Kael woke with his hand reaching for his left gauntlet.
His fingers struck metal. He scraped them across the mounting surface, searching for the fragment while a single thought dragged him out of the darkness.
He needed to stop it.
Kael jerked upright and caught his own wrist, breathing hard. There was no Rune beneath his fingers. No red light under his skin. The mounting was empty, and the hand gripping his wrist looked like his own.
For several seconds, he could do nothing except stare at it. Then he remembered the fragment breaking apart.
Nine seconds. He had stopped with nine seconds remaining.
Kael loosened his grip slowly. His fingers had pressed hard enough to leave pale marks around his wrist, though they faded almost immediately.
"Already stopped it. You already fucking stopped it."
Hearing the words helped. He drew another breath, waiting for the pain in his ribs to follow.
Nothing happened.
