Chapter 7: Eyes from the Obsidian Moon
High above the ruins of Tessera Null, cloaked in eternal night, a synthetic satellite blinked to life—an eye opening after decades of silence.
It was known as The Obsidian Moon, a relic surveillance construct created by the Lotus Ascendancy during the Warden Era. Forgotten, abandoned, repurposed.
Now, reactivated.
Inside the silent command chamber, a tall woman stood alone. Her robe bore the insignia of a former Ascendancy division—Astral Inquiry, the watchers of latent talent. She hadn't worn the insignia in years.
But tonight, the light returned to her eyes.
She gazed at the screen. A spectral overlay played back the awakening from moments earlier. The boy. The girl. The first Fragment.
Kai Ardent.
The name echoed through her mind.
"So he lives," she whispered.
She leaned back against the curved glass, arms crossed behind her. Her fingers were scarred—once from handling spirit code glyphs directly. It used to be illegal. Now, it was obsolete.
But none of that mattered.
Because something impossible just happened.
The screen showed the boy's veins pulsing with violet energy—the distinct signature of a Star Vein Fragment bonding. It hadn't happened in over forty years. And last time, the host had combusted from within.
But this boy? He survived.
And the Fragment had sung.
"Director Xian," a voice crackled over comms.
She pressed her finger against her temple. "Go ahead."
"Fragment energy signatures confirmed. Protocol-level awakening verified. Containment AI Ceres has been pinged—status is dormant. The anomaly has left the facility."
"Track him."
"With what?" the technician asked nervously. "He's folding space around himself. Our scanners can't keep up."
"Then recalibrate. Build an algorithm based on his meridian decay trail. I want location pings every thirty seconds. And alert the Custodians."
"You want to awaken them? All of them?"
Director Xian's lips curled into a smile. "Of course. The game has begun again."
She turned back to the window, watching the Earth below.
"The Starborn child walks. And if he finds all nine Fragments…" She paused, voice like wind scraping crystal. "We'll all be shadows in his wake."
---
Meanwhile: On the Outskirts of Null
Kai sat on a ridge just above the ruins, body still humming with residual energy.
The stars above were unusually visible. Not many places left on Earth without smog-dense satellites or energy nets.
Lina sat a few paces away, kicking pebbles into the broken ground.
"You really scared me back there," she said after a while.
Kai gave a weak chuckle. "I scared myself."
He stared at his hand—veins still faintly glowing under the skin. The energy came in waves. Sometimes, it whispered. Other times, it burned.
What the hell am I becoming?
The memories that came during the Fragment resonance… they hadn't just been echoes. They felt like instructions, like imprinted emotions. Like he was reliving another version of himself in another lifetime.
Or someone else's lifetime.
"Do you remember anything?" Lina asked gently.
Kai hesitated.
"I saw Mom," he said softly. "And Dad. In some sort of council chamber. They were arguing with Ascendancy officials. I think… I think they tried to warn them."
Lina hugged her knees. "About what?"
Kai looked at the sky.
"That the Star Veins weren't weapons. That if they misused them, they'd create something worse than death."
He let the silence stretch. The hum beneath his skin hadn't faded. It coiled with something else now—certainty.
A voice echoed faintly within him still.
One down. Eight remain.
"I need to get stronger," he said.
Lina frowned. "You already survived a relic from a lost age. I'd say that's pretty strong."
"No. Not strong enough." He tightened his fists. "If someone like the man in the bronze mask exists, how many others are out there? Stronger. Smarter. With centuries of cultivation head starts. If I hesitate, even once…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Lina didn't make him.
They both knew what he meant.
---
Somewhere Deeper Underground
The Shepherd stood in a forgotten chamber below the Stellar Dome, watching a faint flicker of the fading Fragment's resonance.
He removed his mask.
A young face. Too young for his eyes, which burned with aeons of knowing.
Another figure appeared beside him, this one draped in dark robes etched with moonlight runes. Her voice was quiet, melodic. "You let him pass?"
The Shepherd nodded. "He passed himself. I only bore witness."
"Did the Fragment stabilize?"
"It did more than that." The Shepherd turned. "It changed him."
The woman's eyes narrowed. "Will he follow the Path of Flame or the Road of Stars?"
"Neither," the Shepherd said. "He's carving his own. That's what makes him dangerous."
"To us?"
"To everyone."