Kastien could hear his bone cracking, his muscles tearing, and his skin stretching. Kastien’s first reaction was to scream, but there was no pain. No pain at all. Odd… Instead, he felt warmth. It reminded him of when he fell asleep leaning on the side of a generator; heat escaping through its plating. It was pleasant and all-encompassing warmth. He tried to open his eyes and stand up, but strength escaped him.
“Don’t move, Kas,” Saige said softly. “I know it sounds terrible, but don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe. I think…”
“What is?” Kastien would have said it louder, but the whisper was the best he could do.
“Just be quiet and let me concentrate,” she said sternly.
The sounds his body was making were like that of a broken machine, with its gears grinding and metal clanking. And they were indeed terrible, as she said. What in Aur’s name is happening to me? He opened his eyes and there was a sight to behold. Saige was shining with a golden aura all around her, and it fought the oppressive crimsonness of the world, restoring colors within its area. It was coming from within her body, oozing outside, waving and dancing around her and then even brighter golden threads were flowing from across her arm towards her hand, which was pressed onto Kastien’s chest. It permeated his skin, making it almost transparent, and continued its passage through his veins to the rest of his body. He raised his right arm and saw the now glowing broken bone realigning and cracks disappearing. His ribs, bruises, and other injuries healed similarly. There was no scientific explanation for what was happening. Well, hypothetically, one could create the Aurelium device for such applications, but no one ever discovered it, not even anything resembling the effects he observed. And she had nothing in either of her hands. She was converting and controlling Aurelium within her, with no machinery, no technology to help her. She did it with only her body and mind. He would not call himself a blind believer, but this was the same miracle Saint Seydenna performed, and Aur had chosen Saige to do the same. Well, if anyone deserved to be chosen as a new Saint, there were few more worthy than Saige. At least that’s what Kastien thought. As she continued, sweat started flowing from her forehead down the cheek. It was apparent she was struggling to maintain whatever she was doing.
“Stop,” Kastien whispered. “Enough Saige. You will strain yourself.” He could tell if she continued, it would not end well.
“A little more!” Saige’s hand was now trembling, her eyes were now glowing brilliantly golden. Waves around her uncontrollably shifted, luminous threads violently moving up and down, stretching and bending, until one snapped. As it did, both the aura and warmth that Kastien received disappeared and the crimson crept back around her. Kastien felt the heat of her body and her quick, shallow breaths on his neck as she fell upon him, her skin slick with sweat. As his strength returned, he leaned forward and gently placed her beside him on the bed.
“Saige, Saige! Wake up!” he gently shook her as he yelled. No answer. He continued, but no answer still. Pressure was building up in his head, and his heart was ready to jump out of the chest. He pressed his lips to her forehead, and she felt fevered. This isn’t good. Not good at all. Calm down and think straight. But Kastien always had trouble doing that in her presence. First, he looked left, then right, scanned the room, and saw a bucket of water next to the bed. He took the spare sheet from the edge of the bed, rolled it up, drenched it in the cold water, and cleaned her sweat. After several times of drenching and cleaning, her temperature was dropping to normal. When she started innocently snoring, Kastien knew the worst had passed. Relieved, he slumped down next to her, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. Recklessness runs in the family, and I am certain that either she or her brother will be the end of me someday. Short intense fever and sweating were symptoms of severe Aurelium deficiency, the same as those Cathal has when he goes overboard with his arm. After an hour of sleep, she should be fine. He needed to prepare a speech for when she woke up. Maybe she would listen this time. No, she will. I will make sure of it!
“What is going on in here? I heard yelling?” said Tynan as he walked into the room. “Oh, sorry to intrude!” Tynan winked, then gave a thumbs-up. Kastien knew what Tynan was thinking and wanted to punch him, but judging by Tynan’s face, someone beat him to it, causing Kastien to smile. Just as Tynan was leaving the room, Kastien called out.
“Where are you going?”
“Umm,” Tynan looked confused. “Outside?”
“Come here and help me up, you idiot.”
“Wait. Is she all right?” Tynan looked at Saige.
“Yes. She just needs some rest. But I need some help up.” Kastien reached his arm forward, palm open.
