Zavier Phanos shimmered into view, his jewel-scarred face filling the projection.
‘How did you go? Success?’
Idan didn’t waste time on formalities; he apprised the Dragon Lord of the chains’ retrieval. ‘They’re in a safe onboard. However, we have a slight problem.’
He outlined Sheba’s mask and mind fusion, his timbre graveled with concern, and tight with the desire for answers.
‘A moment,’ theDraquisDomini muttered.
Closing his eyes, Zavier tipped his head back and then straightened it again.
When he opened his eyelids, his irises let out flaming energy, which burned even through the holo display.
His copper-gold eyes narrowed as he projected his psionic potency all the way from Enia, conducting a visual inspection of Sheba’s eyes and the trauma at her temple.
He remained silent for a long minute, his jaw working as he parsed the spectral data.
‘There isnadaI can do to reverse the fusion,’ he rasped in time. ‘The Old King’s death-curse acted as a catalyst, soldering the diamond lattice into your gray matter. To excise it would be to lobotomize you. You’ll have to live with it.’
Sheba shuddered, a sob breaking from her throat as panic hit and her pulse rate surged.
She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror in the med bay.
Mother-of-pearl flames flared in her eyes, and her trembling amped up.
‘Nada! How do I make the storm inside stop? The grief, the sorrow, the pain of a billion souls is crowding me. I can hear people laughing on planets I’ve never seen, and it’s all screaming at once. Please, help me.’
From across the great distance, Zavier’s eyes blazed with even more heat as he extended his consciousness.
Sheba gasped as his heated psionic touch pressure slipped into her mind.
Relax. I’ll teach you the mental blocks to construct neural walls that’ll control the flow.
Zavier’s psychic reach carved three distinct anchors within her mind. He guided her to tether the chaotic noise to these points, creating a dam against the flood of galactic static.
He then, in seconds, showed her how to mute the chaos and redirect it.
In time, her breathing leveled.
The pearlescent luminescence in her eyes dimmed to a steady, diamond-bright glow, then faded, so that her dark hazel eyes returned.
‘Sante,’ she whispered, the silence in her head a sudden, beautiful mercy.
The Dragon Lord pulled out of her mind.
His gaze shifted to Idan, his expression grim.
‘She requires more practice. If she doesn’t learn to suppress theSsignakhtat will, or filter the relevant signals to discard the debris, it might incinerate and flay her consciousness.’
‘I’ll guide her,’ Idan stated, his grip on Sheba tightening. ‘Molan can help, and we can use our Sacran warrior protocols to assist her.’
‘I’ve laid down the foundation, so build on it,’ Zavier replied. ‘Remember, she now holds the memories, history, as well as the darkness of Sacra. Do not let her drown in the utter suffering your predecessors wrought on this galaxy, including on us Paladians.’
Idan’s jaw tightened, a shadow of profound sorrow crossing his features.
The might of his lineage, the centuries of conquest, the cold-blooded massacres, and the arrogance of his kin now dwelled inside the woman he loved.
The shame of it flamed his soul.
