309

Taking shelter beneath a stone arch during the rain, Nomad waits for the harvesters he expects to arrive. A sizable prospecting force lands, including numerous Charred and, to Nomad’s surprise, the Cinder King himself—evidence that the tyrant anticipates interference. Workers begin digging out multiple sunhearts where Nomad had been buried.

Seeing a heavy vault-ship unload, Nomad improvises a plan to avoid combat. He slips inside, fashions a crude disguise by turning Auxiliary into a false cabinet front, and waits. Workers load sunhearts into drawers around him as they complain about the Cinder King’s scrutiny and Beacon’s disappearance.

Once the vault door thumps shut, Nomad breaks into the drawers with a crowbar and collects five sunhearts. When he tries to leave, the main door is locked. He attempts to summon the precise cutting power he used beneath the city but fails; his cankered oaths block forming a purely lethal tool, and exhaustion saps his focus.

Trapped, Nomad questions his trajectory—recognizing that constant running has masked a deeper inner paralysis. As he grapples with this realization, the vault door clicks from the outside. Before he can reestablish his disguise, the door opens to reveal Zeal standing in the rain.