“Soon. I need to speak with Lena first and calm her fears. Then I'll bring her among all of you.”
“Do you think she might sing again, Commander?” Private Lovall asked, his expression hopeful—not an emotion seen on Nethren.
Lovall's hope sparked the same emotion in Vor. “I will do my best to persuade her. It may take some time. She's only been here a little over a week, and I haven't let her out of our rooms often. We must give her some time to adjust to us.”
“Yes, Commander. Please tell her we all look forward to hearing her sing again.”
“I will.”
“Commander?” Sergeant Jurr came into the room with a Nethren vidco. “General Ankeh wants to speak to you.”
“Dismissed.” Vor took the vidco, and the soldiers left the room, including the sergeant. He waited until the door was closed before he opened the viewer to find General Ankeh staring back at him. “General.”
“Commander, I've spoken to the other generals throughout Para. They're eager to take more fortresses.”
“Yes, I understand their urgency, sir. But now is not the time. Paradefense is on high alert. It will be harder, if not impossible, for them to take another fortress. My advice is that they wait until we've tested Paradefense's response. So far, the fortress ward has kept them out, but they're converging something, and that concerns me.”
Ankeh nodded. “Considering your report, I agree with you. I'll discuss it with the others.”
“There's more. The man I captured, the Aethari who lost his wings and then escaped, is here. He's shown astounding abilities that worry me. He attacked the fortress with lightning and also used it to kill one of my soldiers.”
“Lightning? What is that?”
“It's natural electricity that comes from certain weather conditions.”
“Then how does the Aethari possess it?”
“I don't know, General. His injuries have altered him. My prisoner, Lena Drask, tells me that the Sources have blessed the Aethari with convergence, but his convergence is different thanthe Medean ability. He can converge living things, including the elements.”
“Bah! Impossible.”
“I saw it myself. I don't know what his power is exactly, but I watched him fly without wings and summon columns of electricity from the sky that killed upon impact. He hit the fortress with it and damaged the walls.”
“How did he hit the fortress when you have the ward?”
“I lowered it to send out a scouting unit. Through the scouts, I learned about the converging.”
Ankeh grimaced. “I have confidence in you, Commander. Establish our foothold, and then the other cities can follow suit. If they converge something to attack you with, handle it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Have you . . . alleviated your issues with the Medean woman?”
“I'm working on it, General. She's proven to be powerful as well.”
“How so?”
“I'm not sure about that either. Give me a few days to study her, and I'll have a more thorough report.”
“That sounds concerning, Commander.”
“From what I've seen and experienced, I believe Lena Drask is the key to unearthing our people.”
“A Medean woman?” he scoffed.
“Tech led me to her. She is integral. I'm certain of it.” He paused, then added, “I also spoke to her sister, Liria. The woman is married to that wingless Aethari and has also had visions from Source. Her visions included me. I believe we are on the right path, General. We may not have to fight our way to the surface after all.”
“You think they'll simply open the barriers and let us up?” He snorted.
