“Anything, Lady Daamon?” Sergeant Noland asked in an even tone. A version of Noland manifested in full into Astral’s dark watery world, revealing the depths of his soul. His soul remained clear, the few cracks within it didn't shift. However, his aura flashed with spikes of anticipation, a lust for battle, dulling his compassion for those escaping the fight.

Floating around his spiritual manifestation were clear bubbles, each projecting a memory that Noland’s subconscious had called. She saw it all.

She saw the brutality of his squad’s dying moment while serving their tour. She saw the loss of his friends who had succumbed to their personal demons, shortly thereafter. She saw his future, manifesting as a fog around him, at first clear and certain. Him sitting behind her in the side-by-side, watching for threats, fascinated by what she might do, as a burst of light shot into the sky, turning night to day. As his future sped forward, the vision grew blurry, splitting into several blurry scenarios.

In this state, he was vulnerable to her influence. She could alter him like she was debugging a piece of faulty software. She wouldn’t. She honored Free Will, as maddening as it was. If she altered anything, his spiritual contribution going-forward would mean nothing.

“Nothing yet,” she replied, dismissing his presence. He transformed back into a school of brilliant silver fish, dancing around her, joining the multi-colored fish that represented her uncle. She fought the urge to feed the fishes. She couldn’t anymore. Not since Omega had become a part of her.

But she could share her strength in other ways.

“Brace yourself for the next one.” Her saying anything at all was a courtesy, this time she didn’t feel Noland or her uncle’s resistance. The first Pulse had fed them, inspired them, their will and hers were in alignment.

She shaped a second focused Pulse, imbuing her call with a taste of her soul, a promise of power beyond measure. She was strong before Omega infused itself into her being, but now she had a flavor that was near irresistible to most demons. She was but one girl. The demons involved in her destruction could live as a god.

She released the gathered energy, launching her call from herself into the world beyond at hyper speeds. A torrent of tall curtains of water tore from her position, ripping into the vast eternity beyond. Unlike her previous call, she could not stop this Pulse from ripping through the shield and traveling through into the Barren Wastes, and deep into the Killing Fields.

This pulse was fast. It had to be. It was so strong that demons waging terror along the outposts within the Killing Fields would respond to her call. She had to keep this pulse brief.

In seconds, she felt the awareness of thousands of demons within the Safe Zone, the shrinking National border. Pin pricks of hundreds of thousands more demons from well beyond the Killing Fields populated her psychic awareness forming a beautiful network of red twilight beyond the shields. The nebula of stronger demons formed among the stars, their baleful gaze shifting toward her, that is if stars had eyes.

She had a lot of work ahead of her. She needed to deal with the threat here first, then disappear into the Killing Fields calling all of the demons to her, away from civilization. She’d end this war, and herself before she succumbed to Omega’s Will.

The towers lit up like a living organic being, seen only the way Astral could see the world. Something had responded to her call, so brilliant it washed out the presence of the Hunters in the area and the smattering of demons lingering outside of the shields. ‘I’m here!’ She heard his voice, hoarse and ancient. It sounded aged, weak, and sick. Each word is a struggle.

Her dark twilight world turned white.

“Astral?” Damien slowed the vehicle to a stop. She heard her uncle, but he was distant. His school of fish lit up, prepared to swarm, ready to defend. Gold sparkles joined his swarm.

Astral grabbed his wrist, silently urging him to stop. If he cast anything with the elder trees present the results of his spells would be disastrous. Besides, she had other defenses she could use first. It hadn’t manifested into the real world, giving her the advantage.

She drove her will power deep into her metaphysical world, carving a wide gulf around her and her companions. A curtain of water flowed upwards into the pale sun far above her, shielding her from the threat of the unknown.

Stolen story; please report.

As with Omega, she wouldn’t respond to this entity. She had no desire to allow this entity or any other indefinite access to her psyche, opening herself up to a slew of mental breaks. Answering was akin to giving William access to her tablet without being able to change the password.

In response to her silence, brilliant flaming auras flared along the street, lighting the main roads like mini-suns. Noland gasped. The display of power was made visible to all. She had no doubt that those with even the slightest sensitivity to magic would have been drawn to the spectacle. Dezmond was going to be furious with her, and with Damien. Damien would bear the brunt of the old man’s ire.

