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Theocratic-Monarchy: SunSide
23rd Day of Month 6, Year 1628 DG
Soft mats on the stone floor cushion Rafael and Symin, who sit facing one another, legs crossed, knee-to-knee.
Zalona provided the mats, along with bandages and a numbing agent, before she and the General departed to complete their delegated task. Kyoko and Naina strategize the offensive strike on the Castrum, while Salessa and Kruga look on.
“Tell me about your Radiance,” Symin instructs the mari. “How did you know you could exercise a skill no human has in a millennium?”
A glimpse of a smile appears on the corner of Rafael’s mouth as he recalls the night he spoke with the Doruh Headwoman and relays the experience to Symin, who listens intently.
“Fascinating,” the nymph responds. “Harnessing emotional energy to access the Radiance. And you were successful?”
“Unintentionally. I allowed the Radiance to carry me when I felt its pull. Soon after”—his memories drift back to Innkeeper’s Ranch, and he shudders—“long-repressed emotions resurfaced.”
“What did it feel like? When the Radiance carried you?”
“Hovering. Floating. Gusts of wind and energy on my skin. Then...”
Rafael sighs. Words escape him. How can he articulate the abyss?
“And then you entered the void,” Symin speaks for him.
The mari’s eyes widen. “How did you know that?”
Symin smiles. “We are all familiar with the void, a spiritual manifestation of the Radiance. New users find themselves there until they’ve achieved proficiency in drawing the energy out of it. The void is the source, a place to train and refuel.”
“I don’t know how to get there voluntarily,” Rafael reminds him.
“Close your eyes. Reunite with the emotions that brought you there before.”
Hesitantly, Rafael obliges.
His memories drift back to the night at the inn, when he and Kyoko played Joaquina’s hand game, and the emotions return. The shock of seeing the bloody visions appear over Kyoko’s skin. The guilt of his culpability in Joaquina’s death.
Then, to the HearthBark, as the Vine Demon squeezed the life from Kyoko. He remembers the terror of nearly losing her, knowing yet another death would be on his hands.
He thinks back to Tusa, flooded with relief as he remembers Joaquina’s essence finding her eternal peace, and then with love when she gives him permission to forgive himself.
“There it is,” Symin says, smile simmering. “Incredible. Human Radiance. I can feel it.”
He reaches forward and places pink fingertips on Rafael’s face. A wind so powerful it might tear his limbs off, throws him backward. His arms flail as he tumbles through the air, left and right, backward and forward. He isn’t just floating, he’s flying amongst the clouds, headed for the stars.
The pressure fades and he lands gently. He’s in the void, and he isn’t alone.
“It’s been so long,” Symin comments, turning about and staring out into the darkness. His gray eyes have changed; here, they glow a magnificent red.
“How did you bring us here?” Rafael asks.
“I didn’t, you did. Your emotion formed a trickle of energy along your skin. All I did was Siphon it and guide us here. It was easy—smooth. The Headwoman was right, this method is powerful.”
“Now you can tell Kruga I wasn’t lying.”
A soft chuckle escapes the Mega. “Indeed. And now I can absorb what energy Kruga needs for the experiment directly from the source.”
A red glow illuminates his fingertips, then travels to his palms and over his wrists and forearms. It crawls through his shoulders and chest and covers his entire body.
He turns to Rafael. “Human Radiance is indescribably potent. Ours flows through us like a trickling stream. But this...” He examines his glowing body. “This is a raging river of raw power.”
A red beam erupts from his chest and hits Rafael, giving his body the same glow as Symin’s. Despite the way it looks, it’s cooling and gentle, like a balm.
Rafael closes his eyes and allows himself to tumble, fly, and land again. His eyelids separate and he’s in the Bunker, facing Symin on the soft mats. His bandages are gone, and what were once open wounds are now sealed scars. All ache has vanished. He feels strong.
“I’m healed.”
Symin nods. “The human Radiance is unaffected by ore.” He raises his hand and the red glow emanates from his palm. “I have my access back, thanks to you. Healing you is my end of the transaction.”
“Rafael!” Kyoko exclaims from the table, her expression bright. Kruga and the twins follow her line of sight to a healed Rafael.
“His service is complete,” Symin says to Kyoko, gesturing for her to join them on the mat. “It’s time for your donation.”
***
RADIANT POWER GALLOPS through him like never before. It courses through his veins, covers his skin, flows through muscle, bleeds into every cell.
Kyoko lies flat on her back as Symin, Rafael, and Salessa hover over her with the vial of cleansing agent and bandages on hand.
“Are you ready?” The nymph asks.
She nods and taps her outer thigh. “Take it from here.”
“Deep breaths. Relax.” His left palm hovers over her chest and he feels the tension evaporate from her body. He grows envious of how fluidly she can calm herself.
His hand glides to her forehead and the Radiant energy sedates her. Red glow sprinkles her skin, and within seconds, she’s snoring.
His right hand traces a square in the air above her body. A small shard of exoskeleton separates from the Librarian’s outer thigh. It’s precise, surgical. On the underside is the outer layer of Kyoko’s gelatinous igni skin, and droplets of blood lay scattered across the outer rim of the shard.
The donated tissue hovers gently into a small bag in Rafael’s hands, which he shuts tight and deposits into a box filled with ice. Salessa moves quickly to rub the cleansing agent onto the exposed wound and wrap the bandage around Kyoko’s thigh.
Symin holds her, sedated, until the wrap is complete and Salessa signals that he can wake her. The glow fades and Kyoko’s snoring ceases.
She yawns wide and slowly sits up, then looks down at the bandage on her thigh. “Did we get what we needed?”
Rafael nods and taps the box of ice. “We have the tissue and the energy. All we need now are the—”
The door to the tunnels creaks open. Ovida and Zalona haul a waist-high wooden cart behind them, filled to the brim with minerals and stones. The Mega stop to catch their breaths and wipe sweat from their foreheads.
Symin’s gaze catches the frowns plastered on their expressions, and a weighty ball of tension forms in his chest. “What’s wrong?”
A concerned glance simmers between them, before Ovida speaks. “The Revolution forces have identified a problem. We can’t wait for Unisa to return with Saila.”
Silence flows through the room, as smiles drop and listeners lean in closer.
Ovida continues. “After the destruction of Lily Beach, the Ore Monger has shut down all activity at the Panaerth processing center.”
“Which means,” Zalona clarifies, “every Braver stationed on Panaerth, and every one in the Fleet, is being recalled to Larso.”
Worry lines stretch across Ovida’s forehead. “Their numbers will soar.”
Naina sinks back into a chair. “We’re already outnumbered.”
Ovida nods. “The ships will start to arrive at dawn tomorrow morning. After that, this war is over. They’ll run right through us, Radiance or no Radiance.”
“Then we attack tonight,” Symin declares.
All eyes turn to him.
“The synthetic exoskeleton will be ready by sunsdown. We strike then. By the time the suns rise tomorrow, Larso must be ours. No matter how powerful she is, Saila will not make a difference if we’re outnumbered fifty to one.”
He addresses Ovida. “Prepare the Revolution forces. Tonight, we take Larso back.”