Page 67 of Sy

He looked up, toward the clouds, and that’s when he saw it. The massive shape of a Purist orbital platform, previously hidden by the cloud cover, now revealing itself like a predator emerging from camouflage.

The dying warrior’s grip tightened on his arm. The smile had grown wider, more terrible. “For the pure,” he whispered, and triumph laced his voice. Victory in his dying breath.

Understanding crashed over Sy like a wave of ice water. This hadn’t been an attack. It had been a sacrifice—a way to keep them pinned in position while the real threat positioned itself above.

The platform’s main cannon flared like an artificial sun. His world narrowed to a single point as the energy beam lanced downward, cutting through the battlefield in an unstoppable arc. He saw every detail in horrifying clarity—the way the air itself seemed to ripple, the brief shimmer as the beam cut through moisture in the atmosphere, the terrible beauty of it all.

“Noooooo!”

The word tore from his throat, but it was already too late. The beam struck the gun emplacement where Ashley and Michelle were. For a fraction of a second, the modified construction equipment glowed white-hot…

Then the world exploded.

The shockwave threw him backward into the mud. Heat washed over him in a scorching wave as his ears rang, drowning out everything else. Staggering to his feet, he saw the crater where the emplacement had been, smoke rising from blackened earth that had been melted to glass.

“Ashley!”

Her name came out broken, barely recognizable. His legs gave out, and he fell to his knees in the bloody mud, the battlefield around him fading to nothing. The ivy-like marks on his wrists burned with a cold fire as if the gods themselves were mourning.

Gone. She was gone.

He hadn’t made things right. Hadn’t explained, hadn’t apologized properly, hadn’t told her… hadn’t told her so many things.

The dying Purist’s laughter cut through his grief—a wet, gurgling sound of victory.

“The pure…” the warrior gasped out his final words, “will always… prevail…”

Around him, other defenders were shouting, moving, responding to the new threat above, but their voices seemed to come from very far away.

His fingers dug into the mud, the physical pain of his tightening grip barely registering against the agony in his chest. The marks on his wrists felt like brands now, a reminder of everything he’d failed to protect.

The orbital platform hung in the sky like a malevolent star, its weapons systems already cycling up for another shot.

He knew he should move, should rally his warriors, should do something. But all he could see was Ashley’s face. All he could think about was how he’d promised himself they’d have time later.

There would be no later.

There would be no chance to bridge the gap between them.

There would be no opportunity to explain himself, to make her understand what she meant to him.

The woman he loved was gone, reduced to ash by a beam of light from above, and with her died all hope of redemption.

Above him, the orbital platform’s weapons continued to charge, preparing to rain more death upon them all. But kneeling in the mud, Sy barely noticed.

His world had already ended.

21

Another explosion rocked the garrison above, sending tremors through the ancient stone. Lila winced as each blast vibrated through the cavern floor and into her bones. Her mom was up there somewhere, fighting the Purists while she was down here with their only chance of survival.

The alien tech dominated the cavern like a sleeping giant, its surface dark and silent. For now. Around her, Kraath and the men with him worked with quiet efficiency, setting up the last pieces of equipment they’d brought to help her interface with the weapon.

If shecouldinterface with it. If she did it right.

If she didn’t fail everyone counting on her to make this work.

A violent explosion shook loose a shower of dust and pebbles from the cavern ceiling. Her gaze flew to the ceiling of the cavern as she imagined what that blast might have done to the people above. To her mom.

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