The magic accumulating within the concentric rings lit up, shaping several barriers between herself and the towers. Magic flows from one shield to the next through the smaller joining streets.

Damien gasped. “It’s a ward! It’s all a goddamned ward. We were right!” He slapped the steering wheel in his excitement.

‘It would appear so.’ Astral was careful not to nod.

Yes, there was a ward, but the four main roads that cut through the rings damaged the ward’s potential. It would have been fine had the road remained inside of the outer ring, but in this case, three of the four roads extended well outside of the last ring of the main campus.

In magic foundational practices, circles were shields, straight lines were a means of funneling energy from one place to another. The use of a square vs a triangle depended on how much energy was needed, the source, or if the caster needed to convert one source into another.

It was possible that the shield was fueled through an external source, but that led to a compromised shield. She needed time to think, to put all of the pieces together. ‘If the rings aren’t about protecting the Academy, then what are they for?’

“What’s going on?” Noland furrowed his brows.

“Something’s here!” Damien replied, his excitement devoid of the dread associated with a demonic figure. “Something’s protecting this place. It just responded to Astral’s call.”

A blurred image of a man stood at the edge of her gulf, watching her watch him. He reached out a hand to her. She felt the warmth of his smile and the relief in his soul. ‘Finally, you’re here, Champion.’

His burden was going to become hers. In this moment, she had subconsciously accepted his burden, their purpose for being at the Academy had aligned. This entity was an ally.

Still, she remained cautious, if not for her sake, then for his. She would not infect him with Omega’s putrid will.

In that second, he stood with her inside of her shield. He was an old battle worn soldier, who ill fitted and worn uniform didn’t suited him. He was here because something needed to be done. He had risen to the occasion, understanding what was being asked of him. Understanding that the task also meant his death.

His smile faded, his watery eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open with an unspoken plead to have her turn away. She refused to speak. She would not let him into her mind.

He looked away, following his guilt, chasing his resolve. ‘I don’t have much time left,’ he confessed, each word painful to speak. His shame marred his face. ‘I offer you my memories, Champion, such as they are.’

Her water shield broadcast his memories like a film onto a screen, memories she couldn’t quite make sense of. She’d have to step into them and immerse herself in the clear waters, accepting his memories as hers. She couldn’t do that. The human mind tended to collapse under the weight of its own memories, and she was already burdened with Omega’s insidious gift. No matter how useful the information, or how pure the source, she couldn’t accept his offering.

She focused her attention beyond the man, past the projection. “We have a Guardian on site,” Astral told her team, her voice flat, killing all of the thoughts and emotions that came with the revelation.

He lowered his eyes, and nodded. ‘You must help.’

She stilled her mind, refusing to acknowledge his pleas. She fought the urge to admit that she was in fact here to help. She couldn’t.

Terrible wailing called from beyond her shield, drawing the old man’s attention. ‘I’ve made some horrible mistakes.’ He reached out to her, but she flinched away. ‘You must help them!’ He looked out to the space beyond her reversed waterfall. ‘I did this to them! Don’t let him use them!’ He risked everything in that moment and seized her by her arms.

He connected. It surprised her. For the first time since his intrusion, she looked into his watery gaze. He squeezed her arms, desperate for her awareness of him. ‘I’ll hold out,’ he told her. ‘For as long as I can.’ His voice had gained strength. He was feeding from her, her energy flowing into him. ‘For as long as you’ll let me,’ he corrected. He hadn’t expected to feed from her. She hadn’t expected that their will had aligned so completely that he could tap into her strength, into true nature of her personal augmentation field.

‘Ascended!’ He gasped a title that had been long lost to legacy born Hunters. She was no Champion. She hadn’t been a hero of the Realm since the reign of the Dark Emperor. ‘I didn’t think it was possible. Oh, how I’ve failed you.’ Tears fell from his clearing eyes. He had regained some of his youth, and the pale remnants of color filtered back to faded remains of his hair. ‘I’ve failed them,’ he said. He wiped his tears on his sleeve and released her from his hungry grip. ‘The beast you’re looking for is in a deep sleep, but even then, I couldn’t stop it from feeding.’

She wanted to acknowledge him, to reassure him. She couldn’t ask questions because that would be a form of acknowledgement. She had seen and heard enough. Letting him linger within her metaphysical center was too dangerous. She pulled herself out.