Drides went from being unarmed to holding a large, crystalline blade within the span of a half second. At the spot where the dais used to be were the duelers, each with unearthly eyes, sword pushing against sword. The others watched in silence as Garder completed his transformation, and a blue line ran down his arm to the stones in the back of his hand. The raw energy being released from the two alchemagi-based weapons was so intense that the very ground trembled under everyone’s feet.

  “Thank you again for killing Lontonkon. But maybe I was wrong when saying he was the only one I had to fear,” Drides grumbled as he kept Garder back. “Look at you. You’re almost as magnificent as me.”

  “I’m not… Garder.”

  “Right. My apologies, Caeden. It’s a pleasure meeting you face to face. I’ve heard much about you, my… predecessor. How’s dear old dad—I mean, Leovyn? And Rivia? I guess I could just ask them myself.”

  Rivia shouted, “Be careful, you don’t know what he’s capable of!”

  “Neither do you, old man. I’m not limited to tossing people into portals and killing them instantly. I can do far more than just swat insects.”

  Caeden-Garder charged up a wind blade and sent it through the sword, but Drides deflected it easily, sending it rocketing upwards where it slammed into the castle wall and blew a hole straight through. He tried the attack several more times, each with additional power, but still to no effect.

  Drides then launched himself backwards, twirled his sword around, and created both a stream of fire and a bolt of lightning. They hit Garder with close to full force—only a last second wind barrier kept him standing.

  “What is that? Some dual-alchemagi sword?” Verim wondered.

  Shin answered, “I’ve never seen one, but what else could it be?”

  “New Guardian tech,” Leovyn added. “Maybe one of a kind?”

  “I can’t let Garder do this by himself…” Milla said quietly.

  She fell into a deep concentration as Garder and Drides continued to fight, and while everyone else either cautiously watched or put something up to deflect or absorb a stray alchemagi spell.

  “Milla what are you…” Leovyn murmured. “Wait, don’t—you’re not supposed to force it—”

  “I know… but Garder needs help.”

  “I’ll do it. I don’t want you to force that other stone to ignite.”

  “Dad… no… just give me a little more time…”

  “Hey, apostle kid!” Leovyn suddenly shouted out and extended his casting arm.

  “Jack, no!” Rivia yelled.

  It was too late to stop him; Garder’s sword took on a vibrant green, and an instant later, a long trail of pure vector rays shot out from its tip. Garder swung the sword around to try and hit Drides, but even now, he was too fast. As the vector-sword tore apart the castle even further, Drides made a long, twirling jump and landed a few feet from Leovyn.

  “Entering the fray, Pops? That makes you fair game.”

  The mechanical eye patch sprung open, and before Leovyn could safely release his spell and seek cover, the deathly eclipse was already upon him. He didn’t know what to feel; one moment he made a split decision to protect his children, the next, he was about to die for it.

  Then he opened his eyes to see Milla in front of him, swaying just slightly as if overcoming a terrible headache.

  “Get away from my family!” she shouted angrily through the pain.

  “Milla…” Leovyn murmured. “Y-you’re amazing…”

  “Jack, you can’t get involved!” Rivia whispered to his friend’s mind. “The only thing keeping us alive right now is our complacency. If we try to run or fight, he’ll just kill us.”

  “Damn it…”

  Milla tore out her own sword, and as her hand emerged, Leovyn noticed the trailing green vapors emanating from a glowing light source.

  Drides smirked. “Nice. Join in, then. I can take on all of you.”

  Milla created a wave of air between the two of them, blasting Drides back to a safer distance. After he landed on his feet, Milla charged with sword at the ready—as vector lines swarmed around her like insects.

  Just as she came within striking distance, the vector lines briefly exploded in number, and absorbed every part of her until there was nothing left. Within the same second, the lines regrouped and reconstructed Milla right behind Drides; it was a successful, albeit brief elemental transit spell.

  “Damn it!” he growled and ducked out of the way of her sword. “Fast, aren’t you?”

  “And experienced. I already know all of the level three spells.”

  “Don’t get cocky now, Queen Millie.”

  “Bastard.”

  While she continued her assault on Drides, she also pumped more alchemagi into Garder’s sword, once again turning it into a giant blade of atom-slicing lines. He took to the air and changed the current around him to propel himself into elegant, sweeping twirls.

  Lines sprayed and cut the battlefield, slicing it apart in a thousand places. With a castle collapsing around them, Leovyn found his hands full just trying to ward off stray vector beams and protecting the others.

  “Watch what you’re doing!” he shouted out. “You could kill one of us! Rivia, this is bad. They’re going out of control. Can’t you incapacitate all three of them? It’s the damn vector lines… can’t keep up on them…”

  “Simon, could you—” Rivia began after turning to him.

  “Already know what you’re thinking,” he replied as a bright line nicked his jacket. “Okay, here goes…”

  The three combatants soon found themselves engulfed by a large, dome-shaped field. Instantly, the vector lines disappeared into the air as all alchemagi was rendered useless in the area. It was the largest diffusion field Simon had made yet, but his goal was merely to snap the twins back to their senses. Unfortunately, the effort didn’t have as strong an effect as desired.

  “Damn it! Knock it off!” Garder shouted angrily.

  “Seems you two became a danger to your friends,” Drides quipped. “You know, those people you care so much about and are trying to save?”

  “Shut up!” Milla yelled and swung her blade down at Drides.

  Garder did the same, knowing that his target couldn’t defend against strikes coming from two sides; it suddenly seemed like the perfect moment to take him down.

  But another sword blocked his attack. The twins saw that Drides had two blades on his person the entire time, although the second was very different. It was made entirely of steel and was highly refined and elegant. Judging by its appearance—namely the blue specks that dotted the metal—it was obviously infused with alchemagi sealant.

  “Peter, that’s—” Leovyn exclaimed.

  “I know. Drides, how the hell did you get hold of a Rotaliscen?”

  “It was a gift from the old fool when he took me as a protégé,” he replied while effortlessly keeping the twins’ blades back. “Speaking of, with that deluded idiot out of my way, there really is nothing that can stand against me. I don’t mean to sound egocentric—it’s just the truth.”

