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September 7th, 15.006 La Paz, Umbra [Vampire Continent] “Reno. Stop it already.” Zevran didn’t raise his voice; he sharpened it. Reno hopped anyway—concrete bump to bump like the street was a game he’d invented. “It’s cardio,” he said, palms out, grin reckless. “Doctor’s orders.” “Whose doctor—?” When he spoke to Reno, Zevran’s voice sounded more like a wild animal’s than a teenager’s. “Ohhh, just leave it, he’s not bothering anyone”, Haru cut in, not even looking up from tuc

September 7th, 15.006 Great Hall, Command Tower, La Paz, Umbra [Vampire Continent] The Great Hall was already full when the bells rang ten. The hall—more a living circle of concrete, glass, and overlapping breaths—rose around them in spiraling geometry. Wide staircases curled upward to the floor that held the Command Chamber and the Elite quarters, balconies stacked like attentive eyelids. Above that: the dining floor, the rest lounges, and the half-completed communication an

August 1st, 15.006 South Wing, La Paz, Umbra [Vampire Continent] Tech’s laboratory—technically not its real name, but it was the first-floor room where he spent nearly all his time; the space had earned the title by force of habit alone—smelled of burnt cables and lemon solvent. Coils slept in half-built nests; a whiteboard sulked under the weight of last night’s calculations. Riku paced with an effortless swagger, white short-sleeved shirt unbuttoned over another tee , like

February 10th, 15.006 Rooms floor, Command Tower, La Paz, Umbra [Vampire Continent] The vibration pulsed under everyone’s skin before the sound ever hit the rooms—nano-ink waking, the general comms channel cracking open. “Rise and shine,” Jeda said, voice rough but bright at the same time, eyes still half closed. “See you all in 15 minutes. Command Chamber. Yes, even you, Tech. All of you. ” Static. Then the chorus:  Axis: “Copy.”  Ailin: “Received.”  Dominique: “Ugh.”  Elois

June 15th, 15.005 La Paz, Ashveil Desert [Vampire Continent] The Academy Tower’s resting kitchen was quiet except for the click of the coffee machine and the hum of the vents. Sukira stood by the counter in full uniform — white shirt, black vest, short skirt cut sharp, tie straight like she was born with it — hands cupped around a slightly crooked mug that read “best mom [my mom]”  in red, hand-painted letters. A gift from Risha from back when he took a pottery class, some ti

February 15th, 15.004 La Paz, Umbra [Vampire Continent] 21hs – The Main Square The Red Moon rose again over La Paz, and this time the city didn’t hold its breath. The night was alive—windows open, laughter carried across the freshly finished streets, music leaking subtly from the other squares. What had once been a single gathering place was now a small network of plazas and gardens, each filled with families preparing for the ritual night. The desert air shimmered red, warm

January 3rd, 15.004 Command Tower, La Paz, Umbra [Vampire Continent] The meeting room smelled faintly of dust and metal. Screens flickered low light across the walls, maps overlaid with pulse marks, surveillance grids, and temperature readings of zones long since marked uninhabitable. Sukira sat near the far end of the table, legs crossed, fingers drumming against her thigh. Her uniform jacket hung half-unzipped—field mission, no parade. Jeda stood by the table’s edge, postur

December 31st, 15.003 La Paz Beach, Ashveil Desert, Umbra [Vampire Continent] 00hs. The bonfires came in dozens that year—small, scattered rings of gold along the beach instead of the single fire they sat around a few years ago. The air smelled of salt, smoke, and sweet wine. Paper lanterns hung lower, closer to the sand, and laughter carried softer, as if the city was still learning how to celebrate. Risha was thirteen now, old enough to have his own circle. He and his frien

December 30th, 15.003 Velaric’s Mansion, Bloodspire, Umbra [Vampire Continent] The night over Bloodspire’s capital burned with a dull red haze — the kind of color that never truly left Umbra’s capital, a reflection of its towers and old bloodlines. The Velaric estate sat at the city’s highest ridge, wrapped in wards that shimmered against the clouds, each one coded to its owners’ veins. The air smelled of rain and iron. Sukira stepped out of the helicopter before the blades e

December 22nd, 15.003 Velmore Alps — Unknown Coordinates, Umbra [Vampire Continent] The shift was near-silent. One moment, Elon stood at the edge of La Paz’s final perimeter ward — the sand flat and hot at his feet. The next, he was gone. No flash. No wind. Just a ripple in the fabric of air, and then nothing. He emerged in white. Not snow — stone. Pale, ice-dusted cliffs loomed like giants’ bones around him, curling toward the sky in tight spirals of rock and frost. The cold

