Vol 03: The Gathering Storm │ Part 01: The Homecoming
Author's Note: As an author, it is disheartening that—despite 55,000 reads, with each chapter viewed over 1,000 times—readers have shown no interest in sharing their thoughts or feedback. I invite you to offer harsh criticism of this novel; it will help me improve my storytelling skills.
1
Kaelen stood at the cave entrance, watching the twin suns bleed into the horizon. After they came back to the Rift, they took shelter in the cave Zora had found before the fight with Solon.
Fenris pressed against his leg, warm and solid. Through the bond, Kaelen felt the hound's quiet contentment. Home, the feeling said. We're home.
Lyra's mind projection knocked him from his thoughts, a faint ripple that shook him back to the present. "They're ready for you, Kaelen. The elders are getting twitchy."
Kaelen snorted. "Twitchy?"
"Twitchy." She grinned, but it faded quickly. "We've been back three days. Everyone's waiting for orders. Waiting for something to happen. It's making them nervous."
"Then let's give them something."
2
The cave was alive with activity.
Marta had organized the supplies into neat piles. Food, water, weapons, the few medical supplies they'd managed to bring here. Torrin sat with his back against a wall, his leg stretched out in front of him, wincing every time he moved. Rook was checking the edge of her hammer with a whetstone, her movements slow but deliberate.
The three elders sat in a loose semicircle near the chamber's center. Seraphine was sharpening a blade with practiced efficiency. Wei studied a map spread across his lap, which he'd managed to draw with the help of his mind control kite, applying it to the birds flying around to map the terrain from above. Marius was tending to a young Rifter's wound, his shadow-light patterns flickering gently as he worked.
Wei looked up as Kaelen approached. "The cave is defensible. The entrances are narrow. The stone blocks resonance. It's a good base. But…"
"But?"
"We can't stay here forever." Wei's voice was calm, measured. "We need resources. Allies. Information. Sitting in a cave won't win a war."
Seraphine looked up from her blade. "We can send scouts. Small teams. Find out what's out there."
Marius nodded; his voice soft. "Two teams, I think. One to the Warrens. One to the village. The Warrens are close. The village is farther, but we might find information there."
Kaelen studied the map Wei had spread out. The Obsidian Teeth stretched across the parchment, marked with routes, settlements, and patrol patterns. He traced a finger along the path to the village—the one he'd traveled with Marta, with Lyra, with Fenris.
"The Warrens," he said. "We need to know what Solon left behind. If there's anything useful. Survivors. Supplies. Anything."
Zora stepped forward. "Tamsin knows those tunnels better than anyone. I can go with her."
Tamsin signed from beside her: "I'll have no problem with that."
Elder Wei nodded. "Good. You two go to the Warrens. Check for survivors, check for supplies, check for anything Solon might have left behind. Report back in two days."
He turned to Marta. "You, Kaelen, Lyra, and Fenris go to the Forge first, then the village. The Forge is on the way. We need to know what's left of it."
Marta crossed her arms. "And if there's nothing left?"
"Then we keep moving."
3
Zora and Tamsin left at nightfall.
Kaelen watched them disappear into the darkness, their figures swallowed by the shadows. Zora's cat eyes glowed faintly in the moonlight. Tamsin was already invisible, her silent feet carrying her across the rocky ground without a sound.
"Two days," Kaelen muttered.
"They'll be fine." Lyra appeared beside him, her journal in her hands. "Zora knows those tunnels. Tamsin could teach a ghost a thing or two about being quiet."
Kaelen didn't answer. He just kept watching the darkness.
We need to start packing for the morning, he thought.
4
The Warrens were worse than Zora expected.
They'd been walking for hours, descending deeper into the mountain's ancient veins. The tunnels were the same—same carvings, same cold stone, same oppressive silence. But there was something different now. Something wrong.
"Tracks," Zora whispered, crouching low. "Recent. A lot of them."
Tamsin signed: "How many?"
Zora counted. "At least twenty. Maybe more. They're heading deeper."
They followed the tracks. The tunnel opened into a familiar chamber—the one where Solon had held his prisoners. But it was empty now. The chains were still there, rusted and cold. The bloodstains were still there, dark against the stone. But the prisoners were gone.
