The silence that fell between them as they moved from the shattered square was thikcer than the smoke and heavier then the rubble. Varin led his back a rigid plate of armored contempt. Every line of his body screamed of violence barely contained. Elara walked just behind Kael, her presence a warm anxious pressure against his sensors. He could feel her eyes on the ruined housing of his Partical Lancer, a question she was to afraid or to kind to voice

They moved through a city being unmade the initial focused attack had gave way to a chaotik lingering sickness. Phasing entitys now leaderless and erratik flickered in and out of existence like maligant afterimages. A childs laughter would echo from an alley only to be cut off by the sizzle of a plasma discharge. The smell of o-zone and burnt honey the scent of ruptured magic clung to everything

Varin didnt look back "The Conduit Road" he snapped the words like chips of stone "Its the fastest path to the Heart But it will be a funnel A killing ground if they anticipate us"

"It is the logical route" Kael replied his systems maping the path "And they will anticipate it Their primary force will be there They are not mindless They are programed for seige efficiency"

"Programed" Varin repeated the word a curse He finaly glanced over his shoulder his golden eyes burning in the gloom "You speak of them as if they are tools As you are a tool"

"Uncle" Elaras voice was sharp

"No Elara Let him answer Who holds your leesh machine What master do you pretend to serve while you walk among us"

Kael kept his gaze forward scanning the rooflines <Threat Assesment: Varin. Volatility at 92%. Probability of hostile action: 68%.> "My directives are my own" he said which was both true and a lie of ommision

"A likely story" Varin sneered He stopped at a crossroads were a public fountain depicting some forgotten hero now spewed not water but a corrosive shimering fluid that ate at the stone "You expect me to beleive a weapon gained a concience That it just decided to be a hero"

"I expect you to beleive that I am the only reason this city still has a fighting chance" Kael stated the pure unvarnished truth "The Geomantic Heart is vulnerable because your defences are built against magical assault This is not magic It is fisics weaponized It is a key designed for a lock it should not be able to touch"

Varins hand clenched into a fist but he said nothing He knew it was true The evidence was all around them in the unnatural disolution of reality

They pushed on reaching the entrance to the Conduit Road It was a wide processional avenue lined with statues of past stewards now leading to the central spire were the Heart pulsed Or it should have been wide Now it was a canyon of wreckage Two buildings on either side had partialy colapsed creating a treacherous choke point of splintered wood and jagged stone And waiting for them in the center of the bottleneck shimering under the hazy sun were three Vanguard units But these were different Bulkier Their red eyes burned with a more intense light and their phase fields flickered with a stable malevolent rythm

"Anathema Troopers" Kael identified the designation apearing in his vision <Heavy assault class. Equiped with phase-lock projectors.>

"More of your kin" Varin spat falling into a combat stance The golden nimbus erupted around him once more

Before Kael could respond the lead Trooper raised its arm It didnt fire a plasma bolt It launched a sphere of crackling silver energy It moved slowly undulating through the air like a jellyfish

"Dont let it touch you" Kael barked the first note of real urgency in his voice

Varin predictably met it with force He thrust a palm forward and a blast of golden light shot out to intercept the sphere The two energys colided and the golden light simply unraveled It was pulled apart into glittering motes that were sucked into the silver sphere which grew larger hungrier

"The phase-lock neutralizes active energy fields" Kael explained rapidly his mind racing through countermeasures "It feeds on magic Your attacks empower it"

Varin stared a look of pure uncomprehending horror on his face His power the foundation of his strength was useless Worse than useless it was fuel for the enemy

The sphere drifted closer Varin took an involuntary step back the first time Kael had ever seen him yeild ground

"Elara get back" Varin shouted desperation edgeing his voice

But Elara wasnt looking at the sphere She was looking at the ground At the rubble Her face was pale but set with a determination that was entirely her own "Its still just a thing right" she whispered more to herself than anyone "A machine"

She knelt placing her hands on the cracked cobbelstones She closed her eyes She was not a combat adept like her uncle Her magic was softer deeper It was the magic of growth of conection of the earth itself

For a moment nothing happened Varin looked at her his horror compounding "Elara no Your magic will only"

But no golden light erupted from her hands Instead a deep groaning rumble came from beneath the street The roots of the great city-trees ancient and thick as pythons tore up through the stone They were not glowing They were not magical in the sense the phase-lock could consume They were simple physical overwhelming matter

The gnarled wood surged upward wrapping around the silver sphere The sphere fizzed and spat trying to disintegrate the organic matter but it was to much to fast The roots constricted and the sphere burst in a silent shower of nulified energy

