A Light Not Extinguished

Chapter 19: Aftermath

"Carter? Carter is that you? Oh- oh my god. SECURITY! SOMEONE GET SECURITY-"
-Audio transcript from Terran spaceport, after return of 1st Federation diplomatic excursion to the Aeldari Empire. The entity that emerged from the ship was determined to be a biological composite of the original crew members, and was euthanised shortly after. M23. 513.

M24. 312.

Alpha Centauri System

Brahm opened his eyes to a crystal chandelier hanging above.

He shook himself, trying to remember the previous chain. He had been running, then there was the storm, the voices and the pain. Then the light. Which would explain why his soul wasn't part of some daemon's clothing.

He turned his head. Sitting on a throne was a figure of pure yellow fire with eyes of diamond, blazing with power as circlets of gold hung behind its head, like a halo. Thousands of faces adorned its skin, all of them with closed eyes and serene expressions. Brahm recoiled, blinking-

And saw a tanned man resting on a velvet armchair, leisurely smoking a pipe while examining a black cube. "I was wondering when you were going to wake up." Adam said lazily. "You had already taken quite a beating there when I arrived."

Brahm instinctively touched his throat. The marble was gone, replaced by healthy flesh and blood. In fact, Brahm realised as he stretched, his body felt better than it had in a long time, vibrating with energy. He was aware of his mentor's expertise in biomancy, but seeing the effects of it on himself was something else.

"How did you find me in time?" He asked. "I was in a Warp Storm. You shouldn't have been able to see me at all!"

"I was keeping an eye on you the whole time, Brahm." Adam responded. "And when you're as old as me, you tend to pick up a trick or two. That was truly impressive, by the way- few manage to survive that long in the Warp without a Gellar Field."

"But weren't you supposed to be in Alpha Centauri? Your ship isn't that fast."

"I ran." Adam shrugged casually, as if walking unprotected through the Warp was an everyday occurrence for him. "You could do it too- you certainly have the power for it. Although you should perfect your psionic shielding technique before I teach you that."

Brahm stared at him. "Just how powerful are you, really?"

Adam sighed. "Not powerful enough where it matters." He held up the cube. "Excellent job. That should be the last of them, now. Just let me see..."

He tapped the button on the side of the cube. Before Brahm could shout a warning, the box unfolded, a silver-green blur materialising and leaping at Adam with outstretched claws.

The Anathema's eyes blazed with white light, and the blur was frozen in place. Now that it stopped, its shape could be seen- a reptilian beast wrought out of metal with glowing emeralds for eyes, and wings of burnished chrome. Its talons crackled with restrained transdimensional energies, and in its eyes burned something that closely resembled hate.

"That should be the last of the free ones." Adam said, examining the beast closely. "This shard of the Dragon might be weak, but given enough time it could still become a threat. What others remain are still trapped in the tombs of the ancient dead." He tapped the button again, and the shard was pulled back into the Tesseract Labyrinth, its form twisting and shrinking until it could be seen no more.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Leave it to rot somewhere far, far away from Mars, that's for sure." Adam paused. "We'll have to speed up your training. The Noosphere is ablaze with the news- this might be the incident that brings it all crashing down."