by Vi Voxley
Jhaon turned away from him, heading for the laboratory again.
"Because," he said, "they're not exactly my brothers. More like sons."
Kol-Eresh didn't say another word as they resumed their journey, but at last he had a confirmation for the bad feeling he'd had about Jhaon from the beginning. The Eternal in front of him was the father of all the others, making him the oldest and undoubtedly the strongest.
And the most vicious, judging by the way he was prepared to let his own sons die for disagreeing with him.
Jhaon held up his hand when they reached the laboratory.
"I will do what I can for your female," he said. "Remember what I said. Miss one and we might all be dead."
The Eternal laughed darkly as if he'd made a joke.
"Except for me, of course," he said. "But I think it might be interesting to see how a new Nayanor fares against my sons."
Kol-Eresh didn't say another word to him. He took Jackie's hand, feeling his fated give it a squeeze. Her eyes were almost entirely purple now, looking at him with a mixture of sadness and hope and love that burned straight to his very core.
"I know you will be back for me," she said.
Kol-Eresh nodded and stepped into the laboratory. The alarms went off instantly. He was certain Jhaon could have turned them off, but the Eternal seemed to be having his own way of fun with him.
Out in the hall, through a long corridor, Kol-Eresh could see eyes turning his way and then the Eternals rushed toward him.
The harbinger moved to meet them, sword in hand, casting one last look at Jackie.
She was laying down on the surgery table again, mouthing something that looked like "I love you".
That was all that he needed.
The first Eternal tried to decapitate him, but Kol-Eresh dodged out of the way. The wall of the narrow corridor caught the sword and it stayed stuck there for just a moment before the warrior could pull it free. The man realized the mistake when Kol-Eresh swung his own blade and cut the arms right off, kicking the howling warrior in the chest in the next second.
The mutilated Eternal fell onto the others, screaming. In their rage – and judging by their disdainful looks, on purpose – his brothers trampled the first beneath their feet. Kol-Eresh couldn't muster any pity, not when he was giving the fury in him free reign.
He couldn't see Jhaon or Jackie, he'd come too far out into the corridor, but he had to put his faith in the gods.
They wouldn't take his fated from him, not like that.
Not after he'd done the impossible by finding the Eternals and was doing it again by killing them.
It turned out that the ancient warriors were the biggest enemies of themselves. After the first one had suffered a miserable, unglorified death under the boots of his brothers, Kol-Eresh figured out how little they cared for the others.
He used it to his advantage, the only advantage he had, other than the tightness of the corridor.
The harbinger backed away a step, letting the warrior coming at him miss the blow. He kept baiting the Eternal until he'd made enough mistakes to be shoved out of the way by the others, forcing every warrior to keep an eye on the men next to them. Kol-Eresh tried to remember who had been on one side or the other in the argument, forcing them next to each other.
The Eternals might have been superior fighters to most Nayanors, but time had made them so selfish they'd lost all sense of how to work as a unit. The rancid disdain they had for Kol-Eresh and the other Nayanors seemed to extend to their own brothers as well.
It made sense that after seeing the same faces for hundreds of years, the Eternals had no familiar feelings left. The same time that had honed their skills had eroded away the patience a warrior needed to survive in a battle.
Kol-Eresh had noticed the same thing with the men he'd fought when his ship was attacked. He'd been able to bring one of them down, because every single one of them fought like they were alone and the others were in their way.
Brilliance, it seemed, didn't go hand in hand with wisdom.
The harbinger cut and parried and tricked the Eternals, but every step back was like walking on blades. He couldn't let them close to Jackie. For every step Kol-Eresh had to take back, he had to suffer for to gain again.
Every time he moved forward, pushing his enemies onto the pile of corpses growing on the floor, Kol-Eresh paid for it with another wound.
The first ones had been easy, no more than scratches and cuts, but then one sword sliced into his abdomen, hard.
Kol-Eresh roared in fury, killing the warrior with a powerful strike of his sword, but the blood gushing from his wound wasn't looking good. The diadon in his chest was glowing brightly, trying to keep him from going through the terrible exertion.
Then the Eternals parted, moving out of the way and Kol-Eresh stared eye to eye with two Abominations coming toward him in perfect unity. It seemed the Eternals had realized their mistake as well and were taking a breather while he was forced to fight mechanical creatures who could work together very well.
Kol-Eresh focused, but not on the Abominations in front of him, pushing the pile of corpses out of their way.
He thought of Jackie, of his fated's laughter. The small moments she probably hadn't even noticed, curling up next to him, pushing her body closer to his. The way she'd only been able to sleep in his arms, her arms wrapped around his chest.
The Abominations leaped as one, trying to jump over him, but Kol-Eresh was prepared to back away if that was what it took. He targeted one of them, grasping the huge sword hard in his grip. When the creature was almost on top of him, the harbinger sliced open its mechanical belly, jumping out of the way when the beast dropped like a rock, its systems down.
The other turned to Kol-Eresh, roaring in that ear-shattering voice. The harbinger rushed him, seeing the Eternals regrouping. The beast lashed out with claws like daggers, catching his thigh when Kol-Eresh came too close. The harbinger grunted in pain, but the move had paid off. He slammed the blade of his sword into the beast, nailing him to the ground for a moment.
