Chapter 10: Galsin Besieged

In my final hours, the Desolate One revealed many things to me ... many wonderful and terrible visions of the far future that no Seer could have foretold more clearly. Much of it pertained to you, my son.

Cornelius Humphrey watched from a security recorder as the skies of Galsin Moon lit up with hundreds of spacecraft engaging each other in fierce dogfights. The dozens of lights danced lithely through the night sky, almost akin to fireworks. He couldn’t make out the ships directly from this distance, but he could still see the lights from their engines and weapons. The orange lights belonged to the Fire Ministry ships, and the green and yellow ones were the pirates. Though the pirate ships outnumbered the Ministry ships for now, they were slower and less powerful. Once the Fire Ministry gathered the bulk of their fleet, the pirates wouldn’t stand a chance. But then again, the pirates weren’t meant to survive this. He tried not to dwell on the fact that maybe he too was not meant to survive this.

As expected, the Space Pirates were playing coy for now. Unwilling to commit to an outright assault, they resorted to pecking at the Fire Fleet with quick dives only to pull away without causing any real damage. They were trying to draw off some Fire Ministry ships to allow a few of their cloaked transports to land and send small teams of ground forces. The pirates still thought that this was a simple raid to steal Elemental technology and kidnap the dignitaries that had come to observe the Exams. A quick snatch and grab, as they would say. Get in and out before getting into any real trouble. No doubt the Elementals would think that was the nature of this attack as well. Both sides would soon realize that things wouldn’t turn out quite so simply.

Cornelius waited impatiently, tapping his foot next to the head of the Elemental guard he had recently dispatched. Where are they? They should’ve been here by now! Damn ghosts! Why do they even need a Gateway?

The attack, of course, was meant as a diversion so that Humphrey could gain access to a short-ranged Gateway while the guards scattered to deal with the attack and protect the dignitaries and the students in training. The fact that his employers were in range to use a short-range Gateway meant that their ship was close, probably hovering somewhere in the moon’s atmosphere near the battle hidden by those creatures’ strange Elemency. Having been aboard their weird ship, Humphrey almost feared it more than the masked creatures themselves.

Just when he could stand it no longer and almost decided to make a run for it, the Gateway activated in a swirling mist of silver energy. The Fallen had arrived. Out stepped four cloaked individuals, each one wearing black, leather armor, dull red capes covered in cobwebs, and white opera masks. He still couldn’t get used to seeing these creatures, especially their masks. Each mask displayed a different emotion ranging from anger, sorrow, confusion, and pleasure. He didn’t know how, but just looking at their masks seemed to influence him mentally, as if the emotion being conveyed by the mask inundated all other senses. Trying to look at all four masks at once left him feeling numb and empty, as if he could no longer recall what feeling or emotion was, save for fear. The fear was ever present no matter which mask he stared at.

“We are on schedule, yes?” asked First of the Fallen, the one with a mask of rage.

“The pirates will do their job well,” Cornelius said with a nod. “Although, some may try to run before the work is completed.”

“They will try,” agreed the one with a sad mask, almost sympathetically.

At that, the smiling mask chuckled hungrily, its scratchy voice high-pitched and cruel.

“You,” said the leader slowly, raising a gloved hand covered in metal armor to Humphrey’s face. “You did as we asked, yes?”

It took Humphrey considerable willpower not to back away from the finger. He saw what these things did to anyone they touched directly. What remained of his old crew still gave him nightmares that made him want to throw up, and that came from a man who lived a lifetime of violence.

“I did. I finally found the boy and gassed him with a droid like you asked. Though I still don’t know how that will kill him. The substance wasn’t lethal. Not that I’d be able to smuggle in a poison anyway. The defense systems here wouldn’t allow it.”

“The gas was meant to give the boy a scent. A scent that only they can smell,” explained First of the Fallen, the one with the angry mask.

The lead creature reached into his cape and pulled out three small spherical gems. The gems resembled Sun Gems in shape and size. However, instead of glowing pink like Sun Gems, these gems were black save for small dots of red glowing light emanating from the center of each. Cornelius had encountered Shadow Elemency, so he knew it when he saw it, but there was something different about these crystals. The dark aura that seeped from the orbs seemed too intense, even more so than Dark Water.

