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  It hadn’t just been the young man’s eyes that had reached out to Aegeus and told him that he had finally found the child that he had longed for for the years that they had been apart. The curve of his face was stronger, sharper now that it had the years of a grown man on it, but it was still the face of the little boy who had waited for him at the window until he returned home from battle and watched him with rapt attention as he told him of what he had experienced. Aegeus had always been so careful not to tell Maxim too much. There were details that he was never to know, things that happened that Aegeus had to simply pretend didn’t happen at all. Instead, he would take simple moments and expand them, making them more important and more impactful than they had been so that he could make his son feel as though he had been there with him, that they weren’t apart for all of those days that the battles brought him from their home. He had never wanted Maxim to go through any of the things that he had. He had hoped that the harder that he fought and the more that he put into his service to the Order, the less turmoil and conflict would exist by the time that his sons were old enough to fight. As soon as his plan for the final battle on Uoria had gone awry, though, he knew that that had been a naïve and futile aspiration. He had failed them and the rest of his kind.

  Now as Aegeus watched the man run from the battlefield, he knew that he was seeing Maxim. All of the men of his kind were incredibly fast, but there had been none like his son. From the time that he was a tiny child he had run with a speed that rivaled even the men, and he knew that the older he got, the more potent that capability would be. In the few moments before he disappeared into the desert, though, Aegeus noticed that Maxim didn’t look completely sure of himself. His steps seemed hesitant, as if he hadn’t run in some time. This was a painful and sad thought for Aegeus. He knew that he had missed so much of his son’s life. He had missed him growing tall and his face becoming so much like his own. He had missed him training for the army and serving under the King. He had missed all that he had learned and all that he had accomplished. Somehow, though, knowing that Maxim didn’t run anymore like he had when he was younger cut into Aegeus more deeply. It underscored all that had changed and all that could have been had he not been captured that day on the battlefield.

  The battle around Aegeus was nothing more than a loose scattering of people across what had been their battlefield and he could see the two armies splitting and heading in their own directions, leaving each other as if they had lost their determination and the drive to fight, at least for that moment. It was a strange sight, something that he knew in the back of his mind that he had witnessed countless times before, and yet he felt disoriented and out of balance watching it now. He searched his mind, trying to think back to the other battles that he had fought and how they had ended. He remembered the hardships of the battles that had resulted in horrific injuries and escaping from the fray to help those who were wounded, or to be helped himself. He remembered chasing the enemies away from the center of the clash, forcing them away until they had run, leaving only his army in place. Though he knew that there had been times that were more like this, the battle ending in both sides exiting, their energy depleted and their determination shifted to regrouping and rebuilding so that they were prepared for what they knew would be another fight on another day, it was difficult to actually recall any of those battles happening. He wished that he could now. There was so much that he wished that he could remember, that seemed to have been taken from him by the years that he had spent in Ryan’s laboratory.

  During his captive years Aegeus had survived by disappearing into his thoughts. He had lived within the moments that he had already had and the times that he had already spent, choosing to forget that life was continuing forward and preferring to borrow what he had already experienced to carry him through. This was far easier for him when he was first captured and Ryan held him only as himself. The scientist, so much younger then, had held him and taunted him, so pleased with himself for finally getting his hands on the powerful and aggressively hunted Aegeus. Those were the times when it was easy for Aegeus to lose himself in his own thoughts. They were still fresh and new in his mind, and he was able to access them unfettered. Whenever he pleased he could simply sink into his mind and relive the moments that he treasured the most. He would pretend that he was in Ellora’s arms again. He could feel himself embracing her and the touch of her lips on his cheek. He would imagine himself playing with his sons, their laughter filling his ears and blotting out the sounds of the lab and Ryan’s voice.

  The longer that he was there, though, the harder it was for him to access some of the memories that he held within him. His focus narrowed and he was only able to truly experience some of the strongest and most powerful of his thoughts. This only worsened when Ryan decided that he was going to use Aegeus not just for the Mikana DNA that he offered, but for the mutated, transformed DNA that he would be able to extract if he was able to turn the man into the thing that he hated most ferociously. The transformation from being Mikana to being Klimnu was excruciating beyond anything that Aegeus would ever have expected. He fought the toxins that tried to make their way through his veins, struggling against them as if he could control the blood that beat from his heart and swept the virulent compounds through him until they were able to take over his very cells and change them. He remembered the feeling of his soul clawing for the surface, pushing through the corruption and evil that tried to take him over, fighting to keep him, at least part of him, as he had been. During his time as Klimnu, Aegeus had been blocked off from many of his thoughts and memories. He knew that the alteration affected not just his body but also his mind, amplifying the anger, viciousness, greed, and sadism that existed, if even in the tiniest of flickers, within all living creatures. If he allowed himself to reach out to those thoughts, he made them vulnerable. They could be exposed to those changes in his mind and soon he would lose the love and strength that he got from them. He would no longer be able to think of them in the beautiful way that he had, but would be bitter and angry toward them. This would allow even more of him to slip away and he feared that if enough of that happened, he would soon be beyond redemption. Aegeus was forced to surrender himself, at least partially, to the change that Ryan had caused in him. He had to give up drifting unchained through his thoughts and instead survive on only a few of his memories, reliving those days over and over again to stop him from giving up completely.

