The melee fighters charged forward, Andrew taking a moment for his body to contort and reshape itself. Mi immediately slammed against the brunt of the enemy attackers, rightly deeming her to be the primary threat. Damien danced around one, the fighter's sword keeping him at arm's length. Andrew charged the final few, almost immediately taking one out in a wide swipe that he narrowly avoided. Duke had opted to stay behind his shields, focusing on a larger spell to cast. Kir tried to break his focus with some telekinetic slams but found no success.

The warlock was able to maintain the spell, and as he completed it, a shimmer of energy drilled its way into the ground. There was no instant reaction but after a few moments, cracks beneath the earth spread, clawed hands shooting out from beneath the stone. Eldritch beasts dragged themselves up from the cracks, newly born with nought but an unquenchable bloodlust in their minds. Eryssa and Kir began to focus on supporting the melee fighters, chunks of viscera flying from different points of the room, splattering against walls, some almost reaching the roof. Mi swiftly vivisected her final adversary and turned her attention to the deformed abominations that flung themselves at her with no regard for their own warped life.

Any attempt to gain ground was thwarted as Duke fired off spells and summoned more beasts. He had shielded himself within a prepared ward, stalwart in the defence of his employer. The battle reached a stalemate as the remaining human fighters hid behind the newly appearing creatures, gaining flesh shields to throw in decisive moments. Kir’s breathing began to quicken, he had never felt so useless before. Any attacks he made felt pitiful compared to violence his allies were enacting on the enemy, and the exhaustion had already begun to hit him. He ceased his spell-casting realising that he was just wasting mana, choosing to observe the field for a moment. They were at an impasse and at this point unable to reach Duke much less Sable. Without Duke’s support the melee defensive force would crumble in seconds. It was worth a try.

He began to focus his telekinetic nudges onto Duke, swaying him left and right at each critical point in the spell. In the beginning it did nothing but delay him slightly, but that wasn’t Kir’s main intention. He could see Duke's expression slowly darken at each nudge, like a child poking their mother for attention.

The last one seemed to have pushed him over the edge, actually causing him to interrupt the spell. This was made clear as he immediately dropped the next summoning spell and aimed a bolt of lightning screaming directly to Kir. It slammed into Kir’s chest, dispelling the armour but not doing any noticeable damage.

This began an awkward dance between the two, Duke would try to regain his composure but was met with Kir frequently interrupting his spellcasting, after the third effective disturbance he skipped the decorum and focused his attack spells on Kir. He wasn’t able to last long against Duke's onslaught, occasionally ducking behind a summon or trying for another mage armour, but thankfully he didn’t need that long.

Duke went to cast a more substantial spell but was stopped as Mi jammed her sword into the runes that maintained his shield. Kir was able to draw his attention enough to turn the tides of the battle. His fury faded away as fear took its place. Mi grabbed his collar, hoisting him off the ground. It seemed he had all but given up as he didn’t flail or attempt to cast anything. He tried to twist himself around a little, craning his neck to look behind him, he smirked.

“Too late” the comment was punctuated by the surreptitious crushing of a gem in hand, his body shimmering from Mi’s grip and out of sight.

Mi began to grit her teeth as she swung to look for him but stopped at an indicator from Kir as he raced towards the Paragon. It began to glow the same purple as the crystals powering it. The divine blood once trying to escape had now shot down into the centre of the matrix, the material components melting into the circuitry of the construction. As Kir neared the circle, Sable stopped levitating and stood calmly.

“Enough” he uttered, placing his hand up.

A translucent magical wall shot up from the ground between him and his potential assailants, despite not speaking or enacting any obvious somatic gestures. Any attempt to destroy the barrier was met with failure. The Animation Paragon began to pulse with energy, each deafening pulse becoming stronger than the last.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” Sable muttered as he turned to the interlopers.

“Cancel the spell! You’re smarter than this” Kir shouted, raising his voice to be heard over the matrix.

