The smuggler's bunker groaned under the Wastelands' shaking earth, its walls cracking as violet Aether light seeped through the seams. Kael leaned against a rusted crate, his shard-pistol freshly charged but heavy in his hand, the hum of his chest shard a constant ache. Blood crusted his arm, his shoulder throbbing from old wounds, but his eyes stayed sharp, scanning the flickering holo-panels. Rhea patched her thigh with synth-gel, her shock-knife sparking faintly, her implants dim from overuse. Mira stood near a shattered console, her cyber-lenses scanning the air for signals her fried analyzer couldn't catch. Toren guarded the molten door, his shard-rifle ready, scars etched deeper in the bunker's faint light. The air was thick with dust and the sharp bite of scorched circuits, the ground's tremor pulsing like a heartbeat.
The hunter's retreat lingered in Kael's mind, their violet eyes and star-shard a threat that wouldn't quit. His shard sparked a vision: a new gate rising, violet Aether swallowing the Wastelands, a woman's voice whispering, *The cycle hunts.* He shook it off, sweat stinging his cuts, and met Toren's gaze. "You sure you're not followed?"
Toren's grin was grim, his clouded eye glinting. "Sure as I can be. Protocol's black-site was a slaughterhouse. Got out clean, but they're still hunting us. That gate's stirring up more than dust."
Rhea snorted, wincing as she tightened the gel bandage. "Yeah, like another psycho with a god-shard. What's this cycle bullshit, anyway? Keeps trying to kill us."
Mira's voice was low, tense. "The Oblivion Cycle's pre-Fall. A system to channel Aether, maybe to reshape reality. The gates are its nodes, the shards its keys. The Herald was just the start. This new surge means another's waking."
Kael's shard pulsed, its hum syncing with the tremor. "Another Herald? Or something worse?"
"Worse," Mira said, her lenses flickering. "The cycle's not random. It's choosing conduits. Like you, Kael. Your shard's Aether levels are off the charts."
Kael's jaw clenched, pain sharpening his words. "Not thrilled about being a cosmic battery. How do we stop it?"
Mira hesitated, her hands twitching. "We'd need another shard. Or a gate's core. But after the temple, we're out of both."
Toren's rifle shifted, his voice cutting through. "Talk later. That surge is close. We need to move before it buries us."
Rhea's implants flared, catching a faint signal. "Ravine's got a tunnel network, old smuggler routes. Could lead to the surge's source. If we're stupid enough to chase it."
Kael's shard hummed, urging him toward the tremor's pulse. "Stupid's our specialty. We find the gate, we find answers. Or we're dead anyway."
The bunker shook harder, holo-panels sparking out, and a low hum rose, like the temple's core but deeper, angrier. Kael grabbed a scavenged Aether-charge from a crate, loading his pistol. His vision flickered: *a gate of bone and crystal, Aether surging, the woman's voice: The spark leads.* He steadied himself, blood dripping, and nodded to Toren. "Lead the way."
Toren kicked open a side hatch, revealing a tunnel of jagged rock and rusted pipes, its air cool but heavy with the tang of Aether. The team moved fast, Toren's rifle sweeping the shadows, Rhea's implants scanning for traps. Kael's wounds slowed him, but his shard's hum kept him sharp, the tremor's pulse growing louder. Mira stayed close, her eyes darting, as if expecting the void to swallow them again.
The tunnel opened into a cavern, its walls glittering with Aether crystals, their violet glow pulsing in time with the ground's shake. A bone gate loomed at the far end, smaller than the temple's but alive, its runes writhing like veins. Aether swirled around it, crackling with violet sparks, and the hum was deafening, shaking Kael's teeth.
"Another gate," Rhea muttered, her knife ready. "Looks pissed."
Mira's lenses flickered, analyzing without her broken tech. "It's active, but unstable. Something's forcing it open. Not the hunter. Not us."
Kael's shard burned, a vision hitting: *the gate splitting, a figure with violet eyes emerging, the woman's voice: The cycle chooses.* He staggered, catching himself on a crystal, its surface warm and pulsing. "Whatever's coming, it's tied to my shard."
Toren's rifle snapped up, his voice low. "Company."
Shadows moved at the cavern's edge, not the hunter's sleek armor but Protocol enforcers, their shard-weapons glowing. Their leader, a tall woman with a cybernetic jaw, stepped forward, her Aether-blade humming. "Varn," she said, voice clipped. "You've caused enough trouble. Hand over the shard."
Kael's pistol raised, his arm trembling but steady. "Not a great day for demands. Who's this one, Toren?"
"Captain Lira," Toren said, his grin sharp. "Protocol's attack dog. Ran the black-site. Persistent."
Lira's jaw glinted, her eyes cold. "You disrupted the cycle, Varn. The higher-ups want your shard. Alive or dead, doesn't matter."
Rhea's knife sparked, her grin reckless. "Try it, tin-face. I'm itching for a fight."
Before Lira could respond, the gate's hum spiked, Aether surging. The runes flared, and a crack split the bone, violet light spilling out. A figure emerged, not the Herald's crystalline form but a man, his skin etched with Aether runes, violet eyes blazing. His voice was a low growl, words sharp and alien. "The cycle demands the spark."
Kael's shard screamed, the vision overwhelming: *the man at the gate, Aether tearing reality, the woman's voice: The spark fights.* He gasped, his pistol wavering. The enforcers froze, Lira's blade lowering, her face pale. The man raised a hand, Aether coiling, and the cavern shook, crystals shattering.
"Move!" Kael shouted, firing at the man. The Aether-shot grazed his arm, sparking, but he didn't flinch, his violet eyes locked on Kael. Rhea dove behind a rock, her knife sparking as she jammed the enforcers' comms. Toren opened fire, his rifle's blasts forcing Lira back, but the man's Aether surged, slamming enforcers into the walls like dolls.
Mira grabbed Kael's arm, her voice urgent. "The gate's unstable! We need to shut it down, or it'll tear this place apart!"
Kael's shard pulsed, drawn to the gate. "How?" he growled, dodging a shard of flying crystal.
"Your shard," Mira said, her eyes wide. "It's a key. Disrupt the gate's resonance, like the temple."
The man's Aether lashed out, grazing Kael's chest, searing flesh. He roared, channeling kinetic energy, shoving the man back. The gate's hum grew deafening, violet light blinding. Lira's enforcers rallied, firing at the man, but his Aether deflected shots, his eyes never leaving Kael.
Toren tackled Lira, his rifle cracking her jaw, but more enforcers poured in, their shard-weapons glowing. Rhea's knife slashed, dropping one, but her leg buckled, blood pooling. Kael sprinted for the gate, pain screaming, his shard burning. He slammed his fist against the bone, his shard's energy surging, disrupting the runes.
The gate roared, Aether recoiling, and the man staggered, his violet eyes dimming. The cavern shook, rocks falling, and the gate's crack widened, revealing a void beyond, pulsing with stars. Kael's vision hit: *the man falling, a new figure rising, the woman's voice: The cycle shifts.*
The man's voice echoed, chilling. "You cannot stop it, spark-bearer." He lunged, Aether-blade aimed at Kael's heart, but a violet pulse flared behind, the hunter's star-shard glowing. They struck the man, their blade sinking into his chest, Aether exploding.
The gate's hum spiked, the void pulling, and Kael stumbled back, the hunter's eyes meeting his. "Run," they said, their voice urgent, not cold. The cavern collapsed, Aether surging, and a new signal roared, deeper, older, from the void's heart.