The next morning, Admiral Russo called an emergency video conference. Josh and the team gathered in the communications tent, where a large screen showed Russo at DDI headquarters, flanked by military advisors and government officials Josh didn't recognize.
"We've reviewed Dr. El-Sayed's findings," Russo began without preamble. "The implications are... concerning. If the Shards are weapons from an interdimensional war, we need to reassess our entire approach to this threat."
One of the officials—a woman in a dark suit with hard eyes—leaned forward. "We should be focusing on acquiring more Shards. If they're weapons, we need them on our side. Give them to our best soldiers, create our own army of enhanced individuals."
"Absolutely not," Dr. Walsh said immediately. "Did you not read the part about how every civilization that tried using Shards destroyed itself? This isn't a weapon we can control. It controls us."
"Dr. Walsh is correct," Dr. El-Sayed added. "The historical evidence is clear. Shard corruption is inevitable. Perhaps slow, perhaps subtle, but inevitable nonetheless."
"Then what do you suggest?" another official asked. "We just let Azazel run wild? Hope he gets bored and goes home?"
"We find a way to separate him from his Shard," Josh said. "That's what the guardian told us. Break the bond between host and crystal."
"And how exactly do we do that?" Russo asked. "The guardian wasn't specific."
"No. But I think it has something to do with choice. Azazel accepted the Shard willingly—eventually. He let it change him because he wanted the power. If we can make him reject it, choose his humanity over the strength it gives him, maybe the bond breaks."
The woman in the suit looked skeptical. "You're suggesting we psychologically manipulate an interdimensional tyrant into giving up god-like power? That's your plan?"
"It's better than turning more people into potential tyrants," Kyla shot back. "Sir, if you start bonding soldiers to Shards, you're just creating more Azazels. More threats we'll have to fight later."
"She's right," Russo said firmly. "We're not going down that path. Not unless we have absolutely no other choice." She turned back to Josh. "Reeves, you're our expert on Shard bonding, unfortunately. What would it take to make Azazel reject his power?"
Josh thought about the visions he'd seen, about the young man beaten in the alley who'd been desperate enough to touch the Shard. "He'd need a reason to choose weakness again. Something worth being vulnerable for. But I don't think that exists for him anymore. He's been the King for too long. Everyone he cared about is dead."
"So it's impossible," the official said.
"I didn't say that. Just very, very difficult." Josh ran his hand through his hair. "The Shard feeds on negative emotions—pain, anger, loneliness, fear. If we could somehow show Azazel positive emotions, remind him what it felt like to be human before the corruption... maybe. But he'd have to want to change. We can't force it."
"This is a waste of time," another official said. "We should be developing weapons, not trying to redeem a monster."
The meeting devolved into arguments after that. Officials demanding military solutions, scientists insisting on more research, everyone talking over each other. Josh tuned it out, his mind elsewhere.
Finally, Russo cut through the noise. "Enough. Here's what's going to happen. Dr. Walsh and Dr. El-Sayed will continue researching the temple and the sealed Shard. The tactical teams will maintain defensive positions in major cities. And Reeves, Martinez—you two are coming back to DC. We need you here for training and strategic planning."
"What about the temple?" Dr. El-Sayed asked. "There's still so much we haven't translated."
"Leave a research team. But our field commanders need to be where they can respond quickly to threats. Egypt is secure for now."
After the conference ended, Josh stepped out of the tent into the desert heat. The sun was brutal at midday, but after the cold of the temple, it felt good. Real. Human.
Stevens found him a few minutes later. "Heard the meeting was rough."
"Politicians want to weaponize the Shards. Scientists want to study them. And I'm supposed to figure out how to save someone who doesn't want to be saved." Josh kicked at the sand. "Some days I really miss just giving out parking tickets."
"Parking tickets were boring though. Admit it—you like this better. The adventure, the excitement, the occasional near-death experience." Stevens sat down in the sand, patting the spot next to him. "Come on, have a seat. Let's pretend we're normal people for five minutes."
