The Dark Edge Chronicles - Hardwire

Chapter 1: Dawnscape

Almost immediately the tendril turned in place, whatever intelligence guiding it unwilling to let the people pass by untouched.  And in doing so brushed against a lagger, a woman walking more slowly behind the main group.  Instantly a golden aura flared into place around the young woman, a field that surrounded her from head to toe and simmered with barely restraint power.  A shield of some sort, the brilliant light rebuffed the tendril's touch and forced it to shrink away from her.  Still unaware of the tendril's presence, the woman quickened her pace.  And with the aura still glowing around her, she smoothly cut through the thick pseudopod as it continued to struggle to get out of her way.

As the ribbon of faded light brushed past a knot of people walking seemingly unaware of its presence towards one of the office buildings, it touched several people on the outside of the group.  Instantly they were burnt to ash, their remains caught up in the wind of the ribbon's passage and whisked away as the surviving group members continued on their way, oblivious to their companions' destruction.

Abruptly the other ribbons were lashing out with arrogant precision, ripping into the gathering masses of people and searing them instantly to ash.  Within the space of several heartbeats, the downtown core was emptied, the crowds completely decimated, their particulate remains swirling thickly in the ribbons' wake.  Even cars, buses and public transit trains were emptied of their passengers and drivers, leaving the vehicles to either sit motionless where they had stopped, engines running.  Or they ran headlong into empty vehicles nearby, unless they hit a sign, lamppost or building first.

Unsatiated by the wholesale slaughter, the ribbons continued their move out into the city, wiping out people wherever they came across them.  They left behind them emptiness, as if the people that once thronged there never existed.

With one exception: as the dark light destroyers ripped apart the crowds in the downtown core, there were individuals scattered amongst their companions that were untouched, even when the ribbons came into direct contact with them.  These persons, both men and women, seemed to be protected by an aura of soft gold, which flared brightly whenever a ribbon came close to them.  That flash seemed to act as some sort of ward, pushing the devouring energies away to leave the person unharmed, letting them walk on as if nothing had happened, continuing conversations with people that were no longer there.

There was something familiar about that aura, something that bound them all together with a thread of commonality.  But that quality remained elusive, even though the people themselves could be seen in exquisite detail.  Still, it was enough to sense that the shadows that had emitted the ribbons of destruction also shared that same aura.  Tracing back along the ribbons themselves, it was no surprise to find the city's heart now filled with the shadows that had refused to disperse, despite the sun's bright touch.  And even worse, the shadows themselves now pulsed with dark power, malevolent purpose and sinister possibility.

A shadowed hand of dark intent, the shadows now wreathed the towers of glass and steel that stood at Calgary's center, a growing fog of maligned purpose that threatened to swallow the city whole.  Even as it curled about the skyscrapers with a cold embrace, it seemed to visibly throb with malevolent energy.  And then it was gone with the blink of an eye.

With a frown on his lips, the man sat back in his seat, his intense gaze still focused out through the plane window he sat beside, tracing along the silvery lines of the city below.  His thoughts raced through dark spaces as he tugged thoughtfully on his lower lip.  The dark vision's revelation seemed to explain why he had been pulled halfway across the world to this place, responding to the malevolent force that threatened to tear the Canadian city apart.  Still, there were unanswered questions, . . .

"Sir?"  a woman's soft, but insistent voice intruded into his thoughts and the man looked up to find a stewardess leaning over the empty seat beside him to catch his attention, a smile on her pretty face.