAPTER 20