Zod’s eyes widened and he looked up from the table. “You’re going to teach us sorcery?”

  “Of course not,” said Elder Caledor.

  Zod’s eyes narrowed and his brows drew together. He did not like vague words that toyed with his feelings. He preferred Elder Caledor to get to the point.

  Elder Caledor stepped from behind Kie and placed one hand flat on the table. Blue symbols flared along the length of his skin, then his hand pushed through the solid surface and came back out gripping a dagger hidden behind his fingers.

  They all sat forward and shuffled to the edge of their chairs to see the weapon. An Ether blade formed of compacted energy. It was a light turquoise and jagged, like a rough crystal except for the handle. Whoever was on the receiving end would feel extraordinary pain.

  “An Ether blade should be capable of purifying the evil force holding your teammate. It is pointless to teach you how to verge in order to perform sorcery as that could take years, and we do not have that time. We will have the Commander arrange for each of you to gain access to one — one powerful enough for what you will face.

  “The more you fight darkness, the stronger it becomes. With her Ultramana fighting the dark force sealed to her, it will only gain strength. Be prepared. Next time you face it, it may show no resemblance to your teammate.”

  Tee bit her lip and glanced away.

  “That is if she’s alive,” Kie said, leaning back in his chair.

  “If she dies, you four will feel it,” Elder Seriphal added.

  “Let us hope the Harbingers know by now who you are, and that killing any of you would not weaken Eon’s legacy,” Elder Caledor said. “If that is so, they would likely keep her trapped, restricting her share of the power. Yes, she would be alive, but in endless agony.”

  “We have to get her back,” Miko said, unable to imagine the pain Saeda must be enduring.

  “We’re going to free her,” Kie promised.

  “How are you so sure?” Tee asked, eager for his answer. “Why would the Harbingers give her up?” She could not see why they would release Saeda when keeping her trapped but alive would permanently weaken their enemies. It was a brilliant tactic.

  Kie sighed. “We’ll have to revise our strategy.”

  “Look at the bright side,” Zod said. “Now we know she wasn’t a Xeno-victim.”

  His attempt at lightening the mood failed. For all they knew, Saeda was being tortured. Worse, Tee now saw her surrounding teammates differently. They were Xenogenists, the same people who spat on X-victims after mutation and made their lives worse.

  Why would she reveal she was a Xeno-victim to them? How would they treat her? If those elders expected her to help save that planet while being looked down on, they could forget it.

  The meeting ended with the elders offering their farewells. Kie urged the team to think of ideas for their next strategy session. Soon they were seated in chairs facing him at the front desk. He perched on the side of the front desk and looked at them.

  They reviewed what they knew. The bird could turn intangible and they were down one member. Legion could raise shields of bone. The sorcerer could blast lightning, summon Leaks and perform telekinesis. It was obvious the Harbingers had more tricks to spare.

  “This is hopeless,” Tee mumbled, elbows on the desk, head bowed into shadow. “Defeating the Harbingers sounds impossible.”

  “No,” Kie said. “When I fought Lilith, her sword shattered against my neck.”

  Tee jolted upright and Zod and Miko gasped.

  “Talk about a thick neck,” Zod chuckled.

  “Not the point. I think that’s a sign of the godlike powers the Commander mentioned. With time, I think we’ll be able to land major blows.” He added the last line with more hope than certainty.

  Tee remembered the dark ash that had flaked from her hands twice — once on the sword that slew the flying behemoth, once with the bandaged figure from the recent mission. She would not say that aloud. If her Sentinel’s power ever took form, it should not resemble black ash from dark mana. Something was wrong but she felt it was wise to keep it to herself.

  “With time? Do we have that kind of time?” she asked. “If the Omega stone appears again and we can’t stop them, it’ll mean the end of the world.”

  The silence that followed made her worry she sounded ridiculous.

  Miko spoke in a low voice. “Saeda. How do we get her back?”

  “Sade,” Tee blurted. “He’s the reason Saeda’s in this mess.”

  Zod slammed his fist on the desk. “Why didn’t I take that necklace from her neck when I saw it?”

  Kie folded his arms. “Why would she go on a dangerous mission wearing jewelry?”

  “Talisman,” Miko said. “It was supposed to bring good luck.”

