Fragments of Dawn

The glow from the fractured sky pulsed like a heartbeat, its rhythm uneven, chaotic—almost sentient. It was not merely light, not just another anomaly birthed from the destruction of the Moon. This was something older, something watching.

Kai stood frozen, his breath shallow as he tried to make sense of what was unfolding before him. His body still ached from Lucian’s attack, but the pain was distant now, drowned out by the overwhelming sense of wrongness that filled the air.

Juno pulled herself up from the debris, brushing dust from her sleeves, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She turned toward Kai, eyes wide with the same uncertainty he felt. “What the hell was that?”

Reyes, still gripping her rifle, scanned the sky with a deep scowl. “I don’t know,” she muttered. “But whatever it is, it’s big.”

The fragments above them shimmered unnaturally, swirling as if being drawn toward a singular point in the heavens. Something was pulling them, bending their chaotic descent into an unnatural order. The energy that crackled in the air before their confrontation with Lucian had been dangerous—but this was different. This was a presence, an intelligence.

And Kai could feel it.

It wasn’t just power. It was awareness.

He clenched his fists, his fingers tightening against his palm. His fragment, the sliver of Moon lodged deep within his very essence, was reacting to whatever this was. The same energy that had granted him Temporal Shatter was now resonating, whispering in a language he couldn’t understand.

“We need to move,” Kai said, his voice sharper than he intended. He tore his gaze from the sky and turned toward the others. “Now.”@@novelbin@@