Night returned to the ruined city like a slow curtain.
Evacuation convoys had been leaving all afternoon. By sunset most of the civilians were gone, and the Bastion forces had pulled their outer perimeter several miles away from the devastated district. The crater left behind by the Devourer had been declared unstable, and no one wanted to be anywhere near it when the ground decided to collapse again.
That left the ruins quiet.
Too quiet.
Kael stood on the remains of an old highway overpass overlooking the broken skyline. Fires still burned across the city, scattered like dying stars between the skeletal frames of shattered buildings.
Behind him, Mara leaned against the guardrail, chewing on a piece of dried jerky she had found in a Bastion supply crate.
"You know," she said between bites, "when I signed up to hunt vampires I assumed the biggest problem I'd deal with was bloodsuckers."
Kael didn't look away from the horizon.
"And now?"
She gestured vaguely upward.
"Now apparently we're fighting interstellar nightmare monsters and arguing with cosmic philosophers."
Kael smirked faintly.
"Life comes at you fast."
Aurelion stood several meters away near the edge of the overpass, staring into the distance with that same distant, calculating expression he always wore when he was thinking too hard.
Kael had noticed something about him since the Devourer fight.
He seemed… uneasy.
Which was unusual.
Aurelion was the calmest man Kael had ever met.
So Kael walked over beside him.
"You've been quiet."
Aurelion didn't answer right away.
He continued staring at the city.
Finally he said,
"We are being watched."
Kael didn't react.
"Yeah," he said calmly.
"I noticed."
Mara immediately straightened up.
"Wait—what?"
Aurelion slowly turned his gaze toward the eastern skyline.
"The watcher is not hiding."
Kael followed his gaze.
At first he didn't see anything.
Just dark towers and broken rooftops.
Then he felt it.
Power.
Cold.
Ancient.
It spread across the district like a silent winter storm.
Mara felt it too.
"…oh."
Her hand moved toward her rifle.
"Yeah I feel that."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
On the rooftop of a distant cathedral ruin—one of the few buildings that had somehow survived the Devourer's destruction—a figure sat calmly on the edge of the stone spire.
Watching them.
Even from this far away Kael could tell the man was dressed impeccably.
Dark coat.
Tailored suit.
Perfect posture.
And completely still.
The figure lifted one hand slowly.
Then removed a pair of thin black gloves.
Kael's breath caught slightly.
The man's skin was pale.
Not sickly pale.
Marble pale.
And his eyes…
Even from across the city they gleamed red.
Aurelion spoke quietly.
"…well."
"That is unfortunate."
Mara blinked.
"You know him??"
Aurelion's voice dropped lower.
"Unfortunately."
Kael didn't take his eyes off the distant figure.
"Who is it?"
Aurelion exhaled slowly.
"One of the oldest predators still walking this planet."
Mara swallowed.
"…cool."
"Love that."
The man across the city stood up.
He brushed invisible dust from his coat sleeves and stepped forward onto the edge of the cathedral spire.
Then he bowed.
Not mockingly.
Not dramatically.
Just a small, polite gesture.
Kael blinked.
"…did the ancient vampire just bow to me?"
Aurelion nodded.
"Yes."
"That is worse than if he attacked."
Mara groaned.
"Why??"
Aurelion answered quietly.
"Because it means he is interested."
The man across the skyline raised his hand.
Then snapped his fingers.
The world blurred.
Kael barely had time to react before the air beside them shifted.
And the man appeared.
Standing calmly on the overpass.
Not ten feet away.
Mara jumped back instantly and raised her rifle.
"DON'T MOVE."
The stranger looked at her weapon with mild curiosity.
Then at Kael.
His voice was smooth.
Refined.
Almost amused.
"Please."
"If I meant you harm, you would already be dead."
Mara did not lower the rifle.
"Not reassuring."
The man chuckled softly.
Then turned his attention fully toward Kael.
Up close, he looked almost impossibly elegant.
Black hair slicked neatly back.
Deep crimson eyes that seemed to glow faintly in the night.
His suit looked like something pulled straight out of another century.
He studied Kael like a collector examining a rare artifact.
"Fascinating."
Kael crossed his arms.
"You got a name?"
The man smiled.
"Several."
Aurelion spoke before he could continue.
"…Draven."
The vampire's smile widened slightly.
"Ah."
"Aurelion."
"Still alive."
Aurelion did not return the smile.
"I could say the same."
Mara looked between them.
"…so we all know each other now??"
Draven glanced at her briefly.
"Not personally."
"Though I admire your bravery."
Mara muttered,
"I feel like that's vampire for 'snack.'"
Draven's gaze returned to Kael.
"You killed the Devourer."
Kael shrugged.
"It had it coming."
Draven chuckled softly.
"That it did."
Then he took a slow step forward.
Aurelion instantly shifted his stance.
Draven stopped.
"No hostility."
"I am not here to fight."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"Then why are you here?"
Draven looked up at the stars.
"When something kills a Devourer…"
"…the entire food chain notices."
Kael sighed.
"Yeah I've been hearing that a lot today."
Draven smiled faintly.
"But unlike your new acquaintance…"
"…I do not believe humanity should surrender."
Mara blinked.
"Wait."
"You're on our side?"
Draven laughed quietly.
"Oh my dear."
"I do not have sides."
He looked at Kael again.
"I have interests."
Kael tilted his head.
"And I'm interesting."
"Extremely."
Draven's crimson eyes glowed slightly brighter.
"A Seraph fragment…"
"…inside a human Ascendant."
He clasped his hands behind his back.
"That combination has not existed for… a very long time."
Aurelion's voice hardened.
"What do you want?"
Draven glanced at him.
Then back at Kael.
"I want to see what you become."
Kael stared at him.
"…that's it?"
Draven smiled.
"For now."
Mara leaned toward Kael and whispered,
"I hate how calm this guy is."
Kael whispered back,
"Same."
Draven continued casually.
"Because whether you realize it or not…"
"…you have just stepped onto a very old stage."
He gestured toward the sky.
"The Devourers."
"Ascendants."
"Ancient vampires."
"Things older than all of us."
His crimson gaze sharpened.
"And they are all starting to pay attention to you."
Kael folded his arms.
"So what?"
Draven's smile returned.
"So…"
"…I would hate for someone else to kill you before the story gets interesting."
Mara groaned.
"Everyone we meet today is weird."
Draven laughed again.
Then he stepped backward toward the edge of the overpass.
Before leaving, he looked at Kael one last time.
"You should be careful, Eclipse."
Kael frowned.
"Why?"
Draven's red eyes gleamed.
"Because there are things coming to Earth…"
"…that even I do not hunt."
Then he vanished.
Just like Adrian Vale had.
Gone.
The wind moved quietly across the empty overpass.
Mara stared at the spot where he'd been.
"…okay."
She looked at Kael.
"That guy was worse."
Aurelion nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Kael looked back at the sky.
"Why?"
Aurelion's voice was quiet.
"Because Adrian Vale might betray humanity."
"But Draven…"
"…has already survived the last apocalypse."
Kael exhaled.
"…great."
The night stretched above them.
And somewhere beyond the stars…
Something was already coming.