Kael's pulse thundered as he pressed against a cold steel wall in the Sanctum's inner corridors, the hum of the rift crystal vibrating through the floor. The lumium lights flickered, casting jagged shadows across the maze of pre-Collapse consoles and tangled conduits. His satchel, heavy with the lumium shard, rift crystal, voltspire orb, cinderwisp blade, lumivore core, voidreaver chest plate, and spiral-etched scale, dug into his shoulder, each item a weight of unanswered questions. His scarred arm ached, the void's pull a constant fire in his veins, urging him toward the vault Talia had promised held answers.
Ryn crouched beside him, her plasma pistol gripped tightly, her sharp eyes scanning the darkness. Talia, ahead, worked at a glowing console, her fingers dancing over keys to disable a lumium tripwire that pulsed with deadly energy. The cult leader's voice, deep and void-warped, echoed from the chamber behind them, closer now, his zealots' boots clanging in pursuit.Kael's mind churned. Talia's claim—that his blood was a "void key"—aligned too neatly with the visions: scientists binding the void to human hosts, a child as the key.
The voidreaver's fall had confirmed it, but the cult leader's pursuit felt personal, as if he knew Kael beyond his powers. Ryn's silence did not help; her smirks hid too much. He trusted neither, but the vault's records were his only lead to the truth about the Collapse, the void, and himself. He would not lose it to fear.
A memory struck, sharp and heavy. Kael was nine, curled in a junkyard shack as Jessa sat by a fire, her face grim. "Your parents were not like us," she had said, her voice low, as if the wasteland listened. "They worked with the void before the Collapse—tried to control it. It cost them everything." Kael had pressed for more, but Jessa's eyes had hardened. "Some truths cut too deep, kid. Stay small, stay safe." He had not understood then, but now, with the cult hunting him, her words felt like a warning he had ignored.
Were his parents part of this Sanctum? Had they made him this—voidborn?Talia's hiss broke his thoughts. "Got it," she said, the tripwire's glow fading. The corridor stretched ahead, lined with holo-drones that flickered with distorted faces, their sensors scanning for intruders.
Kael focused, his shadow cloak wrapping him in darkness, and teleported past the drones, reappearing beside a rusted door. Ryn followed, her movements silent, but her glance at Kael held a question she did not voice. Talia joined them, her scar catching the lumium light. "The vault is close," she said, "but the Sanctum's traps are not just tech. The rift's energy warps them."They moved deeper, the air growing thick with rift energy, whispers brushing Kael's mind—"The key, the gate."
A lumium grid activated, beams crisscrossing the corridor. Kael teleported again, his body flickering through the void, landing on the far side.
Ryn vaulted over, her agility surprising, while Talia hacked a nearby panel, disabling the grid. "You know too much about this place," Kael said, his voice low, the cinderwisp blade heavy in his hand.Talia's eyes flicked to him, unreadable. "I was one of them. I left when I saw what they did to void-touched." Her words hung, incomplete. Ryn snorted softly. "Great. More secrets." Kael's grip tightened. He needed them, but every step felt like a trap.
The vault loomed—a massive steel door, its surface etched with spirals that pulsed faintly. Talia knelt at a pre-Collapse console, her hands steady as she decoded its lock, numbers and symbols flashing across the screen. Kael's chest tightened, the void's hum syncing with his heartbeat. The cult leader's voice grew louder, his zealots' steps echoing closer. "Hurry," Kael urged, his shadow cloak ready to mask them if needed.The door hissed open, revealing a chamber lit by a single lumium orb. A holo-log console stood at its center, its screen flickering with pre-Collapse data. Talia activated it, and a scientist's voice crackled through, her image grainy but urgent. "The void key project succeeded. We bound the void to a bloodline—hosts to unlock the gate.
The Collapse was our failure, but the key lives." Kael froze, the words cutting deep. His bloodline. His parents. The spirals in his satchel burned against his hip, proof of the truth.Ryn's eyes narrowed. "That is you, is it not?" she said, her tone sharp. Kael did not answer, his mind reeling. Talia's hand paused on the console. "There is more," she said, "but we have no time." The cult leader's voice boomed, now at the corridor's end. "Voidborn," he intoned, his form towering, eyes glowing violet through a cracked helm. "Your parents defied us. Their blood is ours."
Kael's heart stopped. The leader knew them. The vault's secrets were his, but so was the danger. He gripped the cinderwisp blade, the void whispering—"Stand or fall." Talia grabbed a data-chip from the console, and Ryn's pistol snapped up, aimed at the approaching zealots. The standoff held, no blades drawn, but the air crackled with the promise of blood.