The Ardak’s fierce, feral gaze swept over him. “Tordan.” He spoke several more growling words. If Zordan didn’t know better, he would have sworn the feline’s voice was tinged with satisfaction. It had also mistaken Zordan for his brother.
Zordan shook his head, gesturing to the other three fighting the second Ardak. “Tordan is over there.”
The Ardak glanced over, taking a step back when he saw Tordan, then glancing back at Zordan. It was only a half moment of confusion, but Zordan took advantage of it, grabbing his knife and attacking. He lunged straight for the cat’s torso, and after only two quick blocks, he thrust the knife straight into its heart.
Its paw came up, claws squealing against the metal of his armor but not piercing it. Then the Ardak staggered back, surprised. It growled a bunch of words, then fell to its knees. A glance told him that the others had also felled their Ardak.
Mordjan came up beside him.
“Do you know what it’s saying?” Zordan asked, scratching his head.
“He said that most of their enemies never attack with just a knife. You are an insane bastard, and he grudgingly respects you.”
Zordan glanced back down at the Ardak as he fell forward, dead. He ran a hand through his hair, thoroughly confused. He hadn’t expected that response.
Mordjan examined his expression. “Were you thinking of them as animals?”
Zordan nodded wearily. That was exactly what he’d been thinking.
Mordjan bent and turned the Ardak over, retrieving Zordan’s knife. “That would be a big mistake. One thing I’ve learned about the Ardaks is that they are as smart as we are. They are also as individual as we are, and their opinions about this war are varied. Most of them are forced to fight, but it isn’t their war. It’s their king’s. Some want to fight. Some are tired of it. Some of them are even aligned with the resistance.”
“Then we should fight those who want to fight and show leniency with the rest,” Zordan responded.
Mordjan cleaned the knife and handed it back to him. “The problem is that there’s no way to tell them apart.”
Zordan glanced at the fallen Ardaks. “It’s times like these, when we have the upper hand, that we can offer surrender safely.”
“But then we’d need a place to keep them, and two Ardaks to five cyborgs still isn’t an upper hand. These Ardaks are really formidable. It could be dangerous to keep them around. If one double-crosses us in the right way, we could lose the entire war.” Mordjan knelt beside the Ardak, divesting him of his sword. “But I’m going to think very deeply about it, Zordan. I never thought about giving some Ardaks the chance to surrender.”
“It’s always easier when you can spare some of the enemy. It weakens the resolve of the others.”
“It would certainly make us feel less like monsters, knowing the elves created them in the first place,” Mordjan agreed.
“Wait, the elves created them?”
“Yes, accidentally. With their magic. But that’s a whole other story. The person to tell it would be Valdjan.”
Tordan approached them. “Roihan and Simban are clearing the ship. It looks like we’ll have another to add to our collection.”
A huge roar came from inside the ship then, and Roihan and Simban sprinted out, heading for them.
“Run!” Simban shouted.
Without hesitation, they headed for the trees. Zordan glanced over his shoulder to see at least ten coming after them, their sprinting more a graceful lope that covered twice the ground.
“Cannons?” Tordan asked.
“I’ll do it,” Durstin replied over the frequency.
Zordan looked to the right to see Durstin turn and face the Ardaks, raising his arm and pressing two buttons. Less than a second later, a blue light shot out from his arm, and each of the Ardaks pursuing them dropped to the ground.
“Are they dead?” Zordan asked in disbelief.
“Yes. I haven’t had a chance to show you how to use the arm cannon yet. It takes focus and practice, and as you can see, you can’t do it from close range,” Mordjan said. “But if you get it right, it’s a powerful weapon.”
“And you don’t want to use it while on board the ship, because it will blast right through the walls.” Roihan added.
“You’d better teach me as soon as possible.” He paused. “Why didn’t we just shoot the first two?”
“Ah, that was mostly for you,” Mordjan admitted. “We wanted you to have a chance to fight them hand to hand since we know you haven’t done so. It was a relatively safe environment, so there was very little chance you would die.”