The Fallen held up the three evil gems to Cornelius, clearly expecting him to take them. He really didn’t want to take anything offered to him by a Fallen, especially whatever those gems were, but disobeying would be even more perilous. He carefully caught the gems one by one as the Fallen dropped them. He was grateful he didn’t have to touch the Fallen’s hand directly. The stones felt cold in his hands; they pulsed and shivered as if alive. He thought he could hear a low growl from each of the gems.

“They will lead you to him. Release them when you are near and run. But not too far. You must confirm that the boy is dead. Only then will you be released from your oath to us.”

Cornelius’ hand shivered as he held the evil gemstones, feeling like the objects hungered for him somehow. Drawing in a shuddering breath, he summoned all his strength to look directly at the First of the Fallen, and asked in a shaky voice, “Then I will be free?”

The Fallen stood so motionless that one could almost believe that it was nothing but a lifeless statue or a mannequin. The only thing defying this theory was when it spoke in its low, unnatural voice that was far too rough to be human. “Yes. You will be free.”

Cornelius knew too well that such a promise from these creatures may not be kept, but he also knew that he had little choice in the matter. Licking his lips nervously and feeling beads of sweat run down his jaw, he asked, “How will I know when to throw the gems away?”

He half expected a rebuke. The Fallen hated it when he asked questions. Instead, the First of the Fallen simply walked past him and said while passing, “You will know.”

“At least you better if want keep arm,” said the smiling Fallen with a cruel chuckle as it followed behind its leader along with the other two. Cornelius didn’t know why some of the Fallen seemed more intelligent than the others, at least as far as proper grammar went.

The Fallen’s leader didn’t even bother stepping over the corpse of the Elemental guard as it used the man’s head as a steppingstone. As it did so, its booted heel sunk through the man’s skull with a sickening crunch! Humphrey didn’t have to look down to know that the man’s tissue boiled and decayed where the boot made contact. He knew from experience that all paid for touching a Fallen, whether dead or alive. Eventually, the blight would spread and eat away at the body until there was nothing left at all.

Without even taking notice of the corpse they just desecrated, the Fallen then left to complete their own task. Humphrey didn’t exactly know what that task was, but he didn’t really care. All he cared about was his own mission, and especially the freedom that would follow. Almost unwillingly, he thought of his fiancée. Even though she had betrayed him in the end and led him by the nose into this hell, he still couldn’t stop thinking about her. When he was free, he’d finally go and find her like he always intended. Whether he’d kiss her or knife her when he finally caught up to wherever she was hiding, he did not know.

Éclair could hardly believe how quickly things had derailed. One minute, she’s enjoying an intense but pleasurable sparring match with Ryan. The next, pandemonium ensues. She had no idea what was going on anymore. Between Grafael’s breakdown, the Sage going crazy, and now an attack on the Ministry itself, it was all too much to process.

Just focus on one thing at a time, girl. First Ryan, then the rest.

When the alarms went off, Hannah insisted on taking Ryan to a secure room she had prepared in advance. Monks in white robes guarded the entrance. Apparently, the Priestess had been preparing for an event like this one for quite some time. Too bad no one bothered to inform Éclair ahead of time. The room was a safehouse deep within the complex. It even came equipped with medical equipment designed specifically to aid Healer Elementals.

Since they didn’t have the time to get to the medical ward, Éclair had volunteered to examine Ryan given the equipment available. Or rather, she was volunteered by Hannah Lioness. Normally, Éclair might’ve been hesitant to take the job given her inexperience as a Healer and her lack of knowledge regarding Ryan’s condition. Even with circumstances being as they were, she still would’ve preferred to find a Medical-Type Elemental nearby with more training than her. However, since she had healed Ryan’s body in the past and was fairly familiar with his anatomy as a half-breed, she conceded. That and the fact that disagreeing with a woman like Hannah Lioness was tantamount to suicide.

“Well. Any progress?” asked the Priestess worriedly.

Éclair stifled her annoyance. I suppose it’s nice that Ryan has someone who acts like his surrogate mother, but does she have to hover so close all the time?

