Four years had passed since the
day the world cracked open.
Kael didn't think about that day
anymore—not like he used to. The
pain was there, buried deep
inside, but it didn't matter. What
mattered now was survival. And
that was all Kael had left—his
ability to survive.
The ruins of the old world
stretched out before him,
crumbling structures and broken
roads littered with debris. Kael's
boots scraped across the cracked
pavement as he moved through
the wreckage, his gaze scanning
for anything of value. The world
had collapsed around them, and
the things people had once fought
for now lay forgotten in the dirt,
buried under layers of ash and
decay.
His younger brother, Rion,
followed closely behind, his small
hands clutching an old piece of
metal like a weapon. He had
insisted on coming along today,
though Kael wasn't sure if it was
out of a desire to help or simply to
avoid being left behind.
"So did you find anythinggood?"Kael asked, his voice rough
from days without enough water.
Rion shook his head, his eyes
scanning the remains of a broken
building. "Nothing yet what about
you?"
Kael didn't answer immediately.
He crouched by a pile of shattered
machinery, his fingers brushing
over the cold, rusted surfaces.
The air smelled of decay and dust,
but something in the wreckage
called to him—a pulse, faint but
undeniable. The shard he had
been carrying for months had
never quieted, never settled. It
hummed with an energy Kael
couldn't fully comprehend. He
wasn't sure if it was a blessing or
a curse.
"Big bro look"Rion's voice broke
his thoughts, and Kael turned just
in time to see his brother
crouched over something glinting
in the dirt.
Rion had found a piece of scrap—
worth little more than a handful of
credits, but it was something.
"Good job,Rion." Kael's voice
softened as he ruffled his
brother's hair. He was still young,
too young to understand the
gravity of the world they lived in.
But Kael wasn't about to let hisbrother see the darker side of
their existence, not unless he had
to.
"We should head back soon," Kael
said. "Before the dominion—"
Before he could finish, a faint
rumble shook the ground. It was
the unmistakable sound of
engines—low, heavy, and getting
closer.
"Dominion"Kael muttered under
his breath, his hand instinctively
reaching for the blade at his waist.
His mind raced, the old instincts
kicking in. The soldiers wouldn't
hesitate to wipe out anyone who
didn't belong.
"Kael, what do we do?" Rion
asked, his voice laced with fear.
Kael turned to his brother, his
expression hardening. "We run
and stay close to me,okay!"
Without another word, Kael
grabbed Rion by the arm, pulling
him into the shadows of a nearby
building. The sounds of the
approaching transports grew
louder, and Kael's pulse
quickened. He had seen Dominion
patrols before, but that didn't
make them any less dangerous.
They would search every inch of
the wreckage if they had to.Rion looked up at Kael, fear in his
wide eyes. "We'll they hurt us?"
Kael didn't have a good answer for
that. The Dominion's reach was
everywhere, and no one was safe.
Not scavengers, not the
desperate, not even the broken
pieces of the old world.
"We're going to be okay"Kael
whispered, pulling Rion deeper
into the shadows.
The transports hovered just above
the ground now, their sleek black
hulls reflecting the faint light of
the shattered sky. Kael watched
them intently, every muscle in his
body coiled like a spring. If they
were spotted, there would be no
escape.
The rumbling grew louder, and
then—
A sharp click.
Kael's heart skipped a beat as he
realized the Echo in his jacket had
begun to hum again. It was faint at
first, just a low buzz in his chest.
But then it intensified. The shard
was reacting to something nearby
—something powerful.
"What is it"Rion whispered,
clutching Kael's sleeve."Quiet" Kael replied, his mind
racing. The energy from the shard
felt different this time—stronger,
more intense. As the Dominion
transports began to land just
yards away, Kael had only one
thought: they couldn't stay here
much longer.
Suddenly, the shard flared with
light, and a strange, almost
otherworldly hum filled the air.
Kael's eyes widened. He had felt
this before, but never so strong.
Kael's grip tightened on his
younger brother as the energy
from the shard intensified. His
heart hammered in his chest. This
wasn't normal. The shard had
never reacted like this before—it
was almost as if it had a mind of
its own, pulling on something far
beyond Kael's understanding.
"Kael....what's happening?"Rion's
voice trembled, but he stayed
close, clutching Kael's sleeve.
