The storm passed by morning, leaving the land broken and humming.
Kael stepped out of the tower into silence. Ash coated the ground. Static made his hair stand on end.
Behind him, Nyra checked her gear. "You see the sky last night?"
Kael nodded. "Lit up like someone cracked lightning in half."
BITS hovered above them, slightly singed. "On the bright side, I now glow in the dark."
They descended toward the next checkpoint—a crumbled stretch of roadway overgrown with relic fungus and hollowed cars. Beyond that: the border of Solara's Exclusion Zone.
Kael could see it now. A faint shimmer in the air, like the heatwave off a dying engine. The edge of forbidden ground. Once crossed, there was no turning back.
Nyra said, "That barrier was built after the Fall. Anyone who enters is tagged and tracked."
Kael stared. "Then how do we get in?"
Nyra smirked. "We don't get caught."
They crept toward the edge, hiding behind twisted pylons and rusted barriers.
But before they could move closer—
A high-pitched whine cut through the air.
Then a thud.
Kael dove sideways just as a metal spike slammed into the ground beside him.
Nyra flipped backward, blades out.
From the cliffs above, a group of soldiers descended. Black armor. Crimson visors. Efficient. Deadly.
BITS screamed: "MALRIX HUNTERS! RUN RUN RUN!"
Kael didn't argue.
He sprinted toward cover, Nyra close behind. Plasma bolts lit up the air. One slammed into a boulder beside them, vaporizing it in a burst of blue fire.
Nyra tossed a smoke charge over her shoulder. "Keep moving!"
Kael zigzagged through wreckage, heart pounding.
One of the hunters dropped in front of him.
Too fast.
Too close.
Kael raised his blade—barely deflecting a strike. The impact knocked him back. The hunter raised a gauntlet—
But BITS screamed, "LEFT HOOK!" and fired a pulse of energy into the attacker's helmet.
The hunter staggered.
Kael slashed upward—light flaring from his sword.
The hunter dropped.
Kael didn't have time to feel anything about it. Another was already closing in.
Nyra tackled that one from the side, driving both daggers into weak points in the armor. Sparks flew. The hunter collapsed.
Kael shouted, "How many are there?!"
BITS pinged. "At least six. Maybe more. Oh—and they're calling in a gunship. Fantastic."
Nyra pointed. "Through that crawlspace. Old utility tunnel. GO!"
Kael dove in first, sliding into the dark. Nyra followed. The tunnel was narrow, wet, and full of rusted tech. It echoed with their breath.
BITS beeped, "Please tell me we have an actual plan."
Kael grunted, crawling. "Live long enough to make one."
---
They emerged into a hollow dome—a deactivated control station. Dead consoles blinked faintly in the dark. Cracked walls let in dust and light.
Kael slumped against the wall. "We lost them?"
Nyra nodded. "For now."
BITS whirred low. "They'll triangulate eventually. We need to move again."
Kael looked at the shimmering barrier nearby. "That's Solara?"
Nyra stepped forward. "That's the edge of what used to be paradise."
Kael stared.
"Time to cross?"
She looked at him. "You sure?"
He held up both hands. "Two Conduits, angry cyborg bounty hunters, a talking AI, and an exploding relic storm. Yeah. I think I'm in deep enough."
BITS buzzed happily. "That's the spirit!"
They walked toward the barrier.
As they passed through, the world shimmered—and everything went silent.
---
On the other side, the air changed. It was thicker, charged.
Ruins of once-golden towers loomed in the distance. Cracked statues of ancient heroes. Broken roads that pulsed with faint light underfoot.
Kael whispered, "This was a city?"
Nyra nodded. "Solara. The last great one."
BITS whispered, "And also the first to fall."
They moved slowly now. Every step into Solara felt like a memory trying to resurface.
Kael could almost hear voices—distant echoes of laughter, alarms, music. A ghost of civilization.
Nyra pointed to a massive staircase half-buried in sand. "That leads to the Vault."
BITS beeped, "And probably to every security protocol Solara ever created."
Kael sighed. "You never give good news, do you?"
"I tried once. The person died five minutes later. Learned my lesson."
---
They stopped at the base of the stairs.
Above them, the Vault entrance was sealed—massive and glowing with two ancient symbols. One of them pulsed now.
Kael stepped forward. The second Conduit—dormant since the Woundlands—began to flicker again in his hand.
Nyra watched, expression unreadable.
"You okay?" Kael asked.
She nodded. "Yeah. Just… this is the furthest I've ever gotten."
Kael turned to her. "We're opening it together."
She looked at him for a long moment.
"Don't die, Relic Boy."
Kael smiled. "I'll try."
He placed both hands on the symbols.
Light exploded outward.
---
Far above, hidden behind crumbling stone, a small drone watched it all. It blinked once.
Then disappeared.