Chapter 9

Orion sat behind his desk and had been rubbing his chin in contemplation for some time before the knock on the door broke him from his thoughts. “Enter,” he called and stood up and walked over to the window.

Klaus entered the large room and had to scan it once to find where his master was. When he saw Orion by the window, “What is your wish, Sir?”

“Our enemy has reached her powers,” announced Orion and he waved his hand for Klaus to join him by the window. “I don’t know how to say this,” he looked from the outside world to Klaus. “Your mate has been killed. Mykella cut her head off in a battle meant to kill her mother.”

Orion didn’t know why he allowed Dreamkillers to mate; they didn’t have feelings of their own – they would never feel love. At the present time, though, it served his purpose better than he could have expected.

“Let me end the war – right now! Let me bring you the head of Mykella!” The rage Klaus was showing pleased Orion.

Orion smiled as he watched the rage pour from Klaus, but he had to put the Dreamkiller at rest for a moment because he knew that the time wasn’t right yet. He still needed evidence of Mykella’s strength, and her killing Xan was but the first of many tests.

“Easy, my most devout one,” said Orion as he lifted a hand. Klaus fell silent as Orion willed it. “Let my assassins do their job. And if they fail, you have my permission to do what you will with her.”

Orion returned to the outside world and just for a fraction of a second he thought he saw a bird fly past. No; not just any bird – a dove.

This can’t be, he thought. “I’ve erased their existence,” he whispered.

“Sir?”

Orion turned back to Klaus. “Never mind.”

So what if I happened to have missed one single bird? Perhaps I should let this lone dove survive. I shall keep it as my pet and it will keep me company when I need it.

When he looked at Klaus again, his authoritative look returned. “Bring me two assassins this time – ones you trust as I trust you.”

“I trusted Xan, Sir,” replied Klaus, the rage resurfacing.

“Yes, you did.” There was no need to console a Dreamkiller – their orders are what they lived for. “And now she has been killed. More will die, most likely, as Mykella’s tests become more difficult. Go and get me those assassins.”

Klaus stood still for a moment and then finally nodded once and retreated out into the hall to carry out his master’s wish.

When the door closed, Orion sighed and closed his eyes. Never before had he seen such reluctance from a Dreamkiller. Even Alexius obeyed without questioning his orders. When he created the next wave, he felt confident that they would be more deadly than the first, more grotesque Dreamkiller.

It was like the canine Dreamkiller he had created to attack Beth, Eric, and all else who opposed him. He was swimming in uncharted waters when he created both, the next wave and the canine, and he didn’t know what to expect.

Klaus had come up to Orion one evening asking for permission to take Xan as his mate. Why? He had gotten nothing but Klaus’ trust, but he still watched him carefully. Since that one evening, Orion had not entirely trusted Klaus, even though he had granted Klaus his permission.

Stolen story; please report.

And now, Orion sensed hesitation when he was ordered to leave the chamber to get two assassins. “Interesting, my friend,” he whispered and reached his arm out the window and extended his index finger.

In a matter of seconds, the dove flew to him and perched itself on his finger. Orion pulled the bird into the room and studied its whiteness with curiosity. “And you,” he said to the bird, “are most peculiar.”

“Where did you come from, anyway?” Orion looked at the bird for clues, yet received none. “Well,” he said and turned to look around his room. “Doesn’t matter, I suppose. Should I build you a home here, or can I trust you’ll return?”

With his free hand he waved it through the air and a three-level cage appeared next to him. He went for the small door, just large enough for the bird, and opened it. He placed the bird inside and created several perches with his mind.

Instinctively, the bird flew up to the top perch and rested as it quietly looked around.

He watched it for several minutes before he heard the knock on the door and was surprised that his attention on the bird disallowed him to hear the knock beforehand.

“Enter.”

The door opened and three Dreamkillers entered. Orion nodded first to Klaus, who stood between the two Dreamkillers. Orion looked at both with curiosity. “Sanchez and Derrik,” he called them by name and then looked back at Klaus. “You trust these two?”

Klaus bowed his head. “With my life, Sir,” he said and then, “We served together during the human enslavement. Sanchez has personally overseen the network as second in command.”

Sanchez shifted his weight as he stared at Orion through black eyes.

“He isn’t an assassin,” replied Orion.

“I have been training for five years, Sir,” Sanchez cut in, afraid of speaking out of turn.

“Have you?” Orion smiled and turned his back to look at the caged bird, which was busy cleaning itself. “We shall see, then.”

* * *

Shortly after being embraced by her mother, Mykella felt the strange feeling of flight. She knew that she was safe in her mother’s arms, but she also felt as if she were moving through the sky.

The feeling didn’t last long, of course. She soon felt trapped inside herself.

Her eyes closed against her mother’s chest, she saw images race through the darkness of her mind. She didn’t recognize the pictures; they came and went so fast she couldn’t concentrate on one for more than a fraction of a second, but she thought she saw four people standing in an enormous room.

Mykella forced herself to open her eyes and look up into her mother’s soft eyes. She said nothing of the images or the feeling of flight. The act of killing could have triggered some psychosis that she couldn’t understand.

“Mykella,”

She looked back at her mother like an obedient child.

“When you wake up, I want you to come back home. You may know your prophecy, but you still need your father. Now that the demon is gone, I might actually get better – thanks to you.”

Mykella tried to smile, but she wasn’t able to produce a convincing one. She looked away instead. “I don’t want to kill again,” she finally said.

“I know.” Samantha stood up and helped her daughter to her feet. “We’ll do everything in our power to help you. But you must understand that this isn’t our prophecy.”

“Stop saying that word!” Anger and frustration was winning Mykella’s emotions. “You talk as if I had a choice. I didn’t. And I don’t want any of it.”

Before Samantha could console her, Mykella’s eyes opened from the dream and she found herself sitting on the ground next to the body of Krieger, which was beginning to produce a rotting odor.