  “What’s a Rotaliscen?” Simon wondered.

  “One of the first refined blades man invented—long before there was an Earthen equivalent, no less,” Tabi answered. “There’s nothing too special about them, really, other than the fact that they’re ancient and the art of making another original has been long lost.”

  Masayuki added, “And the thought of this character having one of the few that exist is insulting.”

  “This… character,” Drides mocked. “You people still have no idea of just what I am. Look at you, fighting me here even though I cannot die in Aurra. Not even the combined forces of the ‘great’ Peter, Jack, and Theodore are enough to change anything. I am immortal. I am a freak of nature. I have no right to exist. And once you realize that… you’ll learn that to attempt to go against me is a meaningless act.”

  Just to humor everyone, he let his guard down for a moment so that Garder and Milla could continue their combined attacks. For another few seconds, he deflected every blow they sent his way with both of his weapons. When he grew tired of the farce, he returned the blades to their seethes under his robes and launched his palms at the twins.

  Even without the aid of alchemagi, Drides’ raw strength was unmatched. Simply by thrusting his arms outward, he sent both of the twins flying backwards and onto the ground outside the diffusion barrier. A few seconds later, Simon’s reserves ran dry, and he had to release the only protection the group had from the undying apostle’s true powers.

  “Look, I didn’t even come here to fight, really,” Drides said as he relaxed a bit. “But let me tell you something. I’m not that strong. I’m not incredibly intelligent. I’m not even that good with a sword. It’s just the very nature of what I am that grants me these superhuman abilities.”

  “You’re not one of a kind, Will,” Rivia retorted.

  “But I am. I may be an apostle, but that fact means little to me. I believe that I’m here to fulfill a sole purpose: the rebirth of Aurra into the true heaven we all believe in at some point in our Earth lives. To live forever in peace, with no worries. That is the world I wish to create, using the gifts that I’ve been granted.”

  “No, that would be hell,” Garder corrected him as Caeden’s power left him. “A human lifetime is long enough as is… And you want us to live forever, with the same memories, in the same place, for all eternity? Do you realize how quickly we’d get sick of it? Your dream… will never happen.”

  “And who’s going to stop me? Together, you all probably form the most powerful group of people in all Aurra—and it’s still not enough.”

  “Do… do you still need me for this dream?” Temki asked quietly.

  “You may end up a fail-safe in the end, Temki. I’d prefer to not turn a young human life into a synthid, but I have to, I will. I’m exploring alternative methods at the moment. I came here to test all of you. If you can survive what I’m about to unleash, then you have gained more of my respect, and I will look forward to meeting you all in combat another day.”

  Viktor quietly scoffed, “What a bunch of…”

  “Do you see yourself as a chivalrous knight or something?” Garder muttered. “What’s with all this honor crap you puke out, huh? You’re just a punk, not much older than I am. You think you can take on the world, and that you’re higher and more important than everyone else. What gives you the right to decide the fate of everyone in Aurra, huh?”

  Milla added, “And what about the other pretorians? Do they even support your ideals? How could they knowingly aid your selfish ideas?”

  “Their thoughts on the matter don’t concern me. And half of them are dead, anyway. Ha, and that Viveri turned tail and ran not too long ago. It’s just me and Jenera now, and while I despise her, at least she entertains me what with that attitude and demeanor. I’m just disappointed that I never got to know Leovyn and Jeryn better. Nothing would’ve changed my goals, but I always appreciate unique perspectives.”

  Leovyn replied sarcastically, “Thanks for telling me, Will. I’ll get right back to you on what I think about these sick little schemes of yours.”

  “W-what?” Milla stammered. “Jeryn was…”

  “Oh? Didn’t your friends tell you? I guess you all are pretty good at keeping secrets from one another, aren’t you? Yes, I replaced him when I came onto the scene, Millie. I’m sorry you’re just now hearing about this.”

  “Why didn’t any of you tell me?” Milla asked the others. “Why… didn’t he tell me? Is this what had been troubling him after he got his memories back? Why didn’t any of you…”

  “Milla, I was the only one who knew,” Garder sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t want you to remember him differently.”

  “No—I knew as well,” Shin added. “You could say that more of the blame falls on me, Milla. I knew since the very beginning about Jeryn.”

  “He was the lead pretorian?” Verim replied. “Rivia, you must’ve known, too, then. You were the one who assigned him to the twins.”

  “I… had thought that his memories would not return,” he said with regret. “What Lontonkon did was cruel… Milla, I am sorry, as well.”

  “It… it’s okay,” she replied. “It’s just a bit of shock is all. It doesn’t change the way I see him. It just… I wish I could’ve done more for him.”

  “Jeryn was about to rejoin us,” Drides stated.

  “That’s a lie,” Milla shot back.

  “Maybe. Either way, he sacrificed himself to rid the world of Palar. Why, I have no idea. Perhaps he couldn’t live with his guilt. Anyway, as long as he didn’t tell any of you… something he discovered about me, you get a chance to live. If he did, I might just have to kill all of you right now.”

  Everyone remained silent as Drides looked them over. Their only reaction came a few seconds later, as Trinqit emerged from the shadows of the castle walls and quietly joined him at his side.

  Drides looked at her, sighed, and turned back to the group. “Good. Before we end our meeting today, I’d like to demonstrate my most powerful technique. For practical reasons, actually.”

  He raised four fingers to begin the one spell that he couldn’t do innately, but Trinqit grabbed his hand and forced it back down.

  “Jenera, don’t interfere.”

  “I know what you want to do, but I can’t stand here and watch you let these kids get away again. The king’s dead. His new army will fall apart on its own. We don’t need them to help diminish their capacity further.”

  “I still have plans for them. Now back off.”

  “Having a squabble?” Leovyn said with a laugh.

  “Just give me one minute with the twins,” she asked her superior. “If I can’t kill them both in that time, I’ll leave. It’s too dangerous to have Caeden make them any stronger. They’ll kill you one day, William.”

