Blue Nexus #55 - The Great Dune

Previously in "Blue Nexus": Kyle witnessed the return of an incredibly powerful magical figure, one that easily subdued his Wave Two form of the Nexus. He and the Sentinel witnessed several beams of light headed into the sky, signalling a new era of magic in the world. 

            The Sun pounded against his back when he turned to face Brenda. He had little protection for his eyes save for the hood and sunglasses he was wearing from the Sun and sand. Kyle tightened the mask that was around his face and stretched his sleeves out. He was sweating all over inside his jacket, pants, and shoes, and his hair dripped bits of water down his neck. Brenda seemed to be fine, casing herself in a thin barrier to at least douse the heat. She was also wearing protection from the Sun, though not as much.

            “Anything yet?” Kyle asked.

            Brenda shook her head. “No, I’m not sensing anything. Strange how it just vanished the moment we arrived in the desert.”

            “Think whoever it was just decided to move on?” Kyle asked.

            Brenda shook her head again, raising her arm to block the Sun and continue looking at the endless mounds of sand. The heat rose off of it almost visibly.

            “Whoever it is might have sensed our presence,” Brenda said. “And it’s not like I’m trying to mask us, but I would rather not scare them away by asserting much magic power.”

            “It’d be nice if we could fine them sooner, though,” Kyle said. He took a step and his shoe was almost swallowed by all of the sand around it. He grunted and yanked his foot out. “Be nice if they weren’t in the freaking Sahara desert.”

            “We’re close to them,” Brenda said. “I doubt they’ve gotten far, even in these conditions.”

            “They were one of those pillars of magic light, weren’t they?” Kyle asked. He had to ask again after the loud gust of wind billowed through. “They’ve probably got a good bit of power behind them.”

            “Then how come we can’t sense them?” Brenda asked. She whipped around. The thin veil around her body made her red eyes seem more menacing when her face scrunched up into anger. Kyle took a step back.

            He wasn’t in his Nexus form, since he was trying to serve as a backup radar for Brenda, and had little means of defending himself against her if she should attack him, if even for just a second. He trusted her not to, but it was hot and Kyle knew that either one of them could be aggravated easily.

            Brenda wanted to go on the journey alone but Kyle had to understand more. Not only was he still on the hunt for that golden mage from Pacific City, but Tania had been suspiciously inactive the last few days with Andreus and Kyle. He worried that she was amassing a greater following, possibly to even move in a militant way against Magus Forest. Kyle had to be more in tune with his Demon magic if he was going to have a chance at understanding how magic worked and how best to deal with it in nonviolent ways. Of course, that probably didn’t work too well for Demon mages, but he was well in control of it.

            Kyle and Brenda held out their arms and made a single wave with them. Kyle felt the Demon magic in his arm nipping at his fingertips, whereas Brenda had her magic sliding down her arm with ease. She sighed.

            “I can’t sense anything, we’ll need to move again,” Brenda said.

            “Wait, maybe we can try contacting the Moon base,” Kyle said. “It’s not the best at sensing magic, but it could help.”

            “It won’t,” Brenda said, with a snap in her voice. “There’s been an explosion of magic recently thanks to these pillars of light and that sensor would probably end up going crazy trying to pinpoint one person. We can find them. Come on, I’ll give you a lift so you can keep your magic flowing.”

            Kyle nodded and stepped onto a platform in the sand. Brenda raised them up. Kyle warily kept his balance on the barrier, which was enclosed only by a thin wall. He squatted down and gripped the edge of the tile. Being surrounded by and containing the Nexus energy to fly was totally different from just being his normal (normal hardly being optimal for him nowadays, he suspected) human state and flying around. It was jarring, especially when he wasn’t the one in control of the flight.

            He moved one hand away and held out his right, Demon hand, letting the magic wriggle down a little more and take a tighter grip on his arm. Brenda was right, ever since that golden mage appeared and kicked his butt there’d been way more outbreaks of magic across the world. Three in Adelita and dozens more in East City. Brenda and Kyle tried to act fast but many of those mages either lost their powers within a few days, went missing, or were being helped already. Kyle and Brenda wanted to jump on this one in the desert since it was an isolated situation. Hopefully.

            They scoured the desert for around ten minutes before, appearing over a low-rolled dune, a clump of people appeared. They were dressed like Kyle and Brenda, though they seemed to be moving with haste. Brenda pulled them up higher to be out of their line of sight. She and Kyle reached out.

