Novels by Achie Ver

The Vault died in pieces. Not in one purge. Not with a broadcast or a final stand. It broke quietly, node by node, person by person, until no one could say where it ended or what it had ever been.Kai learned this by walking. He moved under a new name again. The alias changed with each region. Clothes changed too. What stayed the same was his pace. Slow. Observant. Never first to speak.The first rumor reached him in a rail-yard settlement built from overturned freight cars.Two men argued beside a barrel fire. “You hear about the Vault people?” one asked.The other spat into the dirt. “Which ones?”“The ones who ran the deep code. Before the blackout.”“Yeah,” the second man said. “They’re gone. Or sold out.”Kai kept walking. That night, he slept in a maintenance tunnel with water dripping through cracked concrete. He wrote by lantern light, pencil scratching steady lines across paper. “Vault no longer cohesive. Names traded like currency.”He closed the journal and hid it under h

The Vault died in pieces. Not in one purge. Not with a broadcast or a final stand. It broke quietly, node by node, person by person, until no one could say where it ended or what it had ever been.Kai learned this by walking. He moved under a new name again. The alias changed with each region. Clothes changed too. What stayed the same was his pace. Slow. Observant. Never first to speak.The first rumor reached him in a rail-yard settlement built from overturned freight cars.Two men argued beside a barrel fire. “You hear about the Vault people?” one asked.The other spat into the dirt. “Which ones?”“The ones who ran the deep code. Before the blackout.”“Yeah,” the second man said. “They’re gone. Or sold out.”Kai kept walking. That night, he slept in a maintenance tunnel with water dripping through cracked concrete. He wrote by lantern light, pencil scratching steady lines across paper. “Vault no longer cohesive. Names traded like currency.”He closed the journal and hid it under h

The banners went up before sunrise. They were black, thick cloth reinforced with fiber, heavy enough to hang straight even in the wind. Crews worked in silence, fastening them to towers, bridges, and the skeletal remains of old Crest infrastructure. Floodlights came online one by one, turning the banners into flat silhouettes against pale concrete.By the time the sun crested the horizon, the city center no longer belonged to Crest. It belonged to Tenebris.Armored formations assembled across the Grand Axis Plaza. Rows of soldiers locked into position, boots aligned, rifles angled down. No insignia marked rank. Only the Tenebris symbol burned white on their chest plates.Civilians gathered at a distance first, then closer. Word had spread during the night. Power was returning. Water pumps had restarted in three districts. Food convoys had crossed borders without being attacked. People came because things were working again.They stood shoulder to shoulder, quiet, watching the platf

The man called himself Rowan now. He answered to it when spoken aloud. He signed it on ration logs. He let it settle into his posture, his walk, his way of standing slightly off-center in any room. Rowan was forgettable. That was the point.Kai cut his hair short with a dull blade in a communal washroom two days after leaving the convoy. He shaved unevenly, then let stubble grow back wrong. He burned his old jacket and traded it for a patched coat that smelled of oil and rain. When he caught his reflection in a cracked mirror, he tilted his head, adjusted his shoulders, and nodded once.The face would pass. The settlement outside the dead zone called itself Haven Ridge. It was neither haven nor ridge. It was a sprawl of stacked shipping containers, collapsed prefab housing, and tents stretched between old highway pylons. Smoke drifted from cook fires. People moved constantly, but without flow. No rhythm. No timing.Kai walked in with a sack over his shoulder and nothing else. At th

The alley smelled of damp metal and diesel. Rain dripped from broken panels, pooling in shallow rivulets across cracked pavement.Eren crouched in the shadows, hood pulled low, scanning the street. Digital overlays blinked on his portable terminal, false IDs, projected itineraries, simulated medical records. Everything pointed to a man who didn’t exist. A man who had to move without trace.A convoy waited at the far end: trucks, buses, and old passenger carriers patched with metal plates, their engines quiet beneath tarp coverings. Citizens shuffled in, faces pale and wary. Children clutched makeshift bags, some crying quietly, others staring with blank, calculated calm. Eren moved through them like a ghost, checking manifests, verifying holographic tags, and adjusting one by one.Kai lay beneath a tarp in the last bus, barely stirring. His arm was bandaged, a thick, dark stain running through the cloth. His breathing was shallow but steady. Every so often, he twitched, eyes flicker

