Page 173 of Stars in Umbra
It was in vain; they only grew tighter.
The blade struck.
Not with blood, but with luminosity.
A burst ofsacral firetore through Caidan’s body.
His being was purged molecule by molecule.
His screams echoed as his DNA unraveled at its core, down to the nuclei, not burned, not torn, butundone,never to exist ever again.
The abomination collapsed inward, the sacred dagger returning to the ether from which Mo had summoned it.
Mo stood above the ash-marked spot where Caidan Thrall had once been.
With a slight turn to his lips.
Justice, rendered, pure, poetic, and divine.
RINA
Hundreds of kilometers from the bomber’s smoldering hull, Mirage’s corvette’s environmental stabilizers hummed with controlled efficiency.
The Sable Rider’s synth AI, Mirage, glided into the med bay.
Her body glowed with soft pulses as she placed Rina on a hover bed.
A holo scanner hissed to life, sweeping a luminous web of energy over Rina’s body.
She lay back, eyelids fluttering shut, her breath shallow with weariness.
The aftermath of capture, the gravity shifts, and the emotional toll clung to her.
Her limbs ached. Her muscles throbbed.
Still, she was alive, and so was her child.
Mirage tilted her head as the results of Rina’s scan bloomed on the display.
Her gaze narrowed, then softened.
‘Have you told him?’ she murmured.
Rina’s eyes fluttered open, her heart stuttering. ‘What?’
Then she caught Mirage’s expression, curious, knowing, impossibly kind. Her breath hitched.
‘Oh.’ She swallowed. ‘No. Not yet. I will, soon.’
Mirage didn’t judge.
She nodded, her eyes lingering on the screen as if seeing the future unfold.
‘Don’t let it tarry,’ she muttered. ‘You’re about to start showing, hot mama.’
Rina gave a breathy laugh. ‘Tell me something I don’t know.’
Mirage’s soft tone warmed the silent room. ‘He’s carried more than his share of pain for too long. You might be the balm he needs to soothe his agony.’
