The Reckoning

The world vanished in blackness as the lantern’s flame died, swallowed by the hungry dark. Only the smell of smoke lingered—thick, acrid, and all too familiar.

And suddenly Maren was back there, years ago, standing on a rooftop in Los Angeles, watching the city die.

The sky had been an open wound of fire. Highways twisted like molten veins, skyscrapers collapsed in on themselves, and mobs below screamed for “justice” that had long since lost its meaning. They called themselves revolutionaries—“no kings,” they said, “no more rulers.” But what they wanted was chaos, not freedom. They tore down everything—the statues, the courthouses, the schools—believing destruction would make them pure.

The old republic had already been sick, but that day it bled out completely.

Maren remembered the sound of gunfire echoing from block to block, the blaring of drones overhead, the way the air shimmered with heat and madness. She remembered running through the ashes, her father pulling her by the hand, shouting over the roar of flames.

“Remember what we stood for!” he cried. “Freedom isn’t given—it’s guarded!”

Then came the explosion that tore him from her grasp.

The flash burned behind her eyelids now, even as she blinked herself back to the present—the wilderness, the cold, the unseen watcher before her.

The hooded figure stepped closer, face now faintly visible in the weak moonlight. A scar traced his cheek. Eyes sharp, assessing.

“You remember it, don’t you?” he said softly. “The fires. The fall. That’s where it began—for all of us.”

Maren’s voice trembled with both fury and restraint. “I remember enough to know what happens when madness calls itself justice.”

The stranger nodded slowly. “Good. Because you’re about to face it again.”

He glanced toward the distance, where faint red lights glowed like embers on the horizon—scouting drones searching for her trail.

“I was sent by Silen,” he continued. “He knew you’d come topside. He said you’d need a reminder of why this fight matters.”

Maren swallowed hard. “And who are you supposed to be?”

“Once?” The man smiled faintly, bitterly. “A professor. I believed the lies—until I saw what they built in their place. Now… I’m just another fool trying to make it right.”

The wind howled through the trees.

Maren steadied herself, raising her chin. “Then help me lead them away. Kerrin and the others need time.”

The stranger hesitated, studying her resolve. Then he nodded. “We’ll give them that. But understand this—what’s coming isn’t just another battle. It’s the reckoning.”

She met his eyes. “Then let it come.”

He turned, gesturing for her to follow. The two disappeared into the wilderness, the dead city glowing faintly behind them—a ghost of everything humanity had lost.