{Monarch 3}
Ishkur.
Celindria said Silence—the Mother of all that was Imminent—was looking for Ishkur.
“Tameka.” Xelan knelt across from the woman he loved and squeezed her tawny hands. Again, he tried to reach her through the shock, maintaining a soft tone to prevent her further retreat. “Please. We must leave so we can find Pax.”
Pablo muttered, “Her nacre should prevent shock, yes?”
Xelan shook his head, staring into Tameka’s Atramentous eyes. He refused to look away from her as he responded, “No one can exchange nacre energy the way she just did.”
Somewhere behind them, Iuo whispered, “Fury killed everyone upstairs. Everyone but us.”
Kyle, louder, declared, “She saved our asses.”
While the conversation carried on around them, Tumu and Korac formed a perimeter to guard their unlucky position, an intersection of corridor. In the middle, Sagan stood ready to Seamswalk them to Reipon, so they could evacuate their home.
Celindria.
Xelan’s truest failure. His ultimate sin. There was never time to address her properly. Never time to work through her traps and walls—to make her see. That Xelan was wrong, and he was sorry—
“We have to save our son no matter the cost.” Tameka squeezed Xelan’s hands, finally. Her words left her in a firm oath. “She doesn’t get one full day with him, do you hear me? We’re saving him, today.”
Xelan searched Tameka’s eyes as the Atramentous seeped away, leaving shards of green glass in its wake. They still had work to do, and he hated reminding her of it. “Not one day. Let’s finish this mission first. There’s still people who need us”
Sagan knelt beside Xelan and smiled sadly at Tameka. “We’ll get him back. Xelan, where’s your contact—”
“Right here.”
Korac’s voice traveled down the hall, skeptical. “Wingmaster, this Monarch Queen… is she the one from our first misadventure there?”
Xelan heard the smile in Tumu’s voice without seeing his lipless mouth. “That’s right. F8, how’s the hive?”
Kyle sounded as suspicious as Korac when Kyle asked, “F8?”
Iuo and Pablo, standing beyond Tameka, shared a curious look.
Sagan turned and gasped.
Tameka’s eyes were still too wide and unfocused. Xelan was afraid to look away from her, but the commotion behind him demanded his attention.
Feet, hundreds of pairs of boots, stomped behind them. A woman’s rich voice cut through the din, familiar and welcomed. “Gather the drones and their queens. Remember, these people know nothing outside of this gas farm. Be easy with them. Prince of Cinder, I demand an audience.”
Xelan grinned. F8 was a handful, and he’d looked forward to introducing her to Tameka, but certainly under better circumstances. “The calvary’s here, Tameka.” Concerned by her silence, he pulled her to him and kissed her forehead. Only quiet enough for her to hear, he vowed, “Today, Tameka. Help us move this along, and you, me, and Pax will sleep in the same bed tonight.”
Tameka shifted then and pressed on his shoulders to stand. Xelan followed her up, catching her line of sight. F8 stood amid her drones, busy corralling confused members of their species born and raised in Imminent captivity. A butterfly in every sense of the word. F8’s black and red wings draped off her back like a cape for her matching battle armor. Antennae twitched and sensed above her multi-faceted eyes. Where her drones had needle-nosed mouths, her lips were like all the other females of the species across the Vast Collective. Currently, the regal pout formed a line of determination and even a little disgust. This wasn’t what F8 wanted for her people.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“I thought surely you’d exaggerated.” The twenty facets of F8’s eyes reflected the light in a diamond shimmer as she shook her head in disdain. “I knew Enki performed experiments at my old hive, but I never imagined…” Her gaze shifted from Xelan to Korac and scanned him with an assessing glance. “Been some time, General.”
Korac looked at Xelan, then back to F8, disbelief on his face. “You truly survived.”
F8 smiled sweetly with a predator’s threat hidden beneath those lips. “I never forgot you or Prince Nox. Before I heard your Verse, I was sure the next time we’d meet I’d kill you—”
Sagan stepped up beside her… man, who gripped his axes.
“—But I’ve reconsidered my position on the matter. You tell a good tale, child.”