  She seemed very serious about this, and oddly out of character. And to their surprise, Drides huffed and took a step back.

  “Fine. One minute with the Nolland kids. Anyone steps in, they get the eye. Jenera, you attack anyone else, and I won’t hesitate to use it on you. This oughta be worth a laugh. Do make it fast. We have places to be.”

  Trinqit stepped up, her casting hands at the ready. She was ready for a quick, intense fight; and still ready to show off as well, perhaps. But the twins were in no mood to entertain her—Garder especially.

  With Caeden still awake, he raised his fingers, and the area became colder. Out of a swirl of mist, the snow leopard appeared, even larger than last time. Its summoning was effortless, and the reactions it got from the others were of varying surprise. Temki looked afraid of the beast, while Rivia and Leovyn simply looked on in observational interest.

  “Garder, that’s…” Milla whispered. “You weren’t lying…”

  He made the leopard charge at Trinqit, but she held her ground and began cutting it apart with her vector spells. She too was giving it her all, and instead of relying on simple lines like usual, she formed three-dimensional pyramids and cubes and spun them about, creating deadly floating blenders that savagely tore apart the beast’s limbs.

  It reformed its legs or stitched them back together so quickly that it didn’t even trip in its stride, but the attacks and subsequent repairs were taking a toll on its owner’s alchemagi reserves. When it finally reached her, she created a sturdy earth-iron barrier that blocked a blast of frigid air, and then began absorbing the blows from the creature’s icicle claws.

  “Summons are best dealt with by standing your ground,” she yelled out, unfazed by the powerful creature. “Am I supposed to be shocked by this display a second time, Caeden? Be more creative…”

  She suddenly transformed her barrier into a mass of metal and rocky needles and blasted them out to stun the leopard. As it recovered, she concentrated and produced a storm of glowing lines above that came down like the sharpest possible rain. They shredded the creature, reducing it to a pulpy mess of cool blue watairre alchemagi, water, and ice. Garder had to release his summon before it was completely destroyed, taking it with it his alchemagi. What little remained returned to him, but it was barely enough to cast even a light control spell with. Exhausted, he had to take a knee.

  “That it?” Trinqit said with a laugh. “You really thought that’d do me in? If you hate me so much, you should’ve just blasted this place apart with one of the spells you used to decimate my men,” she said with great spite. “Now die, both of you—you parasitic apostle and your inept host.”

  She formed a nautilus shell via the method of the golden ratio; an advanced vector technique that could spin up into an endless torrent of lines, almost like a Gatling gun. Just before they began launching at her brother, Milla seemingly realized that she too was in this fight and created a three-layered mandala ahead of him to intercept Trinqit’s attack.

  It only lasted for maybe ten seconds, but it felt like it went on and on, and Milla watched in slow-motion as the rapid-fire lines ate away at her protective barriers. Her first mandala shattered, then her next, and then the last one—all that was keeping Garder alive—began to get chipped away at, too. She wished and searched for my alchemagi deep somewhere inside her, but the day’s events had punished her reserves, and she had used most of what was left just to maintain three complex atomized patterns at once.

  Trinqit’s shell finally ran dry, but not before it sent one last long bolt at Garder, still helpless as he tried to recover. Trinqit celebrated an apparent victory just a split second early, with a tiny smile.

  It left her face when she saw that her last line had been stopped, just inches from Garder’s neck. She focused in and noticed his trembling right hand at his side, three fingers out. A single, weak vertical vector line was in front of him, covering him like shield made of a single string. It stayed there just long enough, and Trinqit’s remaining line dissolved.

  “That’s impossible…” she muttered. “You—you can’t…”

  Garder fell forward, his arms out to keep him off the ground. At the sight, even Drides’ had to look surprised, and a subtle facial twitch made his eye patch open—fortunately, he was too far away for his eye to function in its special, deadly way.

  “He’s got half an apostle in him…” Leovyn said. “It’s not so surprising that with Caeden active, he could tap into every element.”

  “Sure as hell isn’t easy, Jack…” Garder’s Caeden voice murmured.

  “T-Theo, fall back,” Rivia ordered. “Come over here.”

  “No you don’t!” Trinqit shouted and prepared another onslaught. “Our duel isn’t over yet. Get back on the battlefield!”

  “Two versus one is not a duel,” Milla retorted as she took a step forward, casting hand at the ready. “And I don’t like being ignored.”

  “Fine. I’ll take care of you first, and Garder can join you in Hold. Then I hope you wait a few seconds for your friends to follow you in.”

  “Just shut up already, Little Miss Sadist.”

  “I hate vector on vector…” Trinqit repeated from their earlier encounter. “Screw it. I’m already pressed for time.”

  With three fingers, Trinqit relinquished her alchemagi to summon a massive serpent made of vector lines, some twenty-feet tall. It moved in an animated sort of way, like an early computer-generated animal that had its crude polygons but was missing its texture, or in this case, skin. It reared up, let out an electrical kind of hiss, and at the command of its master, lunged at Milla. She would have been dead in a second. Would have.

  Instead, a small but more intricate serpent of her own appeared in front of her at the last moment and blocked the deadly dive. Lines clashed and ozone filled the air as they sizzled against each other. Taken by surprise, Trinqit couldn’t issue a new order in time, and Milla’s summon coiled around the other, crushing its enemy’s glowing lines and destabilizing the creature. It then wrapped its jaws around its neck and bit hard, ‘beheading’ it. Trinqit’s serpent fell apart, with some lines simply vanishing, and others firing off in random directions, cutting the castle apart yet further.

  “You can’t be this strong!” Trinqit shouted, and with no patience to wait for all of her alchemagi to return to her, she took out her crossbow. “I trained for years! I perfected my craft! I am Aurra’s most powerful vector!”

  She raised it to fire, but an instant before she pulled the trigger, Milla raised a hand and casted a small solar spell—a vibrant burst of light that dazzled her foe. The crossbow bolt went wild and flew into the air. Even as she rubbed her eyes, swore a few times, and tried to shake it off, Trinqit loaded another bolt and aimed straight ahead, confident she’d at least hit Milla somewhere. But she couldn’t see the small line that had just appeared over her right wrist. She didn’t have a chance to react.

