chasing the fire sky

The wind howled through the skeletal remains of the sky bridge, carrying ash and the low groan of distant machinery. Kael crouched behind the rusted hull of a broken glider, his breath shallow, eyes fixed on the scavenger crew below. Six of them. All armed. All bigger than him. He adjusted the strap on his shoulder, feeling the weight of the old map scroll beneath his coat. The one he’d pulled from the ruins of a fallen sky tower just hours ago—one with symbols that shouldn’t exist. One that pulsed faintly with heat whenever the Fire Sky stirred in the clouds above. He gritted his teeth. Just make it back to the hideout. Don’t die today. The scavengers laughed as they kicked through debris, searching for salvage. Their captain, a brute with a chainmail duster and chrome jaw, barked orders. Kael knew his type—kill first, ask later, and sell whatever’s left to the highest bidder. He turned silently, boots soft on metal, and crept through the wreckage. The ground beneath him trembled slightly. Not from footsteps—but from something deeper. A low, rhythmic thump in the bones of the world. The same beat he’d felt in his chest since the Fire Sky last flared red. He pressed a hand to his shirt, over the mark that had burned itself there twelve years ago. And then— A voice behind him. “Going somewhere, scraprat?” Kael spun. Too slow. A scavenger was already on him—young, fast, with a knife in one hand and a grin full of rot. The blade slashed toward his side— Kael ducked, twisted, slammed his elbow into the man's ribs. The scavenger cursed and stumbled back, but not before grabbing Kael’s coat—tearing it, exposing the glowing mark on his chest. Everything froze. The scavenger’s eyes widened. “You’re one of them.” Kael didn’t wait. He drove a knee into the man’s gut, grabbed the scroll, and ran—leaping over rusted beams and ducking under cables. Shouts rang out. Gunfire barked. Sparks danced around him as bullets slammed into metal. He reached the edge of the platform. No path forward. Just air—and a plummet to the storm clouds below. He looked back. Scavengers closing in. Kael took a breath. The mark on is chest burned hotter now, almost alive. Then he jumped. --- End of chapter 1