Iron Revenant: Blood Of The Marked

The Circuit Breaks

Jace Caldwell’s grip tightened on the second Obsidian Heart, its sickly green glow burning his palm, syncing with the black scar on his chest. 

The derelict temple’s air was thick with incense and dread, its rune-etched walls trembling as red tendrils spiraled from the altar’s third Heart, forming The Shroud’s half-manifested form—shadowy, towering, with eyes like molten embers. Victor Kane, NexTech’s silver-haired CEO, stood smug in his gleaming exosuit, the first Heart pulsing in his hand. 

Lena Voss slumped against Jace, her shoulder wound bleeding, her gun dangling. The girl—no older than sixteen, with red-glowing eyes and a fourth Heart clutched tight—stepped forward, her voice a blade: “I’m the last Marked. And you’re all dead.” Outside, drones hummed, NexTech assassins closing in, their boots shaking the ground. 

Jace’s scar screamed, his senses razor-sharp, but his heart was a raw wound—Ethan’s ash, his voice, his impossible return in that video: You’re the balance.“Who the hell are you?” Jace growled, Glock raised, his scar burning hotter than ever.

 The Shroud’s voice slithered through his skull: She’s the end, Iron. Kill her. His vision flickered—half temple, half void, the girl’s face warping into The Shroud’s, laughing. He shook it off, but the second Heart pulsed, images flooding in: Ethan in a lab, screaming, the first Heart in his chest, this girl watching, her eyes human then, not red.

“Name’s Aria,” the girl said, her red eyes locked on Jace. “NexTech’s first success. You’re just a copy.” She raised the fourth Heart, its glow erratic, tendrils sparking from it, lashing at the air. Jace’s scar reacted, his body moving—faster than human—dodging a tendril that shredded the altar’s stone.

Kane laughed, his device humming, dimming the Hearts’ glow. “She’s right, Caldwell. You’re the third Marked—Mara, Ethan, you. Aria’s the fourth. The circuit’s complete.” He stepped forward, exosuit whirring. “The Shroud wakes tonight.”Lena coughed, blood on her lips, her gun snapping up.

 “Jace, don’t listen,” she rasped, aiming at Aria. “The Hearts are a trap. Destroy them!” Her shot rang out, but Aria moved like a blur, the bullet sparking off the temple wall. The fourth Heart flared, and tendrils surged, wrapping Lena’s arm, yanking her gun away. She screamed, collapsing, her wound tearing wider.

Jace’s scar burned white-hot, and The Shroud’s voice roared: Choose. He lunged, tackling Aria, the second Heart slipping from his hand. They crashed into the altar, stone cracking, the third Heart’s glow intensifying.

 Aria’s strength was unnatural, her small frame throwing Jace back with a force that cracked his ribs. His scar healed them, pain fading to heat, but the second Heart pulsed on the floor, tendrils spiraling toward it.“You can’t stop it,” Aria said, her red eyes flickering—fear, not malice. 

“The Hearts need us all to wake The Shroud. You, me, Ethan, Mara.” She clutched the fourth Heart, its light dimming her scar, a faint glow on her wrist.Jace’s vision split—The Shroud’s void, Ethan standing, half-shadow, his voice breaking: “She was there, Jace.

 In the lab. They broke her first.” The vision shifted—Aria, younger, strapped to a table, the fourth Heart burning into her, her screams echoing. Jace snapped back, gasping, as Kane aimed his device at the altar’s Heart, its tendrils forming The Shroud’s arms, reaching for him.

“Jace!” Lena shouted, crawling toward the second Heart. “Break the circuit!” She grabbed it, her hands shaking, blood pooling beneath her. Aria lunged, her blade flashing, but Jace was faster, his scar guiding him. He tackled Aria again, pinning her, his Glock at her temple. “Why you?” he growled. 

“Why a kid?”Aria’s eyes softened, human for a moment. “They took me first. Made me… this. You’re next.” Her voice cracked, but the fourth Heart flared, tendrils lashing at Jace. His scar burned, and he dodged, the tendrils grazing his arm, blood spraying. 

The wound closed, but the pain lingered, The Shroud’s voice louder: Embrace me, or die.The temple shook, drones breaching the ceiling, their cannons glowing. NexTech assassins stormed in, exosuits gleaming, rifles blazing. 

Jace’s scar pulsed, his senses mapping every bullet’s arc. He fired, bullets finding visor cracks, blood spraying as two assassins fell. Lena clutched the second Heart, her face pale. 

“Jace, destroy it!” she pleaded, but Kane’s device hummed, and the tendrils turned on her, wrapping her legs, dragging her toward the altar.Jace dove, grabbing the second Heart from Lena, its heat searing his palm. Images flooded in—Ethan, Mara, Aria, all linked, their scars pulsing in a lab, The Shroud’s shadow consuming them. Ethan’s voice: Break it, Jace.

 He roared, hurling the second Heart at the altar’s third, the collision sparking like a bomb. The temple trembled, tendrils retreating, The Shroud’s form flickering.Kane snarled, firing his device, a pulse knocking Jace back. “You’re too late,” he said, raising the first Heart. “The Shroud’s awake.”

Aria screamed, her fourth Heart flaring, tendrils binding her, pulling her toward the altar.

 “No!” she cried, her voice human, desperate.

 Jace’s scar burned, and he saw it—her scar, pulsing like his, a victim, not a villain. He lunged, grabbing her, breaking the tendrils with his scar’s strength. “You’re not their pawn,” he said, his voice raw.But Kane laughed, stepping into the altar’s light. 

“You’re all pawns.” His device pulsed, and The Shroud’s form solidified—arms, torso, a face forming, red eyes blazing. Jace’s scar screamed, his vision blacking out. In the void, Ethan stood, his body half-ash. “You can’t save us all,” he said, voice fading.

 “But you can end it.”Jace snapped back, gasping, as Lena fired at Kane, her bullets sparking off his suit. Aria clutched the fourth Heart, tears streaming. “Destroy them,” she whispered. 

“Or we’re all lost.”The temple doors blew open, and Mara stormed in, her scarred face twisted, her exosuit sparking. “You’re weak, Caldwell,” she snarled, raising a blade. “The Shroud chose me first.” She lunged, but Jace’s scar guided him, dodging, his fist cracking her visor. 

The Hearts pulsed, and The Shroud’s form roared, shaking the temple to its foundations.Jace grabbed the fourth Heart from Aria, its glow syncing with his scar. He saw it—three Hearts, three Marked, a circuit feeding The Shroud. 

But Ethan’s voice cut through: There’s a fifth. The ground split, a hidden chamber opening beneath the altar, revealing a fifth Heart, blacker than the others, pulsing with a void-like light.

Kane’s eyes widened. “No,” he whispered, his device sparking. The fifth Heart’s glow surged, and The Shroud’s form collapsed, tendrils lashing at everyone—Jace, Lena, Aria, Mara, Kane. 

Jace’s scar burned, his body frozen, the fifth Heart’s voice—not The Shroud’s, but Ethan’s—screaming: It’s not what you think!A new figure emerged from the chamber—a man, scarred like Jace, his eyes glowing not red but white, holding a sixth Heart.

 “You broke the wrong circuit,” he said, voice like thunder. “Now The Shroud’s free.”The temple collapsed, and Jace’s scar exploded with pain, his vision blacking out as Ethan’s voice whispered: I’m sorry, brother.