            “I think that’s it,” Kyle said.

            “Yeah, but who is it?” Brenda asked. “They’re all so close together, I can barely catch the trace of magic.”

            “Let’s just go find out, then,” Kyle said. He stood up and Brenda lowered them.

            The nomads froze at the sight of the two mages. Kyle leapt off and felt his feet sink into the blazing sand. He yanked them out and approached the crowd. They were mumbling in a foreign language, though it was clear that they were nervous. Brenda landed next to Kyle.

            “Does anyone here speak English?” he asked.

            The man in front, a taller man, turned and said something to Kyle. He held his arms out, as if he were speaking with them. Kyle grimaced and shook his head.

            He swiped his hand over the Nexus bracelet and let his aura consume him. Suddenly, their whispers were audible, and in Kyle’s native tongue.

            “I’m the Blue Nexus, if you’ve heard of him,” Kyle said. “My friend and I are looking for a mage, we noticed an outbreak of power recently.”

            “Magic?” the front man asked. “Oh, we don’t have just magic. We have a curse!”

            The rest of the ground mumbled in agreement. They parted and revealed a little girl, clutching her arms. Running down both of her little arms were Demon marks, far more prevalent than the one that was gone from Kyle’s arm. She looked at the ground, then instinctively looked down to her tiny feet. As if she were ashamed.

            “It’s not a curse, it’s magic,” Kyle said.

            “It’s unnatural,” the front man said. “We’re taking her to be cleansed, and to rid ourselves of this foulness!”

            “Rid yourselves of it?” Brenda asked. She stepped up next to Kyle, who had to her hold her back with his arm. She pushed against him but he held her firm in place.

            “Where are you taking her?” Kyle asked.

            “As if we would trust you,” the front man said. “You’re just like her.”

            “We can take her somewhere safe, and away from you,” Kyle said. He stole another glance down to the little girl, who shuffled her feet in the sand. “But you need to tell us where you were headed first.”

            “I won’t,” the man said.

            Kyle could almost feel Brenda’s rage behind him. He knew what was going through her mind. An oppressed little girl who was unable to explore the capacity of her magic? Yeah, she could relate just a bit.

            It was why Kyle continued to hold her in place. Going berserk on these people wasn’t going to quell the situation. It might resolve it, but Kyle knew that they had to earn their trust as well as the little mage’s in order for this to go by smoothly.

            Kyle took a knee, levelling with the little girl. She took a step away, but the people around her did the same, almost falling back to do so. The front man scowled at her.

            “Hello,” Kyle said. “I’m only here to help you. I know that those marks and those abilities can be scary, but there’s a place you can go that will teach you all about them.”

            “There are more of you?” the front man burst. “Monsters! We live in an accursed world.”

            “Accursed?” Brenda shouted. “You think we’re accursed just because we’re different?”

            “As the rest of the world does us,” the front man said.

            Kyle shot up. “Hey. Don’t make this a pity party. We’re both human, just like her. She just has a little extra, and that’s fine. It’s not a curse, it’s a gift, it’s an ability. What if you were the one with that ability? Would you say it was a curse?”         

            “I would know,” the front man said.

            “You would just walk away from your family, from your friends, because you suddenly woke up with some damn tattoo on your arm and a funny feeling in your body?” asked Kyle. “Look at her and ignore those marks. Who is she?”

            “A demon.”

            Kyle almost back-handed the front man, but held his fist in check. “You’re an idiot! She’s a damn human being with her life ahead of her! You wanna take that away from her? You wanna kick her out, really? You’re that scared of her?”

            “Scared of her?” asked the front man. “We don’t fear her. We want to save ourselves.”

            “So you’re selfish,” Brenda said. “You’re only looking out your own best interests? You’re weak.”           

            “And you hide behind a mask,” the front man said. “You’re the ones who are afraid.”

            Kyle hesitated, then swiped his finger over the Nexus bracelet and tossed away his mask yanked his hood down, revealing his face. He hiked the sleeve on his right arm all the way up, revealing the tips of his Demon mark.

            “Cleanse me, then,” Kyle said.

            The front man stood stunned. The crowd behind him turned to each other and whispered quietly. The winds picked up and made it impossible to hear what they were saying, but Kyle knew it was just some gossip. Nothing fruitful.

            “You’re the…you’re a hero,” the front man said. “But you’re cursed?”

