Kael Ashborn's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Kael Ashborn had gone two days without water, and their skin still refused to burn. The noon sun hammered the cracked flats outside the dome. Other survivors would have cooked to bone by now. Kael did not. Heat did not kill them, and cold did not either. That was the whole problem. Somewhere past the poison wastes lay ground no survivor had ever crossed. Kael meant to be the first. But to wake the deeper change in their body, they had to keep pushing it, and pushing it meant staying alive. Right now, staying alive meant water. The spring sat below a ridge of black rock. Kael crawled up and looked down. A scorched drake coiled around the pool. Its hide was cracked and glowing, like coals that never died. Steam hissed off the water where its tail dipped. The drake had claimed the only spring for a mile. No water, no more tests. No tests, no awakening. Kael's dry throat made the choice simple. Behind them, boots scraped the rock. Sarah Hartwell climbed up, the survivor who kept the dome's crops alive and trusted no plan she hadn't checked twice. She dropped flat beside Kael and swore under her breath. "You cannot fight that," Sarah said. "It'll bake you." "It won't," Kael said. "That's the point." Sarah shoved a tool into Kael's hands. It was heavy, with a solar panel on top and a head that folded into a shovel. "Then don't fight it. Go under it. This finds water underground. Dig your own spring and leave the monster its pool." Kael turned the tool over. A small screen blinked, then pointed downslope, away from the drake. Kael slid off the ridge and crept to the marked spot. They flipped the head into a shovel and drove it into the dirt. The blade cut fast. Sarah watched the ridge, ready to warn them. Kael dug through the heat until sweat ran and the sun cooked their back. Their skin held. The tool beeped faster the deeper they went. Then water welled up dark and cold around the blade. Kael dropped to their knees and drank. The drake lifted its head. It had heard the digging. It uncoiled and slid down the ridge, hide flaring brighter, straight toward the fresh water and the two people beside it. "Move," Sarah hissed, dragging Kael back toward the dome. Kael had water now. But the drake had followed the sound, and it stood between them and the shelter, closer to the sealed door than they were.