Engaging in banter wasn’t really a feasible option.

“Am I? You don’t know me and I don’t know you, why the hell are you even here?”

“To stop you from destroying this shard” Kir responded, choosing a more noble cause among his reasons.

“That won’t happen” Sable growled through clenched teeth.

“Why won’t you just listen to me!” Kir’s shouts turned from practicality to legitimate frustration.

“Because I need him back!” Sable snapped back.

Kir went silent, the unyielding rage in the man shutting him up.

“The Order locks me up for their own damn reasons. Fine! But then what do they do to my brother? They throw him in their fucking indoctrination program that kills him in less than a month!”

“You’re angry, I understand that, but why do all this?! You’ve hurt so many innocent people, with their own family to care for, and you're about to hurt so many more!” Kir was now pleading with him, almost on his knees.

“Innocence huh? People who stand by as those in power destroy the things that matter are innocent to you? They can all fuck off and die for all I care. And as for why” A horrid grin crept up on his face. “Revenge”

The sound was almost deafening now as the deep thrumming of the spell eclipsed their attempt at a conversation. Sable remained slightly to the side of the centre, staring deep into the concentration of mana expectantly. Kir had to cover his ears after as it began to almost rattle his skull but for an indiscernible reason, Sable was unaffected, simply staring.The pulses quickened as the concentration of mana was reaching its apex. Andrew had begun to writhe on the ground, sensitive hearing once again proving to be more a curse than a boon. The thrumming became an omnipresent hum, the flashing of light forced everyone to avert their eyes, Sable still unperturbed. A flash and the light vanished, the room falling silent.

They were still alive, Sable must have cancelled the spell somehow. Kir rubbed his eyes and turned to see what had happened, his mouth almost dropped as his gaze fell to the centre of the matrix. The high mana concentration seemed to have congealed into a rotund chrysalis that had wormed its way in through the stone floor. A substance that looked like amniotic fluid leaked from a tear in the top. Sable stood to the side breathing heavily, sweat dripping down his body as the chrysalis began to violently convulse. The hole began to stretch, widening with every convulsion. Every individual in the room watched with bated breath, unsure of whatever was to escape from the interior. The hole seemed to have reached a critical point as the chrysalis popped like a water balloon, sending fluid all over the floor, and revealing what lay inside.

Sable fell to his knees as he reached for the huddled excretion now in full view. A small body wrapped itself in the fetal position, brown hair and with a striking resemblance to the figure now cradling it. Kir placed its age at maybe five or six, but it was difficult to tell. It’s skin was mildly translucent, the veins visibly struggling to pump clotting blood around its body. The beating of the heart was visible through its ribcage as with each laboured breath its chest swelled. Its eyelids had yet to separate while its bones seemed to contort at the extremities. Sable wiped away some of the fluid still smeared on its face with his hand and began to rock it slightly in an attempt to wake it.

“Clay, wake up buddy” His voice rang soft, as one would speak to a newborn.

“Come on, wake up” He didn’t raise his voice nor rock any harder, simply waiting patiently for any response.

The being began to stir, its head rocking side to side. Sable smiled lightly, the kind of smile that you make when someone tells a joke after you’ve finished crying.

“That's right, I’m here”

Slowly it began to open its mouth, forcing the remaining skin to break and bleed slightly. Its voice croaked out some garbled wails. Almost as if it was remembering how to speak. Soon the wails turned into something more recognizable.

“Sable?” It’s voice echoed slightly but was still distinctly human, a catch permanently stuck in its throat.

“Hi Clay,” Sable smiled, pressing their foreheads together.

“Where are we? I can’t see”

“That's ok, your eyes are just new, that's all” Sable swept the hair back on the child's head.

“I had a really really good sleep, why did you get me up?” The being waved its hand searching desperately for something to hold onto.