  “More like bad luck,” Tee muttered.

  “All right, less straying from the topic,” Kie said, pinching the bridge of his nose. His shoulders sank under the weight of responsibility. Whatever plan they hatched would rest on him. He couldn’t afford to mess it up.

  “We have to get Saeda back,” Miko repeated.

  Tee could not understand Miko’s fixation. When she had thought Saeda might be a covert Xeno-victim, she had preferred the Harbingers keep her. What a hypocrite, she told herself.

  “We can start by killing the sorcerer,” Tee suggested with a mocking smile.

  “What if that traps Saeda forever?” Kie countered.

  “Then let’s torture him until he releases her,” Tee added.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Kie could hear the mockery in her voice and could not tell if she was serious. “That’s an idea.”

  “We can use the Ether daggers,” Zod said. “I have a feeling the daggers would hurt someone with dark mana flowing in their veins.”

  “Yes. We should go after the sorcerer to get Saeda back,” Miko agreed.

  Silence fell. Their consensus, uneasy but real. Still, they all knew it would not be so simple. The thought of freeing their friend felt dampened by the reality of what lay ahead.

  In the days that followed, Tee and her comrades found it hard to smile or enjoy their routines. No one wanted to watch the telegram emitter, play bat and ball, or start a campfire and talk. Meals were eaten in a heavy quiet. They went through motions like chores.

  One evening, while Tee was preparing to wash the dishes, a hologram of the Commander’s face flickered to life. “Cadets, suit up and rendezvous at the mission base.”

  The Commander mentioned another secret Prodigy operation. He had little intel, but Varrak would be there in person. It was another chance to eliminate him.

  District 299 – Pearl Harbor, Sector 12

  5:30 p.m.

  Near the coast, the abandoned construction site for a skyscraper had already been evacuated. The metal framework stretched twelve stories high, surrounded by motionless construction machines. The rain had just ended, leaving everything wet. Darkness was settling in as the global curfew approached. The only light came from streaks of sunset beneath dark clouds on one side of the sky.

  Unlike the construction site, the stack of large, rectangular metal shipping containers to its left was not deserted. Filled with materials transported by ship, they were stacked two stories high. Its maze-like structure was perfect for hiding illegal activity.

  A still puddle reflected the shrinking white vortex above. It rippled as white battle boots stamped through it, followed by black mechanized legs and human ones, leaving etched footprints behind.

  The group halted in a wider section of the container maze. Varrak, clad in white, stood out among those gathered. The men and women waiting for him reflected off his white-tinted face shield. No one could see the man behind it. They weren’t his soldiers. Their uniforms bore golden badges, and large swords hung on their backs.

  Varrak ignored them and focused on the shirtless man kneeling with both hands tied behind his back. The man lifted his head, eyes wide with terror, as heavy boots approached.

  “It’s just a tattoo,” the man stammered, sweat dripping down his beard. He had lost hope and repeated the same phrase he had used for hours.

  Two human soldiers went behind the kneeling man to inspect the black ink covering his back. One held a scanner, projecting a thin red beam below the man’s nape, tilting it to scan the entire tattoo.

  The man turned his head, trying to see, but couldn’t. “Please stop. I’m begging you,” he said, voice cracking. “It’s just a tattoo.”

  “Tattoo with black ink? Aren’t you daring,” Varrak said in a deep voice that made the man flinch.

  “Bingo,” one soldier behind him said as the scanner flashed green.

  Varrak moved closer. “Or desperate enough to hide something—and throw away a fortune on whoever was crazy enough to ink your disguise.”

  The soldier with the scanner straightened. “Who’s next? Don’t all come at once.”

  He turned to three MG troopers wearing uniforms similar to the officials but without the golden badges or swords. They stood frozen, realizing there was no time to withdraw. Unlike the man on the ground, they had volunteered, yet none stepped forward. They didn’t know what they had signed up for but decided it was better than their grim lives.

  Peeking from behind a female official’s legs was a small boy. Candy smeared his mouth. His abductors had used it to pacify him. It had been long since he’d seen his family, and the candy would soon lose its effect.

  The lady with bright red lips and curly hair bent to the boy’s level. Smiling, she held both his hands, stared into his eyes, and asked, “How about you, little one?”

