{Enki | Pantheon}

Korac stared at Andrius. Not at the glistening nacre fibers in his dark skin. Nor at the stress-carved lines of his face.

No.

The half-Aegis Atheneum and Icarean General stared at the tall woman in Andrius’ arms. He swallowed before holstering his axe and holding his hands out. “I’ll take Karter.”

Grateful, Andrius poured the unconscious Valkyrie into Korac’s care. Learning his mother’s face anew, Korac nearly ignored Andrius’ warning. “Celindria’s fighting the remaining Shadow.”

Beside Korac, Kyle’s muttering held an edge of anger. “What’re you doing sending the armies to the Pantheon after we all watched Tameka—”

“Don’t say it.” Andrew put a finger in Kyle’s face. “We need to maintain the crusade and send reinforcements to the Shadow in Celindria’s lab.” He was right, of course.

But Korac wanted to ignore all of them. All of it. He wanted to take his mother to the medical bay and remove the fail safes Celindria had installed in her motor cortex. He wanted to sit and talk to her about how funny their lives had worked out—

What about Xelan?

Beyond all the confused, hurt, and angry faces, the Prince of Cinder stared at the fire hurricane, which may have consumed the mother of his child, and hugged himself. One great motion heaved his shoulders—A sob. Soundless in the vacuum of angry mutters and milling boots.

He was alone—

Reality returned with a pop in Korac’s ears. Ignoring the immediate rabble, he walked over to T.a.o., who also seemed to have retreated into her head. At Korac’s proximity, she shook herself, lifted those violet Atramentous eyes up at him, and smiled.

Korac asked, “Do you know who she is to me, T.a.o.?” Even before Razor exposed the first Seamswalker to Cascading Light, she knew things.

T.a.o. held her hands behind her back and swayed sweetly when she nodded.

To the others, Korac ordered, “Stay still. We’re taking Karter to the medical bay, and then I’ll return to straighten this shit out.”

Korac glimpsed Sagan’s understanding eyes before he and T.a.o. stepped through the conduit and into… a bunch of bodies everywhere.

Caedes, Twenty-One, Miy, and some Tritans blinked at him.

Korac nodded at Miy first before addressing the rest. “What the fuck happened here—”

A scream pierced the confusion. It came from the tier above where Triss was in fucking labor.

Chief Lynn shouted along with her, and Dr. Suarez encouraged her, “You’re doing great.” The Tritan beside Dr. Suarez nodded for Bethany to empty another bag of Aegis blood into some tank. She did so with a wave at Korac.

Concerned, Korac took a step toward the next level. “Is she all right?”

Caedes stepped up with his arms out. “I’ll take Karter to the next bay.”

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“Wow, that’s the Karter?” Miy’s voice sounded impressed to see the legendary Valkyrie in person, and Korac’s cheeks burned from the swell of pride in his chest. “She’s so cool.” Miy looked up at Korac and narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure she’s your mother?”

Twenty-One took her hand and kissed the back of it. “You’re getting rude again.”

To Korac’s surprise, the Lyrik spared the massive Icarean warrior a seductive glance, saying, “Maybe I need another fix.”

“Okay.” This was enough for Korac. “I don’t care what’s happened here anymore. Caedes, thank you, but if you could just show me to the next bay. We have little time.”

Lynn called between Triss’ cries. “How are things going?”

Not good, but thanks to Sagan’s influence, Korac found himself wanting to hope once more. He hoped Tameka yet lived, and hoped the mess in Celindria’s lab could afford the time for this errand. So, with all the hope in his chest, Korac ignored her question and asked, “Dr. Suarez, when you get a minute…”

“I’ll see to Karter, General. You get back to the Shadow.”

T.a.o. opened the conduit, and they stepped back into the shrine.

Again, Kyle asked with a hint of indignation, “What are you doing, Korac?”

And again, Korac ignored him. Instead, he took Sagan’s hand and kissed it. Their child was on the way into this world, and Karter was in their care.

These were gifts.

Sagan took a deep galvanizing breath, but she eventually squeezed Korac’s hand.

With that, he released her hand and turned around to Xelan, ordering, “Tumu, with me.”

Tumu walked up to Xelan with Korac. Beyond the Prince, through the glass, Torrentus blazed on, and the broken man wept. Korac glanced at Tumu. They nodded together. Ready.

The Icarean General went first. “You must be fucking insane if you believe for one second Tameka would lose to a firestorm. You make for a pitiful ‘most dangerous warrior in the galaxy.’”

Tumu gaped at Korac, startled by his harsh words, but at least Xelan responded.

The Prince of Cinder opened his wings and looked over his shoulder at his General. It was not a friendly look.

More gently, Tumu played good cop. “Xelan, whatever Peaches is facing, she’d want you to maintain the mission.”

It was coaxing and reassuring, but Tumu basically said the same thing Korac said, only nicer.

Over their earpieces, Devis tried to reason with a madly pissed off Celindria. “It’s a memory. One of my own. I believe it’s what you need.”

Some exceptional thunderous crash followed, and everyone in Celindria’s lab screamed.

Korac turned and ordered, “Pehton, Kyle, Lamassau, and Andrew—Go with T.a.o. to rescue the others!” He raised his voice loud enough to add emphasis without advertising their dilemma to the hordes of soldiers marching through Sagan’s conduits.

Of course, that’s why Korac didn’t ask her to go. The strain around his girl’s eyes said this was hard enough for Sagan. She squeezed Kyle’s shoulder, bumped Lamassau’s gauntleted fist, hugged Pehton, and kissed Andrew’s cheek. “Be careful.”

Pehton saluted Korac before they stepped through the conduit. He managed to smirk for her, but the moment she disappeared, it fell.

Sagan blew him a kiss and returned to orientating Andrius to the here and now.

They needed their leader. They needed Xelan.

Korac went around to Xelan’s front and took in the full impact of his grief.

A train wreck.

That’s what Xelan looked like.

Korac glanced from Tumu’s concerned voids to Xelan’s solid blue eyes. The old Tritan was more audience than Korac wanted for this, but dammit, they were out of options. On a leap of faith, he stepped into Xelan’s personal space without touching him and whispered in his ear. “Tameka would never leave you—No one would ever leave you.”

Xelan reacted by tilting his head, listening.

“But sometimes you fool yourself into thinking relationships—friendships, lovers, family—are already over without fighting for them…” Korac pounded a fist to his own chest. “And I’m not letting you do it this time. My Prince, get out of your head and fight for Fury and your son before you really do lose them to this war.”

Xelan turned with his face inches from Korac, who pressed, “Not until you see the body. Do you understand me? Don’t mourn until you know for certain, and even then, you pick yourself up and rip her killers apart. Agreed?” He held up his hand between their faces, waiting for the Prince to clasp it.

Tumu stood behind Xelan and met Korac’s eyes over his shoulder. “Not until we see Peaches’ body.”

Another bloody tear rolled down Xelan’s cheek, and Korac prayed to Elden for the first time since Sagan was trapped in the Seam for this to work.

If the last three years had proven anything, it’s that the Shadow couldn’t win this war without their Wingmaster.

Please, Elden, let this work.