“I’m helping this rebellion,” she replied, crossing her arms. “Are you coming or not?”
Reamonn nodded and motioned for the rest of the tribe to follow. Donnchadh and Leilah walked off of the ship together and were greeted by a guard holding a holopad.
“We weren't expecting anyone else to arrive,” she said without looking up. “Are you here to help with the rebellion?”
“We are,” Leilah nodded. “I’ll be able to help your leaders in a way they can only dream of.”
The guard looked up to her strangely and then to Donnchadh. “Are they expecting you to be here? They haven't told me anything about a malak and a group of humans coming here.”
Leilah smiled. “They are not expecting us, but trust me, they’ll welcome us with open arms. We come with help that’ll lead to victory.”
Donnchadh wasn't sure if his eyes were seeing things, but Leilah's skin seemed even more radiant here under the suns. Her red her was glowing and blue and green eyes were even more vibrant than they’d been on Erebos.
“I’ll call Pyrrhus. He’ll meet you here soon.”
Donnchadh looked to Leilah. “You look different. Brighter I think, if that makes sense.”
“I feel more alive. This planet doesn’t wreak of death and despair,” she held her arms out. “I can feel all of the life here, the hope and the fight that’s in these people. We’re all going to live to see the end of this rebellion. I feel it coursing through me. I haven't seen it in a vision yet, but I can feel it.”
“Have you seen anything else since we left?” He asked.
“Pyrrhus will be here, like the guard said, but you must be calm,” she said. “He won’t like that you’re here, so let me do the talking.”
Donnchadh nodded and waited next to Leilah silently for Pyrrhus to arrive. It didn't take him very long, and Leilah was right when she said he wouldn't be happy. He stormed towards them, face filled with fury. Before he was even within ten feet, he began shouting and pointing his finger towards the malak.
“What are you doing here, Donnchadh?”
“He’s with us,” Leilah said.
Pyrrhus' attention seemed to shift to her for the first time, and his eyes locked in on hers. Donnchadh didn't know if it was because of her beauty or the way she seemed to be glowing, but the General’s eyes didn't waver from her once he’d looked from him.
“Donnchadh is with us,” she said again with a warm smile. “He’s helped us come here, I urge you to hear him out. Forget his past and listen to what he has to say now.”
Pyrrhus nodded. “What do you have to tell me, Donnchadh?”
“Kirill has betrayed Orion.”
“That’s nothing new. All he’s done is betray Orion since trying to kill the Queen.”
“It’s much more serious now,” Donnchadh stared, gaining Pyrrhus' full attention. “He’s sided with the crodillians. I was trying to use him and the Deimos Brotherhood to start a rebellion, but he betrayed me to side with them.”
“Betrayed you?”
“Yes. I was freed from Keres and was made a leader by the Merikh. Jahdiel was going to kill the Queen and I had to find a way to delay her death, so I told them about Kirill. They took the bait and I told the Queen I’d come back for her after I retrieved Kirill and recruited the Brotherhood.”
“You were helping the Queen?”
“I’ve made many mistakes in my life and I wanted to try and make up for those mistakes before my death. So, I decided to side with the Queen and betray the crodillians, though it meant sure death. I told Kirill I was coming and needed him to surrender peacefully so we could later rebel using the Brotherhood. If I had known about this rebellion, I would've never asked Kirill for help, but I didn't, and he betrayed me to side with the crodillians.”
“Why would he side with them?” Pyrrhus asked. “Can't he see Merikh will never let him rule?”
“He doesn't want to rule with Merikh. He’ll kill Merikh once he’s ready. He wants to cleanse Orion of any races he sees unfit, crodillians now included.”
“How does she come in?” Pyrrhus pointed. “Who is she?”
“I’m Leilah,” she answered. “We saved Donnchadh on Erebos. He was stranded in the wasteland, but my tribe and I found him. We let him live with us for some time, until we learned of who he was and what his true intentions were. They were noble and true and I told the rest of the tribe that we needed to help him with this rebellion.”
