Aegeus knew exactly why. He knew exactly what had motivated Ryan to send Eden to Uoria, leading her to slaughter. The torment and death that she would have faced at the hands of the Denynso should they have discovered that they had been betrayed would have been only amusement for Ryan. He still would have been able to access the blood of the warrior, and use it for the purpose that was now sickeningly clear to Aegeus. This had always been the intention. His suffering wasn’t coincidental. It wasn’t a response to what he had discovered or to what he had planned. He had fallen into exactly what Ryan had wanted.
"Yes," Ryan said. "That's true. The blood was never meant to be used to clone, though. It was for something much more powerful. You see, my family was brilliant. They focused on the Valdicians, the Denynso, and the humans at first, but they had never forgotten where this all began and what opportunities awaited them. They continued to use their alliances on Uoria to collect other species to integrate into their experiments. Some bred more easily and willingly than others, while some turned against their own kind to offer up members into our experiments. My father, the last of my family, died when I was 16. That is when I took over. Within a year I had something in my possession that none of the others had ever had, something that would make my hybrids beyond anything that they were capable of creating."
Ryan walked back toward the tank. Aegeus struggled against the chains, thrashing against them with all his strength. The intensity of his anger, his hatred coursed through him like acid in his blood. He gave himself over to it fully. He offered himself over to the violence, the rage. He entrusted the perseverance of his soul to the memories of his wife and sons and as Ryan turned on the light within his tank, nearly blinding him with the bright flood of illumination, he let out a roar and allowed himself to fully become what Ryan had manipulated him to be.
"Klimnu," Ede whispered.
Chapter Ten
Aegeus could hear Ryan’s laugh through his own roar and he fought harder against the chains, trying desperately to get out of them, wishing that they could see who he was. He needed them to tell him what he was, who he was, but he didn’t know if he could even speak his own language any longer. He didn’t even know if they could hear him.
"Please, feel free to continue to be as scared as you'd like,” Ryan said, sounding proud of himself and enthralled by their reaction to Aegeus. “It only feeds him. It would be even better if you could muster up some anger. That really gets him going. Of course, it's nothing like blood."
Aegeus looked to Pyra and the other warriors. He knew that if they started to get angry, he would get stronger. He had been training since the time that he had been captured by Ryan to maintain who he was in his heart and mind even while his body changed. This would be his greatest challenge, the most serious risk to all that he was and had been, but it might be worth it. If they continued to fuel him, to push him forward, he might gain the strength that he needed to escape. He didn’t know what would happen then, but he had to try. Only it seemed that the warriors were doing all that they could to control themselves. Pyra’s eyes were tightly closed, his hand wrapped tightly around a pendant that he wore around his neck. The others were following his lead, not reacting, barely moving.
"How did you get a Klimnu?" Eden asked.
She sounded as though she were trying to stay calm, though her voice was trembling slightly. Aegeus pulled against his chains, roaring again, wanting to scare them. If they would only react. If they could just make him stronger. If they would only do as Ryan intended, appeal to what he had been created to be. He could take what Ryan had intended to use for himself and turn it against him.
"When the experiments were just starting the Covra was still working closely with us. They sent my family members of other species, including one of a species that they had used many years before to build a prison."
"The Mikana," Pyra said.
"Yes. A beautiful, strong, and intelligent race. They offered one of their kind to my family and through him, they learned of an elite group known as the Order. It wasn’t until years later that they discovered that the Mikana on Uoria had undergone an incredible change. We found out that after their conflict with the Covra some of their number had transformed into another species all together, a species that was cruel, vicious, and unstoppable. Exactly what we wanted for our warriors."
Aegeus suffered as he listened to Ryan lie. That wasn’t what happened. That wasn’t how this had unfolded, how he had come to languish in this tank. There had been so much more, yet Ryan wouldn’t say it. Was it possible that he didn’t know all of it? Could his family have lied to him, kept from him the very details of his past that may have prevented him from following the path that they had abandoned?
"They are stoppable," Pyra said. His voice was completely calm. He had achieved absolute control over himself and was facing Ryan without hesitation. "The Denynso stopped them."
Aegeus felt something jump in his chest. Could what the warrior said be true? Could the Denynso truly have stopped the Klimnu? If that was true, it meant that they had gotten into the depths of the Order and scourged the planet of the corruption that had threatened not only Uoria, but the entirety of the Universe. But that couldn’t be. If it was, they would have understood. They would know what motivated Ryan.
"That's what you thought," Ryan said. "But you see, the Order had been struggling with the Klimnu for some time. What had once been one powerful force had divided. Half embraced the changes of the Klimnu and wanted to utilize the power that those changes offered them to further their own control. The others continued to cling to their original Mikana roots and rail against what they thought was the cruelty and pointless brutality of this species. They went to war against each other, each with their own allies by their side. I knew that I had to have one of the Klimnu, but none were willing to participate in the experiments, and they were far too cunning for us to capture. I knew that I couldn't let another mistake happen."
"Mistake?" Eden asked.
