Kael left before the ashfall slowed. Lyra was still standing near the tunnel entrance when he walked past her, and she didn't try to stop him. That hurt more than if she had.
"You won't survive alone," she said quietly.
"I survived before you," Kael replied without looking back.
"That was before he saw you."
He paused for half a second, then kept walking as the darkness swallowed him. The city felt different without her, quieter or maybe louder, every sound echoing too sharply, every distant movement feeling deliberate. He moved through alleyways
and collapsed structures with practiced silence, surviving the way he always had, scavenging, hiding, watching, but something had changed. He could feel the pull now, subtle, like a second heartbeat beneath his own. It wasn't Mordain.
It was deeper, slower, ancient.
He clenched his fists. "I'm not yours," he muttered under his breath. The presence didn't
answer, but it didn't leave either.
By late afternoon he saw smoke rising from the western district, not ash or wildfire but controlled spirals climbing steadily into the sky. Organized. Deliberate. That meant structure, and in this world structure meant power. He approached
cautiously, climbing the skeletal remains of a parking structure to gain elevation. Below, the ruins had been cleared into defensive order, barricades
welded from scrap metal, watchtowers constructed from bus frames and steel beams, guards posted at precise intervals. Not desperate scavengers. Not cultists kneeling beneath silver eyes. Disciplined. A banner hung from a bent
streetlight pole, a broken gear wrapped in chains. Kael narrowed his eyes.
The Iron Covenant. He had heard whispers, former engineers, soldiers, mechanics, people who believed the apocalypse was not divine or evolutionary but mechanical, something that could be understood, regulated, repaired. Their doctrine was simple, power must be contained, awakened must be controlled or eliminated. That made him a problem. Still, he needed information, and possibly allies.
He descended openly, and within seconds crossbows lifted toward him. Three guards
in reinforced scrap armor stepped forward with measured precision.
"State your intent," one demanded.
"Trade," Kael replied evenly.
"Information."
Their eyes scanned him carefully. "You alone?"
"Yes," he answered, a lie, as the presence inside him stirred faintly. The guard's gaze
lingered on his hands. "You awakened?" The question hung sharp. Kael considered
denying it, then said,
"I survived."
That was answer enough. After a tense exchange of glances, the guards lowered their weapons slightly.
"You'll speak with Commander Vale." They escorted him through reinforced barricades
into what had once been a train depot, now transformed into organized functionality, weapon racks aligned with purpose, water purification systems humming softly, solar panels rigged across rooftops, people moving with discipline and intent. No kneeling. No red eyes. No silver glow. At the center stood a woman in dark utility armor, mid-forties, short steel-gray hair, a scar cutting across her cheek, posture radiating command. Commander Vale studied him in silence before speaking. "You're young."
"You're organized," Kael replied. A faint smirk touched her mouth.
"You're not from around here."
"I move."
"Smart." Her eyes sharpened. "You carry it differently." Kael said nothing. She stepped
closer. "The energy. It hums in some of you. You vibrate slightly against the air."
He felt exposed under her gaze. "You're awakened," she concluded.
"Yes."
Around the room, weapons subtly shifted direction. Vale remained calm. "Relax.
If I intended to kill you, you wouldn't be standing." That wasn't reassuring.
"We don't worship power here," she continued, circling him slowly. "We study it, contain
it, neutralize threats before they become tyrants."
"Mordain," Kael said. Her expression darkened. "You've seen him."
"Yes."
"Then you understand."
She moved to a large table covered in blueprints and maps, a detailed diagram pinned at the center marking fissure locations, energy flow patterns, awakened activity zones. They were tracking it. Tracking him. She tapped a point near Civic
Square.
"Two days ago, a massive energy spike occurred here." Kael remained silent. She looked at
him steadily.
"That was you." Not a question. A fact. The room felt tighter.
"We monitor fluctuations," she continued. "Your signature is unusual." Cold crept along his
spine. "Unusual how?"
She hesitated briefly. "Stable." The word surprised him. "Most awakened degrade," she explained. "Power fractures their nervous systems, causes mental instability, physical mutation."
Images of Mordain's kneeling followers flashed in his mind. "You're not degrading," Vale said. "You're synchronizing." The presence inside him pulsed faintly at the word. Synchronizing.
"With what?" he asked carefully. Vale's gaze sharpened. "That's what I'd like to know."
She folded her arms. "We have a problem. Mordain's influence is expanding westward. He's
consolidating awakened under his control."
"I know."
"We can't match him directly. Not yet." Her eyes locked onto his. "But you pushed him back." Silence.
"How do you know that?" Kael asked. "We have observers." Of course they did.
"I don't trust awakened," Vale said plainly. "But I trust patterns. Right now, you are a disruption in his pattern." Kael considered her words. "You want to use me."
"I want balance," she corrected. That sounded too familiar.
"And if I refuse?"
Vale didn't hesitate. "Then eventually, we'll classify you as a destabilizing entity." The air went still. "And neutralize you."
Honest. Brutal. Kael almost respected it. Suddenly the ground trembled, not violently but rhythmically. He froze as he felt the ancient pulse surge stronger beneath the city. Vale noticed the shift in his expression.
"You feel it too," she said quietly. The tremor spread outward from deep underground, and
in the far distance a low silver flare briefly lit the horizon. Mordain responding. But something else responded too, inside Kael, not aggressive but
awakening. The lights inside the depot flickered and metal vibrated subtly as every awakened within the compound stiffened at once. Vale's eyes widened slightly.
"What are you?" she whispered. Kael didn't answer because he didn't know, but for the first time he felt the other force pushing back, not silver, not tyrannical, something older watching through him and learning. Vale took a slow step backward.
"You didn't come here for trade," she said quietly.
"No," Kael replied. "I think you were drawn." He realized she was right. The pulse beneath the earth wasn't random. It was aligning, and the Iron Covenant's compound was built directly above an old transit shaft leading far deeper than the subway.
He looked at the ground, then back at Vale. "You're sitting on something," he said. Her silence confirmed it. Alarms suddenly blared across the compound as a scout rushed in.
"Commander! Mordain's forces spotted three kilometers east. Moving in formation." Vale's
jaw tightened. "They're coming here." Kael felt the silver pulse intensify in the distance. Mordain wasn't chasing prey. He was following resonance.
Following him.
Vale met his eyes. "You brought this."
"Yes," Kael admitted. The honesty surprised them both. She exhaled slowly. "Then you're staying."
"That wasn't a request, was it?"
"No."
Weapons were already being distributed, barricades reinforced as the Iron Covenant
shifted instantly into defensive formation, disciplined and prepared. Kael felt the two pulses rising now, silver and unseen, both converging, and he stood at the center of their collision.
Far across the city, Mordain opened his silver
eyes fully.
"So," he murmured, "the machine faction chooses a side." He stepped forward, and the ash
began to rise.