Minutes earlier, before the JB started the siege on the fort, Sherah, in her possessed form, stands in the infirmary of the fort over top of a just recently subdued and drugged June. As Miyra had predicted earlier, June had put up an incredible fight, taking out multiple Demu and nearly escaping the fort all together before being caught by Sherah.

Sherah has the same feral fury in her eyes that she had earlier, but on a closer inspection by anyone who can get close enough to see into her eyes, a slight bit of her soul can still be seen yelling out, begging for her world to turn back to what it used to be.

Even though someone else is controlling her body, a part of her mind is still under her control purely through her will-power, along with the fact that her soul still exists within her body.

Through push backs against the Demu that is attempting to take full control of her body, she is also able to reflect on everything that she has done up to this point that caused this to happen.

Through reflection, she realizes that her possession wasn't Raphael or June's fault, but it was her own. If she had only accepted Raphael as the Guardian, if she had only agreed with his tactical advice, and if she had only accepted the fact that even though he is twelve-years-old, that he knew better than her when it came to June's safety, then maybe, just maybe, this never would have happened and she wouldn't be putting all of them in the danger that will soon be unleashed. Now all that she can hope for is that maybe Raphael and the rest of the JB might be able to catch up with her and put her down. For June's sake.

Gun shots can be heard ringing off in the distance, making Possessed Sherah jolt up. A Demu scientist appears at the doorway of the infirmary and begins speaking in the Demu's native tongue. Roughly translated, the Demu scientist is saying that the fort is under attack and that it thinks that the JB are the attackers.

Deep inside Sherah's mind and within her soul, Sherah is screaming with joy. The JB might just be able to stop her Possessor.

Sherah's Possessor, however, refuses to sit idly by and allow Raphael to take June back. She screams back to the Demu scientist in the same tongue as the Demu. She says to rally the soldiers and send them out, while having the heavy fighters stay close to the portal room as a last line of defense. After which, she grabs a hold of June, rips off June's restraints, and runs out of the room with June under her arm.

As she exits the second floor's south hallway and into the center of the building, she hears the sound of shattering glass down the hallway to her left, followed by gunfire. Realizing that the JB are flanking the fort, she immediately runs down the right hallway, with three Demu soldiers appearing from further down the south hallway as she runs.

Possessed Sherah sprints down the hallway, takes a left and a right and rushes down the stairwell before two shield shooter Demu take up the manes of guarding the stairwell from Raphael.

After exiting the stairwell, Possessed Sherah believes that the flank attack on the fort will probably be thwarted by the defenses that have been placed. Remembering that there is a second barracks on the first floor's north hallway, she decides to make her way there to gather extra troops for the journey ahead.

By the time she is halfway through the east hallway, she hears gunshots coming from above, which means that either the shield shooter's won or Raphael has.

Not wanting to waste any more time, she makes her way to the north hallway, but by the time she arrives, the UMA soldiers have just breached into the building. Choosing to opt for safety over time, she motions for some Demu soldiers that are coming out of the north barracks to follow. In the Demu tongue, she tells them to hold off the JB while she escapes with June.

In an oddly coordinated action, for the Demu at least, Possessed Sherah and the other Demu soldiers all burst out of the hallway at once. While the soldiers hold back the JB, Possessed Sherah goes off in the other direction. She sprints at incredible speed toward the hallway intersection and practically ricochets off of the wall and down the hallway.

Before entering the portal room, she passes by the middle hallway and catches a glimpse of the battle taking place between Raphael and the Hell Knight. She pays it no mind, but the real Sherah sees it and pushes back even harder than before. Her attempts to regain control are so strong that it makes her body stumble before she goes into the portal room.

She hits the doorway of the portal room hard with her shoulder, sweat now bedding down her face. Her eyes are darting in multiple directions, widening and thinning at different intervals as Sherah's possessor and soul fight each other in a vicious battle.

With slow steps, Possessed Sherah enters the portal room and says in a slow voice in the Demu language for the technicians to open the portal to the next outpost.

The portal machine slowly comes to life and opens moments later. Sherah let's out a deep yell as her mind and body are seemingly split in two. Sherah's possessor regains complete control for a second and is able to throw June into the portal. June flies through the air and lands inside the portal, rolling to a stop.

Raphael sprints into the room moments later with a single wound on his arm that is nearly done healing thanks to his nanobots. He sees Sherah in the room, still attempting to take back control. In a low voice, he says her name. Suddenly, Sherah is able to take back full control. She looks over to Raphael with desperation in her eyes. In a low voice, she says “Please... kill me....”

Before Raphael can even react, one of the Demu technician's sprints over to Sherah and slams a syringe into her arm. Immediately after the injection, Sherah's possessor regains complete control.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Possessed Sherah shoots Raphael an evil glare before rushing into the portal. Raphael fires five bursts from each of his pistols at Sherah, shooting the Demu technician twice, while all the others miss. By this time, the rest of the JB, along with it's soldiers, have caught up with Raphael. They clear the room in a matter of seconds, but a single Demu technician is able to shut down the room's portal before it dies.

Almost like before, Raphael sprints through the area that the portal used to be at, but does not go through it. With depth in his voice, he says “Dammit, not again...!” Without hesitating, he brings up his communication device and calls in Marinth. “Marinth, how are you coming along with that portal map?”

Marinth speaks to Raphael over the communication device on the back of Raphael's glasses. “It's coming along fairly well. I wasn't able to decipher it myself, but thanks to Henry, we've gained the knowledge of where the next portal will be. How's the chase going?”

