Despite its harshness, the gruff, raspy question filled her with warmth. Zordjin had made it. The surgery had lasted almost a full solar rotation. To their credit, the others hadn’t spoken of the dangers or their fears, either before or during the surgery.
However, there had been several times where everything began to beep at once and the speed of their movements and grave expressions had filled her with dread. After the last of such times, Roihan, Aria, Mordjan, and Kirelle had all been working on him at once, with Lielle, Aielle, and Fayelle sending him healing magic. By the end, most of them were so tired they were almost falling asleep while standing up.
Lielle had persuaded them to get some rest, promising to watch him while they were away.
She clenched his hand and stood, anxiously perusing his face. His tanned skin had lost its color, taking on a grayish hue during the surgery.
“You’re awake.” She tried to smile.
“Unfortunately,” he growled hoarsely.
She tried to reassure him. “The worst is over—you’ve made it through.”
“As I still remain in these strange surroundings, I’m sure the worst is far from over.” He grimaced, turning his head to the side, taking in the room. “What is this place of metal and pain?”
“This is the laboratory at Renwyn.” A wave of guilt washed over her and Lielle hit a red button on the side of the bed. “I’m sorry, I should have thought of the pain sooner.”
Zordjin’s head fell back, the lines on his face immediately easing in relief. As his eyes took in the ceiling, he frowned. “Who are you?”
“I am Lielle.” At his blank look, she prodded, “The woman who fell into your arms outside your castle.”
His mouth fell open. “No. It’s not possible. You look nothing like her.”
She frowned. “Perhaps you hit your head harder than I thought when you fell.”
“My mind is not muddled,” he replied, obviously affronted. He rose to his elbows, then sat up slowly, examining her. “The fairness of your skin and the color of your hair might be similar. But your eyes are strange. And your ears are pointed.”
“I can assure you, Zordjin, that it’s me. I slept on a pillow by your door.”
His jaw was slack, but finally he managed, “What are you?”
She reached up to feel one of her pointed ears. “I’m an elf. But perhaps the magic that brought me here disguised me while I was in your realm.”
"A what?" He scratched his head, which was beginning to hurt despite whatever she’d done to control his pain. “You’re not human.”
She smiled. “Neither are you.”
He shook his head and blinked. “Yes, I am.”
She threw her head back and laughed at that. “At more than a head taller and twice as broad—and a life span of over two hundred years? Nay, warrior. You are from the Mountain Realm. A Siirtian by birth who was stolen to the human realm.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Aside from all the obvious signs I just mentioned? I have visions of important events, and occasionally they include the human realm.”
Zordjin brought one hand to his forehead and rubbed it. “You’re saying I was born somewhere else and taken to the human realm?”
“Why do you think you don’t age at the same rate as the men and women around you? It was your Siirtian blood that kept you alive.”
“Is this Siirti?”
“No, it’s Renwyn. Siirti was invaded by the Ardaks, and that realm no longer exists.” She winced as she said it, belatedly realizing how uncaring it sounded.
But Zordjin didn’t seem to notice and was busy scanning the room. “Why did you bring me here?”
She hesitated for a moment, but there would be nothing gained by waiting. “I had a vision, and it told me that you would find the key to save Aurora.”
Zordjin’s gaze turned hard. "You have the wrong male. I hold the key to nothing and can save no one. Not even myself."
"And yet you are still alive."
"That is not of my making, I can assure you. I cannot even lead my own people to victory against the Belavians. Much less yours against the most fearsome enemy in the universe."
"These words are from the greatest battle strategist the human world has ever known? You would easily have led them to victory if you had not been betrayed. You are not responsible for Carrus's acts."
"Do you not understand?” He jumped off the table abruptly. “Betrayal, treason, assassination, war, and illness—it matters not! I am responsible for everything!" His fist came down hard on the metal bunk and he swayed slightly.
“You are not a god,” she retorted. “You are only one male from the Mountain Realm. You cannot know all.”
"I know I’m not a god—and I no longer believe that one exists. If there was one, he forsook me on the battlefield.” He gritted his teeth. “I should have easily taken both of them."
Lielle rounded the metal table and planted her small form at his feet, staring him dead in the eye. It was obvious that she’d have to argue in light of his beliefs. "Your god did not forsake you—he sent me."
Zordjin looked away. “You can say what you like, but I know the truth. Perhaps your god’s gaze has also grown dark upon you and he is sending the Ardaks across the universe to extinguish all of us for our sins.”
She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “That’s comforting.”
“It shouldn’t be. If you are no longer in the light, then nothing—not even some miraculous key—will save you.”
“You know, for someone who tried to wage war with me in bed minutes after I fell from the sky, you seem mightily attached to your ideas of god and sin.”
His brows drew together in a frown. “Why? It is not a sin to sleep together.”
She grimaced. Of course it wasn’t. “Never mind,” she muttered. “It’s lucky that I don’t believe as you do. I still believe we have a chance to win.”
He snorted. “I wouldn’t call it luck. More like blind naivety.” All at once, he stared down at his body. “Why am I only in my underclothes?”