“I still can’t yet ascertain the cause for his coma even now. Even with the instruments, this could take a while,” explained Éclair as she ran her right hand glowing with healing power over Ryan’s head. At the same time, she typed on the holocomputer to her side with her other hand, occasionally glancing at the readouts sent by several small round medical droids that floated over Ryan’s body while running several scans and tests. “The scans have confirmed some kind of energy buildup in his neural network which still leads me to suspect telepathy.”

Eclair glanced suspiciously over at the Sage who stood in a corner of the room – guarded by Thisimius and Tork – with his hands bound by blue glowing ropes that suppressed his powers. Glowing ropes were also tied over his head to further seal his telepathy just in case since some Telepathic Sages were powerful enough to circumvent the power of a single blue rope.

“And you still maintain that this isn’t due to some kind of telepathic attack on your part?”

The Sage had his eyes closed as his head bowed towards the ground with a dangerous scowl on his face. He’d stayed like that since they came to the safehouse, but his anger remained apparent. “I already told you. Somehow, my daughter’s psyche has intertwined with the half-breed’s. If you would but let me use my telepathy on him, I will remove from him that which was never his to have to begin with. He should recover eventually as her thoughts and memories leave his.”

“Given the way you’ve been acting, you can’t honestly believe us to trust you with something like that,” said Hannah, glaring daggers at the Sage.

The Sage didn’t look up as he said in a quiet voice that barely contained his outrage. “As the Healer has just told you, this is a telepathic problem that is best left to a Telepath. The facility is under attack by an unknown assailant, so it is unlikely you will find a Mental-Type Elemental to assist you in this. I admit that the boy’s safety is not my priority right now, but my daughter’s is. If he dies, she dies, and in the mind of an outsider that could never understand our ways no less. You can try to bring Elementals better equipped to deal with his condition, but there is no guarantee you would find them in time. With Kevla’s psychic energies mixing unnaturally with his – and considering the fact that he has no mental training whatsoever – both of them could die at any moment.”

Hannah’s features seemed to soften as she glanced down at Ryan, but Éclair refused to allow the Priestess to even consider accepting Kormal’s help. “As if I’m going to leave my friend’s life in the hands of a man who attacked him and then manipulated me with telepathy without a second thought! I know I can save him, and I’ll do it without you!”

Éclair could only hope she sounded more confident than she felt. But still, there was no way she’d leave her teammate’s fate to that creature, especially not when it was obvious how little he cared for Ryan’s wellbeing. Besides, she had no idea what this talk of psychic energies mixing together meant. She’d never heard of such a thing. But any ailment, telepathic in nature or not, was treatable. She’d just have to treat this unknown energy like any virus, create an antibody and remove the infected tissue.

Éclair’s fingers worked furiously over the controls of the holocomputer as she commanded the droids through multiple tasks at once. The robots applied the life support systems to keep Ryan breathing, his heart pumping, and his blood flowing. Whatever the nature of this ailment, whether caused by some telepathic ghost or not, it had begun shutting down Ryan’s natural bodily functions one by one. The medical droids would ensure that Ryan stayed alive and healthy even as his body seemed determined to shut itself down. At the same time, she focused harder on her Medical Elemency, attempting to force the infecting pathogen out of his brain tissue and grasp it with her powers. Medical Elemency was rarely used to combat telepathy, but such a thing was not unheard of. Telepathy was possible through psions after all, and all psions, whether from a Mental-Type or Medical-Type, were merely sources of energy. So it was possible to influence other psions even if one used a different type of psionic ability.

“Protectorate,” said Grafael hesitantly as he stood next to Kormal bound in blue ropes as well. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but there is a possibility it is something worse than telepathy. If you’re standing that close to him and he changes ... you have no idea how dangerous he could become if he-”

“He’s not going to turn into a Berserker! He’s not even a full-blooded Saurian, so it’s not possible! Even if he did go mad with rage at this point, his anger wouldn’t be half of what I feel for you right now!” shouted Éclair with every ounce of her outrage, more angry with Grafael than she ever remembered feeling.