  Now that Ciyrs and Elianna had brought him back, returned him to his full Mikana state, he was able to reach those memories again. He could feel himself coming back to life, restoring what he had sometimes feared was dead, and resurrecting the determination to fight against the Order and the corruption that had started there that had shifted into determination only to not let Ryan win.

  Aegeus fell into step behind those who were starting across the desert, presumably toward the compound. He didn’t know what would happen when they got there, but it was a step. This was the first time in so many years that he had been able to fight for what he believed, and Aegeus knew that he wasn’t going to stop now. This was just beginning and there was far more to be done.

  Chapter Four

  Ellora kept her eyes focused on the river beside her as she walked. They had discovered it soon after stepping through the low-overhanging branches of the tree that had encircled them when they climbed out of the tunnels and Athan had suggested that they follow it. The water would lead them through these open sections of Uoria and back to the kingdom. Stars sparkled on the surface of the dark water, shimmering through the blackness to create pricks of blue that danced and wavered as the river moved. It felt like they were so far removed from the kingdom that they would never find their way back. She had never seen this portion of the planet before or even heard something like this described. It was almost as though they had left Uoria all together and were now crossing through some unknown land. As they continued, though, Athan reassured her that this was certainly Uoria, that this was a
section that he had seen before, though many years before, and that it would take time for them to get back.

  The thought of walking across the planet for what might be more than a day was frightening for Ellora. They were fully exposed, completely vulnerable to the Order or to anyone else who might not wish for them to be passing this way. She wished that they were more armed, that she had brought some of the weapons from Aegeus’s war room down into the tunnels with her, or that either of the men had been more prepared. Their weapons were paltry, their supplies even more so, and she worried about what that would mean for their mission. She couldn’t imagine going much further without food or anything with which to make a shelter. As soon as that thought went through her mind, she felt ashamed of herself. She knew that there were countless times when her husband would leave home thinking that he was only going to be gone a short time and found himself in a far more serious and pressing situation than he expected. Those situations had put him in circumstances that were much more difficult than the ones in which she found herself now. He would have had little to eat and only the most basic of supplies. There were times when he returned home and said that he never wanted to leave the bed because of the nights that he had spent sleeping on the ground with nothing between him and the dirt but the grass and nothing over top of him but the stars.

  Using these memories to strengthen her, Ellora quickened her pace, putting more energy into her feet to bring her up so that she walked alongside Athan.

  “Will we arrive back to the kingdom tonight?” she asked.

  Athan shook his head, not turning to look at her.

  “No,” he said. “It will likely be tomorrow afternoon, maybe even tomorrow evening before we get there.”

  Ellora shook her head, not knowing what to make out of his answer.

  “I don’t understand,” she said. “We didn’t go that far in the tunnels. We didn’t run through them for an entire day. How could we possibly be that far away from the kingdom now?”

  She noticed Athan glance back over his shoulder at Mhavrych, who had been walking along behind them since they had climbed out of the tunnels.

  “There are things about the Order that no one understands,” Mhavrych answered. “That includes their surroundings and the things that they have within them as much as the people.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Ellora argued. “We could only be as far away from the kingdom as we traveled inside of the tunnels.”

  “And yet we aren’t.”

  She didn’t like the answer or the way that it made her feel, but she knew that there was no point in arguing any further. They weren’t going to tell her anything. Aegeus had been clear with her about the secretiveness of the Order. He told her far more than he was permitted to tell, and even that had been only the most basic of details. She had the feeling that there was much about it that even those within its most sacred of circles didn’t know and didn’t understand, and even if they did, they weren’t going to share it with her. She would just have to trust that they were going to do what was best and ensure that she could do for her husband what she should have done so long before.

  “How much longer are we going to go tonight?” she asked after several long moments of silence.

  “Until our legs can’t carry us any further,” Athan said. “As soon as we stop, we are in more danger. The faster that we can get back to the kingdom and find Creia, the better chances we have to survive this and get to Penthos.”

  ****

  The sun was hot overhead by the time that they could see the kingdom ahead of them the next day. Ellora felt a wave of relief as she saw the stone wall that surrounded the kingdom, feeling as though they were finally nearing home and the protection that awaited there, but she could see the two men tensing.

  “The Order is going to be looking for us,” Athan said. “By now they would have scoured the tunnels. They know that we got out. They will have people scattered across the planet searching for us, and even more around the border of the kingdom looking for any sign of our return. Getting inside and to Creia is going to be the most dangerous part of this journey. If they capture us, we’ll wish that we died getting out of the tunnels.”

