Angels

The world stood still.

Smoke coiled off Sliver's arm. His breath came in gasps, his vision narrowing to the voidspawn twitching in the rubble. It wasn't dead—just stunned. The smell of scorched flesh and ionized air filled his lungs.

"What the hell was that?" someone shouted.

No one answered.

Ren was still staring at him, rifle half-raised, eyes wide. Not with fear. With calculation.

Sliver dropped his hand. The light faded, but the lines on his arms pulsed brighter now—hot and aching. He clenched his jaw to keep from yelling.

Elty stumbled up beside him, panting. "You shot a laser. From your hand. You—what are you?"

Sliver didn't answer. He couldn't. He barely knew himself.

Another scream cut through the air—this time human.

The voidspawn was moving again.

Only slower.

Wounded.

Still hunting.

Ren snapped out of it. "Everyone! Rig Three is down! Circle formation! Engines on full—get the wounded loaded!"

She turned to Sliver. "You. With me."

He didn't argue. He followed her through the wreckage, skirting a mangled crawler and stepping over a crushed guard's body. The voidspawn was dragging itself now, one arm shattered, chest seared open—but its heads were still shrieking.

Ren led him to a ridge of old rubble, dropped behind it, and pulled out a flare stick.

"You've got power," she said, her voice low. But no control. That thing won't stay stunned for long."

Sliver nodded. "I felt it coming." Before it got close."

Ren studied him. "You're one of them, aren't you?"

"One of what?"

She lit the flare. Green flames burst into the sky.

"The Awakened," she said. "Wall folk call them mutants. Hive folk call them angels. Doesn't matter. "You've got the mark—and now everyone's seen it."

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"It means if you want to live, you'd better learn to fight with it."

The voidspawn roared again. Louder. Angrier. It had found its legs.

Engines screamed as the crawlers peeled out, tires kicking up ash and broken stone.

Ren shoved a pistol into Sliver's hand. "Stall it. Two minutes. That's all I need to evacuate the rest."

He stared at her. "You're kidding."

"I don't joke," she said. Then she was gone.

Sliver turned back toward the monster.

Its eyes had found him again.

The voice in his head was silent now. No whispers. No riddles. He felt a slow, rising pressure in his veins. His skin hummed. The marks burned.

The voidspawn charged.

Sliver ran straight at it.

This time, he didn't try to summon the light. He let it come.

It surged through him—violent and beautiful. The blast that erupted from his palm was jagged, brighter than before, and laced with arcs of energy that bent the air. It slammed into the creature's shoulder and blew the limb clean off.

The beast shrieked and collapsed, thrashing.

Sliver fell to one knee, panting. Blood dripped from his nose. His vision was blurred. But he stayed conscious.

The crawlers rolled past behind him. Ren yelled his name—then he was lifted, dragged aboard, and the world spun sideways.

The last thing he saw as the rig door slammed shut was the voidspawn writhing in its own ruin.

Then darkness.