Into the Veil

The Underdistrict's tunnels felt alive, their walls pulsing with the faint hum of spliced power lines and the distant thrum of Protocol drones. Kael moved low, shard pistol in one hand, blade in the other, its faint violet glow cutting through the gloom. The air was damp, reeking of rust and stale coolant. Rhea led the way, her implants flickering as she scanned for traps, her shock knife ready. Mira trailed close, the shard case strapped to her back, her steps uneven but determined.

"Vault's two levels down," Rhea whispered, checking her comms unit. Its screen cast a pale glow, highlighting the sweat on her brow. "Red Veil's got patrols, but I've looped their cams. We've got a window ten minutes, tops."

Kael's chest tightened, his shard humming in sync with the one Mira carried. The visions were creeping back *a bone gate, violet light splitting the sky, a woman's voice: The key is here.* He gritted his teeth, forcing focus. "Ten minutes to steal from psychos. No pressure."

Mira's voice was low, urgent. "If this shard's like ours, it could confirm the map. We need it intact."

"Yeah, and I need to not die," Kael muttered, scanning the tunnel. The walls were scrawled with Red Veil tags jagged runes that glowed faintly, like they were carved with Aether. The shard in his chest pulsed harder, a warning. "Rhea, you sure about these traps?"

"Sure as I can be," she said, pausing at a junction. A laser grid flickered ahead, its beams laced with violet shard energy. "Veil's not playing. One wrong step, and we're ash."

Kael crouched beside her, studying the grid. The beams hummed, their heat prickling his skin. "Can you hack it?"

Rhea's implants flared, her fingers dancing over the comms unit. "Working on it. Veil's tech is old-school, but it's got teeth. Gimme a sec."

Mira knelt, her shard-analyzer whirring softly. "The energy signature here matches our shard. It's close. Too close."

Kael didn't like that. The Red Veil's shard was supposed to be in the vault, not leaking Aether into the tunnels. "Dax's intel off?"

"Or he's screwing us," Rhea said, her voice tight. The laser grid flickered, then died, her hack cutting through. "Clear. Move."

They slipped through, the tunnel narrowing into a spiral stairwell. The walls were colder here, the air heavy with a metallic tang. Kael's shard pulsed, each beat syncing with his heart. He could feel the Veil's shard now, like a second pulse calling to his own. It wasn't just power—it was hungry.

The stairwell opened into a vast chamber, its ceiling lost in shadow. The Red Veil's vault was no corpo relic it was a shrine. Aether crystals lined the walls, glowing violet and casting jagged patterns across a central platform. There, in a containment unit, sat the shard Dax wanted. It was larger than Kael's, its surface etched with runes that seemed to writhe in the light.

"Jackpot," Rhea breathed, but her implants flickered, picking up interference. "Shit. We're not alone."

Kael's pistol snapped up as footsteps echoed. Figures emerged from the shadows six Red Veil enforcers, their eyes glowing violet, half Harbinger. Their armor was patched with shard fragments, and their blades hummed with Aether. At their center stood a woman, tall and sharp edged, her face half hidden by a bone white mask. Zara Kain. Her cybernetic arm crackled with violet energy, and her gaze locked onto Kael like she could see his shard.

"You're bold," Zara said, her voice smooth but cold. "Or stupid. Which is it?"

Kael's grip tightened on his pistol. "Bit of both. Hand over the shard, and we walk away."

Zara laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "You think you're hunting? You're prey." She raised her arm, and the enforcers charged, blades flashing.

Kael moved on instinct, kinetic energy surging through his hands. He fired a burst from the pistol, the Aether charged shot slamming an enforcer into the wall. Rhea dove left, her shock knife sparking as she parried a blade, her implants flaring to jam their comms. Mira scrambled behind a crate, her analyzer still scanning the shard.

"Keep her covered!" Kael shouted, ducking a slash that grazed his shoulder. Pain flared, but he channeled it, sending a kinetic wave that knocked two enforcers off their feet. Zara didn't move, watching with that damn mask, like she was studying him.

Rhea's knife found an enforcer's throat, dropping him, but another tackled her, pinning her arm. "Kael!" she yelled, struggling.

He spun, firing another shot, but Zara's cyber arm flicked, deflecting the blast with a violet shield. "Your shard's awake," she said, stepping closer. "It knows me. Don't you?"

The vision hit hard *Zara's mask, a bone gate opening, the woman's voice: She carries the spark.* Kael staggered, his pistol slipping. Zara lunged, her blade aimed at his chest. He rolled, barely dodging, and slammed a kinetic burst into the floor, cracking the platform. The containment unit wobbled, the shard inside pulsing wildly.

Mira's voice cut through. "Kael, the shard it's destabilizing! We need to go!"

"Grab it!" he roared, blocking another of Zara's strikes. Her strength was unnatural, her shard enhanced arm matching his kinetic blasts. Rhea broke free, her knife sparking as she drove it into an enforcer's side, but more were coming, their eyes glowing brighter.

Mira reached the containment unit, her analyzer sparking as she bypassed its lock. The shard's glow flooded the chamber, and Kael's own shard screamed, a vision overwhelming him *a wasteland temple, Zara standing before a gate, the sky tearing open.* He gasped, vision clearing just as Zara's blade slashed toward his throat.

Rhea tackled him out of the way, her implants flickering wildly. "Move, dumbass!"

Mira yanked the shard free, its light blinding. The chamber shook, Aether crystals along the walls cracking. Zara's mask tilted, her voice low. "You've started it now. The cycle won't stop."

Kael scrambled up, pistol raised, but Zara didn't advance. She just watched as the enforcers closed in, their blades humming. The shard in Mira's hands pulsed, and a Protocol drone's screech echoed from the tunnels above.

"Run!" Kael shouted, shoving Mira toward the stairwell. Rhea covered their retreat, her knife flashing. The Red Veil's shard was theirs, but the chamber was collapsing, and Zara's laughter followed them into the dark.