by Meg Xuemei X
“We’ll follow you anywhere you go, Cousin Siren,” the Lam cousins proclaimed one by one. “When we found about the war, we came right away. Your family stands with you.”
Her family had truly become her family, and her family kept expanding. Waves of warmth washed over Lucienne. Her chief was right. Even if she gave the men leave, they would choose to defend Sphinxes.
She’d set out to fulfill her family obligations and personal ambitions. In the process, she’d bonded with her men. She’d transformed from chasing her own dreams to sharing a new world with them. She’d wanted to remake history with her people, for her people, but her blessing had turned into a curse. The curse that should be hers to carry now fell upon her people and brought a new war over their heads.
She was poisoned beyond savage. She was the mad Siren beyond reason. Yet, her people refused to abandon her. They chose to defend her, to shed their blood and that of her enemies for her.
“We won’t just fight for you, cousin,” Thaddeus said softly. “We fight for our new home, our future, our right to exist as a free and independent nation.”
“Well said, Thaddeus,” Pyon agreed.
Lucienne swallowed. Yes, her people had made a life for themselves on this new land. Sphinxes was as much their home as it was hers. They had every right to hold onto this land. “Then we fight,” she said. She would fight with them. She would do everything in her power to protect them and shed her last drop of blood for them and for Sphinxes.
That night, Lucienne in her white gown stood on the rooftop of the castle addressing her people. Her warriors, scientists, and civilians, gathered on the ground. The air force, military bases, and navy fleet were watching her hologram live feed.
“People of Sphinxes,” Lucienne called, gazing down at the crowd that filled the castle and far beyond. Her people had grown to such numbers. “Within three days, our enemy, made of the combined armies of all nations, will come to drive us from our homeland,” Her voice reached the far end of this burgeoning nation, “because we represent new ideas, new hopes, new strength, and a new future. You came from different races and from every corner of the earth. You have now built this new world together, and our enemy hates it. I won’t lie to you. Their force is powerful. So I’m giving everyone a choice: stay and fight or leave for safety today. Should you stay, many of you will lose your lives defending this land you now call home—”
“We’ll defend our homeland!” The men’s furious shouts rose from the ground. “We’ll defend Sphinxes and our queen till the last of us stands! We’ll eliminate any enemy should they come!”
Lucienne raised a hand and the soldiers’ fierce cries gradually receded.
“We’re the beginning, not the end,” she continued. “We’ll build the strongest nation in the world, for us and for our children, and our children’s children. On the land where you stand, there will be playgrounds and schools for them. No enemy can take that away from us! We’ll fight. We’ll prevail. We’ll show the world our strength and willpower. They’ll think twice before ever coming to Sphinxes again.” She paused, tears moistening her lashes. “I’m proud that I have you—the best of the best, and the strongest of the strong. We are one nation and one people!”
Tens of thousands of warriors roared in one voice, “One nation! One people! One and true Siren Queen!”
Kian, her officers, and her cousins shouted with all the warriors, proud tears burning in their eyes. Ziyi wept, searching for napkins. Lucienne met her Czech prince’s gaze for a moment and saw an ocean of love, profound pride, and fierce protectiveness. There was no ache or torment in his hazel eyes for the first time since she’d been poisoned in the Temple of Lemuria.
The light that had once upon a time shone on Eterne in her heart reignited. One day, one among her people would find a way to bring the realm and a new future to Earth and to the human race. The hope was lost to her, but not to her people.
Under the crescent moon, the Sphinxes flag—half red and half white, with the Siren’s symbol, a full circle containing an all-seeing eye in the center—rose to the tip of the pole atop the castle’s tallest tower.
A horn blew, and the trumpets joined in. A new nation’s pride vibrated in the air.
Every man and woman in Sphinxes stood tall and saluted the flag.
The nation of Sphinxes was born.
PART III
CHAPTER 32
THE CODE
The code Jekaterina had given Ashburn was a symbol of infinity. Three infinities—heads biting tails—locked in triangular positions.
The code appeared so simple, but when Ashburn tried to extract its meanings, his database flashed thousands of them.