December 21th, 15.003 La Paz, Ashveil Desert, Umbra [Vampire Continent] The apartment was too quiet. Risha wasn’t there. School hours. He quickly realized that someone else was staying there with him, maybe Axis, as Reno’s stuff was everywhere. Weird, why didn't she come to stay with him?  Dust motes drifted in the slant of morning light across the kitchen table, untouched dishes stacked neatly where Risha usually left them. Elon set himself down and stood still. He exhaled,

December 10th, 15.003 Checkpoint Village, Ashveil Desert, Umbra [Vampire Continent] It had been months since the last breach. The night of the massacre still lingered in some of their memories — the mercenaries who tried to pry their way into the garden ruins, the blood left behind, and Sukira slipping back into Elon’s apartment so he could heal her. But since then, nothing. The months turned quiet, summer passed, classes returned; peaceful times. The Yellow Alarm had not sou

July 28th, 15.003 La Paz, Ashveil Desert, Umbra [Vampire Continent] The smell of coffee grounded everything. Sukira stood in full uniform in the quiet kitchen of the Academy building, spoon tapping against the rim of her cup. The soft noise of new refrigeration units, the slow drip of a tap, the faint echo of distant training gear — it was all familiar by now. Further, somewhere in the library wing, Elon’s voice was probably guiding a lecture. She could feel the threads of ma

July 25th, 15.003 La Paz, Ashveil Desert, Umbra [Vampire Continent] He stood alone in the kitchen, devastated by the bad timing. The yellow shade crept across the floor, slanting in from the window near the balcony. Outside, the lamp posts of La Paz had all begun to pulse in sync — steady, warm, and unfamiliar. Yellow. He closed his eyes for a second. “She’ll be on duty,” he muttered to himself. “Yellow means security breach… or something like that.” La Paz operated on a prot

July 19th, 15.003 La Paz, Ashveil Desert, Umbra [Vampire Continent] The sun was merciless, baking the cobblestones until they burned to the touch. Summer had come early, and even the breeze rolling off the shore carried no relief. On the beach, panic was already gathering. A crowd of kids pointed upward, shouting over each other. Floating above them, blazing like a lantern in the sky, Risha was curled tight inside a sphere of fire. Heat shimmered off the waves, and the smell

December 15th, 15.002 La Paz, Ashveil Desert, Umbra [Vampire Continent] 19:00 The Red Moon had risen again. Fourteen months had passed since the last, though for some it felt like only yesterday. In La Paz, the Committee, the Triad and the school had spent weeks preparing, trying to shape the night into something understood rather than feared. To most outside these walls, the Red Moon was still demonized — a night of hunger, violence, and whispers of demons walking among the

November 11th, 15.002 La Paz, Ashveil Desert, Umbra [Vampire Continent] The buzz of machinery greeted her inside the Research Tower. Tech was at one table, pink hair a mess, tools scattered everywhere. Sami leaned casually against the counter beside him, the only one in La Paz who could match his sharp tongue and fast cleverness without effort. They were both fiddling with the skin behind their ears — the first nano-tattoos. “I’m glad you suggested making these temporary,” Te

October 5th, 15.002 La Paz, Ashveil Desert, Umbra [Vampire Continent] Months had passed since the new year fireworks, and La Paz was no longer the half-finished refuge it had been when they first gathered on the shore. Walls rose higher, halls filled with new voices, and routines had carved themselves into everyone’s lives. Families doubled, the school rang with laughter and fights, soldiers drilled in the dust, and plans whispered in the main Command Tower stretched further

1st February, 15.002 La Paz, Ashveil Desert, Umbra [Vampire Continent] The dining hall was unusually quiet for breakfast. Most of the cadets and officers had already rushed out toward training grounds or classrooms, leaving only a handful of tables occupied. At one of the smaller ones, a folder sat between bowls of porridge and half-eaten fruit rolls. Risha frowned at the papers as though they might bite him. Sukira, pen spinning between her fingers, sighed through her nose.

January 25th, 15.002 La Paz, Ashveil Desert, Umbra [Vampire Continent] Midday in La Paz was anything but quiet. Cadets rushed across the courtyards, their voices carrying as they were shuffled into last-minute drills. Workers shouted over scaffolding as new beams went up around the Citadel. Families hurried through the Civil Quarter, children clinging to their parents, clutching fresh notebooks for classes that would begin in just days. Sukira cut through it all, her black ti