She paused, reining in her temper. She hadn’t even been mortal for three solar rotations, yet Zordjin was already making her forget the peace she’d acquired in the higher elven realm. “They couldn’t do the surgery with your clothes on. The rest of them are over there on the table with your armor.”
He crossed the floor and began to don his clothing, then his armor. As he put on each piece, she could see his former confidence begin to return. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that everyone in the lab had seen him completely naked only hours before.
When he was fully clothed, he turned to her. “What happened to my leg—did they heal it?”
“Your leg?” she asked blankly.
He flexed his right leg out in front of him. “Yes, my leg doesn’t pain me as it used to.”
“That’s easy,” a male voice came from the door. “It doesn’t hurt because we replaced it when we made you a cyborg.”
Chapter Nine
Zordjin
Zordjin spun so the stranger wasn’t at his back, his hand instinctively going to his sword. He swayed slightly with the effort, his body not feeling quite his own. He also put his body between Lielle and the unknown male. It was a reaction he didn’t examine too closely.
The male stepped forward from the shadows, and Zordjin gasped the moment the shaft of light from above hit his face. He was the same as Zordjin in face and form, no difference between them save their clothing. “By my sword, how can this be?”
The other male crossed the room swiftly, coming to stand about an arm’s width from him, his expression one of awe. “I wouldn’t have believed it had I not seen it with my own two eyes.”
Zordjin reached out to touch him, and the other male brought his own arm up so they clasped. Zordjin judged the other male’s strength to be similar to his own.
“My name is Tordan, and I believe I’m your twin brother.”
“It
can’t be true.” Zordjin tried to deny it, but the words were weak in the face of one who appeared to be his exact duplicate. “I would have known I had a brother.”
“I also find it difficult to believe,” the other male, Tordan, replied. “Where have you been all this time?”
“The human realm.” The words came out before he could stop them.
“The human realm?” Tordan’s brows rose in obvious surprise. “That explains why we’ve never met. It’s the one realm we don’t visit much. How did you get there?”
“I have no idea. I don’t remember any other place. Lielle told me that I was stolen and taken there, but the one who took me died before he could ransom me back.”
Tordan’s gaze went to Lielle. “Is this true?”
“Yes. I was given a vision of the event. Unfortunately, after his captor’s demise, Zordjin was left to grow up among the humans.”
“It wasn’t that bad until recently,” Zordjin said dryly. He felt he had to stand up for his old life, what he had created for himself.
Tordan’s eyes flashed down his body. “I imagine not. The humans must have thought you were a god.”
“Well, I was the king, and more recently, emperor. And I never had trouble with the women,” Zordjin said.
“Here we go,” Lielle said in a caustic tone.
Tordan slanted her a glance. “Ah, I believe we should save this discussion for another time.”
“No, be my guest.” Lielle put her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing. “We’re both anxious to hear about your innumerable human conquests.”
Tordan physically stepped between them to touch something on a device behind them, but Zordjin had a feeling it was to give them space.
Once finished, Tordan didn’t step away, but turned to face Lielle, blocking Zordjin. “Lielle, I haven’t had a chance to officially welcome you to our realm.”
Zordjin stepped around him in time to see him reach for Lielle’s hand and bow to bring it to his lips in a courtly gesture. “Thank you for finding my brother, my lady.”
Lielle blushed, and Zordjin’s stomach tightened. He glared at Tordan as the other male rose back to his full height. His brother was smooth, too smooth for his liking.
Tordan shot him a pointed glance. “If you like her, you’d better improve your manners,” he said clearly, although his lips didn’t move. “There are many cyborgs here who would lay down their lives for a chance to be with one such as her.”
Zordan drew in a quick breath. “How did you speak inside my mind?”
“Through your chip.
“What the hell is a chip?”
Tordan sighed. "The chip is a metal implant at the back of your neck that allows you to control your body and the technological implants that are keeping you alive. All cyborgs have one." Tordan turned to show Zordjin the back of his own neck, where a tiny light blinked. "Your chip is like mine."
Zordjin's hand went to the back of his neck and he felt something there. It was a hard and unforgiving small bump. It felt foreign, unnatural. The ache in his head grew, and the room began to spin.
Tordan steadied him, and up close, Zordjin saw that Tordan even had the same small freckle on the left side of his chin.
"Easy there, brother. It will take some time to adjust to your new body."
"My new. . .body?" Zordjin stepped back into the metal bunk, gripping it for stability.
"Yes." Tordan glanced at Lielle. "Has no one explained to you that you're a cyborg?"
“We were getting to that part when you came in,” she said pointedly.
Zordjin ignored her. "A cy-what?" As his pulse began to pound, his voice rose, "What the hell is a cy-berg?”
"A cyborg is a being with technological enhancements and a chip to control them,” Tordan enunciated. “When we responded to Lielle’s call for help, you were dying. By the time we were able to get you here, it was too late for our healers to use magic to repair the damage to your body, so we used Ardak technology to save your life. I know it is a shock, believe me, but you will be okay. This I swear to you.”
The warmth he’d begun to feel only moments ago fled his body, and Zordjin’s flesh went cold. At that moment, he knew his god had truly deserted him. He had been betrayed, then his life was saved only to become a monster. The light left his eyes, and his gaze grew dark upon the cyborg who claimed to be his twin and the elf female who orchestrated this nightmare. She should have let him die.
