"Kael Serrin."
The husk's voice was everywhere—not a sound, but a resonance that sank through muscle and marrow, vibrating deep in Kael's skull like a forgotten lullaby played backward.
He staggered, clutching his chest. His Mark flared in response, not with pain, but with recognition.
The Rift didn't just know his name.
It remembered it.
"Move!" Veyra bellowed, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him backward just as the husk's massive arm shifted. Soil and ash cascaded down its ribs like black waterfalls.
"It can't follow!" Iri shouted over the rising roar. "It's tethered to the memory field! It can only see what's been left behind!"
Kael stumbled but kept moving. Lyss ran ahead in silence, her fingers trembling against her recorder, though she didn't press play. She hadn't said a word since pulling Kael from the vision.
They sprinted for what felt like miles until the ridge crested—and the terrain shifted. The endless bone dunes gave way to a flattened concrete basin littered with collapsed domes and rusted fences.
And in the center: a beacon.
Flickering. Dying. But still pulsing.
"Syndicate tech," Iri said, pointing. "Used to triangulate safe zones. We're close to something."
Kael didn't respond. His breath came shallow. Each inhale tasted like metal.
They set camp in the ruins of an overturned transport truck half-buried in the ash. Veyra stood watch, her silhouette outlined by the beacon's light. Iri scavenged a battery and disappeared beneath the dashboard.
Kael sat alone near the truck's broken axle. He didn't realize Lyss had joined him until she handed him a ration bar.
He took it without speaking.
"You saw her again, didn't you?" she asked quietly.
Kael nodded. "My mother."
Lyss hesitated. "What was she like?"
"Strong," Kael said after a long pause. "Not loud, but steady. She used to carry this rusted kitchen knife in her boot. Said if she ever got caught, she wouldn't be taken alive."
Lyss looked down. "Did she make it?"
Kael shook his head.
"The day the Riftline came for our sector… she stayed behind so I could get Nia out."
Lyss's fingers curled around her recorder. "But the Rift remembered her. That means… she was Marked too?"
Kael stared into the ash. "I think she chose to be."
Iri returned with a cracked screen. "I pinged the beacon. There's an echo signature about half a klick east. Shielded bunker."
Veyra narrowed her eyes. "Could be Duskbound."
"Or Syndicate."
"Or worse."
Lyss stood. "Doesn't matter. If we stay out here, another husk will sense us."
Kael rose slowly. "Let's move before dawn."
They reached the bunker by first light.
It was embedded beneath the shell of a collapsed office tower, its entrance sealed by a circular door lined with faded hazard runes. Iri found the manual release under a slab of concrete.
The door opened with a moan that sounded far too much like a Hollowborn scream.
They stepped inside.
No sirens. No defenses.
Just quiet.
The air was cold, stale with electricity and blood memory. Panels flickered along the walls, revealing a once-operational medical bay—now dark, smeared with old handprints.
But the power was still active.
Lyss moved first, brushing ash from a glass panel. Her fingers hovered over a console marked with faded letters:
Syndicate Observation: Project AegisStatus: Terminated
Kael stepped forward.
In the center of the room was a cryopod. Empty.
But someone had scrawled a message on the floor beneath it in red ink—or maybe something darker:
"THE ECHO CHOSE THE WRONG HOST."
Kael's Mark flared.
Images flooded his mind—the same bunker, years ago. His mother standing beside that pod. Scientists in Syndicate robes shouting. A child inside the glass. Crying.
Him.
He staggered back.
"It's me," he whispered.
"You were born here?" Lyss asked.
"Not born. Made."
Veyra touched a data slate near the pod. "Logs are encrypted. But this file's open."
She played it.
A voice crackled from the speaker, worn by time:
"Subject Serrin exhibits partial resistance to Hollowborn resonance. Emotional tether appears stable—maternal link confirmed. Commencing Mark exposure at phase one—"
Static. Screaming.
Another voice cut in, female. Broken. Angry.
"You said it would protect him. You said he wouldn't forget."
The recording ended.
Kael dropped to his knees.
"She tried to stop it. She knew."
Iri stepped away from the pod, shaking his head.
"You weren't just Marked. You were the first. Or close enough."
Silence fell again.
Until a sound none of them wanted to hear broke it:
Footsteps.
Heavy. Measured. Wearing metal.
"We're not alone," Lyss said, drawing her blade.
The door behind them groaned.
Three figures stepped in.
All wore black armor. All had the Duskbound mask.
But the one in the center removed his.
Kael froze.
Because it was a boy his age.
And he was smiling.
"Kael," he said gently. "It's good to finally meet you. Brother."