No matter. With this code he could fix Seraphen’s broken memories.
The door to the Ghost House opened upon Spike’s approach. Ashburn rode straight through the ice-like pillar into the Rabbit Hole. The barrier was impossible for others to break, but to him, it was immaterial. This whole place was his playground, imprinted with his genetic code.
Ashburn flung himself off Spike and squatted before Seraphen's head.
Seraphen's golden eyes stared up at him. “How long have I been here, Ashburn?”
“Does it matter to you?” Ashburn asked, then felt like an asshole for saying that. The remaining humanity in him stretched thinner every day. His empathy was close to the dead.
Seraphen studied him. “It matters not. Time stopped having meaning ages ago. As the generations pass me by, I feel only the slightest echo of time. You’ll feel the same after the passing of this generation, if they survive.”
“They'll survive,” Ashburn said.
“So you still care. I see. You still have some humanity left. If you merge with the Eye of Time, you’ll have none.”
“I need answers from you, Seraphen.” The last thing Ashburn wanted to discuss with Seraphen was how he hung onto his fast-fading humanity.
“You keep coming back for the same answer. You need not look to me, but yourself. If you want an excuse to save her at the expense of mankind, you aren’t going to get it from me.”
Seraphen spoke the brutal truth.
Ashburn had thought he was ready to spend Lucienne’s last moments with her, but he could no longer stand it. He couldn’t watch her fade away. Every moment it killed him more than it did her. And how could he go on once she was gone?
Jekaterina had taught him to embed the code into his TimeDust so he could link to Seraphen's mind inside the Rabbit Hole. Without the vast noise of human consciousness crushing him, he heard only Seraphen's thoughts. Through their link, Ashburn sent the symbol of three locked infinities to Seraphen’s head.
Seraphen looked baffled before fear reeked off his golden eyes. “Impossible.”
“You recognize it,” Ashburn asked. “What is it?”
“Bad news.” Seraphen drew a breath, a habit he had, even though he no longer needed air. “Where did you get this?”
“From Jekaterina.”
“Jekaterina?”
“Lucienne’s mother.” Ashburn sent Seraphen Jekaterina’s image. “The Eye of Time said that Jekaterina has a thousand faces.”
“A thousand faces? It can’t be her, can it? No, she couldn’t survive on this planet when time formed on earth. Her race left, so did she.”
“Who is she?”
“The Queen of the Exiles, a goddess who once lived among humankind. She had a human daughter Niamh, who tricked me.”
Ashburn knew the tale of Niamh—the mythical princess of the Land of Promise. She was the mother of the first Siren. Niamh was also Lucienne Lam’s middle name, given by her Siren’s mark in the ritual. The subject of Niamh always riled up Seraphen, and he’d been hell bent on ending her bloodline. Lucienne was Niamh’s last descendent.
“Jekaterina can’t be the queen,” Seraphen murmured to himself, distraught. “She can’t be Niamh either. Niamh was half mortal. But if she turned into an immortal because of her mother’s blood … and the Exiles ar
e coming. Niamh … the hybrid ….”
“What’s the bad news, Seraphen?”
The head went into a tirade of gibberish.
“Seraphen!”
Seraphen wasn’t responding.
Ashburn flashed the code of three infinities in front of Seraphen, and his former protector jerked back to the present. “Destroy the code!” Seraphen yelped. “Never use the key. It’s the first beacon for the Exiles to come through the portal—”
“It has been embedded in TimeDust,” Ashburn said. “Now I’ll have to fix your damaged memories. I must know what else I can do to save Lucienne.”
“Your obsession with her has doomed your race.”
“I think not,” Ashburn said and burned the code into the depth of Seraphen’s consciousness.
A tiny, black spot emerged inside the maze of Seraphen’s mind, then exploded into bright light. The light spread like tree branches until all the “trees” were shining.
And Ashburn had the final answer—only by melding with the Eye of the Time could he purge the poison in Lucienne. There was absolutely no other way and no other cure in heavens or on earth.
