Taran flew home to the Syndicate Headquarters as fast as he could. The wind whipped around him as he hurtled down quiet streets. Trees swayed in the gusts, their branches heaving back and forth. He normally would have been more careful, not flown so low over the city. But the message couldn’t have been more explicit.

Taran, you need to come back. Something’s happened to Maya.

The words from Control were still ringing in his head. What could have happened? He activated his earpiece. “Silver Cyclone: I’m landing at the Command Center.”

There was an affirmative reply, and the paneled glass roof began to slide open. Taran slowed his descent and dropped into the building. A flurry of people in navy support uniforms scrambled around the room. It appeared to be another busy night for them. Some were furiously typing into consoles while others scanned monitors for readings that Taran didn’t understand. He landed onto the tile floor and looked around for a familiar face.

Doctor Peters approached. “Taran, thank God you’re here. You need to come with me.” They headed to the elevator and took the floor to the trainee dormitory.

“Tell me everything.” Taran said, pulling off his mask and storing it his coat pocket.

Doctor Peters filled Taran in on what she knew. Shortly after dinner, the other trainees in the wing reported a sudden burst of dark energy from Maya’s room, followed by what they believed were screams. The medical staff was alerted, and when they arrived, they found her in her room completely unresponsive.

“Do you think it has anything to do with her necklace?” Taran asked. Maya was naturally sensitive to psychic forces and could often sense things before they happened. However, she drew much of her strength from the beaded necklace she always wore. When she first arrived at the Syndicate as a child, the jewelry was known to behave erratically, but Maya had learned to control many of these side effects as she progressed in her training.

The doctor shook her head. “This doesn’t fit anything we’ve seen from Maya before. There’s an outside force causing this, but I can’t identify it. My equipment isn’t designed to handle this sort of energy,” The elevator stopped, and the two ran down the dormitory hall to Maya’s room. The security officer standing outside let them pass.

Taran stepped inside the room and gasped. Maya was in the middle of the room, flat on her back with her arms spread out wide, and floating about four feet off the ground. Her eyes were closed, and she drew small, shallow breaths. A shiny white medbot hovered around her, taking scans and beeping as it documented information.

“We tried moving her, but something seems to be anchoring her to this spot.” Doctor Peters explained. “I thought it would be safer to leave her here for observation.”

Taran moved towards Maya’s floating body and shivered. Something in the room just didn’t vibe right with him. He felt a cold, massive stone sink into the pit of his stomach. The feeling was one of pure dread.

“What on earth is going on in here?”

“You feel it too, then?” Doctor Peters shuddered. “I think she’s projecting some sort of empathic aura. It feels like something terrible is about to happen the minute you enter the room.”

Inching closer, Taran tried to examine Maya further. Her eyes fluttered rapidly beneath her eyelids as if she was struggling with something in a dream. She appeared to be whispering something over and over, and Taran leaned in to hear what she was saying. He couldn’t quite make it out.

Maya’s eyes shot open. They were completely black and radiated with dark energy. Taran fell back in fear.

Maya heaved a deep breath and began to scream. Taran realized it wasn’t a scream of pain, but rather like she was calling out to something in the distance. Maya’s voice grew louder and louder for several seconds before trailing off. There was another gasp of breath and a voice that wasn’t Maya’s spoke.

“HE IS COMING. THE FAITHFUL AWAIT HIS RETURN. LEGIONS SHALL FALL IN THE REAPING.”

Taran had never seen or heard anything like this before. The voice that gave the warning was low and guttural, like something from deep within the earth. It echoed impossibly in the small room. Maya gave another scream, this time in her own voice. Her body suddenly relaxed and fell. Taran dove forward and managed to catch her before she hit the floor. The feeling of dread from the room faded away as Maya opened her eyes.

“What?! Where am I? Taran?” she asked, completely confused.

Taran gently set Maya down on the edge of the bed and offered an arm for support. “Maya, you’ve been in some sort of trance. Are you OK?”

“I… I think so.”

“Do you remember anything at all?”

Maya searched hard for a memory. “I ran to my room for a book when something seemed to grab onto my mind. It was bleak and cold, and I wasn’t able to move from where I stood. My necklace flared up right afterward like it was vibrating with energy. I must have blacked out because I don’t remember anything else. And now you’re here.”

Taran looked up at Doctor Peters, who was running diagnostics on the med bot. He filled Maya in on how they had found her, and also what she had screamed during her trance.

Maya’s face went white. “Fall in the reaping? What does that even mean?”

“I wish I knew. What do you think caused it?”

“If it was a spirit, it wasn’t one I was familiar with. This wasn’t my necklace acting up, Taran. I know those spirits and can usually negotiate with them. Most of them like being part of a team, but even the more stubborn ones aren’t malicious.” She gently ran her fingertips over a few of the dark beads. “Whatever this was, it pissed them off. They feel very upset that something’s happened to me.”

“Well, that’s kind of touching.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of like dealing with a few dozen overprotective siblings.” Maya looked into Taran’s eyes and tried to keep her voice steady. “This energy was dark, and something far more powerful than anything I’ve ever felt before. It’s clearly some sort of warning... I just wish I knew what it was warning us against.”

Doctor Peters ran a few more tests and determined that Maya wasn’t in any physical danger. She recommended rest and told Maya and Taran that she would check in the next day before taking her leave.

Taran waited for the door to close and turned to his friend. “Are you sure you’re alright?” He asked.

“As well as I can be, I guess. There’s no way of knowing if this will happen again, but I think the necklace spirits will keep me safe for now.”

