Astra Fracta

Chapter Four: Awakened Power

I didn’t go home right away.

Standing still after reading the message again and again felt dangerous—hesitation itself could be noticed. Every second spent thinking felt like it made me more visible. The location burned into my mind, precise, cold, final.

Industrial Sector. Restricted Area. Tonight.

I told myself it was a trap. Every instinct screamed to turn back, but I went anyway, pushing forward through the empty streets with a cautious pace, feeling the air around me thicken like it was watching me.

The silence was wrong. Not empty—alert. Waiting. Predatory.

The industrial sector stretched endlessly in all directions, metal structures towering like rusted skeletons beneath a dim, polluted sky. Shadows clung to every corner, moving slightly with the faint gusts of wind. No civilians. No traffic. No signs of life beyond the faint hum of abandoned generators buried deep within the concrete. A cold sense of isolation pressed against me like walls I could not see.

I slowed my steps. Every footstep sounded too loud. Every breath felt like a drumbeat announcing my presence.

This wasn’t the location Raven had sent. Something had gone wrong. My heart thumped loudly in my chest, echoing in the deserted space.

My phone buzzed weakly in my pocket, signal flickering. I pulled it out, checked the coordinates again. The map lagged, recalculated, and froze.

I had taken a wrong turn. No… I had taken several. Panic began to creep in, silent and steady.

A low sound echoed between the buildings.

I froze. Every muscle tensed. My senses sharpened.

It wasn’t mechanical. It wasn’t wind.

It was breathing.

Something moved in the shadows to my left. Then another shape shifted to my right, dragging itself partially into the pale glow of a broken floodlight.

An anomaly.

Its form was twisted beyond anything human—limbs elongated, joints reversed, skin translucent enough to reveal a faint, pulsing core beneath. The creature tilted its head as if studying me, curious yet predatory.

Then it roared.

The sound shattered the silence, raw and distorted. It vibrated through my chest, reverberated in my bones, and made my pulse spike uncontrollably. And the answer came immediately—more movement, more shapes.

They emerged slowly, deliberately, from alleys and collapsed structures. Not rushing. Not hesitating. Calculated.

Hunting.

My chest tightened, heartbeat spiking. Sweat beaded on my forehead.

I stepped back. They followed. Shadows flickered and shifted as they mirrored every motion.

I turned and ran.

The ground was uneven, littered with debris and rusted metal. My boots scraped loudly as I sprinted, breath ripping from my lungs, pulse roaring in my ears. The sounds behind me multiplied—claws scraping against concrete, distorted cries echoing through narrow streets. Fear clawed at my chest, making it hard to breathe.

A sharp pain flared in my chest. Heat stirred beneath my skin. Not enough.

I skidded around a corner and nearly collided with a collapsed wall. Dead end. My mind raced. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.

I spun just as the first anomaly lunged.

Instinct took over.

I raised my arms.

Nothing happened.

Panic surged violently, choking me from the inside. My fingers trembled. The air around me felt heavy, unyielding.

The creature struck the ground inches from my feet, cracking the concrete on impact. I stumbled backward, barely keeping balance as another anomaly moved in from the side.

Move. Fight. Do something.

The heat inside my veins surged again—stronger this time. I clenched my fists. My vision blurred slightly from the rush of blood and adrenaline.

The glow beneath my skin flickered faintly, thin red lines tracing across my hands and forearms like fractured veins of light, almost like fire under ice.

The nearest anomaly recoiled. It noticed. So did the others. Their movements slowed, uncertain.

I thrust my hand forward. The air warped around me, quivering with invisible force.

A violent pulse erupted outward, a chaotic mix of searing heat and freezing force that slammed into the creatures, hurling one into a wall. Metal screamed on impact, its body cracking unnaturally before going still. The smell of burnt air and ozone filled my nostrils.

I stared at my hand.

It worked.

The relief was brief.

The heat didn’t stop. It spread rapidly, flooding my veins, climbing my arms, burning through my chest. My heartbeat spiraled—too fast, too loud, too wrong. My vision doubled, then blurred further.

Another anomaly charged. I reacted without thinking. Another blast. Then another.

The street fractured beneath my feet, molten cracks spreading and instantly freezing over, steam rising violently into the air. The anomalies shrieked, some retreating, others driven mad by the surge of energy. Their distorted cries bounced off the metal walls.

But the power kept coming.

My vision blurred more. Pain tore through me in waves, sharp and relentless. My muscles shook, trembling uncontrollably as the glow beneath my skin intensified, veins blazing like exposed magma.

I dropped to one knee. Too much. My body screamed in protest. I tried to pull it back. I couldn’t. The heat became unbearable, searing through my chest, my throat, my head. My thoughts scattered, slipping through my grasp as the Dragon Blood surged beyond restraint.

I screamed. The sound was raw, desperate, echoing in the empty industrial maze.

The anomalies closed in. Teeth, claws, shadows merging into a single wave of threat.

And then-

Impact.

A sudden, precise blow struck the side of my head. Not from an anomaly. From behind.

The heat vanished instantly. The glow extinguished like a snuffed flame. My body went limp.

The last thing I saw was a familiar silhouette standing between me and the monsters—long white hair catching the light, gun raised with absolute calm the person was:

"Raven Ashcroft."

Darkness swallowed me whole.

End of Chapter Four.