  Ellora’s mind was swimming and her body felt weak. They had found some berries and a few nuts when they were walking, but she was still hungry and the lack of adequate food was making it difficult to concentrate. She knew what Athan had said was extremely important, but she couldn’t process it, almost as though her mind wouldn’t allow her to.

  “What are we going to do?” she finally asked.

  “Mhavrych,” Athan said. “How did you get back here from Penthos? Did you ride in the ship with the others?”

  “No,” the other man said. “I have my own ways of traveling.”

  “What are they?” Athan asked. Mhavrych looked hesitant, as if reluctant to share with them how he was able to move from planet to planet quickly and without the benefit of a ship to bring him. “You need to tell us,” Athan said, recognizing the hesitation.

  “I can’t,” Mhavrych said. “I’ve been sworn.”

  Ellora saw Athan take a threatening step toward the man.

  “I don’t know who you are or what you are doing here, but I do know that you need to start cooperating with us. The only reason that I trust you at all is that you say that you knew Aegeus.”

  “I do know Aegeus,” Mhavrych said forcefully. “I have known him since before he left Uoria.”

  “Yet you won’t tell us how.”

  “I can’t,” he repeated. “There are things that can’t be said. I’ve been sworn to protect them.”

  “Loyalties no longer apply, Mhavrych,” Athan said. “We have betrayed the Order and the oaths that we once made. All that matters now is survival. If you know a way that we can get into that kingdom and find Creia without the Order finding us, you have to tell us. Whatever it is that you are protecting is not going to be any good if we don’t even make it across this field alive. Even if most of them don’t know who you are or what you are doing here, you aren’t safe. They were going to kill Ellora without a second thought. Don’t think that they would hesitate to do the same to you.”

  Mhavrych stared back at Athan. The look in his eyes was fierce, almost threatening. Ellora could see in them that this man was not afraid, not even of the threat of death. Whatever it was that he was defending was far more important to him than his own life and he would be ready and willing to lay down his life in order to ensure that it was guarded properly. His eyes flickered over to Ellora and she saw something more in them. There was a pull, a lingering draw of emotion that seemed to be inspired by looking at her.

  “For Aegeus,” Mhavrych said. “Only for Aegeus. He trusted me and I will do what I can for him.”

  “Thank you,” Ellora said.

  “Come with me,” Mhavrych told them without acknowledging her.

  There was no fondness for her in his agreement to help them get inside the kingdom. He only cared about protecting what he had taken out of the tunnel and honoring Aegeus.

  Ellora and Athan fell into step behind Mhavrych as he moved quickly away from where they had been standing. Rather than moving toward the kingdom, he seemed to be walking along in front of it, heading past it as quickly as he could go. When they were beyond it, he turned sharply and headed away from it, his back toward the stone wall that had been the only promise of hope for Ellora.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  Mhavrych ignored her and continued forward, leaving her with no other option but to follow along with him or turn back, attempting to enter the kingdom on her own and without even the modicum of protection that was offered by having the men with her. She glanced up at Athan and knew that there really wasn’t a choice. Without the men, she was far more vulnerable. She didn’t understand the Order the way that they did, she didn’t know what they were going to do or what they were capable of should they find her, especially on her own. She had to go along with Mha
vrych, even if she didn’t know where they were going or what he might expect them to do. She had to believe that if this man knew her husband and had gained his trust, she could trust him as well.

  They continued on for what felt like hours, stopping only to drink water from a small creek that they found and to eat from a grove of trees. Finally Mhavrych led them through a thicket of trees to a larger part of the same creek. The trees around them were so thick that they blocked out the evening sun until it was nearly dark. He walked out onto a large boulder and turned to face them.

  “Come here,” he said.

  They walked out onto the rock with him, Ellora stepping up as close to Athan as she could out of fear of falling into the water beneath. When they were standing close to him, Mhavrych looked at both for a few seconds. Without saying anything or giving any warning, he reached down and grabbed onto their wrists. Ellora gasped as she felt Mhavrych drag them both forward and jumped into the water. His grip was firm and tight, preventing her from fighting away from him beneath the cold water.

  Ellora expected the water to be shallow at this portion of the creek and was shocked when she felt them continuing to sink. She thrashed against his grip again, but he only held her more tightly, forcing her closer to his side as he kicked through the water so that they moved backwards. Ellora tried to see the surface, but they had gone so far beneath the water that she couldn’t even see the slight amount of light that had been available to them before they went below the water. Her lungs were starting to burn with the small amount of breath that she was able to catch in them before they broke through the surface and she worried that she was not going to be able to survive long enough to break free of Mhavrych’s grasp and get out of the water. She could feel herself slipping away and was nearly giving up when she felt her head emerge from the water.