"In the early stages of the experiments, my great-grandfather had used Mikana to breed an incredible hybrid. Unfortunately, she and one of the Mikana men escaped the lab and returned to Uoria. They worried briefly that she would tell others what she had experienced and that everything that they had worked so hard for would be destroyed. It never happened. They never heard from her again. Even still, by the time that I was old enough to be in control of the breeding, I knew that we couldn't let that happen again. I couldn't expect the most desirable of species be the one to choose whether to be a part of the experiments or not. I would have to take one for myself.”
Aegeus felt himself go still. His skin burned as though the fury had built up within him so much that it was now seeping out. How dare he?
“I learned of a man who was both adored and hated in the Order. His family had been fighting the corruption in the Order for generations and was leading an ever-growing group of rogue followers into battle against the Klimnu supporters, all of which were now cooperating with me. This man was more powerful even than the leader of the Order and was willing to sacrifice anything in order to take down the corrupt members of the Order and end the breeding. He thought that he knew who he could trust, but he was betrayed. I found out that he was planning on faking his own death during a battle and then rising up against us with his army. In doing that, he essentially walked right into his chains.
You see, the Klimnu had begun fighting with the Denynso at this point, and that dwindled the numbers that were available to fight in the war. I knew that the chances of my allies overcoming the core Order members and their allies were little to none. But that was fine. I was willing to sacrifice numbers in order to get what I wanted. All I needed to do was wait."
Aegeus could feel the skin on his wrists wearing away beneath the metal of the cuffs and hear the walls around the connections begin to break. His throat burned and he tasted his own blood as he screamed out until his throat went raw. He had no right to talk about him as though he
wasn’t there.
"Why did it have to be him? Why didn't you just choose any of the Order members?" Eden asked.
"This man was special. His family had discovered that many years before, his grandfather's father had been claimed by the Order and offered to my family's cause. He became the father of the woman who escaped. Knowing that his family had been involved in the breeding infuriated him and he vowed to destroy me and everything that my family had created. Just as much as it made him hungry to take me down, though, it made me just as eager to get my hands on him. The corrupt members of the Order knew exactly what made a Mikana a Klimnu, and with the hatred and rage that surged through him, Aegeus would be the most powerful Klimnu ever created.
He was at once the greatest threat to me and the most desirable of conquests. I let him walk into battle believing that he was going to be able to follow through with his plan and conquer my allies. He didn't realize that we were ready for him. We brought him here. We forced his transformation. He has been here ever since."
Truth twisted with lies as they came out of Ryan’s mouth, creating a complex, tangled knot that tightened around Aegeus’ neck and made it hard for him to breathe. Did Ryan really believe those things, the lies, or was he only trying to manipulate them further?
"Why?" Eden asked. "Why bother to keep him? If he was such a threat, why didn't you just kill him?"
It was a question that Aegeus had asked himself countless times before. There was never a moment during his captivity when he had hoped for death, but the question had always lingered in his mind as to why that death hadn’t come. Ryan had what he needed. He had transformed him. He had stolen blood samples from him. He had separated his DNA. In his heart, Aegeus knew the only reason was for lasting, continuous torment.
"Because the power that he has as a Klimnu is much more important than the threat that he posed to us. That threat was over the moment that I captured him. No one knows that he's still alive. Everyone believes that he was destroyed in that battle. That moment ended much of the conflicts and allowed me to work that much harder at creating my hybrid army. He has produced some of my most impressive hybrids. Not willingly, of course, but that is little of my concern. The only problem was that the last of my Denynso half-breeds had died. They had begun to fight the experiments and their numbers had dwindled. The newest creations of my army showed no sign of the Denynso that we had worked so hard to instill in them. I knew that I needed more. And so, here we are. After years of seeking out the blood of the Denynso so that I could make Aegeus even stronger and feed the hybrids that have Klimnu blood, years of desiring the blood of the most powerful and feared of all the warrior race, I discovered something even better." Aegeus saw Ryan’s focus change as he turned back to where he had left the baby. He strained against his chains, wanting desperately to stop the scientist from getting to the tiny child. He could only imagine what threat he posed to the vulnerable baby. "This hybrid baby is special. He is the son of this most powerful warrior and of a woman who went to Uoria human and became Denynso. I can't even imagine the possibilities that lie within him."
"No!" Eden cried, throwing herself forward against the forcefield.
Aegeus roared again and Eden’s eyes flickered toward him. He saw something in them, a hint of an emotion that he hadn’t expected to see. There wasn’t fear there. Instead, he felt like there was a sense of connection, like she understood him.
"Don't worry," Ryan said as he stroked the baby’s cheek with a gesture that would seem tender had it not been coming from someone capable of the things that he was. "I'm not going to do anything to harm him. He is much too precious to my cause. He is going to make the hybrids that my family dreamed of." He walked away from the baby and approached Eden and Pyra again. "But before that can happen, I have to ensure that the legacy of my family is protected. I thought that all good within the Order had been eliminated, but I was wrong. One who was once the closest confidante of Aegeus is still alive and is now helping what is left of the family that had worked so hard to stop me. Their bloodline has to end. But once Maxim and Kyven are dead, there will be nothing more standing in my way."
