Chapter 12

Atlas

The next morning, I skipped my usual training routine to stop at the local stables and retrieve one of the best trained Valrens available. To my relief, during one of our many conversations, Venus confirmed not suffering from any fear of heights. It would have made our journey to Keryth a bit more complicated.

I groomed and fed the creature, double checking that it was in top shape before leaving it attached in the garden. On my way back inside to have breakfast with my mate, I couldn't help another glance at my claws. A now familiar warmth spread through my chest as I reminisced about the events of the evening. I could almost still feel her touch on me as she manicured my hands.

It boggled my mind that she would have done what my people would deem service work for me. In all the ways that mattered, Venus treated me as an equal. As much as I loved it, a part of me feared I was developing an addiction that would send me into a spiraling withdrawal and depression once I lost what honestly should have been naturally granted to me.

Treating me like a person cost nothing.

Not wanting to let these somber thoughts taint the blissful memory of that wondrous evening together, I cast them out to focus on the positive. My mate loved how I handled her nails and not only looked forward to our next session, but was also eager to enjoy the other services I was training in. As much as it shamed me to admit it, for very selfish reasons, I would focus on completing the massage tutorials.

My fingers twitched with impatience at the prospect of touching and kneading every centimeter of her body, and of caressing the incredible softness of her scaleless skin.

To my delight, Venus was in a cheerful mood while we shared our first meal. I'd never been much of the talkative type, but with her, our conversations flowed easily. Well, except on the occasions where my brain froze over the silliest embarrassment.

As we readied to depart, Venus ran to her room and came back out with a relatively small bag with a long strap that she hung sideways across her chest.

"That's all you need?" I asked, pointing at the bag.

She glanced at it before looking back at me with a smile. "Yes. Today, I just want to send out a few probes to scan the area. Thankfully, technology has come a long way. The equipment is now sturdier, smaller, and especially a lot lighter."

"That's good to hear," I replied.

It still surprised me that she could carry equipment powerful enough to achieve readings that our own technology couldn't inside a container barely bigger than her head. Our devices would be at least four times larger, if not more.

"This way then. Your mount is waiting for you in the back," I said, gesturing towards the glass doors leading to the main garden.

"My mount?" Venus asked with curiosity. "We're not riding inside one of your vehicles?"

I shook my head. "There are a few crevices and chasms along the way that would prevent completing the journey by land. My people build very little infrastructure such as roads and bridges as between our wings and flying mounts, all of our needs are met."

"I see," Venus said, the same eager curiosity plastered on her face. "So what kind of flying mount is it? If you tell me a Pegasus, I'm going to squeal like a schoolgirl and rub it in my sister's face until the end of times."

"A Pega what?" I asked, amused by her mischievous enthusiasm.

"A Pegasus. It is a beautiful horse with massive bird wings in human mythology," Venus explained. "You can sit on its back to fly wherever you want."

"I have no idea what a horse is, so it's still not clear to me. But you also sit on the back of a Valren, and it flies you to whatever destination you wish. Let me show you," I said, excited to provide her with a new experience she would hopefully brag about for years to come to her sister.

I led Venus out into the garden and gestured for her to follow towards the pole where I had attached the Valren to. The large bush next to it hid most of its body. But the back of its long tail protruded, its golden and copper chitin scales Shining brightly under the early morning sun.

Venus's smile stiffened and gradually faded as we approached. A sense of unease washed over me when she cast a worried look my way.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She bit her bottom lip, and her dark eyes flicked towards the location where the Valren waited. Having sensed our approach, it chirped with impatience. A powerful shiver coursed through Venus, and her skin erupted in the same tiny bumps she had the first time I touched her skin. This baffled me. That day, she explained goosebumps were a physiological response to a pleasurable trigger. But the look on her face expressed nothing even remotely agreeable.

My mate seemed scared.

That sent every single one of my protective instincts going into overdrive. What had sent her from playfully excited to visibly worried?

"What kind of creature is it?" Venus asked, stretching her neck to try and see past the bush.

"It's an inoffensive creature, fully trained, and entirely peaceful. I would never put you in danger, Venus. There's nothing to be afraid of," I said in a reassuring tone.

The Valren chirped again. It was a high-pitched rattling sound. Another shiver coursed through Venus. But this time, after stopping dead in her tracks, she even took a worried step backward.

"I… I have a bad feeling about this," Venus said in a shaky voice.

"It's okay, Venus. It is attached. You can safely approach to have a look first," I said in a soft voice.