And in their place were the mindless soldiers.
They shuffled in slow, aimless circles, their bodies scarred, their eyes empty. They weren't hostile. They weren't aggressive. They were just... lost.
Zora stared at them from the shadows, her claws extended. "They're still alive. Solon broke them, and they're still alive."
Tamsin was grim. "We should leave them. They're not a threat."
Zora shook her head. "We can't just leave them. Look at them. They're not going to survive on their own."
Tamsin was silent for a long moment. Then she signed: "We check the tunnels. See if there's anyone else. Then we decide."
They moved deeper into the Warrens.
5
They found Garrick an hour later.
He was huddled in a small side chamber with three other men, their armor stripped of Vanguard insignia, their faces hollow with exhaustion. A fourth man lay on the ground, his breathing shallow, his body covered in bandages.
Zora emerged from the shadows, her claws extended. Tamsin flanked her, blades ready.
But the men didn't attack. Garrick raised his hands slowly.
"We're not here to fight," he said. His voice was rough, tired.
"Who are you?" Zora demanded.
Garrick's jaw tightened. "Name's Garrick. I was second in command of Captain Renn's platoon. Inferno Battalion." He paused, his eyes dropping to the floor. "What's left of it, anyway."
"What happened to your men?"
Garrick's face twisted with grief. "Solon happened. He used the red stone to purge the minds of those men. They screamed. They begged. But he didn't flinch…" He suddenly frowned, looking closely at Zora. "Now I recognize you… You were with the 'Gifted one' during the fight."
Tamsin signed: "And you?"
Garrick met her gaze. "The Gifted one started the fight before he could get to me. So I ran. How could I serve a man who'd do that to his own soldiers?"
Zora's claws retracted slightly. "Your men out there. The mindless ones. You've been looking after them?"
Garrick nodded, his eyes glistening. "They were my men. They're my responsibility. I can't just leave them to wander these tunnels forever." He looked at Zora, desperation in his eyes. "I know I can't undo what Solon did. But I can protect them. I can give them a chance. Please. Let us help."
Zora was silent for a long moment. Then she nodded.
"Three of your men stay here with the mindless ones. You come with us to the cave. The elders need to hear what you saw."
6
Zora and Tamsin returned to the cave two days later. By then, Kaelen and his team had already left.
They brought Garrick with them, his face pale, his eyes hollow. The commander walked with his head bowed, his armor stripped of Vanguard insignia.
The elders gathered in the main chamber. Wei, Seraphine, and Marius sat in a semicircle, their marks glowing faintly in the lamplight.
"Tell us what you saw," Wei said, his voice calm but sharp.
Garrick stood before them, his hands clasped in front of him. His voice was raw, like it had been scraped out of his throat.
"I was second in command of Captain Renn's platoon in the Inferno Battalion. Solon brought us into the Warrens for 'training exercises.' Said we were testing new equipment." He paused, swallowing hard. "But we all knew it wasn't training. The moment we saw that red stone, we knew something was wrong."
Marius's shadow-light patterns flickered. "The Heart."
"Yes." Garrick's voice cracked. "He used it on my men. One by one. They screamed. They begged. And Solon just watched, taking notes like they were nothing. Twenty-three soldiers, gone in a week. The ones who survived… they ended up like those poor bastards out there. Hollow. Broken. Not even human anymore."
Seraphine's spiral patterns shifted. "And you?"
"The Gifted one injured Solon before he could take me too." Garrick's eyes dropped to the floor. "I watched my men die, and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't save them. So I ran. I couldn't serve a man who'd do that to his own soldiers."
Wei leaned forward. "Solon?"
"Gone. Fled after the connection was severed. But he's still out there. He's got a resonance compass now—stronger than anything I've seen. He'll find another way to get what he wants."
"What does he want?"
Garrick shook his head. "I don't know. He never told us everything. But he kept talking about the election. About making the Conclave serve. Whatever he's planning, it's big. And it's coming."
The elders exchanged glances. Seraphine's spiral patterns shifted. Marius's shadow-light flickered.
Wei studied Garrick for a long moment. Then he nodded.
"You and your men. You'll stay here. You'll tell us everything you know about Solon's operations. And when the time comes, you'll fight."