            “I’m not cursed,” Kyle said. “I’m here to help you and help her. Let her come with us, we can keep her safe.”

            The front man looked back at the girl, then whirled around, almost crashing his fist against Kyle’s face. Brenda caught it in a barrier and Kyle stepped back, instinctively. The crowd reacted, then rebounded from the shock and looked ready for a brawl.

            “Stop!” Kyle shouted. He looked past the front man to the little girl, who was trembling. “You’re scaring her.”

            “You are a harbinger of the demons!” shouted the front man.

            “I’m not,” Kyle said. “I’m not here because of some curse, I’m here because that little girl needs to be somewhere safe. Away from what’s coming, and away from you! You think we’re the cursed ones? There are people out there who want to harm you—they’re the cursed ones! All we want to do is help you, so please let us just do this one thing.”

            “How can we trust you?”

            “We’re going in circles,” Brenda said.

            “I know we’re going in circles, but these people are being ridiculous,” Kyle said. He turned to face the front man head on. “You’re going to give us the little girl and we’re going to be on our way.”

            “So now you would intimidate me?” asked the front man.

            “I’m asking kindly,” Kyle said. “If you want to get rid of her so badly, then just hand her to us.”

            The front man pursed his lips, and then looked over his shoulder at the little girl. Tears streaked down her dry-skin face. Her body was still trembling.

            “Go, then,” he said. The front man gestured at Kyle and Brenda. “Be with them.” He looked at Kyle and Brenda, waving them off. “And be with your accursed ones.”

            He wandered into the nomadic crowd, leading them in the opposite direction. The little girl dropped to her knees as she turned to watch them go. She placed her head into her hands and continued sobbing.

            “I wonder where her parents are,” Brenda said.

            “Hopefully they’re not in that crowd,” Kyle said. “At least we got them away from her. She’s going to be safe now.”

            “I know, but…” Brenda trailed off, staring at the little girl. “That pillar of light came from her?”

            “Guess so,” Kyle said. He squatted down next to her, but was wary of giving her any physical comfort. “It’ll be alright, we know some really good people that are going to take great care of you.”

            The little girl continued sobbing. Kyle turned around to Brenda, who was looking out around the desert, pondering something. Kyle returned his attention to the little girl, who was calming down a bit. From just being next to her, Kyle could feel Demon magic radiating off of her as if she were some sort of magical fireplace. There was no doubt, now, that she was the one that power came from.

            “Can you stand?” he asked. He got up, and hoped she would follow. The little girl refused to move. Kyle saw little teardrops blot into the sand and then evaporate just as fast. He squatted down again, this time in front of her.

            He rolled his sleeve up all the way, and then rolled her little sleeves up some more as well, exposing the complex marks on her arm.

            “It’s not bad, it’s not evil,” Kyle said. “We’re not really even different from them, from anyone. We’ve just been given something a little extra, and we can make it our problem or just another part of us. We can’t let it get us down.” He let the magic flow into his fingertips, and held out his hand. “I used to be afraid of what my friends would think of my power. And there are a lot of people that would be afraid of me and you, I won’t say that’s not true. But there are places we can call home and be safe now. Do you trust me to show you those people? They won’t hurt you, they’ll teach you everything they can.”

            He moved his hand just a little closer. The little girl’s arms twitched and it seems the marks did as well. They wriggled a little the closer they got to Kyle’s hands. Kyle tried to retreat his markings back to their normal position above his elbow but found that they were being pulled toward the little girl’s. Their hands connected and a black spark leapt from between their palms.

            Brenda spun around as if something were ready to attack her, but she dropped her guard.

            “That split second burst was insane,” she muttered.

            Kyle helped the little girl to her feet, then gestured for her to climb atop his back. He swiped his hand over the Nexus bracelet and expanded his aura to cover her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and latched on tight. Brenda gestured west.

            “Something’s up that way,” she said. “Can’t tell what, it’s rather hazy.”

            “Kathib Eazim,” the little girl finally said.

            “What was that?” asked Kyle.

            “Beyond the great seas, there is the Kathib Eazim,” the girl said.

            “What is that?” asked Brenda.

            “Where they wanted to bring me,” the little girl said. She was retreating back into her shell, Kyle noticed.

            “The Nexus can’t seem to translate it,” Kyle said. “I have no idea what it could be. If it’s beyond the great sea then it might be back home.”

            “Sea of sand,” the girl corrected.

