Threshold of Annihilation (The Firebird Chronicles Book 3)

by T. A. White

  “You need to go. All of you,” Himoto told Graydon and his oshota.

  Graydon didn’t answer. The inside of his head was cold and silent. There would be a reckoning for Noor’s death later, but for now he had compartmentalized.

  Noor gave his life for Graydon and Amila. Graydon wouldn’t throw that sacrifice away by wasting the gift on rage and revenge.

  The only way they survived was by staying clear headed.

  The sound of more enemies echoed along the corridors of the station.

  “This isn’t their final game,” Himoto said, holding out his hand to Jace.

  The rear admiral glared at it before giving in to Himoto’s expectations and helping the admiral up.

  “They didn’t bring enough forces to take over the planet and station,” Himoto said when he was standing again. Pain carved grooves into his face.

  Around them, those humans who had survived were already lifting tables and anything they could get their hands on to block the avenues of attack.

  “This is all just smoke and mirrors designed to distract you from their true objective,” Himoto said. “You can’t let them win. Go. Kira needs you.”

  “You won’t make it,” Graydon said.

  Already the other man could barely stand.

  Himoto’s smile was more of a grimace than anything. “Maybe not, but humans had a hand in this mess. We need to help clean it up.”

  Himoto’s eyes were steady in a way that said he’d already made his peace with the possibility of death.

  He didn’t fear its advance. He would meet it on equal footing come what may. He wouldn’t run. He wouldn’t shirk his responsibilities.

  There was nobility in the way he held himself.

  “He won’t be alone,” Jace said. “My people and I will stay with him.”

  Himoto tried to glare before giving up, too tired to expend energy on pointless things. “I don’t remember inviting you to this party.”

  “Try to stop me, old man.”

  Graydon’s hesitation lasted only a moment. Time was of the essence. Finn’s last message made Kira and her situation seem dire. He couldn’t afford to linger here.

  Graydon’s gaze paused on Noor’s body where Amila knelt beside it. Her head was bowed and one hand rested on his chest.

  Sorrow and grief echoed through their bond. All of his oshotas’ bonds.

  Graydon’s throat grew tight as loss pulled at him despite the urgency of the situation.

  “We’ll take care of him,” Himoto promised.

  “I’m trusting you to do exactly that,” Graydon forced out, starting to turn away.

  The thought of leaving Noor to strangers wrenched at him with a sense of wrongness. It went against everything Graydon believed in to not see Noor to a proper resting place, but war wasn’t kind. It didn’t leave you the time to mourn.

  Sometimes you paid your respect to the dead by surviving.

  Today he’d repay Noor’s sacrifice by ensuring Kira lived and the Tsavitee didn’t get what they wanted.

  Resolve fed his anger, burning like a banked fire in his chest.

  “Tell Kira—” Himoto cut himself off. His shoulders rose as he took a deep breath. When he spoke again, he was the admiral. “Take care of her.”

  Graydon stared after Himoto as he limped away supported by Jace, finally understanding what he hadn’t before.

  Jace’s eyes caught his eye as he turned away. The human inclined his chin in a gesture of respect.

  “I understand what Roake’s heir sees in them now,” Torvald said from Graydon’s side. “They possess unexpected depths.”

  “Yes.” Graydon turned on his heel. “With me.”

  Liara looked uncertainly between the two groups before taking a deep breath. “We’ll stay.”

  Torvald’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t move to interfere.

  “Are you sure?” Graydon asked.

  Liara offered him a faint smile. "She cares for these humans, and they need help. I would be letting her down if I abandoned them."

  She moved toward where the humans were fortifying their defenses.

  “Let’s go,” Graydon ordered before racing in the opposite direction.

  I'm coming. Wait for me, Kira.

  *

  Curled on her side in the fetal position, Kira fought to stay present as her mind threatened to buckle. All that was in her line of sight were her clenched hands and Elise's legs.

  Unable to move, Kira could only listen as there was a pained grunt above her.