Taran reached over and squeezed Maya’s hand. “I’m just glad you’re OK. I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you.”

“Well, just be around to catch me the next time it happens.” Maya smiled weakly. “Something tells me this isn’t the last time I get a visit from our mysterious messenger.”

Taran was in awe that his friend seemed so calm. This wasn’t Maya’s first brush with mysterious dark forces, and he was always impressed with how well she handled the horrors. He could still remember the feeling of despair he had watching her frozen in the trance. Did those feelings linger for her as well?

“Say, you were at Ronnie’s house, weren’t you?”

“Yes, everything went very well. He starts tomorrow.”

“That’s good! I can’t wait to see what he can do.”

Taran nodded. “You better get some sleep.” He stood up from the bed. “Goodnight, Maya. If you feel anything at all like you did before, you contact me first thing, I mean it.” He kissed her on the forehead and left the room.

Back in his quarters, Taran paced across the living room, reciting the words that Maya had said. He played the warning over and over in his head, but couldn’t find an explanation. He was afraid that they’d have to wait for something terrible to happen again before the message made sense. But Maya was safe, and that would have to be enough for now.

Feeling sick and worried about his oldest friend wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling for Taran, and he recalled the first time he met her. Maya had come to the Syndicate about ten years before as a little girl. Her parents were famous collectors of antiquities, and their house was a revolving showcase of ancient and mysterious artifacts. Many of the items were heirlooms passed down from generation to generation, and Maya’s psychic ability meant that she was sometimes able to glean information from them. Echoes of those who had once owned the artifacts or events an item had been present for. When they discovered this, Maya’s parents began scouring the globe for darker objects in hopes they could find ancient secrets to riches and power.

At some point, they brought in the beaded necklace. It had been unearthed from a mysterious tomb and was very puzzling. The beads varied greatly in style and material as if each one had been made in a different country and culture. It was clear there was some sort of connection the moment Maya’s parents brought her before the necklace. After days of study, the beads were found to contain the spirits of powerful entities from around the world. And through them, Maya was imbued with powers.

Taran didn’t know the exact details, but there had been an accident shortly after Maya received the necklace. One night, the stately manor where Maya’s family lived was entirely destroyed by a powerful, very localized earthquake. First responders arrived at the scene and found ten-year-old Maya under rubble, seemingly unharmed and still wearing the necklace. Clearly possessing abilities and with no other family, Maya moved to the Syndicate and ended up in the care of Dr. Peters. Taran’s powers manifested shortly after, and he and Maya learned how to control them together. It was the kind of upbringing that fostered the closest of friendships.

Taran hung his suit up in the closet and tried to relax before bed. Incident with Maya aside, the rest of the evening had been rather pleasant. The Nolans were a lovely family, and Taran was pleased with just how well everything was working out for Ronnie. He also remembered walking back to the car, the two of them alone in the evening air. He had been so at ease, which was a really refreshing feeling.

Taran was looking forward to having another person his age to talk to at the headquarters. Many of the provisional heroes that he had grown up with transferred to other Chapters after they become full Syndicate members. It was the nature of superhero work, but it still made him feel a little lonely. Most of the current trainees were much younger than Taran was, and the others tended to be too star-struck by his family connections to form what felt like a real friendship. He had Maya, and some friends in Syndicate Support, but that was about it in regards to his social circle.

There was something else that tickled the back of Taran’s mind. He allowed himself a rare moment of honesty and had to admit that he felt a bit smitten with Ronnie. As soon as the emotion was processed, a familiar wave of shame washed over him. But there was no denying it.

Taran found it was easier to hide being attracted to men when there weren’t any around to be interested in. He kept his head down, focused on his studies, and tried to be a good superhero. But that didn’t stop the awkward interactions with his father. Crimson Cosmonaut wanted grandkids, and it was getting harder and harder to come up with excuses as to why a handsome guy like Taran couldn’t seem to find a girlfriend.

Maya knew. She was his best friend, of course, but you can’t hide that sort of thing from a telepath. Taran had confided in her after much prodding years before. He had faced a particularly dark week, and Maya found him upset in his room of the trainee wing. She picked up on some troubling vibes and wouldn’t let it go until he confessed. Maya was sympathetic to his family situation, but over time believed that the best thing to do was just come out. She insisted that his parents would want him to be his most authentic self.

Taran wasn’t so sure. His older brother was gone, and they had already lost so much. He just couldn’t be the one that took more away. To admit that Crimson Cosmonaut’s remaining child was never going to produce an heir. The family line ended with Taran: the smaller, quieter, weaker son. If Taran told his parents the truth, he’d just be denying them the hope for a happy future. He refused to put them through that. So instead, he threw himself into work: teaching new trainees, developing new procedures, and keeping himself as busy as possible.

It had been working.

But then Ronnie blew up in an alleyway.

Sweet, caring Ronnie, who was more worried about the guy who assaulted him than he was about himself.

Taran thought back to earlier that evening. About how peaceful everything felt before he got the emergency call. He had been doing so well, been so focused. Yet here he was, latching onto the first guy that just so happened to be kind to him.

“I’m fucking hopeless,” he thought. Even still, he had enjoyed hanging out. And he liked how he felt when they were together. “I need to get over this. It’s just a stupid crush! Ronnie’s life has just totally turned upside down. Stop thinking about yourself!” Taran would be happy to have a new friend, but there was no reason to believe it would be anything more than that. It couldn’t be, for so many reasons.

Taran’s mood had fully taken a turn as he settled into bed. He set an early alarm to prepare for another busy day. There wasn’t time to dwell on any more feelings.