“I really admire you coming here from Erebos, but we have everything ready. You could help with the fight when the crodillians arrive, if you would like. More bodies are always welcome.”
“I’m here for more than being another body. I’ve come to help you in other ways, ways that you’ll need if you want to be successful.”
“I'm not quite sure I understand,” Pyrrhus said. “Help us how?”
“My tribe survived on Erebos because we possess special abilities,” she revealed. “We can see and feel things before they happen. Those abilities are what led us to Donnchadh, though we weren't completely sure why they’d led us to him at the time.”
Pyrrhus looked to Donnchadh. “It's true. She told me to come here. I had no idea there was a rebellion here or that I’d meet you.”
“I specifically, am stronger than the rest of the tribe. My visions have much greater detail and I can feel many more things. They can only see things that directly affect them. I can see things that affect everyone, all of Orion. I’ve had it my whole life, but I concealed it, afraid of why I saw so much more. After finding Donnchadh and talking with him, I knew why I was blessed with such great powers. I was meant to help Orion win this war.”
“It's truly amazing you have these powers, but how exactly is it going to help us?”
“I’ve seen the outcome of the rebellion without my assistance,” she said. “Your plan is good, but you’re greatly outnumbered. Hermes and Gaea are completely destroyed, and the battle here lasts much longer than expected. As you are fighting here, the rest of Orion burns and crumbles. I feel death and I see bloodshed, but the wrong side wins. I’ve never seen the crodillians, but I’ve seen in their minds. They’re monsters, and they’re stronger than anything I've ever faced.”
“How do you know about our plan?” Pyrrhus asked, surprised.
“I told you, I have abilities that extend beyond that of the rest of my tribe. I see many things that I keep to myself, but the time for that is over. I was given these powers as a gift. They’ve stayed hidden my entire life, until now. You need my assistance if you are to win this rebellion and I’m urging you to accept my offer.”
Pyrrhus looked taken aback from what Leilah had just told him. Donnchadh knew it was a lot to take in, he was still trying to take everything in himself. If he’d never heard of anything like this before, he was sure that Pyrrhus hadn't either. No matter how strange it seemed, this was something no one could turn down.
“The crodillians are preparing to strike Ares now,” Leilah said. “You must have the Princess deliver her speech and start the rebellions on the other planets as soon as possible. You want only one ship to arrive here, so you must act quickly.”
“Okay. I’ll get you all a place to stay, though I don't see how Donnchadh deserves it after all he’s have done to Orion.”
“He’s changed. He’s not the same malak he was before he was sent to Keres. His heart is pure and he’s fighting for the same cause you and me,” Leilah replied.
“The Princess is preparing her speech as we speak,” Pyrrhus motioned them towards the cruiser. “I’ll tell her the time to deliver it is now.”
“I’ll be waiting for you to return after she gives her speech. Once this speech is delivered, the real war will start,” she said.
Donnchadh, Leilah, and the rest of the tribe sat in the cruiser silently. Pyrrhus lifted it off of the ground and started to take them to a place to stay. Donnchadh wasn't sure how he could help with this rebellion, but he was determined to find a way to help. He’d brought Leilah h
ere, and now he needed to do something else. Sitting around wasn't an option, it was time for him to give his life to save his galaxy.
He looked over to see Leilah was smiling at him, as though she was reading his mind. If she could truly see his heart and what he wanted to do, then she knew he wanted to die for all of the things that he’d done. It was clearly written in his eyes and in his actions. It pained him to live with killing Armino and all of the other terrible things he’d done in the Brotherhood. He didn't want to just die, he wanted to die making a difference, doing something that could right all of the wrongs he’d done in his dark past.
Chapter 28
Nimesha walked down to the Capitol building to find Pyrrhus. She’d been looking out of the window when she saw a ship she was very familiar with: Cerberus. She didn't know what it was doing here, but tragedy followed the ship anywhere it traveled. The rebellion had come too far to be torn apart by one of Kirill's pawns.
