Kael's breath fogged in the chill air as he crouched beside Ryn on a ridge overlooking the tech-cult's outpost. The rift-warped city sprawled below, its ruins glowing faintly under the violet pulse of the rift zone, a jagged tear in reality that bled energy into the night. The outpost itself was a fortress of scavenged steel, its walls studded with lumium-powered turrets that hummed with menace. Kael's satchel, heavy with the lumium shard, rift crystal, voltspire orb, and spiral-etched scale, pressed against his side. His arm, scarred from the shadeclaw and voltspire, tingled as the rift's hum sank into his bones. Ryn, her cropped hair dusted with ash, scanned the outpost with sharp eyes, her plasma pistol ready but holstered. "Told you it's fortified," she whispered, her smirk barely hiding her tension. "Cult's big on lumium. And secrets."
Kael's jaw tightened. Ryn's lead was their only shot at answers about the void, the spiral symbols, the whispers in his head. But her flippant tone and quick fingers near her pistol kept him on edge. Trust was a death wish in the wasteland, yet here he was, following her into a lion's den. The voltspire's vision—a pre-Collapse figure warning about the void—gnawed at him. "Seek the source," the void had whispered. This outpost might hold a piece of that source, or it might be his grave.
A memory hit, sharp as a blade. Kael was thirteen, huddled with Jessa in a crumbling shelter, rain pounding the roof. She'd been carving a circuit board, her voice low as she spoke of the Collapse. "Some scientist thought they could tame the void," she'd said, her eyes distant. "Built machines to pull its power, like sucking blood from a god. Went wrong, kid. Rifts opened, and the world burned." Kael had shivered, clutching his knife, sensing the weight of her words. Jessa had glanced at him, her gaze strange. "You got a spark, Kael. Don't let it burn you." Was she talking about the void? Had she known?
Ryn's nudge broke the memory. "Heads up," she hissed, pointing to the ravine below. A figure emerged from the shadows—a tech-cult enforcer, his body a patchwork of cybernetic augments, his right arm replaced by a lumium-charged blade that glowed blue. His robes, tattered but embroidered with spiral patterns, fluttered in the wind. Behind him, the air shimmered with heat, and a swarm of cinderwisps erupted—fist-sized rift creatures, their bodies flickering orbs of flame that burned and reformed, leaving trails of ash. Their hum was a high-pitched whine, like a chorus of dying stars.
Kael's heart raced. The enforcer's blade hummed with void energy, its spiral matching the symbols in his satchel. The cinderwisps darted forward, a wave of fire that scorched the ground. Ryn fired her plasma pistol, blue bolts scattering the swarm, but they reformed, their flames brighter. "Get the zealot!" she shouted, tossing a sparking tech-trap that fizzled against the cinderwisps' heat. Kael nodded, reaching for the void's pull. His shadow cloak flickered, masking him as he darted toward a rusted mech frame for cover. The enforcer's blade slashed, carving a glowing arc that missed Kael by inches.
The cinderwisps swarmed, their flames searing Kael's cloak as he dove behind a pillar. The rift's hum surged, and he felt a new pull—a tug, not just in his body but through it, like stepping through a door. He focused, and the world blurred. He reappeared ten feet away, behind the enforcer, his shadow teleport a disorienting blink. The zealot spun, blade swinging, but Kael's energy drain kicked in, sapping the blade's lumium glow. The enforcer staggered, his augments sparking, and Kael lashed out with shadow tendrils, wrapping the zealot's arm. The cinderwisps dove, their flames grazing Kael's shoulder, but he held on, draining more energy until the blade dimmed.
Ryn's shots scattered the swarm again, giving Kael an opening. He teleported again, a short blink to the enforcer's side, and drove his tendrils into the zealot's chest, targeting the lumium core in his augments. The enforcer roared, collapsing in a shower of sparks, his blade clattering free. The cinderwisps wailed, their flames fading as they dissolved into ash, leaving a scorched spiral symbol on the ground. Kael grabbed the blade, its handle warm, etched with the same spiral. A vision flashed—a lab, a rift opening, a scientist screaming, "We opened the gate!"—then vanished, leaving Kael gasping.Ryn approached, kicking ash aside. "You're a damn rift magnet," she said, her smirk sharp. "That teleport trick? Cult's gonna love you—or hate you." Her eyes flicked to the blade, wary.Kael clutched the blade, its hum resonating with the void in his blood. "This outpost," he said, voice rough. "What aren't you telling me?"
Ryn's smirk faded. "It's close. But the cult's got a leader—someone who knows the void. Maybe too well." The outpost's gates creaked open, revealing a figure in a hooded cloak, their eyes glinting with recognition as they fixed on Kael. "That's our welcome," Ryn said. "Hope you're ready."
Kael's grip tightened on the blade. The void's secrets were close, but so was danger. He'd come too far to turn back.