Zordan thought back to the moment of fear he’d felt as he’d charged the Ardak with only his knife. “Thanks.”
“And we didn’t want to hurt the ship,” Roihan added.
Simban caught Zordan’s gaze and rolled his eyes. “Roihan’s obsessed with ships and Ardak tech, if you couldn’t tell.”
“That tech has saved every one of us and might help us with this war,” Roihan shot back.
“All right.” Simban put his hands up with a chuckle. “Someone needs to get this cranky guy back to bed.”
“I think we’re all running a bit light in the sleep department,” Tordan said mildly. “Let’s get these bodies loaded onto the ship. We can bury them at sea on the way back to Renwyn.” He turned his attention to Zordan. “Let’s get you on board for a second so we can load the Ardak language onto your chip. Then you’ll probably want to head back up to Garthurian to meet Lielle. Contact me tomorrow and let me know where you are and if you need anything else.”
Zordan helped the cyborgs load the bodies, then sat down at the computer and let Tordan upload the Ardak language to his chip. It was strange, a bunch of symbols and clasped arms with Tordan and the other warriors, Durstin doing the same.
As they headed back to the Garthurian palace, Durstin clapped him on the shoulder. “So, cousin, we finally get a chance to talk. Was that a hell of an introduction, or what?”
Chapter Thirty
Lielle
The underground chamber at Garthurian, filled with its ancient elven technology, was well lit with crystal lights. Aielle, Ithyll, Kiersten, and Merryth all stood in a circle, each holding a crystal. They were obviously part of a set, exactly the same in size, shape, and brightness. Lielle didn't need to have a vision to know that these four crystals were meant for the four devices.
"Are we ready to do this?" Kiersten asked.
"Definitely." Aielle's eyes glowed with excitement, and the others matched it.
With three waves of their hands, Aielle, Ithyll, and Merryth disappeared into portals.
They waited and waited, but the crystal inserted into the device in front of them remained disturbingly dark.
"Do you think we should check on them?" Lielle asked after several minutes had gone by.
A portal opened, and Merryth reappeared. "So, I guess nothing happened here either?"
"No. We were just wondering if we should check on you."
Another portal opened and Aielle stepped out, her eyes going to the crystal. The four of them stared at the device glumly.
“Why do you think it isn’t working?” Aielle asked.
“I have no idea,” Lielle replied, shaking her head. “I was so certain that when we inserted each of the four crystals in their respective locations, the devices would light up and begin to work.”
"We might have the wrong crystals," Kiersten offered.
"I doubt it," Lielle replied. "All four were hidden in similar locations, and they were a perfect set."
“What about the symbol on top?” Merryth traced the outside of the large circle, pressing intermittently. “Maybe there’s another place we’re supposed to press or a different order to make it work.”
Kiersten knelt beside the device, running her fingers along the outside of it. “There doesn’t seem to be anything else down here to push.”
"Why don't we try some magic?" Ithyll suggested.
Kiersten raised her hands. "One at a time or all together?"
"All together." Merryth raised her hands, and the other three joined her. She flashed Lielle a look. "Are you joining in?"
Kiersten answered before she could. "No. Save your magic in case you have another vision and you need it.”
The four women focused their magic in unison, and the chamber fell silent save for their slow, focused breaths.
Suddenly, the crystal began to glow.
"It's working!" Aielle's voice was high with excitement.
The glow was pure white. It grew and grew, and as the glow stretched and brightened, Lielle felt her soul brightening, too. For the first time since coming to the mortal realm, she thought they might have a chance to succeed.
But when the four elves dropped their hands, the glow began to dim.
"Why isn't it taking?" Ithyll asked, watching it fade. "Even the light crystals hold more magic than that."
No one answered as the light slowly extinguished and flickered out. They stared at the crystal in glum silence.
"Maybe we need more magic," Kiersten suggested.