  Although she knew whatever Varrak planned was terrible, she couldn’t hide her excitement for the paycheck she’d receive. She rubbed the boy’s head, lifted him to sit on one arm while supporting his back with the other, and walked toward the man with the scanner.

  The boy buried his head in her chest, clutching her jacket, eyes wide at the soldier in black holding the red-lit device. The lady extended his arm so the scanner could examine the unblemished section.

  Green light flashed, and another soldier applied a liquid to the skin-like surface, rubbing until a black smoke-like curse mark appeared.

  Eighteen-to-twenty-year-old troopers stood at attention, waiting for their turn. After the boy, it would be one of them. But when the man in white tossed cards onto the ground in front of the kneeling man, all eyes shifted.

  The cards were crossed out in red. Varrak stooped to the man’s level, removing the need for him to strain his neck. No matter how hard he squinted, the man only saw his terrified reflection on the face shield.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be wearing crests?” Varrak said, not allowing an answer. “You see, my team and I have a special interest in you. If it works, you leave a free man, no more lies.”

  Varrak paused, then added, “But if it doesn’t.” He tossed another card with a red X—this time bearing the man’s own face.

  He intentionally left out that his experiments had never succeeded. He wanted to observe whether mindset influenced the result.

  The man’s voice quivered. “Please, I—I have a family. A wife and three k-k-ki—”

  “Bwahahaha!” Varrak’s wild laughter erupted from his helmet, cutting him off. Everyone turned, shocked at the sudden shift from calm to insane. The laughter ceased as Varrak straightened, hands leaving his stomach, and sighed loudly, pretending he hadn’t noticed the attention.

  “Do you really think I’m the threat here?” Silence followed. “Trust me, I’m doing your family—and mankind—a favor.”

  The kneeling man lowered his head.

  “Ahem!” An MG official with a mustache and black shades cleared his throat, dropping his folded arms and stepping forward.

  “We’ve been out here long enough,” he said, louder now. “I hope you haven’t forgotten our deal.” He pointed behind him at the low-lives waiting. “Unlike those three, this one and the kid weren’t volunteers. That means ten times more for us.”

  The man stared at the white-helmeted figure for two long minutes before receiving a reply.

  “Yes, just as agreed,” Varrak said. He glanced at the MG troopers and the boy in the lady’s arms, then walked backward as two androids stepped forward.

  The black-coated androids stopped in front of the angry-mustache official and opened briefcases filled with chips. He examined one, nodded, and replaced it. Two MG colleagues took the briefcases away.

  Another android approached, opening the last silver briefcase. White mist burst from the small gap as he lifted the lid. It was the other half of the payment.

  “This one requires a demonstration,” Varrak said, arms behind his back, standing away from the mustache official. “Any volunteers?”

  “Hey, junior! Get over here!” the mustache official yelled.

  The young A-level Mid-Guard graduate, frozen by the human trade-off before him, ran over.

  The mustache official patted the young lad’s shoulder, smirking. “Here’s your volunteer.”

  Neither knew what the demonstration entailed. Older officials enjoyed exploiting newbies, and that one had mingled with the wrong crowd.

  Varrak remained motionless, staring at them. “Very well,” he finally said, waving a hand.

  An android removed a silver, misty device resembling a mechanical spider from the briefcase.

  “Relax, junior,” the mustache man said, as two androids appeared behind the trembling boy. “It’s just a demonstration.”

  The spider latched to the boy’s head. He spun around, alarmed. “What the—?” But he relaxed once he realized there was no pain.

  “The controller,” Varrak said, tossing a stick-like device to the mustache official. He caught it, smirk fading. It was a glass tube of purple liquid encased in thick black coating.

  “Huh? What kind of controller is this?” He removed his shades. “No buttons!”

  “Oh, that’s not the controller,” Varrak said.

  The device on the boy glowed white. Simultaneously, the tube discharged a volt of electricity, shocking the mustache official.

  “Aaah!” he screamed, falling to his knees.

  The junior stepped back in terror. Other MG officials drew their swords, faces twisted in anger.

  “What the freck is this!” one yelled, left lip curled.

  The sword fell from the official's back. No one moved as something tore through his jacket from behind.