The vault trembled as another explosion rippled through the undercity. Dust drifted from the ceiling in lazy spirals while alarms wailed in a dozen incompatible tones — as if the security system couldn’t decide whether it was burning, drowning, or being eaten by void-beasts.
Kael Nightflare leaned against a crate labeled STRICTLY FORBIDDEN, casually picking grit from under his fingernails.
“Relax,” he muttered toward the screaming alarms. “You’re overreacting. It’s one collapsing corridor. Two, at most.”
A shower of sparks rained behind him. But, he didn’t look back. Instead, he lifted the palm-sized relic hovering over his hand — a fractal prism carved with impossible geometry, pulsing like an ember trapped inside a star.
The Aetherion Shard.
Worth a fortune, a death sentence, and certainly worth every faction’s hatred and obsession.
Kael whistled low. “You, my glimmering little mistake, are going to become an absolutely terrible life decision. ”
The relic flickered — pulsing from crimson to void-black. The lights around him dimmed in response.
“Hey now,” Kael said, pointing at it. “We talked about this, no destabilizing!”
Another explosion roared from somewhere above, dusting him in soot.
He sighed. “Fine. Minimal destabilizing. We’ll work on boundaries later.”
Boots thundered in the corridor ahead— Forged soldiers.
A metallic voice boomed:
“KAEL NIGHTFLARE. SURRENDER THE SHARD.”
Kael rolled his eyes. “You’re gonna need A LOT more guys..”
He snapped his fingers — a tiny flare of flame sparking to life.
“Alright, Kael,” he whispered to himself. “Three options. Door, vent, or incredibly stupid.”
He grinned, he was always going to choose incredibly stupid. The Forged rounded the corner just as Kael swept into a deeply mocking bow.
“Gentlemen! You made it! I was afraid you’d miss the grand finale.”
He tapped the floating relic.
“And trust me… this show? You’d better get your popcorn ready,” winking as he hurled the shard upward.
The room warped, time buckled. Flame and void intertwined in a swirling vortex of heat and shadow that bent the air like molten glass.
The Forged staggered, armor systems shorting from contradictory energies. Kael’s body flickered — half flame, half silhouette — as he stepped straight through the collapsing dimensional ripple forming around him. Smirking as he vanished.
“No you see me….. now you don’t!”
The ripple snapped shut with a thunderclap, leaving scorched walls, disoriented soldiers, and a single message burned into the ground:
CALL ME LATER, K?! ;P
Love, — K. N.