As she came to the front gate of the building, the guards moved aside and let her enter. She’d come through enough the past several weeks that the guards knew who she was and allowed her to enter without I.D. Nimesha looked back and forth down the large marble halls and decided to look for Pyrrhus upstairs. After climbing the stairs, she checked a couple of the rooms and found him asleep in one of them. She walked over to the bed and placed her hand on his shoulder, causing him to stir and wake.
“Do you always sleep in your uniform?” Nimesha asked.
“I had a few hours to rest, so I took the opportunity,” he replied, rubbing his hands over his eyes. “Why are you here?”
“I saw a ship, Cerberus, enter Ares a couple of hours ago. I know the ship and I know whoever was in it works for the Deimos Brotherhood.”
“Ah,” he stretched. “Used to work for the Deimos Brotherhood, very much like yourself. I’ve already met those onboard.”
“What do you mean? Who is it?”
“It was Donnchadh and some weird tribe people from Erebos.”
“Donnchadh?” She repeated.
“Yeah, the scumbag malak,” he said. “I wasn't too happy to see Donnchadh, but he and the people he brought are going to help us with the rebellion. Each of them were very adamant about that, at least two of them anyway. The rest of the tribe didn’t say a word.”
“Help us?” She snorted. “Do you know who Donnchadh is?”
“Yeah, he's like you if I remember correctly. One of the most notorious assassins in the galaxy. Can’t you see the thrill on my face letting him join us?”
“He’s working for Kirill, I can almost guarantee it. There’s no other reason for him to come here.”
Pyrrhus shook his head. “I don't think so. He said Kirill betrayed him and tried to have him killed.”
“Of course he did. How else is he supposed to get in the ranks of the rebels?”
“He's telling the truth, though I hate to admit it. The crodillians freed Donnchadh from Keres and sent him to capture Kirill.”
Nimesha was silent for a moment. “How did he say Kirill betrayed him? What exactly happened?”
“He was trying to get Kirill to come peacefully so they could later rebel from the inside, except your old leader didn't want to do that. He appeared to have a few other plans that he still has to act on. Hopefully we don’t get to see those.”
“He knows the crodillians give him the best chance of achieving his goal of a pure galaxy. The man is always coming up with better ways to accomplish things. He’ll use whoever and whatever he needs in order to be successful.”
“Trust me, I know. The man has been taking out races for a long time. I have a good idea what he had in mind when turning the malak over,” Pyrrhus said. “Kirill told the crodillians what Donnchadh was trying to do and he ran into the wasteland of Erebos to escape them. Not a wise choice if you ask me, but I don't understand you assassins. Always think you can run from death.”
“And that's where the tribe people come in? I don’t know anyone in the Brotherhood who’s part of any tribe.”
Pyrrhus nodded. “Very strange tribe people at that.”
“Strange in what way?”
“They can see and feel things. Apparently, that's how they survive out there in the wasteland and that's how they knew where to find Donnchadh.”
“What do you mean they can see and feel things?” She asked. “That doesn't make any sense.”
“I'm not entirely sure, but I can tell you they aren't bluffing. They know about the rebellion and they know what our battle plan is. That woman knows every little detail. It's no coincidence.”
“Someone told them,” she shook her head. “How could they know about the battle plan? We haven’t told anyone about it yet except those on Ares.”
“Because they can see things! I don't know how to explain it, but I promise you it's true. Leilah's visions led her here, to the heart of the rebellion, and she said without her help we fail!”
“She saw it happen already?”
“She said that without their help the crodillians slaughter us. Hermes and Gaea quickly fall and reinforcements arrive here to wipe us out,” he said dismally.
“That's impossible, there's no way she could know that.”
“I think she does. There's something about her, though I can't exactly say what it is. She can see things and knows that they're readying to strike Ares, and that's all that matters. We need her help if we want to win.”
“I guess we'll find out soon whether she can help us as much as she claims,” Nimesha replied. “You know, Anlon won't like this, right?”
“They're here to help with the rebellion, why wouldn't he?”