"I don't know"Kael muttered, his
eyes darting between the
approaching Dominion soldiers
and the shard nestled inside his
jacket. The pulse had grown
sharper, like a heartbeat
quickening, pushing him toward
something he couldn't see,
something he couldn't control.The Dominion patrol was almost
upon them, their heavy boots
crunching over the debris as they
fanned out. Kael could hear their
commands, their cold, mechanical
voices echoing through the empty
streets. They were methodical,
calculating. And they wouldn't
stop until they found every last
scavenger in the area.
Kael's instincts screamed at him
to run, but the shard's pulsing
light kept him rooted to the spot.
His hand hovered over it, unsure
whether he should let it out,
whether he even had the strength
to control whatever power it was
building.
"Get down" Kael whispered
urgently, lowering himself and
Rion behind a toppled concrete
pillar. The Dominion soldiers were
only a few steps away now, their
black armor gleaming in the dim
light, weapons drawn, scanning
the wreckage for any signs of life.
Kael's breath came in shallow
gasps as he focused on the
shard's energy. It felt like it was
pulling him in, urging him to
release it, to embrace its power.
But there was a voice in the back
of his mind telling him to resist. It
was a dangerous thing—whatever
it was. He had seen what powerlike this could do to a person.
Suddenly, the shard flared
brighter. Kael's heart skipped a
beat as a surge of heat ran
through his veins. His vision
blurred for a moment, and when it
cleared, he realized his hand was
shaking. The shard was calling to
him, like it knew something he
didn't.
A low rumble filled the air, distant
but growing louder. The soldiers
hadn't noticed it yet, but Kael's
pulse quickened. Whatever was
happening, it wasn't just a
reaction to his shard.
"Kael!"Rion's voice cut through
the tension, his face pale. "What's
happening to you?"
"I—" Kael began, but his words
were cut off by a strange, bone-
rattling hum that filled the air. It
was coming from the shard—no,
from something else, something
deeper.
Then, without warning, the air
around them shifted. A crackling
sound filled the atmosphere, and
Kael felt the ground tremble
beneath his feet. The Dominion
soldiers froze, scanning the area
in confusion. The sudden
disturbance wasn't from any of
their equipment.Kael's eyes widened as the shape
of something massive began to
emerge from the wreckage ahead.
It was a towering figure, its
silhouette partially obscured by
the dust and debris. For a
moment, Kael thought his mind
was playing tricks on him. But the
figure moved, slow and deliberate,
like a beast from another world.
"Get down" Kael hissed, pulling
Rion closer and crouching low
behind the pillar. His heart was
pounding, his chest tight with fear.
This wasn't good. The last thing
they needed was more attention.
But Kael couldn't pull his gaze
away from the strange figure as it
fully emerged from the ruins.
The figure was enormous—easily
twice the size of the Dominion
soldiers—and its body shimmered
with a strange, iridescent glow. It
was humanoid in shape but
distorted, as if its form were
constantly shifting, as if it were
trying to remember its true shape.
It wasn't just a relic from the past.
It was something far older.
The shard in Kael's jacket pulsed
once more, the energy surging
with an intensity that nearly
knocked him to the ground. He
could feel its pull, stronger than
ever before."Kael,what the hell is that?" Rion
whispered, his voice full of awe
and fear.
"Like i know" Kael whispered
back, barely able to tear his eyes
away from the figure. It was
something beyond
comprehension, something that
didn't belong in this world.
The Dominion soldiers hadn't
noticed yet, their attention
focused elsewhere. But Kael knew
it wouldn't take long for them to
see the massive creature. The
tension in the air was thick, and
Kael knew they were running out
of time.
Without thinking, he grabbed Rion
by the arm. "We need to move
Now!"
Rion looked up at him, eyes wide
with terror, but Kael didn't wait for
an answer. He yanked his brother
to his feet and started running,
pulling him toward the nearest
alley. His heart was pounding in
his chest, and his breath came in
short, sharp gasps. But even as he
ran, he couldn't shake the feeling
that they weren't the only ones
being drawn to this new force.
The creature—the one Kael could
feel in his bones—wasn't the onlything reacting to the shard. There
was something else out there.
Something else watching them.
And it was only a matter of time
before they all found out exactly
what that something was.