Chapter Eight - The Discovery

Chapter Eight -- The Discovery

Just when it couldn't get any worse...

Note: I know this chapter is a bit shorter than its predecessors, but I hope it is entertaining nonetheless.

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They left the detention block at a near run, the lights dimming behind them as the corridor swallowed their shadows. Idris kept pace, silent, his altered gait barely noticeable in the rush. Brynn stayed close, half dazed, half anchored by the supportive presence of her companions.

Idris pointed down another path. "I believe there is a lift this way. It may connect near the bridge."

Korran consulted his gauntlet, frowning, but then looked at Xedrin.

"I can't tell, but it's worth a chance, Szen Seeker."

The lift thrummed underfoot as it moved, faster than felt safe. When the doors opened, smoke rolled into the car from the corridor.

Selenar and Korran immediately moved into the haze, searching, checking for trouble. The haze was thick enough that they disappeared. Then Korran returned, moving into the lift just long enough to motion them to follow. "It's this way."

Selenar fell in behind them as they tried to navigate the smoke, looking around, searching for any threat waiting in the smoke. As they got closer, the smoke and haze seemed to thin. Brynn saw warriors fighting in the corridor, staff shields glowing and humming as they moved.

Sparks flew from ruptured conduits and other bulkhead damage. Screams, orders, the hiss of overheated plating. Metal clanged against metal as the warriors clashed with Moranna's minions--none of them the same size or shape as those they'd fought before.

Xedrin's warriors weathered flechette fire on their shields, but some came from angles that the warriors could not cover. The dark, brownish blood of Ulratian warriors speckled the floor and bulkheads around the fighting. Many warriors fought more than one Delethirian at once--some trying to hold off three or more.

Brynn's stomach dropped and she felt consumed with pain and guilt. There were multiple bodies strewn on the floor, and not every one was human. She felt her eyes welling up with tears, but she shut them, trying to hold it back. There would be time for feelings later. For now--she had to act.

She dropped her arms to her sides, fingers curling with tension. Before Selenar--before anyone--could stop her, Brynn lunged.

Her palm struck the nearest Delethirian, energy flaring on contact. A sudden shock seemed to overcome the warrior long enough to relieve their opponent, who was already fighting another warrior.

She saw her comrade collapse--then turned, eyes locking on Brynn.

Brynn answered with another lunge of her palm, the energy arcing from her hand and striking the woman in the chest. The blast knocked her clear off her feet, slamming her into the nearest bulkhead with a cry of pain before she crumpled at its base.

The Ulratian turned to face her, then blinked in surprise.

Xedrin finally caught up with Brynn, looking at the fallen women. "Come, there are many more no longer engaged in a fair fight."

The warrior nodded at Xedrin and ran to the next closest fight. Brynn followed, scanning the corridor until she spotted another skirmish--multiple Delethirians bearing down on a single Ulratian.

Brynn turned to Xedrin. "Rally them to us. I'll do the rest."

Xedrin looked at her skeptically, but nodded. Idris, Selenar, and Korran stood at her back. Idris seemed the most anxious.

Xedrin let out a clear roar, one echoed by Selenar and Korran. He sounded for retreat. Every Ulratian in sight heard the cue. Some simply turned and ran, some jumped to the side and rolled back up to their feet to clear an incoming attack. All in all it took less than ten seconds for every Ulratian to leave their fight and get behind Xedrin.

Many warriors followed after, but they covered each other, extending their shields to protect from flechette fire or from some blade staff strike coming down on their heels.

Some Ulratians simply extended their staff shields to cover them from head to toe, backing away slowly.

There were now over thirty Ulratians at their back some forty or more warriors moving toward Xedrin.

Brynn jumped out in front and screamed. A blast of energy stretched forward, almost as though it came from her entire body. It swept out in front of her and sent every warrior tumbling backward, flying off their feet.

This one didn't last as long. She cut it off before it stole too much from her.

Then the way to the bridge opened. The tall, wide doors slowly ground against their rails as they opened to a wide command center. All of the Delethirian warriors seemed to take this as a signal of their own and immediately went running off to either side of the corridor. They knelt on either side, their heads bowed in reverence.

Then she saw it.

There was a woman at the opening of the massive blast doors. She looked familiar, but Brynn couldn't place it. Then she heard a sound from Idris.

"You! What are you doing here?!"

