Chapter 12: The Essence in my Veins

The moment Lyra's form dissolved into light and vanished from the ruins, I was already on my feet, the holo-tablet clattering onto the desk. My heart pounded louder than the hum of the energy conduits in the walls. I sprinted out of the room, down the narrow hallway, and burst into Lyra's chamber.

She was there, lying on the reclined interface pod, her breathing heavy and laboured. Her face was pale, beads of sweat clinging to her forehead, and her hand clutched the release lever of the pod like it was the only thing keeping her grounded. Her eyes fluttered open, and she met my gaze, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Told you I'd make it out," she rasped, her voice hoarse but tinged with that stubborn defiance I'd come to expect from her.

I didn't laugh. I couldn't. My eyes swept over her, scanning for injuries. The gash on her arm was real, not some digital echo from the Expanse, and the side of her tunic was torn and stained with blood. "You're hurt."

"Just a scratch," she muttered, waving me off as she tried to sit up. She winced, and I was at her side in an instant, steadying her.

"Don't move. Let me see." I grabbed the med-kit from the shelf above her pod, my hands moving on autopilot as I cleaned and bandaged the wound. She didn't argue, which told me more than I wanted to know about how much pain she was in.

Once I was sure she wasn't going to keel over, I turned my attention to the pack she'd hauled back from the forbidden zone. It was still on the floor beside the pod, the containment modules glowing faintly through the fabric. I knelt beside it, unzipping it carefully. Inside, shards of Celestial Essence pulsed with a soft, almost hypnotic light, their energy contained but still palpable.

"How many did you get?" Lyra asked, leaning over the edge of the pod to watch.

I counted silently, my fingers brushing over each module. "Six. Maybe seven if this cracked one holds."

She let out a low whistle. "That's more than I thought. The intruders were… persistent."

I looked up at her, the weight of what she'd risked settling over me. "You're lucky you made it out at all."

Her smirk softened, just a little. "Luck had nothing to do with it. I had a plan."

"Next time, let me be part of it," I said, my voice sharper than I intended.

She didn't answer, but the way she looked at me—determined but with a flicker of guilt—told me she understood.

I zipped the pack back up, the Celestial Essence secure for now. It was a good haul, more than enough to keep Veyra happy and keep our operation running smoothly. But as I glanced at Lyra, her exhaustion plain on her face, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were playing with forces far beyond our control.

"Get some rest," I said, standing and slinging the pack over my shoulder. "I'll handle this."

She nodded, sinking back into the pod, her eyes already closing. I lingered for a moment, watching her, before turning and heading back to the workshop, the harvest in hand.

I set the pack of Celestial Essence shards on the workbench, the soft hum of their energy filling the room like a distant choir. My hands moved quickly, unzipping the pack and pulling out one of the containment modules. The shard inside pulsed faintly, its light shifting between pale blue and silver, like moonlight on water. I held it up, narrowing my eyes as I focused on the energy signature.

It was… strange. Not like any mana I'd worked with before. It felt alive, almost, like it was watching me back. I opened the module carefully, letting the shard rest on my palm. The energy radiated through my skin, cold and warm at the same time, like holding a star in my hand. I closed my eyes, letting my ability—energy conversion—gauge its nature. It wasn't just raw power; it was layered, intricate, like woven threads of something ancient and untamed.

I opened my eyes and set the shard down. If I could replicate this, even partially, it would change everything. But I needed to be careful. Celestial Essence wasn't something to mess with blindly. I grabbed a small mana crystal from the shelf, its dull glow a stark contrast to the Celestial Essence. I held it in my other hand, focusing on the energy within.

The conversion process wasn't new to me, but this time it felt different. I started with the basics—pulling mana from the crystal and shaping it. But where I'd normally convert it into something like fire or void energy, I tried to mimic the signature of the Celestial Essence. The energy resisted at first, slipping through my grasp like water. I gritted my teeth, forcing it to bend, to take on that layered, shifting quality.

A faint glow began to form in the crystal, but it was unstable, flickering erratically. Sweat dripped down my temple as I poured more focus into it, the energy in the room thickening. The air felt charged, like a storm about to break. The crystal in my hand trembled, its light growing brighter but still uneven.

I stopped, my breath coming in short gasps. The crystal was warm now, its glow steadier, but it wasn't Celestial Essence. Not quite. It was close, though—closer than I'd expected on my first try. I set it down beside the shard, comparing the two. The imitation was rougher, less refined, but the potential was there.

I'd need more practice. A lot more. But I'd gotten the first step. That was enough for now.

This time, I was determined to get it right. I closed my eyes, letting my ability reach out, pulling the energy from the crystal and shaping it. The Celestial Essence's signature was burned into my mind—layered, intricate, alive. I tried to replicate it, strand by strand.

At first, it worked. The crystal in my hand began to glow, its light shifting like the shard's. But then something shifted. The energy—my energy—started to twist, resisting my control. I tightened my grip on the crystal, trying to force it back into alignment. Sweat dripped down my face as the air around me crackled with power.

The crystal shattered.

Shards of glass and energy exploded outward, and I instinctively raised my arms to shield myself. One shard—glowing faintly with the unstable Celestial Essence I'd created—sliced across my forearm. I hissed in pain, but that was the least of my worries.

The energy from the shard—my energy—latched onto me. It wasn't like absorbing mana or converting energy. This was… different. It felt like it was burrowing into my skin, the energy spreading through my veins like liquid fire and ice. I stumbled back, my vision blurring as the room spun around me.

I dropped to my knees, clutching my arm as the Celestial Essence surged through me. It wasn't just energy—it was alive, a presence in my mind, whispering something I couldn't quite understand. My breath came in short, ragged gasps as I tried to regain control, to push it back, but it was like trying to hold onto water.

The light from my arm spread, faint but unmistakable, glowing through my skin. It pulsed in time with the shard still on the workbench, as if they were connected. I couldn't move, couldn't think, as the energy settled inside me, a foreign weight I couldn't shake.