Sable gripped it as he held the child tighter. There was a hurricane of emotions running through his head, but at the moment, it was only joy.

“Because it’s time to wake up buddy”

“I’m tired, I wanna go back to bed” Its head gently rocked to one side, the beating of its heart slowing slightly.

“No you can’t, I have to take you to school” The quiver returned in Sables breath as he began to try to nudge the child awake once again.

“I’m tired, I wanna go back to bed”

“Clay?”

“I’m tired, I wanna go back to bed”

“No please”

Its voice softened slightly as it took one last breath.

“Goodnight Sable” The heart made one final beat as the last of the air left its lungs.

The room stood in stunned silence. No one dared utter a word. Sable stayed on his knees holding his little brother tight against his chest. After a few moments the barrier between them dropped and all the energy from the matrix faded. Kir slowly approached, the remainder keeping their distance. Sable didn’t move or shift, simply sitting in silence. It took a moment of quiet approach but Kir now stood next to Sable and after some consideration, placed his hand on the man's shoulder. It was only a few seconds that he realised the man was dead. The spell must’ve put too much strain on him, he had passed away, holding his brother in his arms.

A shameful yet strong morbid curiosity overtook Kir as his eyes shimmered blue and he observed the being that this wizard had conjured. Both unbelievably complex and way more than Kir could deal with at the moment, he was about to dismiss the spell but his view drifted to Sable’s body. Something was wrong, it was almost as if his soul had been artificially removed from the remains. A contingency? A simulacrum? Shit.

Whether by respect, or shock, everyone stood in silence, unsure how to act. Kir was the first, he turned with a solemn expression and returned to the production room. It took some time but after rummaging around he was able to find a fine cyan dust that he placed into one of the lab test tubes. The rest followed, entirely unsure of what to do, and slightly traumatized.

“What now?” Andrew asked, turning to Kir for a suggestion.

“I’m taking this to Lyra” He said nonchalantly, as if the previous half hour was nothing more than an odd dream.

“What do we do about all this?” Eryssa queried, picking up an errant beaker.

Everyone looked at each other.

“I assume the original owners will move back in, reinstate the status quo” Damien suggested.

A conversation ensued about the correct course of action. Some suggested destroying all the equipment while others just wanted to leave. Kir paid little attention as he stared off into space, waiting for the discussion to come to end. Eventually, though not unanimously, they chose to leave things as they found it. Getting involved more than they already were seemed like an entirely unnecessary risk.

**

The trip to the Sirani safehouse was silent. Eryssa tried to start up an innocuous conversation but no one really felt in the mood. Kir and Andrew were anxious to return with the pulvis, Damien was left in thought and Mi was, well Mi.

They soon arrived, a heartfelt reunion followed and Kir sat impatiently for Lyra to start the process. Alchemy wasn’t something that Kir particularly prided himself on understanding, but even he could tell this process was largely simple. A mixture of chemicals and a spell later the concoction had been completed. Lyra passed it to Andrew to administer it.

“She’s gonna wake up pretty quickly, I’m not sure I’m the face she’ll want to see first”

Andrew stared at the potion, not taking it, simply thinking. The room looked to him expectantly, confused at his hesitance. A clock sitting on a mantle above a false fireplace ticked heavily in the silence.

“Vikir, you take it”

“What? Why?” he asked in genuine befuddlement.

“I…I can’t look at her right now”.

Kir watched Andrew’s face as he stared off into the middle distance. It was a feeling he knew.

“I understand,” he said firmly.

Not uttering another word, Kir took the tube from his hand and approached Amber, resting silently on the couch. He opened her mouth and began to drip the potion down her throat. Kir watched in anticipation, leaning over her with his heart racing. The ticking of the clock only made itself more present in the interim. Slowly her breathing sped up slightly, as she gently came to wake.

“Kiri?”

“Mornin”

Amber squinted slightly and turned her head.

“What's wrong with your eyes?”

End of Arc 1