The docking bay was chaos incarnate. Sparks cascaded from ruptured conduits, alarms wailed in discordant shrieks, and the void yawned hungrily through the shattered viewport. Shadows writhed against crimson plasma, every collision detonating shockwaves that rattled Kael's bones.
He staggered back, lungs clawing for air, every muscle trembling from the torrent of power he had unleashed. His hands still glowed faintly, veins lit like molten fire beneath his skin. It should have felt like triumph. Instead, it burned like sickness—an infection that refused to let go.
"Kael!" Nova's voice cut through the storm. "What did you do?"
He turned toward her, throat tightening. There was no awe in her eyes, only fear fear of him.
Before he could speak, the Helion commander lunged at Lyra, his plasma blade carving the air. Her shadows buckled under the force, shrieking as they resisted. She gritted her teeth, tendrils coiling tighter, dragging him back. But he pressed harder, crimson circuitry pulsing across his armor in rhythm with each strike.
"You can't win this, Noctis," he growled. "One shard-bearer won't undo what's already decreed."
Lyra spat blood, shadows flaring around her like storm winds. "Then I'll drag you into the void before I let you touch him."
Kael's stomach knotted. He couldn't just stand and watch. Instinct screamed at him to act, yet the memory of his uncontrolled blast clawed at his mind. What if he destroyed them all?
Rise or fall. The whisper coiled through his thoughts like smoke.
Kael clenched his fists. He wasn't a weapon. He wasn't theirs.
The commander raised his blade for the killing stroke. Kael moved before doubt could catch him, body blurring forward. Power surged less wild this time, channelled, threading through his veins with searing precision. His arm met the commander's strike, and a shield of light burst from his skin. The clash cracked the air like thunder.
The commander staggered back, silver eyes flashing with surprise. "He's already learning to shape it…"
Lyra seized the opening. Her shadows slammed into the commander's chest, hurling him against the bay wall. Armour dented, but still unbroken.
Kael's knees buckled. Agony spiked behind his eyes, vision swimming. Control was possible but every moment ripped something from him.
Nova rushed to his side, gripping his arm as if to anchor him. "Kael, stop! You'll burn yourself out!"
"I… I can't let them take us," he rasped, though the fire in his chest refused to dim.
The commander rose again, fury radiating off him in waves. "Enough. The boy comes with me."
More Helions flooded the bay, crimson blades igniting in unison.
Lyra hissed, shadows snapping around her. "Too many." She caught Kael by the wrist, her darkness curling around him protectively. "Nova behind me."
But Nova shook her head, voice trembling yet resolute. "No. I'm not leaving him."
The commander levelled his blade. "Then all of you fall."
The air rippled. A wave of light tore across the bay, freezing machines mid-step. Helions flickered, their systems glitching. From beyond the shattered viewport, a massive silhouette loomed an interstellar cruiser, its hull etched with runes that glowed like living fire.
Lyra's eyes widened. "Damn it. Not them."
Kael blinked through the chaos. "Who… who is it?"
Her jaw tightened. "The Ascendancy."
The commander cursed under his breath. "Of all times…"
The cruiser's cannons locked onto the station, their glow building to a blinding crescendo. Dread stabbed through Kael. The Ascendancy wasn't here to rescue. They had come to erase the shard. To erase him.
Lyra chose without hesitation. She yanked Kael close, shadows spiralling into a cocoon. "Hold on."
The commander lunged, blade raised but darkness swallowed them whole.
Kael was pulled through a void colder than space itself. Pressure crushed his lungs, his heart pounding as though it would shatter.
And then light.
They tumbled into a barren canyon beneath an alien sky. Twin moons glared down over jagged cliffs, their glow stark against the desolation. The station, the Helions, the cruiser all gone.
Kael collapsed onto the sand, gasping. His body felt torn apart, stitched together by trembling threads.
Nova fell beside him, clutching her chest, eyes wild. "What… what just happened?"
Lyra dropped to one knee, her breathing ragged, shadows guttering like dying flames. "I jumped us. Across sectors. It won't hold them off forever." Her gaze swung to Kael, equal parts fury and something softer. "You have no idea what you've begun."
Kael lifted his head, dust clinging to sweat-matted hair. "Then tell me. What am I?"
Her eyes lingered on him, shadowed with grief. "You're a shard-bearer. And that means you're already marked for death."
Cold washed through him. Nova's hand tightened around his arm, refusing to let go.
Lyra's gaze turned to the horizon, her voice low and steady. "The Helions will come. The Ascendancy will come. Even those who claim to protect you will come. And when they do, you'll have to decide whether to cling to who you were, or become something that terrifies even the stars."
The words hung heavier than any weapon. Kael looked down at his trembling hands, faint light still glowing beneath his skin.
He had no answers. Only the crushing truth: nothing would ever be the same again.
And far across the fractured sky, a faint red light pulsed steady as a heartbeat. Watching. Waiting.