Smoke on the Horizon

Dævd's boots thudded hard against the rooftop as he turned and bolted.

He didn't wait.

Didn't question the vision.

Didn't stop to rationalize the phantom that vanished in smoke.

His instincts had saved him before, back on Astraea, during the fall, and they screamed now with the same violent urgency.

He dropped down the wall, hitting the ground in a roll, and burst into the busy street, weaving through hybrid bikes and market stalls. The city's hum seemed to blur around him, muffled beneath the rush of blood and memory.

Dævd (thinking):

"If they're tracking me… they'll go after her."

The thought hit harder than any blow.

He picked up speed.

Lila Senses It Too

Lila's home stood firm and elegant, tucked between solar-lit trees and polished concrete walkways, with a cyber-kitchen garden humming quietly by the window.

Inside, the air was calm, too calm.

Lila stood by the window, one hand curled around a ceramic mug, the other subtly adjusting the lens of a hovering scanner orb.

Then, her gaze lifted.

Sirens wailed faintly from a few blocks away.

Distant. But growing louder.

A sudden breeze stirred the curtains.

Something… shifted.

Lila (muttering):

"…Dævd?"

She placed the mug down, eyes narrowing.

She moved toward the wall, her fingers brushing against a panel hidden in the frame. A soft click opened a concealed compartment. Nestled inside was a carbon-forged case, cold to the touch and humming with hidden circuitry.

The front door slammed open a moment later.

Dævd rushed in, breath ragged, sweat along his collarbone.

Dævd:

"They're here. I felt it. I saw one."

Lila didn't ask who.

She was already placing the case on the table, unlocking it with practiced precision.

Lila:

"How long do we have?"

Dævd (quietly):

"Not long."

Lila opened the case with a press of her fingertip. It scanned her fingerprint, hissing slightly as the seal broke, a soft pulse of Aetherian light spilled out into the room.

Inside lay Lucent Grave.

The sword shimmered faintly even in the low light. Its sleek, obsidian-dark metal bore radiant etchings that pulsed like veins of lightning. Though dormant, it vibrated with a kind of quiet urgency — like it knew something was coming.

Lila:

"Take it."

Dævd's breath caught. His eyes locked onto the blade.

Dævd (softly):

"I wasn't supposed to use it again… not here."

Lila (calm, serious):

"And yet here we are. If they've found you, you won't outrun them without this."

Dævd (calm, serious):

"No… I'm done running."

The sirens still echoed faintly in the distance but their direction was shifting. The pattern was off, scattered.

Dævd gripped Lucent Grave and slowly unsheathed it halfway. Lightning etched into the blade sparked faintly as it breathed the air.

Dævd:

"It's responding… even though I haven't activated it."

Lila:

"It never stopped responding to you."

She paused.

Lila:

"This time, don't just swing it. Listen to it."

Dævd tightened the black harness across his chest, locking Lucent Grave into place on his back. The sword remained hidden but hummed with restrained power against his back.

Lila turned toward him, gaze unflinching.

Lila (softly):

"You've survived worse. You'll survive this too. But don't forget… you're not alone anymore."

Dævd gave her a tight nod, pulling up his hood.

Outside, the sky had dulled, clouds settling like smoke over the district. Vendors packed early. Even the air felt tense, crackling faintly with distant static.

Dævd adjusted his grip on the hidden blade beneath his hoodie, the hum of Lucent Grave steady against his back.

He exhaled, voice low but resolute.

Dævd (to himself):

"I'm done running. They took everything from me before…"

"…and I won't let it happen again."

Each step he took was deliberate. No more hesitation. No more hiding.

He moved fast, sliding through the alleyways, tension building in his chest like a storm. He wasn't heading toward safety anymore.

He was heading into it.

Dævd:

"Whatever's out there…if it's one of Kael's… then let it come."

The neighborhood was quieter now.

Dævd stepped past a closed pharmacy, its LED sign flickering nervously in red and green. The breeze picked up, carrying with it the scent of ash and ozone. He stopped beneath a half-finished overpass, concrete pillars casting long shadows that felt too still.

Dævd:

"It's never this quiet…"

A subtle hum began to build in his ears, not sound, exactly, but a pressure. Like something pushing against the edge of his perception.

His fingers brushed the hilt of Lucent Grave, still hidden beneath his hoodie. It pulsed once, faintly. Not in warnin, but in recognition.

Dævd (thinking):

"Something's close. But why can't I see it?"

He scanned the rooftops. Nothing. The street was empty. No footsteps. No whispers. Just the sound of a cracked streetlamp buzzing softly above him.

Then, a flicker.

Not movement, but the absence of it. Like space itself had stuttered on a rooftop across the street.

The eerie stillness shattered.

A thunderous boom erupted in the distance, not just loud, but seismic, the kind of blast that vibrated through your bones before your brain even processed it.

Dævd spun toward the sound, eyes widening. A glowing column of smoke and flame rose above the far end of the district, blackening the morning sky. Glass rained from shattered buildings. Distant screams followed, fractured by sirens now echoing across the city.

His blindfold twitched. Lucent Grave thrummed against his back.

Dævd (low):

"That wasn't random. That was a message."

Without hesitation, he stepped back, then launched himself skyward.

A blast of pressure cracked the pavement beneath his feet as he soared upward. Wind tore at his hoodie, his silver-white locs streaming behind him. The city unfolded beneath him in flickering detail — solar-paneled rooftops, neon billboards, panicked civilians scattering in the streets.

And at the epicenter of the destruction…

He saw him.

A monstrous figure tearing through vehicles like paper. Thick, armored limbs. A jagged sigil burning across his chest. Rukorr, one of Kael's Branded. His presence pulsed like a black hole, drawing screams and smoke in every direction. The ground cracked beneath each step he took.

People fled in every direction, their cries muffled by the shock of what they were seeing, or what they couldn't comprehend.

Dævd's fists clenched midair.

Dævd (grim):

"Alright… let's dance."