fire on the wind

The Vault trembled.

Kael could feel it — in the air, in the floor, in the part of his chest where the relic spark now burned.

"Malrix is coming," Nyra said.

He didn't ask how she knew.

The sky above them, seen through the broken dome of the Vault's ceiling, had turned the color of bruised steel. A gunship shadow passed once, then again. The hum of thrusters echoed.

BITS spun in tight circles. "Yep. We are officially on someone's hit list. And they brought all the bullets."

Kael looked at the relic device—the Starkey—still humming in his hand.

"What do we do with this?" he asked.

Nyra grabbed his shoulder. "We run."

---

They bolted down the Vault's main stairway, the echo of their boots lost in the rising wind.

Above them, the gunship descended.

And from it, came her.

Malrix.

Clad in black armor laced with crimson veins of relic circuitry. Her eyes glowed faint orange. Her voice, even filtered through her helmet, was ice and command.

"Kael Veylan," she said, almost calmly, "you have something that does not belong to you."

Kael turned at the base of the stairwell, sword drawn. "That's funny. I was thinking the same thing about your fashion sense."

BITS whispered, "Maybe don't sass the supervillain with hunter-killer squads?"

Malrix lifted one hand.

From the cliffs, her soldiers emerged—four of them, all augmented, fast, and already moving.

Nyra was faster.

She spun into motion, hurling two throwing knives in the same heartbeat. One hit a soldier's visor dead-center. The other sliced through a wrist joint. Kael followed, his blade flaring to life with a sharp crack of light.

The first soldier met him mid-charge—Kael ducked, pivoted, then countered with a brutal upward swing. The relic blade cut through armor like it was paper.

Another charged Nyra, but she danced back, slashing with precision and fury.

Malrix simply watched.

Kael shouted up to her, "Why do you want the Starkey?"

She stepped forward. "To open the past. And burn the future."

He frowned. "That's not vague and terrifying at all."

Malrix raised her other hand. Her gauntlet pulsed.

Suddenly—Kael's blade shut off.

"What—?!" he gasped.

BITS screamed, "She's using a relic dampener! She can disable older tech—your sword included!"

Nyra kicked her opponent down and ran to Kael. "We need to move."

He nodded, pocketing the Starkey and ducking behind a column. His breath came hard. "We're not going to make it at this rate."

BITS flickered. "Actually… I might know a way."

Kael and Nyra stared at the little bot.

"You do?" Nyra asked, surprised.

BITS puffed up slightly. "I've been scanning the Vault schematics. There's a maintenance shaft below the throne room. It connects to the old monorail line. Could take us past the blockade."

Kael grinned. "Lead the way, bits-for-brains."

BITS buzzed. "Hurtful but deserved. Follow me!"

---

They ran through the Vault, dodging collapsing beams and relic systems waking up in confusion. The floor vibrated with ancient engines—some powering up for the first time in decades, some dying permanently.

The hidden shaft was narrow, dark, and smelled like ozone and metal rot. They slid down on broken cables, landing hard.

"Where's this rail line?" Kael asked.

BITS projected a map. "Three corridors south, one turn, jump over the lava pipe—don't ask—and then pray."

"Classic directions," Nyra said.

---

They reached the line.

It was cracked, half-buried, and barely intact—but there was still one car intact. A sleek silver transport, relic-forged, dormant.

Kael placed the Starkey into a port near the door.

The car lit up.

Its doors opened with a chime.

BITS beeped. "All aboard the 'Please Don't Die Express!'"

They leapt inside just as soldiers stormed down the corridor behind them.

The car surged forward.

---

Outside the car, the tunnel blazed past—old city lights flickering on as they sped through.

Kael sat slumped, blade across his knees. "She knew my name."

Nyra nodded. "She knows a lot. More than anyone should."

Kael looked at her. "Do you?"

She didn't answer right away. Then: "I know she's not working alone. And I know if we don't get to the Arkenspire first… she'll open something we can't close."

Kael held up the Starkey. "This is our only shot?"

BITS beeped. "No pressure or anything, but yeah."

---

Far behind them, Malrix stepped into the throne room, where the Starkey had once rested.

She knelt, placing her hand where Kael had sat.

For a moment, nothing.

Then a faint pulse of heat ran through the floor.

She smiled beneath her helmet.

"Good," she whispered. "He's awake."