  It came down, and the weight of the crossbow left her arm. Then she felt a searing pain. With her eyes clearing up, she looked down in some confusion. Her right hand was gone. Or, more accurately, it was on the ground with her weapon, its finger still on the trigger.

  “Ah… Agh!” she shrieked and covered her wound. “You damn bitch! That was my casting hand! Y-you… I’m going to kill you…”

  She reached for the dagger at her side, but Drides came up and restrained her before she could grasp it with her remaining hand.

  “It’s been fifty-six seconds,” he said. “I think that’s close enough. The only thing that might happen in those remaining four is you dying.”

  “No, she has to die! They both do! Just let me…”

  “Jenera. I still need you. We have people that can replace what you just lost. Now go back home, and I’ll meet you soon.”

  “B-but I can still…” She shakily tried reaching for her crossbow, but she was again pulled back by her only current superior.

  “You don’t need that anymore. Just get out of here.”

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  Unable to look her enemy in the eye and utterly defeated, she sulked off the battlefield and disappeared into the surrounding shadows.

  “Milla…” Garder murmured from his spot near Leovyn.

  She turned, and for the first time, their two unique eyes met. Hers was on her left instead of her right, but it otherwise looked just like his own. A shiver ran through both of them. There was a strange feeling, maybe subtly broadcasted through telepathy. It was as if… something was whole again. Caeden was almost, almost alive. He was just in separate parts.

  “Ah, anyway… where were we?” Drides spoke up, and the twins turned to look at him, along with everyone else.

  Their eyes returned to normal and Caeden’s power diminished, but both felt that his two halves were still watching for the time being.

  “Hey, ‘Jack’… Your two kids are really something,” Drides went on. “I knew they would be special when I first heard about what my predecessor did to give them life, but what I saw today… Wow.”

  Leovyn yelled back, “How do you even know anything about that?”

  “Never mind it. I was about to show you something before we were interrupted. Relax! I’m still not going to kill you. At least not directly.”

  He swiped his hand—four fingers extended—by his face, closed his eyes, and reopened them. They now had the golden irises and black triangular pupils Shin, Wendell, and Verim had seen before, and that were similar to the twins’ when Caeden came out. He focused on the space in front of him and formed a vortex of colors that swirled around a black orb. As it grew, the terrible sounds it made picked up to a howl, and it dipped down to the ground. Whatever it touched was devoured and vaporized.

  “This is my inner essence, the epitome of my control over Aurrian nature,” he shouted above the noise. “This ‘black hole’ is the only thing in the universe that can break down aechens. And of course, that makes it powerful enough to break down most everything else, as well. Don’t let it touch you now—unless you want to become a snack.”

  “What’s with all this cutesy crap, huh? Do you spend every second of your life trying to impress us with some other random thing you can do? Peh, this is why immature children should never obtain such power.”

  Even given the situation, Garder found it impossible to suppress a small laugh. He was more like his dad than he had first thought.

  Drides ignored him. “I have to go. I’m curious to see which ones of you will escape this place alive. Until next we meet.”

  He slowly dissolved away into the air, his two eyes the last to depart the battlefield as they continued to stare at Garder. Suddenly seeing the danger that he was in, he then quickly rolled out of the way of the growing, descending vortex of imploding alchemagi.

  “That thing is nasty…” Verim muttered. “Xavier, you there? Xavier? I’m not getting a signal.”

  “The vortex might be causing interference,” Simon guessed. “Let’s just get the hell out of here before this place is destroyed.”

  “Drides is crazier than the king,” Tabi stated. “No doubt about it.”

  As the swirling vortex dug into the ground, the entire island began trembling. Weakened areas of the castle collapsed, while the outer black steel walls emitted a low rumbling sound. After everyone got on their feet and prepared to make a hasty retreat, things only got worse.

  Feeding off of the rock below made the vortex stronger and larger, and its descent speed picked up to that of a boulder plummeting in the air. After disappearing deep below the ground, the island was violently torn in half by a massive fracture that formed almost instantly, separating the group into two and completely demolishing what was left of the castle.

  When everyone recovered, they saw just how the newly created gorge had separated the group in half. Viktor, Tabi, Rivia, Garder, Simon, Wendell, Verim and Temki were now a good twenty feet from the others, on the side of the island that was slowly sinking into the ocean. Behind them was the ruined entrance into the castle—and beyond that was where Xavier was waiting. One moment, the group had been close together, and the next, they had been separated by an enormous fissure; and the shaking, decaying island wasn’t going to make it easy for them to regroup.

  “H-help!” cried out a voice from the swirling dust and debris.

  Lechi was clinging onto the side of the jagged edge and was quickly losing her grip. As Milla rushed over and pulled her back up, she looked down at the others and realized just how much trouble they were in. Garder and Rivia’s half of the island was not only sinking—it was also beginning to tilt; a sign of its total collapse. Drides’ vortex was destroying the ancient rock from the inside out, like he knew it would.

  “Xavier! Xavier, do you read?” Rivia spoke into his radio.

  “S-sir, the island’s breaking apart! The ship can’t land here—it has to go around. I’m talking with them right now, hold on…”

  “Xavier, stay there, I’m coming back to get you,” Garder added.

  “Forget about me, Garder. I’m not worth risking your life over—”

  “You idiot! You said that same thing back when we met! I’m not going to listen here, either.”

  “If… if you say so.”

  “Verim, Tabi—can you use your plants to form a bridge or something? Maybe even slow the collapse a bit?”

  She replied, “That’s a tall order, Garder, but we’ll give it a try.”

  “Simon, focused sunlight accelerates plant growth, so work with those two. You and I can both get up on the cliff anytime we want, so you should help the others instead. Temki, use your abilities… if you still can, to strengthen someone’s powers. Wendell, Leovyn, Viktor…”

  The black steel barrier around the island let out a groan and ripped apart, sending large plates of metal downwards. Viktor and Wendell reacted by blasting them away with fire bursts and explosive bullets respectively, while Leovyn shredded what was leftover with his lines.