He actually considered killing our friend for something like that! For something like that! Éclair tried not to think about it as she might start crying if she did, and she needed all her wits to keep Ryan alive.

“Protectorate,” said Grafael painfully, his usually proud and loud voice full of shame. “I know it’s a horrible thing what I contemplated doing, and I dare not ask your forgiveness. And though it dishonors me to say this, I still want you to understand. I need you to-”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear anything else from you, Grafael T’Macor!” yelled Éclair. “If you have any honor left in you, then you will stay silent and not distract me until Ryan’s condition is at least stabilized!”

Éclair didn’t have to look at him to know that the Saurian’s head lowered in shame. She knew that her words hurt. Worse, she knew that he must’ve had a good reason to act as he did. Grafael usually did. But none of that mattered to her at the moment, not with Ryan’s life on the line. She would have to sort things out with Grafael later. Hopefully, there would be a later. She didn’t know the nature of the attack as the alarms continued to ring, but it sounded serious. As soon as she at least stabilized Ryan, she might have to leave to ascertain the nature of the threat and act accordingly to whatever orders the higher-ups gave her.

After several moments of manically working, she prevented the pathogen from disseminating any further. As the infection ceased to spread, she concentrated into sealing it off in a place where it couldn’t do any more harm for the time being. Éclair blew out a sigh of relief and wiped her sweaty brow as Ryan’s vitals returned to normal thanks to the machines. She didn’t manage to remove the invading entity from his system, but she did contain it to a small portion of his brain, the limbic system where the subconscious and behavioral systems were located. It would no longer affect his bodily systems, and the machines would get his vital functions back to normal in time.

“I’ve managed to stop the spread and isolate the invading agent to his limbic system. The machines will maintain his bodily functions until they normalize, so for the moment, he’s out of danger. However, I still don’t know how to remove the pathogen without damaging his nerve tissue. If I tried now, it could lead to irreparable memory loss or worse.”

She turned to Torsha who stood by the Priestess of Light. “You are certain that there’s nothing either one of you can do. You’ve already demonstrated that Light Elemency can affect the nervous system, and I hear that there are many applications with your art, some of which go beyond the limits of Medical Elemency.”

Torsha opened her furry mouth to say something, but then looked back to Hannah Lioness as if asking permission. The Priestess nodded silently in response, and Torsha continued. “It’s true that Light Elemency has many attributes. As a purer element closer to the original source of all Elemency, it can do many things that conventional Elemency cannot. However, it still has limits. Though we can imitate some of the abilities of Elementals and Telepaths, we cannot outright reproduce these abilities. If we were to use Light Elemency to remove the intruding psionic energies invading him, it would be no different from attempting the same with Medical Elemency. Actually, it would be much worse as your psions as a Healer a specifically designed to influence flesh and speed up the body’s own regenerative cells and metabolic rate without destroying tissue. Light Elemency operates at a much higher energy frequency than normal Elemency, so the colliding energies might even become unstable if mixed.”

Éclair bit her lip in thought, refusing to give in. “What about your ability to suppress the psions of others, the same way that blue ropes suppress the psions of Elementals?”

Torsha slowly shook her head. “Though some of us can suppress the psionic energies in others, if we attempted that here, we would also be suppressing Ryan’s own psionic energies that are keeping him alive and preventing the entity from taking over his psyche completely, which would likely result in his death. The only way for us to heal him without harming him would be if the nature of the ailment was Shadow Elemency in origin, a form of Elemency that our powers naturally seek out and destroy.”

Torsha then gave a slight growl as she pointed a thumb behind her towards the Sage who still remained silent and seething. “But if what bobblehead over there says is true, then that’s not the case. I’m sorry, Éclair. I really am.” To her credit, she said it like she meant it as she rubbed her arm sadly.

Éclair drew in a sharp breath. “Well, that’s that, then. We’ve done all we can for him for now. Until the situation outside is resolved, he’ll just have to wait until we can find a more powerful Healer than me. And a Thinker Elemental as well.”

She turned back to Ryan’s peaceful face and smoothed his messy, red hair tenderly. She always liked his bright scarlet hair. Though she harbored no romantic notions, she always wanted to muss it like this.

