thebigeasy66

Hello! I thank you so very much for reading this far into my story. Before you continue, you should know that there have been changes to the first two books that have resulted after some story editing. I haven't updated my submissions on this site, as that would be a very tedious task with not much of a reward. Here are the "patch notes" that have been applied to books 1 and 2: Phantom Scythe: - Domrik's team is now only Jase and Kelly - Damron Wellfire is Specter Five, not Specter Eight - Strucka's name has been changed to Daltis Vision Ember: - Waterlings have sonar - Strucka's name has been changed to Daltis - When Jase infiltrates the Crimson Vein, he no longer finds the MonoNet. He remains within the same general area of the hangar Thank you for reading, and enjoy Shards of Aether Book 3: World War! --- "His name is Lumen." Jase rested against a boulder at the edge of Lake Vernai as Eleanor took in the presence of the creature peering at her cautiously from the lake. The

Domrik sat slumped on the cot, staring at the opposite concrete wall, his eyes finding pareidolic patterns in the grungy texture. The echoes of argument played out in darker corners of his mind. The voices weren't his. Minni insisted they keep the bow hidden. It was too great of an asset to lose. Commander Marr pointed out they couldn't risk sheltering a known criminal. Domrik had to be turned in immediately. She started ranting about the recordings. He cut her off, shouting that the recordings merely damned Domrik further. Domrik remembered watching tensely from the side, uncertain of who he wanted to win the argument. Into which version of hell would he be banished? Even Lieutenant Avosta backed Minni's case, but it was no use. The argument ended when Marr threatened to court martial them for obstruction of justice. He'd caught the Commander's victorious look as he was escorted out of the room in cuffs. The twinkle in his eye indicated there was more to his argument than he'd

"C'mon, move!" Jase shouted, seizing Brandon by the upper sleeve and dragging the stupefied Aetherics professor toward the nearest Jet. He had a good idea of what was going through his mind. Jase had to fight off the temptation of the Augmentor Bow's awe-inspiring abilities. It was easier for him to ignore because he cared much more about Lumen. One of the soldiers accessed his wristpad. The Jet's cargo ramp lowered. As soon as Jase saw the problem, the soldiers were providing the solution. The angle of the ramp would have emptied at least half the tank if they had pushed it straight up. Instead, Lumen had them gather around the back end and hoist it up as the front end rolled up the ramp. Water leapt over the edge here and there, but overall the strategy was a success. Jase had to pull Brandon, who had fallen back into being hypnotized by the raging battle, up the ramp like a reluctant toddler. The cargo bay had plenty of extra seats. He threw himself and the professor into two

It was too late. Red light sizzled in front of them, the explosion shuddering the entire craft. The reactive shields had activated just in time, but the interaction was enough to throw Kazzy to the side. The Captain growled. "Shit, they're not playing around. To hell with diplomacy." She sprayed a trio of Aetheric bolts to the far end of the Hangar. None of them reached the end, two impacting on the ground and one on a cloaked craft. The impacted craft shifted on the ground but maintained its balance on its landing gear. Roughly half of it was now visible. "Looks like they can't shield and cloak at the same time," Domrik observed, hastily removing his right gauntlet and popping a crystal from the store in the back of his armor. "But we can." "We can?" the Captain wondered, confused, as she swayed Kazzy from side-to-side, avoiding most of the incoming fire while returning her own. A handful of damaged Jets had been unveiled, more popping into existence with each volley Kazzy threw at

Guard Team Seven exited Kazzy the moment Minni powered her down in one of the hangars. Domrik caught up to the Captain, who was busy removing her helmet. "We have to take action now. Every minute we wait is another minute for them to prepare." "I hear you, Specialist," she said, stashing her helmet casually under her arm. "We'll bring it up with the Commander. I assure you, he's no fan of waiting." The team met the Commander in the designated briefing room, which consisted of only a table around which the soldiers stood. He'd already seen the recordings, and when they entered, he had his arm folded, nodding to himself in reaction to some internal dialogue. He maintained silence for several seconds after all movement had ceased. Just before the silence grew awkward, he spoke in his official voice, straightening his back. "Report." The Captain, standing at the other end of the table, responded abruptly. "We found something, sir. It didn't show up on any of the scans until the

Kyreeda paced impatiently around the break room, oblivious to the subordinates watching her carefully from the corner. She needed movement to stir her thoughts. She hated stillness. It drained her of vital energy. The plan to expose Domrik was consuming most of her mental bandwidth. Even the war schedule had to be put on the backburner. If she didn't take care of him soon, the war would be thwarted. The world needed war. How else could they appreciate peace? She knew he had been communicating with the Eredore Guard, but the details of those meetings were still out of her reach. Her research team hadn't found strong enough leverage on any of the Guards to secure their cooperation. He knew something, and she feared that knowledge. Jase had been useful for the first few hours of testing, before he apparently saw the purpose of their experiments and started to deliberately mix results. She was close to threatening to get his family involved, but that would require weeks more of planning.

Author's Note Hello there! Thanks for reading this far in the story. I hope you have enjoyed it so far. The purpose of this note is to inform you of a plot change I have decided on while writing the previous few chapters, and I have written this chapter from the perspective of that change already in effect. The change is this: Jase still infiltrates the Crimson Vein facility, but remains within the same general area of the Preserve. He doesn't take the MonoNet to the Research Division. I'll have it be part of the complex under the Preserve. He still steals the worker's identity to gain access to restricted areas. That's about all the change I have planned. Just a head's up so you're not confused! *** Major Bansen led Domrik down the steps into the armory. It looked nothing like he had imagined. It was more like an expansive underground laboratory. Scattered throughout the rectangular expanse were tables piled with an assortment of gadgets and equipment, many of them sprouting

Domrik started awake to the sound of his wristpad's ringtone. For a moment, he thought it was his imagination, or part of the dream that was already fading away into obscurity. He blinked the sleep from his eyes as he sat up from his sleeping position and grabbed his wristpad from the coffee table. With a tap, the library lights bloomed on. The caller ID was blocked. He knew whom this was. He answered. "Domrik here." "Lazen," the Commander's voice rang with less authority than intended over the speakers. "Consider yourself lucky you know people in high places. We expect you to arrive no later than ten-hundred hours at Ravvenson Guard Base. I can discuss nothing further with you until then. Am I clear?" Domrik nodded eagerly, remembering too late that the Commander couldn't see him. "Yes, sir." "See you at ten-hundred," the man grunted. The call ended. Domrik sat staring at the blinking total call time again. The shock he felt was similar, but the reason was completely different.

Domrik’s drive home passed in a blur, despite following the traffic laws this time. He had a hard time convincing himself that he had convinced the Commander, but he hadn’t detected any lies. He knew his lie detection abilities weren’t perfect, but they were reliable enough to trust in most situations. In any case, he wouldn’t be letting his guard down, not for an instant. The Commander had given him vague reassurances that they would reach out again soon, and he hoped the military definition of soon was on the same scale as his own. They couldn’t afford to wait weeks or months. An entity that could respond to a cloaked heist with zero foreknowledge was not something to ignore. He wished he could impart that nugget of information, but he felt the risk was too great. He vigilantly kept an eye on his rear-view camera. Nobody seemed to be following him, though he never tested whether he could pierce illusions through a camera. He decided to conduct that experiment when he returned to