Kael led Seren through the labyrinthine backstreets of Caldera. The neon lights of the city cast fractured reflections on the rain-slick stone, but the farther they went, the more the glow faded, replaced by flickering gas lamps and crumbling facades.
Finally, they reached a small workshop tucked between two towering warehouses. Kael rapped a quick pattern on the door. A series of metallic clicks followed before the door creaked open, revealing a grizzled man with a mechanical arm.
"Jorik," Kael said, stepping inside. "I need a place to lay low."
The man squinted, his glowing, gear-driven eye whirring softly as it focused on Kael and Seren. "You always bring trouble with you, Straven."
Kael smirked. "Wouldn't be me if I didn't."
Jorik stepped aside with a grunt, letting them in. The workshop was a chaotic mix of tools, wires, and half-built contraptions. Shelves lined the walls, cluttered with everything from alchemical vials to arcane crystals.
"Make yourselves at home," Jorik muttered, returning to a table where a disassembled drone lay in pieces. "But if you're bringing heat, I'm tripling my rates."
Kael ignored him, turning to Seren. "All right, talk. What's the deal with the Aether Key? Why is it tied to me, and why are shadowy death monsters chasing us?"
Seren hesitated, her eyes darting to Jorik.
"He's fine," Kael said. "If you don't talk, though, I might not be."
She sighed, running a hand through her silver hair. "The Aether Key was forged centuries ago by the Arcanum Pact—a group of mages who wanted to control the flow of magic in this world. It's a lock, but it's also a key. One side seals away dangerous magic, while the other... unleashes it."
Kael frowned. "And you're saying it's tied to me?"
"Yes," Seren said, her voice steady. "Your family was part of the Arcanum Pact. The Key's magic is bound to your bloodline. That's why you're the only one who can find it—or use it."
Kael stiffened, memories of his childhood flashing through his mind. His parents had been scholars, always obsessed with ancient artifacts and forgotten lore. But they'd died when he was young, leaving him with more questions than answers.
"And the Veylos Covenant?" he asked.
"They're trying to unleash the other side of the Key," Seren said. "They believe it will grant them ultimate power, but it would destroy the balance of magic—and likely the world with it."
Jorik let out a low whistle from his workstation. "Sounds like you've stepped in something nasty, Straven."
Kael shot him a glare before focusing back on Seren. "If this is true, why didn't you just come to me in the first place?"
"Because you're not exactly trustworthy," Seren said bluntly. "And because the Covenant has spies everywhere. I couldn't risk being intercepted."
Kael leaned against the wall, his mind racing. If what she said was true, the Key wasn't just another relic to sell or secure. It was a weapon of unimaginable power—and he was somehow at the center of it.
"So what's the plan?" he asked finally.
Seren's expression softened, though her eyes remained serious. "We find the Key before the Covenant does. And we destroy it."
Kael snorted. "That easy, huh?"
"No," Seren admitted. "But you've faced worse odds before, haven't you?"
Before Kael could respond, the workshop's lights flickered. Jorik cursed, his mechanical arm sparking. "What the—"
The air grew cold, and a faint, static-like hum filled the room. Kael drew his crossbow, while Seren summoned her daggers.
"They found us," she whispered.
The shadows returned, seeping through cracks in the walls and coalescing into humanoid forms. Their crimson eyes glowed like embers, and the temperature dropped further as they advanced.
Jorik scrambled to his feet, grabbing a rifle from a nearby rack. "You didn't say anything about bringing ghosts into my shop!"
"They're not ghosts," Seren said, her voice sharp. "They're shadowborn—a manifestation of corrupted magic. And they're here for Kael."
"Great," Kael muttered, raising his crossbow. "Guess we're doing this the hard way."
The shadowborn lunged, and the room erupted into chaos.