The next five days were a blur of physical therapy, power training, and preparation for Egypt. Josh's body recovered faster than Dr. Walsh expected—apparently having dimensional energy coursing through him accelerated healing. By day three, he was walking without assistance. By day five, he was almost back to normal.
Almost.
"Again," Captain Rodriguez called out from the observation deck. "And this time, try not to set the training room on fire."
Josh stood in the center of DDI's specialized training facility, designed to withstand extreme temperatures and dimensional energy fluctuations. Scorch marks on the walls and patches of ice on the floor were evidence of his previous attempts.
"Easier said than done," Josh muttered, raising his hands. He reached for the fire inside him, feeling it surge eagerly to the surface. A ball of flame appeared in his right hand, about the size of a baseball. "Okay, got it. Now the ice."
He reached for the cold with his left hand. Frost spread across his palm, forming into a sphere of crystalline ice. For a moment, both existed peacefully. Then the fire flared, trying to dominate. The ice pushed back. Josh felt them fighting for control inside him, each wanting to be the stronger force.
"Balance," Dr. Walsh's voice came through the speakers. "Don't fight them. Let them coexist."
"They don't want to coexist. They want to kill each other." Sweat beaded on Josh's forehead from the effort. "And they're both inside me, so that's not great."
"You managed it in Tokyo," Kyla said from beside the observation deck. "When Azazel threatened me, you balanced both perfectly."
"That was life or death. This is practice. Apparently my powers only cooperate when someone's about to die."
"Then pretend I'm in danger," Kyla suggested.
"That's not funny."
"Who's joking? Close your eyes. Imagine I'm in trouble. See if that helps."
Josh closed his eyes, feeling ridiculous. But he imagined Kyla falling, Azazel standing over her, the pure terror he'd felt. Immediately, the fire and ice stopped fighting. They aligned, balanced, working together instead of against each other.
When he opened his eyes, both spheres were stable, orbiting his hands peacefully.
"Huh," Josh said. "That actually worked."
"Interesting," Dr. Walsh made notes. "Your powers respond to emotional states. Specifically, protective emotions. When you're trying to save someone, the ice and fire cooperate."
"So I'm basically powered by caring about people too much?" Josh dismissed the spheres. "That's the most on-brand thing ever."
"It's also a weakness," Rodriguez pointed out. "If Azazel figures out that threatening Martinez makes you stronger, he'll use it against you. Might take her hostage to force you to join him."
"He can try," Kyla said dangerously. "Won't work out well for him."
They continued training for another two hours. Josh practiced creating different forms of fire and ice—barriers, projectiles, even attempting to combine them into something new. That last part didn't work. Every time he tried to merge fire and ice, they canceled each other out.
"Maybe they're not meant to combine," Walsh suggested. "Maybe you're supposed to use them separately, switching between them as needed."
"Or maybe I need to figure out the right way to make them work together." Josh created a spike of ice in one hand, surrounded it with fire from the other. The ice melted immediately. "Okay, not like that."
"You'll figure it out," Kyla said confidently. "You always do."
After training, Josh hit the showers and changed into regular clothes. His body ached in new ways—not from injury, but from channeling so much energy. It was like working out muscles he'd never used before.
Stevens found him in the cafeteria, looking way too cheerful for someone who'd been shot at by ice monsters three days ago.
"Heard you're going to Egypt," Stevens said, sitting down with a tray loaded with food. "Lucky. I've always wanted to see the pyramids."
"We're not going sightseeing. We're investigating dimensional energy signatures."
"Yeah, but the pyramids will be right there. You have to at least take a selfie." Stevens bit into a sandwich. "Oh! I got a new joke for you. What did the mummy say to the archaeologist?"
"I don't know and I don't want to know."
"'Quit disrupting my wrap party!'" Stevens grinned. "Get it? Wrap? Like mummy wraps?"
"That's terrible."
"All my best material is terrible. It's part of my charm." Stevens' expression turned more serious. "For real though, be careful over there. If Azazel's energy is pointing toward Egypt, he's probably planning something. And after you wounded him in Tokyo, he's going to be extra motivated to either recruit you or kill you."
"I know. But we can't just ignore it. If there's something in Egypt that explains where the Shard came from, we need to find it."
"Just don't die. Kyla would be devastated, and also she's scary when she's angry. I don't want to deal with angry Kyla."
"Nobody wants to deal with angry Kyla," Kyla said, appearing behind Stevens and making him jump. "Stop telling bad mummy jokes and finish your food. We've got a mission briefing in twenty minutes."
The briefing room was packed. Besides Josh, Kyla, and their usual team, there were several new faces—archaeologists, linguistic experts, and Dr. Hassan El-Sayed, an Egyptian historian who specialized in ancient texts.
"The site we're investigating was discovered two weeks ago by a team of graduate students," Dr. El-Sayed explained, pulling up images of ruins partially buried in sand. "It appears to be a temple complex, dating back approximately four thousand years. But the writing inside doesn't match any known ancient Egyptian script."
"Unknown language?" Josh asked. "That's weird."
"Very weird. And it gets weirder." El-Sayed pulled up close-up photos of carved symbols on stone walls. "Some of these symbols match patterns we've seen in dimensional energy readings. It's as if whoever built this temple knew about other dimensions thousands of years before modern science discovered them."