It nearly cost him his life. Pulling his sword out of the mix of metal and wires wasn't a smooth motion.
The first Eternal to reach him landed a good blow that his shoulder guard blocked. The impact resonated through him like he'd just been hit by a fighter.
That was the exact thing Kol-Eresh had been trying to avoid. When he gave the bastards a single chance to fight honestly and show their true colors, all their massive power and skill started to show again.
He killed the enemy with difficulty, but the others were coming.
Time lost its meaning. Kol-Eresh channeled all of his rage and fear for Jackie's life into his sword, slicing through his enemies. The loss of blood was starting to make itself known. His mind was dizzy and his eyes weren't as sharp as he was used to.
The harbinger was certain that he'd dealt a few corpses needless blows before he realized that there was no one left to kill.
He stopped, breathing heavily, supporting himself on the sword.
The last of the Eternals was slumping against the wall, the one he'd tried to kill again and again long after he'd died.
On the other end of the corridor stood a lone Abomination, unmoving. Kol-Eresh figured it needed a command from the Eternals to attack, but it was still eerie to turn his back on the creature and head back to the laboratory.
Jhaon was waiting for him, with his fated sitting up on the table, her eyes –
Her eyes were hers once again.
Twenty-Six
Jackie
The elation Jackie had felt over being able to breathe and move and live again was gone the second Kol-Eresh stepped into the room.
The harbinger looked terrible. His normally bright eyes were tired and blood was trickling down his face. The armor he was wearing was in tatters, which should have been impossible for metal. The sword in his hands was gripped loosely like he barely had the strength to hold it up.
In
that moment, Jackie became very sharply aware of the Eternal's presence in the room.
She had no doubt she'd missed much while she'd teetered on the brink of dying, but Jackie remembered that much. The Eternal who stood three feet from her was the oldest and most powerful of them all.
And he clearly hated Kol-Eresh's guts.
Jackie suspected that she reminded the Eternal of someone, no doubt his own fated. If the other Eternals had been Jhaon's sons, they had to come from a mother. She shuddered, thinking whether the female had been the first victim of the heinous experiments the bastards had done to make the women give birth to daughters again.
"You won," Jhaon said, his voice darker than usual. "Interesting. I didn't think you would."
"I know," Kol-Eresh replied, his eyes never leaving Jackie. "How are you feeling, Jackie? Did he do what he promised?"
"Yes," she said.
Jackie wanted to run to him. She wanted to throw herself in his arms and never let go. She wanted to run and dance and scream out of sheer joy and relief, but she couldn't. There was still one obstacle to go and this time, it wasn't her that was the one in immediate danger.
"Good," Kol-Eresh said, his tone suggesting that he felt the same.
The tension in the room was so thick Jackie could have cut it with a knife.
She had no idea what Jhaon had done. The Eternal had moved around in the room absentmindedly, like coming up with the cure wasn't a big deal to him. She was beginning to suspect that it had been real after all, or that the Eternal had simply known all along how to make one.
He certainly didn't seem to have tried very hard.
The needle he'd used to ingest it into her bloodstream was still lying on the table beside the bed she was sitting on. Next to it was another, filled with a yellowish concoction that reminded Jackie of something.
She was almost positive that it was the serum itself.
Was it a safety measure of some kind? Would he give it to her again if Kol-Eresh proved more powerful than Jhaon had given him credit for?
Jackie had to resist the urge to run hard.
"What now, then?" the Eternal asked, moving away from the table. "You have proved something today and I think it's going to be very useful to me.
"To tell you the truth, I think it will be easier from here on out. The others were getting on my nerves with their arrogance. I tried to teach them some hard truths, but apparently I forgot to tell them not to take anything too seriously. Time has a funny way of turning beliefs into dogmas and there you have it."
The Eternal drew his sword.
"Unfortunately, you will not be able to enjoy this victory for long," Jhaon said. "I can't let this fortress be discovered. There are others, of course, but I would rather not relocate. I can start the experiments again."
His eyes drifted to Jackie.
"I'm thinking I need to find myself a new project first," Jhaon said, his voice growing deeper and Jackie caught a hint of lust. "The fated bonds are just one more thing keeping our species back. Needing to wait until the right female shows up is incredibly wasteful.
"I will see what I can do to change that. If any female could be impregnated, the raids could be much more fruitful."
He turned back to Kol-Eresh.
"Your fated will help me with that," Jhaon said with relish. "She's proven she's tough enough. To have the diadon and survive the serum... She is a fitting mate for me."
No. Not yours.
Jackie's eyes flickered to the needle.
The Eternal charged and Kol-Eresh met him in the middle, their swords clashing together. Jackie grabbed the needle from the table.
She had no idea how she was going to do it, but she had to help. Kol-Eresh had done all the battling for her and now it was her turn to do something.
If Forack was right, if the diadon magnified the effects of the serum – what would it do to an Eternal?
The only problem was that Jhaon was armored and more than a head taller than her.
