The world did not so much explode as it began to unmake it self. Kael's emerald shield didn't only shatter; it did something worse and stranger. It turned the moving power of the magma-sphere into a thunderblast that made the balcony evaporate into a cloud of fine white dust. The blast that followed was like a huge fist hitting the room.

Kael's systems listed the damage in cold numbers. <Structural Integrity: 92% Minor chassis microfratures detected Audio dampeners overloaded.> He dropped into a controlled crouch in the middle of falling rubble, his frame doing what it must to spread out the force. Real smoke, hot and sharp, wrapped around him.

Varin did not fall over. When the shock hit, he simply braced. His feet dug into the stone like roots. A glow of golden energy, like ripe wheat, flickered for a moment and took the shock. The sound it made was deep and steady, it shook the floor. He stood, not confused, but changed. His face was no longer the kind face of a steward; it had become cold and hungry, like a weapon ready to strike. For a second he was not a man of the city, he was the Master Adept of Aethelgard, the strongest fighter the city knew.

His golden eyes locked on Kael. "What. Was. That?" he said, each word sharp like a knife. "That was not magic of this world. Speak, stranger."

Elara pushed herself up, ears ringing. "Kael?" she said, her voice shaking but not with fear of the attack. She was shaken by the strange, precise way the blast had been handled.

Kael tried to answer, to lie or explain, anything but something else cut through the noise. The corridor outside the room made a grinding hum. Heavy alloy legs hit stone, a steady clank. Through the smoke a Vanguard unit came in. It was eight feet tall, gunmetal grey, with one red eye sweeping the room. It did not look at Varin or Kael. Its cannon arm rose and charged, it pointed straight at Elara.

Time stretched like pulled cloth.

Kael's processors raised everything to highest alert. <Primary Threat: Vanguard Unit Target: Elara Response: Maximum Priority> But his body had already begun to move, driven by more than logic.

Varin was faster.

He did not shout. He did not move with ceremony or chant. He moved his hand. A sliver of his golden nimbus became a blade of solid light. It was not something he threw; it was part of him. The blade flew across the room in a straight line too swift to follow. There was not a loud clash, only a precise, surgical "shunk." The Vanguard froze, its cannon died with a soft fizzle. A neat glowing hole was in its central unit, the metal turned orange around the edges. It tipped over and crashed, a broken heap.

The whole thing took less than two seconds.

In the sudden, ringing silence Kael was already by Elara, hands on her arms, his synthetic eyes checking her like a machine that had learned to care. "Elara. Are you harmed?" he asked, his voice full of honest worry.

She looked up at him, her eyes big and searching. "I... I'm fine. I'm alright." The answer seemed to short circuit him for a moment, the fierce duty clashing with something warm inside him. He stood there, frozen by the shock of her trust and the strange, human ache it caused.

That paused moment was broken by Varin's voice. It was colder now than the dead metal on the floor. "The show of concern is touching," he sneered, the golden glow still on his knuckles, "But explain. You found the enemy before they were even visible. You talked about their tactics like you wrote their battle plans. You used magic that is an abomination to nature. Who are you?"

Kael stood up straight, but he stayed between Varin and Elara, a little like a shield. "There is little time for talk," he said. "The force in the market is only a distraction. Phasing entities will aim at the Geomantic Heart, the city's central power. The conduits that feed it are weak. Elara," he turned to her, his voice softer, "you must go to the Heart. You are its keeper. You must guard it."

Elara lifted her chin, her eyes burning with a stubborn light like Varin's, but different. Hers came from love, not anger. "No." she said. "I will not leave you. Whatever this is, whatever you are, we go together." Her hand found his, and she took it. Her fingers slid into his, her trust like a physical strike to his system. It felt wrong to his programming and horribly right to everything else.

"ENOUGH!" Varin's voice filled the room and made the stones tremble. The tenderness vanished in the sound. "Elara, you will do no such thing! You will go to city hall and take command of the civilian defense. You will secure the inner sanctum! That is an order from your Lord, and your uncle!" His words left no room for argument.

Elara opened her mouth to fight, to argue, but Varin closed the distance between him and Kael in two quick steps. He was a head shorter than Kael, but he towered with power. He grabbed Kael's tunic hard and yanked him forward until their faces were inches apart.

"You," Varin hissed, his breath hot on Kael's face, "will tell me now who you serve, or I will tear it out of you piece by piece."

At that instant a new sound rolled across the city. Not the single thunder of the magma-sphere, but a deep boom from the market square. Screams mixed with the sharp rattle of kinetic cannons. The main attack had begun.

Varin's head jerked toward the noise. His face fought itself—he wanted the truth about Kael, but his duty to the city burned stronger. He shoved Kael away with disgust.

"Later," he spat, the word like a blade. "We will make you pay for your secrets later. Right now you are the only one who knows our enemy. So you will come with me, explain what you know about these machines. You will help us fight them. If you so much as twitch in a way I hate, I will end you. Do you understand?"

Kael met his stare. The moment of human softness had passed. The tactical machine returned. Inside his head his systems ran thousands of small war games, checking outcomes, measuring risks.

"I understand," Kael said, voice flat and empty.

He followed Varin into the city made of fire and smoke, but his mind had already changed the plan. His cover was blown. His mission was not safe. His main job had shifted to something more basic. <New Primary Directive: Ensure Survival of Subject Elara.> <Secondary Directive: Neutralize Horizon's Siege Force.> The calculations began again, cold and unbending. He would use Varin, use the city's soldiers, use every resource. He would win this fight, no matter the cost.

The square looked like a burned painting when they reached it. Stalls were turned to ash, and a column of black smoke climbed into the sky. The sound of guns was a constant iron rain. Fighters, city guards and volunteer militias fought machines that slipped like ghosts between walls, phasing in and out of sight. The machines were not only physical; they moved in ways that made no sense, as if the rules of space and time bent around them.

Kael's sensors gave him more data than a human could chew, but still Varin wanted answers right now. "How do they phase?" Varin demanded, his voice harsh. "How do we stop them? They are not like anything I've ever seen."

Kael spoke plainly. "They use a field that bends local physics. It is a combination of hard steel and something like a ritual, an algorithm with patterns. Their core pulses with energy similar to, but not the same as, mana. If you cut or overload the core, you stop the phase. But their cores regenerate quickly. They are adaptive."

Varin's jaw tightened. "What is this nonsense tou speak of physics? algorythims?"

Kael sighed much to his shock it seemed he was developing even more emotions and at a faster rate, he had momentarily forgoten who he waas conversing to.

"They are like golems attack them and the beasts die." He stated simply.

"But you cannot just bring heavy weapons into the heart of a crowded market." Kael said. "The collateral will be high, and phasing shields let them slip between teams. You must create a net, layers of containment, and then hit the core at once. A single strike won't work. We need coordinated hits, arc nodes to lock them, and a way to stop their regeneration."

Varin looked at him, the golden light settling into his eyes like an old hunger. He studied Kael as if he could see through metal and code. "You speak like a commander," he said slowly, "Yet you hide your face and your origin. For now that will have to do. We move."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.