The sky didn't just burn—it bled.
It was like the heavens had opened veins across the dusk, spilling crimson clouds that churned and crackled with energy. Thunder didn't roll anymore—it growled, hungry and alive. Every resistance member who looked up that night felt it in their bones: the world had shifted, and it wasn't shifting back.
I stood on the outpost's southern ledge, wind clawing at my jacket, my Mark still pulsing like a second heartbeat. The new runes glowed faintly, reacting to something I didn't yet understand. But I could feel it. A pulling. A calling.
Ashi joined me, arms folded tight against the cold. "You're not the same, Rae. Not even close."
"I know." I swallowed hard, watching the red sky swirl like a broken promise. "But neither is the war."
Down in the war chamber, tension was a living thing. Maps sprawled across holo-screens, marked with fresh alerts. Kael was still missing, but more than that—entire sectors were going dark. Communications disrupted. Scout teams vanished. All signs pointed to a coordinated assault, but no one could trace the origin.
Eryn leaned over the table, knuckles white. "It's like they're peeling our world open from the inside. These storms—they're not weather. They're signals."
"From the Queen?" I asked.
"Maybe. Or worse."
I looked at the council. Half of them wouldn't meet my gaze. The changes in me unsettled them. I couldn't blame them. I unsettled myself.
Ashi placed a hand on my shoulder. "We found something in the Hollow. In the markings. There's more than one Lock."
I turned sharply. "You mean… others like me?"
"Possibly. But not all survived. Some were consumed by the Marks. Others... went rogue."
I bit back the chill crawling up my spine. "Then we need to find the ones who remain."
We moved at dawn. A recon team of six, including myself, Ashi, Eryn, and three specialists. Our destination: the Ruins of Nollin—an ancient site rumored to be another Mark cradle.
The journey was brutal. The storms followed us like specters, lightning splitting trees, winds that whispered voices into our ears. One of the scouts—Reef—collapsed on the third night, screaming about flames and mirrors.
By the fifth day, only four of us made it to Nollin.
The ruins stood like broken teeth jutting from the earth. Old stone, cracked and humming. There was energy here, raw and coiled, like a bomb waiting to remember its purpose.
Inside the central chamber, we found them.
Two figures.
One kneeling, one standing.
The kneeling figure was cloaked in darkness, trembling. The standing one turned slowly—and my heart nearly stopped.
Kael.
But not Kael.
Her eyes glowed with the same runes as mine, but darker. Sharper. Her expression was unreadable, carved from marble.
"Rae," she said. Not a whisper. A declaration.
I stepped forward. "What happened to you?"
She tilted her head. "I saw the truth. And I remembered who I was before the Queen took everything."
My fingers curled into fists. "You disappeared. We thought—"
"That I was dead?" Her voice cracked like glass. "No. I was remade."
Ashi raised her weapon. "Kael, if you've been compromised—"
Kael didn't move, but the ground trembled. "Don't aim at me unless you're ready to lose something."
I stepped between them. "Kael. Look at me."
She did. For the first time, truly. The pain, the memory, the rage—it was all there. But so was something else.
Fear.
"They're coming, Rae," she said, voice cracking. "The Starborn. The ones who made the Marks. The ones the Queen ran from."
Behind her, the kneeling figure lifted their head. A man—barely conscious. Marked. Fading.
"We failed," he rasped. "You… might not."
Kael caught him as he collapsed fully. "He was the Fifth. I'm the Seventh."
I stared. "I'm the Eighth."
Kael nodded slowly. "Then we're out of time."
Returning to the outpost felt like returning to a different planet. The red storm hadn't left—it had worsened. People wore masks to breathe. Animals fled or died. The Queen's broadcasts played in eerie loops, promising peace through submission.
And then came the signal.
A flash of light from the northern horizon. A message embedded in code, broadcast through every frequency we had:
"The Gates will open. Choose your side."
No name. No demand. Just a countdown: 7 days.
Ashi pulled me aside later that night. "You need to decide, Rae. Lead us. Or step aside."
I stared at the stars, now barely visible behind the red.
"I'll lead," I said. "But we're not just going to survive this."
She raised an eyebrow. "Then what?"
"We're going to end it."
And deep inside, the second Mark on my skin pulsed in agreement.
Not just war.
Not just weakness.
Revelation.
To be continued....