  Elise dropped to her knees, the light in her eyes dimming. There was a gaping hole in her chest the size of a fist that didn’t belong there.

  Kira barely had time to react before Elise toppled onto her side, her head bouncing off the deck.

  A person wearing black, calf-high boots, the kind racers tended to favor because of the support they provided to their ankles, stepped over Elise's prone body.

  She walked toward Kira and knelt beside her. The thunk of metal against metal told Kira she had set something down outside her line of sight.

  The stranger reached over, rolling Kira onto her back.

  Even through the madness courting Kira's thoughts, she recognized the individual. This was the waverunner from the semifinal race, the one who'd nearly knocked her off her board. The person who felt familiar and strange at the same time.

  Her faceplate reflected Kira’s image. A sense of dread filled her as she watched the strange violet lines that formed her markings crawl up her neck and across her face.

  The stranger reached up, removing her helmet and setting it to the side.

  Familiar eyes met Kira's.

  "Little sister, you've gotten yourself into quite the predicament this time," Elise said in a gentle voice.

  This Elise was different than Kira remembered. Sorrow and the pain of time had chiseled lines into that once familiar face. Her eyes were haunted, and even when smiling, she seemed sad.

  "E-Elise." Tears squeezed out of the corner of her eyes.

  Elise stroked Kira's forehead. "Yes."

  "You're really you," Kira managed to get out.

  Elise's eyes glistened. "In the flesh, pippy bunny."

  A broken sound came from Kira.

  The third code.

  It was really her.

  "Wh-where have you been?"

  Elise continued to brush her fingers across Kira's forehead, the movement soothing some of the agony currently splitting Kira apart.

  "Here and there." Elise shook her head at Kira. "Don't ask. I won't explain."

  Kira's back bowed at a new surge of agony.

  Elise reached for the inhibitor cuff, ignoring Kira’s moan of warning. "I've never deserved you, my dearest."

  The cuff unlocked under her fingers, falling away from Kira's wrist.

  The barrier that had kept the weight of her ki from crushing her as she recuperated on Ta Da'an disappeared.

  Kira screamed as soul’s breath surged up from her core, burning a fiery path through her ki channels.

  "Shh," Elise soothed. "Your body is adjusting to the sudden influx. This'll pass soon. Ride the wave, little sister."

  A man's legs moved into view behind Elise. "You can't stay. They'll be here soon. We have to go before that."

  Her thoughts swamped with a pain that threatened to incinerate her, Kira barely registered the fact he spoke in Tsavitee.

  Elise looked to the side and nodded. "I know."

  The tendons in Kira's neck strained as her body was pulled tight, her muscles clenching so hard she feared they'd snap her bones.

  Cold spread from where Elise touched her, taking away some of the pain and letting Kira think again.

  "Stay,” Kira begged.

  "I can't," Elise confided. "They need me."

  There were people here who needed her too.

  Elena. Raider. Kira.

  Elise leaned forward, pressing her forehead against Kira's. "I can't abandon them. They remind me too much of u
s."

  "Time is up," the man said in an emotionless voice.

  Elise straightened, her gaze going distant. A misty smile touched her face. "Don't worry, Kira. You won't be alone long. He's coming for you. By the way, I approve of him.”

  Elise picked up the object she'd set aside and placed it against Kira's chest.

  "Jin will wake up soon," Elise promised.

  If Kira hadn’t recognized that round shape as Jin, she never would have known it was him. His spot in her mind was unnervingly quiet.

  Elise dropped a kiss on Kira's forehead. "My daughter is so beautiful. Thank you for protecting her."

  Kira sobbed as Elise rose. "Don't. Please."

  The prospect of being abandoned by her again was more than she could bear.

  Kira had never begged before—but for Elise, for Elena, there wasn’t a lot she wouldn’t do.

  Elise paused; her expression pained.

  Finally catching sight of Elise's companion, Kira’s breath caught. The man towered over Elise, dwarfing her with his massive frame. His skin was as dark as the void and there were symbols etched in red on his face and arms. Horns curled up proudly from his head.

