2025-02-22 16:18:58The Throne Room
The air felt heavy, thick with a pressure Kiera had never known before.
She was still on her knees, struggling to breathe, her mind fractured by the truth.
The woman—her reflection—stood above her, silent, waiting. The creatures around them didn’t move. Rows of them stood in the shadows, their silver eyes locked on her.
Waiting.
For her.
Not as a prisoner.
Not as an enemy.
As their leader.
Jace’s grip on his weapon tightened. “Kiera, get up.”
She forced herself to move, her entire body shaking.
She looked at Jace, and in his eyes, she saw something she had never seen before.
Fear.
Not fear of the creatures.
Fear of her.
Kiera swallowed hard. “Jace, I—”
He took a step back.
“Tell me it’s not true,” he whispered.
She couldn’t.
Because it was.
She wasn’t human.
She never had been.
And Jace knew it now.
---
The Choice
Kiera turned back to her reflection—the woman who had once been her.
“What… what am I?” Kiera’s voice was raw.
The woman smiled. “You already know the answer.”
Kiera clenched her fists. “Then tell me anyway.”
The woman stepped forward, her silver eyes piercing through Kiera’s soul.
“You are the last of the Forsaken,” she said. “The firstborn of the Void. The only one who escaped the war.”
Kiera’s stomach twisted. “The war?”
Her past self nodded. “The war between our kind and the Guardians of Mars.”
Kiera’s breath caught. The Guardians.
The ones she and Jace had fought.
The ones who had built the Cores.
The ones who had tried to erase her existence.
She shook her head. “No. I fought the Guardians. I was never one of them.”
The woman smiled, sad and knowing. “Exactly.”
The memories hit like a shockwave.
She saw flashes of the past—an entire species wiped out. Titan burning. The Guardians sealing the Forsaken away, trapping them in an endless sleep beneath the ice.
And her—their leader—was the only one who survived.
Not by fighting.
By hiding.
By becoming human.
By forgetting.
Jace exhaled, his voice low and dangerous. “So all this time… we were fighting your people?”
Kiera turned to him, heart pounding. “I didn’t know.”
Jace’s hands clenched into fists. “But now you do.”
Kiera’s veins burned. The silver glow beneath her skin was brighter now.
She felt the pull of the creatures, their loyalty, their whispers filling her mind.
You are one of us.
Lead us.
Reclaim what was taken.
Jace took another step back. “So what now, Kiera?” His voice was cold. “Are you still on my side?”
Kiera’s breath hitched.
Was she?
She turned back to the woman—her past self—who watched with calm certainty.
“You have a choice,” the woman said.
Kiera’s pulse pounded.
She could accept what she was—embrace the power, reclaim her people, and destroy the Guardians once and for all.
Or…
She could fight it. Reject her past. Stay with Jace. Stay human.
But could she?
Because now, she wasn’t sure if she had ever been human at all.
---
The Betrayal
A sudden shockwave ripped through the chamber.
Jace spun toward the entrance, gun raised.
Then—
Gunfire erupted.
Kiera’s mind snapped back to the present as something massive crashed through the ice ceiling above.
A warship.
Not Forsaken.
Not human.
Guardians.
Jace’s comm piece crackled to life.
“Target acquired.”
Kiera’s stomach dropped.
This wasn’t a rescue.
This was an execution.
Jace didn’t move. Didn’t react.
Because he already knew.
Kiera’s breath hitched. “You called them.”
Jace’s jaw tightened.
Kiera took a step forward. “Jace—”
His gun snapped upward, pointing at her chest.
Her heart stopped.
“I had to.” His voice was tight, shaking. “They gave me no choice.”
A cold silence filled the room.
Kiera stared at the barrel of his weapon.
Jace.
Her closest friend. Her only real connection to humanity.
He had called them.
He had betrayed her.
Because he didn’t trust her anymore.
Because he was afraid of her.
Her veins burned brighter.
The Forsaken around them hissed as the Guardian ships circled above, preparing to fire.