The city rang with cheers. Crest had never sounded like this. Horns, sirens, bells from long-unused towers. Flags hung from every railing, every balcony. Screens looped the same edited footage of Kai’s collapse, the phrase “Confirmed Neutralized” scrolling beneath his frozen silhouette. Public squares were crowded. People clapped. Some wept. Others shouted slogans in unison.Rhea stayed inside her apartment. The shutters were drawn tight. A single emergency lamp hummed low on the floor. She moved quietly across the room, stepping around a scattered array of monitors, cables, and half-assembled data probes. She didn’t look at the window. She didn’t need to. She could hear the celebration from three floors up.A knock at the door startled her. “Rhea? Everyone’s waiting,” a voice said from the other side. Official, but tense.She didn’t answer. “Rhea, you can’t stay in there. The council wants you at the memorial.”“I said no,” she replied, her voice calm but hard.There was a pause.

The villa slept in uneasy silence. The storm outside had passed, leaving only the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs. The night air was cool and damp, drifting through the half-open windows. Selena lay restless in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her father’s last words haunted her. “Choose love, not blood. But Leon’s cold gaze haunted her even more. You chose him. You chose blood.”Her heart twisted until it hurt. She turned to the side, clutching the pillow. She wanted sleep, wanted peace, but none came, then she heard it.A faint click. Her blood ran cold. Slowly, her eyes turned to the window. It was wider than before. The curtains stirred though no wind blew, and then… he stepped through. Kael Voss.Tall. Calm. Silver eyes gleaming like knives in the moonlight. Selena’s breath caught in her throat. She sat up quickly, pressing back against the headboard. “No…”Kael’s voice was soft, almost a whisper, but it filled the room like thunder. “Yes.”He closed the window behin

The night was fire and smoke. Leon dragged Selena through the choking haze, her screams piercing the storm of gunfire. Jason covered their retreat, bullets snapping through the air. Eira moved like a shadow, her pistols flashing, cutting down Kael’s soldiers one by one. “Move!” Leon barked, pulling Selena toward the vehicles.“No! My father, let me go!” Selena thrashed against him, her face streaked with tears. “We can’t leave him! We can’t!”Gregory’s bloodied body lay on the concrete behind them, struggling to rise. His breaths were short, wet, ragged. Yet even in agony, his eyes burned with desperate resolve. “Go!” Gregory roared, his voice breaking. “Go, damn it! Don’t look back!”Another hail of bullets ripped across the dock. Jason cursed, firing wildly into the dark. “Boss, we’re out of time!”Eira hurled a smoke canister, the white cloud swallowing the battlefield. She grabbed Jason’s arm, shoving him toward the car. “Now!”Selena twisted free from Leon at the last second, s

The night exploded with fire and steel. Bullets tore across the docks. Sparks flew from metal containers as red tracers cut through the shadows. The air reeked of smoke, oil, and blood.Leon’s voice was a roar through the chaos. “Jason! Left flank! Eira, cover!”Jason fired burst after burst, his rifle kicking against his shoulder. “We’re outnumbered three to one!”Eira ducked behind a crate, twin pistols flashing in both hands. Her green eyes were cold fire, her jaw tight. “Hold them off!”In the center of it all, Selena knelt with Gregory, her heart slamming like a drum. She clutched his bound hands, trembling as Kael’s silver eyes pinned her from the container roof above.“Selena!” Kael’s voice was smooth, cutting through the storm. “Choose now, or your father dies!”Her body froze. The world seemed to tilt, spinning around her. Leon’s head snapped toward her even as bullets rained around him. His voice was raw. “Don’t you dare listen to him!”Gregory groaned beside her, his face p

