Starfall (BOOK 1)

Chapter 34

RAYAN

Fire pinched his skin at the bridge of metal as he landed in the Merger while the world spun around him. He groaned and rocked with the pain in his chest as he settled himself in his chair. Out of his scout, he almost fell off the wing and face-first into the concrete. Bionic stars danced along the rims of buildings, trying to adjust to the new environment. Neon lights glowed and seared through his mind as it fell into the black hole, turning into nothing but spaghetti in front of him.

Back on his feet, he stumbled through the alleys, unsure of where his body took him. How far? How far has this gone? For how long? His breath caught in his chest as he crawled himself forward, over the bodies of those he left behind. How long? Who else?

Blurry shapes milled past him as he tried to get somewhere familiar. Somewhere comfortable. Anywhere but in the flames as he shuffled onto main street, where voices coalesced in his ears, but he found himself unable to pick the conversations out.

One shoulder crashed into his, and he stumbled into a wall as a shadow whipped to face him, raising their hands for a shove. "Watch where you're going!"

He heard Aaron scoff in his disbelief, in his certainty of the Insurgency's ideal. Rayan lunged forward to grab onto him, to pull him into the alley to grapple his haunted shadow into a headlock. Annoyance and fear sent tremors through his arm, but he held on tight. Shapes swelled, and he frowned when dark hair replaced the lighter curls of Aaron as the person stared up at him with wide, grey eyes of shock.

"Listen, buddy," Rayan hissed through the stars. "Watch that mouth. You never know who you're pushing around." He uncoiled his arm, and the person stumbled back into the street, where few people glanced over to check the commotion, but went about their days as if nothing unusual happened. The messy blur escaped into the crowd, but he stuck himself to the alley, where the lights threatened to overwhelm his bionics.

Arm across his brow to wipe the sweat, he raised his free hand to his stiff cybernetic. Celestials... too hot. He continued his journey through the underbelly of the District Merger. People hooted and cheered in the distance, and pubs gave promise to sweet temptation. Rayan shuddered when the sensation of blood slicked down his forearm and collected on his elbow, and he forced himself onward.

Embers bit holes into his skin to cauterize the unseen wound as he followed the soft purples. Have to... He stumbled into the small square with Garcy's shop — where Nyra and Keren found themselves in the grip of the Insurgency. Its title sparked and flashed, each letter doused closer to having no name at all. No shapes milled about in the intercity collection of shops, so he hung off the door, where many of the rebels posted pamphlets. Among them, some of Aaron's ideas, those they followed through with to help those who struggled and the Sanctum ignored.

"Ray?" Garcy asked as Rayan entered.

Rayan breathed deep the familiarity, but it choked him as Garcy's large shadow lifted from the desk. "Jina said you were in a rush," Garcy said and rounded into his clear view. "You alright?" His gray gaze lowered to his metal shoulder. "Celestials, what happened? You look like you crawled out of the Void Hells." His lungs caved in while he tried to steady himself. He drew back from Garcy's outreach of help. "Rayan?" Garcy mused. "Is something wrong? Do you want me to take a look at your arm?"

How long? Who else?

He left them all behind.

Rayan tried to find a different sense of familiarity, and ignored Garcy calling his name until he was long gone from the shop. Pain coiled through his neck as he tugged himself to Azure Lane, where a couple of patrons sat outside on the side deck and gave him no words or motions of acknowledgements. Anything to run from the flames; to run from the problem.