Kol-Eresh saw her, and the needle in her hand.
"Get him down!" Jackie yelled, jumping off the table and backing away.
Her legs were still weak, but not numb enough for her to fall. She gripped the table, moving to keep a distance between her and the fighters.
The fighters were destroying the lab. The blades in their hands were too big and the room too narrow to take any precautions. Valuable knowledge was being lost, but they stood to lose everything, all over again.
The Eternal had seen their plan too, but Kol-Eresh wasn't letting him out of the duel between them.
Jackie waited, her heart beating so fast it was hard to think straight.
She didn't even know if it would help, but they had to try everything. Kol-Eresh was exhausted from the battle and as powerful as he was, even he couldn't last forever.
Then it happened. The harbinger charged Jhaon with a furious war cry, throwing them both to the floor.
Jackie dashed closer and buried the needle in the Eternal's neck. She jumped out of his reach at once, fleeing to the corner of the room as Jhaon thrashed on the floor.
Kol-Eresh was on his feet in a second and they both stared at the Eternal battling two of his own inventions. His eyes turned purple so fast it only took one blink. There was no way to tell if he felt the cold, but he was suddenly moving slower.
The harbinger let his opponent stand to his feet.
Even like that, mortally wounded, Jhaon was a formidable enemy. The sword in his hand was shaking a little, but when he struck, the blows obliterated the precious equipment of the lab.
Kol-Eresh backed away, letting his enemy get the rage out of his system before he attacked.
Jackie had no idea where he was still drawing power, but Kol-Eresh's sword cleaved through the Eternal's chest, dropping him to the floor in pieces like he'd promised.
It was a macabre sight, but Jackie had nothing else in mind but the freedom they'd just won. For themselves, for the women on Luminos, even for Nayanors.
She ran to him, kissing him wildly until her lips hurt and her breath was gone again. Kol-Eresh held her in his embrace like he never planned to let go of her, but eventually the smell of blood made Jackie pull back.
"We can continue this after a bath," she promised with a smile.
Kol-Eresh answered with a tired, broken laugh.
"And a trip to Forack," he added. "He needs to make sure we are both fine."
Jackie nodded.
"Of course," she said. "But I feel good. I feel... I feel like this is over at last."
Kol-Eresh said nothing to that, bringing her in for another deep kiss as they stood there, wrapped in each other's arms in the destroyed lair of the Eternals.
Jackie looked around in the lab, smiling softly.
"Forack will have a field day with this," she said.
"What do you mean?" Kol-Eresh asked.
"All this," Jackie said. "He and the other healers can come and see what they can make of all this. I mean, the most brilliant minds of Nayanors, even if they were crazy and insane... this is a fortune lying on the floor here.
"And the Abominations. Imagine what they could be used for. There are so many things here, not to mention this is a fortress. Another refuge for your people, even if it is a small one."
The harbinger nodded, looking at her with a tired grin.
"I hadn't even thought of all that yet," he admitted.
Jackie smiled.
"I can't stop thinking of everything," she said. "Now that I'm alive again, I don't want to waste another second. I want to do everything."
Epilogue
Jackie
Two months later...
Riding an Abomination wasn't like riding a horse.
We really need to come up with a better name for them now, Jackie thought.
The creature was running across the plains toward Kol-Eresh and the fortress that was now her home. Its great mechanical body was moving in odd ways under her legs as Jackie sat in her s
addle, wondering if she should have taken a different mode of transport.
She hadn't been able to wait until a ship was prepared for her. And no ship maneuvered like the Abomination did.
It ran over the plains covered in glowing purple flowers like it was born to do it.
Jackie had no words to describe how she felt. It still felt like a dream. After two months, she hadn't fully shaken waking up in the middle of the night to check that she was alive and Kol-Eresh was with her.
She jumped off the second the creature stopped before the mighty gates and ran inside. The air outside was crispy, even a month after the storm had passed. Kol-Eresh had told her it was one of the most violent ones in recent memory, but to Jackie, it was just a piece of information.
She'd spent the long night with her fated, throwing herself into the bond headlong without any regrets.
They'd skipped important parts like meeting the parents and going on dates, but on the other hand, they had gotten pretty good at shared activities. The harbinger had been more than happy to give her first training with a small sword and taught her personally how to ride the Abomination which was now Jackie's own ride.
Jackie ran down the walkways, only stopping to ask for the harbinger before she found him overseeing the latest haul from a Gech.
"My love," Kol-Eresh said, catching her as Jackie ran to him. "I was growing concerned. Where were you?"
"At the Obalor," Jackie said. "With Forack and the others, no reason to be worried."
The secret fortress of the Eternals had been named Obalor and the harbingers of the nearby domains had somehow managed to do the impossible and come to a unanimous decision. Jackie chose not to mention to them how horrible it was that they only agreed when something fundamental happened.
At Kol-Eresh's suggestion, the fortress had been given to the healers to see if they could finish the research the Eternals had begun – with more humane methods. Now that the serum and the ancient warriors were no longer a threat, Nayanors were very interested to see if the healers could fix the problem with the females.