The woman moved forward. She didn't strut, but she didn't hurry either. The thin, pink and purple fabric covered her from neck to foot. She wore black gloves that came almost to her elbows. Her boots covered her shins. Her black hair was up in a high braid whose slack trailed down her back.

Her face was just as cadaverous as Idris, as Moranna. As even a few of the Delethirian warriors she'd seen.

But it wasn't Moranna.

Idris moved from behind the line of the Ulratians crowded behind them. As he lunged for her, seething, wild with rage, two large warriors moved to intercept him, piling on top of him a few meters short of the woman.

Brynn went to go after him, but Xedrin clutched her elbow. She turned on him. "I didn't come all this way just to watch him die! I have to help!"

She pulled free and ran to Idris' where the two warriors now held him by the elbows, holding him kneeling on the deck. The woman stopped and looked up at Brynn. She scowled and her eyes seemed to glow with hate as she spotted Brynn. "You? So you're the one. The one who's been causing all this trouble."

She shook her head at Brynn, who had found herself stopped less than a meter behind Idris and off to one side. "I can't believe she did such a bang up job of harvesting you..."

She walked right past Idris, who lunged at her, restrained by the two men holding him in compliance. She didn't even acknowledge him as she walked past. She stopped just in front of Brynn, looking her over. Then she began to circle her, walking around the spot where she stood, evaluating her further.

"What a fine specimen you make though... So much... Mystery and hopelessness. But also... So much power..."

She kept walking, circling around Brynn. It was unsettling. Brynn felt one part of her clamoring for her to move, to go back to Xedrin, but some part of her... Couldn't.

She noticed Xedrin and his warriors watching from the other side and not one of the other Delethirians even lifted their gaze from the floor.

It was almost ethereal, but also terrifying.

Brynn finally found her voice. "Do I know you? Have we met or something? I feel like I would remember someone so... Odious." She made a face like she'd just bit into rotten fruit.

The woman stopped next to her. She leaned in close, her mouth millimeters from Brynn's ear. "I... Am the conduit. I am the second. I'm the one that stands in the way. I'm here so The Mistress can tend to the needs. The needs of her empire. The needs of the many."

Brynn turned on her, scowling. "You're unbearable."

Finally, Brynn found the part of her she needed for control, twisting away from her and stepping back. "Maybe you're just the final piece, the one on the board I need to kick over on her side so I can take the win."

Then Brynn stepped forward and tried to shove her. It was a petty, taunting challenge. At the last second, she stopped Brynn's hand, deflecting it and shoving Brynn away from her. "Maybe I am. But as long as I have..." She turned to regard Idris and snapped her fingers. The warriors released him immediately. He stood, and the warriors moved to either side of the corridor.

Idris, unrestrained, moved towards her. His fist came flying and then stopped just a few centimeters from her face. She wasn't even phased. Idris was shocked

"... the captain here..." The way she said it was both mocking and bored. "I think I'll do just fine."

Idris, slowly escalating from punching, to kicking, and finally just pounding both fists like someone trying to pound through glass, was red with rage. It was like some invisible bubble held him at bay, keeping her safe.

Brynn watched with confusion and trepidation as Idris assaulted her, or rather, the space around her. She swallowed, trying to maintain her resolve. "That's nice. I just meant 'what's your name?'"

She laughed a little and shook her head. "Right. Of course. You probably don't know. Idris told me about how you met my sisters, especially Tsella. But I guess it wasn't as traumatic for you as the reunion was for him."

Brynn took only a moment to register. She stepped back, disgusted and shocked. "You're... Adria?!"

Brynn's eyes were wide. Then the face clicked into place. The facade the sister had used before she'd been hauled off. There were differences, but then it fit. "But, you're supposed to be..."

"Dead?" She smiled, but it was chilling. "Right... About that..."

She raised her arm and brought her wrist to her face, calm and deliberate. Her gauntlet--sleek, metallic, and not unlike Korran's--wrapped her forearm. She tapped in a quick sequence of commands, then let her arm fall, a malevolent grin filling her face.

Absolutely nothing happened, for a moment.

Then, every one of the acolytes lining either side of the corridor fell. One by one, they simply slumped to the deck. There was no other noise. None of them made a sound. They just collapsed where they stood--mouths hanging open, eyes staring lifelessly ahead--some with thin trails of blood running from their noses or eyes.

Adria turned and caught Idris' next blow in her hand. He froze, startled by the strength of her grip around his wrist, and halted mid-strike.

