The fight ended in silence and smoke.
Four Seekers, bound with Wren's reinforced cord, sat propped against the cavern wall, their weapons piled far out of reach.
The masked woman glared at Cara from behind her respirator, defiant even in defeat. The dreadlocked man tested the cords at his wrists until Wren slammed a boot into his shoulder and stilled him without a word.
Wren crouched in front of the oldest Seeker, the one who had assembled the extractor. He didn't speak—he didn't have to. Instead, his hands moved in sharp, deliberate signs: What is the Spine? What were you taking? Who are you working for?
The man hesitated. Wren's expression didn't change, but his eyes hardened, and he reached forward, plucking something from the Seeker's coat—a small data chip.
The old man's lips tightened. "You won't understand."
Wren just tapped his temple, then the chip, then his own tablet. He would understand.
Cara didn't stay for the rest. The Spine was calling her again.
She approached slowly, the blackened sword dissolving back into her arm as her palm came to rest against the warm crystal.
[Bloodline Resonance Established]
[Reward Unlocked: Ability – "Pulse Step"]
Description: Compress and release stored kinetic energy for instantaneous short-range movement. Cooldown: 12 seconds.]
The golden veins brightened under her touch, and the voice filled her mind again, no longer strained but strong, reverberating like a bell through her bones.
Guardian born of my line, the first bond is made. There will be others. You will find them.
She drew back, breathing a little faster, testing the new sensation in her muscles. Energy coiled in her calves and heels, like a spring waiting to be released.
When she turned, Wren was already watching her, one eyebrow lifted—not in surprise, but in the way of someone mentally cataloguing what she'd just gained.
"Later," she told him quietly.
He nodded once, then flicked the data chip toward her. "Got us a lead," he signed.
The bound Seekers shifted uneasily. Cara caught the masked woman's eye and said, "You're going to tell us everything about who sent you and why. Otherwise…" She let the sentence hang, the glow from the Spine casting her shadow long across the floor.
The hum of the crystal deepened, like a warning.
Even through the mask, she could see the woman's composure falter.
The White Space
Wren worked in silence, a shadow crouched before the bound Seekers. His hands moved with economical precision, pulling information like threads from a tangled knot.
The dreadlocked man was stubborn at first, smirking at every question. Wren didn't respond with threats—he simply changed tactics, showing them fragments from the data chip on his tablet: maps, coded messages, and images of the Seekers themselves, all neatly decrypted in seconds.
That got their attention.
Cara didn't watch.
Not because she didn't want to but because the moment her hand brushed the Spine again, the world blinked out.
The cavern, the smoke, the muffled voices—all dissolved into blinding white.
Her breath caught, and then she saw him: the tall, weathered man in the simple tunic, hair bound at the nape, eyes as sharp as cut glass.
Her great-great-great-grandfather.
"Cara," he said, voice like warm stone under sunlight. "You've begun well. But you don't yet understand the scale of the board you've stepped onto."
She frowned. "Then explain it."
He walked a slow circle around her, hands clasped behind his back. "The Spine you saved is one of seven. Each is a keystone in the lattice that holds our world's true power in place. In the wrong hands, they are not just weapons—they are doors."
"Doors to where?"
His gaze lingered on her, almost pitying. "To realms where even death has no dominion. Where those who ruled before your kind still wait for a chance to return."
Her pulse quickened. "And the Seekers?"
"Pawns, though they believe themselves knights. They serve a hidden patron—someone who knows the lattice better than most. Someone who will try to turn you."
"And the Dominion?"
He smiled faintly, though there was no humour in it. "The Dominion believes it serves order. In truth, it serves fear. They will destroy what they cannot control, even if it costs them the world."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Your task remains unchanged: secure each Spine, bind it to your blood, and deny it to all others. The system will guide you, but know this—each victory will draw more eyes. Allies will appear, but so will hunters."
Cara's jaw tightened. "Then I'll be ready."
He nodded once. "One more thing. Wren—your mute friend—is more important than you realise. His path has brushed ours before. When the time comes, you will have to trust him with the truth."
