The aftermath of the Skyburner’s destruction was a fleeting victory. Every breath Kael took was filled with the weight of what came next. They had cut a nerve, but the heart—the Mothership—kept beating, unaffected.
And now, Kael needed answers.
In the temporary Resistance shelter carved into a narrow canyon, Kuro and Selene guided Kael to a secluded chamber—darker, colder. On a stone pedestal lay an object wrapped in layers of reinforced cloth.
Selene’s expression was unusually cautious. “We weren’t supposed to show you this yet.”
“But after what you did on Theta,” Kuro added, “we don’t have time for protocols.”
Kael approached the pedestal. As Kuro pulled away the cloth, a soft pulse of light filled the room.
It wasn’t a weapon.
It was a fragment of the Inversion Key—a crystalline shard, suspended in mid-air, rotating slowly. Its surface rippled like liquid glass, shifting between shapes that didn’t seem possible.
Kael’s breath caught.
“This is what started it all,” Selene said, voice low. “Portals. Collapsing worlds. The Eaters’ rise.”
Kuro stepped beside Kael, his gaze serious for once. “It’s not a key in the traditional sense. It’s a lens. It bends reality itself, connecting points that should never be linked.”
Kael reached out instinctively. The fragment responded, a pulse syncing with his heartbeat. His mind was suddenly filled with flashes—fractured visions of other worlds, places that looked like his but weren’t.
Cities floating in reverse skies. Oceans flowing upward. People screaming as space folded in on itself.
Kael stumbled back, breathing heavily. “It’s alive…”
“In a way,” Selene said. “The full Key is broken into fragments. The Eaters are collecting them to rebuild it. But fragments like this one resonate with people like you—Relic-Bound. That’s why they need you.”
Kael’s fists clenched. “They’re using it to consume worlds. Why?”
“To erase,” Kuro said simply. “They want a blank slate. To build a world that bends to their will. Every portal they open is a cut into the fabric of reality. When the cuts connect, the universe bleeds.”
Kael’s mind was racing. “And this fragment?”
Selene leaned forward. “This fragment still listens. It can locate others. But only through you.”
Kael looked at the shard, the light reflecting in his determined eyes.
“Then we don’t let them finish the Key. We find the fragments first.”
Kuro smirked. “That’s the spirit, Captain.”
Later that night, Kael sat alone by the canyon's edge. The fragment hovered beside him, pulsing gently like a heartbeat. Elira joined him, sitting quietly at his side.
“You don’t have to carry this alone,” she said, her hand resting on his.
“I’m not sure I have a choice,” Kael murmured, watching the stars. “This thing… it chose me.”
Elira smiled softly. “Or maybe you were already chosen long before. The Key just woke you up.”
Kael chuckled, the weight in his chest lifting slightly. “You always make the impossible sound simple.”
“That’s because you complicate everything,” Elira teased.
Before he could reply, the fragment’s light intensified, projecting faint lines of energy across the canyon. Kuro appeared from the shadows, eyes wide.
“It’s found something.”
Kael stood, his pulse quickening. “Where?”
Kuro pointed to the projection—an isolated floating ruin, shrouded in storms.
“The Shattered Spire. One of the original Key forges. If there’s a core fragment still out there, it’ll be there.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. The path ahead was clear.
“Then that’s where we go.”
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