VOL. 1: CHAPTER 5: THE SIEGE DOESN'T KNOCK
The first bullet hit the church wall like punctuation.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just a sharp crack that echoed through Latvier's bones and let everyone inside know exactly what kind of conversation this was about to be.
Blitz flinched. Ultimo swore. Somewhere deeper in the church, someone screamed and then clamped a hand over their mouth like they were ashamed of it.
Kael didn't move.
He stood in the center of the hall, robes barely stirring, eyes lifted toward the ceiling as if he could see through stone and iron and smoke.
"Lock the inner doors," he said calmly.
Acolytes moved instantly, practiced, swinging heavy steel bars into place. The sound of metal grinding into metal rang out like church bells inverted.
Outside, the loudspeaker returned, louder now, less patient.
"This is your final warning. Exit the building with your hands visible. Failure to comply will result in forceful neutralization."
Neutralization again.
Sionu felt the word scrape against his spine.
Blitz leaned close to him. "They talk like we a spill."
Ultimo whispered, "They already decided."
Kael turned, his gaze cutting across the room like a blade.
"They always do," he said. "That is why Latvier exists."
Another impact struck the wall. Then another. Not bullets this time.
Testing shots.
Mapping the structure.
Sionu felt the electricity in his chest stir, restless, like a caged animal smelling blood.
Kael looked at him. "You feel that urge?"
Sionu nodded. "Like… like my body wants to answer."
Kael's voice was low. "Good. But not yet."
Sionu frowned. "Why?"
Kael replied evenly, "Because power that reacts is power that gets studied."
Blitz snorted. "Man, tell that to the tanks outside."
Kael met her gaze. "They are counting on fear. On panic. On spectacle."
He gestured around the hall.
"Latvier does not give them that."
1) THE GOVERNMENT'S SHAPE
Through narrow slits high in the church walls, Sionu caught glimpses of the street outside.
Military vehicles formed a semicircle around the building. Not riot vans. Not police cruisers.
Armored.
Black.
Unmarked.
Soldiers moved in coordinated lines, helmets sealed, visors dark. Their movements were precise, rehearsed, like they'd trained for this exact scenario long before Kaloi's City ever knew its name would be said on the news.
Drones hovered overhead, their lenses glinting.
This wasn't containment.
This was collection.
Ultimo muttered, "These ain't regular troops."
Kael nodded. "No. They're Division assets."
Blitz frowned. "Division of what?"
Kael's lips pressed thin. "Anomaly Response. Bio-Star. Starborne. Different names in different eras. Same purpose."
Sionu's stomach turned. "They been waiting."
Kael met his eyes. "They've been building."
Another voice cut through the air, this one closer, sharper, amplified through a handheld speaker near the doors.
"We know you're inside, Kael. You've harbored unauthorized entities before. This time, you crossed a line."
Kael tilted his head slightly.
"That," he said, "is Commander Hale."
Blitz raised an eyebrow. "You know him?"
Kael's gaze darkened. "He used to kneel where you stand."
Sionu stiffened. "He was… here?"
Kael nodded once. "Before he decided power should answer to command instead of conscience."
Outside, Hale's voice continued, smug now.
"You always were sentimental, Father. Still playing shepherd to wolves?"
Kael stepped forward, voice carrying even without amplification.
"You mistake us," he called back. "Wolves don't ask permission to exist."
A pause.
Then Hale laughed.
"Then let's see how holy your walls really are."
2) THE FIRST BREACH
The explosion didn't come from the front doors.
It came from below.
The floor shuddered violently as a concussive blast hit the street-side foundation. People screamed as dust rained down from the ceiling. Candles flickered wildly.
Ultimo cried out as the gravity around him surged, knocking him to one knee.
Blitz grabbed a pillar to stay upright. "They hitting the base!"
Kael snapped, "Wards up!"
Acolytes moved in unison, pressing their palms to the sigils etched into the floor. Light flared, lines brightening, spreading outward like a living diagram.
The tremor lessened.
Barely.
Sionu's heart pounded. His electricity flared in response, uncontrolled.
Kael shot him a look. "Not yet!"
Sionu clenched his teeth, forcing it down, sweat beading on his forehead.
From outside came the sound of grinding metal.
Drills.
Cutters.
Blitz's jaw tightened. "They coming through one way or another."
