In the depths of space, Tenebris moved through the vacuum, unbothered by it as his dark essence surged past worlds and stars. Occasionally he rested, stopping to devour the life he felt on planets he cared nothing for, and would never see again. With every lightyear he grew stronger and more terrible, he was truly the stuff of nightmares. He took pleasure in taking physical form, leaving terror in his wake. He also probed, ever seeking, and ever searching for his prey.

He could feel them, their tiny insignificant presences, and he taunted them. He relished their fear, their anxiety, their torment. Even as he reached out to their minds again, he recoiled violently, repelled by a new presence. His mother’s power burned, it angered him. How was she there, with them? How could they call on her? In his anger and his madness, he could not understand.

“Tenebris.” The voice burned like acid through his mind. Had he been manifest in physical form, Tenebris would have cried out.

No! NO! She cannot stop me! She cannot find me! Tenebris raged within himself. I will kill her! I will kill them all!

“Tenbris. You will turn back.” Elthys spoke within her son’s mind again. “Your wickedness will be your undoing. Cease this. Repent.”

Tenebris did not acknowledge her. More driven than ever before, he surged ahead, drawing ever closer to Earth and the vengeance he thirsted for. As he crossed the expanse of space, he became dimly aware of other, lesser things near the two betrayers. Intrigued, he probed them, but found their essence so dull, and so primitive that they were too far beneath his contempt. They would not bring him any pleasure, and they were not worth his time.

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Onyx facility churned with activity as those within continued to prepare for the coming onslaught. Tactical teams from the United States armed forces were arrayed around the perimeter, ensuring that no one crossed onto the grounds, or approached the facility for any reason. The airspace around the facility had been deemed restricted, forbidding the news helicopters from continuing to circle overhead. As night fell, an eerie quiet settled over the building and grounds.

Whisper gazed out the window. She could feel each life, each presence in the darkness outside. Now nearly recovered, she had command of her memories, and her power. She had been with Raden for hours, exploring it, relearning it, growing more confident as her true nature came out. She could name faces now, people from her life. She remembered her work before Engram, before she had ever seen a human being. She remembered lifetimes, places, distant worlds. Her mind settled once more on the paper that still lay folded in her pocket, containing a face she now recalled with an ache in her heart. She turned from the window, and back to Raden where he sat, resting from the exertion of working with her.

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“Raddanech, I need to talk to you.” She said quietly, addressing him by his true name. “We can’t do this alone, I need to go to him…”

“Whisper, do you not remember what it took to save his life? To dissuade the Council from destroying him then? They granted him mercy only because of your father, and his intercession. They could not kill in cold blood, in spite of what you had done. If he returns, they may not see it that way a second time.” Raddanech answered levelly. “My love, I know how much he meant to you then, and still means to you now. But if we invoke his aid, you risk losing him to Tenebris, and to the Council.”

“I know he would be at risk, but I also know that he wouldn’t refuse us. Maybe it’s horrible of me, and selfish of me, but he could be the difference between driving back Tenebris, or seeing our friends hurt...our other friends…” She faltered. She wanted desperately to see him again...the one she had created. “He loves you too, Raddanceh, he always did. He knew you were everything to me. These people are innocent, he would want to protect them.”

“There isn’t time, Whisper. We need to go to the Council, we need their support. We can’t go off elsewhere, Saxe and the others are counting on us.” Raddanech explained patiently. “Tenebris isn’t going to wait on our whims, he is getting closer. Can’t you feel him?”

An involuntary shudder ran through her as she reached out, feeling the dark presence of Tenebris and realizing it was no longer just a whisper from her dream. He was real, and he was coming. “I can.” She said simply. “But there is a way. You go to the Council, ask their help. I will go to Ion.”

“You expect me to stand by and leave you alone, now of all times?” Raddanech rose to his feet, the intensity of his passion flashing in his deep green eyes. “What if he follows you, hmm? You are carrying his mother’s light. We don’t know what he will do.”

“Yes, I do expect you to. You swore yourself to me. You promised yourself to me as my Guardian in the Light. I need to do this. And we are wasting precious time arguing.” Whisper answered, her own voice raised in anger.

“By the light of our Stars, you are stubborn!” Raddanech said, sighing in exasperation as he took Whisper into his arms. “You are stubborn, and foolish, and light help me, I love you. I will do this for you, against every ounce of my judgement.”

Whisper closed her eyes and hugged him tightly, then reached up to kiss him softly. He had always been the only one that understood her, that believed in her. “Thank you. Thank you so much for trusting me. You know I wouldn’t do this if I thought it would only make things worse. Ion really can help. We should go.” She said, reluctantly breaking their embrace.

Raddanech was the first to depart, calling a gateway to Inasban, their home. He wove Light energy into a doorway, which glowed with blinding intensity and power as he stepped through it. It blinked out as suddenly as it had appeared, taking him far from Earth, and far from Whisper.

Once he had gone, Whisper repeated the process. Her own power was now so intense that the air crackled with it as she wove a doorway to a different destination. Without hesitation, she stepped through and onto the surface of Lumhia, Inasban’s moon. Darkness surrounded her as she let the doorway close behind her.