Thalyn woke to a soft tremor beneath her spine, machinery shifting deep below the chamber, like tectonics murmuring in ancient tongues. Above, the vaulted ceiling pulsed with soft glyph-light, casting shifting lattices across the stone.
She rose from her sleeping bag with a grace long forgotten. Her limbs moved with liquid ease. No grinding joints. No flare of old pain.
The central command loomed unchanged, solemn in its splendor. Its vast ribs of carved stone arched like fossilized bone. Glyphs shimmered like constellations across the walls. Consoles glowed dimly, humming with alien language. Between them, shadows moved.
This place had been ancient before cities had names.
Korr hunched over a worktable, whispering to himself, fingers twitching through a pile of tangled relics. Sparks danced as he tinkered with a shimmering rod that refused to power up. His lips worked as if arguing with it.
On the throne, Elara reclined with the ease of someone born to defy ceremony, one leg slung over the other, violet eyes half-lidded, grin crooked and aimed like a blade at Korr.
Thalyn approached. “You look like you know the punchline to something.”
Elara didn’t look away from Korr, who was prodding at the rod like it might bite.
“He’s been at that thing for an hour. I think it zapped him, twice.”
Then, meeting Thalyn’s eye: “If you asked one of your shiny new servants what it does… think they’d answer?”
Thalyn blinked, chuckled. “Let’s find out.”
“Arvie?”
“I’m awake. And yes, I saw this coming.”
“Can you summon a droid? Through the Neurolink?”
“Already done.”
A moment later, a service droid glided into view, its surface gleaming like poured alloy. Green optics glowed faintly. It stopped a pace away from Thalyn and waited.
Elara sat upright, eyebrows rising.
“Enjoying the perks, mistress?”
Thalyn smirked. “Getting used to it.”
She turned to the droid. “Can you identify those relics? Describe their function?”
Flat response. “I was not programmed with that directive.”
“Is there another droid or station that is?”
“Negative.”
Thalyn exhaled, gave a small gesture. “You’re dismissed.”
The droid dipped with a grace that suggested deference, and withdrew into the shadows.
Elara folded her arms and gave a wry sniff. “No oracle function, huh?”
“Not yet,” Thalyn said. “But I’m learning the right questions.”
Her gaze drifted to the throne. Elara was still watching her, arms still crossed, something probing in her expression.
“What’s on your mind, Thalyn?”
Thalyn hesitated. “I had another memory.”
Elara raised an eyebrow. “Anything interesting?”
Thalyn nodded. “Echo reconnected with his group. They’d set up an encrypted group-link, prepping a rescue for Larek, head of the Directorate.”
“Go on.”
“They never made it. On the way to Aedan’s place, they got caught in a parade. Religious. Echo tried to pass through… But the crowd saw him.”
“And?” Elara asked, already bracing for the strange.
Thalyn looked at her. “They thought he was a savior. A figure out of myth. They called him Duvainor, reborn.”
Behind them, something clinked, metal on stone.
Korr had frozen, relic rolling on the table. “Duvainor?” His voice cracked like static.
“You know the name?” Thalyn asked.
Korr turned, eyes gleaming. “Know it? By the black moons, Thalyn, that’s pre-fall mythology. Older than the breach. Some say he sealed the first rift over Kelenvar. Others claim he crossed the Ash Planes of Vall barefoot and healed the broken skies. A hundred versions, none verified.”
Elara leaned forward. “And now Echo’s being mistaken for his return.”
“They hauled him off,” Thalyn said. “Carried him like a relic into some sanctum.”
“I’m marking this as the precise moment Echo’s social life surpassed yours.”
Thalyn rolled her eyes. “Not hard to do.”
Korr’s voice dropped. “If they think he’s Duvainor… they won’t just keep him. They’ll enthrone him. Or bleed him. Or both.”
Thalyn grimaced. “It wrecked their plans to rescue Larek.”
Elara tilted her head, curious. “You think Echo could be, what? A clone?”
“I don’t know,” Thalyn said. “But he looked almost identical to Duvainor’s image.”
Korr folded his arms. “He’s Druvvak, right? So maybe Duvainor was, too, assuming he ever existed.”
“Maybe.”
Korr muttered something under his breath and turned back to his relics, the light in his eyes still dancing with equations and speculation.
Thalyn lingered, watching him. Then, as if something clicked within her, she turned to the throne again, eyes sparkling.
“I want to try something.”
Elara stood, brushing her coat. “Be my guest, your highness.”
Thalyn climbed the shallow steps and eased into the throne. It hummed faintly beneath her skin, aware.
She lifted the crown, hesitated, then placed it on her head.
No flash. No visions. Just a warmth behind the heart.
And something else.
Potential.
“Careful what you wish for,” Arvie whispered.
“I wish…” she thought, “for food. Exotic. Delicious.”
For a few long breaths, there was only the ambient hum. Then, just as doubt began to stir, the door whispered open.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTCZRqKqOK
Five droids entered in procession, bearing trays that steamed with scents she couldn’t name. Glazed fruits that shimmered with internal light. Meats scored with blue sear lines and spiral bone. Steaming pastes, iridescent drinks that frothed with lazy sparks.
Korr looked up. Eyes widened. Tools dropped.
Elara stood beside her, blinking. “Well. That’s… new.”
# Commander?
# Thalyn.
# Come inside. You’ll want to see this.
He entered moments later, dust-streaked and sweat-glazed. He froze at the sight.
“Divines,” he said, gaze sweeping the spread. “You summon banquets now?”
Thalyn grinned. “Apparently. Still working on weather control.”
He washed up at a dispenser, Korr gestured to with a nod, then took a seat. The others followed, silent and dazed.
Then the tasting began.
Each bite was a revelation. Textures shifted in the mouth. Spices bloomed like secrets. Even Korr moaned once, quietly, as if embarrassed.
Jaxon took another helping and looked up. “This... doesn’t make sense.”
Elara raised a glass. “Nothing here does. But I’m not complaining.”
They lingered. The drinks lit the blood without fogging it. When they finished, Thalyn sat back, gaze lifted to the glowing lattice overhead.
“You remember,” she said softly, “when I first saw the throne. Said I had to sit. Couldn’t explain why.”
“We remember,” Jaxon said.
She nodded. “That feeling’s back. Not the same. But close. Like a pull in my guts. Something waiting.”
Korr blinked. “The mutacell?”
“Maybe. In Revantis, for sure. But something more, beyond that. Still, that’s where I need to start.”
Jaxon looked to the others, then back to her. “Dangerous place.”
“I know.”
He gave a slow nod. “Then we go carefully. Whatever’s pulling you, it’s worked out, till now.”
Elara smiled. “Count me in.”
Korr sighed. “As long as I don’t get zapped again.”
They turned to her.
Thalyn grinned. “Glad to have you all. I like the company.”
She lifted her drink.
“To salvage, survival… and whatever the hell comes next.”
Laughter bloomed and echoed.
And for that moment, beneath the ribs of dead gods, they were not mercenaries.
They were kin, enjoying the legacy of the Elders.
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