Kael woke to the sound of dripping water. The refinery's leaks had worsened overnight, pooling in jagged puddles that reflected the greenish glow of Mira's holoreel. She sat cross-legged by the Crucible, her shard-eye flickering as she scanned data only she could parse. Gutter lay between them, her crystalline fur dimmed to a muted amber, one ear twitching at the distant skitter of Husk-Mimics in the walls.
The sight of Mira here, waiting, tightened Kael's throat. She'd become a constant—a thorn he couldn't pry loose.
"You're late," she said, not looking up.
"Didn't know we had appointments," Kael muttered, rolling his stiff shoulder. The corruption had crept past his collarbone, tendrils of black venom spidering toward his jaw.
Mira finally glanced at him. Her gaze lingered on his neck, clinical and cold, but her fingers tightened imperceptibly around the holoreel. "Sit. We're starting."
"Starting what?"
"Your education."
Kael snorted. "I've survived this long without your sermons."
Mira's smile was a razor. "Survival isn't living. Sit. Now."
Gutter whined, nudging Kael's leg. Reluctantly, he sank onto a crate, the wood groaning under his weight.
Mira tossed him a vial. Inside, a viscous black liquid writhed, alive and restless. "Shard-corruption. Twenty percent chance upon bonding if the body rejects the power."
Kael rolled the vial, watching the sludge cling to the glass. "So I'm just… unlucky?"
"No." Her voice softened. "You're human. The Shards weren't meant for us. They're shrapnel from a war between dead gods. Our bodies… resist."
He set the vial down. "And the Trials?"
Mira activated the holoreel. A fractal storm raged—a Shardbearer screaming as their shadow tore free, morphing into a clawed horror. "A Trial is a nightmare. A reflection of your worst self. Survive it, and you steal a shred of the deity's power. Fail…"
The holoreel shifted: a man's body erupting into a geode of jagged crystal, tendrils snaking out to birth smaller Shards.
"Progenitor," Kael whispered.
Mira nodded. "But succeed while corrupted, and the Trial burns the rot away. Succeed clean, and your Shard evolves. Grows… hungrier."
Kael flexed his blackened hand. "And if I don't want hungry?"
"Then die." Mira's tone was matter-of-fact, but her eyes dropped to Gutter, who'd pressed her head to Kael's knee.
From her coat, Mira produced a tiny geode. Its core pulsed with oily light, casting twisted shadows on the walls. "An Epiphany. Fragments of the dead god's memory. Knowledge. Madness."
She placed it in Kael's palm. It burned, not with heat, but a hollow, gnawing cold.
"When you finish a Trial," she said, "you carve this from the dark. Some think they're visions. Others, blueprints. I think they're the god's final scream."
The geode twitched. A whisper slithered into Kael's mind:
"…the crucible is flawed… the chains will break…
He recoiled, the geode clattering to the floor. Gutter snarled, her fur blazing as she positioned herself between Kael and the cursed thing.
Mira retrieved it calmly. "They're unsettling. But invaluable."
"Why show me this?" Kael rasped, still feeling the god's voice in his marrow.
"Because a Trial is inevitable. And you need to know what you're stealing from."
A silence fell, thick with unspoken questions. Kael watched Mira tuck the geode away, her movements precise, practiced.
"How do you know all this?" he finally asked. "The Inquisition doesn't—"
"The Inquisition burns this knowledge," she snapped. For a heartbeat, her mask slipped—grief, raw and ancient, twisted her features. "My sister… she was obsessed with Epiphanies. Thought they could purify Shards. Save us."
Mira pulled a locket from her neck, snapping it open. The photo inside showed two girls: Mira, younger and softer, and a smiling woman with Mira's sharp cheekbones, her veins already blackened.
"Elara bonded a Shard to test her theories," Mira said, voice brittle. "Her Trial… she survived. But her Epiphany…"
She trailed off, snapping the locket shut.
Kael didn't need to ask. The answer hung in the scars on Mira's hands, the way she flinched at Gutter's kindness.
"You're trying to finish her work," he said.
Mira stood abruptly, her coat swirling. "I'm trying to understand. And you're my best chance."
...
Gutter whined, pawing at Mira's boot. The Shardwright hesitated, then knelt, scratching the dog's ears with uncharacteristic gentleness.
"You're a fool," she muttered, though the words lacked bite.
Kael watched, something uneasy stirring in his chest. Mira was poison—a liar, a manipulator. But the way she touched Gutter… it reminded him of Jarek, years ago, bandaging Kael's wounds after a botched heist.
"You're lucky I'm soft," Jarek had joked, his hands steady.
Now, Jarek hunted him. Now, Kael sat with another viper, her venom just as deadly.
That night, Kael dreamt of chains.
Golden, singing chains, binding a colossal shadow that bled starlight. The deity. It turned, hollow eyes reflecting Kael's face—corrupted, clawed, monstrous.
"Thief," it hissed, its voice the grind of collapsing worlds. "You steal what you cannot comprehend."
Kael woke gasping, Gutter's muzzle pressed to his cheek, her warmth a tether to reality. Across the room, Mira slept fitfully, her brow furrowed, the locket clutched to her chest.
He stared at her, the question burning hotter than the Shard's venom:
What did her sister's Epiphany cost?
And deeper, darker:
What will mine cost her?
The light of dawn filtered through the refinery's cracks, painting the rot in sickly gold. Mira was already awake, scribbling notes, her shard-eye glowing faintly.
"Your venom," she said without looking up. "It's adapting. The corruption's slowed."
Kael flexed his hand. The black veins had receded slightly, leaving mottled gray skin. "So I'm useful again?"
Mira met his gaze. "You've always been useful. Just not to yourself."
Gutter barked, trotting in with a mangled synth-rat. Mira grimaced.
"Disgusting creature," she said, but accepted the "gift" with gloved hands.
Kael watched, a grudging smirk tugging his lips. Maybe we're all fools here.
By dusk, the air thickened with the Choir's distant hymn.
Mira adjusted her scanner, her voice steady. "If you overcome a Trial, you'll need to choose. Let the Shard consume you… or consume it."
Kael tested his claws, the edges sharper, greener. "And if I choose wrong?"
Mira's fingers brushed the locket. "Then we'll both learn what the god's scream sounds like."