Iron Revenant: Blood Of The Marked

Into The Shadow

The portal’s red light swallowed Jace Caldwell, its pull like a hand yanking his soul. He stumbled through, boots scraping ash-streaked stone, the air thick with the stench of charred bone and something sour, like blood left to rot. 

The temple’s rubble was gone, replaced by a city of jagged spires, their surfaces pulsing with veins of red light, like the Obsidian Hearts. 

The sixth Heart burned in his hand, its glow dim but alive, syncing with the black scar on his chest. Lena Voss staggered beside him, her shoulder wound crusting, her breath ragged.

 Aria, the young Marked girl, clung to Lena, her red eyes darting, terrified. Ethan’s dagger—rune-etched, all that remained of his flickering form—hung heavy at Jace’s belt.

 The Shroud’s ancient voice echoed in his skull: The real war begins. His scar throbbed, his heart a tangle of grief and rage—Ethan, gone again, his ash still under Jace’s nails.

“Where the hell are we?” Jace muttered, his voice rough, cracking like old leather.

 He gripped the sixth Heart, its heat prickling his palm, like holding a live coal. His scar pulsed, senses flaring—too sharp, catching the distant wail of something not human, the grind of stone shifting underfoot.Lena coughed, blood flecking her lips.

 “NexTech’s endgame,” she said, her voice low, strained, like she was fighting to believe it herself. 

“The Hearts… they open doors. This is what they wanted.”

Jace’s jaw tightened, his scar burning. Ethan’s last words—I’m still here—clawed at him. He wanted to scream, to shake Lena until she spilled every secret, but her eyes, hollow with pain, stopped him. “You knew,” he said, softer than he meant, his finger twitching toward his Glock. 

“You and Ethan. You knew this was coming.”Her gaze flickered, guilty. “Not this,” she whispered, clutching her arm. 

“He said… he said the Hearts were a prison. I thought he meant for him.”Aria whimpered, her small frame shaking. 

“They’re coming,” she said, voice high, like a kid caught in a nightmare. “The Marked. More of us.”

Jace’s scar flared, and The Shroud’s voice hissed: She’s right, Iron. His vision flickered—half shadow city, half void, Ethan’s face in the sixth Heart, his eyes red, pleading: Find me.

 Jace stumbled, the Heart’s weight dragging at his arm. He saw it—his reflection in a spire’s glassy surface, eyes glowing red for a split second. His stomach churned.

 Was he still himself?

A low growl shook the air, and the ground trembled. Shadows moved between spires—humanoid, but wrong, their limbs too long, eyes glowing white.

 Jace’s scar guided him, mapping their steps. 

“Move,” he growled, shoving Lena and Aria behind a jagged pillar. His Glock snapped up, but his hand shook—Ethan’s ash, his dagger, the video’s warning: You’re the balance. He hesitated, finger off the trigger.

 What if Ethan was out there, one of those things?

“Jace, shoot!” Lena hissed, her voice sharp, desperate. She fumbled for her gun, but her wound slowed her, her fingers slick with blood.

 Aria clung to her, whispering, “They’re like me. Marked.”The shadows lunged, faster than human. 

Jace’s scar burned, time slowing—his body moved on instinct, dodging a claw that shredded stone. He fired, bullets tearing through one shadow’s chest, black ichor spraying, its wail like metal on bone. Another grabbed Aria, its claws grazing her scar.

 She screamed, her red eyes flaring, and a pulse from the fourth Heart’s shards—still in her pocket—knocked the shadow back.Jace tackled the second shadow, his scar healing the claw marks on his arm, pain fading to heat.

 He slammed its head into a spire, ichor splashing his face, bitter and cold. Lena fired, her shot wild, clipping a third shadow. “There’s too many!” she shouted, her voice breaking, raw with fear.Jace’s scar pulsed, guiding him to a narrow alley of spires, their red veins pulsing faster. He dragged Lena and Aria, his boots slipping on ash-slick stone.

 The sixth Heart burned hotter, its glow dimming, like it was dying. Find me, Ethan’s voice whispered, not from the Heart but inside Jace’s skull. His chest ached, grief choking him—Ethan, always saving him, now ash again. He wanted to stop, to scream, but the shadows’ wails grew closer.

The alley opened to a plaza, a massive spire at its center, its veins forming a face—The Shroud’s, red eyes blazing. The sixth Heart flared, and Jace’s vision blacked out. 

In the void, Ethan stood, half-shadow, his voice faint: “The spire’s the anchor Destroy it, Jace.” The vision shifted—NexTech labs, Ethan wired to machines, the sixth Heart in his chest, his screams mixing with Aria’s, Mara’s, Gideon’s. 

Jace clawed back, gasping, the plaza trembling.Lena grabbed his arm, her touch shaky. “What did you see?” Her voice was soft, almost tender, but Jace pulled away, his scar burning.

 “You’re still hiding something,” he said, his voice low, jagged. “Ethan trusted you. Look where that got him.”

Her eyes welled, but she didn’t answer. 

Aria pointed, trembling. 

“There,” she whispered. A figure stood atop the spire—Gideon, the sixth Marked, his white eyes glowing, the seventh Heart’s shards in his hand. “You’re late, Caldwell,” he called, his voice booming, mocking.

Jace’s scar screamed, and The Shroud’s voice roared: End him. He raised his Glock, but hesitated—Ethan’s dagger, heavy at his belt, felt like a warning. Gideon raised the shards, and the spire’s eyes flared, shadows surging from the ground, their claws glinting.

 Jace fired, bullets sparking off Gideon’s suit, but his scar guided him, dodging claws, his fists crushing shadow skulls, ichor stinging his skin.Lena fired, her shots weak, her wound slowing her. Aria screamed, her red eyes glowing, shards of the fourth Heart pulsing. 

The shadows froze, then turned on Gideon, their claws tearing his suit. He roared, leaping down, his blade slashing Jace’s chest. The scar healed, but the sixth Heart fell, rolling toward the spire.

Jace lunged, grabbing it, its pulse syncing with his scar. The Shroud’s voice roared: You’re mine. His vision blacked out, and Ethan’s face appeared, not in the Heart but in the spire, his voice desperate: “Jace, the spire’s alive. It’s NexTech’s heart.” The vision shattered, and Jace staggered, the sixth Heart burning his hand.

Gideon laughed, raising the seventh Heart’s shards. “You can’t win,” he said, but his voice cracked, his white eyes flickering. The spire pulsed, and a new figure emerged from its base—Victor Kane, the first Heart in his hand, his suit glowing. 

“The war’s ours,” he said, smiling.But the real blow came from Lena. She grabbed Ethan’s dagger from Jace’s belt, her eyes hard.

 “I’m sorry,” she whispered, plunging it into Jace’s scar. Blood sprayed, the sixth Heart flaring, and The Shroud’s voice screamed: She’s theirs. 

Jace fell, his vision fading, Ethan’s voice a faint whisper: Run.