"Or maybe one of you needs to be in each place, directing your magic at the same time," Lielle offered.
Kiersten snapped. "That's a good idea! Why don't you keep the portals open until we start? Lielle, you give us the signal."
The other three disappeared into their portals again, but this time, they stayed open.
"Are you ready?" Lielle called out to them.
She heard echoes of affirmation through the portals.
"All right—three, two, one, now."
Almost immediately, the crystal began to glow. "Are your crystals glowing, too?" she called through the portals.
"Yes!" Aielle called back excitedly.
"How long do you think we have to do this?" Kiersten asked.
Lielle shook her head. "You would think it would be instantaneous, wouldn't you?" Kiersten didn't reply, so after a few more moments, she raised her voice and shouted through the portals. "All right, everyone, stop!"
As before, the crystal slowly began to dim. By the time the others had returned through the portals, it was lifeless again. All four sets of eyes looked at her expectantly, so Lielle held up her hands. "I have no idea why it didn't work. I'm so sorry. Maybe I need to have another vision to show me the next step."
"Don't apologize," Kiersten said. "At least we're one step closer to getting it to work. I'll spend tomorrow down here, going through the crystals from the Cave of Knowledge to see if I can find an answer."
"While you were doing the second round of magic, I kept thinking of Zordan," Lielle ventured. "In my original vision, Tordan said that Zordan would find the key. So far, the visions have led us to the devices, and I can't help thinking that there is something here he's supposed to find. Can I bring him to each of the locations tomorrow?"
"That's a great idea," Ithyll replied. "Let us know if there's anything we can do."
The others nodded in unison.
A pounding on the door at the top of the stairs startled them a second before Durstin, Tordan, Valdjan, and Zordan entered. It was the last of whom that drew her focus. He was covered with blood.
Her heart stopped for a moment, until she realized that he was walking as if unharmed. She crossed the floor swiftly, searching his body for injuries. “What happened?”
Zordan was quick to reassure her. “Nothing to fear. The blood isn’t mine.”
She surveyed the sprays covering his exoarmor. “Did you fight the Ardaks?”
“Yes, and things got a bit . . . messy.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“Thankfully, no,” Durstin broke in. "But we have much to do on the morrow. If they sent a scout ship, they may be closer to attack than we thought."
Zordan went silent, and his eyes pierced hers. Lielle knew what he was asking. He wanted to know if the device had worked.
"No, we couldn't get it to work," Kiersten answered for her, witnessing the byplay. "The most we got was when we each tried magic on our own crystals at the four locations, but they stopped glowing after we stopped the magic."
"Damn." Zordan ran a hand through his hair. All of the cyborgs seemed disheartened by the news, and their mates went to stand beside them.
Watching them, being a part of it, Lielle understood why the elves had chosen the cyborgs as their mates. The cyborgs brought them enormous physical strength, protected them in battle. But they needed the elves to heal them, to take care of their hearts.
She wanted to heal Zordan. Wanted to hold him, to bring him comfort. Even though he didn't know it, having gone through so many battles and watching so many die had taken its toll on him. As would the upcoming battles against the Ardaks.
"We still have a few tricks up our sleeve," Kiersten said. "And I believe we'll all be seeing you again tomorrow."
"Oh! Speaking of tricks, I have news!" Aielle burst out, her face bright once more. She shared a glance with Tordan. "I almost forgot to tell you that we've gotten the Renwyn shield to work again." She fairly beamed in happiness and no small measure of relief.
"Aielle, that's fantastic!" Lielle said, knowing Zordan would be extremely relieved.
"If you were able to do that," Zordan broke in, “do you think you could make this shield bigger?”
All eyes turned to Kiersten.
She tilted her head in thought. “I don’t think so, but I'll work with Aielle on it. Why?”
“Because Garthurian is at a strategic disadvantage. The shield sits down within the bowl of the mountains, which is great if no one knows it exists. But if the Ardaks attack, we won’t see them until they come over the rise. Of course, that’s much too late. We need permanent scouts along the ridges in every direction.”