Pablo went to Tameka and changed the subject. “I need to check you over, okay?” He started with her pulse and flashed a light in her eyes. After blood pressure, he smiled at both her and Xelan. “I’d like to run some additional tests, but considering the circumstances, you’re battle ready. And I’m needed inside.” He gathered his bag and headed deeper into the underground facility, where drones were scattered, to collect lost souls.
Iuo approached F8 with his hands empty, and his bipedal form relaxed in one loose muscle. Friendly and unassuming. “Queen F8.”
“Prince Iuo, the Porn Baron. Word of your fairness precedes you.”
With a bow of his head, Iuo said, “It’s lovely to meet you. I’ve employed many of your people over the millennia. With your permission, I’d like to record the events here—”
“Can you fly?” F8 asked with a glance over his sincere face.
Iuo shrugged apologetically, “No.”
F8 placed hands on her hips and shook her head. “We’re relocating them to foster hives immediately. I need air travel. But please, do record the history with some regard for accuracy. Don’t hide the abhorring truth of your Tritan masters—”
Kyle stepped up, interrupting her diatribe that Iuo was no doubt accustomed to hearing by now. “I can’t fly either, but the faster we help these people the sooner we can save Pax.”
F8 pointed into the gaseous field beyond the shattered nacre barrier. “Big drone. Goes by ‘Seps.’ He’ll put you both to work.” Once they wandered inside, following the other rescuers, F8 turned back to Xelan and Tameka. “Am I receiving the message clearly? Has Imminent stolen your son?”
Xelan started to answer when Tameka took control of the situation by saying, “They did, and we’re getting him back. Do you want in?”
F8’s insect eyes scanned Tameka. Fierce gaze, clenched fists, set shoulders, and the chain dart holstered on her hip. After another moment of this regard, the Monarch Queen quirked a brow and asked, “You’re taking on Enki?”
Xelan felt the air shift and a momentous occasion would be marked by Tameka’s answer.
“Yes. In thirty-six hours, meet our forces at Cinder’s shrine.”
Over his shoulder where he and Korac still stood guard, Tumu said, “The anti-nacre weapons might pose a problem.”
“I’ll drain them all.” Iron will rang in Tameka’s voice. “I am done. F8. Korac. Pass onto our allies that we attack Enki from Earth, Cinder, and Reipon.”
Sagan returned from helping migrate some of the rescued drones in time to overhear. Resolute, she assured, “I’ll see them there personally.”
Thirty-six hours wasn’t much time to plan. Xelan was worried Tameka wasn’t giving herself space to process the loss of control in the situation and compensated with an utter taking of it. But then, he caught Korac’s gaze over the others. The General gave one firm nod with grave eyes and erased any of Xelan’s doubts. They could do this. To Mon3’s ruler, he said, “Thirty-six hours, F8. We’ll stop Imminent.”
The Monarch Queen’s eyes illuminated as she gave a radiant smile. With a small bow, F8 said, “I believe you will.”
Xelan and Tameka exchanged a confused glance.
Why did F8 bow? There was something significant to it.
“Not that this isn’t an empowering moment…” Korac’s elegant cadence interrupted their huddle. “But how many troops and what kind can you supply? I need to know before we finish here.”
F8 met each of their eyes one-by-one, bewildered. Eventually, she placed a delicate hand on her chest. Disbelief lightened her voice. “You mean, you don’t know?”
Tameka tensed beside Xelan in frustration. He felt it and understood completely, but they needed patience with their allies. He pulled Tameka against him to shoulder some of her burden. In turn, she nuzzled her face against Xelan’s bicep where he felt her hide a tear.
Anything… Xelan would give anything to take this pain away from her—
At their exhausted silence, F8 kindly elaborated, “Word of the Traitor Prince’s return has united Caprents, Dwarves, Luks, Yun, and drone alike. Even the Lamias, like your Porn Baron, are rallying to support the Shadow. Especially now that the King Regent confirmed Primary Rem was responsible for the disaster at Pil. When your allies learn Pax was taken, they’ll say the crusade belongs to Fury. They—we—will follow you into the storm.” She put a fist to her chest in salute.
“To end it once and for all.”
The pure vehemence in Tameka’s voice convinced Xelan that this was truly the end.