Nod's End

COMING SOON

The city that never sleeps seems to be holding its breath. Under the dim glow of neon signs and flickering streetlights, Catalyst waits, restless in the shadows. The silence is thick, the streets too still. It's a slow night. Maybe the slowest he's ever had.

Then, in an instant, the quiet shatters.

An explosion rips through the night, pulling Catalyst into action. A chase through the labyrinthine alleys of the undercity. What began as a routine patrol spirals into a relentless gauntlet of chaos, forcing him to fight—not just to keep up, but to survive.

EXCERPT

The icy wind stung his skin as flurries of snowflakes continued to fall from the sky. He shuddered as the cold chill radiating off the Aden River sent a shiver up the length of his spine. His breaths came out in clouds of misty tendrils that ghosted the flesh of his cheeks.

He sat on the ledge of a Nod’s End apartment building, kicking at the bricks with the back of his heel. He’d been waiting for what felt like forever but couldn’t have been longer than an hour. He usually didn’t have to wait this long. The city was always teeming with crime, especially this part of Nocturne. He was always breaking up a fight, stopping petty theft in its tracks, or pulling some guy off a girl in a back alley.

Tonight it was quiet.

Below a man and woman were huddled over a steel drum, their hands outstretched, trying to warm them by the fire. The only thing they seemed intent on was keeping warm.

The streets, cracked and falling deeper into disrepair by the day, were covered by a thin sheet of ice. Catalyst had watched the man slip and fall just a few minutes before; he swore as he went down, but otherwise didn’t sustain any injuries.

His pride had just been hurt more than anything.

The woman offered to help him, holding a hand out to him, but he pushed it away. As he scrambled to his feet, he almost slipped again on the slick ice and swore again.

Catalyst watched them for another moment or two, the swinging of his leg growing more pronounced as he grew more and more restless by the minute. On either side of him the ledge was piling high with a mound of snow; he raked it flat, the snow falling over the ledge and onto the landing of the apartment below. He watched as snow collected, covering the space he just cleared with another thin sheet of white powder. He reached a hand forward, index finger poised to draw a line in the snow when it happened.

A crack like the world splitting open, followed by a deafening roar that rattled his ears. He staggered back from the ledge, hands moving to cup his ears as he lost his footing and fell back onto the concrete. The force of the impact knocked the air from his lungs. Ears ringing, he rolled onto his side; coughing and hacking as he tried to fill his lungs with air. And his eyes stung with the weight of hot brimming tears.