The hideout was unusually silent. Lucian sat by the cracked window, watching ash drift through the dawn light. His wounds were wrapped, but the pain pulsed steadily beneath the bandages.
Jace was cleaning weapons on the table. Kia paced by the stove, arms folded, biting his lip. "I said I'm fine," Lucian muttered, sensing the weight of their stares.
"You almost bled to death," Kia snapped, spinning to face him. "And you're not fine. You were glowing, Lucian. Glowing like one of those creatures! "I said drop it." Lucian screamed.
"No!" Kia's voice cracked. "You keep saying that! You almost lost your life, and now you're acting like nothing happened?"
Jace didn't look up. "He's scared, Kia. Let him be."
Lucian stood slowly. "I'm not scared."
Jace glanced up now, eyes sharp. "Then why won't you talk about what you are?"
Lucian met his gaze but said nothing.
Because he didn't know.
Because every time he tried to remember his past,his family, his bloodline,there was a wall of smoke,Screams,Fire and that haunting lab. He only knew one thing . His blood was dangerous.
Later that day, Kia slipped out. Lucian was asleep on the floor, exhausted from the healing surge. Jace was upstairs sharpening blades. The bunker was quiet.
Kia hesitated at the door.
He'd heard whispers in the market two days ago of someone in the eastern district, an old tech-runner who used to work with rogue bloodlines.
Someone who might know what Lucian was.
He needed answers. Lucian wouldn't go looking, so he'd do it himself.
He just had to be careful, Quick and quiet.
And pray the Shochers weren't watching.
But they were anyway.
Kia found the tech-runner in the ruins of what used to be a library.
She was older than he expected. Grey-streaked braids. One mechanical arm. Her voice was low and warm.
"You're looking for information about bloodline awakenings?" she asked.
Kia nodded.
The woman squinted at him. "You're not the one, though. Not the Source. You're close to him, but you're not him."
"You can tell?"
"Of course." She tapped her temple. "This tech's more than just for show."
She reached for a cracked console and tapped in a few codes.
A faded hologram flickered into view an old seal. A bloodline mark.
Kia leaned forward.
The woman spoke quietly. "That symbol... belonged to the House of Solvahr. Thought to be extinct. Until recently."
"Lucian," Kia whispered.
"Yes. If he's manifesting raw power with no training, then he's a Solvahr. And if that's true... the Shochers won't stop. They'll burn the world to find him."
"Why?"
The woman turned toward him, voice like smoke.
"Because the last Solvahr nearly did burn the world." she shrugged.
Back at the hideout, Lucian woke to a loud noise.
He shot upright, reaching for his blade but it was already too late.
Smoke was pouring through the window. Footsteps thundered above.
They had been found.
Jace burst through the trapdoor, two knives in hand. "Shochers. Three...no, four. One's a pyro."
Lucian cursed and rose unsteadily. "Where's Kia?"
"Gone. Left hours ago. Idiot didn't even leave a note."
Lucian's chest tightened. He couldn't think about that now. They had to move.
"We escape through the lower tunnels," he said quickly. "Now."
But the door exploded inward.
And Marinette walked through the flames.
She wasn't alone this time.
Two Shocher assassins flanked her one masked, one tall with burning eyes. The third was a tech-witch, wires pulsing around her arms.
Marinette's red braid swung as she stepped forward.
"Miss me?" she purred.
Lucian's blade was already in hand.
Jace stood beside him, jaw clenched.
"Still bleeding?" Marinette asked sweetly. "Don't worry. I'll make it quick this time."
Lucian didn't answer. He moved.
Their blades clashed instantly...metal ringing against metal, power sparking with every hit. Marinette was faster now, more vicious.
Behind them, Jace engaged the pyro-assassin. Fire arced toward him, but he flipped sideways, slashing low.
The tech-witch began chanting, her voice like broken code. Symbols lit up in the air.
Lucian knocked Marinette back and hurled a knife at the witch, it embedded in her shoulder, breaking the spell. She screamed.
Marinette used the distraction.
She slammed a boot into Lucian's chest, sending him flying across the room. He hit the wall hard, groaning.
"You're not fighting like before," she hissed, approaching. "Where's the fire now? Used it all up, didn't you?"
Lucian coughed blood. "You talk too much."
She raised her blade. But just then " Boom "
The back wall shattered. A blast of smoke and light blew through the room, knocking everyone down.
Kia stood in the breach, hands covered in soot. He held a glowing device,one of the stolen Shocher disruptors.
"You want my brother?" Kia shouted. "Come through me." Lucian's eyes widened. "Kia NO!"
But it was too late. The disruptor overloaded. The entire building shook.
When the smoke cleared, Lucian found himself buried under debris. He pushed upward, coughing hard, blood in his throat.
"Kia!" he yelled.
He stumbled over to where the wall had collapsed.
Jace was dragging himself up, bleeding from the forehead.
The Shochers were gone.
All except Marinette.
She lay across the rubble, dazed but alive. Blood dripped from her temple. She looked up at Lucian, her eyes strange.
"You don't get it," she rasped. "We're not here to kill you."
Lucian froze.
"What?"
Î
Marinette coughed. "The Shochers... they want your blood. Not to destroy it. To use it."
"What are you talking about?"
She smiled faintly. "You're not the last Solvahr. You're the key to unlocking something older than all of us. They need you alive. They need your core to open the Vault."
Lucian's breath caught.
"What Vault?"
Marinette passed out before she could answer.
They found Kia beneath a pile of wood and plaster.
Alive but barely breathing.
Lucian carried him out into the night, Jace limping behind.
The hideout was gone. So was their peace.
They fled east, under cover of dusk. Past the river, into the hollow tunnels beneath Sector Nine.
Lucian watched over Kia as he slept, chest rising in shallow breaths.
"You saved us," he whispered.
Kia didn't stir.
Jace sat by the tunnel wall, sharpening what little gear they had left. "She said something before she passed out."
Lucian nodded. "About the Vault."
Jace was quiet for a moment. Then:
"I've heard of it. Old tech. Some say it's buried in the Ashroot Mountains. A prison. Or maybe a gateway."
"To what?"
Jace met his eyes. "To power. To something the Council swore to erase. Maybe even the thing that created the Solvahr line."
Lucian felt ice crawl down his spine.
"And now they want me to open it."
"Looks that way."
Lucian looked at his hands still bruised, still shaking.
"What if I do open it?"
Jace didn't answer.
Much later, when Kia finally opened his eyes, he smiled weakly.
"Still alive," he rasped.
Lucian grabbed his hand. "Don't ever do that again."
Kia chuckled softly. "You're welcome."
Lucian leaned back, closing his eyes briefly.
"I found out more," Kia whispered. "From a tech-runner. Your family, your bloodline it's not extinct. It's dormant. You're the first one in a thousand years to wake it."
Lucian exhaled slowly. "Then I guess I need to find out why."
Far away, in a tower wrapped in steel and stormlight, a figure stood before a screen.
Marinette's report flickered in holographic lines.
"Subject is awakening. Bloodline confirmed. Core is unstable but evolving."
The figure's eyes gleamed.
"Soon," he whispered.
Behind him, a giant door stood sealed by golden runes.
"Soon, the Vault opens."