The villa was heavy with silence. Outside, the waves crashed hard against the cliffs. Inside, the air felt thick, every shadow darker than it should have been.Selena sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the envelope in her drawer. She had hidden it again, but she could feel its weight even from here. Proof of her father’s betrayal. Proof of her own.Her father’s voice still echoed in her head: “Don’t do it, Selena. Don’t give him Leon.”But Kael’s words drowned it out: “Tomorrow night. The shipyard. Or your father dies.”Her hands shook in her lap. She whispered to herself, “There has to be another way.” But no answer came.A knock sounded on her door. She flinched. “Selena,” Leon’s voice said, deep and steady. “We’re leaving in an hour.”She forced her voice calm. “Where?”“To hunt Kael,” Leon replied. “I think I know where he’ll strike next.”Her blood ran cold. He didn’t know he was walking straight into Kael’s trap.Downstairs, Jason checked his weapons with quiet curses under

The night was cold, the sea whispering against the cliffs as Selena stood frozen before the black car.Kael’s tall frame blocked the open door. His silver eyes gleamed like a predator in the moonlight. Every part of him looked calm, controlled, but Selena could feel the storm of power beneath his stillness. “You came,” Kael said softly. “I knew you would.”Selena’s chest rose and fell quickly. Her voice trembled. “Where is my father?”Kael tilted his head slightly, as if amused by her fear. “Alive. For now. But his life, Selena, depends entirely on you.”Her hands curled into fists at her sides. She hated how weak she sounded when she whispered, “What do you want from me?”Kael smiled faintly. “Step inside. And I will show you.”Selena’s body screamed not to move. Every instinct told her this was a trap. But her father’s face, bloodied, bruised, dragged away, flashed in her mind. She forced herself forward.The car door shut behind her with a heavy thud. The interior smelled of leath

The storm broke at dawn. Rain hammered against the villa’s tall windows, running in heavy streams down the glass. Thunder rolled over the cliffs, shaking the walls. Lightning flashed across the horizon, casting the sea in silver and shadow.Inside, the atmosphere was just as stormy. Leon stood in the study, shoulders tight, staring at the maps spread across the table. He didn’t move, didn’t speak. The only sound in the room was the ticking of the old clock on the wall.Jason leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. His eyes flicked between Leon and the storm outside. Finally, he muttered, “You’re wound so tight, boss, I can hear your teeth grinding.”Leon didn’t answer. His jaw flexed, his eyes locked on the map, but Jason knew he hadn’t seen a single line on it in the last hour.Eira entered quietly, her presence soft but sharp at the same time. She held a folder in her hand, damp from the rain. “Satellite confirmed Kael’s convoy moving east last night,” she said. “Toward the bo

The crater still smoked. Dust hung thick in the air, glowing faintly in the light of Aiden’s mismatched eyes. Every breath stung with ash and burnt stone.Kylian stumbled forward, his legs weak, his sword dragging across the ground. His chest ached from the blast, but he didn’t care. His eyes locked on the lone figure standing at the crater’s heart. His brother. “Aiden,” Kylian called, his voice breaking.Aiden stood still, his head bowed, silver fire flickering along one arm, black shadow writhing across the other. His grip on his sword was tight, knuckles pale, as if letting go would shatter him completely.He looked up slowly. His silver eyes blazed. His red eyes glowed. And his lips moved. “Run.”The word echoed, layered with two voices. Elara was behind Kylian, her bow trembling in her hands though no arrows remained. Her silver eyes widened with alarm. “He’s losing control.”The stranger stood farther back, daggers drawn, their hood torn and face bruised from the shockwave. The

