{Enki | Bridge}

Enki’s bridge was a series of glass walkways connecting massive terminals, precariously suspended over a beautiful nightmare. An ocean of Cascading Light pooled below them and funneled into a whirlpool of black flames. It spun in a quiet maelstrom, draining away into a cylinder of nacre glass positioned under the central terminal of the bridge.

Korac grew dizzy from staring at it. He shook his head and tried to focus on anything else in the space, but everywhere he looked, ghosts haunted him. Translucent men and women with white hair, white eyes, and white skin wandered the rail-less gangways, inputting data from the terminals into projections of keys on their palms, arms, and bare stomachs. Anywhere skin showed, their devices projected an instrument for calculations.

If Korac closed his eyes, he knew the faint echoes of their voices would increase with clarity and volume, taking him away in the spell cast by his people. Their immortality imprinted in him forever. One trace outline walked toward him and into him. Korac turned to watch them walk away toward one of the many entrances to this place.

There, in the firm light of reality, Sagan stood with love in her gentle eyes.

It was almost enough to make Korac cry. “I love the way you look at me.”

Her smile shone brighter than the fires below. “Then I’ll never look away.”

“I can’t tell if they make me want to gag or coo. What about you?”

Korac and Sagan both looked at Pehton, all of four-foot five, staring up at thirteen-foot Tumu, waiting for the answer to her question.

Tumu said, “I find it’s best to look elsewhere. Don’t you agree, Xelan?”

Korac tried very hard not to glance at Xelan and failed. The Prince of Cinder stared down at the funnel of Cascading Light, tense shoulders affecting his royal carriage. The Icarus really should consider stretching that out soon. Stress lived in Xelan differently than it did in people without his unique family history for insanity and carnage. Not much separated a ‘Xelan’ from a ‘Nox.’

As if he also noticed it, Iuo stepped up to Xelan and whispered something in his ear. The Icarus looked up and met the Lamia’s eyes. A wordless exchange took place, but eventually, the trademark grin emerged. Xelan said, “Thank you,” with a good deal of sincerity.

Great.

Now, not knowing whatever Iuo had said would bug the shit out of Korac until he discovered what it was. A nudge drew his attention downward. Pehton stood at his elbow, smiling up at him with those garnet eyes. She said, “We’re close. All of us. Somewhere in here is the answer to what happened to my children.”

Sagan hugged the tiny Lyrik from behind and rested her chin on a pitch-black shoulder, peering at Pehton. “How are you in hanging in there?”

Pehton shrugged, and it nudged Sagan’s lips closer to hers, momentarily filling Korac’s head with an image he’d best keep to himself. Pehton said, “I’m ready to know, either way. I have so much more to live for than ever in my life, and if that good news includes some way to save them or simply an answer to the unknown, I’ll find closure.”

Xelan leapt across the glass gangways with only his coat acting as wings, while the hungry maw of the Cascading Inferno beckoned below. “Let’s get your answers. Tameka will be here any minute.”

Sagan and Pehton—Korac’s fan club—both grinned at the Prince of Cinder, eliciting an eye roll from Korac.

Show off.

Tumu simply walked across the expanse with one great stride.

Now, that was impressive.

Iuo stretched out his body to twice its typical length, still clothed, and slithered down one ramp. Korac glimpsed Sagan and Pehton giving Iuo the once-over before meeting each other’s eyes and bursting into a fit of feminine giggles.

All the men, except Iuo, rolled their eyes.

“Silver General, this is Doc. Over.”

Korac controlled a small bout of panic. If something was wrong with Karter or the delivery, Dr. Suarez wouldn’t sound so damned pleased. It could only mean… “Doc, is it good news? Over.”

“Indeed, it is.” His grin sounded through the comms. “Baby Echo is with us and healthy and full of surprises. Over.”

Sagan leapt into Korac’s arms, and he spun her, laughing out their joy together. All around, the Shadow celebrated. Xelan punched the air, Pehton cheered, and Iuo hissed an emphatic, “Yesssss!”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Tumu startled Korac by dropping confetti IN HIS HAIR.

Sagan gasped with a hand cupped over mouth. Xelan pointed and laughed full-heartedly. Pehton muttered to Tumu, “Run.”

Iuo took out a small fan and blew the confetti from Korac’s hair, saving Tumu’s existence.

Well wishes poured in over the earpieces from all across their fronts in Enki. Ross, Devis, Twenty-One, even Caedes.

T.a.o. came on the mic next. “The brightest fire. Like you, Korac. Bright and blinding. Too beautiful to look at. The worlds melt when she smiles.”

Korac’s heart warmed, grateful for his old friend’s freedom and hopeful for her future.

All of it paled compared to the next voice. “Hug your little girl for me, Sagan. Korac. I’m still so flattered you named her after me. Over.”

A lot of the huggy shit the Shadow got up to sorta poured off Korac like water on feathers, but everyone reacted the same way to Rayne’s voice. He actually choked before swallowing and getting the words out. “Will do, War King. Over and out.”

Family.

Sagan’s hand slipped into Korac’s. He gazed down at her, and she looked up at him. “Ready?”

Ready.

