A pitched roar cut through the bellow of the gathering tempest.
Sheba’s wrist comm burst into life, the display projecting a pulsing, rotating sigil with a distinct Riders’ ID.
‘It’s Ki’Remi,’ Sheba gasped as the signal flared with a blinding intensity.
A message pulsed through Sheba’s neural node.
I sense you might be in a spot of bother, my friend,Ki’Remi’s sub vox rumbled in her mind.
Sheba almost jumped for joy.
We are! Hurry, Remi, we need a fokkin’ ride out of here, Sheba pleaded.
We?came the amused murmur in her inner ear.I’ve got eyes on the other half of this ‘we’, and I understand why you want to run away with him.
Remi, hell, not now with the teasing! Will you freakin’ get us far from this monstrous Sacran megalomaniac?
Sulfiqar, ay? Is he back playing his wretched games on our mortal plain? Damn, it’ll be my pleasure to exfil you, if only to witness the rage on his blasted face.
The clouds above shattered as Ki’Remi’s corvette descended from the upper atmosphere.
The ship arrived as a sliver of blinding white radiance, deploying a liminal shield that acted as a momentary barrier against Sulfiqar’s dark energy.
A spatial vortex folded open over the clearing, a shimmering rift that promised a path through the celestial disturbance.
As Sulfiqar’s growls of protest and a tantrum storm rained hell on the landscape, Sheba turned to Idan and gripped his hand.
‘We’re leaving, Idan. Move!’
The long-haired deity hesitated, his eyes fixed on the horizon, towards the cliffs.
The farm, my flock.
‘We can return to it later! We’ll secure it when it’s safe!’ Sheba yelled over the roar of the vessel’s thrusters.
With a scowl and a curse, Idan gave in.
He seized Sheba and drew her to his chest, his grip a solid anchor in the chaos as he glimmered them into the rift.
The maelstrom lunged them into the ship’s hold just as Ki’Remi’s corvette banked into a steep, gravity-defying ascent.
In their wake, Sulfiqar’s guttural bellow of fury shook the foundation of the mountain, his subvocal scream echoing in their mind.
You can run, but you can’t hide. I will find you and your brother, and you WILL help me retake my throne!
The vortex snapped shut, leaving the frozen peaks and the burning god behind as the sleek craft vanished into the silent, star-streaked sanctuary of the skies.
The spatial rift collapsed with a pressurized thud, dumping Sheba and Idan onto the deck plating of the hunter-class corvette.
The sudden shift from the mountain’s freezing bite to the ship’s recycled, climate-controlled warmth forced the air from Sheba’s lungs in a gasp as she fell.
Idan caught her before her knees hit the metal, hauling her flush against his chest.
He took the brunt of the fall, slumping on the alloy-lined surface; his arm tightened around her waist.
Moments later, they scrambled to their feet, taking in their new surroundings with a touch of disbelief.
The ship was a masterclass in stealth engineering, with matte carbon bulkheads and glowing holo displays swathed in violet light.