“Tork. Thisy,” she said without facing them. “This facility is under Fire Ministry protection. We have to report for whatever duty is required of us.”

Thisy lumbered forward, placing a big, comforting hand on her shoulder. He knew how difficult this decision for her was ... knew that she’d prefer to stay by Ryan’s side until he recovered. “Aye. You be right about that, lass.”

Before Tork could respond, Hannah stepped between him and Éclair, her expression grim. “They may leave, but I think it would be wiser if you stayed.”

Éclair, taken aback only momentarily, stiffened her resolve as she said quietly, “Is it possible that the attackers know about me?”

Hannah leaned forward, also speaking quietly as she said, “That remains to be seen. Nevertheless, my recommendation stands.”

Éclair shook her head slowly. “As does my duty. I appreciate the offer, but I cannot sit idly when my comrades die around me. You may be the High Priestess of the Monastery, but I am an Elemental of the Fire Ministry. With all due respect, my lady, during times of war, I must defer to the Fire Minister’s authority, and her standing orders are for any who are capable to repel all attackers should our domains be threatened.”

Hannah remained silent as she regarded Éclair evenly.

“I will force the issue if I must,” Éclair insisted while maintaining a respectful tone. “But I hope you will not let it come to that.” Éclair briefly considered a possible confrontation with the High Priestess and realized that she would likely be outmatched given the abilities the woman displayed.

However, Hannah’s features seemed to relax as she said, almost to herself, “A Child of Destiny must follow their own path. Perhaps this too is part of the trial.”

Before Éclair could question what the High Priestess meant, Thisimius cleared his throat, bringing Éclair’s attention back to him. The Ogre then withdrew a blue metal cube from his pocket and handed it to Éclair. She exclaimed softly as she recognized the machine as microcontainer for high-caliber Psionic Armor.

“I was gonna give you and the others each one of these as gifts after the Exams, but I think now would be a better time.”

“Thisy,” said Éclair in an awed whisper. “That’s ... that’s high-grade Psionic Armor, top-tier Level Two potency. Do you ... do you really think I’m ready for such a thing?”

“I wouldn’t be giving you one if I didn’t,” Thisy said proudly before displaying a mischievous grin. “Besides. Can’t have ya going into battle with naught but yer skivvies, lass.”

Éclair’s eyebrows twitched as she realized she was still in her sparring attire, which was decidedly skimpy. She had worn it out of respect for Saurian sparring customs as they preferred as little clothing as possible when practicing their martial arts. Hesitating only a minute, Éclair took the cube in hand. She pushed the small button at the top of the microcontainer. The metallic cube hovered above her palm, spinning wildly like a top. After a moment, the cube slammed into her chest, disintegrating into countless tiny sparkling gears. With a whirring and buzzing noise, the glowing gears spread over her body almost instantly, appearing like a shroud of blue light.

Within seconds, her whole body was enshrouded in white and blue shimmering armor. The outfit perfectly accentuated the shape of her body, fitting perfectly to her frame as if it had been made specifically for her with every detail in mind – which was most likely the case. Éclair’s feet clicked as long, metallic boots appeared on her legs. Éclair clenched her fists as metal gloves appeared on her arms, the flexible fibers creaking slightly from the movement of her fingers. Embroidered on the blue and white chest plate was a four-legged Dragon and a proud Lion. Last to be covered was the head as Éclair’s skull was soon surrounded by a helmet that covered her whole face. When the faceplate and visor materialized over her eyes, a digital display appeared before her vision, showing countless bits of data as the armor’s computer system analyzed every scrap of information in front of Éclair. Looking herself up and down, the armor seemed plain as Thisy probably didn’t have time to customize it. Éclair would have to see to that later.

As the digital display became slightly distracting, Éclair pushed a button at her temple that caused the helmet to vanish, letting her hair fall back down around her shoulders. When she became more accustomed to the armor, she’d be able to dismiss the helmet and the armor with a single thought.

“I kept yer color scheme for ye. Ya can come to me to add more details later if ye like.”

“Thank you, Thisy,” Éclair said with a grateful bow. “This will help tremendously.”

