Dravok straightened subtly in the shadows.
“And the Dark Abyss?” Zapharos asked quietly.
The room chilled instantly. Even saying the name seemed to alter the atmosphere. I looked toward Earth through the viewport before answering.
“The stories say it wasn’t always there.” My voice lowered slightly. “That something broke the universe.”
No one rushed to fill the silence this time. Not even Ella. The weight of the conversation seemed to settle over all of us at once, threads of impossible history slowly weaving themselves together in ways none of us fully understood yet.
Arkhevari.
Earth.
The Sythari.
The Abyss.
Ashera and Caelor.
All somehow connected. And somehow, impossibly, connected to me. The thought sent another wave of unease through my chest. I shoved it aside ruthlessly. Because none of that changed the immediate reality. I still didn’t know these people.
Didn’t trust them.
Trust was not something I handed out simply because a dangerously attractive alien male looked at me like he’d discovered religion.
“Your turn—” I looked from the men to the women, avoiding Thyros at all costs. “—you are here to do what?”
Xandros took a deep breath. "We're here, same as you, it seems, looking for answers."
I shook my head. "I'm not looking for answers on anything. I'm looking for payback for what was done to my species. For whatisbeing done to them."
Nadine regarded both Xandros and me, then decided to continue as if the whole exchange hadn't taken place. Throwing a thumb in Dravok's direction, she asked, “So there’s a whole Sythari civilization out there that you, thegods, never even heard about," she eyed Xandros, "and a human religion based on your legends," she turned to Zapharos and me, "and all of you just… what, missed it?”
Dravok shrugged, his aura flaring lightly. “The Collapse was total. We lost entire civilizations, not just histories.” He turned to face me directly. “The Wound erased everything we built. Maybe you’re what survived.”
Ashley snorted, muttering, “Great. So we’re what? Stuck in the universe's worst family reunion?”
I shook my head. “You asked about Ashera and Caelor yesterday. Why? ”
Ella stepped in as calm as ever. “We think that Earth was important to the Arkhevari. That Ashera and Caelor leftsomething here, something that will help us put the Harrowed One back into his spot. Seal the Dark Abyss for good.
"We found records that indicate Ashera and Caelor fled to Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago. That they might have created the human race," here she shrugged helplessly, "we don't know. But there is something important about Earth, and we need to find out what." She leaned forward to me, "You said you are looking for payback for what has been done to your species, but why did you come to Earth?"
The question lingered in the space between us, heavier than it should have been. I had already decided to keep the rebels to myself. The half lie came easily enough. "To keep my prisoners safe."
"About that," Xandros unfolded his crossed arms and tilted his head. "You said you're part of somebreeding program, yet here you are. Free with prisoners. Who are your people, Naeris? Who do you work for?"
He was sharp. Instead of answering, I deflected. “I have no interest in your mission. "Your war is not mine. I came here to hide what I carry. Nothing more.”
Xandros stepped forward, unimpressed. “Convenient.”
“Believe it or not, that is none of my concern,” I stood my ground. “It changes nothing.”
“It changes everything,” he countered, his voice filled with a sharpness I didn’t like. “The Sythari are a species we've never met. Earth holds our mekarry bonds and is under the Pandraxian Empire's protection. That makes it our problem.”
I tore my gaze away from him and folded my arms. I didn’t really care what the violet giant considered his problem and what he didn’t. What mattered was that, for the moment, my fate—and the fate of my crew—rested in the hands of beings I neither trusted nor fully understood.
Which meant leverage was all I had left.