So either he walked toward his own nightmare of losing himself or toward the other—losing Lucienne Lam.
CHAPTER 33
DEVOURER
The Sealers’ fighters came like numerous locusts. Lucienne’s warrior fighters met their enemy halfway, stopping them from reaching the soil of Sphinxes.
In the Defense Room, Lucienne stood with Kian, Prince Vladimir, and her high-ranking officers. A satellite hologram displayed the ferocious air battles.
Missiles, rockets, and lasers shot across the sky in all directions. In their wake came red fire and black smoke. Fighters broke into shards of metal, plummeting into the churning sea. It was hard to tell which remains were the enemy’s and which Sphinxes’ fighters.
The ground forces were like arrows notched on bowstrings, ready to spring into action.
The castle trembled now and then from the explosions miles away.
“The Sealers outnumber us seven to one,” General Fairchild said grimly.
Lucienne breathed deeply. It was one nation against many.
“We’ll hold,” Admiral Enberg said. “Our warships have joined the fight.”
Kian gave Enberg a nod. “Give them hell, Admiral.”
Admiral Enberg spoke into a link, “Champions, go!”
Champions I, II, and III broke the water at the edge of the Sphinxes Seas and shot toward the enemy in the air. They were the first warplanes equipped with a force field that could absorb impact from more than one hundred missiles. Champions were Lam’s Industry’s new darling, and now the world’s most advanced fighters were unleashed.
The killing fighters pierced through the enemies’ ranks like blades cutting glasses. The rest of the Sphinxes fighters regrouped and flanked the Champions with renewed vigor.
A line of enemy fighters plunged toward the ground in a cluster of fire balls.
“Now who’s the bitch,” General Fairchild snorted.
“You are,” a voice came through the Defense Room’s intercom.
The room turned deathly silent except for the noises of the battle in the background from the hologram.
“I’m Mirrikh Schwartz,” the voice continued. “I’ve come for you all, especially you, little Siren.”
Mirrikh Schwartz, the ogre who had persecuted Kian. Old and new hatred roared in Lucienne’s blood. Before she found him, he’d come to her. Good. Then a dread fell upon her.
Many nations’ intelligence agencies had tried to fringe her network, but Sphinxes kept those bugs out. How could the Sealers have access to Sphinxes’ most fortified communication channel? The enemy had heard all of their commands. A traitor must be among them, but Lucienne couldn’t think of who it might be with the battle raging on.
Before she and the generals called Ziyi, the girl pitched in through the comm link. “Lucia, Generals,” Ziyi’s voice was laced with terror, “our system has been compromised.”
“Uncompromise it,” Kian shouted.
“We depend on you and your team, Ziyi,” Lucienne said. “You can do it.”
“I know, but something’s very wrong.” Ziyi’s voice filled with panic. “I’ve never seen anything like this—”
The enemy fighters started to retreat, except one jet.
Its distinctive black plates featured giant red letters that spelled Predator. The Sealers’ menacing symbol—an arrow piercing the Siren’s all-seeing eye—stood carved on its snake-like head.
Lucienne felt her hair rising on her neck as a chill like no other surged up her spine. Her Forbidden Glory had sensed something terrible in the air, something so dark no words could define it.
Champion I immediately fired at Predator, its laser beams hitting its head and engine. But instead of blasting Predator to pieces, the green laser beams dissolved as if they were toy beams. The black jet pulsed, and a gray mass of mixed smoke and fog crept out of its head.
Now all three Champions fired upon the black jet, but their missiles melted to drops of liquid.
“What the hell is that thing?” General Fairchild demanded, wiping sweat from his brows.
Airbase and the fleets launched a hailstorm of missiles and rockets toward Predator, but all the weapons dissolved.
“Fall back!” Lucienne cried into the command com.
“Disengage!” Kian, Fairchild, and Enberg’s shouts overlapped her.
The smoke from Predator moved at lightning speed. It tossed Champion I up. The fighter flapped like paper in a storm. In the blink of an eye, it disintegrated, leaving a small flame in its wake. The flame plummeted toward the ground.