  “Y-yeah… you three do that. Everyone on the other side—clear us an exit out of here. I don’t think we have long before the place goes under.”

  With that, Garder took off the way everyone had come in, sliding some of the way due to the sloping ground under him.

  “Look at that, suddenly thinks he’s in charge of us,” Leovyn said.

  “He said everything I would’ve,” Rivia replied. “Don’t doubt your kids, Jack. We’ve both just seen what they’re capable of. If they haven’t surpassed already, then they will one day soon.”

  “Verim!” Shin called down to him. “I, um… Take care of yourself, okay? We’ll be waiting for you guys up here. Just hurry!”

  “Yeah, I’ll do my best, Shinamaya.”

  “Above us!” Lechi shouted just as Milla took Rayna into her arms.

  One of the outer wall’s large, black spires was dropping down right on top of the smaller group, and with Milla holding Rayna, she couldn’t take a defensive position quickly enough. Seeing the danger, Leovyn divided his body into thousands of tiny vector lines, reappeared near his daughter, and promptly chopped the spire into shrapnel before it made impact. He took a deep breath and turned around to face the others below.

  “Sorry guys, but I think these five need me more at the moment. I’ll come back for you after we clear an exit. Don’t be late.”

  “Thanks… Dad,” Milla said as her group made a rush to the opposite side of the island. “But we can’t just leave the others.”

  “We’ll come back for them. It’s no good for any of us if we can’t make sure that we can all get out of here.”

  “I… I know.”

  “I’ll do everything I can for them, promise.”

  Xavier, trying to save the last of his equipment, used one hand to hold onto a stone pillar and the other to keep the radio tucked under his arm. The angle of their half of the island was such that Garder had to use air manipulation just to keep from sliding down the wet rock.

  “Xavier, grab my hand!”

  “H-hold on, I’m getting another update… there’s been a lot of development around Aurra, and—”

  “Forget your updates! Just let go of the radio and grab on!”

  “I… um, okay.”

  Reluctantly, he let the radio slip out from under his arm towards the water below, and Garder pulled him to safety. Combating gravity, the two made a slow, painful trek up the steep incline back to where the others were waiting. All the while, parts of the island were crumbling away around them, and debris was constantly coming their way.

  “This is stupid, Garder…” Xavier coughed. “For God sake, just leave me behind and save yourselves. I’m not that important…”

  “Will you shut up? You’re our friend, Xavier. Even if you’ve always been off in the background most of the time.” Garder laughed through his strain. “No one’s going to get left behind here, got that?”

  “Y-yes…”

  As the two reached the entrance into the citadel’s large courtyard, something large, metallic, and very heavy came sliding down towards them, breaking straight through the wall in the process. It was one of the schutz machines—dead, but suddenly still dangerous. Garder reacted by swinging Xavier over to another stone column, and then leaping out of the way himself just as the machine crashed through the pillar he was near.

  “What the hell was that?” Xavier shouted. “Was that one of those things the paradigms took care of? It was huge!”

  “Yeah, well, there’s two more to watch out for.”

  “You’re kidding…”

  “No. Now keep moving. This island doesn’t have much time left.”

  On the other side of the rock spire, Milla’s group was making their way through a grand hall of sorts that seemingly hadn’t been used for a century, if not longer. Nestled under the black barrier that surrounded the citadel, the ballroom-esque chamber looked like the entrance to the citadel, with dozens of doors all around leading to different parts of the compound.

  Masayuki asked, “Why such a fancy room in a military fortress?”

  “These citadels were used for extended periods of time,” Leovyn replied. “Plenty of visiting nobles and royalty, I’d imagine.”

  “Dad, there are signs everywhere labeling where the doors lead to. Think any of them would be useful?” Milla wondered.

  “They’re all in Latin, though,” Shin noted.

  “It’s okay, Latin was Aurra’s official language, long ago, so I know it well,” Leovyn assured and looked around. “But I don’t think any of them would be particularly useful. We’d better focus on what’s straight ahead.”

  “Hey—what’s that?” Lechi asked after noticing a thin gap in the floor that cleaved the room in two.

  As they passed over the split, they noticed that it also ran up across the walls and ceiling. Just beyond the partition was the end of the grand hall, the long, smaller corridor that followed, and the reinforced front door.

  “It might be for a barrier,” Leovyn guessed. “Given its age, though, I doubt it works… unless it’s been maintained, at least.”

  After another thirty seconds of running, the group arrived at the door. Once he had ripped parts of it away with precise vector lines, Leovyn took a step back and waited for the metal slab to fall over in front of him.

  Outside, the air was cold, gray, and still. Ancient anti-air towers, now covered in rust and beyond repair, presided over the small grass field that existed between the citadel and the sheer cliff a few dozen feet ahead.

  Another tense minute passed before the sound of the Mezik’s quiet engines came within range. The ship itself soon appeared after banking around the outer walls, and used its hover jets to settle alongside the cliff face, blowing nearby dirt and dust in all directions.

  “About time you showed up,” Colt came in over the radio. “Can’t wait to tell you what kinds of hell have transpired while you were in there.”

  “Everything okay with the crew?” Leovyn replied.

  “We’re hanging in. Opening the side door now. Watch your step.”

  Each of them leaping a couple of feet to get inside, the team of six took a moment to relish the warmth and safety of the Mezik before anything else. Dak and Kyler were already waiting for them, knowing full well that the group would likely need medical assistance.

  “Try to revive her,” Milla said as she handed Rayna to the two. “But only if it’s easy. We don’t know what she’s going through right now.”

  “Got it,” Kyler replied and headed back to the clinic.

  Colt opened the cockpit door and turned in his seat to greet his new passengers. “Been hearing that Lontonkon kicked it. That true?”

  “After some resistance and a little mutation, yes,” Leovyn replied. “Colt, any chance you can swing around or get inside the citadel itself? The other half of us is still in there.”