Durstin nodded in agreement. “I’ll get them out there immediately. We should have had them there already, but didn’t want to expose them to danger because the shield won’t hide them up there. I guess we were lulled into a false sense of security because of the dome and its secrecy. We thought they wouldn’t attack here.”
“I don't think we can assume we have any secrets from the Ardaks," Zordan replied. "If I had their visuals of Aurora from the air, it wouldn't take me long to map out your important strategic locations.”
“They didn’t find Garthurian the first time around,” Durstin muttered.
“Perhaps they didn’t scout the planet for long enough,” Zordan said. “But whatever we believe, Lielle’s vision showed an attack on Garthurian. If elven visions usually come true, then they will eventually be able to get around the shield. The only one that may be safe is the Cave of Knowledge, since all entrances and exits are underground. But we should assume they know everywhere else and should place lookouts accordingly. If they do attack, the scouts can at least give us advance warning.”
“We should probably move the chests back to the Cave of Knowledge, if it’s the safest.” Durstin glanced over at Kiersten, who nodded.
Durstin, Tordan, and Valdjan fell silent, exchanging glances as if they were having another conversation over the frequency that the girls weren't privy to. Lielle exchanged knowing glances with the other elves. Kiersten and Merryth covered their grins with their hands, Ithyll coughed, but it was Aielle who burst out laughing.
Tordan turned to all of them, a mock frown on his face. "So glad we are the source of your amusement."
Kiersten shook her head at Aielle. "Usually it's Irielle who is the weak link."
That only made Aielle laugh even harder, and even the guys broke into grins.
"All right, it must be past moonpeak. We should all get some rest," Zordan said. "We have a lot to do tomorrow. By sundown, I want to have warriors in place and a definitive plan for attack."
Chapter Thirty-One
Zordan
Lielle portaled them back to Renwyn, but once inside their chamber, he was almost afraid to move. The blood on his exoarmor wasn't fully dry, and he didn’t want to mar the beautiful l
inens or tapestries.
"I should take a shower," he said after a few moments.
“Yes, of course. Why don’t you leave your armor out here? I can help you clean it.”
He started at that, as he'd never had a female clean his armor. But one glance at her face told him the offer was serious. There was nothing to be gained by denying her, save for her presence in the shower with him, and he needed the shower to think.
He took off the exoarmor piece by piece, and she took them from him, placing each piece carefully on the floor along the wall where they were out of the way. The last piece was the one on his right leg, and when he took it off, he unhooked something from a small hole in his thigh.
“What is that?” she asked. "I've never seen it before."
He closed the compartment, and it became almost invisible. “The power for the suit. There are two connections—the one in the helmet provides the link to our chip and the one in our artificial limbs provides link for power.”
“Do all of the upgraded cyborgs have artificial limbs?” The question was almost wistful, and with a glance, he caught the sad expression in her eyes. He didn't want to tell her the truth, didn't want to change her view of them, but he had to. He owed it to her to tell her the truth. Maybe then she would understand that they weren't men, were no longer even Siirtians. They were metal monsters, whose brains weren't even private anymore.
“Yes. At least all of the cyborgs wearing exoarmor suits have them. Tordan said that about half of the cyborgs can’t be upgraded for various reasons like their chips are too primitive or they don’t have artificial limbs for the power source and blood supply.”
“Blood supply?” Her voice was a whisper.
“Yes," he said through gritted teeth. "It helps us power the suits."
She looked away, for which he was grateful. He didn't want to see her fear—or even her sorrow. He just wanted her to stay away from him.
When finished, he stood in the same tight white shirt and white undershorts he'd thrown on earlier. But now he felt older. He'd fought an Ardak for the first time, and had been forced to acknowledge that if ten thousand landed tomorrow, or even five days from now, they had little chance of winning this war. And the closer they became, the more it would hurt when they would watch each other die.
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