The ruins of the pre-Collapse city loomed like the bones of a forgotten giant, their steel spires twisted into unnatural shapes by centuries of wind and rift energy. Kael crept through the shadows, their boots silent on ash-covered concrete, the lumium shard and rift crystal heavy in their satchel. The violet glow of the rift zone pulsed on the horizon, its hum a constant pressure in their skull. The watcher from the ridge—human, maybe, but no friend—had vanished, but Kael felt eyes on them still. Dusthaven's enforcers couldn't be far behind, and the wasteland didn't forgive mistakes.Kael's arm ached where the shadeclaw's claws had grazed it, the wound now a faint, blackened scar. Their hands trembled, not from pain but from the memory of shadow tendrils coiling from their fingers. The glintwraith fight had awakened something, a power Kael didn't understand but couldn't ignore. Jessa's voice haunted them: "If it calls you, run." But running wasn't enough anymore. The spiral symbols, the void's hum—they were pieces of a puzzle Kael had to solve.A memory surged, sharp and vivid. Kael was twelve, scavenging with Jessa in a junkyard near a dead rift zone. The air had smelled of ozone and rust, and Jessa's calloused hands had pulled a strange amulet from a pile of pre-Collapse tech—a black metal disc, etched with a spiral that seemed to shift when Kael stared too long. "Void-touched," Jessa had muttered, her eyes narrowing. "Keep it hidden, kid. Some things draw trouble." Kael had tucked it away, but the amulet's weight lingered in their dreams, like a whisper they couldn't hear. Jessa never spoke of it again before the raiders took her. Kael shook off the memory, heart heavy. The amulet was long gone, lost in a trade for food. Or was it?A faint shimmer broke their thoughts. The ruins' shadows shifted, not from the wind but something alive. Kael dropped behind a crumbled wall, pulse racing. The air crackled, and a low hiss echoed, like static across a broken comms line. A creature slithered into view—a riftstalker, its serpentine body blending with the ruins, scales flickering like a chameleon's camouflage. It was fifteen feet long, its spine bristling with electrified quills that sparked with violet energy. Its eyes, slit and glowing, locked onto Kael, sensing their void-tainted presence.Kael gripped their knife, useless against a beast like this. The riftstalker's quills flared, sending a shockwave of electricity that singed the air. Kael dove, rolling behind a rusted hover-car, as sparks scorched the ground where they'd stood. Their mind raced. The shadeclaw had been instinct; the glintwraith, control. This was survival. They reached for the void's pull, feeling it stir in their chest. Shadow tendrils lashed out, snapping at the riftstalker's flank, but its scales shifted, blending into the ruins, and it vanished.Kael's breath hitched. The hiss came again, closer. They closed their eyes, focusing on the void's hum, and felt a new sensation—a cloak of darkness, wrapping them like a second skin. They opened their eyes, barely visible against the ruins, a faint ripple in the air. A shadow cloak. The riftstalker reappeared, quills sparking, and lunged, jaws wide with needle-like teeth. Kael sidestepped, the cloak fading, and sent tendrils coiling around its neck. The creature thrashed, electricity arcing, and Kael's arm burned as a quill grazed them.Pain sharpened their focus. They wove the tendrils tighter, targeting the riftstalker's glowing eyes. It hissed, scales flickering wildly, and Kael pushed harder, the void's power surging. The cloak flickered back, masking them as they ducked another shockwave. They drove the tendrils into the creature's core, where a faint light pulsed. The riftstalker convulsed, its quills dimming, and collapsed, scales clattering like broken glass. A single metallic scale, etched with the same spiral symbol, glinted among the wreckage. Kael's ears rang with a faint voice—not their own—whispering, "Seek the source."They staggered, clutching the scale. The voice was new, unnerving. The void wasn't just power; it was alive. Before they could process it, a figure stepped from the ruins—a young woman, maybe twenty, with cropped hair and a patched jacket studded with tech scraps. Her eyes, sharp and wary, studied Kael. "Nice trick," she said, voice dry. "Didn't know scavengers could dance with rift beasts like that."Kael tensed, hand on their knife. "Who are you?""Ryn," she said, smirking. "Saw your light show back there. You're not just a scavenger, are you?" Her tone was playful, but her hand rested near a plasma pistol at her hip.Kael didn't answer. The spiral scale burned in their palm, the void's whisper lingering. Ryn tilted her head. "There's a place, not far. Survivors who study the rifts. They'd kill for someone like you—or kill you, maybe. Want to find out?"Kael's gut twisted. Trust was a luxury they couldn't afford, but the truth was out there, in the ruins, the rifts, the void. Ryn's offer was a lead—or a trap. They'd have to choose.