Then Idris lunged one more time.

Adria was like lightning--dropping low, sweeping his legs out from under him with a swift kick. He hit the floor hard, a grunt escaping as the air was driven from his lungs.

Adria's knee pinned his chest, a force blade humming millimeters from his throat. The energy weapon thrummed softly, extending from a narrow aperture on her gauntlet.

"You may not like it, but you need my help. We're the same, you know--both of us had something stolen by Moranna. Both of us have suffered at her hands. And now, I've broadcast a ship-wide command to trigger the final protocol--one that activates the suicide device hidden inside every one of her worthless zealots."

Brynn felt her stomach plummet. She gasped, her hand slapping over her mouth, nearly apoplectic with shock.

Idris didn't move--just stared down the blade at his neck, his breathing tight, defiance etched across his face.

Adria simply smiled back, her gaze cold enough to freeze a star.

"So--are you choosing death over reason, or can I let you up safely?"

Idris' jaw tightened. He glared right back at her, silent, unblinking.

"Very well..."

Adria stood, her eyes flicking toward Brynn with a smirk that barely masked her contempt. She reached out to Idris and helped him up from the deck.

Brynn didn't react. She stood frozen--fists clenched, pulse pounding in her ears. That smirk lingered in her vision, like it was hovering in the air. Her blood boiled. Her chest tightened.

Idris got to his feet, scowling at Adria before glancing toward the blast doors guarding the bridge. Then he turned, starting to walk back toward Brynn and the others--

--when a heavy thud cracked against the deck behind him. He flinched, spinning around just in time to see Adria slam to the floor.

Brynn was on top of her--one hand locked around her throat, a knee pressed to her chest.

The scream came a half-second before the impact. Violent. Raw. Nothing like anything he'd ever heard from her.

Adria twitched--her gauntleted hand reaching for Brynn's face.

Brynn seized it with her free hand and squeezed, screaming. The sound ripped out of her as she clenched, pouring all her rage and grief into it.

The gauntlet popped and sizzled. Sparks shot out, followed by a trail of smoke and the acrid stench of burning circuits. With a loud clang, Adria's arm--still trapped in the ruined gauntlet--dropped limply to the deck.

Adria's eyes went wide. She looked terrified, her gaze snapping to Idris--pleading, helpless. But Brynn was already moving--raising the same hand that had crushed the gauntlet, aiming it for Adria's face. Idris lunged, grabbing Brynn under the arms, lifting and yanking her back.

"No. Stop! We need her alive!"

Brynn swung, sheer instinct guiding her. Idris caught her fist, locking eyes with her. She saw his face--and froze. Then she turned, tearing her eyes away. Her face crumpled--a storm of hurt, fear, and shock.

She stepped away from him, breath shuddering.

Idris sighed and turned from Brynn, then begrudgingly extended a hand to Adria. She took it and rose, glancing at him--then at Brynn.

"You know how to pick 'em, Chariton..."

Idris shot her a sharp look, his silence more scolding than words.

Brynn spun toward her. "You've got something to say, you--"

Idris raised a hand, bringing her to a stop. "Don't. Don't let her goad you, Brynn."

Brynn exhaled hard, folding her arms. Her cheeks still wet with tears. Then Xedrin was at her side, gaze shifting between Idris and Adria.

"What do you want to do with them, Auro?"

Brynn turned to face him, and it was like a spotlight hit her. She suddenly felt as though every eye in the room was on her. The fight had drained from her--replaced by a flush of apprehension she couldn't quite hide.

She looked from Xedrin to Adria, then back again, all her confidence rushing out of her like an abdominal blow.

"I--I don't know, Szen Seeker. Perhaps... maybe it shouldn't be up to me."

She turned away from them and walked toward where Selenar and Korran still waited.

Brynn made her way back to Selenar, her gaze downcast and her eyes still burning. She squeezed them shut when she reached the edge of the group, forcing back the tears already rolling down her cheeks. She wiped her cheeks angrily with her forearm, making sure her face was dry before she looked up at him. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and then squeezed with his fingers, hoping to console her suffering a little.

"You stopped," he said simply.

Her eyes dropped to the floor and she nodded. Her words were weak and empty. "I almost didn't."