Before she could ask what he meant, the white light began to fade, pulling her back.
She blinked—and was once again in the cavern, the golden light of the Spine behind her. Wren was looking at her from across the chamber, signing: We have a location. Hidden base. City.
Her grandfather's words still echoed in her head.
And she knew, without a doubt, their next move had just been decided.
Steel and Smoke
The Spine's hum had barely settled when a sharp crump echoed through the cavern. Dust sifted down from the ceiling in fine streams.
Wren froze, his head tilting toward the sound. The Seekers tensed against their bindings, and the masked woman gave a low, mirthless laugh.
"They've found you," she said.
It came again—this time accompanied by the shriek of tortured metal somewhere above. Then the thud-thud-thud of heavy boots in unison.
Cara's system overlay flared red:
[Proximity Alert – Dominion Strike Team: ETA 90 seconds]
Wren was already moving, packing his tablet and slinging the rope coil over his shoulder. He signed: Move. Now.
Cara grabbed the cord binding the Seekers and yanked them to their feet. "Congratulations—you're coming with us. Try to run, and I'll let him deal with you."
The dreadlocked man glanced at Wren, saw the unblinking stare, and didn't argue.
They skirted the cavern's edge toward the passage they'd entered through. Halfway there, the tunnel ahead exploded inward, chunks of stone rolling across the floor.
Black-armoured Dominion troopers poured in, rifles raised.
Wren shoved Cara sideways into a side passage as the first shots cracked through the air.
The masked woman was shouting something behind them—probably trying to make herself useful now that the Dominion had arrived—but Cara didn't stop to listen.
The narrow tunnel twisted, splitting twice before dumping them onto a high ledge overlooking the flooded section they'd crossed earlier.
Wren was already uncoiling rope, fastening it to an iron ring buried in the stone. "Go," he signed, jerking his chin toward the drop.
Cara slid down first, the rope burning faintly under her gloves. The Seekers followed under watchful eyes, the splash of their landings echoing in the darkness. Wren was last, detaching the rope and letting it drop to the water.
Shouts echoed above them, and a searchlight beam knifed through the tunnel.
"Move!" Cara snapped, shoving the Seekers ahead. The flooded passage was slower this time, the icy water pulling at their legs.
Behind them, Dominion boots hit the water.
Wren dropped two smoke grenades in quick succession, and the cavern filled with swirling grey haze. It wouldn't stop the Dominion, but it might buy them the seconds they needed.
They reached a rusted service hatch, half-hidden behind collapsed rock. Wren forced it open, revealing a ladder vanishing upward.
Cara gestured the Seekers through, then followed, climbing fast having to drag the bound Seekers who could only use their legs. The rungs rattled under their combined weight, and the air grew warmer the higher they went.
When they emerged, it was into a forgotten boiler room, the smell of dust and oil thick in the air. Somewhere above, the muted thump of helicopter rotors churned.
Cara looked at Wren. "We're not out yet, are we?"
He shook his head once. Not even close.
City Shadows
The boiler room's single exit was a rust-flaked steel door. Wren shoved it open, and cold night air rushed in, thick with rain.
They emerged into a narrow alley choked with trash bins and dripping fire escapes. Beyond the mouth of the alley, city lights burned hazy through the downpour.
Behind them, the muffled boom of a breaching charge rolled through the ground.
[Pursuit Detected – Dominion Proximity: 55m]
Wren didn't bother with signs—he just ran, dragging the first Seeker by the binding cord. Cara yanked the rest into motion, boots splashing through puddles as they wove between dumpsters and abandoned crates.
They cut across a service street, dodging the glare of passing headlights. A block away, a black Dominion SUV roared past, rain beading on its armoured shell.
Wren led them into another alley, then vaulted a low brick wall into the courtyard of a derelict factory. The Seekers stumbled after, cursing under their breath.
From somewhere above, a Dominion drone's searchlight swept across the courtyard. Cara grabbed Wren's sleeve and pulled him behind a leaning stack of pallets, holding still as the light passed, then moved on.
