SOME DAYS AGO — COVENANT BASE — DAVID'S ROOM
David sat at his desk, the green sketchbook—Storyboard—open before him, the green pen in his hand. His phone was wedged between his ear and his shoulder.
"Okay," he said, drawing a line. "Hearth. Five abilities. Glimmer is lightning. Destructive. I remember that one."
Eloghosa's voice crackled through the speaker. "Haven. Second ability. Absorbs any attack. Stores it. Redirects it."
David's hand moved across the page, sketching the katana's guard — folded dove wings, delicate, precise.
"That's actually nice."
"Hush. Ice manipulation. Balance of defense and attack."
"Ice," David repeated, shading the blade.
"Veil. Water and mist. Concealment. Feints."
"Makes sense. And Doves?"
"Drift actually."
"Wait actually." David replied.
"Yeah."
"What a trash name, So what do they do?"
"Send them on errands. Teleport to them. Share vision. Disturb people."
"You left something out."
"The doves can also do mid to close range slashes I think and sometimes I ride on them."
David stopped drawing.
"You ride on doves?"
"When I gather them in packs."
"I think the word is flocks."
"Packs is fine."
"But can't you fly."
"Yeah so I should be allowed to ride my doves still… pause."
"Grown ass man by the way"David said.
"Hehehe."
David shook his head, finishing the sketch. The katana gleamed on the page — green shimmer, dove-wing guard, the scabbard's falling blossoms frozen mid-descent.
"Thanks for the info."
He numbered the page.
312.
Then he dematerialized Storyboard.
---
PRESENT — PORT HARCOURT — THE ROOFTOP
David landed on the SUV.
Stride flickered around his feet — green ink boots, Tessy's Gift sketched in manga lines. He was already out of breath. Desire stood on the car behind them, Goliath spinning in his hands.
"Page 97."
Two clones manifested beside him, flanking. Green ink. Identical.
Desire smiled.
"Let's get warmed up. I intend to fully understand my Gift today."
David attacked.
Desire spun Goliath. Wind exploded outward — not cutting, pushing. David flew off the roof, crashing through the window of a closed store. Glass shattered. Mannequins toppled.
"Be safe, David!" Marcel shouted, accelerating.
Desire jumped down from the car roof and followed David into the store.
---
INSIDE THE STORE
The fight was a storm.
Desire spun Goliath — the staff expanded, shrinking, growing, slamming into walls, blocking exits, creating wind blades that sliced through shelves and clothing racks. David moved with Stride, faster than he'd ever been, but Desire was faster. His Faith property — wind, expansion, pressure — filled the store, pressing against David's lungs, his eyes, his will.
"Page 97." Four more clones. They swarmed Desire, green ink copies punching, kicking, drawing his attention.
Desire spun Goliath in a wide arc. Wind flattened them all.
David was already behind him. Spiral spinning in his palm.
Desire turned. Blocked. The Spiral detonated against Goliath's shaft.
Neither moved.
"You're not running," Desire said.
"I'm done running."
They clashed again — hand to hand, Goliath against reinforced fists, Stride against wind. David landed a hit. Desire landed one back. David's lip split. Desire's ribs cracked.
They circled each other.
"You're exhausting," Desire said.
"Bro, shut up and fight. You talk too much." David replied.
They charged each other again.
David's fist — green light, Faith, everything he had — crashed into Desire's chest. At the same moment, Goliath's head slammed into David's stomach.
CRACK-BOOM.
COMMUNION.
Both of them felt it. The perfect alignment. Body, Faith, intent. Their understanding deepened. Their Gifts resonated.
They looked at each other.
Both at 100%. Both still standing. Both knowing they could keep going for seconds more — minutes, maybe.
"Page 312."
David reached into the sketchbook.
---
HEARTH
The katana manifested.
Green ink. Manga lines. But the shape was unmistakable — the dove-wing guard, the scabbard's falling blossoms, the blade's elegant curve.
Desire's eyes widened.
"That's—"
"A friend's Gift." David held Hearth in his remaining hand. His left arm hung limp, dislocated. He didn't have time to fix it. "I drew it from memory."
Desire spun Goliath.
The battle intensified.
