The golden eye remained open.
Watching.
Silent.
Patient.
It did not attack.
It did not speak.
It simply observed.
And somehow, that was worse.
The entire expedition stood frozen in the middle of the ancient street.
Even the Guardian Constructs had stopped moving.
The battlefield had become eerily quiet.
Broken stone covered the roads.
Destroyed constructs lay scattered across the ruins.
The bodies of Void Burrowers from previous battles still littered distant streets.
Yet none of that mattered.
Everyone's attention remained fixed on the colossal tower.
And the golden light watching from its summit.
---
John narrowed his eyes.
The feeling hadn't disappeared.
It was still there.
That strange sensation of familiarity.
As though something deep within him recognized the presence hidden inside the tower.
Which was impossible.
Or at least it should have been.
---
The system remained silent.
Unusually silent.
John hated that.