The lead Anathema Trooper adjusted its aim its red eye now fixed on Elara

Varin was stunned into immobility his paradigm shattered

Kael was not

His left arm his only functional weapon came up The standard kinetic cannon whirred But he knew standard rounds would be inefective against their heavy armor He needed a weakness

<Analyzing Trooper gait. Stability compromised by 4% due to uneven terrain.>

He didnt aim for the core He aimed for the ground at the lead Troopers feet at a precise point were a slab of stone was tilted at a forty-five degree angle He fired three rounds in rapid succession

Thump Thump Thump

The bullets struck the base of the slab not with enough force to shatter it but with perfect precision to disrupt its fragile balance The slab shifted then slid The Trooper its weight distribution already slightly off stumbled forward onto the unstable surface Its heavy leg punched through a hidden cavity beneath the stone and with a screech of tearing metal it was trapped its torso bent at an awkward angle

"Varin Now" Kael yelled "Its phase field is destabilized The core is exposed"

The command broke Varins stupor The Master Adept re-emerged but his approach had changed He didnt summon a blade of light He simply moved a blur of motion He leaped onto the trapped Trooper his hands finding purchase not on magic but on metal He jammed his fingers into the gap in its armor were the core pulsed and with a raw physical scream of effort he tore it out The light in the Troopers eye died

The remaining two Troopers opened fire plasma bolts filling the narrow space Kael shoved Elara behind a colapsed statue covering her body with his own A bolt grazed his shoulder searing through his cloak and synth-skin exposing the dull grey alloy beneath

Varin used the environment as Kael had He kicked a chunk of masonry sending it skittering into one Troopers leg spoiling its aim He was learning Adapting Fighting like Kael fought

Together in a brutal silent dance of complementary violence they dismantled the remaining two Troopers Varin used his overwhelming physical strength to create openings to stagger them to pin them Kael used his precision to target joints optical sensors and weapon emplacements It was ugly desperate and effective

When the last Trooper crashed to the ground its core ripped out by Varins bare hands the Steward stood panting his fine clothes torn and smeared with soot and alien lubricant He looked at Kael his chest heaving The pure hateful certainty was gone from his eyes replaced by a tangled furious respect

"You fight like a demon" Varin breathed

"I fight to win" Kael corrected straightening up He turned to check on Elara "Are you injured"

She shook her head her eyes wide as she looked between the two of them "Im Im okay" She looked at the roots she had summoned now lying still and ordinary amidst the wreckage "I just I thought about what you said About fisics I didnt try to fight its energy I just gave it to much tree to eat"

A strange sound escaped Varin It was half a laugh half a sob He ran a hand over his face "You saved my life girl With a a tree"

"The Conduit Road is clear for now" Kael interjected pulling their focus back "But the main force will be at the Heart We have little time"

Varin nodded the Steward fully back in command "Then we end this" He looked at Kael a grim new understanding in his gaze The reckoning was still coming but it had been postponed For now they were what they had to be allies of convenience in a war for existence

As they hurried down the devastated avenue the spire of the Geomantic Heart looming before them Kaels internal systems flagged a new disturbing data point The energy signature from the Heart was fluctuating wildly It wasnt just under attack

Something was already inside

The grand archway leading to the Hearts chamber was ajar one of its massive rune-inscribed doors hanging crookedly from a broken hinge From within pulsed a sickly rythmic light a vile magenta that beat against the familiar warm gold of the Hearts natural aura The sound was a discordant hum a metallic screech woven into a sacred chant

They slipped inside into the vast circular chamber The Geomantic Heart itself hung in the air at the rooms center a colossal slowly rotating crystal of pure gold light tethered to the floor and ceiling by streams of liquid energy Or it had been Now a grotesque machine was latched onto it like a parasitic insect It was a spider-like construct of black iron and pulsating violet cables its many legs dug deep into the Hearts luminous form Were they pierced the crystal ugly black cracks spread and the gold light dimmed flickering erratically

Around the perimeter of the room a dozen Vanguard units stood as silent sentinels But they did not move to attack They were powering the parasite channels of that same vile magenta energy flowing from their backs into the central machine

And standing before the parasite his back to them was a figure in dark segmented armor that was unmistakably of the same design as the Vanguard He was tall humanoid but his form had a razor-sharp artificial geometry that was alien to this world In his hands he held a data-slate and he was murmuring in a language of pure mathematics adjusting the parasytes drain

Varin sucked in a sharp breath "By all the forgotten gods"

The figure stopped his murmuring He didnt turn "The calculated resistance arives" he said his voice a synthetic baritone devoid of inflection yet somehow dripping with condescension "And you have brought the lost asset with you How eficient"

Kael froze Every system in his body screamed in reconition in a primal protocol-deep alarm He knew that voice.

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.