Welcome to the Eclipse

The city smelled of wet asphalt and burning streetlights. Kael blinked, still breathing hard from the rooftop encounter. His chest ached not from the fight, but from the pulse of something alive inside him.

A voice spoke from the shadows.

“You survived,” it said, smooth, controlled.

Kael spun. A tall woman stepped out of the alley, her coat dripping with rain. Umbra-black hair framed her pale face, eyes sharp enough to cut.

“I… I don’t know what happened,” Kael stammered.

“You do,” she replied. “And so do I. My name is Iris Vale. I’m with the Eclipse Order. We track Malice outbreaks like the one you just survived.”

Kael’s mind raced. Malice? Eclipse Order? What the hell is going on?

Iris extended her hand. “If you want answers and a chance to control what’s inside you, you’ll come with me. Now.”

Kael hesitated. His life had just been turned upside down, and yet something primal in him urged compliance.

The shadows below hissed and recoiled as Iris waved her hand. They didn’t dare touch her.

Kael followed Iris through narrow streets, past abandoned cars and shattered neon signs, until they reached an unassuming warehouse. Inside, the air was thick with incense and something else… electric, almost alive.

He wasn’t alone. Several young men and women moved through the space, practicing strange, fluid movements. Each was surrounded by a faint aura, faint enough that only Kael noticed.

Iris guided him to a tall man with a scar running across his forehead.

“This is Director Halbrecht,” she said. “He decides who lives and who joins the Order.”

Halbrecht’s eyes met Kael’s. He didn’t speak immediately. He studied him like a predator weighing prey.

Finally, he said, “You’re different. The Malice inside you… it’s not screaming. Most who survive a first encounter go mad, or worse, die. But you…”

Kael swallowed hard. “What do you want from me?”

Halbrecht smiled thinly. “I want you to survive. And to learn to fight. Malice isn’t just around you it’s inside everyone. You’ll see soon enough.”

Kael didn’t have time to adjust. That night, alarms screamed through the HQ. A Malice outbreak had been reported in a nearby district.

Iris led the team: three bearers, each with unique abilities. Kael tried to follow but stumbled, his feet tangled in the rain-soaked streets.

The Malice looked human at first an elderly man, pale, shivering. But as the team approached, his form twisted, limbs elongating like black water. Faces appeared on his skin, screaming silently.

“Stay back!” Iris warned. “It’s stronger than anything you faced!”

Kael felt the pulse in his chest the voice inside stirring again. “Use me.”

Without fully understanding, Kael extended his hand. The air around him warped. The Malice froze, then screamed in silent agony.

The team stared. Halbrecht’s voice came over the comm. “Interesting… your Null Resonance manifests naturally. Not many can do that. Keep it under control, or it’ll consume you.”

Kael’s heart pounded. So this is what I am now… an Eclipse Bearer.

The battle ended quickly, but Kael knew this was only the beginning. Malice were growing bolder, smarter, and they wanted him next.