“Ooh, that good buddy?” Tynan said as he raised an eyebrow, but Kastien ignored him, as he always did. Tynan came closer and started pulling Kastien out of bed, then abruptly stopped and let go. “Sorry, I forgot about your arm!”
“It is fine now,” Kastien said. “Good as new.”
“So, Alecia was right. What did Saige do?”
“Hard to explain. I am not sure I understand it myself.” A brief silence ensued as Tynan helped Kastien up.
“We need to meet with others in the armory. Can you walk on your own?” Tynan asked.
“It seems so.”
“Glad to see you on your feet again, buddy. Didn’t believe it would actually happen.” Tynan said. “Tell us everything there.”
“Wait,” Kastien said as he approached the dresser, retrieved a blanket, and then covered Saige. He noticed Tynan looking at him and smiling. “Whatever, Tynan… Move.”
***
Five of them were standing in the middle of a vast armory, adorned and ornamented, much like the rest of the house, with blue carpet completely covering the floor. He visited the house many times, but it was his first time down here. Perfectly placed and organized swords and spears stood on multiple wooden racks against the engraved walls; a dozen stands showed off various leather and chain-mail armor parts. One wall had bows hanging from nails, and below them, in big open containers, hundreds of arrows layered on top of each other. There were nine glass-covered pedestals lined next to each other; two of them had pulse pistols placed on red pillows, while others hosted relics and resonance crystal shards Kastien had never seen before. Those look like fun. I’ll get to them after we are done with this. He appreciated the care and time someone took to make it look impeccable, as it was easy on both the eyes and the mind. The only problem was that the armory was in the basement and it made it harder for him to breathe. Especially the basement that had no windows to the outside. No matter how big it was, it felt cramped; it smelled of dry leather and the walls were closing in on him, more every second he spent in there. And it took him a while to explain to others what happened with Saige, even longer for them to believe it, but Cathal simply could not accept it. After all, it was his little sister, and Kastien, had he not seen the power with his own eyes, would have been as skeptical as he. Cathal frowned at him while he spoke, but Kastien tried to avoid his gaze as much as possible, finding it even more uncomfortable than he already was.
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“So, it is true. I had my doubts when I first got this mission, but now… Seeing you standing… I cannot believe we have the Saint with us,” Alecia said, her eyes trembling. “Aur has blessed us.”
“First the Shroud, then Chimera, and now, the Saint. Are we cursed or blessed?” Brennan muttered. Kastien could not decide either.
“It does not change what we have to do,” Alecia said. “Has Tynan filled you in on our plan?”
Kastien nodded in agreement. It was dangerous, but if he wanted to move on from that day, to keep moving forward, he had to go. In the avenue, he had acted, but he had no choice. Now, it is my choice to confront this menace and fight. Be it Shroud, Ghoul, or Chimera.
“You don’t have to do this, Kastien. No one would blame you if you stayed here.” Tynan added.
“I don’t need to. I want to.” Kastien said. And he was glad to have said it.
“How about you Cathal?” Alecia asked.
“I’m sorry, this is all overwhelming… I need to see Saige first before I decide anything.”
“I understand. Kastien, see if those guns and relics could be of any use. Rest of us should make use of things here and arm some people,” Alecia pointed to the racks. “Tynan, you know those people. Help me choose some of them.”
“Yes, my Lady.” Tynan started walking to the stairs. Alecia followed close behind him. She was about to go up, but she stopped and went back to Kastien. She stood in front of him, unholstered the pistol on her right thigh, and presented it to him. It was an IM5 model, in pristine condition, most of it black. It had a platinum grip panel with gold engraved Bastion Knight insignia and a silver-glowing rune barrel that led straight from a transparent power-crystal chamber in the back to the muzzle in the front. Kastien first looked at the pistol, then at Alecia, then at the pistol again. Why is she doing this? Should I take it? Or should I not?
“You did good tonight. Take it, you deserve it,” Alecia smiled as she put the pistol in Kastien’s hand. “Take care of it and it will take care of you. We’ll be waiting for you upstairs when you’re finished.”