“Donnchadh.”
Pyrrhus was quiet. “I forgot about that. Find a way to keep it from him for now. We don't need him going out on some act of vengeance in the middle of our rebellion, especially if his new friends can help us.”
“You know he'll eventually find out, no matter how hard you try to keep it from him.”
“We need Kanti to make her speech without any distractions. She and Anlon are close, so if he's troubled, it could affect her speech,” he crossed his arms and let out a breath. “We also don't need him destroying our relationship with Leilah if she can help the way she claims. If she’s close to Donnchadh, we need to keep him alive.”
Nimesha nodded and bit her lip. “I won't keep it from him if he asks, but I won't mention anything to him either. I’m sure we can keep the two away from each other long enough for Kanti to make her speech.”
“Thank you. That’s all that I ask.”
She cleared her throat. “I also think I may be able to help with the Kirill problem. If he's sided with the crodillians, he’s the more dangerous of the two enemies, especially if the Deimos Brotherhood is by his side.”
“Why do you think he's more dangerous?”
“He wouldn't join Merikh unless he thought he stood a good chance of getting rid of him at any given moment. This man calculates every move he makes. He’s always two steps ahead of everyone. How do you think no one has ever caught him?”
“Go on,” he motioned.
“The time will be soon. His goal when I was working for him was to take over Orion. He wanted to kill the Queen and rule in her spot. Now, he’s closer to that than ever, and he's using the crodillians to suppress Orion. Once the crodillians launch the attack on Ares after we rebel, I believe he’ll kill Merikh. I'm not sure what he'll do after that, but I believe he’ll slowly carry out his plan of mass genocide,”
“And what do you want to do about it?”
“Let me go to Hera and kill Kirill.”
“You want to go to Hera? It's overrun by crodillians! How will you even get close to Kirill?”
“I've been doing it my whole life,” she crossed her arms and winked. “Now are you going to okay this, or do I have to sneak off on my own?”
“You can go,” he waved his hands. “But I don't see how killing him will help with our fight against the crodillians.”
“Because you'll only be fighting one enemy. And trust me when I say this, the crodillians are the enemy that you'd rather be fighting. Kirill is smarter than he appears and when he has his eyes set on something, it's hard to stop him from getting it. He’s unpredictable and that makes him the more dangerous of the two.”
“Then I hope you can stop him,” Pyrrhus said. “But don't get mad when I say that I don't think you'll even get close to him. Hera is going to be impossible to get on right now. The planet will literally be on lockdown and crawling with the enemy.”
“It doesn't bother me. I've been told my whole life my assignments are impossible, and when have I not killed one of my targets?”
The smile disappeared from Pyrrhus' face and she knew it was because she’d killed some of his own men. She turned around and left the room without another word. Kirill teaming with Merikh had been unexpected, but she knew it was a deadly combination of foes, with Kirill being the deadlier of the two. She would need to get to Hera quickly, before the crodillians were faced with mass rebellions, and she knew just the pilot who could get her there safely.
Anlon sat next to Kanti on the couch in the living room with a pile of food in his lap. He put his hand on Kanti's leg and looked to her.
“You have to make you speech soon.”
“I know I do,” she nodded. “Pyrrhus wants me to prepare one, but I don't know how I can. I’m not sure how I can knowingly lead thousands to their deaths.”
“Not all of them will die,” Anlon reassured her. “Sure, there will be a lot of deaths, but that's just part of the rebellion. Even if we don’t rebel, they’ll eventually die at the hands of the enemy.”
“Isn't it my job as Princess to make sure that my races don't die?”
“That's what you're doing,” he answered. “By having them rebel, you're saving them all.”
“I don't feel right sending so many off to sure deaths, at least not lying to them about it. How am I supposed to tell them everything will be okay? This won't be a quick and easy war with a few casualties. This will be weeks long. Even if we do get through this, how will they look at me when it’s over after knowing I lied to them?”
Rise of the Resistance (War for Orion Trilogy Book Two) Page 28