Elder Cirrus finally put an end to the tests. She ordered David, Kira, and a select few warriors to join her on a journey. Their destination was a place called Ash's End, a dead world on the edge of known space. She refused to explain why until they arrived.
The planet looked like its name suggested. Gray ash covered everything, drifting in the thin atmosphere like snow. Dead cities jutted from the ground like broken teeth. And in orbit around the planet floated thousands of wrecked ships. Some were recognizable coalition designs. Others were older, stranger. A few were so ancient they had to be thousands of years old.
"What happened here?" Kira asked, staring at the graveyard of vessels.
"The First War," Elder Cirrus said quietly. "When the void first came to this galaxy, every species that could fight came here to stop them. Most never left."
The ship descended through the ash clouds and landed near a massive structure. It was a temple, but unlike any David had seen before. The architecture was wrong somehow. The proportions and angles made his eyes hurt to look at too long. But there was something familiar about it, too. Something that tugged at his memory.
"I know this place," he whispered. "I've seen it before."
"In dreams, perhaps," Elder Cirrus said. "Your blood remembers what your mind has forgotten."
Roth stood with them, still weak from his encounter with the void. The proud warrior had been quiet since the outpost, watching David with a mix of confusion and grudging respect. Now, he carried a simple metal spear instead of his plasma rifle. Several other warriors had also abandoned energy weapons in favor of basic blades and clubs.
They entered the temple through doors that opened at Elder Cirrus's touch. Inside, the walls were covered with carvings. They showed figures fighting shadow creatures. The figures were small with no natural armor or claws. They looked almost human.
"Your ancestors built this place," Elder Cirrus explained as they walked deeper into the temple. "Humans were the first to face the void, the first to learn how to fight them."
"But humans weren't even space faring back then," David protested. "How could they build something here? They didn't need ships."
The elder said, "They had something better. They had will."
The group reached a large chamber. Holographic displays activated as they entered, showing scenes from the ancient war. Humans, thousands of them, standing against waves of shadow. They fought with swords and spears, shields and arrows. Primitive weapons that glowed with the same blue light David's sword produced. One hologram showed a human warrior facing down a massive void creature alone. His sword blazed like a star as he struck and the shadow thing dissolved into nothing.
"How?" Kira asked. "How did they make their weapons glow?"
"They didn't make them glow," Elder Cirrus corrected. "The weapons reflect what burns inside them. Humans feel things deeply. Love, hope, courage, desperation. Those feelings become real when facing the void. They become power, emotional energy."
Roth sounded skeptical. "That's not possible."
"Yet you saw it work," the elder reminded him. "David's sword glowed because he was protecting those he cared about. The void feeds on physical energy. Yes, but they starve on emotions. Human emotion is poison to them."
David stared at the holograms. His sword felt heavier at his hip, more important. "What happened to them? The humans who fought here."
Elder Cirrus's face grew sad. "They won, but at a terrible cost. They sealed the void away using weapons of incredible power. Weapons forged from pure human will. These weapons became known as Heaven's Edge. But to power them, the warriors had to sacrifice everything. Their lives, their world, their future. Only a handful survived, scattered across the galaxy. In time, humanity forgot its past and had to claw its way back to the stars the slow way."
"Why are you telling us this now?" Kira asked.
"Because the seals are breaking," Elder Cirrus said. "The void is returning, and humanity's new generation must take up the burden their ancestors carried."
She led them to the center of the chamber. There, floating in a beam of light, was a sword. It looked similar to David's blade, but larger, more refined. The metal seemed to shift colors as they watched, never quite settling on any shade.
"The sword of Dawn's breaking," Elder Cirrus announced. "One of the seven Heaven's Edge weapons. It was forged by a human warrior named Sarah, who gave her life to trap the void king himself. The sword has waited here for millennia for another human worthy to wield it."
David felt drawn to the sword. His own blade vibrated at his side as if recognizing its older sibling. He reached out slowly.
"Wait!" Roth grabbed his arm. "If this weapon is so powerful, why not let someone stronger wield it? A draconian or a Thorian?"
"Because it will kill them," Elder Cirrus said bluntly. "The Heaven's Edge weapons respond only to human emotion. Any other being who touches them will be consumed. Even humans risk death. The power is too great for most to contain."
David hesitated. "Then maybe we should find another human. Someone trained... someone..."
Alarms blared throughout the temple. The holographic displays changed, showing the space around Ash's End. Dozens of void creatures were materializing, bigger than the ones at the outpost. They were tearing through the ship graveyard, feeding on the residual energy in the old vessels.
"They know we're here," Kira said, drawing her blade. "They've come for the sword."
"Not just the sword," Elder Cirrus corrected. "They've come to destroy it. If this weapon is lost, we lose any chance of stopping the void king."