The dark figure lifted himself from the decimated walkway section above. His ripped cloak fluttered gracefully as he floated closer to the young woman and Brad. With tenderness, he extended his palm to touch the whirling aura of luminescent flecks. Sparks of light rebounded from his glove as he pushed his hand further into the field. The man withdrew his hand and scoffed,

"Wisp of a forgotten world. No doubt beautiful, if provoked. A safeguard though? Get with the times, Amelia."

He stepped back into an offensive stance. The panels vibrated underneath him. The whirling defensive aura hummed with instability. A vicious red beam swung from a metal harness on his wrist. It rotated quickly around his arm, increasing with speed every second. Amelia held Brad tighter to her chest. The red beam uttered a sharp crackle and solidified into a saber. He was preparing to strike. He arched his back and his coat stretched. Horns began visibly piercing through his skin. He groaned and gritted his teeth. His eyes burned a sickening, deep blood red. He clenched his other fist and lowered his head, 

"Do you realize what you've jeopardized by running here? You selfish bitch. We had the ADVANTAGE! And you fucked it up."

Amelia focused her face down towards him. Brad, simultaneously filled with uncertainty, regret, amazement, and fear, received her gaze. The headpiece unlocked and shifted into itself. A mechanism twisted and revealed her eyes. Her eyeballs were bright white with miniature dashed rings encircling her eye sockets. She spoke,

"He'll kill you if I give him the chance. Once I initiate the transmogrification, you'll be taken far from here. I'm not sure where, but I'll find you before Desmond does. I'm sorry, but this was the only way to make things right."

Desmond lunged forward and struck a powerful blow into the protective aura of wisps. The wisps shrieked and the defensive shield burst. Amelia tossed Brad upwards and swiftly cast the transmogrification spell from both of her hands. The spell traveled upwards and encapsulated Brad's body. With a final breath, Brad's entire being was instantaneously transformed into a ray of light. The ray of light darted upwards into the ceiling and dissipated into the foreign engravings. Bolts of lightning shot from the point of impact and chased along the surface of the roof. Trails of fire ignited within the engravings as crumbling stones rained from the sky.

Amelia was thrown onto her back and screeched in agony. The wisps were fixated at random points in the air, buoyant without purpose. Desmond began charging his saber again and sauntered towards Amelia,

"You'd bargain the survival of our species with a race of mindless savages? What about us, Amelia? Our culture, our families, our principles, it's all just fucking pocket change to you and your band of lunatics. Your philosophy of 'galactic order' means NOTHING when you're feeding an infection."

Amelia stared upwards at Desmond. He was standing above her now with wisps drifting aimlessly between them. He bent down closer towards her, saber fully charged, and continued,

"You sent that poor soul off into oblivion, and now you forfeit your life. I admire your passion, shame that your playing for the wrong team."