Scene 1: The Fractured Table
The War Room was too quiet. Walls lined with silver panels flickered with live battlefield projections and tactical simulations. The long glass table in the center of the room reflected exhausted faces. A chair at the head of the table—once belonging to Sentinel Vex—remained empty. Covered in shadows.
Katherine sat near the far side, her eyes distant. Her fingers brushed the sword hilt at her waist, but she didn't speak. Her usually commanding presence was muted, weighed down by grief.
Jeremiah cleared his throat, the only sound breaking through the silence. He looked pale but focused. "We need to hold the southern perimeter. Veronica's last movements suggest they're regrouping outside of San Antonio. If they flank us westward, we lose half of our radar outposts. That's not a skirmish—that's a breach."
Captain Yuri raised an eyebrow. "You're barely out of your rookie uniform, boy."
Jeremiah didn't flinch. "Then consider this my field exam. You all know I've read Vex's strategies better than anyone here."
Murmurs of disagreement rose, but a sharp voice silenced them.
"He's right," Katherine said flatly.
All heads turned.
She looked up, finally meeting Jeremiah's eyes. "Vex trusted him. And so do I."
The tension thinned just enough for Jeremiah to breathe again.
Lyra entered then, slowly, supported by a metal crutch. Her coma had only ended days before, and her face was still pale, but her eyes blazed with urgency.
"I saw it again," she said, voice strained. "A black tide. Veronica... leading something far worse than what we've seen."
Yuri scoffed. "Another vision?"
"It's not just a vision," Jeremiah said. "It's a warning. We need to prepare—not just for soldiers. For something deeper."
A heavy silence fell again.
No one challenged him this time.
---
Scene 2: Ghosts and Sparks
The walls of Marcus' quarters glowed faintly in the dark. The air was still—too still.
He lay in bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. And then he felt it. A whisper—not a sound, but a thought. A voice forged in obsidian and shadow.
"My son."
Marcus shot upright, his breath catching.
"You walk among them. But don't forget what you are."
The room shifted, the shadows swirling around him. A vision formed—his father, Lord Leonard, standing in a throne room of black fire. His glowing red eyes pierced through the illusion.
"The time for war is not yet. But the time for truth draws near."
"Truth? What truth?" Marcus asked aloud, heart pounding.
"The girl... the bond you've made—it will either destroy you or save you."
Before Marcus could respond, searing pain burned into his right palm. He screamed.
A symbol had etched itself into his flesh. A flaming crescent surrounded by three dots.
He collapsed to the ground, shaking, sweating.
Then the vision faded.
The room returned to normal.
Marcus groaned, crawling to his knees. He looked toward the wall separating his room from Lyra's.
He whispered, "What are we becoming?"
---
Scene 3: The Silence Between Us
The Guild Garden was still under moonlight, silver petals shimmering in the night air. Katherine walked slowly, her boots brushing against the stone path. She didn't notice Jeremiah until he spoke.
"You haven't slept," he said.
She looked at him. "Neither have you."
They walked side by side, saying nothing for several minutes. The wind rustled the hedges. Somewhere distant, a night bird called.
"I should've been faster," Katherine said finally. "If I'd just—"
"You weren't too slow," Jeremiah interrupted gently. "She cheated. She stabbed him from behind."
Katherine's voice dropped. "I felt her energy. She didn't run because she feared death. She ran because she was waiting for something."
They paused by a small fountain. Katherine sat, staring at the water.
"I used to think I could lead without breaking," she said. "But lately, all I feel is splinters."
Jeremiah knelt beside her. "That's the curse of people like us. We heal others... but we forget to let anyone heal us."
She turned to him. "Are you trying to heal me now?"
"I'm trying to understand you."
Their faces were close. The moment stretched.
Katherine leaned in—but at the last second, stopped. Her lips barely brushed his cheek instead.
"I can't lose anyone else," she whispered.
"You won't."
"I will. That's the nature of war."
Jeremiah took her hand. "Then let's make sure we win."
---
Scene 4: First Lightning
Lyra's scream echoed down the corridor.
Jax and Garth burst into her room, weapons drawn.
She was sitting upright, eyes wide and glowing.
"I saw her. Veronica. She was standing in a crater of black fire... laughing."
Garth frowned. "Another dream?"
"No. A message."
At that exact moment, red alarms lit the Guild's halls. Sirens blared.
Jeremiah's voice echoed over the intercom.
"All active units to Level Six. Code Black. Repeat—Code Black."
Marcus ran past the hall, still clutching his burned hand.
"What the hell is Code Black?" Lyra asked.
Katherine answered from behind them, eyes narrowed. "It means something impossible just happened."
They reached the upper platform just in time to see it.
A column of dark lightning—pitch black with crimson veins—slammed into the Earth outside Dallas.
The sky fractured. Birds fled.
The second invasion had begun.
---
To Be Continued...