Veil One

Loch Lorian frontline

Steel-eyed Archs stood on one side and the united RayCrests on the other.

The ground beneath Cairis’s feet trembled with each fresh strike. They were losing ground and so she crafted a wormhole code, sending Archs soaring through the universe’s highest vibrations. Once through, light blinded them. A place where acute fields of silence pushed them to the brink of agony, and only the strong in spirit endured.

“They outnumber us!” said Cairis as she struggled to continue building wormholes. A group of RayCrests arrived to help her. Cairis checked the Arcuan lights. They were small, meaning the Archs were advancing into Veil One.

The RayCrests’ synchronised movements resembled an elegant dance. In the east, they gathered into coding teams. Making loops in the air. Stunning acrobatic coding that bewildered the Archs. Others supported groups that had yet to be relayed.

To the west, the initiates sat in circles, repeating the Alpha codes in relaxed postures and graceful moves. They were ready to create a freeze or shield if needed. But the stronger RayCrests protected them, and they used the space to revert the Omega energy that was turning the skies red. Further ahead, a group of Inspiration Veil fighters punched and kicked Archs surprising them since Ones never used physical force. They were an army from the Veil of Inspiration that came to support Ones. Their martial art techniques paved the way to training as RayCrests in the future.

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Next to them, a LitSpear RayCrest arrived. Bracing himself for the impact. He opened his arms wide to receive the negative energy that surrounded them. He coded as though his whole body were receiving electric shocks, but the Archs overpowered and weakened him until Ethriel and Cairis did a joint code. Their coding multiplied a hundred-fold, as if a swarm of RayCrests had joined them. A code only senior RayCrests knew about. Time froze, and many stopped to observe Ethriel and Cairis. Their dance was phenomenal in a warrior like waltz. Their code waves merged, creating a unified and potent energy that revitalised the weakened RayCrest.

A hundred yards away, RayCrests, like penguins, recycled so that the warriors on the outside, took turns with warriors on the inner circle, all while dancing the RayCrest cyphers. They protected the centre of the circle and created the greatest energy shifts in the process by using Alpha coding and Markarians that froze the Archs. But Archs had also learnt to freeze and so RayCrests found themselves in unexpected disadvantages.

“One is vulnerable!” said Margeid, after one such freeze.

“They are heading to the city!” Cairis exclaimed.

“There is only one solution,” said Ethriel. “We redirect them.”

“Where?” asked Margeid.

Cairis and Ethriel exchanged a glance. They knew their action would hinder Nate’s access to Bellatorn and Aria, but it was a necessary sacrifice.

Cairis and Ethriel then lit a beacon. As the fire became greater, it alerted the senior RayCrests to move to the back of the field. There they met up with Cairis and Ethriel. Their palms pressed together, forming a circle, and in an instant, a whirlwind of energy materialised around them. They closed their eyes and focused on magnifying the intensity of the light.

The Archs stopped to watch.

A radiant glow unfolded, spanning the landscape as far as the eye could see.