Thalyn woke to a soft tremor beneath her spine, machinery shifting deep below the chamber, like tectonics murmuring in ancient tongues. Above, the vaulted ceiling pulsed with soft glyph-light, casting shifting lattices across the stone.
She rose from her sleeping bag with a grace long forgotten. Her limbs moved with liquid ease. No grinding joints. No flare of old pain. She still wasn't used to that.
The central command loomed unchanged, solemn in its splendor. Its vast ribs of carved stone arched like fossilized bone. This place had been ancient before cities had names.
Korr hunched over a worktable, muttering rapid-fire fragments to himself, hands twitching through a pile of tangled relics. Sparks leapt as he prodded a shimmering rod that refused to power up, his lips moving furiously as if the argument was with the object itself and the object was losing on principle.
On the throne, Elara reclined with the ease of someone born to defy ceremony. One leg slung over the other, violet eyes half-lidded, and a crooked grin aimed like a blade at Korr.
Thalyn approached. “You look like you know the punchline to a joke.”
Elara didn't look away from Korr, who had now begun tapping the rod against the edge of the table as though percussive therapy might help. "He's been at that thing forever. I think it zapped him five times." She met Thalyn's eye. "If you asked one of your shiny new servants what it does… think they'd answer?"
Thalyn chuckled. “Let’s find out.”
“Arvie?”
“Yes, mistress?”
“Can you summon a droid?”
“Already done.”
A moment later, a service droid glided into view, its surface gleaming like poured alloy. Green optics glowed faintly. It stopped a pace away from Thalyn and waited.
Elara sat upright, eyebrows rising. “Enjoying the perks, mistress?”
Thalyn smirked. “Getting used to it.” She turned to the machine. “Can you identify those relics? Describe their function?”
“I am not programmed with that directive,” the droid replied in a flat monotone.
“Is there another droid or station that is?”
“None.”
Thalyn exhaled, flicked two fingers. “You’re dismissed.”
The droid dipped with a grace that suggested deference, and withdrew into the shadows.
Elara folded her arms and gave a wry sniff. “No oracle function, huh?”
“Not yet,” Thalyn said. “But I’m learning the right questions.”
Her gaze drifted to the throne. Elara was still watching her, arms still crossed, something probing in her expression.
“What's on your mind?” Elara asked.
Thalyn rubbed her temple. “Another memory. Echo’s team was moving in to extract Larek, but they got cut off by a massive religious parade near Aedan's place. They thought he was a savior. A figure out of myth. They called him Duvainor, reborn.”
Behind them, something clinked, metal on stone.
Korr had frozen, relic rolling on the table. “Duvainor?” His voice cracked like static.
“You know the name?” Thalyn asked.
Korr turned, eyes gleaming. “Know it? By the black moons, Thalyn, that’s pre-fall mythology. Older than the breach. Some say he sealed the first rift over Kelenvar. Others claim he crossed the Ash Planes of Vall barefoot and healed the broken skies. A hundred versions, none verified. Most scholars treat it as allegory. But the iconography is consistent across every source.”
Elara leaned forward. “And now Echo’s being mistaken for his return.”
Korr's voice dropped. "If they think he's Duvainor… they won't just keep him. They'll enthrone him. Or bleed him. Or both."
Thalyn grimaced. “So much for rescuing Larek.”
Elara tilted her head, curious. “You think Echo could be, what? A clone?”
“I don’t know,” Thalyn said. “But he looked almost identical to Duvainor’s image.”
Korr folded his arms. "He's Druvvak, right? So maybe Duvainor was, too, assuming he ever existed." He said it with the tone of a man who very much believed he did.
“Maybe.”
Korr muttered something under his breath and turned back to his relics, the light in his eyes dancing with fresh equations and speculation.
Thalyn lingered, watching him. Then something clicked. She turned to the throne, eyes sharpening. "I want to try something."
Elara stood, brushing her coat. “Be my guest, your highness.”
Thalyn climbed the shallow steps and eased into the throne. It hummed faintly beneath her, aware. She lifted the crown, held it for one breath, then set it on her head.
The throne did not show her anything, only settled a warmth behind her heart, and beneath that, a quiet weight of unmistakable potential sank into her bones.
“Careful what you wish for,” Arvie whispered.
She thought it clearly: food. Exotic. Something she'd never tasted. The best the facility could produce.
For a long stretch, only the ambient hum. Just as doubt began to stir, a door whispered open.
Five droids entered in procession, bearing trays that steamed with scents she couldn't name. Glazed fruits that shimmered with internal light. Meats scored with blue sear lines and spiral bone. Steaming pastes, iridescent drinks that frothed with lazy sparks.
Korr looked up. Eyes widened. Tools dropped.
Elara stood beside her, blinking. “Well. That’s… new.”
« Commander? »
« Thalyn. »
« Come inside. You’ll want to see this. »
He entered moments later, dust-streaked and sweat-glazed. He froze at the sight. “Divines!” he said, gaze sweeping the spread. “You summon banquets now?”
Thalyn grinned. “Apparently. Still working on weather control.”
He washed up at a dispenser, then took a seat. The others followed. No one spoke. The food did not need introduction.
Each bite was a revelation. Textures shifted in the mouth. Spices bloomed like secrets arriving late. Even Korr moaned once, quiet and embarrassed, and went back for more without acknowledging it.
Jaxon took another helping and looked up. "This doesn't make sense."
Elara raised a glass. “Nothing here does. But I’m not complaining.”
They lingered. The drinks lit the blood without fogging it. When they finished, Thalyn sat back, gaze lifted to the glowing lattice overhead.
"You remember," she said, "when I first saw the throne. Said I had to sit. Couldn't explain why."
“We remember,” Jaxon said.
She nodded. "That feeling's back. Not the same, but close. Something waiting." She paused. "In Revantis. That's where I need to start."
Jaxon's jaw worked. He looked to the others, then back to her. "Dangerous place."
“I know.”
He gave a slow nod. “Then we go carefully. Whatever’s pulling you, it’s worked out, till now.”
Elara smiled. “Count me in.”
Korr sighed. "As long as I don't get zapped again." He was already reaching for another glazed fruit as he said it.
They turned to her. Thalyn grinned. "Glad to have you all. I like the company."
She lifted her drink. "To salvage, survival, and whatever comes next."
Laughter bloomed and echoed. And for that moment, beneath the ribs of dead gods, they were not mercenaries. They were kin, enjoying the legacy of the Elders.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ94Vjm84zT
and then Add to home screen.