"That's why it matters," he replied. He gently raised her chin to face him, her eyes already brimming once more with tears. "Because you could have... but you chose not to. Your instinct was to vanquish her. I saw it. I felt it. But... you managed to rein it in, allow the emotion to give you power, but kept it from controlling you, from ruling over you." He tilted his head slightly, studying her. "You bent the current instead of allowing it to bend you."

Brynn let out a slow, shaky breath. "I wasn't trying to control anything. I just--"

She stopped. Her hands trembled slightly as she clenched them at her sides.

Selenar's gaze didn't waver. "That rage you feel, the passion, the helplessness, the frustrations--they're not weakness. That is power. Emotions are not flaws to be removed, to be muted, or to be dispelled. They are fuel."

Korran joined them, adding from behind her. "Master Selenar is correct, Auro. The discipline you showed... it's not something many learn this early."

Brynn looked up then, surprised. "Then... you're proud of me?"

Selenar seemed to beam. "Of course. We both are, Auro."

Brynn felt Korran's hand on her shoulder and she placed her own hand on top of it. "Thank you. Both of you." Brynn swallowed, her breath catching in her throat.

"You should return to the ship with Master Selenar, Auro. I will remain and tend to Astaria, as is my charge. And our warriors will take care to see to what is needed for the... prisoner..." Brynn heard him trying to hold his tongue, to keep from using a different word, though still saying the one he'd chosen as if it were a vile thing to speak of. "And, your Captain Chariton will be confined briefly under quarantine conditions until we can be sure that he is... that he will not be a danger to any of us."

She saw Selenar nodding. "Yes. You can come with me. I will take you to your quarters and we can resume your training tomorrow, Auro. I think after that, I will bring you to Captain Chariton and we can attempt to debrief him with Seeker Korran."

Korran nodded. "Agreed. I will stay here with Xedrin, and... the prisoner... until we have finished turning this ship over to our team of wardens and field tacticians. Once this is completed, I shall catch up with Master Selenar and coordinate."

Brynn turned to look at Korran and found him looking at her, deep in thought.

"Auro, please, get some rest, and take solace or some comfort in the knowledge that at least your captain is with us instead of with them. It may not seem like the victory you were hoping for, but do not consider this a defeat just yet."

Brynn sighed, frowning, but then nodded. "You're right. I'll keep reminding myself: at least he's safer than he was yesterday." She shook her head and turned to Selenar. "Can we get out of here now? I feel like I need a shower... or maybe even some kind of ice bath." She shivered, scowling in disgust. "This place just..." she paused, searching for the right words. "It feels like death is hanging in the air. Not just from the bodies or the fighting, but something deeper. Like... the ship itself knows what's been done here."

Selenar nodded and wrapped his fingers around her arm, just above the elbow. "Certainly." He looked to Korran and nodded. "I leave it to you, Seeker. Please let me know if you can benefit from our support."

Korran slightly bowed his head to Selenar. "Of course. Take care in the meantime, Master Selenar."

He watched as Brynn and Selenar departed. He sighed, wrestling with the instinct to soothe her pain, but knowing his place was here.

He turned his attentions back to Adria and Xedrin. Eight guards encircled them now--an absurd sight, and yet, Korran knew, entirely necessary. He shook his head, a bitter laugh escaping under his breath. So many lives lost already. No reason to risk any more.

Korran arrived at Xedrin's side, where the Seeker was already engaged in terse conversation with Adria. Idris stood nearby, silent, eyes heavy and watchful.

"I know the Auro destroyed your gauntlet, Witch," Xedrin said coldly, "but I require access to your bridge. Now."

Adria shrugged, wrists bound in a tight, forward-facing restraint. The clinking of the chain sounded too delicate for the gravity in the air.

"And what do you expect me to do? Type the password with my eyelashes?" she replied, tone flippant but eyes betraying tension.

Xedrin's voice didn't rise. It dropped. "If your goal is to stall, understand that my patience is finite. I will break my way in if I must. But if you make yourself useless, I will lock you in a suppression cell where the only utensils you'll see are fed through a slit in the wall."

She swallowed, but her mask remained. Almost.

"Fine," she said at last, nodding toward a panel between two inactive consoles. "There's an override hidden there. I can trigger it with a palm scan, even without the gauntlet."

"Or you could trigger a trap. Another toy of Moranna's."

Adria sighed. "What do I gain by blowing myself up, Xedrin?"

Xedrin didn't answer. His eyes flicked to Korran.

"I'll check it," Korran offered. "Carefully."

