The desert was made of glass and ghosts.
Kael stumbled across its surface, boots crunching over cracked, shining earth. His breath fogged the air—not from cold, but from the ionized buzz clinging to the wind. A side effect of relic storms, according to BITS. Not that Kael had time to care.
His sword—a jagged blade now glowing faintly with light—was strapped to his back. His pack was nearly empty. His muscles ached. And behind him, the ruins of the vault still smoked.
"Next time," Kael muttered, "I'll just hide in a dumpster. Safer."
BITS hovered beside him, dimly lit. "But far less cinematic."
They crested a dune and Kael dropped to one knee. In the valley below: a cluster of half-buried structures, metal towers, and scaffolding—an old scavenger outpost.
Kael squinted. "Safe?"
BITS beeped. "In the same way a cactus is huggable."
"…Noted."
He started down carefully. But halfway across the basin, something sharp whizzed past his ear.
Thunk.
A knife embedded itself into the sand inches from his foot.
Kael froze.
A voice echoed from the shadows.
"Hands up, Relic Boy."
Kael slowly raised his arms. "I don't have anything worth stealing."
The figure stepped into view—a girl around his age, lean and sharp-eyed, with black cloth wrapped around her face and daggers at both hips. Her hair was streaked silver at the tips, like it had kissed lightning. Her boots were worn, her voice dry and amused.
"Good. That saves me the guilt."
Kael blinked. "Are you—robbing me?"
"Technically, interrogating," she said. "You glow. And glow-y boys usually come with trouble."
BITS whispered, "She's got good instincts. Might also be slightly homicidal. Proceed with charm."
Kael dropped his arms slowly. "I'm Kael. I'm not glowing on purpose."
She tilted her head. "Kael, huh? I'm Nyra. And you just walked into my hunting ground."
"Sorry, didn't see the sign."
Nyra smirked. "It's the part where I throw knives at your head."
She circled him slowly, eyes sharp. "So… want to explain what that thing floating near your shoulder is?"
BITS beeped a greeting. "I'm B.I.T.S. And I'd rate your threat level at 'moderately terrifying.'"
Nyra narrowed her eyes. "You activated a relic."
Kael nodded. "I didn't mean to."
"Doesn't matter. Someone always notices when one wakes up."
Kael hesitated. "You mean… Malrix?"
Nyra stiffened slightly. "You've heard that name?"
"BITS told me. Said she's hunting for people like me."
Nyra nodded, serious now. "She's more than a scavenger queen. She used to protect Solara… until it fell. Now she kills anyone who carries its spark. You just became target number one."
Kael felt the weight of the sword on his back.
"I didn't ask for this."
"Doesn't matter," she said again. "If you're marked by the Light, you've got a price on your head."
Kael dropped to sit in the sand. "Great."
BITS hovered behind his head. "Silver lining: she hasn't killed us. Yet. That's usually a good sign."
Nyra sighed, then sat a few feet away, tossing a pebble into the dust.
"…You don't seem like much."
"Thanks."
"But you're still alive," she said. "Which means either you're lucky, or dangerous. Possibly both."
Kael looked up. "Why haven't you turned me in?"
Nyra looked at him for a long moment. "Because I've seen what Malrix does to people like you. And because I might need you."
"For what?"
She stood. "I'm heading to the Rift Gate. Heard a signal came from Solara two nights ago. Same time you lit up the sky."
Kael blinked. "That was me?"
Nyra nodded. "Yeah. You're a walking radio tower."
Kael looked away. "I don't even know what I am."
Nyra gave a half-shrug. "Then come find out."
She held out her hand.
Kael hesitated.
Then took it.
---
They moved fast under fading light. Nyra knew the terrain well—she avoided traps, patrolled paths, and pointed out old-world ruins long buried in sand. She didn't say much, but she didn't have to. Kael found her presence oddly steadying.
When they stopped to rest beneath an overhang of twisted metal, Kael asked:
"How do you know so much about Solara?"
Nyra looked into the distance. "My brother was one of the last engineers inside the city before it fell. He said Solara wasn't just a power source. It was a mind."
Kael blinked. "You mean… like BITS?"
BITS beeped, insulted. "Hey. I have style."
"No," Nyra said. "Bigger. Older. Something buried under Solara. Something that might still be… alive."
Kael swallowed hard. "Why do you want to go back?"
She met his gaze. "To finish what he started. And maybe find out why he died."
Kael looked at her for a long moment.
They weren't so different, after all.
---
That night, under cracked stars, Kael lay awake with BITS floating above him like a flickering lantern.
"You think I can do this?" he whispered.
BITS responded quietly. "Does it matter?"
Kael turned his head.
BITS buzzed gently. "You've already started."