Josh sat, and they watched the desert shimmer in the heat. In the distance, he could see the temple entrance, that door to ancient secrets and terrible warnings.
"Can I tell you something?" Josh said quietly. "And you promise not to tell anyone, especially not Kyla?"
"Uh oh. This sounds serious."
"I'm scared. Not of Azazel, not of the fighting. I'm scared of myself. Of what I'm becoming." Josh held up his hand, letting small flames dance across his fingers. "Every time I use these powers, they get easier. More natural. And I like it, Stevens. I like being special, being powerful. And that terrifies me because that's exactly how it starts."
Stevens was quiet for a long moment. "You know what I think? I think the fact that you're scared is good. Means you're still human enough to question yourself. Azazel probably stopped being scared centuries ago. Stopped questioning whether what he was doing was right."
"But what if fear isn't enough? What if one day I just... stop caring about being human? What if the power becomes more important than everything else?"
"Then your friends drag you back. That's what we're here for." Stevens bumped Josh's shoulder. "Look, I'm not smart like Dr. Walsh or experienced like Rodriguez. But I know people. And I know you, Josh. You're too stubborn to let some magic space rock turn you evil. You'd fight it every step of the way, even if it killed you."
"That's not exactly reassuring."
"It's not supposed to be. It's supposed to be honest." Stevens stood up, brushing sand off his pants. "Come on. I heard the mess tent is serving something called kushari for lunch. Dr. El-Sayed says it's amazing, and if we're flying back to DC tomorrow, we should try authentic Egyptian food while we can."
The kushari was indeed amazing—a mix of rice, lentils, pasta, and spicy sauce that somehow worked perfectly together. Josh ate three servings, partly because it was delicious and partly because it was normal. Just food, just friends, just a moment of peace before everything got complicated again.
That afternoon, he found Kyla in the temple chamber, helping Dr. Walsh document some of the more complex symbol sequences.
"Hey," he said. "Got a minute?"
They stepped outside into the slightly cooler evening air. The sun was setting, painting the desert in shades of orange and purple.
"What's up?" Kyla asked.
"I wanted to apologize. For last night. For dumping all my fears and insecurities on you at two in the morning."
"Josh, you don't need to apologize for being scared. I'm scared too."
"Yeah, but you don't wake me up every night to talk about it."
"That's because I process things differently. I worry quietly and punch things when I get stressed." Kyla smiled slightly. "We all have our methods. Yours is talking. Mine is violence. Together we make a complete person."
Josh laughed despite himself. "When you put it that way, we sound like a therapy session waiting to happen."
"Probably. But we're functional enough to save the world repeatedly, so I'd say we're doing okay." Kyla took his hand. "Seriously though, I meant what I said last night. You're not alone in this. Whatever happens, whatever choices you have to make, I'm here. We'll figure it out together."
"What if the choice is between my powers and... everything else? What if I have to give them up to stop Azazel?"
"Then you give them up. We find another way to fight. You go back to being regular Josh, the guy who's terrible at stone skipping and has questionable taste in coffee drinks." Kyla squeezed his hand. "The powers are useful, but they're not what makes you important. You are. Josh Reeves, the person. Not Josh Reeves, the dimensional weapon."
"I don't know if I could do it. Give them up. After feeling this..." Josh created a small flame in his free hand, watching it dance. "How do you go back to being normal after being extraordinary?"
"By remembering that extraordinary people aren't defined by what they can do. They're defined by who they are and what they choose." Kyla reached out and closed his hand, extinguishing the flame. "You were extraordinary before the powers. You just didn't realize it."
They stood together watching the sunset, both knowing that tomorrow they'd return to the real world, to briefings and training and the constant pressure of being humanity's defenders. But for now, they had this moment. This peace.
"I love you," Josh said quietly. "I don't think I say that enough."
"I love you too. And you say it plenty. Sometimes with words, sometimes with actions, sometimes with the way you look at me when you think I'm not paying attention." Kyla leaned against him. "We're going to be okay, Josh. I don't know how, but we are."