Her eyes kept flicking between the tail of the Valren and me. After a few seconds, I extended a hand towards her. Venus hesitated, swallowed hard, then placed her trembling hand in mine. I hated seeing her this frightened. Why would the mere sight of a tail flip her mood around so radically?

I gently tugged on her hand to slowly resume walking towards the creature. However, the closer we got, the more Venus pulled me farther away. Realizing she truly wouldn't be comfortable approaching the creature until she had a better look at it, I led her on a wider radius around the bush, keeping a good twenty-meter distance between us and the creature. Although it lessened some of her tension, it did nothing to erode her blossoming panic.

In fact, the more of the creature she began seeing, the tighter she squeezed my hand.

"Oh, hell no!" Venus breathed out with a horrified expression as she took in the full majesty of the Valren.

She pressed herself against my side, her hand all but crushing mine while she gripped my upper arm with the other.

"There's no need to be afraid, my mate," I said reassuringly, baffled by her strong reaction.

"Fuck that! I'm not going anywhere near that thing!" she exclaimed, her eyes still locked on the Valren as if it was some abomination determined to devour her.

"But why?"

"It's a fucking bus-sized dragonfly with a moth's head, and shoulder horns!" she exclaimed, looking at me as if that description should make her reaction normal and obvious.

I didn't know what a dragonfly or bus were, but I had looked into moths after she'd compared me to one.

"And why is that problematic?" I asked carefully.

"I don't do bugs or any type of creepy crawlers," she said, the pitch of her voice slightly higher due to panic. "And that one's head is bigger than my entire upper body! That's going to be a hard pass for me!"

I stared at her, unsure how to react to this situation. The protector in me wanted to take her away and appease her. The rational male in me wanted to make her see that her fears were completely unjustified. But a third part of me was fighting the urge to chuckle at that reaction. Growing up, I witnessed people displaying all kinds of phobias. The irrational nature of some of those responses made them hilarious.

But what if her phobia is triggered by past trauma?

That thought sobered me for a split second. However, nothing in Venus's demeanor implied past trauma. Only a great deal if disgust.

"You know, technically, I'm a bug, too," I deadpanned.

Venus jerked her head up to gape at me. I held her gaze unwaveringly, forcing a neutral expression on my face to hide my urge to laugh.

"I didn't mean you! I mean, yeah, you've got some insectoid traits, but you're not an actual insect!"

"Really? Technically, I'm a talking butterfly walking on two legs," I teased.

She shook her head. "No, you're more of a mothman."

"Aren't mothmen bad omens in human lore?" I challenged mockingly.

"Who told you that?" she asked, surprised.

I repressed a smile, glad that my ploy to distract her from her fear of the Valren appeared to be working.

"The Prometheans who had been abducted to Shimli said that one of their human captors told them stories about mythical beings that looked like us," I said.

Venus scrunched her face and shook her head again. "No, they're not bad omens."

"So that human lied?"

She pursed her lips. "Not exactly. It is true that some people interpret seeing a mothman as bad luck or the cause of an imminent disaster. Others say that they are a forewarning of impending doom."

"Which are both bad, confirming the statement of that human," I countered.

Venus shook her head again. "No. The second one is positive, in my opinion. If you are warned of an upcoming danger, you can try to mitigate it. And that's exactly what we're doing now. A mothman isn't a curse but an opportunity to act before it is too late."

I smiled at her, a tender emotion once more swelling through me. I loved how she always found a way to make me look at things in a more positive light, to make me feel like a force for good, like I had value.

"But I'm still not getting on that thing," she added glaring at the poor Valren.

This time, I couldn't help but laugh at her baleful expression.

"Don't you have shuttles we can use to fly there?" Venus asked, her voice filled with hope.

"I'm afraid not. Like I said, my people have not put much effort developing transport technology as we have natural means of travel," I said in an apologetic tone. "We do have bigger creatures for mass transport. But I suspect you will like that one even less."

Her eyes widened in horror. "You mean you have an even bigger bug than that one?" she asked, pointing at the Valren.

I snorted. "No. It's not an insect, but a giant flying lizard about the same size as the mansion. It has a huge translucent pouch under its belly normally used for carrying their offspring. But we adapt it to travel inside instead, including cargo."

"Fuck. That!" Venus said in a way that had me bursting out laughing.

"Oh, Venus! You're beyond adorable."

"Thanks," she mumbled, grimacing. "But that doesn't solve our problem."

I peered up at the clear sky, its bluish color with stripes of purple indicating feeble winds and no risks of rain.