            “Or,” Kyle said. “It’s what you were picking up on. You still got a sense for it?”

            Brenda nodded and began to levitate. Kyle did the same, going slow for the little girl’s sake. She clutched to him tightly. He placed a hand against her back as they started to head west. Brenda shot ahead, moving at her normal pace, while Kyle kept himself steady, growing in speed and making sure not to move in quick bursts to scare the girl. The Nexus’s aura would protect her body from the breakneck speed, but he didn’t want to scare her half to death. They’d finally gotten over that, it seemed.

            They caught up a few minutes after it seemed that Brenda stopped flying and dropped down behind a dune that lurched up into the sky the lower they got. Kyle noticed it wasn’t just their descent, either—the thing was actually growing, looming over them like some sort of sand wall. The little girl clambered off of Kyle’s back and he followed her closely.

            “Kathib Eazim,” she muttered.

            “I didn’t notice this on our way to her,” Kyle said.

            “It must be reacting to her,” Brenda said, quietly.

            The little girl approached the sand wall and reached out to touch it. Millions of sand grains cascaded down around her naturally. Her hand braced against it, and the sand wall shook. Kyle felt the ground shake as well. The wall leaned one way, then backwards, then wavered in the wind, until it finally faded away.

            Before them now was a mirage…possibly. A great oasis popped up before them where Kathib Eazim had once stood. Trees and lake plants lined the crystal waters, and the Sun reflected off of it beautifully. Even the desert around them seemed to topple, as the mounds and dunes suddenly flattened out and the sky became a brighter shade of blue, similar to the color of the Nexus.

            The little girl didn’t move until Brenda did, who took point headed for the oasis.  

            “This is what I was sensing,” she said. “That sand wall must’ve been causing some sort of interference.”

            “This can’t be real, though,” Kyle said. He moved this time, walking toward the lake plants. He tried to grab one and it was like grabbing at sand.

            Brenda did the same and was able to make contact with it. Kyle cocked an eyebrow, and then realized his mistake. He swiped his finger over the Nexus bracelet and took hold of the lake plant. This time, it broke at his touch, but it was physical. It was real.

            The waters in the lake rippled.

            Kyle and Brenda turned to face the little girl. Her marks were glowing now, but she seemed fine. Kyle and Brenda looked to their marks, and they were glowing as well. They nodded to each other.

            The waters in the lake rippled again.

            “I’m not sensing any evils in this place,” Brenda said. She nodded at where the Kathib Eazim had been on their way in. “But I’m also not sure that we’re at the same place.”

            “You think Kathib Eazim was some sort of portal?” Kyle asked.

            “I think we’re in a realm similar to Magus Forest,” Brenda said. “Some sort of haven. You can’t feel the magical residue all around us?”

            “Not as well as you,” Kyle said. He felt something funny around his right arm. “But I do feel it a little. I just wonder why we didn’t notice it before.”

            Brenda gestured at the little girl, who seemed to be in a trance walking for the lake. “Maybe it takes a special someone. She’s been Awakened, after all.”

            “Awakened?”

            “Her magical potential is unsealed. She could teach you so many things about Demon magic without her even knowing them. An Awakened mage is a step above any other mage you’ll encounter. Her power is fully realized, and she’s just so young.”

            The little girl stopped at the lake plants. She peered into the waters, then screamed suddenly. It was loud, as if someone were screaming right into Kyle’s ear. He flinched and looked away, but when he looked back the sound was still going on and the little girl’s mouth was shut.

            He was about to question it when the lake exploded in front of the girl. Brenda cast a barrier around her to protect the little girl, who instinctively dropped to the ground. Kyle was too slow to swipe at the Nexus bracelet, as a long arm shot out of the water and punched him away and buried him in the sand.

            He punched it away with his right arm and let his Demon magic come alive. The dark claw wrapped around his hand and then expanded, and Kyle was back in action.

            Two more hands, and two longer arms, appeared from the water before a long, lanky body follow it. Its face was actually atop its head, and had a white, expressionless look. Its mouth opened, revealing a gaping red maw, and it launched its abhorrent scream again.

            “I’ve seen this before!” Brenda shouted. “It was created by a high density of Demon magic!”

            Kyle nodded. “Then I’ve seen this, too!”

            That town in Vermont, and the monster that Alucard created to test Kyle’s mettle. The one that possessed and had Kyle kill several dozen people. The Demon powers flared inside of him as anger washed over him, but Brenda reached out and grabbed his hand to calm him down. He nodded. She tightened her grip on his hand.