  “Sorry, Boss. We’re taking enough of a chance right here. Island’s sinking, and with a few kilotons of scrap metal falling apart on top of it.”

  “I feared as much. Stay here, and we’ll go back to get the others.”

  “That, I can probably do. But hurry. Those walls are closing in.”

  “Masayuki, Shin, Lechi—you stay here. Milla and I are going to go help the others.”

  “Don’t waste any time, just go,” Shin urged them. “We’ll be lucky if this place lasts another five minutes.”

  “Of course. Come on, Milla.”

  She nodded, and the two jumped back onto the trembling island and raced back inside of the dying fortress.

  Something was immediately noticeable—an alarm of some sort was emanating through the chamber, and likely had been for several minutes. As a sign of its age, the sound system was in bad shape, and the loud, blaring, static-filled automated message was just barely decipherable by Leovyn.

  “Yeah, it’s Latin again. Something about invaders being detected.”

  “The Mezik?” Milla replied. “Do you think sensors picked it up?”

  “Probably—damn it… Figures. They have a system to detect incoming threats, but nothing to assist in evacuation in case the entire island’s returning to the ocean. Come on, kid, we really don’t want to wait around and see if any defense systems are still operating.”

  “Dad… I’m sorry about risking my life like I did. I shouldn’t have forced the stone to activate, it’s just that I knew it was close to doing it, and I was worried about Garder…”

  “Hey, you two have been looking out for each other for a long time. You’re an adult. I trust that you know what you’re doing.”

  “But we still couldn’t take down Drides or Trinqit…”

  “Forget about them. With the king dead, whoever is next in line should still have enough power to cut them off. I hope so, anyway.”

  On the other side of the island, Xavier and Garder had entered the courtyard to see thousands of tiny but durable vines acting as thread to keep the crumbling half of the island from slipping away—or at least slow down the process. Tabi was at the top half, while Verim was at the bottom, working as a team and using all of their available seeds. Simon was beaming down sunlight on the vines to reinforce their strength, but even their combined forces were beginning to falter. It was a simple impossibility that the rock spire they were on could be saved.

  “There they are!” Temki shouted near Tabi. “C’mon, get up here!”

  A few seconds after the two had arrived, the vines began snapping one right after another as the rock under them started to give way.

  Wendell and Viktor made a steady climb up to the other half, while Verim jolted upwards in a powerful stride. Xavier and Garder went next as the ground sunk further below them and more vines turned into dangerous whips after breaking in half. Once everyone else was up, Simon used his elemental travel abilities to join the rest of the group.

  “Wish I could do that,” Wendell grumbled.

  “Hey, elemental travel is tough,” Tabi said. “Viktor can barely do it anymore. Can’t blame the ones here who can’t manage it.”

  “Thanks, Tabi,” Viktor huffed as he climbed. “Disrespectful pup.”

  Without any further support, the remaining vines broke just after the climbers made it up. One half of the island crumbled downwards, breaking apart and slamming into the ocean, where it created a massive wave of water. The impact sent everyone to the ground, and easily triggered the beginning of the rest of the island’s collapse. Seemingly just to add further distress to the situation, one of the citadel's sunspheres plummeted into the ocean as well, weakening the island’s defenses against the haze.

  Not wasting any time exchanging words, the group hurried into the grand hall in attempt to rejoin the others—only to hear the alarm, and see an enormous glass barrier with a dull emerald glow closing ahead of them.

  At first, Garder thought nothing of it; it was glass and could easily be broken. On the other side, running towards them, were Milla and Leovyn. But the glass dropping down from the ceiling made it to its destination first, and cut off the two groups well before they met with each other. They stopped in front of the barrier and stared at one another, separated only by a few inches.

  Garder rubbed his hands over the glass and felt the millions of tiny, intricate patterned etchings on its surface. He hit the glass with his sword; lightly at first, before swinging away at the obstruction. He picked up some broken stone and threw it at the glass, but it only bounced right off.

  “Wendell, can you use your explosives?” Garder asked patiently.

  Wendell sighed. “Garder, I’m sorry, but… this is…”

  “This is the strongest kind of alchemagi barrier ever constructed,” Rivia finished for him. “Nothing gets through it. And it’s so heavily reinforced that you’d need an Aurrian hammer to shatter it.”

  “Are you kidding me? Leovyn and Milla are right there! We’re inches away from freedom! We just need to find a way around it.”

  “Garder, this barrier was constructed to protect the diplomats that came here if this place were ever under siege. It will likely sink to the bottom of the ocean along with the rest of the island—fully intact. We don’t have time to look for another way out, either.”

  “So we’re going to die?” Verim yelled. “After all we’ve done?”

  “No,” Leovyn yelled from the other side, his voice just barely audible. “Peter, Garder, everyone, listen: I didn’t see it in person, but there’s a fibrocator chamber to your right. It’s your chance to get out of here.”

  “I’ll check it out,” Simon said and ran off towards the hallway that Leovyn had pointed to.

  “How are we supposed to get back to you?” Garder asked Leovyn.

  “I… I don’t think you can. Not right away. It’ll just be impossible trying to get back inside Eden’s Burrow yourselves. But we’ll come looking for you. If this is how it had to be, then keep safe until we find you.”

  “But… We’ve always worked as a team,” Temki added. “Shin and Verim… Me and Lechi. Milla and Garder.”

  “Temki, we’ll be okay, even separated,” Verim tried to assure him.

  “Peter, take care of my son, okay?” Leovyn asked passionately.

  “Of course. And thank you for everything, Milla. I hope to work with you again someday.”

  The citadel shook heavily. Large sections of the grand hall broke apart and fell to the ground. Everyone knew that time was quickly running out, but the thought of splitting the team into two indefinitely kept them pinned to the ground for a few more moments.

  “Garder…” Milla spoke up. “You were a great student. You’ve really pushed yourself recently. You know, we’re almost eighteen now. We’ve been away from home for so long now that… Well, I guess I’d be moving away in about a month regardless, right? So, maybe this is okay. And we both have so many friends to watch out for. So… goodbye—for now. You know I love you. No matter how far apart we are.”

