Morning arrived without ceremony. No sunrise through the smoke. Only a dull, gray light crept over the ruined neighborhood, revealing what the night had left behind.

  The convoy fortified its position at the neighborhood’s entrance, turning wrecked vehicles and debris into makeshift barricades. For the next two hours, Dorian and Kesi moved where they were needed, applying Will to mend wounds when they could and conserving it when they couldn’t. Dorian’s arm was still broken, his shoulder marked by a vicious scar, but the punctures in his back were closing well. Kesi’s healing was progressing faster still, despite them sharing the same number of Remnants.

  Above it all, a cloud of Starspawn crept toward Earth like a black tide stretching for the sun. Another day had begun. Another wave was coming down.

  The first sign of it came when a nearby house collapsed inward.

  A Starspawn burst through the wreckage in a storm of dust and splintered wood.

  Dorian and Kesi reacted instantly, eyes lighting with something uncomfortably close to glee. The hunger to kill more Starspawn had been growing by the hour, a pressure behind every thought.

  The creature landed in the street with a heavy snarl. It resembled a massive black panther, its body corded with muscle, saber teeth serrated like sawblades. Long ram horns curved forward from its skull, their tips glowing faintly with internal heat.

  “Don’t shoot it!” Dorian roared as he and Kesi sprinted forward.

  Soldiers instinctively raised their weapons. They didn’t take orders from civilians, magic or otherwise.

  “Hold your fire!” Keller bellowed, already moving. He shoved past the front line, voice cutting through the chaos with command authority that brooked no argument.

  Dorian reached the beast first.

  Will wrapped his working arm as he seized one horn and slammed the Starspawn’s head into the asphalt hard enough to crack the pavement. Before it could recover, he wrenched the horn free in a spray of sparks and burning ichor.

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  Kesi followed immediately. His makeshift battleaxe swept into the creature’s hind legs, severing one outright and shattering the other. The Starspawn lunged, jaws snapping, but Dorian drove upward with the broken horn, punching it through the lower jaw and pinning its mouth shut in a burst of heat and bone.

  Kesi stepped in and ended it with a clean, Will-infused strike that took the head clean off.

  The street went quiet.

  Soldiers stared, stunned by the speed and precision of the kill.

  “Bring one of the men you want Illuminated,” Dorian said, turning to Keller.

  Keller blinked. “Don’t you need that to fix your arm?”

  Kesi said it at the same time.

  Dorian grinned and gestured wide with his working arm. “I just proved I don’t need both arms. Besides, we need to strengthen the group fast.”

  Keller studied him for a heartbeat, then nodded. “Very sound thinking, Dorian.”

  He called over his first lieutenant.

  The man took the Remnant.

  He screamed as the energy tore through him, body locking, muscles seizing. Then it was over. He straightened slowly, breath coming fast, posture changed, something in his eyes sharper than before.

  “Are you well, soldier?” Keller asked, this was the first time seeing such an event.

  “It hurt. A lot. But it also felt like…like I was being reborn. I feel full of energy and my muscles have never felt better. The only thing I can think about is killing another Starspawn and absorbing more Remnant-things.”

  “So the Hunger affected him too…” Dorian mumbled.

  “What did you say Dorian?” Keller asked, holding back his rage about Dorian knowing about a side effect to this.

  “Sorry I didn’t mention it, I didn’t even know if it was real or not until this moment, but there’s this wanting, this Hunger that seems to come with Illumination where you want to kill more Starspawn.” Dorian said sheepishly.

  “Why the hell did you not mention this when my soldiers are…” Keller began.

  “Wait Captain. I might have exaggerated this feeling I was having. It’s no more than a craving, like for sweets.” The lieutenant came to the rescue of Dorian. “I don’t think it will affect my duties, in fact I feel like I will be able to perform at a much greater effectiveness thanks to Dorian.”

  “Tsk” Keller clicked his tongue, clearly unsure on if this is the right path. “Now that we have more information, I will further inform my troops and if they still want to be Illuminated I wont stop them, we need this strength one way or another, but know for sure I am not letting myself be driven by this Hunger you speak of.”

  Moments later, two Starspawn emerged from the neighborhood.

  Another burst through the tree line, snapping a young pine in half as it charged.

  Keller had already briefed his units.

  Do not kill unless absolutely necessary. Cripple first. Let the Illuminated finish it.

  It wasn’t a perfect rule. A Starspawn within sight was a threat by definition. But his soldiers understood what was at stake.