"Since we're going to Keryth, I can carry you, if you prefer," I offered.

Her right hand still clutching my upper arm loosened, and the strangest mix of surprise and hope settled on her beautiful face.

"You would carry me? Won't I be too heavy? Won't it tire you?" she asked sheepishly.

I chuckled. "I'm a lot stronger than you seemed to think."

Without waiting for her response, I picked her up, holding her sideways against my chest. She yelped, but swiftly slipped one arm around my neck, the other resting on my chest.

"By the Lights, you weigh ten times nothing!" I exclaimed, genuinely surprised by how light she felt in my arms.

Then again, she didn't have the added weight of wings and scales like our people did.

"That's good, I guess," she said timidly. "But I still feel a little abusive for making you carry me all the way there just because I'm a wimp."

I smiled. "I don't know what a wimp is, but I honestly do not mind carrying you. Keryth is nearby. Had our destination been Orist, I wouldn't have done it. But this is fine. If you are ready, hang on tightly, and off we go."

Without hesitation, Venus secured her bag on top of her stomach, tightened her hold around my neck, and further pressed herself against me. I would be lying by saying the feel of her body thus wrapped around mine didn't do a number on me. She felt as if she had been made to fit right there in my embrace.

To my utter delight, she had once more left her hair natural. It had a fresh, slightly citrusy scent that made me want to bury my face in it and inhale deeply. Naturally, I resisted the urge not to creep her out. But I felt no shame in discreetly enjoying the soft and bouncy feel of her tight locks against my cheek as I took flight.

By the Lights! I always loved the sense of freedom, weightlessness, and endless possibilities that flying procured me. The coolness of the wind whipping past me in a gentle caress, its resistance against my wings, and its mischievous attempts at flicking my hair in front of my eyes always gave me the illusion of companionship with an ethereal being as I soared through the sky. But my woman in my arms made this a whole new experience.

Granted, I had carried people while flying before, some in a similar fashion as I was holding my Venus right now. But they had been injured people or lost children that I was bringing back to safety in my capacity as a Black Guard. This was something else altogether.

This beautiful female was my wife. My lawfully wedded mate…

It no longer mattered that this wasn't a real marriage. Since Venus entered my life, I had experienced the type of emotions and happiness I only ever dreamt of. Obviously, the physical contacts played a significant part in it. Even now, just holding her in my arms as we flew through the sky filled me with an incommensurable sense of well-being and fulfillment. But her mere presence, our conversations, the way she seemed genuinely interested in me as a person brightened my days in a way no words could describe. She was the last thought on my mind when I went to sleep and the first one when I woke. I didn't doubt she also haunted my every dream.

I intended to cherish every moment we had together, however banal.

We chatted amiably about the landscape, flora, and fauna as I flapped my wings at a leisurely pace. I could fly three times faster—more even in case of an emergency. However, the strong friction caused by wind resistance on her skin would inflict some serious discomfort to Venus. Our scales acted as natural protection to break the wind—her light shirt and skin-tight pants, not so much. While altruism mainly dictated that choice, I would lie by denying that selfish reasons also motivated me. After all, the slower we reached our destination, the longer I got to embrace my woman.

"What is that?!" Venus suddenly exclaimed, pointing straight ahead.

"It's the halo of a Sibris," I explained as I glanced at the multicolored shimmering lights that shot towards the sky in a continuous beam.

"The beacons?" Venus asked.

I nodded. "Yes, it is a close enough translation. It is the residual effects of the energy that powers our city. We call it halo because it is similar to our own magic halo."

"I thought your magic was lumen?" she asked with a slight frown.

I smiled. "Lumen is the physical manifestation of our magic, whereas our halo is pure energy that affects a target differently based on its color. I adorned your nails with lumen. It is a clay-like substance that we create by channeling light. Very powerful drafters can make it clear, but most only create it in the color matching their wings. We use it for any construction and can shape it however we want before it stabilizes and solidifies, becoming as hard as stone. Our crafters and artists can create entire masterpieces with it. As we transform energy into physical matter, it is quickly tiring, especially if you're drafting colors that aren't dominant for you."

"Drafting? I've heard you say that a few times."

"Drafting is when we draw in and absorb a specific color through our wings to morph it into lumen or halo. I can only draft colors for casting through my eyespots, which are very small. So it wouldn't make sense for me to try to create big things without quickly wiping myself out. But small things like your nail adornments or the darts you saw me shooting during combat training are very easy to do."

"I see," Venus said with an air of fascination. "So if you could draft through the rest of your wings, you could do a lot more without tiring."