Kastien tried to thank her, but she turned around and left. Tynan smiled at him, nodded and left behind Alecia. Being acknowledged by a knight was unthinkable, and Kastien was stunned. He squeezed the pistol hard, his gaze fixated on it. A tear flowed down his cheek, and his shoulders dropped. He looked up and sighed loudly. Now he was glad he came down here, and those walls did not feel so suffocating anymore.
“Good work. I’m proud of you,” Cathal said, giving Kastien a tap on the shoulder. “Sorry, I can’t stay. I need to get my head straight and then speak to Saige.” Then Cathal left as well. Kastien stood in place for a few more moments before he moved. He found himself alone, surrounded by silence. Best time to work. Having dried his tears, he moved toward the pedestals. “What do we have here?” Kastien said as rubbed his hands together.
First, he took inventory of all usable crystals and shards he could find and then went to work on the pistols. They were earlier models than the one he got from Alecia, but invaluable relics still. One was beyond help, but he figured he could salvage parts from it to repair the second one. He was lucky that Runepanel did not break during the alley incident and he connected it with the pistol converter matrix. An hour passed quickly as he worked, and during that time, people were coming down, getting armed, and leaving as soon as they did. It was a distraction, but knowing that they were getting more helping hands eased the mind. He pressed the power button on the pistol and the crystal in the chamber came to its silver-shining pulsing life. The light spread across the chamber, then through the rune barrel, and he heard a happy beep coming from within the matrix. Crystal wasn’t in optimal condition, but it could last a few more weeks. He wished everything would be as simple as this. The next thing to check was half a dozen explosive charges, and they seemed to be in working condition. Good. He had no doubt that Tynan would find an excuse to use them. The only remaining tasks were checking the barrier projector’s usability and getting the power shard for the communication console in the relay tower. Better to be safe than sorry. Few resonance crystals should do the trick with the projector. Other things on the pedestals were unusable or beyond repair. Best not to waste precious time on those. And he was right. Runepanel showed the projector needed only shards and a bit of his magic touch to get it working, but Alecia’s voice broke his concentration.
“We distributed the equipment to the volunteers. How close are you to finishing?” Alecia asked.
“I need five more minutes!” Kastien answered without looking up.
“Any good news?”
“Yes, yes, yes. I will come upstairs.” Kastien added. Alecia looked at him for a moment but left soon after.
His work was done, and it was his turn to get ready. First, he took a satchel and placed the things he needed for the console repair, then went and put on a leather padded shirt and holster for the pistol. The last thing he needed was a weapon for close combat that was not a wrench. While his preference was for a sword, a shorter one was necessary, and he was relieved to discover one with a scabbard in a different section of the armory. He ascended the stairs and found people armed with bows guarding each window in the mansion’s hall, while others with swords and spears stood next to the exit. It looked like a scene from a story, where rebel militia took over the building in a desperate coup, preparing for a last stand. But unlike those, people here now had hope fueling their engines. It was a pleasant sight.
“My Lady, here is the report,” Kastien said, as he handed the paper to Alecia.
“Good. We leave in fifteen minutes.”
“Who is coming with us?”
“Tynan, you and I. Are you still up for it?”
“I have come this far, and I have some expectations to live up to,” Kastien held up the pistol Alecia gifted to him. “I fixed another relic pistol. Please take it,” Kastien put his other hand in the satchel, but Alecia gestured for him to stop.
“Give it to the Saint. She needs to protect herself. Go to her, she woke up.”
He entered the room, the quiet only broken by Saige’s shallow breathing, and saw her sitting upright on the bed. Cathal sat quietly on the cushioned chair next to the bed, his elbows firmly pressing against his thighs. A fight, most likely.
He wanted to say something, but a distant, mighty roar rattled the windows and floorboards trembled beneath Kastien’s feet. As Cathal leaped from the chair, an even more intense, now closer roar echoed, accompanied by a racket of innumerable overlapping screeches, a dreadful repeating symphony that threatened to collapse the manor’s walls. Through the deafening cacophony, Kastien discerned a sinister, familiar whisper; a warning with just two simple, yet horrifying, words:
They come