Chapter 29: Fractures of Light
The city was screaming.
Not in sound, but in light, pulses of color tearing through the skyline like veins on fire. Kael stumbled through the smoke, shielding his eyes as towers flickered, neon signs spasmed, and data streams burst from their circuits like liquid lightning.
The Remnant Network was unraveling.
He pressed his back against a rusted pillar, catching his breath. His wrist display was going wild, the interface melting into lines of corrupted code, every system blinking red. Elira’s beacon still pulsed, but now it was no longer a simple signal. It was a rhythm. A pattern. A heartbeat.
“What did you do, Elira?” he whispered.
He pushed through the haze, following the faint glow that traced the direction of the old power conduits. His boots splas