"Where are we going?" she hissed.
Wren pointed down the street beyond the factory wall, then mimed an archway.
Railway yard.
If they could lose the Dominion in the labyrinth of freight containers and sidings, they'd have a shot at disappearing.
They pushed on, the streets widening now, lined with shuttered warehouses. Sirens wailed in the distance, their direction shifting as units redeployed. Twice they had to duck into doorways to avoid patrols, the Seekers growing more restless with each stop.
Then came the unmistakable growl of heavy tyres behind them.
Wren spun, eyes narrowing at the twin beams cutting through the rain.
Black SUV. Closing fast.
He gestured sharply—Split!—and Cara didn't hesitate, shoving two Seekers toward him and hauling the others down a side street.
The engine roar climbed, the vehicle skidding into the turn after her.
She felt the Pulse Step ability coil in her muscles, the energy building like a storm in her legs.
"Alright," she muttered. "Let's see how this works."
She launched forward—her body blurring in the rain, the ground vanishing under her in a rush of momentum. She landed ten metres ahead, knees flexing, still moving at full speed. The seekers struggled to keep up.
Behind her, the SUV fishtailed, struggling to keep up in the slick streets.
Far ahead, the glow of the railway yard's floodlights cut through the dark.
If she could make it there before the Dominion boxed them in, they might just vanish into the city's steel veins.
Steel Veins
The first clanging boom of a container door slamming shut echoed across the railway yard before Cara even crossed the perimeter fence.
She vaulted the chain-link, dragging one Seeker with her and leaving the other who made a run for it. She landed hard on wet ballast. The yard stretched wide and tangled—rows of stacked containers rising like rusted walls, freight wagons sitting idle on slick tracks, puddles glinting in the floodlight glare. The smell of oil filled the air.
Behind her, the SUV tore through the service gate, tyres skidding on wet asphalt.
[Environmental Hazard: Low Visibility + Rain – Stealth Efficiency +15%]
Perfect.
She yanked the Seeker forward and ducked into the shadow between two container stacks. The drone of the SUV's engine was joined by the heavy crunch of boots—Dominion ground team deployed.
Wren's group was somewhere else in the yard. No comms, no contact. Just the rain, the steel, and the pounding of her own heart.
The searchlights swept methodically, white arcs bouncing off corrugated metal. A trooper's silhouette passed close, weapon held tight. Cara pressed flat to the container wall, letting him pass before darting across an open siding.
The Pulse Step flared in her legs again—one controlled burst carried her over a rail car coupling and into the shadow of a tanker wagon. The Seeker stumbled trying to keep up, earning a sharp shhh! from her.
A shot rang out somewhere to her left. Not at her—at someone else. Wren. She could feel it.
Two Dominion troopers broke from their pattern, heading toward the gunfire. Cara slipped behind them, moving parallel, then cut sharply through a narrow gap between containers.
She emerged onto a central artery of the yard—wide, open, lit from above. Bad ground for evasion.
The SUV spotted her immediately. Headlights flared bright, engine roaring as it surged forward.
She sprinted down the artery, heart hammering. At the last moment, she hooked her arm around a ladder bolted to a container side and swung herself up in three quick motions. The Seeker followed, slower, almost losing his grip.
They reached the top as the SUV screeched to a halt below, its roof no more than a metre from her boots. Troopers spilled out, shouting orders.
Cara dropped flat and crawled along the top of the containers, rain pattering against the steel. She could see the yard's far perimeter now—darkness beyond the floodlights.
The Pulse Step coiled again, and she used it to leap the gap to the next stack. Her landing was silent in the rain.
Below, the troopers lost her. Their lights swept back and forth, beams bouncing off empty steel walls.
She dropped down the far side, landing beside a row of boxcars. Wren emerged from the shadows there, the other two Seekers in tow. His eyes swept her and the one she'd brought, then he signed quickly: Perimeter breach—north gate. Go.
Together, they slipped into the dark beyond the floodlights, the Dominion's search still sweeping fruitlessly behind them.