Fragments of Dawn

Kai stood in the training chamber, the weight of exhaustion pressing down on him like a leaden cloak. His entire body ached from hours—maybe even days—of relentless practice, but he refused to stop. The Keepers had given him something he had never had before: purpose.

And purpose demanded sacrifice.

Across from him, the lead Keeper observed in silence, his expression unreadable. The air between them pulsed with raw energy, time itself subtly bending in response to Kai’s efforts. He had begun to grasp the fundamentals of his ability—to slow time, to extend a moment, to shift the flow of seconds in his favor. But true mastery still lay just beyond his reach.

Kai exhaled, focusing on the dagger still embedded in the floor from his last test. He raised his hand, feeling the currents of time swirl around it. He could slow it. He could pause it. But he still couldn’t reverse it—not without severe backlash.

The Keeper finally spoke. “You are improving. But tell me, Kai Voss—do you know why time resists you?”

Kai frowned. He had asked himself that same question a hundred times already. “Because it has a will of its own?”

The Keeper nodded. “In a sense. Time is not merely a force—it is a current, shaped by every action taken within it. When you attempt to alter what has already happened, you are not merely pulling against a tide. You are fighting against the weight of every decision, every cause and effect that has already been set in motion.”

Kai tightened his fists. He had already felt that resistance firsthand. Every attempt to rewind even the smallest moment had resulted in an immediate backlash, time snapping back like a whip, punishing him for trying to change what had already been written.

“But I have to be able to change the past,” Kai said, frustration creeping into his voice. “If I can’t, then what’s the point of having this power?”

The Keeper regarded him carefully. “What is it you seek to undo?”

The question struck deeper than he expected. His mind flashed to the woman from his memory, the one he had failed to save. The mission. The destruction of the Moon itself.

Everything.

But he didn’t say it out loud.

Instead, he just shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I just need to know how to do it.”

The Keeper stepped forward, his gaze sharp. “Then you must learn control. You are powerful, Kai, but power without control is destruction.”

Kai exhaled sharply and nodded. “Then let’s keep going.”

Miles away, in the ruins of what was once a thriving city, Ava stood atop the remains of a collapsed building, her violet eyes reflecting the fractured sky above. The city was eerily quiet, its broken streets and shattered skyscrapers swallowed by creeping vines and shifting shadows.

Below her, dozens of figures in dark armor moved with precision, their movements sharp, disciplined. The faction she had gathered was growing stronger by the day. Survivors, scavengers, warriors—they had all come to her, drawn to the power she wielded.

And they would need that power for what was to come.

A figure approached—a woman with short-cropped silver hair, her expression as sharp as a blade. “The scouts have returned,” she reported. “The Keepers have begun training him.”

Ava’s fingers curled into a fist. Kai.

She had known this moment would come. The Keepers would never let someone like him walk the Earth without trying to mold him into their weapon.

But Kai wasn’t meant to be theirs.

Ava turned to face the woman. “And the fragments? Have we located more?”

The woman nodded. “Two confirmed sites. We’ve sent extraction teams, but the Keepers aren’t the only ones searching.”@@novelbin@@

Ava’s expression darkened. She already knew who else was hunting them. Others had begun to understand the fragments’ potential—mercenaries, warlords, factions that saw them as weapons rather than awakenings.

But they didn’t matter.

Only she

Only she understood what they truly were.

She closed her eyes, feeling the power within her fragment pulse in sync with her heartbeat. The moment she had touched it, her purpose had been made clear. She had been chosen—not just to survive, but to reshape what was left of the world.

And if Kai refused to see that?

Then she would make him understand.

“Prepare our forces,” Ava said finally, her voice calm but absolute. “We’ll make our move soon.”

The woman bowed slightly and departed, leaving Ava alone once more.

She turned her gaze toward the distant horizon, where the sky shimmered with strange, unnatural hues—the lingering scars of the Moon’s destruction.

Time was running out.

And when the moment came, she would be ready.

Kai steadied himself, his breath coming in controlled bursts. The dagger test had been a step forward, but the real challenge lay ahead.

The Keeper raised his hand, and suddenly, the air around Kai shifted. The training chamber blurred, distorting as reality itself twisted. Kai’s heartbeat accelerated. He recognized this feeling—

They were bending time around him.

The floor beneath his feet fractured, splitting into countless reflections of itself, each one showing a different version of the moment. In one, he stood still. In another, he had already collapsed. In yet another, he was missing entirely.

The Keeper’s voice echoed all around him. “Find the true moment, Kai. Align yourself with it.”

Kai clenched his teeth. This was a test unlike any before. He had to feel the present, anchor himself within it. If he lost focus for even a second, he would be lost between moments, his mind shattered across countless fractured timelines.

He took a slow breath, closing his eyes.

Listen.

The fragment in his arm pulsed, guiding him. He could feel the echoes of possibilities, the branching paths of what could be.

And then—he moved.

He stepped forward, pushing through the layers of shifting time, feeling them snap back into place around him. The distortions vanished, and the room stabilized.

Kai opened his eyes.

The Keeper smiled slightly. “Good.”

Kai let out a shaky breath. He had done it. He had anchored himself within the present, resisting the pull of alternate timelines.

But this was only the beginning.

He looked up at the Keeper. “Again.”

The Keeper gave a slow nod. “Very well.”

The air around them shimmered once more, and Kai braced himself.

The road ahead was steep.

But he would master this power—no matter what it took.