"Correct. That's why many Monochromatics and Bichromatics can acquire a great deal of fame for specialized services as they can draft large amounts of a specific lumen color for hours. As yellow, brown, and red are among the most common colors in that group, this is why you see a lot of statues and decorations in those shades."

"Oh, wow! I should have realized that sooner! That's awesome. But what of your halo? Do you have one?"

"Every Promethean does. It's magic energy that can destroy, be it shattering or sculpting, transform like melting or turning to ice, and create things like fire or a toxin, but not water—unless the caster uses their halo to gather the moisture from their environment. Where our lumen is the same for everyone—except for color—our halo vastly differs. In my case, before Xarin blessed me, I could only draft certain shades of gray and silver. My halo was therefore limited to kinetic impulses—like knocking or punching something with kinetic force from a distance—and electricity."

Venus gaped at me. "Electricity as in you could electrocute someone or jump start a dead battery?"

I chuckled before looking at her teasingly. "Yes, although I would avoid the former. But since the Prism blessed me, I can now draft very small amounts of white. Which means I can technically cast any possible magic for a Promethean. It's just very, very weak. Still, it is practical to now be able to perform anything including healing basic injuries or lighting a fire."

"Wow! That's super handy! So I'm guessing Reds are the fire masters?" Venus asked, her enthusiastic curiosity spurring me on.

"Hmmm, not exactly. They are the weakest fire mages, followed by Oranges, Yellows, and then Blues as the most potent ones."

Venus seemed taken aback at first, then her eyes widened with sudden understanding. "They can only cast a specific fire color. Which means Reds can only cast the lowest flame color, whereas Blues can cast the hottest one!"

"Exactly. But based on the environment and whatever they set ablaze, the flame will change accordingly, unless the caster sustains it with more of their halo."

"So what about Greens? Do they make plants grow?"

I snorted and shook my head. "Greens are the one group you really want to avoid making angry against you. Our flora has a lot more tints of blue. So Blues are both our botanists and scientists like Kyrene—especially those closer to Indigo. Greens are chemists with a propensity to cast toxins and poisons. They will work with botanists and farmers mostly to provide clean pesticides and as exterminators."

"Jees! So much for human lore about color magic."

I chuckled as I initiated my descent as soon as the tall trees below us gave way to Keryth Valley. It was a lush area that once teemed with life. Over the past few weeks, more and more of the fauna began migrating, a further sign of the impending doom. We held many large events such as fairs here. Considering it was barely a ten-minute flight under normal conditions—nearly twenty now because of the snail's pace I adopted—the cataclysm could quite literally wipe out the entire capital city of our planet.

The level of denial of our leaders still angered me. I submitted so many evacuation plans, including potential safe areas to relocate the population that will inevitably be displaced once the radiation occurs, but each of them were shot down. In light of the magnitude of the disaster forecasted by our scientists, it wasn't just unconscionable, but downright criminal not to take decisive action to protect our people. Once panic set in as the citizens attempted to flee the city, we'd likely sustain more casualties from the stampede and the dire conditions they would end up in than from Thaudras itself.

I landed effortlessly on the dark teal grass that stretched for nearly five hundred meters in front of us, and almost twice that distance sideways. Ahead, a wide rocky hill delineated the opening of the Sibris. I carefully put Venus back on her feet before taking in our surroundings.

Being in the presence of a Sibris' halo always gave my people a sense of comfort on top of a surge of energy. This halo was like pure magic we could draft from without requiring any transformation effort on our part. Now that I could draft white, it felt like a dam had broken and massive amounts of magic were trying to flow through me.

Oblivious to the thoughts swirling in my head, Venus removed a first device from her shoulder bag. Shaped like a disk large enough to cover her splayed hand, the device's narrow edges curved up towards the center, making it thicker in the middle. Little eyes on both faces appeared to serve as cameras or scanners. Although metallic, it looked too fragile to sustain the intense energy inside the chimney leading to the Sibris' core. Then again, off-worlder technology never ceased to amaze me. This delicate appearance was likely deceptive.

"Could you hold this for a second?" Venus asked, extending it to me.

I carefully held it between my two opened palms and observed with curiosity while Venus appeared to synchronize the large armband on her wrist with the device. My eyes widened when a holographic screen was projected from the armband, and Venus typed a few more instructions this time directly on the screen. The device in my hands suddenly came to life, startling me as it gently vibrated with a soft hum. A white light appeared around the narrow edges of the disk, as well as around the rims of the little camera eyes on its surface.

