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Chapter 80: Flight Through Shadows
The cold night wrapped around Leo like a shroud as he darted through the ruined alleyways, every breath sharp in his lungs. The city was a labyrinth of broken glass and flickering neon, shadows swallowing whole blocks where the Federation’s patrols no longer dared to tread. But Leo knew better than to trust the darkness. It held dangers beyond the patrols—traitors, informants, and worse.He paused briefly behind a shattered storefront, heart pounding, and checked the small data pad clutched in his hand. The message was simple but chilling:“Elena’s been taken. We lost her in the purge. We don’t know where.”Leo swallowed hard, pressing his back against the cold brick wall.His mind raced back to the moment it happened—the raid on the safehouse. One minute they had the cover of silence, the next a flood of Federation troops smashed through their defenses like a tidal wave. Marcus’s betrayal had been swift and brutal. Elena was gone before he could even react.He clenched his fists, his
Chapter 79: Council of Shadows
The rain hadn’t stopped. Thunder cracked across the sky as Kian paced beneath the steel awning outside the safehouse, watching crimson streaks flicker along the horizon. The Purge Protocol had begun. And now, the System was no longer a battlefield—it was a dying world.Behind him, Elena rested in one of the lower chambers. Her memories had begun bleeding back in fragments—flashes of children’s laughter, her hands in Kian’s, Marcus’s twisted smile.But Kian’s attention was elsewhere.The voice had spoken again.“The Council awaits. Come to the Rift.”He knew what that meant.The Rift was a space untouched by Federation authority—an unstable sector beyond the southern rim, abandoned after a failed terraforming project. It was there that the Forgotten Ones had once been exiled… and now, where they reigned.Kian turned as Selene approached, her face hard.“You’re leaving again,” she said bluntly.“They’ve summoned me.”Selene folded her arms. “You don’t owe them anything.”“They’re part o
Chapter 78: The Hollow Echo
The safe house walls trembled faintly from the aftershock of the explosion that had shattered Leo’s escape pod only moments before. Smoke coiled through the corridor, and Kian’s heart thundered as he kicked down the last bulkhead door. He stepped into the emergency chamber—charred metal, flickering lights… and Leo. Coughing violently, Leo was slumped against the far wall, blood matting his temple. “Elena,” he rasped. “They took her. Again.” Kian knelt beside him, gripping his brother’s shoulders. “What happened? You said she escaped. You said she was on her way.” Leo’s eyes were fevered, haunted. “She never made it to the rendezvous. It was a decoy. They planted a clone—a mimic. I didn’t know until it was too late.” Kian froze, realization crashing into him like a tidal wave. “The Elena who reached us… the one I protected…” “Wasn’t her,” Leo whispered. A silence stretched between them, thick with betrayal. Kian felt the floor tilt beneath him. The moments—the lingering stares,
Chapter 77: Mirror Lies
The whine of the rebel aircraft’s engines faded into the icy night sky as Kian sat beside Elena, her head resting lightly against his shoulder. The children were safe—for now. But his mind was anything but at ease.That clone.The other Elena.He hadn’t told her what he saw. Not yet. He wasn’t even sure if he believed it himself. Her touch, her memories, her scent—everything was her. But that final glimpse before the escape—the knowing smile in the clone’s eyes—still echoed in his skull like a warning bell.Selene piloted the aircraft in silence, the dashboard awash with blinking lights and encrypted signals. Every few minutes, she’d glance at the sensor readings. No pursuit. No tracking. But Kian wasn’t convinced.“She hasn’t spoken since we left,” Selene finally said, glancing back.“She’s exhausted,” Kian replied quickly. Too quickly.Elena stirred at the sound, then sat up slowly. “No. I’m fine.” Her voice was stronger than before. Sharper.Selene studied her for a moment longer,
Chapter 76: Beneath the Silence
************Flash Back**************The flickering light from the underground corridor painted long, ghostly shadows on the walls as Kian sat beside Leo’s unconscious form. The rain still fell in sheets outside the reinforced safe house, but inside, the silence was deafening.Elena had been taken.Not just abducted—ripped away, again, from everything that made her human. Leo’s cryptic words echoed in Kian’s skull like a war drum: “They have Elena.”Kian had seen her image flicker briefly across the failing rebel network days ago—bruised, restrained, injected with something unnatural. Marcus hadn’t just taken her back; he was changing her. Weaponizing her.The idea clawed at him.Across the room, the children sat huddled together, silent. The oldest boy—Rael—watched Kian with a gaze that felt older than time. He knew something. They all did. These children weren’t normal. Marcus had ensured that.Selene entered from the back room, her face tense. “Leo’s stable. But whatever they did t
Chapter 75: The Price of Power
The world stood still. Aera’s blood soaked into Kian’s gloves as he held her lifeless form. Her body, so recently full of fire and defiance, was now silent—a symbol of what he had failed to protect. Around him, the others moved in shadows and echoes, the weight of the moment sinking in like frost. Leo was the first to speak. “We have to go.” Kian didn’t move. “They killed her, Leo.” “I know.” “She was just a kid.” “She was more than that,” Elena said quietly, stepping closer. Her face was pale, but her eyes burned. “She was proof. That something beyond this war was possible.” Kian gently laid Aera down on the earth, folding her arms across her chest. He didn’t cry. Couldn’t. The rage simmering inside him left no room for tears. From the treeline, Darius was gone—vanished after the shot, like a ghost. But his act had lit a fuse Kian didn’t know he still carried. “Is the Spire sealed for good?” Leo asked, glancing toward the tower’s gleaming gates. Kian shook his head. “No.
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