Page 9 of New World

Now the universe itself seemed to be conspiring to make it true.

Andri’s lips parted slightly as he read the lines again, his fingers tracing the delicate etchings of ink:

“When the stars fracture and the darkness rises, five will return from beyond the veil. Five warriors, bound by fate, shall rally the lost, forge the broken, and stand against the tide. The Ancient Knights of the Gallant will rise once more, and in their wake, empires shall fall.”

His throat tightened. His heart pounded once, hard, against his ribs.

His gaze shifted to the image—a centuries-old carving discovered in the caverns of Aetherial. It depicted five warriors standing in three interconnected circles, the Gallant Staffs in their hands raised, their faces unreadable. Three men. Two women.

Five.

Andri sat back in his chair, his breathing slow and measured. The office felt… smaller than it had minutes before. The shadows pressed in at the edges, the hum of the city outside suddenly distant, almost unreal.

The Ancient Knights of the Gallant had not simply been legends. They had been real. Their power had once united entire star systems. And now, if these signals were correct…

They have returned.

Andri exhaled sharply, his pulse accelerating in his throat. This wasn’t a coincidence. It wasn’t random chance. This was a pattern, a movement, a force that had been set in motion long before he had ever taken his first breath.

This cannot happen.

His control was absolute. His rule was undisputed. He had spent years bending the will of planets, ensuring the Legion remained unmatched, unchallenged. If the Ancient Knights returned…

Everything he had built—everything he had taken—would crumble.

He couldn’t allow it.

With deliberate precision, Andri reached forward and keyed in a secure transmission. The holoscreen flickered, shifting into the sharp, rigid features of his brother.

Coleridge Landais answered. “Andri. What is it?”

Andri stared at him for a long, tense moment. Then, quietly, he spoke the words he had long dreaded:

“The prophecy is true.”

Coleridge’s brow lifted slightly. “What prophecy?”

Andri’s hands curled into fists against the desk, his knuckles white. His breath was slow, controlled—but beneath it, something burned. Something sharp and raw.

“The Ancient Knights of the Gallant have arrived. They must be stopped, Coleridge. You must find them and stop them.”

For the first time, a shadow of emotion flickered across Coleridge’s face.

Andri felt it then, deep in his bones—the inevitability of what was coming. A war unlike anything the Legion had faced before.

The fire had been reignited.

And he would do whatever it took to extinguish it before it could consume everything.

Present Day:

Deep space, unknown galaxy

* * *

Mei’s body bowed sharply as she sucked in a breath, her nerves reacting before her mind fully caught up. The pod shuddered as its lid clicked open, allowing frigid, stale air to sweep over her. Somewhere in the fog of her mind, a voice murmured. Familiar. Urgent.

“Mei… wake up. You have to wake up.”

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