The rogue skyland Kael had claimed didn't exist on most maps. No name, no record. It floated far beyond imperial routes, barely tethered by gravity. The air was rough. Lightning fell without warning. A constant storm zone.
To Kael, it was home.
The Stormworn stood on a jagged cliff overlooking broken reefs. Below, the mist swirled like coils of smoke.
Kael faced his team. "Scouts picked up Dreadwing signal. One of their gliders crashed on the reef shelf."
"Survivors?" Riven asked, fingers drumming on his scythe-chakram.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, we check it. Fast in, fast out."
Thess stepped forward. "If it's a trap?"
Kael shrugged. "Then we spring it first."
Solienne gave no comment. Her hood was up, mask drawn, shadows flickering around her like second skin.
They jumped.
Skydiving through crosswinds, the team used quick bursts of aether and storm-gliding to land safely on the reef. Stone platforms jutted out like teeth. The wreckage lay half-buried ahead—black-winged and covered in violet scorch marks.
Kael crouched. "Wreck's still warm."
Thess scanned with her grafted eye. "No life signs inside."
She paused. "But…"
"What?" Kael asked.
"There's something below—"
Crack.
The platform under them split open. Spikes of black crystal erupted from the reef as four cloaked figures emerged, wreathed in shadow-mist. Thin masks, pale robes, and curved blades.
Dreadwings.
"Ambush," Kael muttered.
Kael moved first. Flash Step. His body flickered forward like a bolt. He smashed into the nearest cultist with a shoulder slam, followed by a spin-strike from his spear.
Crash Pulse.
Wind exploded from the impact.
The cultist flew back into a coral spire and didn't get up.
Another Dreadwing went for Thess. She dodged sideways, but barely—her heel clipped by a blade.
Riven was faster. He stepped between them and unleashed his weapon—half-blade, half-chain. The scythe curved through the air and sliced the enemy's arm clean off. A follow-up twist snapped the neck.
Thess coughed. "I'm fine."
Solienne engaged the third. Shadow flickers, silent movement. She blinked from one spot to the next, her daggers cutting shallow wounds, death by a thousand cuts. Blood painted the stones.
Kael faced the last one—taller, armored, and familiar.
"You again," the Dreadwing growled. "Stormspawn."
Kael didn't waste words.
He struck fast.
Spear-first.
Then footwork.
Momentum built.
He slipped past the enemy's guard and drove his weapon straight through the cultist's shoulder. The Dreadwing gasped and tried to retreat—but Kael followed with a body blow that shattered the mask.
The enemy dissolved into mist, screeching.
Silence returned. The air settled.
"Four down," Riven said.
"Too easy," Solienne muttered, cleaning her blade.
Kael moved to the wreck. The ship was split open. Inside the console chamber, a black shard floated above a metal altar—pulsing with energy.
Thess stepped up. "Soul-marked."
"Trap?" Kael asked.
She nodded. "But it's stable now. Dreadwing tech."
Kael reached out, hand hovering. "Let's see what you're hiding."
He grabbed it.
A pulse of memory surged through him—images, locations, a name whispered through wind: Stormrift Hollow.
Kael's eyes opened. "They're building something. Down in the Hollow."
Back at the base, the team sat around a stone platform while the shard hovered in a containment ring. It pulsed every few seconds like a heartbeat.
"It's a locator," Thess said. "Points to a ruin in the Hollow. Abandoned nexus gate. Long dead."
"Not anymore," Kael said. "They've reactivated it."
Riven looked up. "You sure it's not a Dreadwing tomb trap?"
Kael shook his head. "They wouldn't guard junk with four soul-bound warriors. That gate's important."
Solienne crossed her arms. "We don't have clearance to go that deep."
Kael stood. "We don't need it. The fleet won't go near the Hollow. Too unstable. That means we're the only ones who can."
Thess frowned. "It's suicide."
"Then we fly faster than death."
Night fell.
Kael couldn't sleep. He stood at the edge of the base, watching lightning in the distance.
The shard floated beside him. Still pulsing.
He opened his palm.
"I know you're bait," he whispered. "But I'm done waiting."
The wind stirred around him.
His Truth Binding flared.
Keep moving. Or die.
He smiled. "Then let's move."
End of Chapter 4