{100 CE}
As a diplomat and a General of the galaxy’s most ferocious army, I collected a few allies within the Vast Collective. Over thousands of years, they supplied us with materials for our designs and kept me in contact with the Cult of Night. Who, in turn, informed us of the dissemination of Progeny lines, and I passed along orders to keep them in leadership on Earth.
Plotting for the revenge invasion kept us occupied. So much so that I ignored the passage of time. Before I knew it, six thousand years passed since I last spoke to Ementa. This revelation occurred to me on the way to the Enki conduit, where I received our informants.
In the shadow of Umbra’s decaying Spire, I considered my itinerary for the day. As soon as I completed this rendezvous, I would visit my old friend. Until then, I took in my surroundings. The red, barren soil mocked me as I rooted my boot in it. Everything smelled, as usual, of ash and blight.
I often passed my time imagining those snow-capped mountains I never saw. Not now, but soon, I’d see them—
“General Korac?”
I faced the Luk arms dealer. His jellyfish cap of a kilt shifted from neon yellow to bright green. It matched the rods in his dreads made from kelp. His whisper—I’ve never met a Luk that spoke louder than that—nearly startled me from my daydreams.
Straightening from the boulder I leaned against, I approached E.G. with my hands loose at my sides. “Afternoon.”
The short man offered me a baleen smile. “It’s night on Lukemore. Elden only knows what time it is in Enki.”
[SS]: “Okay. It may only be me, but please explain, why are so many races also attached to Elden?”
He was the first. That great big middle finger to Tritan rule. He ate a Primary and elevated his race.
[SS]: I frown and ask, “Which Primary? Do we know?”
Korac tilts his head like a bird. It’s honestly so cute.
Quet. The eldest. Piecing everything together, we know he was their leader until the Icari consumed him. Before you ask, we still don’t know why he was there. But to reiterate for your initial question, Elden’s Verses were also the first non-sanctioned publications ever circulated and resulted in the ban we discussed about Nox’s Verse.
[SS]: “A true rebel.” And soon, Korac and I will join in the rebellion.
He’s smirking, and it reminds me that he asked me to write everything he did to me during one of our milestones. I think I want to when the time comes.
It won’t be the only thing coming.
[SS]: Okay. Now, I’m swatting him. “You get sidetracked so easily. Continue.”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Resisting you is no simple task and a welcome distraction from the rest of this entry.
E.G. came bearing a small crate. “This is most of what you asked for. The rest cannot be bought with favors. You need to acquire galactic credits for your supplies.”
I clenched my jaw. This conversation was long overdue. Exiled from the Vast Collective, the Icari were cut off from conventional means of gaining currency. “We will.” I nodded my thanks before leaving him—
“General.” E.G.’s voice shook in the whisper.
I turned and noted the tremor in his hands. “Yes?”
“While in Enki, I overheard news regarding the Traitor Prince.”
For the last six thousand years, vague reports reached us of Xelan’s exploits. Including a rather humorous arrest in the Pantheon. Naked. The most disturbing came to us recently. That Celindria found her way off Earth, and he went looking for her. The journey took him across all Twelve Worlds with his latest heading as Thailea.
I swallowed before I could hide my apprehension. “What is it?”
E.G. briefed me and left me staring at the hateful sun blazing above.
I worked so hard to distract Nox. To create opportunities for proactive measures rather than dwelling on our past failures. But this… this would surely send him over the edge.
Ementa would have to wait.
I dropped off the supplies to Colita in the lab which doubled as a forge. She was quite receptive to our current dynamic and thrived in the position. Expressing the elevation of my esteem toward her would also have to wait.
Nox finished the docket for the day, tending to the daily needs of his suppressed people. Frowning all the while, as was his permanent expression. I resented the news I carried.
“Out with it.”
Standing a few feet from the throne, I tried to school my expression. Tried to find the words and to predict his reaction. Nothing good came to mind.
He knew. He left the throne to approach my side and assured, “General, we will work through it.”
But no. We wouldn’t. “Your majesty… A cataclysm overtook Thailea with Xelan and Celindria on the planet.”
Nox went so still.
I rushed to deliver the most important segment. “Xelan is alive. He faces Tribunal on Enki. But…”
“Nothing could kill her.”
At the hollow in his voice, I looked away, sharply. I dread what came next. I couldn’t—
Nox barked out in laughter, and I watched his sanity dissolve. “Of course, she would die before we could take her. That spiteful bitch.”
My King laughed more, and I absorbed his words. The futility of this fight.
I laughed with him.
We were so tired of losing. To her. To the Tritans. So Nox’s rush out of the castle didn’t take me by surprise so much as disheartened me. Because no matter what he planned to do, I knew Enki planned for him to do it. And they would stop him.
Elden, I would be at his side.
[SS]: I’m smiling at him. “He spoke so heroically of you in this segment.”
Damn straight! I took a fucking laser shot for him and dragged his colossal ass out of that armored conduit. Do you have any idea how heavy Nox is—was?
[SS]: Shaking my head at him, his more upbeat attitude in hindsight of this memory wins a broader smile from me.
More than a Hellkite, I would say, but never mind that. We survived his incredibly insane attempt to storm Enki, and he finally confessed the Weapon to me.
Beautiful clarity.
He garnered even more respect. To go for so long before his mind eroded. I want… I want Xelan to see it that way, as well. When we learned the Tribunal sentenced the Traitor Prince to Earth and forbade him from contacting the Progeny… that condemned Xelan to a similar Hell to what Nox endured. Both brothers driven mad by the death of a woman who ultimately faked it. My King, unable to see any good in life aside from revenge. And the Traitor Prince, who degenerates when left alone. Trapped in their own nightmare of her making—
Back on subject. Nox took Celindria’s death like a train wreck. His fixation on her transferred to any news I gathered of her descendants, and I encouraged the distraction to maintain the perilous grip on his mind. These are my sins. My wrongs. But I was caretaking madness, and I don’t entertain excuses or placations.
I was less than a man, but not exactly a monster.