The void between stars was never silent. Even in the darkest reaches of the outer colonies, the echoes of ancient engines, fractured comets, and distant warships wove a low, endless symphony of danger. For Kael Veyron, sixteen cycles old and a shadow of a man in the eyes of society, that hum was the backdrop of his existence a lullaby for a boy who had learned to survive before he had ever dared to dream.
Tonight, the hum shifted. It thickened, vibrating through the corroded steel frames of the colony's observation deck, crawling up Kael's spine with a premonition he couldn't name. He stood at the edge of the platform, eyes tracing jagged streaks of light as asteroid fragments burned across the void. Every fiber of him was restless, alive, as though the universe itself had turned to watch.
"Kael." Nova's voice cut through the stillness, sharp but laced with hesitation. She approached with a toolkit slung across her shoulder, gaze scanning the horizon. "You've been staring at that field for hours. What are you waiting for? A miracle?"
He didn't answer right away. His hands gripped the railing, knuckles white. Beneath his skin, a faint glow pulsed subtle, nearly imperceptible. He had felt it before, fleeting bursts he could neither control nor explain. A warmth, a spark, a tether to something vast. He had taught himself to hide it. Anomalies were noticed, and the colony's enforcers or worse did not forgive what they couldn't control.
"I don't know," he murmured at last, voice low. "Maybe… something beyond all this grey."
Nova frowned. "Careful, Kael. You've been saying things like that too often. Restlessness is dangerous out here."
Shame flickered across his face, but only for a moment. The pulse surged again, stronger this time, its rhythm aligning with the distant heartbeat of the stars. The deck shuddered. A blast wave rolled through the colony not from the atmosphere, but from orbit. Alarms screamed as lights flickered and died. Above them, a blazing streak tore across the sky.
"What the" Nova began, but Kael had already moved. Instinct, or something far older than instinct, screamed for him to run. His body obeyed, faster than thought. A flaming object crashed into the mining ring nearby, the impact shaking the colony and spraying debris like metallic daggers.
And then it touched him.
Or perhaps he touched it.
A shard, glowing with a pale blue aura, hovered in midair, suspended as though time itself bent to its will. Kael reached out. His fingers brushed its surface, and the universe ignited inside him. The energy didn't tear—it lit, like a spark rushing into dry kindling. His heart surged. His vision sharpened. Every atom of him thrummed with awareness, and for the first time in his life, he felt power.
"Kael!" Nova's voice was muffled, dreamlike, as though she called to him from a distant shore. The world narrowed until only he and the shard existed. The pulse of its light synchronized with his heartbeat. Images flashed behind his eyes cosmic wars, forgotten realms, faces with eyes older than stars. Then came a voice, faint yet undeniable, whispering in a tongue he didn't know but understood: Rise.
The shard dissolved into light, burning into his chest. Kael staggered, falling to his knees. The glow beneath his skin spread, his veins lit with iridescent fire. His senses shattered their limits. He heard the whir of distant engines, the vibrations of life deep underground, even the quickened beat of Nova's heart as she ran to him.
"What's… happening to me?" His voice broke against the tide of power.
Nova froze, awe and fear mingling in her eyes. "You're… not human. Or maybe… you're something more."
Kael couldn't answer. The energy inside him coiled back, retreating like water into a deep well, leaving behind a residue that changed everything. His body felt lighter, his thoughts sharper. The boy the colony had ignored no longer existed.
And then she appeared.
A figure descended from the shadows of the upper hub, her steps silent, deliberate. Lyra Noctis. He had heard whispers of her before—a fugitive from the celestial-tech overlords, a warrior cloaked in living shadow—but reality defied rumor. Her presence consumed the air, elegant and lethal. Her eyes held both sharpness and sorrow, and the faint hum of her shadow-manipulating tech resonated with the spark burning in Kael's veins.
"You touched it," Lyra said, voice melodic yet edged with steel. "The shard chose you… though I never thought someone in a forgotten colony could survive its call."
Kael forced himself to stand. "Who… are you?" His voice carried a weight he hadn't meant, but something about her demanded truth.
"A friend. Or an enemy, depending on the choices you make," she replied, glancing toward the crater's glow. "But right now, you have no time. Others will come. They always come when power awakens."
Nova stepped forward, shaking her head. "Kael, wait—"
Lyra's gaze silenced her. "Step back. This is beyond you." She turned to Kael, her expression softening. She extended her hand. "Kael Veyron. You are more than what you believe. I can help you survive long enough to learn what that means."
His pulse thundered. The shard's residue still burned within him, resonating with her presence, pulling him into something vast and dangerous. Fear tangled with curiosity, desire, and the strange, unbidden connection between them. The universe had bared its fangs, and he was already inside its jaws.
"Survive…" Kael repeated, testing the word on his tongue. "And then what?"
Lyra's lips curved into a shadow of a smile. "Then you decide. But first, you must rise. The void does not forgive hesitation."
Kael drew a sharp breath. The energy surged again, quieter now, but his to command. For the first time, he saw clearly what lay ahead—wars between empires, ancient powers long buried, betrayals sharp enough to tear worlds apart. And somewhere in the storm, he would face a choice between strength and humanity, between love and survival.
He took her hand.
And the stars trembled.