Korac took her with him to the main terminal, where he stopped. Everything. The only thing he focused on was his heartbeat and his lungs exhaling and inhaling. Ghosts brushed against him and through him, but he sought one face. One calculating mind.

Razor came to him in his mindscape, chained to the floor, saying, “Brother.”

The word sounded profane from his lips, and Korac shook off his initial disgust to negotiate. “We made it to the bridge.”

The twin crescent pupils glinted. “Triss?”

“I’ll be honest with you. When Dr. Saurez told me Echo was born, I didn’t bother to ask if Triss survived.” Korac didn’t care. “Frankly, I want this business on the bridge finished so I can hold my daughter. If you don’t mind…”

Razor shook his head. “You broke your end of the bargain. I was to be there for the delivery, for Triss.”

Korac growled. “Shit happened. The baby came sooner than expected, and Remorse stole Pax. Tameka’s on her way here, and we need your help—”

“Where is Sagan?”

That made Korac clench his jaw tight. He hated whenever Razor so much as breathed her name. Now he was demanding to know her whereabouts. “She’s here. Like me, she’s waiting to hold our little girl.”

Razor nodded. “Good. She brought the dossier drive like I told her, didn’t she?”

“Yes.”

On his knees in the metaphorical space, Razor stretched his neck until it cracked, followed by his knuckles on long fingers with no nails. “Complete the upcycle. I’ll bring the bridge online.”

Korac narrowed his eyes. “Razor.”

“Brother, dear?”

Goosebumps broke out on Korac’s arms, and his hackles raised. If his wings were out, the pinions would rustle. “Don’t try anything. Xelan, Tumu, Iuo, and fucking Pehton are out there. They won’t play your games, and I don’t want my body destroyed. I like my fingernails.”

The laugh Razor gave was bitter and tinkered like broken glass. “Complete the upcycle.”

Upcycle complete.

Razor opened their eyes, and they looked down immediately at Sagan. Korac hated the way her entire body changed. Tense, recoiling away. Her eyes too wide—Now they were in extreme Atramentous. Solid black with purple slitted pupils. But Korac’s girl held her ground, and he loved her for it.

Sagan said, “Razor.” His name left her on a steady note, low, almost a growl.

Razor nodded Korac’s head at her and checked out the rest of the space. “Seamswalker, Prince Xelan, Primary Tumu, Prince Iuo, and Peh Peh.” The last, he sweetened his voice like a poisoned berry.

Inside the mindscape, Korac’s voice was icy. “Leave her, Razor. Pehton’s been through enough.”

Razor smiled. “Quite right.” Outside to the others, he said, “Let’s get down to business.” He faced the translucent terminal with its bank of projectors. “Seamswalker, the dossier drive, please.”

Sagan hesitated only a second before retrieving it from her pocket and pointing at the terminal. “Here?”

Razor nodded and stepped a little to the side, giving her space. Something Korac wouldn’t credit him for if not for their last conversation.

“You broke her heart, and I hate that you ever possessed enough of it to hurt her. She wanted a friendship with you, and you betrayed her. There is no coming back from that, and I think it strange you want to at all. I’m almost convinced, after spending this time with you in my bones, that you don’t pursue her to hurt me. I think you pursue her because you realized what you lost, and you’re desperate to get it back. Like with T.a.o. If that’s the case, do the right thing. Help them. Help Sagan save Rayne and finally finish Celindria’s game.”

Korac still felt this was true, and the slight gesture from Razor only affirmed it.

Sagan used the space to step against the terminal, reach with all her five foot, three inches of height, and secure it in the slot Razor had designated. She even stuck her tongue out, a cute habit of hers when concentrating on a task—

“I can feel your love for her.”

Korac was a private Icarus. The idea of Razor sharing even that much grated on him.

He continued, “Imagine your world without her for an instant.”

Imagining it wasn’t necessary. Korac knew. When Razor pushed Sagan into the Seam and she was trapped there for a week, Korac knew a world with only her desperate cries for help. He asked, “Are you saying that’s how you feel about Triss?”

Razor said nothing.

This prompted Korac to push. “Triss wanted Echo for you. She gave everything for that little girl, and now she’s here. Are you regretting asking Sagan to raise her—”

“No.”

Wow, Razor didn’t elaborate. The man who’d fallen in love with his own charisma declined an opportunity to talk. Again, the hackles raised on the back of Korac’s neck. “What do you want now, Razor?”

Through Razor’s eyes in Korac’s head, they focused on Sagan. Small and sweet in front of him. Her short blond hair, those anxious Atramentous eyes, the blue halter top and black leather pants, leaving much of her tan, freckled skin exposed. She rubbed the tension in her neck before turning slowly, as if she sensed his gaze on her.

Korac didn’t like this. “Razor…”

Razor took a step forward in Korac’s body and swept around Sagan without a word. Instead, he focused on the terminal, which projected onto Korac’s arms. There, he pressed a sequence of functions before glancing once more around the less than friendly faces in the room.

With some of his usual showmanship, Razor asked in a dramatic voice, “Is everybody ready?”

They all nodded, slow with the tension.

Something felt wrong—

The drive sank into the terminal—

“Razor!”

Everything went black.