Chapter 24

Brynn stood, unsteady but focused. Whatever had just happened--whatever she'd just survived--wasn't something she could keep to herself for very long.

She looked around the room, still trying to orient herself, then crossed quickly to the door. It slid open with a quiet swirl.

Selenar was already there.

He hadn't moved to knock. Hadn't even raised a hand. He was just standing there, tall and still, as if he'd known the exact second she'd return.

His sharp eyes met hers. "I see you found it," he said.

Brynn gave him a long-suffering look. "I'm glad you're so confident. I only just got back."

"I know."

"Oh really? How, exactly?"

He didn't answer--just smiled and extended a hand. "Shall we?"

She eyed it, frowned, then sighed and took it. "Sure. Let's see how it goes now."

He chuckled. "You're so full of doubt, Brynn Phytrelia--but your skepticism is uncalled for. Trust the process."

She scoffed and looked at him. "Right. 'The process.'" She made air quotes. "I forgot, you're all about precision. No guesswork here. None at all."

Selenar laughed, deep and sharp.

Brynn shook her head and followed him.

He led her through the quiet corridors to the training room where they'd first met. One dummy lay in a crumpled heap in the corner. The other still stood, upright and oblivious.

Brynn stepped into the center.

Selenar leaned against the wall, arms crossed, eyes bright with anticipation. He didn't speak. He didn't need to.

Brynn exhaled, slow and steady. She closed her eyes--not to search, but to listen.

And there it was.

Something warm. Fierce. Coiled beneath her skin like thunder in waiting.

Her limbs began to hum--low, steady vibrations crawling through her bones. She opened her eyes, lifted her hand, and flexed.

Not her fingers. Not her wrist.

Something else.

The air warped around her palm. The plate embedded in her suit glowed, thrummed--then released.

Whatever left her hand was invisible to her eyes. But Selenar stood taller, bracing himself as the energy crossed the room in a blink.

The dummy didn't just explode--it disintegrated.

Flaming strands of synthetic fiber and scorched canvas scattered like debris in a windstorm. Smoke flooded the corner of the room. Even the pole that had held it upright was gone.

For a moment, nothing. The silence held--heavy, electric.

At the edge of her vision, Brynn saw Selenar push off the wall. He moved with quiet purpose, not rushed but resolved, his arms unfolding as he stepped into the space beside her. His face gave away nothing--yet something in the way he stood said everything.

Then he smiled--not broadly, but with the kind of restrained joy that nearly reached his pearl-white eyes. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, but she detected that tone of exaltation in his next words.

"Well then," he said.

He crossed the room and stood in the middle of the calamity. He opened his hands, indicating the contents of the floor beneath him and looked at her. "This is what you can accomplish when you cut away the doubt." He shook his hands a little, emphasizing. "This, Brynn Phytrelia."

He started to stride towards her. "Just... imagine what you could do with this!" He clenched a fist in front of his body, like he was struggling to contain his excitement. "Until now, what you had accomplished wasn't even a scratch on the surface, it wasn't even a seed of what you produced. And now..."

As he reached her, he turned back to the wall where cinders were still smoldering. "Now... you can do whatever you want."

Brynn's gaze flipped to face him, a little surprised. "That's a strong statement. But why would I want to do this?" She reached her arm towards the destruction, but looked directly into his eyes. "Why would I ever want to cause this kind of chaos, or commit this sort of atrocity? Do you think I want to become some kind of god? Some kind of higher being so convinced of their superiority above mortals that I don't think about them before they flatten underfoot?"

For the first time in memory, she watched an Ulratian exhibit true surprise. He seemed completely caught off guard by her tirade. He stepped close, resting his hands on her shoulders, guiding her gaze to meet his.

"We are servants of benevolence and justice. We don't pretend to serve some kind of higher power, or to preserve a balance. But I..."

His voice softened as he tilted his head.

"Speaking for myself, I want you to be reunited with your captain, and to free him from the curse that I've been told has haunted him. And now... you can."

Then he let his arms fall to his sides, expression unreadable, but calm.

Brynn frowned, still not convinced. She shook her head and glanced back at the smoking cinders before looking towards her feet. "I..." She felt her voice catch, cleared her throat, and tried to swallow before attempting to speak again. "I just want to help him... the way he was ready to help me."

Selenar smiled, nodding. Gently, he tipped her gaze from the floor to look into her eyes. "I know. Then perhaps we focus on the path ahead. One step at a time."