Kael nodded. "Yes. Which is why Latvier does not rely on walls."
He turned to the gathered awakened.
"Those who cannot fight," he called, "move to the inner chambers now. Those who can… stay."
Some people ran. Some hesitated.
Some stepped forward.
A young woman with glowing veins clenched her fists. A man whose shadow didn't match his movements took a deep breath and nodded. A teenager whose eyes shimmered faintly swallowed hard and stayed put.
Ultimo looked at Blitz. "We staying?"
Blitz looked at Sionu.
Sionu didn't hesitate. "Yeah."
Blitz nodded. "Then we staying."
Kael turned to Ultimo. "Gravity bearer."
Ultimo stiffened. "Yeah?"
Kael gestured toward the main doors. "When they breach, I need you to make the ground argue back."
Ultimo swallowed, fear and determination mixing. "I'll try."
Kael turned to Blitz. "Mist bearer."
Blitz smirked despite herself. "That's me."
Kael said, "When confusion breaks them, you blind them."
Then Kael faced Sionu.
The room seemed to quiet around them.
"Starborne," Kael said softly, "you do not strike first."
Sionu frowned. "Then what do I do?"
Kael's eyes were steady. "You listen. You learn. And when the moment comes…"
He leaned closer.
"You remind them what uncontrolled power actually looks like."
Sionu's electricity hummed low, eager and afraid all at once.
3) CONTACT
The side wall exploded inward.
Concrete shattered. Smoke billowed. Soldiers poured through the breach, moving fast, weapons raised, visors reflecting the glow of the sigils.
"CONTACT!" someone shouted.
Gunfire erupted.
Not wild.
Controlled bursts.
Blitz ducked behind a pillar as bullets chewed into stone where her head had been. She slammed her palm into the floor.
The air around her thickened instantly.
Steam burst outward, scalding hot, filling the space in seconds.
Soldiers shouted in confusion.
"Visibility zero!"
"Thermal's spiking!"
"What the hell—"
Ultimo gritted his teeth and slammed his foot down.
The ground answered.
The floor beneath the soldiers rippled like a wave of concrete, knocking them off balance. One went flying, slammed into a wall hard enough to crack it.
Ultimo gasped, staggered.
"Oh sh*t," he whispered. "I did that."
Blitz grinned ferociously. "Do it again."
Sionu watched, stunned.
They weren't trained.
They weren't coordinated.
But it worked.
Until it didn't.
A soldier raised a device, not a gun.
He slammed it into the ground.
A pulse rippled outward.
Sionu felt it hit him like a cold slap.
The sigils flickered.
Ultimo cried out as the gravity around him stuttered, then weakened.
Blitz's steam thinned.
Kael cursed softly. "Null field."
Sionu's electricity surged violently, reacting like it'd been insulted.
The soldier shouted, "Starborne present! Target glowing hands!"
Sionu froze.
Spotlights swung toward him.
Red targeting dots crawled across his chest.
Blitz screamed, "MOVE!"
Sionu moved on instinct.
The electricity exploded out of him.
Not a bolt.
A burst.
Light cracked through the hall, snapping across walls, crawling along metal, detonating devices in showers of sparks.
Soldiers screamed as their equipment fried.
The null field collapsed.
Sionu dropped to one knee, chest heaving, vision white.
Silence followed.
Not peaceful.
Shocked.
Everyone stared at him.
Kael's eyes widened, just a fraction.
"…That," he murmured, "was the moment."
Outside, Commander Hale's voice roared through the loudspeaker, no longer calm.
"ALL UNITS, FALL BACK! REPEAT, FALL BACK!"
Blitz stared at Sionu, awe and fear tangled together. "You just—"
Sionu shook, breath ragged. "I didn't mean to."
Kael stepped beside him, hand firm on his shoulder.
"You did exactly what you were supposed to," he said.
Sionu looked up. "What's that?"
Kael's gaze was grim, almost proud.
"You showed them the problem they can't contain."
Outside, engines revved.
Soldiers retreated.
But the silence that followed wasn't relief.
It was calculation.
Kael looked toward the ceiling, toward the city beyond.
"This wasn't an assault," he said quietly. "It was a test."
Blitz swallowed. "And?"
Kael's voice was heavy.
"And they got their data."
Sionu's electricity hummed softly, tired but alive.
The hunt wasn't over.
It had just changed tactics.
to be continued...