Garrick nodded, relief flooding his face. "We will. But my men—the ones who stayed behind with the mindless soldiers—they need supplies. Food. Water. They can't survive down there on their own."
Wei nodded. "We'll send supplies. And when we can, we'll find a way to help the mindless ones too."
Garrick's eyes glistened. "Thank you."
7
The journey to the Forge took a day and a half. By the time Zora got back from the Warrens, Kaelen was already at the forge.
Kaelen walked at the front, Fenris beside him, the guinunting at his hip. Lyra walked beside him, her journal tucked away for once, but she carried a bow and arrows with herself. Her Mind Kite reached out to sense the thoughts of creatures in the night. Marta brought up the rear, her hand on her weapon, her eyes scanning the darkness.
The landscape was familiar, but wrong. The paths were overgrown, the rocks strewn with debris. Kaelen felt a cold knot in his stomach as they rounded the final ridge.
The Forge was destroyed.
The walls were blackened, the roof collapsed. The anvil was still there, scarred and cold, but the hearth was dead, the bellows torn apart. The bodies of Grey Cabinet agents lay scattered among the ruins—Solon's work, no doubt.
Kaelen stood at the edge of the wreckage, Fenris beside him.
"He did this," he said quietly.
"Be careful. They may have set up traps," Marta warned.
Lyra stepped forward, her Mind Kite pulsing. "There's something still alive. Beneath the rubble. A cave."
Marta moved toward the collapsed section, her hands finding a hidden entrance. "The Archivists' hidden cave. The one where they kept the rift shard."
They cleared the rubble and descended into the small chamber. The rift shard was still there, pulsing faintly. The scrolls and documents were intact, sealed in waterproof containers.
Lyra's breath caught. "They survived. The records survived."
Kaelen touched the rift shard. The Artisan Kite pulsed in response, warm and familiar. "We'll take everything. Every document. Every scroll. We'll bring it back to the cave."
They worked quickly, packing the supplies and sealing the chamber again behind them.
8
They started the journey toward the village the next morning.
The path wound through rocky terrain, the twin suns climbing higher. Kaelen could have used Void Step to cross the distance instantly. But that would have meant missing things. Information. Threats. The people he was trying to protect.
"Better to walk," he'd said to Lyra. "Better to see what's out there."
They'd been traveling for three hours when Kaelen felt it. A presence ahead. The Insight Kite pulsed beneath his tunic, sharp and alert.
He stopped mid-stride, his hand going to the guinunting. "Wait. There's someone ahead. Three of them."
Lyra's Mind Kite reached out. "I feel them. They're… different. Military, but not Grey Cabinet."
They pressed forward cautiously, keeping to the shadows. The three figures came into view as they crested a ridge. They wore the dark blue and silver of the Shield, but their insignia was unfamiliar…a stylized eye superimposed over a crossed sword and quill.
Lyra's breath caught. "Seekers. Shield's intelligence. They're not soldiers…they're investigators."
The three men moved with purpose, their eyes scanning the terrain. They were searching for something. Or someone.
Kaelen signaled for the others to stay back. He reached out with the Insight Kite, trying to read their emotions. The leader was a tall man with close-cropped grey hair and a scar across his jaw. His feelings were sharp, focused—determination mixed with something darker. Frustration. Suspicion.
Lyra tried to probe the leader's mind with her Mind Kite. She gasped softly.
"I can't get in," she whispered. "His mind is… blocked. Shielded. I've never felt anything like it."
Kaelen frowned. "Blocked how?"
"Like there's a wall. A perfect wall. I can't find a crack, can't slip past. It's like trying to read a stone." She shook her head, frustrated. "The other two are open, but the leader… nothing."
Kaelen focused on the leader again. Through the Insight Kite, he could feel the man's emotions clearly—the frustration, the suspicion, the cold calculation. But he couldn't read his thoughts. Not like he could with others. It was like trying to look through a frosted window.
"They're talking about the Inferno Battalion," Lyra said, her voice barely a whisper. "The missing soldiers. Forty of them. The Conclave is in an uproar. Sector Lord Varn is demanding answers. The Seekers were sent to investigate."
"Forty," Kaelen repeated. "we found some mindless ones. The rest were dead. That's forty!!!"
