The smuggler's shop loomed in the Lower Wards' haze, its shutters rattling under the pulse of distant sirens. Kael stood frozen, shard-pistol raised, the Red Veil shard burning against his chest. Zara Kain blocked the alley, her bone mask gleaming, violet Aether crackling from her cyber-arm. Behind them, the shop's door framed the smuggler, a wiry man with a scarred face, his shard-rifle aimed at Kael's heart. Its barrel glowed faintly, promising a quick death. Rhea's shock-knife hummed at her side, and Mira clutched the original shard-case, her cyber-lenses flickering with fear.
The air stank of smoke and spilled fuel, the street's holo-signs casting jagged shadows. Kael's shoulder throbbed, blood seeping from the Harbinger's graze, but his shard pulsed stronger, syncing with the Red Veil shard. A vision flickered: a bone gate, its violet light swallowing the sky, a woman's voice whispering, *The spark chooses.* He blinked it away, sweat stinging his eyes.
"Drop the shards," Zara said, her voice cold as steel. Her cyber-arm glowed brighter, Aether coiling like a living thing. "Or I carve them out of you."
Kael's grip tightened on his pistol, its charge low. "You're outnumbered, Kain. Walk away."
The smuggler laughed, a dry rasp. "Outnumbered? Kid, you're in my house." He shifted his rifle, its glow steady. "Rhea, you didn't say your friends were this stupid."
Rhea's jaw clenched, her implants glinting as she glared at the smuggler. "Cutter, you backstabbing prick. We had a deal."
"Deals change," Cutter said, shrugging. "Zara pays better. Hand over the shards, and I might let you limp out."
Mira's voice was low, urgent. "Kael, the shards are spiking again. If we don't move, they'll pull every Harbinger in the Wards."
"Quiet," Kael snapped, his eyes flicking between Zara and Cutter. The street was a choke point, Protocol sirens closing in, Harbinger growls echoing from the alleys. His shard hummed, kinetic energy coiling in his hands, but he was running on fumes, pain slowing his reflexes.
Zara stepped closer, her mask's eye-slits glowing violet. "You feel it, Varn. The shards know you. They're waking the cycle. Give them to me, and you might survive what's coming."
Kael's chest burned, the Red Veil shard's pulse deafening. Another vision: *Zara unmasked, her face scarred, standing before a bone gate, her voice saying, The key is mine.* He staggered, catching himself, his pistol wavering. "What cycle?" he growled. "Stop talking in riddles."
Zara tilted her head, like she was studying prey. "You'll see. Or you'll die blind."
Rhea moved first, her shock-knife flashing as she lunged at Cutter. The smuggler fired, but her implants jammed the rifle's targeting, the Aether-blast scorching the wall instead. She tackled him, sparks flying as her knife grazed his arm. Kael spun, firing at Zara, but her cyber-arm deflected the shot, violet energy flaring.
Mira dove behind a crate, her analyzer beeping wildly. "Kael, the shards are destabilizing! We need to get out!"
Zara charged, her Aether-blade slashing toward Kael's chest. He parried with his shard-blade, sparks showering as their weapons clashed. Her strength was brutal, shard-enhanced, pushing him back. Pain lanced through his shoulder, but he channeled kinetic energy, shoving her off. She stumbled, recovering fast, her mask unyielding.
Rhea wrestled with Cutter, her knife locked against his rifle. "Little help!" she shouted, ducking a swing that grazed her cheek.
Kael kicked a crate at Zara, buying a second, and fired at Cutter. The shot clipped the smuggler's leg, dropping him with a curse. Rhea pinned him, her knife at his throat. "Where's the transport?" she snarled.
"Back lot," Cutter gasped, blood trickling. "Take it. Just don't kill me."
Zara's laugh cut through the chaos. "You think you'll escape?" Her cyber-arm glowed, Aether coiling into a blast. Kael dove, pulling Mira with him as the energy tore through the crate, splintering wood and metal.
The street shook, Protocol enforcers' boots thudding closer. Kael's shard pulsed, and another vision hit: *a wasteland temple, the bone gate opening, Zara's voice blending with the woman's: The spark is alive.* He gasped, vision clearing as Zara's blade slashed toward him. He rolled, the blade grazing his arm, drawing blood.
"Rhea, get the transport!" Kael roared, scrambling to his feet. He unleashed a kinetic wave, slamming Zara into the wall. She grunted, her mask cracking slightly, but stood, unfazed.
Rhea dragged Cutter toward the shop's back, Mira following. "On it! Don't die, Varn!"
Kael faced Zara, his blade humming, blood dripping from his arm. "What's your deal, Kain? Why the shards?"
Her mask tilted, violet eyes piercing. "They're the key. To everything. You're just a pawn who doesn't know the board."
Protocol floodlights swept the street, enforcers shouting orders. Harbinger growls echoed closer, their violet eyes glinting in the alleys. Kael's shard burned, the Red Veil shard's weight pulling at him. He couldn't fight Zara and the Protocol, not like this.
A roar split the air, and a battered transport rig crashed through the shop's back wall, Rhea at the controls. Its Aether-engine hummed, kicking up dust. "Get in!" she yelled, leaning out the window.
Kael fired a final shot at Zara, forcing her back, and sprinted for the rig. Mira was already inside, her analyzer sparking as the shards' pulses spiked. He dove through the door, the rig lurching as Rhea floored it, smashing through a barricade. Protocol blasts scorched the air, and Zara's silhouette faded in the dust, her laughter haunting.
The rig tore through the Lower Wards, weaving past holo-signs and startled hawkers. Kael slumped against the wall, blood soaking his sleeve. His shard hummed, the Red Veil shard heavier than ever. Mira's analyzer beeped, her voice tense. "The map's complete. The temple's in the Wastelands, sector seven. But the shards are still amplifying. We're not safe."
Rhea glanced back, her lip bloody but her grin intact. "Safe's overrated. Where to, Varn?"
Kael's vision flickered, the bone gate looming in his mind, the woman's voice clear: *Find the spark.* He met Rhea's eyes, his voice low. "The Wastelands. We end this."
As the rig sped into the night, a Protocol drone's light locked onto them, and a new signal flared on Rhea's comms. Not Harbinger. Not Red Veil. Something else, moving fast.