He needed to leave this horrible place. But where was he to go—back to the human realm? How was he supposed to seek vengeance or fight a war when he couldn’t even walk?
The despair of his new reality sank in, and bile rose from his stomach. He swallowed, trying to control it, but when his twin cyborg reached out and clasped his shoulder, it was all too much.
He vomited on Tordan’s boots so hard that stars appeared in his vision.
Strong arms caught him as he began to fall.
“Just let go,” Tordan said kindly. “It will be better when you wake.”
Chapter Ten
Lielle
Lielle took her seat next to the bed once more, staring glumly at an unconscious Zordjin.
“Don’t worry, my lady,” Tordan said kindly. “We’re all a little rough around the edges when we first find out we’re cyborgs. He’ll come around.”
Perhaps he would, but it was obvious at this point that his heart wasn’t open to it yet. Somehow, she had to convince him to fight. She couldn't just let him walk away with the fate of the universe at stake. Yet as important as that was, it wasn’t the only reason for him to find the key.
His anger, his hopelessness at Carrus’s betrayal called to her beyond the duty of her position, tugging at her heart. Zordjin the emperor had been a pompous prick, arrogant in his years and knowledge of the world. But Zordjin the new cyborg was a different matter entirely. The bounds of his reality had been shaken, his balance destroyed.
Lielle had felt that, too, knew the power of having her reality ripped away, adjusting to a new one. First when the elven empire had closed the portals, stranding their outpost on Milia. Then for the second time when she'd died and risen to the higher elven realm. She knew how it felt to not be able to go back home.
It hit her that, until now, she’d been biding her time until she could get back to the higher elven realm. She’d thought her task would be finished when she reunited Zordjin and his brother. But even though her task was finished, she still remained. And Zordjin was still far from finding the key.
It wasn’t until footsteps drew her attention that Lielle realized she’d fallen asleep.
She glanced back to see Aielle and Tordan entering the room, Tordan bearing a large tray of food. He set the tray on a metal table not far from them and came to stand beside Zordjin. Aielle came to stand beside him.
“Shall we try again?” he asked them with a wink.
Aielle’s eyes sparkled and Lielle wished she felt that optimistic.
When he woke, Zordan sprang out of the bunk faster than she’d believe possible and whirled to face them. He was half crouched in a fighting stance, one hand on the knife at his belt.
"Zordjin, this is my mate, Aielle," Tordan announced proudly, as if his behavior were normal. “You might not remember meeting her when you were injured. She used her magic to ease your pain and heal you while the others worked on your body.”
Zordjin’s eyes narrowed further, but he straightened and greeted the elven queen with a formal bow of his head. “I do have a recollection of that event. You have a soothing touch, my lady.” He stepped forward, taking her hand and bowing low to bring it to his lips. “Thank you for saving my life.”
Aielle’s cheeks turned a shade of pink. “You’re welcome. But Lielle was doing just fine on her own. It was really Kirelle and the others who saved you.”
Zordjin and Tordan exchanged a hard glance as Zordjin rose and stepped back to stand beside her.
Tordan placed an arm around Aielle’s shoulders in a
n unmistakable claim. “You all worked together to save him.”
Lielle felt a sharp prick of discomfort in her chest. She frowned, unused to the sensation, and belatedly realized it was jealousy.
No, it couldn’t be. There was no way she was jealous of anything remotely related to the arrogant former emperor who had just become a cyborg.
She was simply feeling protective of him, because she knew he was important to her vision.
But as Aielle’s blue-green eyes smiled at him and Zordjin’s demeanor warmed to them, Lielle felt more and more off-balance. She quickly delved into the meal of warm bread, cheese, stewed meat, and fruit, hoping it was only hunger that made her feel that way. She hadn’t eaten since coming into this mortal form and wasn't used to the necessity of feeding a body for strength.
But as the stew filled the hollow in her stomach, the feeling remained. Lielle snuck a glance at Zordjin, aware of a sinking feeling in her new, all-too-mortal heart. She was beginning to feel something more for him than she should. Beginning to see through the arrogance to the male beneath it, proud yet honorable, strong yet fallible.
She wanted to flee from it, to avoid the consequences of remaining close to him any longer. She had brought Zordjin to his brother, so technically, her task was finished. But Zordjin still had not decided to help them, and she had a feeling the universe would not be saved by a technicality.
After a few more moments of indecision, she squared her shoulders, knowing what she had to do. The queen and everyone in the higher elven realm had put their faith in her. She needed to stay with him, to make sure he found the key.
As the task which brought her here had been worth a lot more than one immortal soul, it was surely also worth more than one immortal heart.
Chapter Eleven
Zordjin
Zordjin had barely finished eating when a hole in space opened beside him and another cyborg and elf stepped through. He jumped back, on his guard even as Tordan said, “That is Mordjan and his mate, Fayelle.”
Mordjan was unshaven, his eyes and expression more severe than Tordan’s. His mate was beautiful, with long, golden hair similar to Aielle’s.
Zordan Page 4