“Not well. We just lost Sherah through the next portal and we have no idea where she is right now. Since you know where they're going next, do you think that you can block the next portal with a disruptor or something along those lines?”

“Hold on....” key presses can be heard from the other side of the communication device and Marinth can be heard speaking with someone away from the microphone. His voice reappears moments later. “Alright commander, from what I've decoded so far, the next portal should be on the desert planet of Harin. According to the portal map, they only have a few more portals to go before they get behind enemy lines.”

“But besides that, the portal jammer I have should be able to reach out that far. I will be able to block the portal, but it will only last a few hours until I have to let it cool. During that time, I'm going to contact Commander Lendlock and see if he can get me a more sophisticated jammer with a larger range, which will help with slowing Sherah down, and if it's a good enough jammer, then we might be able to stop Sherah in her tracks.” Marinth concludes

“Alright Marinth, I have two jobs for you.” says Raphael while examining the nearby portal equipment. “The first job is to jam the portal that Sherah is going to take next. We need to slow her down enough for us to catch up with her. The second task has a bit to do with what I just said. I need you to send some portal technicians down to the planet we're on to decipher the portal equipment that the Demu used to get Sherah to Harin. Send them down outside of the fort that we're at near the western tip of the island. If we're fast enough, we might be able to open the portal to Harin before your portal jammer has to cool, giving us enough time to clear the next area and catch up with Sherah.”

“Yes sir, Commander.” says Marinth before switching on the portal jammer and synching it up to block the portal generator on Harin. “Alright, since the jammer uses a radius blocking pattern, I've programmed it to be able to block the next portal, which seemingly is inside of another fort.” Marinth can then be heard talking away from the communication device, apparently directing certain technicians in the room on what they are going to be doing. He comes back onto the communication device moments later. “I'm sending a group of five portal technicians down to the fort to check out the Demu portal generator. If we have any luck, we'll be able to get through the Demu encryption and open a portal there before the portal jammer stutters out.”

“Very good, Marinth.” Raphael says before looking behind him and motioning for the rest of the JB to check the rest of the fort. “We'll be waiting for the technicians outside of the fort, and good luck with getting the upgraded portal jammer. See ya later. Bye.” Raphael takes his hand off of his communication device and then examines the rest of the room.

There are Demu bodies littering the entire room, some of them slouching over consoles while others are laying dead on the floor. The room is made out of a combination of wood, metal, stone, and glass for windows.

Raphael wishes to examine the room further, but he is distracted when he notices someone coming into the room. He turns his head and sees that it is none other than Teruin, but she is extremely exhausted from the earlier assault. “Oh, Teru', how are you holding up?” he asks her as she wanders into the room.

“Not good, man.” she says as she stumbles toward Raphael. When she nears closer to him, she loses her footing and begins to fall. Thinking on his feet, Raphael rushes forward and grabs Teruin before she hits the ground. She looks up at Raphael, and through huffing breaths, she says “Two tree rips at that magnitude in one day is just too much for me. Guess I need more trainin', eh Boss-man?”

With a smile on his face, Raphael says “Nah, you're good just the way you are.” He lifts Teruin to her feet and lends her his shoulder until they reach the left wall nearest the door. He sets her down next to the doorway and sits her up against the wall.

With a huff, he sits down next to Teruin. Through exhaustion, Teruin looks at Raphael. She sees in him everything that the Guardian is meant to be. He is loyal, honest, powerful, freedom-loving, and above all else, he is kind beyond the human emotion. She sees within his eyes someone who can give to another the greatest love imaginable, for she can see within him someone who isn't in it for himself, but in it for the others.

A sudden thought comes to Teruin as she lays against the wall, exhausted. Maybe, since he is still going to be living his life on his earth and going to school there, she imagines, maybe she can work as a personal guard for him when he has to go to school. She thinks that it's a good idea, at least. It would give them more time to connect, and more importantly, it would keep him safe from the Demu if they ever came hunting for him at his school. “Hey Boss-man?” she asks Raphael through huffing breaths. “Do you think it'd be a good idea if I came along with you to your school, ya know, as a personal guard. Ya never know when them Demu might show up!”

Raphael shuts his eyes, lowers his head and huffs at Teruin's question. He then looks back up at her and says “If that is what you want Teruin, then I'll be happy to have you as a personal guard. But for the time being, we need to focus on saving June and stopping Sherah.” His head then motions downward and he shuts his eyes, the days exhaustion now catching up with him. “Listen, Teru',” he says with his eyes still shut. “when the technician's finish getting the portal up, do you mind waking me back up, because I'm freaking exhausted!”

Teruin gives Raphael a pat on the back and says “No prob, Boss-man.” before getting up from her sitting position and walking to the doorway of the room. She waits there for about ten minutes before the technician's arrive. After which, she escorts them into the room and shows them the portal equipment. Since she barely knows anything about portal technology, she leaves them to their work, giving them the one simple task of opening a portal to the portal generator's last location.

Raphael, on the other hand, stays true to what he had told Teruin. After Teruin gets up, he slides over to her spot against the wall and lays down on his side in a near fetal position. It takes him barely a minute to get to sleep, his exhaustion so severe that it makes the rock floor actually feel comfortable.

He knows deep in his mind as he drifts away that he will save June, no matter what. He will, but at a price that he would have never expected....