David used the doves — not real, but drawn — sending them to flank, to distract. He used Hush to freeze the floor beneath Desire's feet. He used Veil to fill the store with mist and water, obscuring his movements and sending and conducting lightning through the water. He channeled the green lightning through his own body — Glimmer, borrowed, crackling along his skin — accelerating his already fading Stride.
Desire expanded Goliath. The staff grew, wide and long, slamming into walls, creating barriers. He summoned wind to clear the mist and water, to shatter the ice, to push David back.
David held the katana in his mouth.
His arm was gone. His other arm was free. He used the doves for mobility — teleporting short distances, appearing behind Desire, above him, beside him. Ice restricted Desire's movements. Mist concealed every approach. Water flooded the floor, charged with lightning, splashing with every step. Lightning coursed through David's veins, making him faster, making him more.
Then the world shifted.
Not the store. A table. Two chairs. A plate of biscuits.
David and Desire sat across from each other. The fight was still happening — elsewhere, in flashes — but here they were still.
Desire picked up a biscuit. Ate it.
"We're having a man-to-man talk," he said. "Don't be nonchalant."
He offered one to David.
David looked at it.
"I don't like biscuits. They stick in my mouth and teeth."
"Killing each other will be a waste."
"I don't kill humans."David replied.
"I know. Maybe you'll have to kill me to stop me."
David didn't answer.
Desire ate another biscuit.
"There was something you made me understand. I tried to ignore it. I'll recognize it now." He paused. "The belief in God you have makes me sick."
"Then you shouldn't wield a Gift. You're not worthy"David replied.
Desire's eyes narrowed.
"That's wrong. I wield my Gift from my own belief. As a weapon of massacre."
"Do you know God?" David asked. "Have you talked to Him before?"
"I don't want to know His actual self. Separate the work from the man. I've made my own interpretation. I won't doubt it."
FLASH — THE FIGHT. Intense. David vs Goliath.
FLASH BACK.
"Just like how you saved those people."
David's gaze intensified.
"The fact that my Gift went through the massacre — by resonating and reacting to my beliefs — proves I'm right."
FLASH — THE FIGHT. David holding the katana in his mouth. Lightning coursing through his body.
FLASH BACK.
"Do you think you Vanguards are the only ones who represent God?"
David stared at him. Unable to answer.
"That's what I thought too. Unfortunately, you're wrong. Anyone is capable of representing Him. That's why there's meaning to this fight."
FLASH — THE FIGHT. David using doves, ice, mist, water, and lightning. A Spiral forming in his palm with mini doves revolving around it.
FLASH BACK.
Desire pushed the biscuit toward David.
"Let's learn together. Little by little."
David looked at the biscuit. Thought about his mother's voice. God loves everyone. He doesn't discriminate.
He picked up the biscuit. Ate it.
"I understand it too," David said. "We are both representing God. That's why I have no respect. I'm ending this fight now."
Then the table dissolved. The store returned.
Desire expanded Goliath one last time — a barrier of brown wood, thick as a tree trunk, blocking David's path.
The Spiral — green, dense, spinning, with miniature doves revolving around it — destroyed it.
The green light tore through Goliath, through the barrier, through Desire's guard. It struck him in the chest — not killing, but ending. He fell. Goliath clattered beside him, cracked, dim.
"My Gift," Desire said, looking at the broken staff. "It took your side."
David collapsed, staggering, catching himself on a shelf.
"No." He was panting. Bleeding. Missing an arm. "You're wrong."
Desire looked at him.
"It took your side too."
David reached for his sketchbook. Page 309. The healing vial. He uncapped it with his teeth and drank. The wounds on his chest closed. The bleeding stopped. His Faith flickered back to life — not full, but enough.
His arm was still gone.
He tossed another vial to Desire.
"Thank you," David said. "For making me understand."
Desire caught the vial. Uncapped it. Drank. His ribs knitted. His bruises faded.
He looked at Goliath. The staff was cracked. Dim.
"Same," he said.
David pulled out his phone.
"Where are you Marcel?"
He hung up and sat down beside Desire for a moment. The broken store around them. The sun finally rising through the shattered windows.
Then he stood.
Then he left.