"Keep one hand underneath it, and please press the light at the top with the other hand once it starts pulsating," Venus said, her eyes still glued to the screen as she spoke.

Seconds later, the center of the elevated upper part of the disc lit up and started blinking. Following her instructions, I pressed it. To my shock, little blades jutted out of the edge—not the type that would cut and maim, but more like some type of propeller. As soon as I moved away my right hand—which had pressed the light—the device hovered off my left hand. It rose up a couple of meters before flying off at great speed towards the Sibris.

Venus immediately began preparing a second one. A million questions burned my tongue, but I kept quiet, not wanting to break her concentration. I didn't understand the countless symbols and graphs on her screen. Beyond the fact that they were in a language I didn't speak, I never had much of a scientific mind.

Not for the first time, the wonder my mate's intelligence awakened in me also clashed with how unworthy I felt of her. She should find me boring. Yet, she always seemed genuinely interested and entertained by what I had to say.

After launching the second device, she pulled out a third one that had a completely different design. It was bullet-shaped and appeared made of a far sturdier metal. Glancing at the first two devices, I finally realized they weren't meant to go inside the chimney, but this one was. The disks were flying around the valley, hovering at varying heights over the ground, then moving closer to the Sibris.

This time, I didn't have to do anything with the giant ‘bullet' other than to hold it while Venus did something on her armband. Moments later, the bullet shot straight up from my hands then flew directly to the opening of the beacon, then vanished within.

I glanced back at her with curiosity, still reluctant to speak so as not to distract her. The two disks continued to canvas the valley. However, their previous seemingly erratic movement radically changed. They were now hovering in parallel, following a specific path. Tons of data was scrolling on the holographic screen.

"Now, we only have to wait another fifteen minutes or so for these babies to work their magic," Venus said, looking back at me with a smile.

"What exactly are they doing?" I asked.

"The probe is gathering deep data that it's relaying to the scanners. It includes everything from depth, heat, gas, soil and mineral constitution, nuclear activity, energy and radiation levels, you name it. They are also creating a 3D map of what the probe is finding," Venus explained. "Hopefully, the probe will survive the journey below. If it does, it will bring back some samples that we can—"

Venus suddenly stopped talking and blinked, her gaze going blank. Surprised at first, I quickly realized the prism was likely communicating with her again. After all, he encouraged her to come here instead of Orist, as we initially planned.

She blinked again then refocused on me with a troubled expression. She opened her mouth as if to say something but looked towards the beacon instead, then around the valley as if she was searching for something.

"What is it? Did Xarin contact you?" I asked softly.

She nodded, her eyes surveying our environment for a few seconds longer before she glanced back at me.

"He sent me an image of you in front of the beacon with your wings spread wide and your eyespots glowing brightly. But it doesn't match. I don't see where you're supposed to stand to recreate that image."

"Describe the landscape of the image for me," I said, intrigued.

"The rock formation over there should be between you and the beacon. But that ridge is clearly behind it. On top of that, it is much too high. In the image, the Ridge is no higher than your calves."

"Oh! I think I know why that is. Let me fly over there to verify my assumption."

"Wait! I will go with you," she said.

My back stiffened, and I cast a worried look at her skin. She followed my gaze and then smiled.

"It's okay. The scanners detected no radiation whatsoever," she said reassuringly before pointing at the holographic screen. "You see these lights at the top right? They indicate the air quality, radiation levels, and heat levels. Green means everything is totally safe. Yellow means be careful, the levels are not dangerous but avoid lingering. Orange indicates danger and that there is radiation or toxins that can be lethal, requiring me to leave immediately and to take countering medication as soon as possible. Red means I am fucked. But as you can see, it's all green."

"Very well," I mumbled, feeling only partially reassured.

I picked her up and carefully flew closer to the Sibris. She chuckled when she caught me steadily checking that the little lights were remaining green. Instead of stopping in front of the well, I circled around it, and continued approximately twenty more meters away before the small ditch became apparent.

"Yes!" Venus exclaimed. "That's the spot!"

As I landed in the artificial recess, Venus frowned at the large pillars buried at regular intervals along the ditch.

"These are harvesters," I preemptively explained. "They gather the energy generated by the Sibris and transfer it to the city."

"How deep do these pillars go?"

"Not deep at all. They pretty much sit on the surface and gather energy from the halo. But they are not the cause," I said with conviction. "Thaudras regularly occurred long before we developed this technology. After we did, our scientists closely monitored their behavior as the cataclysms approached. There was no variation in how the harvesters behaved, no explosions or other malfunction that could have triggered it. However, Thaudras itself destroys them alongside everything else within the blast radius."

