The surface never slept. Even as the first gray light of dawn stretched over the jagged horizon, the cries of beasts echoed through the ruins of the old city. Smoke drifted lazily from distant fires, and scavengers darted between crumbling buildings, their eyes alert for both prey and predator.
Leaning against the cracked wall of a collapsed tower, Kael flexed his fingers, feeling the familiar hum under his skin. The faint glow at the base of his wrist pulsed in sync with his heartbeat, a rhythm he had lived with his entire life. The microchip.
For fifteen years, it had been a dull companion, quietly growing beneath his flesh.
A month remained before he turned sixteen, the moment when it would fully awaken. But today, something was different. The dim glow had brightened, a vibrant blue. A low vibration thrummed against his skin, sharp and insistent.