Josh wanted to believe her. Chose to believe her. Because the alternative—giving in to despair, accepting that corruption was inevitable—that was how Azazel had started down his dark path.
That night, their last night in Egypt, the team gathered for a farewell dinner. Dr. El-Sayed's research team had prepared a feast—traditional Egyptian dishes, far too much food, and a celebratory atmosphere despite the heavy knowledge they'd gained.
"To new discoveries," Dr. El-Sayed toasted. "And to friends who risk their lives protecting the rest of us from ancient evils. May you always find your way home."
"To not becoming ancient evils ourselves," Stevens added, raising his own glass. "And to kushari, which I'm definitely trying to find back home."
They ate and talked and laughed, pretending for a few hours that they were just people enjoying a meal together. Not soldiers in an impossible war. Not scientists studying humanity's potential extinction. Just friends.
But later, as Josh lay in his tent trying to sleep, the weight of it all came crashing back. The visions, the warnings, the knowledge that he was walking the same path that had destroyed countless others. And the terrible certainty that eventually, he'd have to make an impossible choice.
His powers or his humanity.
The mission or himself.
Strength or love.
He didn't know which he'd choose when the moment came. And that uncertainty kept him awake until the sun rose over the desert once more.
The flight back to DC was long and quiet. The team was exhausted, physically and emotionally. Josh slept most of the way, his dreams a confused mix of ancient symbols and frozen wastelands.
When they landed, it was late afternoon. Admiral Russo was waiting personally, which was unusual.
"Welcome back," she said. "I hope you got some rest on the plane, because we have a situation. Multiple weak points are opening simultaneously across Asia—China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam. And the dimensional energy signatures suggest this isn't random creatures. This is coordinated. Organized."
"Azazel's making another move," Rodriguez said grimly.
"Worse. We're detecting multiple distinct energy signatures. Different from Azazel's, different from each other. It's like..." Russo paused. "It's like multiple Shard-users are active. All at once."
The implication hit Josh like a physical blow. "You're saying there are others like Azazel? Other people bonded to Shards?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. And they're all converging on Asia." Russo pulled up a map showing the weak points and energy readings. "We think they're looking for something. Or someone."
"The sealed Shard," Dr. Walsh realized. "They know it's in Egypt. They're trying to draw our forces away so they can claim it."
"Then we need to split up," Josh said. "Some of us stay to guard the temple. Others handle the Asia situation."
"Already in motion. Rodriguez, you're leading the temple defense with half our tactical teams. Reeves, Martinez, you're with me to Asia. We leave in four hours."
Four hours. Just enough time to shower, change, grab equipment, and head back out. No rest. No time to process. Just straight back into the fire.
As the team dispersed to prepare, Kyla pulled Josh aside. "You okay? You look like you're about to collapse."
"I'm fine. Just tired." Josh forced a smile. "Four hours of sleep on a plane isn't quite enough to recover from fighting existential dread."
"Well, get some real sleep before we leave. Doctor's orders. Well, girlfriend's orders. Close enough."
"Yes ma'am." Josh headed toward his quarters, but Kyla's voice stopped him.
"Josh? The choice you're worried about making? Between powers and humanity? You don't have to make it alone. When the time comes, we'll figure it out together. Okay?"
"Okay."
But as Josh lay down for what little rest he could get, he couldn't shake the feeling that some choices had to be made alone. Some sacrifices had to be given willingly, without anyone else bearing the weight.
The guardian had said it required great sacrifice. Not sacrifices. Singular. One person. One choice.
And Josh was starting to suspect that person was him.
Outside his window, clouds gathered over DC. Somewhere across the world, multiple Shard-users were converging. The war the ancient beings had started was still being fought. And Earth was becoming the newest battlefield.
Josh closed his eyes and tried to rest. Tried to gather strength for whatever was coming.
Because something was definitely coming.
And he had a terrible feeling it was going to change everything.
End of Chapter 34