The Lumenari

Chapter 3

Kian's legs buckled. His head spun with a pressure he couldn't explain—like his brain had lagged behind the rest of his body. The cloaked figures were still kneeling. Still chanting.

The floating man's eyes opened.

And they were glowing.

"You carry the Shard," he said, voice like cracked thunder. "Do you understand what you have done?"

Kian staggered back. "I don't even know what this place is!"

The man floated down, robes sweeping behind him like smoke. As he stepped forward, the chanting stopped.

"This realm is called Vareth-Kai. You are between the breaths of dying stars. Time doesn't pass here. It waits."

"Okay," Kian muttered, "definitely hallucinating. Probably passed out in a ditch. Maybe Grinley poisoned me with robot oil—"

"I am Nyra," the man interrupted, "of the Lumenari."

Kian blinked. "You said you were a—wait. Nyra?"

He stared. The voice was male, the presence overwhelming, but the name… It didn't match.

A ripple passed through Nyra's form—and suddenly the figure shifted. Armor faded into a long cloak of soft, white light. Hair spilled down like moonfire. The face became sharp, angular. Beautiful. Genderless.

"I am what remains of what I was," Nyra said softly. "This form is… negotiable."

Kian's breath caught. "Okay. That's… a lot."

Nyra approached, eyes settling on the watch.

"The Chrono Shard. I felt it activate. That means…" Nyra paused, tilting their head. "You're not a traveler. Not yet. But the Shard chose you."

Kian pulled it from his pocket. "Chose? It nearly fried me."

"It doesn't care what you are," Nyra said. "It cares what you could become. And now you've touched it, the timelines have noticed you. So have the ones who would use it to end everything."

A chill scraped down Kian's spine. "End what, exactly?"

Nyra's eyes dimmed. "The walls between worlds."

Behind them, the kneeling figures began to chant again—but now it was urgent, dissonant. The sky above them rippled like cloth in wind.

Nyra turned. "We must leave. They have followed your signal. The Fractured are coming."

Before Kian could respond, the watch clicked again.

And the world exploded into white light.