Lyra nodded. "The Conclave doesn't know what happened. They just know their soldiers disappeared. The Seekers are trying to find out."
The leader stopped suddenly, his head turning. His eyes swept the ridge where Kaelen and the others were hidden. For a moment, Kaelen thought he'd been spotted.
But the man's gaze moved on. He said something to his companions, and they continued down the path toward the village.
Kaelen waited until they were out of sight before letting out a breath.
"That was close," Marta muttered.
"Too close," Lyra agreed. "If they'd found us…"
"They didn't." Kaelen's eyes were still fixed on the path where the Seekers had disappeared. "But they're heading to the village. We need to be careful."
9
They followed at a distance, keeping to the shadows. The Seekers moved quickly, efficiently and they knew what they were doing. Kaelen kept his Insight Kite active, tracking their emotions as they moved.
The leader's feelings were a constant presence of frustration, suspicion, and beneath it all, a cold determination. He was looking for something. Someone. And he wasn't going to stop until he found them.
Lyra walked beside Kaelen, her brow furrowed. "I still can't read him. It's like his mind is made of stone. I've never encountered anything like it."
"Kaelen can feel his emotions," Marta said. "Maybe there's a connection."
Kaelen shook his head. "I can feel what he's feeling. But I can't hear his thoughts. It's like… like there's a wall around his mind. I can sense what's on the other side, but I can't get through."
Lyra frowned. "That's not how it should work. The Insight Kite is supposed to read emotions and intentions. If you can feel his emotions, you should be able to sense his thoughts too."
"Unless he's been trained to block it," Marta said quietly. "The Seekers are intelligence. They know how to protect their minds."
Lyra's eyes widened. "Trained to block Kites? That's… that's not supposed to be possible."
"Nothing about any of this is supposed to be possible," Kaelen said. "But here we are."
10
They reached the village at dusk, but they didn't enter immediately. They watched from the treeline as the Seekers moved through the settlement, questioning the locals, showing them something, a drawing, probably or a description.
Kaelen's Insight Kite pulsed. The leader's emotions were sharp now. Frustration. Disappointment. The villagers weren't telling him anything useful.
"They're asking about us," Lyra said. "About a boy and a hound. About Inferno Unit."
"Did anyone talk?"
"No. The villagers are scared, but they're not giving us up."
Kaelen watched as the Seekers finished their questioning and moved on, disappearing down the far road. The villagers stood in silence, watching them go.
When the Seekers were out of sight, Kaelen signaled for the others to move.
They entered the village as the last light faded from the sky. The headman met them at the edge of the settlement, his face grim.
"The Seekers were here," he said. "They were asking about you."
"I know." Kaelen's jaw tightened. "Did you tell them anything?"
The headman shook his head. "We told them nothing. But they'll be back. They're not done with us."
"They won't find us here," Kaelen said. "We'll be gone by morning."
The headman nodded. "Then you'll stay the night. Eat. Rest. We'll keep watch."
11
They set up camp in the abandoned barn, just as before. The villagers brought food and water. Lyra sat in the corner, her journal open, but she wasn't writing. She was staring at nothing, her brow furrowed.
Kaelen sat beside her. "You're still thinking about the leader."
She nodded slowly. "I can't stop. I've never not been able to read someone. Even the Grey Cabinet agents, even Solon—I could feel something. But that man… nothing."
"It's not nothing," Kaelen said. "I could feel his emotions. He's frustrated. Suspicious. Determined. He's looking for us, and he's not going to stop."
"But why can I sense him and not the other way around?"
Kaelen was quiet for a moment. Then he said: "Maybe it's because my Kite is different. The Insight Kite reads emotions. Your Mind Kite reads thoughts. Maybe his training protects against thoughts but not feelings."
Lyra considered this. "That's… possible. I suppose. I've never heard of anyone training against Kites before."
"Neither have I. But the Seekers are intelligence. They know things we don't."
Lyra finally looked at him. "What do we do now?"
Kaelen touched the guinunting at his hip. The Core pulsed, warm and alive.
"We rest tonight. Then we go back to the cave. We tell the elders what we found. And we prepare."
"For what?"
Kaelen looked out at the darkness, where the Seekers had disappeared.
"For the war that's coming."