  He'd be considered handsome if one was willing to overlook the fact that he was a Tsavitee general.

  Vivid yellow eyes watched Kira dispassionately. To him, she was of no more significance than a bug trying to survive.

  "I have to, Kira. I made a promise," Elise said as the man took her hand to draw her away. "You can't save me but you can help me. Just keep your promise to the changeling."

  Summoning the strength from somewhere, Kira flipped onto her stomach to crawl after Elise. The motion caused Jin to roll off her.

  Reflexively, Kira caught him before he could fall over the edge of the walkway.

  When she looked up again, Elise and the general were already gone.

  She was alone. Again.

  Despair crashed over Kira. She didn't try to stop the tears or the grief as she sank onto the deck, her strength deserting her.

  She was alone again.

  *

  A long time later, Odin's repeated hails brought her back to herself.

  "Kira, answer me. Damn it, Kira, the kid is going crazy."

  "I'm here."

  Kira's throat felt raw and dry as if the outpouring of emotion had sucked the energy out of her.

  "Finally," Odin said in relief. "Did you get Jin?"

  The walkway under her body vibrated.

  Kira turned her head, watching as a Tsavitee war party stamped toward her. Infantry drones, not so affectionately nicknamed demons, made up the ranks.

  They spotted her.

  The big one in the center barked several guttural commands in Tsavitee.

  Would you look at that? The lambs had delivered themselves to the slaughter.

  "Kira?" Odin asked.

  Kira didn't answer, pulling herself to her feet. Runes wrote themselves on her skin as she raised her face to the ceiling.

  She relaxed the stranglehold she’d somehow managed to retain over her inner monster. Her primus surged up from the deep.

  *

  The aftermath of a carnage confronted Graydon and his oshota when they arrived at the location Finn had indicated.

  Streaks of blood smeared the hulls of nearby ships. Headless torsos rested precariously on the edge of the walkway, and a dismembered limb waved at Graydon from the nose of a ship.

  "This is—" Solal started before trailing off.

  "I finally see why you're so taken with this woman." Torvald studied the massacre with a dispassionate gaze. "This level of blood thirst is terrifying in one so young."

  Graydon didn’t hear, his gaze already locked on the woman perched on the beams high above. Crouched up there, her enemies’ blood coating her arms and streaked across her face, she resembled a nightmare.

  Her skin was charcoal gray, violet runes scrolled all over it. Her eyes flashed in the same way an animal’s would, catching the light and refracting it.

  Abruptly, her gaze shifted from the slaughter to them, the weight of her regard oppressive.

  Feeling as if he was in a dream, Graydon started toward her. He didn’t care how this had happened. He was simply grateful she’d survived.

  “Careful,” Torvald warned. "I'm not sure what happened, but if she ever had control, it’s gone now."

  The primus was a double-edged sword. It was an ultimate weapon, but it was also a weakness.

  They were nearly indestructible, graced with an insane amount of speed, power, and strength. The flip side lay in how easy it was to lose yourself in the form.

  It was a creature that operated on instinct. Tuann history was littered with tragic tales of Tuann who couldn't control their primus and wound up killing those they loved as a result.

  They were never more vulnerable than in the years after their first transformation. It took decades of rigorous training to exert their mind over their primus. It was one of the reasons a child with Kira’s bloodlines wasn’t released into the galaxy unrestricted.

  The Tuann knew an uncontrolled primus would cut a wide and bloody swath through the universe before someone finally put it down.

  Kira was still and calm at Graydon’s approach. Not reacting even when he stopped beneath her and looked up.

  "Cheva nier, you should come down from there," Graydon said in Tuann.

  Kira's primus regarded him silently.

  Graydon didn't look away as he lifted a hand toward her.

  Between one second and the next, Kira disappeared.

  Graydon grabbed the claws aimed at his throat, smiling at the expressionless primus. "I'm sorry I'm late."

  The primus's eyes searched his. After a moment, a purr rumbled from her throat.