Dr. Walsh leaned forward, studying the symbols. "These look similar to patterns the Shard generates. Could there be a connection?"
"That's what we're hoping to find out," Admiral Russo said. "Your mission is simple: get to the temple, investigate the ruins, and determine if there's any connection to Azazel or the Shard. We need to know what we're dealing with."
"What about security?" Rodriguez asked. "If these dimensional signatures are as strong as Dr. Walsh says, Azazel might send forces to the temple."
"Egyptian military is providing security on-site. And we're sending a full DDI tactical team—twelve operators, plus support staff. You'll be well protected."
"And if Azazel shows up personally?" Josh asked.
"Then you do what you did in Tokyo—wound him badly enough to make him retreat. But Josh, I'm not sending you there as a weapon. I'm sending you there as an investigator. Your ability to sense dimensional energy makes you uniquely qualified to explore that temple. The fighting is a last resort."
After the briefing, Josh found himself walking the halls of DDI headquarters with Kyla, both of them processing the information.
"Four thousand years," Kyla said. "Someone knew about dimensional barriers four thousand years ago. That's insane."
"Unless dimensional activity has been happening on Earth for a lot longer than we thought. Maybe the Shard isn't the first thing to cross over. Maybe there have been others."
"That's a terrifying thought." Kyla stopped at a window overlooking the training grounds. "What if we're not fighting the first invasion? What if we're just fighting the latest one?"
"Then hopefully the ancient Egyptians figured out how to stop it. And hopefully they left instructions." Josh joined her at the window. "You don't have to come, you know. Egypt might be dangerous."
"Please. Like I'd let you go without me." Kyla bumped his shoulder. "We're partners. Where you go, I go. That's the deal."
"Even to ancient temples that might be full of dimensional monsters?"
"Especially to ancient temples that might be full of dimensional monsters. Those are the best kind."
Josh smiled despite his nervousness. "I don't deserve you."
"True. But you're stuck with me anyway."
They spent the evening preparing—checking equipment, reviewing archaeological reports, studying maps of the temple complex. Dr. El-Sayed gave them a crash course in ancient Egyptian history, though he admitted most of it probably wouldn't be relevant.
"The temple is unlike anything I've seen in thirty years of studying ancient Egypt," he explained. "The architecture is wrong, the symbols are wrong, even the location is strange. It's built in the middle of nowhere, far from any known settlements. As if whoever built it wanted it hidden."
"Or wanted to keep people away from something dangerous," Josh suggested.
"Exactly what I thought."
That night, Josh tried to sleep but couldn't. He kept thinking about the temple, about what they might find there. Answers about the Shard, about Azazel's origins, about why all of this was happening.
Around midnight, he gave up on sleep and went to the training room. If he couldn't rest, he might as well practice.
He found Kyla already there, running through combat drills with a practice dummy.
"Can't sleep either?" Josh asked.
"Too much thinking. Figured I'd burn off some energy." Kyla wiped sweat from her forehead. "Want to spar?"
"You sure? I might accidentally set you on fire."
"I trust you not to kill me. Probably."
They squared off, moving through basic hand-to-hand combat forms. It felt good to move, to focus on something physical instead of all the uncertainty swirling in Josh's head. Kyla was faster, but Josh had better reach. They were evenly matched, dancing around each other, neither landing serious hits.
"You're getting better," Kyla observed, blocking one of his strikes. "When we first met, you fought like someone who'd only trained in the academy."
"That's because I had only trained in the academy. You've taught me a lot." Josh swept her legs, but she rolled away. "Though you're still better."
"Only at hand-to-hand. You can throw car-sized fireballs. I think you win the overall combat effectiveness category."
"Fair point."
They continued sparring until both were exhausted and dripping sweat. Then they sat against the wall, passing a water bottle back and forth.
"I'm scared," Josh admitted quietly. "About Egypt. About what we might find."
"Me too. But that's okay. Being scared means we're taking this seriously."
"What if we find out something terrible? What if the truth about the Shard is worse than what we already know?"
"Then we deal with it. Together. Like everything else." Kyla took his hand. "Whatever's waiting in that temple, we'll face it. And we'll figure it out. That's what we do."
Josh squeezed her hand, drawing strength from her presence. "When this is all over—when we've stopped Azazel and saved the world and solved all the dimensional mysteries—I want to take you on a real vacation. Somewhere warm. Somewhere with absolutely no ice monsters."
"That sounds perfect. Where were you thinking?"
"Hawaii? Fiji? Anywhere that's not a frozen wasteland or ancient temple full of secrets."
"I vote Hawaii. Better beaches." Kyla smiled. "It's a date. After we save the world. Again."
"Again," Josh agreed.
They sat in comfortable silence, both knowing that tomorrow would bring new challenges, new dangers, new questions. But for now, in this moment, they had each other. And that was enough.
The flight to Egypt was scheduled for 0600. Twelve hours from now, they'd be on their way to uncover secrets that had been buried for four thousand years.
Secrets about the Shard. About Azazel. About why all of this was happening.
Josh could only hope they were ready for the answers.
End of Chapter 31