Rise of the Nullborn

Chapter 23: Factions watching



Night had not yet left Brinehook. Aetherlight still flickered above rooftops in soft blue lanterns, pulsing to the heartbeat of the town's defenses. Zayn sat beneath the overhang of a ruined tower just outside the southern basin, his back resting against the damp wall. Smoke from the earlier breach still curled weakly into the air, almost reaching the clouds.

His fingers opened and closed slowly, watching the black mist curl around them before it faded. The whispers had not stopped, not the ones around him, nor the ones inside.

Nala crouched nearby, her gaze scanning the upper terraces of the town where the elders had retreated hours ago. She was silent, but her shoulders were tense. She had stayed close all night. Neither of them had spoken much since the beast fell.

"It's not getting quieter," Zayn finally said. His voice sounded strange to his own ears, like it belonged to someone older.

Nala turned toward him, her expression unreadable. "Because something inside you is waking up. It doesn't like to sleep anymore."

He nodded, exhaling. "I didn't ask for this."

"No one ever does."

A distant bell rang from the watchtower. Not an alarm, more of a signal. Dawn was nearing. Trade gates would reopen. Brinehook would pretend things were fine.

But everything had changed.

Zayn pushed himself to his feet. "I need air. Real air."

They left the basin quietly, climbing a dirt trail that wound out from the town's western cliffs. The world opened into layered ridges, early light spilling across the valleys and jagged rock. The Aether here was cooler, thinner, less compressed.

At the ridge's edge, Zayn paused, taking in the sight of the land beyond. A great stretch of green fields, broken by shallow canyons and flickering ruin glows far off in the distance. Floating shards hovered over one distant hilltop, suspended unnaturally, faintly shimmering.

"I've never seen land like this," he murmured.

"You've never really lived in it," Nala said. "Not like this. Not with your core burning like a beacon."

A bird-like creature shot across the sky far above them, trailing motes of pulse light.

Zayn tracked it, then froze.

Another light shimmered.

Far across the field, perched just inside the curve of the canyon, a figure crouched. Cloaked in violet-gray cloth, nearly invisible, but not to Zayn's new awareness.

[Detection Trait: Pulse Link - Active]

[Energy Source Detected:

Aether-Forge Signature - Mid Tier]

Nala saw it too. She narrowed her eyes. "Not from Brinehook."

"No," Zayn agreed. "And they're not hiding very well."

He didn't move toward them. He simply turned and let his energy flare faintly, just enough to let the observer know they'd been seen.

The figure stood, cloak swirling behind them, and disappeared into the canyon shadow.

"Think they'll come back?" Zayn asked.

Nala was already nodding. "They're scouts. First wave. They don't come alone."

They returned to Brinehook by midday. The town had settled, but its eyes had shifted. Some looked at Zayn with quiet awe. Others with veiled suspicion. The containment breach had shaken everyone. The way Zayn ended it had left a mark.

Aellor summoned them to the northern tower.

He paced slowly near the balcony overlooking the lower stone bridge. His eye-lens spun in calm arcs as they approached.

"First," he said, "the elders are not demanding exile."

Zayn raised an eyebrow.

"Yet," Aellor added. "But they've begun asking about your lineage. Your core doesn't register on their records. And when something doesn't fit a schema, they reach for one of two things: legend or threat."

"I'm not a threat," Zayn said.

Aellor gave him a long look. "You ended a containment breach solo and leaked energy most of our scribes can't define. That alone would get you on more than one list."

He turned away and picked up a small relic tablet from the railing. He tossed it gently to Zayn.

On the tablet: a mark, stylized like a rising spiral wreathed in flame.

"Dawnspire Pact," Aellor said. "Sent a scout team into the northern ridges two days ago. This was found near the Shifting Hollow."

Zayn studied the symbol. "They were watching?"

"They always are," Aellor replied. "But this time, their interest is focused. This token was intentionally dropped. You were meant to find it."

Nala crossed her arms. "What do they want with him?"

Aellor's lens narrowed. "They'll want to recruit him. Or... dissect what makes him different. Depends which branch finds him first."

Zayn slipped the token into his coat. "Then I won't let them find me unprepared."

That evening, while Brinehook moved with careful normalcy, Zayn and Nala returned to their quarters atop the weathered inn. Zayn sat by the window, blade across his lap, and stared at the tablet.

Nala leaned beside the sill. "You're not sleeping?"

"I don't think I can," he replied.

A pause. Then she said, "Let's leave soon."

Zayn blinked. "You mean—"

"Not running," she clarified. "Walking forward. Away from these walls. Toward the next step."

He nodded slowly. "We follow the map fragment then. The one from the ruin dive."

"Exactly. It marked a ruin in the Weeping Hollow. Not far from the Dawnspire's forward scouts."

Zayn's pulse shifted.

"Good," he said. "Then let them watch. We'll show them more than they expect."

The next morning, Brinehook's gates opened to the sound of drifting pulsewinds. Zayn and Nala stood just beyond the stone arch, packs strapped, weapons aligned.

Aellor approached them one last time.

"You've left a storm behind," he said. "But sometimes storms bring growth."

Zayn nodded. "Thanks for the roof."

Aellor smiled faintly. "Watch for shifting light. In the Weeping Hollow, even time forgets itself."

They departed at dawn, taking the eastward trail into the deeper veins of Aether-land. Behind them, the town faded, but the weight of its whispers did not.

Far across the hills, hidden in mist, a series of flickering signals blinked like stars.

The Dawnspire Pact was watching.

And Zayn had decided they would see exactly what a Nullborn could become.


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