The baby’s cries grew higher and more intense as Ryan approached the side of the tank and stared in at Aegeus. He stared back, his eyes burrowing into Ryan’s without flinching. He wouldn’t give the man even another moment of feeling as though he had power over him.
"Ryan," Eden said from behind him. The ferocity was gone from her voice and now she sounded as though she were trying to make an appeal to Ryan. "I need to take care of the baby."
The scientist looked over his shoulder at her and made a derisive sound as though he couldn’t believe that she would think he was so stupid as to give her such freedom.
"I'm not going to let you out so that you can take him back," he told her harshly. "Don't you think that I know by now that you can't be trusted?"
"He needs to eat, Ryan. If you want to be able to use him for your breeding, he has to be alive, and the only thing that will sustain him is me. I'm not going to try to take him back. I wouldn't do anything that might cause him to get hurt. I just want to feed him and change him. That's all. Please. He hasn't eaten in hours. He needs me."
The baby seemed to recognize the sound of Eden’s voice and let out a higher, more desperate scream. The sound made Aegeus’ stomach ache. He remembered the sound of his children crying when they were young and how helpless he always felt when he heard them. They were so small when he walked into battle and didn’t return. Not as small as the child crying in front of him now, but still young enough that he could only imagine how hurt and confused they must have been when he didn’t come home, when he was suddenly gone from their lives. Though he didn’t know for certain how long he had been gone from Uoria, watching Ryan age in front of him told Aegeus that his two sons would no longer be small children. They were men now, grown in a world without their father, and wouldn’t need his care any longer. The thought was devastating and only made him more desperate for Eden to get to her child.
"Fine," Ryan finally relented. "I'll let you come in to take care of him. But only you. Pyra needs to be controlled."
That didn’t sound good. Aegeus knew what that meant. He knew what Ryan really meant when he said that someone or something needed to be controlled.
"What do you mean?" Eden asked.
"If he will go into one of the cages willingly, I will allow you to come in and take care of the baby. I may even spare your life so that you can keep him alive as long as I need him."
The warriors gathered on the other side of the forcefield shouted, clamoring for their leader not to go along with it, but Pyra didn’t seem to hear them. He nodded immediately, taking a step forward toward Ryan.
"I will go," he said.
He didn’t sound afraid. There was dignity and strength in his voice that came from a life of war and an unwavering, unshakable devotion to duty and a willingness to lay down his very life for the protection of his planet, his kind, and his family.
"Pyra, no," Eden gasped, reaching out a hand toward her mate.
Aegeus had never known a Denynso warrior to have a human mate. Of course, he knew the intensity of the relationship between a warrior and the woman who was intended for him from birth, but to see such a bond between the two species was unusual and unexpected. Aegeus could understand the draw that this would have for Ryan as he sought to build his army of hybrid soldiers. The power of a child created out of love would be far more intense than one crafted in a lab. It would carry with it not just the characteristics of what was born into him, but also the love that was given to him as he was raised by his parents. Aegeus watched as the warrior kissed Eden gently and leaned close to her to murmur something unintelligible.
The forcefield lowered and Pyra walked toward another of the tanks on the other side of the lab. Aegeus heard the door slam closed and turned as much as he could to see the tank. Though he couldn’t look fully into it, he could see through the side that the lig
hts within the tank turned off, concealing the warrior within it as the darkness within his own tank had concealed him. Eden gasped and Aegeus saw her hand pressed to her mouth as though she were trying to muffle the sound, not wanting to jostle Ryan any further. Lysander let out another cry and Eden rushed toward him, scooping him into her arms. As she cradled him to her, the emotions within her seemed to overflow and though she had tried to control herself, she began to cry. As she sobbed against the baby’s head, Aegeus felt a rush of strength through his veins. The horror that he had been feeling was replaced by amusement and he felt the tingle of a laugh forming on his lips. He forced it down, pushed down the amusement and energy that filled him, forced himself to concentrate on the negativity, but he knew what these feelings meant.
When Eden said that she had changed, she meant that she was no longer truly human. As Klimnu he fed off the anger, sadness, and fear of Denynso. Somehow, she had Denynso blood running through her.
"I need something to change him with," Eden said, pushing away the tears so that she could return her attention to taking care of the baby. "A towel, a lab coat, anything."
Aegeus watched as Eden accepted a towel that Ryan held out to her and then disappeared out of view as she carried the baby to a table so that she could change him. The baby fell silent and Aegeus assumed that he was eating, finally soothed by his mother’s sustenance. He remembered how amazing it was to watch as Ellora fed his sons. It was something that he had never put much thought into, though he always knew how babies were fed. When he became a father, however, he found himself in awe of the power of his wife’s body. She had not only conceived his son within her and carried him to full development, but then brought him into the world and sustained his life purely by her own power. As a baby, Maxim had needed nothing but the presence of his mother in order to survive and thrive. It was a miracle and one that made his heart ache even more now. Aegeus gave himself over to the feeling, though. The more he thought of Ellora, Maxim, and Kyven, the more that the laughter drained from him and the deeper that he was able to feel the hatred and aggression that allowed him to stay strong but not become what Ryan had always wanted him to be.
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