“Stand down, Kiera.”
She looked at Jace.
At the fear in his eyes.
She could surrender.
Or she could burn this entire place to the ground.
Kiera clenched her fists.
The choice had been made for her.
---
The War Begins Again
The moment Jace moved, Kiera vanished.
One second she was in front of him—the next, she was behind him, moving faster than she ever had before.
Jace spun, but it was too late.
Kiera grabbed his gun—and crushed it in her hand.
Jace’s eyes widened.
“Kiera—”
But she was already turning away.
The Guardians opened fire.
And Kiera let the power take over.
Her body exploded in silver light.
The ground shattered.
The Forsaken roared as their leader awakened, their voices shaking the walls.
Kiera felt herself breaking apart—but she didn’t fight it this time.
This was what she was.
This was what she had always been.
And now?
The war was back.
Jace tried to move toward her, but the Forsaken were already closing in.
Kiera turned to him one last time.
“Run.”
Then, she rose into the air.
And the Forsaken followed her lead.
The Guardian warships fired everything they had.
But they were already too late.
Because Kiera wasn’t fighting anymore.
She was leading.
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The Throne RoomThe air felt heavy, thick with a pressure Kiera had never known before.She was still on her knees, struggling to breathe, her mind fractured by the truth.The woman—her reflection—stood above her, silent, waiting. The creatures around them didn’t move. Rows of them stood in the shadows, their silver eyes locked on her.Waiting.For her.Not as a prisoner.Not as an enemy.As their leader.Jace’s grip on his weapon tightened. “Kiera, get up.”She forced herself to move, her entire body shaking.She looked at Jace, and in his eyes, she saw something she had never seen before.Fear.Not fear of the creatures.Fear of her.Kiera swallowed hard. “Jace, I—”He took a step back.“Tell me it’s not true,” he whispered.She couldn’t.Because it was.She wasn’t human.She never had been.And Jace knew it now.---The ChoiceKiera turned back to her reflection—the woman who had once been her.“What… what am I?” Kiera’s voice was raw.The woman smiled. “You already know the answer
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The Storm OutsideThe walls of the ship shuddered as something slammed against the exterior.Kiera and Jace barely had a second to react before the ship’s emergency alarms screamed to life.“HULL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED.”“EXTERNAL BREACH DETECTED.”Jace spun to the console, his face pale. “They’re trying to break in.”Kiera’s heart pounded.Outside, the creatures were waiting.Not attacking. Not clawing at the hull like mindless animals.Waiting.Kiera felt it.A cold, gnawing sensation in the back of her skull.They were waiting for her.Jace grabbed a rifle, his voice tight. “We can’t stay here.”Kiera barely heard him. Her skin was burning again. The veins in her arms pulsed with silver light.Something inside her was waking up.She clutched the edge of the console, breathing fast.Then—A whisper.Not in her ears.Inside her mind.“Come home.”Her vision blurred—She wasn’t in the ship anymore.For a split second, she saw something else—a massive chamber beneath Titan’s surface, fi
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CHAPTER 15: THE FINAL TRANSMISSION
The silence of space was absolute. The stars stretched endlessly, cold and indifferent, as Kiera and Jace drifted away from Mars at faster-than-light speed. Their ship, The Horizon’s Edge, hummed steadily around them, the only sound breaking the quiet. The Red Planet was gone, reduced to a distant ember in the void, its fate sealed.Kiera leaned back in her seat, her body sore from the battle, but her mind refused to rest. The weapon was destroyed. The core was gone. Mars was free.So why did it feel like something was still watching them?Jace sat at the controls, his fingers tapping against the dashboard, adjusting the ship’s navigation. He glanced at Kiera, his brow furrowed. “You’re thinking too much again.”Kiera smirked, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Can’t help it. Doesn’t feel real yet. After everything, after the war, the Guardians, the core… we just fly away? Like it never happened?”Jace sighed, leaning back. “We won, Kiera. We saved Mars from itself.”She nodded but couldn