“No!” Lucienne screamed.
Her cousin Thaddeus was inside Champion I. He’d been fidgeting miserable as her guard and nurse all these months. A born warrior, he’d craved the thrill of battle, so she’d indulged him and let him fight on the frontline. Now, he was dead. One of her tight family members was gone. Grief blinded her vision. Grieve later. Put it inside a box for now. She forced herself to breathe in and out. Tears still streamed down her face.
The storm of smoke wrapped the other two Champions, and the two fighters turned to tiny flames instantly. The smoke and fog kept expanding until it blotted out the sun and half the sky.
Sphinxes sank into darkness. Three small flames that were former Champions swayed and fell from the darkened sky.
“Isn’t the candlelight beautiful?” Mirrikh’s holographic image appeared in Sphinxes’ Defense Room, right beside Lucienne. Kian and Vladimir both lunged and pulled her away from it.
Mirrikh’s image smirked. “This is just the beginning, I promise.” He gestured, and a section of the smoke moved like a spear with supernatural speed, piercing hundreds of Sphinxes’ fighters. Hundreds of flames dropped from the sky like flickering candles.
The rest of the Sphinxes’ warplanes and battleships all fired at Predator. The blanket sky became a web of fire from missiles and laser beams, but the lasers dissolved and the missiles melted inside the net of smoke and fog.
“The world has never seen such a spectacular sight!” Mirrikh was choked with tears, then chortled with pride. “Devourer can destroy the whole world’s population in mere seconds if I’m in the mood!”
His hologram flickered off.
Ziyi’s voice came through. “Lucia, I blocked his access. The channel is secure for the moment. My team is working on fortifying our network.”
“Keep at it,” Lucienne said in an even voice.
“We can’t fight this thing.” General Fairchild turned to Kian and Lucienne, his face drained of color. “Nothing can touch it.”
Lucienne knew what the general meant. Soon the smoke and fog were going to descend upon Sphinxes. Her people would all become flames that would burn for a few second, and then nothing would be left of them.
“Take the Siren under,” Kian ordered.
He wanted her to escape with the
civilians and scientists through the underground tunnel. He thought he could still save her. “No.” Lucienne raised a hand to stop her guards as they moved toward her. “I won’t flee while my men fight. I’ll live and die with you all.” Over Kian’s furious look, she said softly, “Besides, there isn’t time. You know that.”
“Ziyi,” she called, “hail the Sealers elder.”
A faint chime bleeped. Mirrikh's image appeared on the screen in the Defense Room.
“Mirrikh Schwartz,” Lucienne asked, her voice emotionless, “are you the true founder of the Sealers—the Ghost in the Machine?”
“I will be,” Mirrikh said, “after this war.”
A light of illumination passed by, and Lucienne drew a breath. “You launched this war against my country to rid yourself of someone higher than you in your Brotherhood’s rank, but haven’t you come to the wrong place?”
Mirrikh gave a low chuckle. “I’ve never hit a wrong target in my life.”
“So you believe your superior is in my land, and you’re eager to remove him or maybe her,” Lucienne said. “Tell me who the Ghost in the Machine is among my people, and I’ll give you your founder as a peace offering. You can go home happy.”
“Razer-sharp.” Mirrikh roared with laughter. “They say with you there is never a dull moment. We’re much alike. It’s a shame we’re at war, otherwise we might become friends.”
“You call the shots,” Lucienne said. “You and I have the power to create different reality. Let today be the start of a new relationship.”
“Siren, Siren,” Mirrikh shook his head, an amused smirk on his face, “you’re indeed a seductress.”
“I do not try to seduce you,” said Lucienne, “but I am eager to open a dialogue so our people can have peace.”
“Did you request a peace talk when you blew up my father and his fleet in Polynesia? Oh, no. You completely forgot. But I don’t come to avenge him. As a leader of high vision, I’m not that petty. However, the world is too small a place for two superpowers. If you had what I have, you’d have struck me long ago. So today I must bring the powerful Siren to her knees and establish my sole leadership in the world.”
