The Rust Slums were a battlefield of chaos, violet Voidborn rifts dotting the horizon, their chaotic entities skittering through the burning shacks. The Weaver's thread-lockdown had sealed the city, golden threads forming a shimmering dome over the slums, trapping everyone inside. Kael stood in the Weaver outpost's central chamber, the massive Loom humming with the city's threads, his creator bloodline resonating with its power. The shard fragments in his pocket pulsed erratically, their violet energy seeping into his veins, amplifying his glitchweaving—but also his connection to the Voidborn.
Ryn, Mira, and Vren fought off enforcers at the outpost's entrance, their movements a desperate dance of survival. Ryn's knife flashed, slicing a drone's core, her goggles reflecting the golden threads above. "Kael, we can't hold them much longer!" she shouted, her auburn hair matted with sweat, her scavenged jacket torn from the fight.
Mira fired her pulse rifle, her cybernetic arm sparking, her scar stark against her shaved head. "If you've got a plan, slum boy, now's the time!" Her voice was gruff, but her dark eyes held a flicker of trust—earned after Kael's actions in the den (Chapter 13).
Vren wove green threads, reinforcing a shield around the entrance, their silver hair tied back, blue eyes sharp with focus. "The Loom's stabilizing the rifts, but the Weaver's lockdown is tightening. We need to break it—or we're all dead."
Kael's hands trembled, the Voidborn's voice echoing in his mind, deep and resonant: *"Child of creators… ally with us. We can unmake the Weavers, free your world."* The entity's swirling eye flashed in his vision, its offer a dangerous temptation. The shard's shattering had unleashed its power, and now it spoke through him, its chaotic energy seeping into his glitchweaving. Violet threads shimmered around him, unbidden, distorting the Loom's chamber—walls glitched, threads frayed, and a nearby enforcer drone froze mid-step, its circuits sparking.
"Kael!" Ryn's voice snapped him back, her hand on his shoulder, grounding him. Her green eyes were fierce, but worried. "You're slipping. Fight it."
"I'm trying," Kael rasped, blood dripping from his nose, his gray eyes glowing violet. The Voidborn's temptation was intoxicating—unmake the Weavers, save the slums. But at what cost? The entity's chaos had already torn through the city, spawning rifts and entities that hunted scavengers. He couldn't trust it.
Outside, the elite Weaver's voice boomed, amplified by their armor's threads. "Kael, your resistance ends here." Golden threads lashed through the slums, collapsing shacks, dragging scavengers into containment. The Weaver had Ryn earlier (Chapter 13), and now they hunted Kael with ruthless precision.
Kael turned to the Loom, its threads revealing more of the creators' plan: balance chaos and order, using their bloodline as a failsafe. He wove, violet threads merging with the Loom's, redirecting its power to weaken the lockdown. The golden dome flickered, but the effort pushed him to his limit—his vision blurred, blood streaming from his eyes, his glitchweaving spiraling out of control. Violet threads lashed out, shattering a wall, nearly hitting Ryn.
"Kael, stop!" Ryn tackled him, pinning him to the ground, her knife at his throat—not to hurt, but to snap him out of it. "You're going to kill yourself!"
The Voidborn's voice surged, louder: *"Let us in, Kael. We are your power."* His body convulsed, violet energy crackling around him, his eyes glowing brighter. The entity began to possess him, threads of his reality unravelling—his skin flickered, threads of his own body fraying, his voice echoing with the Voidborn's chorus.
Mira and Vren rushed in, seeing Kael's state. Mira's rifle lowered, her jaw tight. "He's a liability. We cut him loose, or he'll destroy us."
"No!" Ryn snapped, her grip on Kael tightening, her goggles slipping. "He's fighting for us. We don't abandon him."
Vren knelt beside Kael, their Weaver gauntlets glowing. "I've seen this—creator possession. There's an artifact in the outpost, a creator relic. It can sever the connection." They moved to a sealed chamber, weaving threads to unlock it, revealing a crystalline orb etched with ancient threads, pulsing with a soft white light.
But the Weaver's forces closed in, golden threads breaching the outpost. Kael's possession deepened, his glitchweaving erupting—violet threads tore through the chamber, collapsing the ceiling, forcing the Unthreaded to scatter. Ryn refused to let go, dragging Kael behind cover, her voice breaking. "Kael, come back to me."
To be continued…