  “Beautiful,” the primus whispered in halting Tuann.

  With a slow blink, it withdrew into Kira’s mind, the runes on her body fading.

  Kira sagged in his arms. "Did I kill any of ours?"

  Graydon shook his head. "No."

  Even if she had, he wouldn’t tell her. There was some guilt she didn't need to live with.

  "Jin?"

  Graydon didn’t answer for long seconds. “I haven’t seen him.”

  Kira tensed as Torvald neared, his expression curious as he studied the woman in Graydon’s arms. “Was this all your work?”

  Kira looked around the docking bay with a blank expression. “Probably.”

  Torvald quirked an eyebrow at her. “You don’t sound sure.”

  Kira rolled her head to look up at Graydon. “Should I be flattered or scared that the man you serve sees me as important enough to leave the battle to come to my rescue?”

  Torvald’s head tilted as he examined Kira with interest. “You’re quite smart.”

  Her smile was humorless. “Or you’re quite bad at hiding your identity.”

  Torvald let out a hm.

  Before either of them could say anything else, the smell of burning flesh filled the air.

  Torvald’s frown was perplexed. “What is that?”

  The oshota crouched defensively as the headless body of a Tsavitee jerked and danced. The center of his chest glowed red.

  With a scream, a round shape burst through it.

  Jin hovered several feet above the deck, panting. Covered in blood and other internal matter, he regarded them for several seconds.

  "Is it over?"

  Kira leaned her head on Graydon’s shoulder. "Yeah, you missed it."

  Jin spun, taking in the scene. Kira's primus hadn't just killed the Tsavitee. From the looks of things, she had toyed with them like a cat did a mouse, reveling in their pain and terror.

  "Lost your temper, did you?"

  Kira listed to the side, her eyes closing. "A little."

  Graydon had had enough of restraining himself. Finally, he acted on the impulse that had been beating at him since the second he caught sight of Kira.

  He swept her into his arms before carrying her toward
his oshota.

  The fact she didn’t fight him told him how exhausted she was. A transition to primus always took a toll on the body. He couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be after months of wearing an inhibitor.

  A chill swept through Graydon at the realization of how close she’d come to burning herself out. An inhibitor was supposed to be removed in stages, allowing the body to readjust to the weight of its soul’s breath. Her ki could have easily rebounded, especially after such a large output immediately after.

  "Finn and Raider?"

  Graydon pressed his lips against her forehead. "They're fine, but we lost Noor.”

  Kira tilted her head, her face saying she heard the bone-deep grief in that one statement.

  “Oh, Graydon, I’m so sorry.” She reached up, touching his cheek with a gentle caress.

  Understanding reflected in her eyes. She’d lost more than her fair share of treasured companions. It never got any easier.

  Graydon’s voice was rough. “Me too.”

  Kira’s silence acted as a balm, allowing him to process some of his grief.

  “His ancestors would be proud he died in the same way he lived,” Graydon finally said.

  “Maybe so, but that doesn’t make the pain of loss any less.” Her thumb flitted along his jaw. “Or fix the guilt we feel over having survived.”

  Graydon pressed his forehead against hers, his arms squeezing her a little tighter. She got it without him having to say a word.

  They stayed like that for several minutes, until Graydon finally drew back.

  His eyes were reddened as he cleared his throat and changed the subject.

  Kira was exhausted. Now wasn’t the time for this.

  As if her head was too heavy for her to hold up, she set it against his shoulders.

  “I left some of ours to help Finn and Raider take care of the strays,” Graydon said. “They should be here soon.”

  *

  "I can walk," Kira said after resting against Graydon. She didn’t bother opening her eyes, judging the act more trouble than it was worth.

  "I'd almost like to see that." Graydon responded in a neutral voice. "Something tells me it would be highly amusing."

  Kira cracked one eye and sent him a glare. He didn’t think she could do it?

  The way he kept his eyes focused on the others and the slight tilt to one side of his mouth said he found her adorable.