Xedrin nodded. "Proceed."

Korran moved to the panel and located the override interface. He scanned it--clean, as far as his tools could tell. Returning to Adria, he seized her right hand, palm out, and used his gauntlet to take an imprint. She winced but didn't resist.

"It won't work if it's fake," she muttered. "The system knows the difference."

He returned to the wall and activated the scanner, overlaying the imprint. The pad lit up red.

A hiss.

Then a puff of vapor.

Korran took a breath.

And collapsed.

Coughing. Choking. Clawing at his throat.

Xedrin's blade staff snapped open as Idris shouted, "Szen Seeker! Shield! Now!"

Xedrin obeyed on instinct, activating the staff's shield.

Korran was on his knees, convulsing. His screams scraped the walls. His skin blistered. His eyes--

Gone.

Then came the sound--wet and sucking--as his limbs melted beneath him. Red mist billowed from his face, from every orifice.

Idris fell to his side, trying to help, trying to stop the decay.

Too late.

Korran's body liquefied in seconds, collapsing into a dark, steaming puddle. Only the armor and gauntlet remained, floating in a pool of what once was a warrior.

The haze that exuded from Korran seemed to spread, wafting through the antechamber until it reached the rest of the warriors.

They all moved to try to avoid the mist, but as the thin red haze reached them, they were already falling to the deck, gasping and retching, fighting to stay alive.

Then Adria's guards collapsed. Her chains banged on the floor as their grip was lost.

Xedrin froze.

Then he roared.

He surged forward, but Idris caught him, shouting, "You can't! It'll kill you too!"

Xedrin tried to fight past him, but the changes made to Idris seem to allow him to at least slow the Szen Seeker down. He eventually pushed Idris to the floor and focused on Adria.

She had no time to speak.

He pulled the chain hooked into the collar around her neck and then broke it off. Then he grabbed her wrist, his free hand holding her arm above her elbow, twisting it impossibly.

Snap.

Adria's scream echoed through the chamber before her elbow snapped, but then the screams of fear turned into sobs of agony.

He released her and she fell to the floor, screaming in agony as she clutched at the broken limb.

Then his foot came down, his weight pressing down on her shattered elbow. She howled, convulsing.

Xedrin leaned in close, his voice low and frigid. "You. Killed. Him. My brother. My kin."

Adria tried to speak, but only choked sobs escaped.

"Give me access, or I will reduce you to little more than scraps of meat. Slowly."

She shook her head. "No. Please! I- The--panel. Please--just take me to it."

He lifted her by the broken limb, carrying her like a doll, then grabbed her unbroken hand and smashed it against the scanner.

Adria was still screaming, wailing in agony, her pleas for mercy nearly incoherent.

The panel turned yellow in response to her handprint.

She gasped. "Code! You... need the code!"

"Tell me."

Tears streaked her face as she continued writhing, still suspended above the floor. "Two... three... five... seven... one, one, one... THREE!"

Xedrin entered it.

The panel glowed green.

The bridge doors unsealed, beginning to slowly edge apart.

He threw her to the deck.

Adria landed hard and slid across the surface, moving to clutch her broken limb against her body, the best she could while the restraints held her.

Xedrin looked up from her, surveying the room as the doors parted behind him. His face was blank as he scanned the floor, finding nothing more than scattered pieces of armor and blade staffs all dripping with fluids.

There was absolutely nothing left to indicate that so many of his warriors had died here.

He dropped to his knees. Finally a horrible, roaring sob escaped him, so loud that even Idris took a step back.

An image shined out, shimmering into view between the parting blast doors.

A woman appeared. Dark hair. Cadaverous skin. Smiling.

Moranna.

"Szen. Seeker. Xedrin." She sighed and shook her head. "If you are finally seeing this, then it means Adria successfully betrayed me, just like I knew she would. She's let you on my bridge.

But...

If everything has gone according to plan, my feral little nannies have left dear Idris--and any other humans--alive. And of course, you, Szen Seeker, have been spared. With every other one of your affected beasts reduced to... well, something so small that all you'd need is a straw to clean them up.

You've haunted me almost as long as Captain Chariton. And now? Now I will be the one to darken your memories. To linger in the corners of your vision. To echo in every silence."

She smiled, a broad, malevolent grin encompassing her face.

"Now, don't be wasteful...

I'm sure every single drop of that delicious goo is just to die for..."