  “Y-yeah… I’m sorry that we didn’t get to know each other better, Dad, but I’m sure Milla’s got plenty of stories to share about me.”

  Simon reappeared at the hallway entrance, waving the group in.

  “I think we can get them working,” he shouted. “There’s plenty—enough for everyone. But they might not be operable much longer.”

  Tabi replied, “This is it, boys. You’ll have to finish your goodbyes.”

  “Garder,” Leovyn shouted as the chamber broke apart. “That power of yours—don’t rely on it unless it’s an emergency, okay?”

  “Right. It’s not like I enjoy letting him take over or anything.”

  “Good. Remember, I’ll do everything I can to try and get you all back to Eden’s Burrow. Now go, get out of here.”

  With that, Leovyn grabbed Milla, and the two hurried back the way they had come. Milla gave them a parting glance before vanishing into the darkness of the hall behind her, leaving Garder feeling suddenly all alone.

  “Garder, come on!” Wendell shouted out.

  He turned and noticed that he was the only one still at the glass barrier. After snapping out of it, he followed Wendell in and through the corridor to a large room that appeared to be a barracks of some sort, where the citadel alarm was louder and clearer, and old, empty weapons lockers resided near dusty, moldy bunk beds. On the other side of the room were fibrocators—about thirty in all, lined up one right after the other.

  “About half of them don’t seem to be working,” Simon reported as he and Rivia checked them over and fired up their systems. “Still, we have enough. The problem is that we don’t know where their target destination is, and there seems to be no way to change the coordinates from here.”

  “They might be selected from somewhere else. A control room, maybe,” Rivia added. “Either way, we don’t have time to change anything. Wherever they’re going to take us, it’s either there or here.”

  The lights in the room flickered, died, and were replaced by dim emergency lighting. This was followed by the sound and feeling of a long, heavy collapse nearby; likely the grand chamber being reduced to rubble.

  “Of course, they might’ve all been set automatically, too,” Viktor continued as if nothing had happened. “Judging by their location, they’re used—or were used to transport an army to a place that needed attention.”

  “So, not like it matters, but these fibrocators are probably also set for one-way travel,” Verim added. “Let’s go. We’ve got a few sunlamps on us, and Simon, so we should be safe on the other side.”

  “Although it could still be the worst possible place to be on all of Aurra,” Tabi sighed.

  “Worse than here? I doubt it.”

  The ancient hardware finished warming up, and as what was left of the fortress crumbled into the sea, its intruders nervously made their exit.

  From the Mezik’s exterior cameras, Milla and her friends watched the final moments of the Red Caspianti rock spire. After it reached a critical point in its destruction, the entirety of the island simply disappeared into a cloud of dust and an upwelling of water.

  “I pray they made it out of there,” Shin murmured solemnly.

  “We’ll search all the frequencies when we get back,” Leovyn said. “I’m not going to sleep tonight until I know they’re safe somewhere.”

  “I can’t believe how close they were to us,” Milla lamented. “And we could do nothing for them…”

  “This is the first time I’ve been separated from Verim in quite a while,” Shin added. “I hope the kid can control himself.”

  “At least you have your cousin now, right?” Lechi replied as she stroked Tanesh’s head, who seemed happy to be reunited with his owner.

  “Tabi, Viktor, Rivia—it doesn’t feel right being apart,” Masayuki said. “We were together in the Fragmented Dimension for so long. Now they’re just… not here anymore. Leovyn, do you think they got out?”

  “I’m positive that I read that directional sign right. So long as they found a working fibrocator, I think they would’ve escaped. I… I really do believe that they’re all okay.”

  Michael came in from the back of the ship and looked over the exhausted group. “The Burrow will be open to us in three minutes, everyone. I heard about everything that happened… but I can at least say that the Mezik performed to our expectations.”

  “What’s all this I hear about developments elsewhere while we were down there?” Leovyn replied.

  Michael took a breath and took a seat. “The war has, and I quote from several officers, ‘exploded’ over the past few hours. We’re getting reports of multiple Cities being either attacked by various rebel groups or the Guard, depending on who is currently controlling them.”

  “Is… is City N one of them?” Milla wondered.

  “Not that I’ve heard of, no.”

  “Any word on D? Or Klayson for that matter?” Leovyn added.

  “Nothing. We just know the Guard still controls what’s left of it.”

  “And what about I?”

  Pip answered as he joined the others, “Tess and Hekens and the others are doing just fine. I doubt the Guard will try to take the place again, but I think we should ensure that that area is secured. If we can get food and weapon synthids, it could be a fallback stronghold in the future if we lose everything else. And Milla… someone wants to see you.”

  Rayna popped out from behind Pip and tiredly made her way over, giving her eyes a rub along the way.

  “Oh, Rayna… I’m so relieved,” Milla said as she hugged the child.

  “She woke up just a few minutes after we brought her to the clinic. Dak and Kyler barely had a chance to look her over, so we might want to run a few basic tests.”

  “I thought you all had died…” Rayna said quietly. “But when I was asleep, I saw everything the demon did. And when everything went black inside my dream, I felt… I guess I felt happy. I think it’s gone for good.”

  “Really? You don’t think it’s coming back?”

  “No. That part me feels like it’s… missing.”

  “I hope it is, Rayna. Your parents will be happy for you, I’m sure.”

  “I’m still trying to remember everything that happened, but… If what the king said was true, about his half-sister… If I’m someone that was turned into a datastone and was reborn on Earth, then what am I, really?”

  “A brave young lady.”

  “Milla, please. Dad taught me what it means to patronize.”

  “You’re right. Sorry. Truthfully, I’m not sure.”

  “I can’t recall any past lives. I can’t remember anything about… what would you call it, my first version? The half-sister…?”

  “Any memories might’ve been locked—programmed that way.”

  “But there are people that can work with memories in Aurra.”

  “Yes, but this may be different. I still can’t even tell you how you came from a datastone that was sent to Earth. It’s all still so strange.”

  “Milla… where are the others?”

  “They… We don’t know right now, I’m afraid. But we’ll see them again, as soon as we can.”

