The Lower Wards swallowed Kael's team in a haze of smoke and flickering holo-ads, the explosion's roar still echoing in their ears. Kael's shoulder burned where the drone's blast had grazed him, but he pushed through, dragging Mira by the arm as they stumbled through an alley. The Red Veil shard pressed against his chest, its pulse syncing with his own shard, a relentless hum that gnawed at his focus. Rhea took point, her shock-knife glowing faintly, her implants scanning for threats in the chaos.
The air reeked of charred fuel and synth-dope, the alley's walls slick with grime and tagged with faded runes. Shouts and sirens wailed in the distance, Protocol enforcers and Red Veil fanatics both hunting them. Kael's lungs ached, each breath tasting like ash. His vision flickered, another shard-induced image: a bone gate pulsing with violet light, Zara Kain's voice whispering, *You can't outrun the spark.* He gritted his teeth, shoving it down.
"Keep moving," he growled, glancing at Mira. She clutched the original shard-case, her face pale but her jaw set. "You good, Doc?"
"Barely," she said, her voice hoarse. "The shards are unstable. That explosion disrupted their resonance. If we don't stabilize them soon, they'll draw every Harbinger in Neo-Shanra."
"Great," Rhea muttered, ducking under a sagging conduit. Her comms unit buzzed, its screen casting jagged light. "Protocol's locked the district. Checkpoints everywhere. And I'm picking up Red Veil signals. Zara's not done with us."
Kael's grip tightened on his shard-pistol, its barrel still warm. "She's got a personal grudge. That's new."
They reached a crossroad, the alley splitting into a maze of shadowed paths. The hum of a Protocol drone buzzed overhead, its scanner slicing through the smog. Kael pulled Mira behind a dumpster, its rusted edges biting into his palm. Rhea crouched beside them, her implants flickering as she jammed the drone's signal. It wavered, then veered off, but the reprieve wouldn't last.
"We need a way out," Kael said, scanning the alley. The Red Veil shard in his jacket felt heavier, its hum crawling up his spine. "Rhea, any contacts left in the Wards?"
"One," she said, her grin sharp but strained. "Old smuggler, runs a chop-shop near the district's edge. If we can reach him, he's got a rigged transport. Might get us past the checkpoints."
"Might?" Kael raised an eyebrow, wincing as his shoulder throbbed.
"Best we've got," Rhea said, standing. "Unless you want to fight through Zara's psychos and the Protocol's goons."
Mira's analyzer beeped, pulling their attention. "The Red Veil shard's data is syncing with ours," she said, her voice urgent. "It's completing the map. The temple's coordinates are clearer now, in the Wastelands, sector seven. But there's something else, a warning. It mentions a gate."
Kael's chest tightened, his shard pulsing in response. "A gate. Like in my visions."
Mira met his eyes, her cyber-lenses glinting. "Exactly. The shards are linked to it. Whatever the Oblivion Cycle is, it starts there."
Before Kael could press her, a low growl echoed from the alley's end. Shadows shifted, and three Harbingers emerged, their violet eyes glowing through the haze. Their bodies were twisted, shard-fragments embedded in their flesh, glowing faintly. One wielded a jagged Aether-blade, its edge crackling with energy.
"Shit," Rhea hissed, raising her shock-knife. "Thought we lost them in the vault."
Kael stepped forward, pistol ready. "Guess they're persistent." His shard surged, kinetic energy coiling in his hands, but the effort made his vision swim, pain lancing through his shoulder. The Harbingers charged, moving faster than humanly possible.
Kael fired, the Aether-shot slamming into the lead Harbinger's chest. It staggered but kept coming, its blade slashing toward him. He ducked, channeling a kinetic burst to shove it back, but the second Harbinger lunged at Mira. She yelped, scrambling behind a crate, her analyzer sparking as she shielded the shard-case.
Rhea moved like a blur, her knife sinking into the second Harbinger's side. Sparks flew, but the creature roared, backhanding her into the wall. She hit hard, her comms unit skidding across the ground. Kael's heart pounded, his shard screaming as he unleashed another kinetic wave, knocking the Harbingers back. The third lunged, its blade grazing his arm, drawing blood.
"Rhea, cover Mira!" he shouted, dodging another slash. His pistol clicked empty, forcing him to draw his shard-blade. Its violet glow flared, meeting the Harbinger's weapon in a shower of sparks. Pain seared his shoulder, but he fought through, slicing the creature's arm clean off. It howled, collapsing, but the others were already recovering.
Mira's voice cut through the chaos. "Kael, the shards! They're reacting to the Harbingers!" Her analyzer's screen showed spiking energy readings, the Red Veil shard pulsing wildly in Kael's jacket.
"Reacting how?" he growled, parrying another attack. The alley shook, loose pipes rattling as the shards' hum grew deafening.
"They're amplifying," Mira said, scrambling to her feet. "The Harbingers are drawn to them. We need to move, now!"
Rhea hauled herself up, blood trickling from her lip. "Way ahead of you." She grabbed her comms unit, fingers flying. "Smuggler's shop is two blocks east. Run!"
Kael shoved Mira forward, covering their retreat with a final kinetic blast. The Harbingers staggered, but more violet eyes glowed in the distance. The alley's end opened into a crowded street, the Lower Wards alive with hawkers and flickering holo-signs. Kael's shard pulsed, and a vision hit: *a bone gate opening, Zara Kain's mask glowing, the woman's voice: The spark is alive.*
He stumbled, catching himself on a wall. Rhea grabbed his arm, pulling him into the crowd. "Stay with me, Varn. We're not dying here."
The smuggler's shop loomed ahead, a squat building with reinforced shutters and the faint hum of Aether tech. Protocol sirens wailed closer, and the Harbingers' growls echoed behind. Kael's shard burned, the Red Veil shard heavier with every step. As they reached the shop's door, a figure stepped from the shadows, tall and masked, violet energy crackling from her cyber-arm. Zara Kain.
"You're running out of places to hide," she said, her voice cold. The door behind them hissed open, but the smuggler's silhouette held a shard-rifle, aimed at Kael's chest.