The Wastelands' fractured sky pulsed with violet veins, casting jagged shadows over the team as they fled across cracked earth. Kael's boots pounded the dust, the Warden's star-shard heavy in his hand, its cold weight tugging at his chest shard's hum. Blood soaked his shirt, his shoulder and side screaming with every step, but his shard's pulse kept him moving, a relentless beat that drowned out pain. Rhea limped ahead, her shock-knife flickering, blood crusted on her thigh and arm, her implants scanning the dunes. Mira stumbled beside her, cyber-lenses dim, her hands empty but eyes sharp with focus. Toren took rear, shard-rifle sweeping the horizon, his scarred face grim under the violet glow. The hunter matched their pace, black armor battered, their star-shard dim but steady, violet eyes flicking to Kael. The air stung with ash and the sharp crackle of Aether, the new gate's hum vibrating the ground like a waking beast.
The shadow's voice lingered in Kael's mind, cold and alien: *Spark-bearer, I come.* His shard sparked a vision: a bone gate towering, a shadow with violet eyes stepping through, a woman's voice whispering, *The cycle hunts.* He shook it off, sweat mixing with blood, and gripped the star-shard tighter. "Hunter," he growled, voice rough. "You gonna explain why you're helping us?"
The hunter's eyes met his, their voice low but human, not the cold drone of before. "The cycle's breaking. You're the key, Varn. I'm not letting it claim you."
Rhea snorted, her knife sparking. "Real sweet, but I don't trust allies who stab first and talk later. What's your deal?"
"Later," the hunter said, their armor glinting as they scanned the horizon. "The shadow's closer than you think."
Mira's voice cut through, tense. "The new gate's in sector eight, maybe five klicks north. Its Aether signature's stronger than the last. The star-shard you're holding, Kael, it's amplifying your shard, drawing the shadow."
Kael's chest tightened, the star-shard's hum syncing with his own. "Drawing it? So I'm a damn lure now?"
"More like a target," Toren said, his rifle steady. "Protocol's drones are circling, and Lira's not far behind. We need cover, or we're sitting ducks."
The Wastelands' dunes offered little, but Rhea's implants beeped, catching a signal. "Old smuggler's cache, half-klick east. Could have gear, maybe a rig. If it's still there."
Kael's shard pulsed, urging him north toward the gate's glow. "Cache first, then the gate. We don't face that thing empty-handed." His vision flickered: *a shadow in the dust, violet eyes blazing, the woman's voice: The spark resists.* He stumbled, blood dripping, but Toren's hand steadied him.
"Easy, kid," Toren said, his grin sharp but strained. "You're falling apart."
The cache was a rusted bunker, half-sunken in a ravine, its door dented but intact. Rhea's implants hacked the lock, the hatch groaning open to reveal a stash of scavenged tech: Aether-charges, a battered rig with a pulse-engine, and a crate of shard-fragments glowing faintly. The air inside was stale, smelling of oil and forgotten hopes, but it was shelter. Kael slumped against a wall, the star-shard heavy in his lap, while Rhea grabbed charges for her knife. Toren reloaded his rifle, and Mira scavenged a portable scanner, its screen flickering to life.
The hunter stood by the door, their star-shard dim but ready. "The shadow's not like the Warden," they said, voice low. "It's older, tied to the cycle's core. Your shard, Varn, is waking it."
Kael's jaw clenched, pain sharpening his words. "And you know this how? Start talking, or I'm done trusting you."
The hunter's armor shifted, their violet eyes softening. "I was Protocol, once. Trained to hunt shards, like you. Found a star-shard in a pre-Fall ruin. It changed me, showed me the cycle. I've been fighting it since."
Rhea's knife sparked, her grin skeptical. "Ex-Protocol? That's a hell of a resume. Why help us now?"
"Because Varn's shard is different," the hunter said, their gaze on Kael. "It's not just a key. It's a breaker. The cycle wants it, and I want it stopped."
Mira's scanner beeped, its readings spiking. "The gate's Aether is surging. The shadow's moving fast, two klicks out. And I'm picking up Protocol drones, converging."
Kael's shard burned, the star-shard in his hand pulsing in sync. Another vision: *the shadow at the gate, Aether tearing the sky, the woman's voice: The spark endures.* He stood, pain screaming, and loaded his pistol with a scavenged charge. "We hit the gate. If my shard's a breaker, we use it to shut this down."
Toren's rifle snapped up, his voice low. "Drones first. They're here."
The bunker's holo-panels flickered, Protocol drones buzzing outside, their scanners slicing through the dust. Lira's voice crackled over a comm, cold and clipped. "Varn, surrender the shard. Last chance."
Rhea's implants jammed the drones' targeting, her knife ready. "Time to move."
They piled into the rig, its pulse-engine coughing to life. Rhea floored it, the vehicle lurching through the ravine, drones firing Aether-blasts that scorched the earth. Kael leaned out, firing his pistol, clipping a drone's thruster, sending it crashing. The hunter's star-shard flared, deflecting a blast, their armor sparking but holding.
The gate's glow loomed north, a massive bone arch etched with pulsing runes, its violet Aether swirling like a storm. The shadow's signal roared, a hum that shook Kael's teeth, its voice clear in his mind: *Spark-bearer, you cannot run.* His shard surged, pain blinding, but he gripped the star-shard, its energy amplifying his kinetic power.
Mira's scanner spiked, her voice urgent. "The gate's fully active! The shadow's almost here!"
The rig skidded to a stop at the gate's base, its bone surface warm and pulsing. Kael's vision hit: *the shadow stepping through, violet eyes endless, the woman's voice: The spark fights.* He jumped out, pistol raised, the star-shard burning in his hand. The gate's runes flared, Aether surging, and the shadow emerged, taller than the Warden, its form cloaked in swirling Aether, violet eyes locked on Kael. Its voice was a low roar, words sharp and alien. "The cycle claims the key."
Toren fired, his Aether-blasts sparking against the shadow's cloak, but it advanced, Aether coiling into a blade. Rhea's knife slashed, her implants jamming its movements, but the shadow's blade grazed her shoulder, drawing blood. The hunter lunged, their star-shard clashing with the shadow's Aether, violet sparks blinding.
Kael sprinted for the gate, pain screaming, the star-shard amplifying his shard's power. He slammed his fist against the bone, kinetic energy surging, cracking the runes. The gate roared, Aether recoiling, and the shadow staggered, its violet eyes dimming. The void's crack flickered, but the shadow's blade slashed, grazing Kael's chest, searing flesh.
The hunter shouted, "Varn, hold it!" Their star-shard flared, shoving the shadow back, but the gate's hum spiked, a new signal pulsing from the void, deeper, older. The ground split, violet light flooding, and a second shadow emerged, its form massive, Aether runes glowing across its body, violet eyes blazing. Its voice shook the Wastelands: The cycle rises.