The War Revealed - 3rd Novel in the Shadow Series

Chapter 25 .

Esther

I glanced to the area of space where Lieutenant Tanpo and Warpaint guarded Vai. Vai's eyes were closed as he concentrated on healing. So far none of our little group were harmed, but we were starting to grow weary.

I had to admit, I was proud of us for destroying that first Brist ship. Before we came out, there was a great part of me that doubted we could do it by ourselves. I knew we were supposed to be an example to the rest of the Gathering and I did have the light longer than anyone else in the Gathering, but that didn't make me an expert. There was still much to learn and much the Awakened One continued to teach us. The Corruption knew more about the light than we did. I kept expecting them to thwart us somehow. They had almost destroyed the Awakened Ones so long ago. But the Awakened Ones - despite their professing to be strong - hadn't recognized real strength.

Looking at Vai I wondered if the Awakened Ones could have won if they had someone who could heal instantly on the battlefield like Vai. The Awakened One followed my gaze.

"My people would have killed him when he was a child," the Awakened One said.

"That's why your people failed," I said.

He didn't reply.

"Focus," Shel said to us.

The second Brist ship we had damaged with the first fired on Hani and her mother. The two of them dodged.

"I'll take care of the weapons again," Shel said. "You two can destroy the outer hull."

He drifted closer to the Brist ship. His purple light rose from him and centered around one of the main weapons. As the purple light engulfed it, the weapon crushed in on itself over and over again until it became useless.

The Awakened One's gray light tore of a large frame of metal from the hull of the ship. He brought back the metal with his light for momentum. I focused my light on the end of it and with a nod from him I pushed the metal back towards the ship. The sheet of metal rammed into the ship towards the bottom.

We still weren't sure where the vital parts of the ship were. The layout of the Brist ships weren't taught in the Gathering school unlike the alien ships of those that were part of the Gathering. With the first Brist ship, we had just kept putting holes into it until it had so much damage that it was incapacitated.

From the hole we just formed in the ship, a small group of Brist were sucked out into space. The Corruption inside them quickly left them and flitted away through space until they disappeared.

Minmin and Owen moved to the hole and filled it with their lightning and fire. Fire would normally be difficult to produce in the area exposed to space as there was no oxygen, but Owen's fire really wasn't fire. It was just how his light manifested itself. I worried briefly over Owen. I couldn't deny there was a special place in my heart reserved just for him. Whenever I thought back on how he first believed in me and cared for me, my heart grew warm.

Another sheet of metal was torn free from the Brist ship. I had to trust that Owen would keep himself safe through this battle. He and the others had come to mean so much to me - a new family - but him especially. I didn't know how I would survive if he died. Vai wouldn't let that happen though. He would heal us all before we could die if it came down to it.

I surrounded my pink light at the back of the metal frame and pushed it with my force into the Brist ship again. Owen and Minmin were quickly at that spot filling it with their light.

Shel maneuvered himself so he was next to me. "The weapons on this ship have been destroyed," he announced. "Hani's and Nathan's families have moved on to the next ship. It's a K'thaktran ship. Our shields can keep out their weapons unlike with the Brist weapons. Owen's dad has joined him and Minmin."