  She looked around near where Lechi was sitting. “Even Temki…?”

  “Afraid so. But they’ll watch out for him until he can return.”

  “And… what about Dustin?”

  “We’ll find him for you too, Rayna. It’s just… Aurra is becoming a different place than it used to be.”

  “A scary place?”

  “It looks like it could be heading that way, yes.”

  “I hope Garder is okay—and the others, also…”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “War…” Leovyn sighed. “An all-out Aurrian war… who would’ve ever thought it possible? The next king or queen will have their hands full.”

  “Can I trust that you’ll write a full report on what happened here?” Michael wondered. “Osk will want to see it right away.”

  “Yeah, yeah. It’s just one thing after another, isn’t it?”

  “Dad…” Milla murmured as she held Rayna in her lap. “I guess that we’re going to be together for a while. Could you… tell me some more things about my mother?”

  “Sure. I’ve got plenty to tell. As long as you share some stories about that brother of yours, that is.”

  “Yeah…” Milla replied with a tiny smile. “I’ve got plenty to tell.”

  Garder, the last to go through, materialized in what first appeared to be hell. The sounds of gunfire, explosions, machinery, and alchemagi filled his senses. Everything was gray or brown, and the sky was so dark with smoke that the already usually dim Aurrian day had turned into night.

  He felt a hand push his head down. He turned to see that it was Wendell, already reloading his rifle. He also realized that he was in a trench with Verim, Xavier, and Simon, each of whom were equally overwhelmed.

  “Is this a joke?” Garder shouted above the noise. “Trench warfare, on Aurra? Where the hell are we?”

  “Apparently, day three of the assault on H. I recognized the skyline when I came through, and they tell me they’re trying to take the port. I guess we’re already at the ‘control the shipping lanes’ portion of the war.”

  “So, wait—we at least appeared on the rebel’s side, right?”

  “Look around. Welcome to the continent of Mightoria.”

  Quite terrified, Garder took a moment to look at the soldiers in the trench with him, each wearing what he recognized as a rebel uniform.

  “After all we just went through, looks like we found a fine spot to have a picnic!” Verim shouted.

  “It’s a big battle, Garder,” Simon added. “And we just kind of appeared right in the middle of it. Rivia and the others are trying to explain to the officers who we are. Over there.” He pointed to a nearby bunker.

  “Garder, if you get through to anyone, tell them I wouldn’t mind being a radio operator,” Xavier said.

  Garder sighed, shook his head, and slid into the bunker while making sure to remain low to the ground. Inside, Rivia, Viktor and Tabi—with Temki at her side—were talking with a pair of clearly tense officers.

  “Look, just tell me who the bloody hell you are and where you came from!” the taller of the two officers demanded. “Your story doesn’t make any sense!”

  “Even if it doesn’t make sense to you, I assure you: I’m General Rivia, and these two are among the paradigms who work closely with me.”

  “We’re willing to help you out here. Isn’t that good enough?” Tabi added. “But please, do you have a safe place for this boy here?”

  “You… you say that Lontonkon is dead?” the shorter officer replied. “Is that really true?”

  “Yes, Viktor assured him. “It’s a long story, but the news about it should break soon enough.”

  “Then… is the war over? Can there be a war if the king is dead?”

  “Obviously, it’s still being fought,” Rivia stated. “As long as we don’t receive updates suggesting otherwise, we push on.”

  “Is Temki okay?” Garder asked after catching his breath.

  “I’m fine,” he replied. “I just… don’t know what’s going on here.”

  “We haven’t really had a chance to mention your, um… staff.”

  “Yeah. I guess it blew up. But I think I’m okay. I feel in control.”

  “This is no place for a child,” Rivia said. “Garder, could you watch over him for a bit? If Tabi, Viktor and myself just appeared in the midst of a massive battle, then we might as well take our commanding positions.”

  “In other words, and I hope I don’t sound too pumped here…” Tabi sighed deeply. “As younger Aurrians would say, this just got real.”

  “Thank you for that concise statement, Ms. Feretta,” Viktor replied. “Yes, I do believe that sums it all up quite nicely.”

  “Shut up, gramps.”

  Rivia groaned. “Knock it off, you two. You’ve been trained and prepped for this. You’ve been looking forward to it in some way for a long time now. This is it, right here. This is where it starts. Are you ready?”

  “My heart’s racing, Rivia, but I’m ready,” Tabi assured him.

  “So, our goal is simple: capture City H,” Viktor added. “Is that right, officer?”

  “It’s Mightoria’s main port City, so it’s a place to start,” the field commander replied. “We believe we can gain an early advantage if we can snag a few merchant ships, even if we don’t get the City itself. But if you three are who you really say you are, then you’ll help us win here.”

  “We will,” Rivia replied. “Garder, we’ll see you soon.”

  “I’ll be here,” he said. “I still hate wars, but if I’m fighting one with you guys… Well, I’ll put forth an honest effort.”

  “That’s all I can ask. But I think that you, among all of us, need to rest the most for now. You’ve earned it.”

  “See you soon, kid,” Tabi added before the three set off with the officers, leaving him alone with Temki in the small concrete bunker.

  “I don’t really even know what a war is,” Temki murmured.

  “It’s… a lot of things. People have them for different reasons. Most of them are stupid and inexcusable. This one, I’m not so sure.”

  “Why? What’s different about one in Aurra?”

  “I don’t know yet. I mean, we’re fighting to overthrow the Guard, but watch it end up being about much more in the end. If this war changes how the Guard operates, for better or worse, then we’ll just as easily change why we think we’re fighting them.”

  “I… miss the others already.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  “This can’t be what you expected to do in your next life here…”

  “Nope. It’s full of surprises.”

  As rockets, artillery, and alchemagi hit the surrounding areas and rattled the bunker, Temki and Garder rested in the corner, where they kept quiet and listened. Everything that had happened to them seemed unreal enough, and now this. They were part of something new; the act of all out destruction, mayhem, death, and rebirth in the world of Aurra.

  It was like waking from a dream, just to enter a nightmare.