            “We have to keep her safe!” Brenda said. “This thing isn’t going to down easy.”

            The monster reared its head back to scream again. Brenda let go of Kyle’s hand and shot a barrier over its mouth. The monster reeled back in surprise before trying to scream again, and it shattered the barrier like a piece of glass. Brenda and Kyle leapt into action. Brenda replaced the girl further way and Kyle baited the monster, forcing it to move out of the water. Two thick legs stepped away from the oasis and stamped down onto the sand.

            Brenda encased it in a barrier, but it spun all of its arms and projected a heavy amount of magic—Kyle wasn’t sure of what variety—to break free of the containment. Kyle ducked under its heavy arm swung and clawed at its leg. The attack seemed to work until Kyle was clobbered from the back by an arm-club. He bounced off the water’s surface once and then landed on the opposite side of the bank.

            The monster pounded down at the barrier the little girl was in, breaking it once again. Brenda threw two barriers and trapped its fists in them. Kyle tried to sprint around the lake but the sand forced him to trip up. The monster, even with the restraints, refused to let up on the little girl, trying to crush her into the ground. Brenda’s quick barriers stopped him, and her even faster kick to the shins knocked him the other way.

            Kyle finally made it back to the battle site and leapt up, clawing into the monster’s back. He felt ravenous. Not bloodthirsty, but felt the thrill of the fight seeping into his bones. He ripped his claw out of the creature’s back and tried to strike at its ghostly face when the monster shrieked again and Kyle was forced away, landing in the sand.

            A hefty foot in the chest knocked the wind out of him. Brenda punched the monster in the side, then contained it back into a barrier. Kyle reached up and tried to dig himself out of his pit but found he could hardly move. His ribs had to be broken. He tried breathing, and couldn’t. Panic coursed through his body.

            He could see—through the growing amount of stars—that Brenda was squeezing the monster. Slowly, and inside the barrier. The monster screamed but the screams quieted down immensely, and the monster slowly degraded bit by bit, arm by arm. Brenda, finally, clamped her arms together and a plume of black smoke exploded from her barrier.

            Kyle gasped again and felt a trickle of blood slide from his lips. Brenda slid next to him, getting a nice load of sand in his mouth. She immediately had her hands on his chest, healing his wounds. Kyle clenched his eyes shut, hating the feeling of his body being stitched back together.

            And hated it more when it hardly worked.

            He still found trouble breathing, even though he knew his lungs and ribs were now much better. The little girl, it seemed, was having a similar problem. Her face was turning red. She vehemently pointed at the oasis, and Kyle turned around. The water was glowing brighter than before, and he felt the breeze pushing them toward it. Kyle pointed at the oasis as well.

            “Bre..n…da,” he said, gesturing at it.

            Brenda crafted to barriers and lifted both Demon mages into the air, and then placed them gently into the water.

            The waters seeped through the barriers, fizzling through them as if they were not there at all. Kyle closed his eyes, and let the soothing, calm waters take him away. All the muscles in his body relaxed, and was totally free.

            When he could feel his body again he realized he was laying down on a warm surface. Kyle sat up, slowly, and took in a nice, deep breath. He turned around and saw the little girl doing the same. But she was looking in a different direction, staring at something.

            Kyle turned, and saw and old man walking toward them. He had a beard down to his collarbone and a balding head of white hair. He wore a ragged robe, and had rings on only one hand, all of them the matching color of silver.

            “Welcome, my friends,” the man said. He had a deep, commanding, and yet somehow compassionate voice. He opened his arms in a welcoming manner. “Welcome to my world, the world outside your own.”

            “Who are you?” Kyle asked. He and the girl stood up simultaneously.

            “I am the greatest Reality and Time mage,” he said. “A man outside of those realms, one who has cheated those rules over and over. I have gone by many names to those who encounter me, but I was first known as Guhuray the Wise.”

            “How did you…why did you…” Kyle just had too many questions. But his mind and body were so relaxed in this world, they hardly seemed necessary.

            Guhuray seemed to share the sentiment. “I came here of my own volition upon discovering I could travel here. And I stayed for the same reason, to hone my powers. I am not alone here, as you can see. That it is, if you can feel.”

            Kyle noticed the Demon mark wriggling on his arm, and he let it consume his entire right arm. The marks on the girl’s body spread up to part of her face, and the two turned around. In the distance, near the waning light of a horizon, silhouettes were appearing by the dozens, each standing near one another and seemingly mingling.