"I see," she said, eyeing them suspiciously for a few more seconds before refocusing on me. "Could you stand over here?" she asked, pointing at a location ten meters away.

I complied. To my surprise, the closer I got to that position, the more my eyespots tingled. By the time I reached it, they shone as brightly as a strong sun glare.

"Are you doing this voluntarily?" Venus asked, excitement in her voice as she glanced in turn at me and at her holographic monitor.

I shook my head. "The Sibris emits pure magic. My eyespots are itching to channel it."

"But you're not doing anything else?" she insisted.

"No. Like what?" I asked, intrigued. "What is your device saying?"

"The energy level emitted by the beacon has dropped by half a percent."

I nodded in sudden understanding. "Black wings naturally attempt to nullify magic. It is not surprising that they passively dampen some of the Sibris' halo."

"Can you try to deliberately nullify it?"

"Not all of this by myself," I said with a snort while glancing at the beam of dancing lights.

It had a twenty-meter radius, and the light beam faded into the sky.

"How much can you nullify?" she asked.

"I don't know. Let's try?"

She nodded eagerly. Wanting to impress her, I opened the floodgates, allowing my wings to greedily draw in the magic flux streaming behind me. Drafting magic as a Black Achromatic was generally a frustrating experience. Our wings lusted after the blissful sensation of channeling the magic coursing through it into something even more potent. But instead, they swallowed it, most of the energy vanishing into an endless pit, leaving us hollow. It was like a terrible hunger that could never be sated.

"Whoa!" Venus exclaimed, her eyes glued to her monitor. "It's dropping fast."

"How much?" I asked, her excitement fanning my own.

"It was three percent a few seconds ago but already jumped to four. Jees! And now five!"

It eventually plateaued at nine and a half percent.

"I believe I could absorb more, but I don't dare," I said in a slightly strained voice. "My eyespots are burning with the urge to channel the Sibris' halo."

"Don't hold back!" Venus exclaimed.

"No. You might get hurt!"

Her jaw dropped as she realized she was standing directly in front of me.

"Oopsie!" she said in the most adorable childish voice then ran a few meters to the side.

As soon as she was at a safe enough distance, I drew in even more magic through my wings, focusing on absorbing it. Simultaneously, a searing heat built in my eyespots. They felt overcharged and on the verge of bursting. The blissful sensation that coursed through me when I released it was akin to relieving an overflowing bladder after hours of trying to hold it in.

But I wasn't prepared for the two powerful lightning bolts that shot out of my upper wings' eyespots. We normally channeled magic through our hands for more precise targeting. They struck the hard stones of the rock formation in front of us with a powerful thunderclap, shattering a large section of it. Venus emitted a frightened scream and raised her palms in front of her face to protect herself from the showering rocks.

It had been an instinctive reaction as the debris fell too far away to even remotely stand a chance of harming her. Still, I ran to my mate in a panic.

"Venus! Are you hurt?!" I shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders to examine her from head to toe.

"Yes, yes! I'm fine," she said distractedly.

Her fright already forgotten, she was staring at the shattered section of rock with an air of wonder.

"I thought Blacks only had weak magic?!" she said.

"We do! I've never cast anything this powerful. Then again, I've never channeled pure magic to this extent before," I said, just as blown away as she was. "It's the blessing, too. I can gather more power."

"We need to try this again," Venus said firmly.

I nodded, before frowning at the spot where I had been standing previously. "There's something else. I felt a greater surge of power when I was standing where Xarin showed you. I'm not feeling it here."

"Then we need to test that as well."

For the next hour, we experimented me nullifying and drafting magic in various positions around the valley and in the vicinity of the beacon. By the time we stopped, the probe had met its demise underground, but the scanners had gathered an insane amount of data that Venus believed would reveal key information.

As for me, this little test raised more questions than provided answers. My mate juggled with a billion different new theories, all of which supported her opinion that we were the solution. She made me promise to submit to a full scan in the medical pod the UPO sent her along with her other requests.

Considering Prometheans knew nothing of human medicine, it was a great relief to know this machine could heal most illnesses or injuries my mate could face during her stay on Sylvar. Worst case scenario, it would put her in stasis until she could be taken to a more advanced medical facility off world.

If it could help prevent Thaudras, I was all in.

By the time we flew back home, the only thing that mattered to me was the wondrous feel of my mate's body in my arms.