Thisy politely returned the bow. He almost seemed majestic in that moment. When it came to Psionic Gear, Thisy always took on an air of slight reverence.

Hannah Lioness stepped up to Éclair and proffered her hand. “I wish you well, but my duty is here. This attack may have ... well, let’s just say that Ryan has a tendency to attract trouble, so we’ll be here in case any comes for him.”

Éclair took the hand. The sign of respect shown to her by one of the most influential women in the universe was not lost upon Éclair. “I’d hoped you would say that, and I’m grateful. Someone needs to stay and watch after our little idiot.”

As Éclair headed for the door, Tork gave Torsha a quick hug goodbye, and the Werewolf leaned up to kiss the Dragon on his scaly cheek. For a moment, Éclair was sure that the Dragon would turn purple from the silly grin that spread across his snout.

Before she left, Grafael reached out for her one last time with his bound hands, but had the wisdom not to touch her. She would’ve frozen his fingers off if he did. “Protectorate. Please. If there is danger, then I need to be with you. Let me-”

“If you want my forgiveness, you will stay by your teammate’s side and safeguard him until I return,” commanded Éclair coldly, trying to stifle her feelings of betrayal.

The Saurian winced at the rebuke as he lowered his hand in resignation.

She then spun on both him and the Sage fiercely, pointing a finger at each of their faces and lowering her tone threateningly. “If any harm comes to him in my absence, I’m holding you responsible. Both of you! Caretaker have mercy on your souls should it come to that, gentlemen.”

The Sage didn’t respond, but Grafael simply nodded slowly with his head bowed and said, “I swear I will never raise a hand in war against him again ... unless he raises it against you first. If that day ever comes, my little brother and I will die together.”

Éclair had to turn away to keep herself from crying again. At least she got his promise that he wouldn’t attack Ryan a second time. Come hell or highwater, Grafael T’Macor would never break a promise. That much, at least, had not changed.

Rachel tried not to appear terrified as she supported the weight of the inebriated Minister of Fire. While she held up Saria under one arm, Leon supported her under the other arm, dragging her feet behind them as they ran. Saria’s bodyguard led the way towards the command center. Her father, the so-called ‘genius’ responsible for this mess, followed breathlessly behind. His robots buzzed nervously around him as he apologized profusely. Rachel wasn’t sure what annoyed her more. The fact that her dad got her grandma drunk on some experimental anesthetic, or the fact that he wouldn’t stop apologizing about it no matter how many times she insisted that it was okay.

They passed many exam initiates along the way, all of which were ordered to return to their dorms, who did so with frightened nods. Though Firsts were officially Elementals, it would be the Seconds like her who would do most of the fighting on the frontlines should it come down to it. Only the most qualified of the Firsts would be asked to fight, the ones that had already been slated to pass over the course of the secret Final Phase that they thought they were training for. The others were not much more powerful than Grunts and would be almost useless in a real fight.

That means Éclair might have to fight ... and maybe Ryan too, thought Rachel. Though the two were far from inexperienced at this point, especially after what happened at Gregory Tower, the thought still sent concern reeling down Rachel’s spine. It didn’t help her nerves knowing what ridiculous showboats the two were.

And to make matters worse, their fearless leader, the one person Rachel could count on to overcome any pinch, was currently singing ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’. Like Ryan, Rachel’s grandmother also had an annoying love for archaic pieces from Ancient Earth.

“Row! Row! Row your boat gently down the stream,” sang Saria loudly and off-key. Up to that point, she just kept repeating the first part of the song, but now she attempted the second stanza with little success. “Merrily! Merrily! Merrily! Merrily! Life is but a ... uh ... but a ... Rachel, sweetheart! What’s that last word in the song?”

“Something I wish I was in right now,” growled Rachel under her breath as the alarms blared loudly in her ear, and she felt the hall vibrate as another loud explosion racked the base’s metal walls. Whether explosions detonated against the facility itself or close to it, Rachel couldn’t tell.

“Saria. Rachel,” said Dr. Lanchester, huffing loudly as he tried to keep up. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that this happened. I had no idea the side effects would be this extreme, let alone imagined that an attack would occur right at this-”