The silence in the rebel bunker was not peace—it was pressure. Eyes burned into Kael from every direction, some filled with curiosity, others with resentment. Even the dim lights buzzing overhead seemed to pause as Seris's voice echoed through the concrete walls.
"The Fifth Bearer stands before you."
No applause followed. Just stillness.
A man stepped forward, arms crossed over a barrel chest. His left eye had been replaced with a flickering lens. "This kid?" he grunted. "He's the reason the Vault's compromised?"
"He's the reason we're still alive," Seris snapped back.
Kael said nothing, still trying to shake off the last vision. The image of himself in the Drift—older, colder—haunted him. That version hadn't just looked different. He'd felt wrong. Like someone twisted by time and pain.
The man approached Kael. "Name's Vorn . Techsmith and security chief. If you're gonna stay here, you pull your weight. No special treatment."
Kael nodded. "I didn't ask for any."
"Good," Vorn grunted. "Because the Syndicate won't care who you are when they come back."
Seris gestured toward the far end of the room. "Come on, Kael. There's something you need to see."
They walked past scattered rebels—some patching wounds, others configuring drones or magitech weapons. The room vibrated with barely-contained energy, like everyone was waiting for the sky to fall again.
They entered a side chamber lit by a holographic table. A projection shimmered to life, displaying a map of the city with highlighted zones blinking red.
"These are containment zones," Seris explained. "The Syndicate's sealed them with resonance inhibitors. Anyone with even a spark of convergence energy inside gets snuffed out."
Kael stared. "They're killing bearers?"
"They always have," Seris said bitterly. "But now they're hunting them faster. More aggressive. Your awakening triggered a signal. The Vault's exposure wasn't a coincidence."
She zoomed in on a blinking dot. "This one here—Zone 17. We believe another shard is hidden there. The Sixth."
Kael's brow furrowed. "Another bearer?"
"Maybe. Or maybe just the shard, waiting to choose someone. Either way, if the Syndicate finds it first—"
"They'll use it to find more like me," Kael finished.
Seris nodded. "Or worse—complete their control over the Source. If they collect enough fragments, they could force open the Gate."
Kael hesitated. "The Gate?"
She looked at him, eyes solemn. "The original boundary between magic and machine. Where the Source fractured. If it opens again... everything ends or begins. No in-between."
The room grew colder.
"So we go to Zone 17?" Kael asked.
Seris gave a grim smile. "Exactly. You and I. Infiltrate the zone, locate the shard, and extract it before they do."
Kael stared at the map, pulse steadying.
He didn't feel like a hero. He didn't want to be a weapon. But something in his blood—the shard—burned when he thought of doing nothing.
"Alright," he said. "Let's go get it."
---
Two hours later, Kael stood in a dark locker room beneath the station, suited in patched armor with reactive plates and a converter core humming beneath his chest. His gunblade hung at his side, newly calibrated.
Seris entered in her scout gear, red scarf tied tightly, gauntlet recharged.
"You ready?" she asked.
Kael took a breath. "No. But I'm going anyway."
She nodded approvingly. "That's the right answer."
They boarded an old transit pod—half train, half armored sled—and launched through a forgotten mag-line that tunneled beneath the city. The ride was fast, violent, and nearly silent.
Kael stared through the side window as they passed flickering lights, ghost platforms, and shattered tunnel hubs. "How many shards are there?"
Seris answered without looking at him. "Nine, that we know of. Each one chosen by a different virtue. Yours is Resonance—harmony between thought and power. Mine is Pulse—movement, agility, the flow of resistance."
Kael turned to her. "So you're a bearer too."
"I was," she said quietly. "My shard was ripped out during an ambush three years ago. I survived. Barely."
The pod screeched to a halt.
They emerged in the ruins of Zone 17.
Gray skies loomed overhead. Buildings leaned like drunks, hollow and scarred. Syndicate drones patrolled the sky, scanning with glowing eyes. A strange quiet hung in the air—thick, wrong.
They moved quickly through alleys and over broken streets, avoiding patrols. Kael could feel the shard vibrating in his chest again—guiding, pulling, like it wanted something.
"We're close," he whispered.
Seris nodded, eyes scanning the rooftops.
They ducked into an old cathedral—a structure half-collapsed but still standing. Kael stepped inside and stopped dead.
The air was humming.
Glyphs lined the walls, glowing faintly. The floor was scorched with circular markings, and in the center…
A girl knelt.
She was maybe sixteen. Dirty. Gaunt. But her eyes… they burned with the same golden shimmer as Kael's shard.
She looked up slowly.
"You're late," she said.
Kael blinked. "What?"
The girl stood. "I saw you in a dream. You and the fire. I thought you'd never come."
Seris raised her weapon. "Step away from the shard."
But the girl lifted her hand—and from her palm, a flame danced. Not regular fire. It shimmered with both circuit-light and arcane flicker.
"I am the shard," she said.
Kael's heart dropped. "She's… the Sixth."
A boom echoed outside. Drones.
"No time," Seris said. "We need to move—now."
But the girl—Nira, she whispered—stepped forward and touched Kael's wrist.
In that moment, their shards pulsed in unison.
And Kael saw—
Flashes of other shards. Bearers in distant lands. A man surrounded by ice. A woman growing vines from her skin. A blind boy whose steps shattered stone.
And one figure in shadow.
Watching them all.
The connection snapped.
Kael gasped.
Seris pulled them toward the back exit, just as a Syndicate transport screamed overhead. Lights swept across the cathedral. Shouts. Gunfire.
Kael turned, raising his blade, but Seris threw a smokescreen.
They ran.
Through rubble, fire, and the cries of war machines.
Nira kept pace effortlessly, her body moving with unnatural grace.
As they reached the bunker entrance miles away, Kael looked back.
The city burned behind them.
But in his chest, the fire burned brighter.
He wasn't alone anymore.