Mando woke choking.
Not from a dream. but from pressure.
His chest burned as if something inside him had taken its first breath. The room felt wrong. Too quiet. The hum of the city outside his window had vanished, replaced by a low, subsonic thrum that vibrated through his bones.
He sat up sharply.
The air shimmered.
For a split second, symbols angular, incomplete flashed across his vision like afterimages burned into his eyes. They weren't words. They felt designed.
Then pain hit.
Not physical. Instinctive.
Run.
Mando staggered out of bed, heart hammering. The pressure pulled at him, guiding him like a hook beneath the ribs. Whatever it was, it wasn't inside the apartment anymore.
It was outside.
He didn't wake Aysh.
He didn't know why only that something deep inside him screamed that if she saw what was coming, she'd never look at him the same again.
The lower district swallowed him whole.
Rain slicked the streets, neon lights stretching into warped reflections as the pressure intensified with every step. By the time he reached the alley, his hands were shaking
That was when the thing crawled out of the shadows.
A mass of bone and shadow, joints bending the wrong way, its face split by a mouth full of grinding teeth. It wasn't alive not fully. It moved like a broken command still trying to execute.
Mando backed away
The creature lunged.
Fear snapped into clarity.
Something answered.
The air around his right hand folded inward, reality compressing like metal under heat. Pain flared then release.
A weapon formed in his grip.
Not summoned.
Forged.
He didn't think. He didn't aim.
He fired because he needed to live.
The shots tore through the creature with surgical precision, as if the weapon knew exactly what it was built to destroy. The thing collapsed into inert ash, its form unraveling like a failed equation.
The gun dissolved seconds later, breaking into light that sank back into his skin.
Silence returned.
Mando stood there shaking, rain soaking him to the bone. For a long moment, he didn't move just stared at the empty space where the weapon had been, his fingers curled as if they still remembered its weight.
Then he turned and walked away.
And somewhere beneath the city, systems awakened.
When Mando returned to the alley, the echo of his footsteps was swallowed by the heavy rain.
The place looked ordinary too ordinary. No body. No blood. Just scorched concrete and a faint wrongness in the air that made his skin prickle.
He stopped where it had happened.
Still unsure of what he'd witnessed, he lifted his hand slowly. The gun, the one that had appeared out of nowhere was gone, yet it felt present, like an afterimage burned into his nerves. His grip tightened around nothing.
He could still see the monster's snarling face.
Still hear the sound of it collapsing under the force of shots he hadn't meant to fire.
As the city lights flickered above him, he closed his eyes and focused, trying to recall how he had summoned the weapon.
Nothing. No effort. Just… instinct.
The feeling lingered unnatural, yet undeniable.
He raised his hand again, willing the gun to return. Nothing happened. The air felt still, too still.
Then, a voice behind him broke the silence.
"You won't summon it if you try."
Mando spun around, his hand reflexively tightening on the air. Kael stood in the shadows, tall, still, his presence almost blending with the night. Mando hadn't heard him approach, hadn't noticed him at all.
"You can see me?" Mando asked, his heart still racing from the sudden appearance.
"I've been watching you," Kael replied, his tone flat. He stepped forward, eyes scanning Mando. "Don't try to force it."
Mando blinked, confused.
"Try to force it? What are you talking about?"
Kael's lips twitched into a faint smile, but there was no warmth in it.
"You're trying too hard. You're trying to control it, bend it to your will. That's not how it works."
Mando stood silently, the rain running down his face, his grip still tight around the empty air. His mind struggled to piece together the puzzle.
"Then how? How does it work?"
Kael's smile faded, and he took a slow step closer, eyes locked on Mando's.
"You have a rare gift, one that many never develop, but you must understand the truth behind it. Your weapon doesn't respond to force. It responds to need."
Mando's frown deepened. The words sounded cryptic, like a riddle.
"Need? What do you mean?"
Kael stepped closer still, his presence intensifying the quiet of the alley. He placed his hand on Mando's shoulder, his touch firm.
"You've lived in a world of rules and limitations. People wake up with their power. But you," he paused, his voice softening, "you are different. You don't just summon a weapon, you forge it."
The weight of his words hit Mando like a wave. He opened his mouth, but no words came.
Kael's eyes narrowed, studying him. "I'm here to teach you to survive in a world that wants to control you." His gaze turned cold. "And you'll need to learn fast, because the others will be coming soon."
Later that night, Mando returned to his apartment, his mind too full to process everything Kael had said. The door clicked shut behind him, and as he kicked off his shoes, he glanced over at Aysh sitting in the dim light of their small kitchen, her hands resting on the table. She looked up as he entered, her face carefully neutral, but he could sense the tension in her posture.
"Long day?" she asked softly.
Mando nodded, but he didn't answer immediately. The unease that had been building since earlier that day tightened in his chest.
"You're hiding something," he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.
Aysh froze, her expression unreadable. The silence between them stretched, thick and heavy, as if the words that hung in the air could break everything apart.
"What do you mean?" Aysh asked, her voice steady.
"I don't know," Mando admitted. "But I know something's off. You've been… different lately. I feel like you're hiding something from me."
Aysh stood and walked over to him, a smile softening her face. She reached out and gently cupped his face in her hands, her fingers warm against his skin.
"Mando," she whispered, her voice like silk, "you're just tired. I'm not hiding anything."
Her smile was warm, but there was something in her eyes, something that didn't quite match her words.
Mando stared at her, searching her face, but he found no answers there. He nodded, forcing a smile of his own.
"Yeah… maybe you're right."
He leaned in and kissed her gently, but the weight of the unspoken words hung in the air, lingering between them.
In the darkness of the apartment, Aysh stood by the window, her eyes distant, as the city lights flickered in the distance. She exhaled slowly, her breath catching in her chest as she looked at the communicator she'd kept hidden in her pocket.
The message glowed, its words clear:
"Mando's awakening is too dangerous. You need to deal with him. Or he becomes a threat."
Aysh clenched her fists, turning away from the window.
"I'll keep him safe," she whispered to herself. "But at what cost?"
End of Chapter 2