She nodded slowly, gaze still lowered. "Just promise me I won't lose who I am."

He grinned--wide and genuine--and let out a short laugh. "I could no more take away who you are anymore than I could survive in the vacuum of space, but I'd sooner try the second that I would the first."

She smiled more sincerely, and laughed a little, her tone more jesting than sullen. "Good. You better not, Master Selenar."

He started to respond--but he was interrupted by a noise.

Battle klaxons.

The training room lights dimmed, flashing red across the walls. Selenar's posture shifted instantly, eyes narrowing, every trace of levity gone.

"Stay with me," he said. He was already moving to the door, dilating at his approach before contracting close behind both of them.

Brynn followed at his heels.

Selenar nearly barreled over an attendant, then grabbed him to get his attention. "What's going on," he demanded.

The Ulratian straightened. "Enemy ship--class unknown."

Brynn felt a jolt in her gut. Selenar looked at her, clearly thinking the same thing. Then he turned back to the attendant. "Do they have any ideas who it is?"

He shook his head, then continued on his way when Selenar released him.

He didn't turn to Brynn, almost like he was speaking to himself. "We need to get to the bridge."

Brynn nodded. "Of course. What's the fastest way to get there?"

His gaze darted a little and then he began running. "This way."

Brynn continued behind him, already pulsing with adrenaline.

The entered a lift, both out of breath. It started moving almost immediately after the doors closed.

Brynn heard something blare through the speakers in the lift. It was Korran.

"All assault teams report to the launch bay immediately. For honor and justice."

Selenar hit something on the lift and Brynn felt them stop and begin moving another direction.

"I'm sure we will find Korran there, if not Xedrin, so let's head there instead."

Brynn nodded. "Of course. I'm sure you would know better."

They reached the launch deck in time to hear Xedrin's voice rising over the chaos.

"These brazen servants of the malevolence think they can fire on a glaive ship? On Irelis?" He roared in rage and anger. "They dare to fire on us? Attack us?"

The rows of armored warriors stood at attention, silent but seething.

" Today, we will answer with all the fury and might of Ulratia! Let our response be fast and powerful. We will run these disciples of darkness into the bulkhead!"

As Brynn and Selenar cleared the corridor from the lift to the launch bay, Brynn stopped, gasping. There had to be at least two hundred soldiers, all clad in the same heavy armor. They did not wear helmets, boots, or gloves, but their limbs were adorned with plates of silver covering their arms and legs. She noticed each also wore a large breastplate, with a small glow in the middle. It came all the way up to their chins, but nothing covered their heads.

Brynn turned to Selenar. "You don't wear helmets?"

He shook his head. "Only when we are transitioning through space. The armor contains retractable head covers and the leg pieces contain an atmospheric shield to protect their feet. But, Ulratians like to feet the floor beneath them. If we wore boots, we couldn't use our claws. And if we wore helmets, it would only serve to impede our vision."

She nodded. "Obviously, I have a lot to learn."

They gathered with the other soldiers at the foot of the dais where Xedrin was still addressing them.

"As we gather, remember that these renegades have threatened this entire galaxy with their sadism and rhetoric. We will move against them now to silence their voices and bring the culling to Astaria."

The bay doors yawned open above, revealing the spined silhouette of Astaria, cloaked in shadow and fire. Energy bolts streaked between the vessels, each one lighting the void in bursts of color.

Brynn stared at it, breath caught. The ship looked alive. She heard the thunder of energy strike bombarding the hull of Irelis, and the high noise of its return fire.

Around her, the soldiers began loading into the assault pods--massive, cylindrical launch vessels, each one nestled into rail-mounted cannons.

Selenar guided her toward one of the pods, but Xedrin and Korran stopped them. Xedrin held up a hand and then snapped his fingers.

"You're with us," he said.

Three attendants rushed over to them and began to install armor plating on Selenar and added additional hardware to Brynn's lightweight combat gear.

She watched as they strapped it onto her, then looked up at Xedrin. "What's this for?"

Selenar answered for him. "Homing and life signs analysis, as well as hardware to assist the combat bridge with data on the attack. Don't worry, it will not impede you."

Brynn nodded, securing her armor. "Then let's get going."

Xedrin nodded a little and then the four of them moved to one of the pods.

It was sealed shut from the outside, hissing as it pressurized.