The square was silent after the blast, but the silence was wrong. It was heavy, broken by the crackle of strange energy around Aiden.The air shimmered with heat and frost at the same time. Silver fire burned along one side of his body, glowing bright, while black shadow curled and writhed on the other.Kylian stared, his sword slipping from his hand. “Aiden…” His voice cracked, barely a whisper.Aiden’s chest rose and fell with sharp, uneven breaths. His hands shook as he gripped his sword buried in the stone. His face was pale, sweat dripping, but his eyes… his eyes glowed with two colors.One silver. One red. The sight made Elara step back, her bow trembling in her grip. “This should not be possible,” she whispered. “No one can hold both.”The stranger’s eyes narrowed under their hood. “And yet he is.”Seraphiel still stood near the citadel gates, silver flames cloaking his form. But his calm was gone. His face, once steady, was tight with alarm. “This cannot be,” he muttered. “The

The square glowed like day. Silver fire poured from the citadel gates, flooding the cracked stones, burning back the black flames that caged them. The shadow tendrils shrieked as they withered, retreating into the ground.Elara collapsed to her knees, freed from the crushing grip. She coughed blood, her cloak torn, but her silver eyes still burned faintly. Kylian scrambled to her side, pulling her back from the heat, his own chest heaving with fear.The stranger stumbled to a halt, daggers raised, staring at the blaze with wary awe.And Aiden, Aiden could barely breathe. The silver glow in his eyes flared brighter, answering the light from the citadel. His sword trembled in his grip, his veins humming with energy that wasn’t fully his own. The fire parted, and the figure stepped forward.It was a man. Tall, cloaked in silver robes that shimmered like liquid light. His face was partly hidden beneath a hood, but what showed was strong, sharp lines, eyes like molten silver, glowing sof

The ground trembled. Black fire rose from the cracks, curling like serpents, coiling high until the entire square was a cage of shadow and flame. The heat pressed against their skin, though the fire gave no warmth, only cold, bitter, bone-deep.Aiden gripped his sword, his silver spark flickering in his eyes again. The glow was faint, weaker than before, but enough to catch in the dark flames. His body was still weak from the hidden road, every breath strained, but he forced himself to stand.Kylian stood in front of him, sword shaking in his hands, his jaw set in grim defiance. “You’re not touching him.”The stranger shifted, stepping into a low stance, both daggers drawn. Their eyes never left the hooded figure. “That’s not just another hunter. That’s him.”Elara’s silver eyes burned bright, her voice low, almost reverent. “Vatou. The Lord of Shadows.”The hooded figure tilted its head. The voice that came from it was not one voice, but many, deep, hollow, endless. “You speak my n

The river roared behind them, its spray misting the air, but no one turned back. The grass underfoot was damp, the earth cracked where silver and red had clashed. Smoke still lingered from the fight, but the hunters were gone. For now.Aiden leaned heavily on Kylian’s shoulder as they walked, his body still weak. His eyes had returned to their usual color, but the memory of that silver glow lingered in everyone’s mind. No one spoke of it. Not yet.The stranger walked ahead, blades sheathed but hands always near their hilts, eyes scanning the horizon. Elara followed behind, her bow in hand, silver eyes dark with thought.The only sound was the river fading into the distance and the crunch of their steps.Finally, Kylian broke the silence. His voice was tight, raw from shouting in battle. “We should rest. Aiden needs.”“No,” Elara cut in sharply. “Not here. Not anywhere near this place. The hunters will return, and if Kael calls others…” Her gaze swept the horizon. “We must reach the w

The wind howled across the cliffside. Grass bent low, and the river below roared like thunder. Lightning still danced in the clouds above, fading slowly, but its echoes filled the air with static.Aiden knelt in the center of it all, his sword buried in the earth, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. The black lines that had poisoned his flesh were gone, erased as if they had never existed. But his eyes glowed silver, brighter than moonlight.Kael stood frozen. His crimson blade still hummed, but for the first time his stance was not steady. His mask tilted slightly, his voice rougher than before. “Impossible.”The green and violet hunters shifted uneasily, their weapons glowing, but even they seemed to hesitate.Elara’s silver eyes widened, and for once, she looked shaken. She lowered her bow slowly, her lips parting. “No… it can’t be.”Kylian was kneeling beside Aiden, gripping his shoulder tightly. He looked into his brother’s glowing eyes and felt a shiver run down h