The Morningstar Brigade

Chapter 55

XXXXXV

URIEL

Day Eight. Five Days Remain.

The Deep, Morningstar Keep

"Do you really think it's going to work?" Uriel asked, half from hope and half from fear. He stood opposite Vigilant in the Deep. "Solomon's got all the pieces he needs, but this is still.... Well, calling it uncharted territory would be generous. And we're running out of time, I'm not sure we can get this wrong."

"Solomon is eccentric, but he's never failed me. More importantly, this plan is bigger than him. Your team has collected the components. He'll have Jacob's Ladder prepared on the day of the solstice. The more pressing issue is ensuring that you are ready to activate it when that time comes. That you are ready to face your enemies," Vigilant said, hurling a ball of white flames soundly into the distracted boy's gut. She shook her head in dissatisfaction as the ethereal dodgeball knocked the wind out of Uriel. Visibly unsettled by some inexplicable feeling, she continued to pace back and forth across the Deep's endless waters. "If you allow your thoughts to become fragmented like that, it will be very difficult to determine if your encounter with Lilith has impacted your abilities. Focus. Consider this a diagnostic, of sorts."

"Well, hitting me isn't exactly helpful either," Uriel grumbled, gingerly rubbing the spot where Vigilant's construct had connected. He slowly exhaled, slipped back into a meditative stance and shut his eyes.

Vigilant snapped her fingers. "Now, let's begin again. I won't clear you for combat until you're able to do this successfully," they ordered. "Concentrate on a person. An individual you have strong memories of will work best."

Uriel's brow knit together tightly as he erased all other thoughts from his mind. He focused on the slow, gentle brush of his breath against his lips. On the systematic tap of Vigilant's foot against the floor as she circled him. Reaching deep within his mind, he summoned up an image of Eli standing proudly in his Fisher garb. "I'm ready," Uriel said, his hands tightening their grip on his knees.

"Maintain singular focus on that image," Vigilant instructed, her choral voice booming around the room. "Think on its form, its dimensions. Let no aspect escape your thoughts. Reflect on the smell, the touch, the taste."

"I'm not really sure I want to think about how a person 'tastes,'" Uriel noted uncomfortably.

Vigilant sighed. "Make clever comments after you've succeeded, not before," she chided. "Now take the thoughts that you have assembled and bring them out from your mind. Bring them into the world."

Biting down on his lower lip, Uriel began to reach into the rumbling power he felt beneath his chest. Slowly, white flames began to gather around him. They smouldered gently at first, but soon began to burn brighter and brighter. The flames leapt from Uriel's body onto the formless ripples, gathering in a small pool before him. A bead of anxious sweat rushed down the side of his face as he opened his eyes. Uriel thrust a hand forward and the pool of fire rippled in response. The flames rushed upwards and began to coalesce into the form of a man, every twitch of Uriel's fingers the stroke of a divine sculptor. What was once a shapeless mass was gaining defined angles and features with each passing moment. The silvery fire now flickered into reds, yellows, pinks, blacks, browns, tans; the colors of humanity.

Uriel dropped his hands. A smile spread across his face. Before him stood a near-perfect recreation of Eli, the only flaw a tiny white ember on its left breast that refused to die out.

Vigilant looked on proudly at her protégé's rapidly accelerating talents. "Excellent work, Uriel," she applauded, offering Uriel a hand helping him to his feet. They walked over to the re-creation and clamped a hand firmly on the phantom's shoulder. "Near perfect texture and mass. Again, excellent. I had feared the worst, but I think it's safe to say that-"