            “I have created a home for those who have been displaced, or feel displaced,” Guhuray said. “It is to my knowledge that Magus Forest on your world has been doing the same, or has at least tried. Your Grand Elder, as it were, was once one of my pupils in this world. I’m very proud of her.”

            “Are these people trapped here?” Kyle asked.

            “No, of course not,” Guhuray said. “They need only ask me and I may transfer them back to the world of physicality. Here we exist among the ether, as an energy. We are a communal lot, intelligent, powerful.” He looked to the little girl. “Friendly.”

            The little girl hadn’t broken her look from Guhuray at all, Kyle noticed. “Were you leading my people to you? You wanted me to come here.”

            “Your powers are not a curse, dear child,” Guhuray said. “If you like, I can show you how to make them a force for good. I can even show you other powers.”

            Kyle raised an eyebrow. “You can make mages hold multiple magics?”

            “Oh yes,” Guhuray said. “It can take some time to master, but, I am the master of time in this world, you see. This, dimension as you humans say now, is of my own creation, somewhat. I found it, and I made it my own. Who was there to make it at the start?” Guhuray smiled. “I cannot say, nor does it matter. Whomever it was created it for me to use, it would seem, and so I do. To help others, and to show them the path to magical enlightenment. I can show you both the meaning of your power, but I only require one of you to stay.”

            “Require?” asked Kyle.
            “I wish for one of you to stay and learn the truths of your abilities,” Guhuray said. “And the other must return, for there is darkness on the horizon. There is a being that has been reawaken, someone who would shake the foundations of your world to it’s core. And not just on your one home, but throughout the cosmos. This being poses a threat to existence itself in your world. He would summon the greatest army the Earth has ever seen.” He looked to the little girl, like a grandfather looked to his granddaughter. “Believe it or not, my dear, that plan would have began with you.”

            The little girl nodded. Kyle was flabbergasted, but held his questions back. Someone who could threaten existence? He knew of a certain team of superheroes that would like to know about this.

            “Now that you are here, you are safe from that threat so long as the heroes of your world can hold the line,” Guhuray said. “There is much torment for the magical world yet to come, but I hold hope for the world of tomorrow for all of us.” He looked directly at Kyle. “This is beyond just belief and hope, though. I believe that there is a fate beyond this battle that we mages share, and it is not a fate leaning into destruction, but of a revolution. How we usher that in is sadly beyond my abilities. I exist in this world now, but there are those of my power who would like to shape how your world is.”

            “The Six Pillars,” Kyle said.

            “Indeed,” Guhuray said. “The Six Pillars of Magic are a formidable lot. They always shall be. And you, my dear, have a choice. You may stay here, and learn and grow in magic itself, or return to the Earth as a Pillar of Magic, and you may find that your power can become your own curse if you let it fester. I promise to make it a gift, but the world outside does not.”

            The little girl looked up at Kyle. She had sheep eyes again, but they were hardened. Kyle felt it inside him as well. This world was stirring up all of is latent magical energy that he knew would go back to being untapped once he returned to Earth. Here, the girl could understand everything.

            “I want to stay,” the little girl said. “My home is gone. I passed through the Kathib Eazim like my family wanted, and I came to my new home.” She turned to Kyle, who was shocked at her sudden maturation. “Thank you, hero.”

            Kyle nodded to her, and she nodded in response. Guhuray lifted his finger and she reappeared near Guhuray.

            “You must be strong,” Guhuray said, first to the little girl, and then he looked up at Kyle with a matching expression. “Tough times are ahead, but I know we shall get through them.”

            The little girl finally cracked a smile and took a step back, fading into the ethereal realm. Kyle heard the faintest whisper of her voice around him as it passed him by. Kyle returned his attention to Guhuray, who was also fading into the ether.

            “You are strong, Demon mage of cosmic power,” Guhuray said. “And your friends just as strong. But be warned. This world, my world, will fall just as fast as your own if the mage with one magic is not stopped. You’ve encountered him already, and that was simply his Awakening. Be strong, and hold fast. War is coming.” 

Next time: Guhuray's words are cryptic, but effective. And it seems that Guhuray isn't the only one that's worried about the new mages in town. It's finally time for some mages to come out of the woodwork and pick a side in "Blue Nexus #56 - Flare"!