The rain had stopped hours ago, but the sky still trembled.
A dull silver glow bled through the clouds, casting strange light over the ruins north of Westpoint. The streets were drowned in water and broken glass, every puddle reflecting a fractured version of the moon.
In the heart of that ruin — amid smoke, steel, and twisted vines — Kael awoke.
His chest rose sharply, lungs dragging in air like it was the first breath of his life. The world sounded different now — sharper, layered. He could hear the hum of streetlights miles away, the throb of the Pulse in every living thing. The rain, the wind, the heartbeat of the earth — all moving to one rhythm. His.
He pushed himself up slowly, vision flickering between worlds.
When he blinked, he saw the physical — ruins, rubble, vines.
When he blinked again, the world was overlaid in light — silver threads connecting everything, shimmering like a living web.
"Where… am I?" he murmured. His voice sounded like two people speaking at once.
A low, familiar growl came from behind him.
Kael turned — and froze.
A wolf stood there. Not just any wolf — its fur was black as midnight, streaked with veins of molten silver. Its eyes glowed faintly gold. When it moved, its shadow stretched wider than it should've, as if the darkness itself obeyed it.
Kael stared. "You again."
The wolf circled him slowly, its presence more spirit than flesh.
> "You broke the code, Kael. You opened the gate. And now you're both."
Kael clenched his fists. "I didn't ask for this."
> "Doesn't matter. The Pulse doesn't care what you want. You were chosen."
"Chosen?" he spat. "Or engineered?"
The wolf bared its teeth, and the sound shook the air.
> "Call it whatever helps you sleep. But understand this—there's no going back. You're the bridge between the old blood and the new code. Between moon and machine."
Kael looked down at his hands — silver lines pulsed beneath the skin, glowing faintly with each heartbeat. His reflection shimmered in the puddle beneath him. One half of his face human. The other, fur and fangs.
He slammed his fist into the ground. "Then tell me how to control it."
> "You can't control the moon, Kael."
"Then I'll burn with it."
The wolf's eyes flared — approval, or maybe sorrow.
> "Then burn bright."
And with that, the wolf vanished — dissolving into mist that curled around his body like smoke.
---
Selene found him three hours later.
She had followed the trail of destruction from the hideout — scorched streets, shattered lampposts, and deep claw marks carved into metal. The scent of ozone and blood guided her, mixed with that unmistakable trace of Kael's presence.
When she finally saw him, she froze.
Kael stood in the middle of a collapsed underpass, shirt torn, chest glowing faintly beneath the rain. The marks on his skin formed symbols now — the same ones carved into the ruins they'd seen weeks ago. The moon sigils.
He looked up as she approached, eyes burning silver.
"Selene," he said — softly, like her name was the only thing anchoring him.
She stepped forward slowly, rain streaking her face. "You're alive."
"For now," he said. His voice trembled between human and something else.
"What happened to you?"
He glanced down at his hands. "The code — it didn't kill me. It… merged. The Pulse isn't separate anymore. It's part of me."
"Can you control it?"
He smiled faintly. "I can feel it. Every circuit, every heartbeat in the city. But control?" He shook his head. "It's not mine to control. It's mine to balance."
Selene reached for him, but he stepped back.
"Don't," he whispered. "If it flares again—"
"Then let it!" she snapped. "You think I care about your power? I care about you."
For a moment, the glow in his chest dimmed. He looked at her — really looked — and something human returned to his eyes.
"I missed you," he whispered.
Selene didn't hesitate. She pulled him into her arms, holding him tight. His body was hot, his heartbeat wild — two rhythms out of sync, one human, one not.
For the first time in days, Kael let himself breathe.
---
They didn't have long.
A rumble cut through the air — not thunder, but engines.
Selene pulled away, eyes wide. "They found us."
Kael turned, every muscle tensing. From the ridge above, armored vehicles rolled through the fog — the Vanguard's insignia burning red against the rain. Drones whirred above them, searchlights cutting through the dark.
"Move," Kael said. His voice had a new tone — calm, lethal.
Selene grabbed her gun. "How many?"
"Too many to count."
"Then we run."
Kael grinned faintly. "No. We hunt."
---
The fight exploded like thunder.
Kael moved faster than the eye could follow — silver streaks cutting through the fog, soldiers thrown through the air as claws slashed and metal screamed. The Pulse pulsed through his body like electricity, every motion an extension of his will.
Selene covered him from the ridge, her rifle precise, every shot finding its mark.
The air filled with fire and moonlight — a dance of chaos and grace.
When the last drone fell burning into the river, the forest went silent again.
Kael stood amid the wreckage, steam rising from his body. Selene approached slowly, lowering her weapon.
"You're stronger than before," she said quietly.
Kael looked at his hands. "No," he said. "I'm different."
The glow faded a little, but the light in his eyes didn't.
Selene stepped beside him, watching the city lights in the distance. "Then what now?"
Kael's jaw tightened. "Lucien isn't just after me anymore. He's after the whole bloodline. If he completes the merge—he becomes the new god of the code."
"So we stop him."
Kael looked at her, a half-smile cutting through the exhaustion. "We?"
Selene grinned. "You think I came this far just to watch you self-destruct?"
He laughed softly — the sound genuine for the first time in a long while. "Then we hunt together."
Selene nodded. "Always."
The rain picked up again, washing blood from the ground. The moon broke through the clouds, shining down on them both.
Kael tilted his head back, feeling the silver warmth touch his skin.
> The Pulse no longer fought him. It breathed with him.
For the first time, he didn't feel cursed.
He felt reborn.
The Eclipseborn.