> The Vinleaf heroic code of honor is central to the understanding of Adon's story. Adon and his companions act out of concern towards his people and a desire for glory. "Aere," the Vinleaf word usually translated as "glory" or "renown" can only be achieved through great deeds.

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> —Soren Grondahl's "Adon: A Comprehensive Study Guide"

Sariel

“You think you’ve won, but you’re worse off than me. You’ll never celebrate your first century. They haven’t told you that,” said Alfred. “Flawed constructs, you ELs.’

I never knew Alfred “The Bloody” was this chatty.

“Commander Seraph! Commander Sariel! You’d better take a look at this,” said the pilot. He was bending over a body he’d just pulled from the helicopter.

“Soon you’ll start rotting from the inside!” said Alfred. “There’s no cure.”

Ah. He must know about the virus. If it wasn’t for Asteria, we ELs would be doomed.

“Isn’t this Doctor Greve? He’s alive,” said the pilot. He prodded an unconscious body at his feet.

“Not important right now. Go and report this. Request an update on Uriel’s status. Ask them how the rescued people are doing,” I said.

Seraph and I carried the bound captives to our helicopter. There were six fake ELs, three fake regular soldiers, Doctor Greve, and Alfred. We stacked them like cordwood, but it was still a tight squeeze inside the chopper. The pilot used the radio to report the situation, and Alpha Team said everything was under control on their end. There hadn’t been any change in Uriel’s condition.

“ETA fifteen minutes,” said the pilot.

Seraph took a mirror out of his jacket pocket and started fixing his hair.

I sighed in relief. Since the fight had let Seraph vent some of his anger, he’d mellowed out a bit. His face was no longer expressionless or angry. Now he was just anxiously combing his hair and looking outside in the direction we were headed.

***

Toftlund was a small city that was known for its fresh seafood, many beautiful parks, and livability. People who were tired of Kraej City tended to retire either in Toftlund or one of the warmer cities down south.

The helicopter touched down in the warehouse district. ELs, Lifers, and regular soldiers were swarming all over the place. Seraph and I left the captives with the Alpha team and made our way inside a warehouse full of medical personnel. Israfel was standing in a corner with some girl while Oren and his crew were all lying on steel beds being fussed over by doctors and nurses. We made a beeline for Asteria.

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She was unconscious but looked unharmed. I was relieved to see that her complexion was good and that she was breathing normally. An IV and various monitoring equipment had been attached to her body.

“Doctor, how is she?” I asked the nearest white-coated person.

“She was hit with a tranquilizer dart. The drug is harmless. A cure spell woke her up momentarily. Her vital signs are strong, so we’re waiting for her to wake up naturally,” said the doctor.

Seraph stood beside her bedside staring down at her unblinkingly.

I caught Israfel’s eye. He came over to us somewhat reluctantly. The woman came with him.

“Sir, this is my girlfriend Freja,” said Israfel. “She was working undercover with Magnus Kraej, and she was the one who told him of our location.”

“No, start from the beginning.” There were too many people here, so I dragged Seraph away from Asteria. Outside, we found an open place far enough away from listening ears where Israfel could make his report.

Seraph, who hadn’t spoken a word since we captured Alfred, was staring fixedly at Freja’s face.

“Stop staring at me. It’s rude,” she said.

Brave woman. Most people were too afraid of Seraph to talk to him that way.

“You’re alive,” said Seraph.

“Yes. I have been since I was born,” said Freja. She folded her arms on her chest. Beside her, Israfel frowned at her.

“Sir, you know Freja?” asked Israfel.

“We grew up together in the same orphanage,” said Freja.

“They took everyone away one by one. Are the others alive, too?” asked Seraph.

“She’s an EL!” I said. I’d known Seraph grew up in an orphanage run by the EL Project scientists, but this was the first time I’d seen someone else with the same background. Although there had been rumors of “missing ELs” who had vanished, as far as I knew all ELs were male. “I didn’t know there were any female ELs.”

Freja turned to look at me. Her deep-set blue-grey eyes reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t remember who. I would definitely remember her if I’d seen her before. It’s not every day that I meet women tall enough to see eye-to-eye with me.

“My father thought females would be unsuitable for the EL Project,” said Freja.

“So Doctor Greve is your father. I always suspected it,” said Seraph. “The others?”

“Dead.”

Seraph took the news stoically but, then again, he’d thought they were dead in the first place. This was all very interesting, but the past could wait. Right now, we needed to find out exactly what happened and, most importantly, if we were still in danger.

“I’d like to talk about that later. Israfel, report,” I said.

Israfel told us what happened after we landed on the island. I ground my teeth when he described how I’d gone crazy and had black eyes. The worst was when he said they took me down.

I glared at Israfel, who involuntarily stepped back one pace.

“I saw it all,” said Freja. She smirked at me. “That girl kicked you in the head, then they all sat on you until Alfred tranquilized you.”

“I didn’t know that there was a drug that could knock out an S-class,” said Seraph.

“Do you really think the Kraej would create something they couldn’t control?” asked Freja.

Seraph, Israfel, and I exchanged glances. None of us said anything, but I knew that, like me, they’d always wondered about that. The Kraej didn’t become masters of the continent by being careless.

“Ahem.” Israfel coughed then continued his report. When he got to the part where Alfred blew Asteria’s brains out, I wished I’d fried him to a crisp instead of capturing him alive. Bastard. Seraphiel turned so white I thought he was going to faint.

I wondered how she was going to explain her revival to her precious hero.

When Israfel was done talking, Freja refused to answer our questions. She was under Magnus Kraej’s command, not ours.

“I’m going back to see Asteria,” said Seraph. “You’ll get an update on Uriel’s condition?”

“Yeah, I’ll go make a call,” I said.

Uriel should be fine, right?