Taylor faced many things in his military career; hostile aliens, explosions, antagonistic authority and war machines large and small and yet, approaching the door of his ex girlfriend turned out to be the most daunting, more so since his current girlfriend resided on the same ship under the direct command of his ex.

  Taylor rubbed his face with an irritated sigh as he worked up his courage despite feeling guilty for attempting to speak to Morrigan outside work related reasons.

  After 15 minutes, Taylor bit the bullet and stepped up to her quarters before hesitating. With a final drop breath, he raised his hand and knocked on the metal door.

  His spine tingled with anxiety as he waited for a response before the door slid pen with a soft hydraulic hiss. To his surprise, he found himself looking down at a rough looking Nora instead of Morrigan.

  Nora scoffed, rolling her eyes before stepping away from the door and back to the couch, “What do you want?” she asked snidely.

  Taylor peered inside in shock at the luxurious amenities that resided in the room as he checked to make sure there were no surprises near the door before taking a cautious step inside. Nora ignored him as she plopped herself back on the couch before resuming the action recording integrated into the holovid, clumsily grabbing at what appeared to be some kind of hard biscuit on a plate and taking a bite.

  “I, uh, was just wondering if Mori was here?” Taylor asked as he inspected the room in detail. He then looked at Nora and stopped to notice the waste bucket next to the couch, “Are you okay? You, uh… don’t look so good.”

  Nora snorted derisively before wincing and forcibly pressing her palm into the center of her forehead. “Ever been sore, drunk and hungover at the same time?” she asked incredulously before shaking off a wave of nausea.

  “The last two, yeah,” Taylor commented cautiously, fully aware of Nora’s personality as he simply stood in the open space.

  “Why are you looking for Mori?” Nora prodded as she focused on the movie, slowly filling her mouth as she nibbled on the biscuit, getting crumbs all over herself as well as the couch

  Taylor scratched his beard in uncomfortable habit as he eyed the movie, curious as to what it was before realizing he had not seen a movie since before graduation and could not recognize it. “I just had something I wanted to talk to her about…”

  “Gross,” Nora interjected loudly before turning her head and eyeing Taylor in disgust, “You’re not seriously thinking about trying to get her into bed with you and Stephy-First of all, she’s mine!” Nora stated sharply.

  Taylor’s hesitant yet stoic features shifted to pure disbelief, “What the hell? No! What is wrong with you?”

  Nora’s serious, hostile demeanor broke as she fell into a fit of giggles as she doubled over, “Oh my god, your face! I was totally fucking with you dude! You totally- ow, ow, ow!” clutching her head, Nora let out a whimper as her pulsating heading only grew more intense.

  With an irritated sigh, Taylor rolled his eyes at her prank as he crossed his arms, “Look, do you know where she is or not?”

  “I don’t know man,” she stated painfully, before grabbing an open bottle of wine off the table and began chugging it. “She said… shit, what did she was doing today…”

  It was Taylor turn to snort derisively, shaking his head in disappointment as he watched the young blonde woman catch her breath and belch.

  Nora heard him and turned her head sharply as she pointed at him, “Listen here, sister-fucker,” she said nearly shouting before pointing at herself, “I spent most of the night getting my brain fucked out of my skull, and that was after four bottles of this shit.” She held up the now empty bottle of wine before casually dropping it into the waste bin.

  “Give me some credit for even bothering with you; speaking of which, how is Stephy-ohhh there it is, that’s so much better…” she said with a sigh of relief as the wine fed her hang over, reducing the pain that radiated through her skull.

  Taylor rolled his eyes, “Might help better if you try coffee, or water.”

  Nora giggled at that as she picked up another biscuit, “Do you even drink, bro? I’ve been doing this since I was ten. Biscuit?”

  Taylor's eyebrows furrowed at the sporadic, one-sided conversation he was having as she held up the hard, flaky bread product. “Uh, just where Mori is, please?”

  “Right, right. Umm, oh! She said something about Yekku and uh… the big dude from your party, Alex? Something about making ammo or something, she knows better than to tell me things when I first wake up,” Nora said aloofly.

  Taylor nodded, realizing Morrigan had gone to the R&D deck and turned to exit, “Thanks and good luck with your, whole hang over thing.”

  Before Taylor could leave, he was startled by a jagged blade made of crystallized ice impaled the wall to his left causing him to looked back with wide eyes.

  “You better be treating my sister right… if not, I won’t miss next time,” Nora said with no hint of joking.

  For the first time, Nora watched Taylor smirk as he looked at her, “And you take care of Mori,” he stated with an unspoken promise of equal violence which made Nora grin.

  “You’re alright man,” she said before turning back to the movie, “And good luck with your conversation!” mocking him with a snicker.

  ◇◇◇

  Luckily for Taylor, he had spent enough time on the R&D deck to keep from getting lost within the expansive factory floor. Homing in on the section he knew Aleksei worked in, he found the giant man showing off his newly constructed rocket launcher.

  To his amusement, he found Morrigan standing beside the towering giant listening intently though he could tell by the look on her face that she could not follow all of the technical information that Aleksei spewed.

  Near the work bench Yekku hunched over the sword with the built in shotgun Taylor often saw strapped to Morrigan’s back while holding up a standard shotgun shell in one hand while holding up a rocket in the other, looking between the two pieces of munition warbling quietly to himself.

  Taylor could see Yekku turn and chirp as to the other two just as Taylor came within earshot, “What is it, little buddy?” Aleksei asked looking to the chittering S’randin.

  In a look of confusion, Aleksei looked at the rocket and shotgun shell as Yekku held them up and ever so gently touched them together.

  In a sweet tone, Morrigan said, “Sweetie, why don’t you draw it out first so we know what you’re asking.” Taylor could see the pure adoration in her smile as she spoke to the creature which brought back memories of how Morrigan used to be; who she used to be.

  He could recall the same look she wore whenever she spoke of the Eskarii as she riddled off random facts she found on the internet, a look of unadulterated love for something unique and entirely special in her world.

  Yekku flicked his tongue thoughtfully before turning to the bench and gently set everything down before grabbing a sheet of paper and quickly began drawing.

  “Oh! Well look who it is!” Aleksei bellowed upon noticing Taylor’s approach.

  Taylor waved just in time for Yekku to pop his head up with wide eyes, tongue flickering only to honk a greeting at him before diving back into his drawing which made Morrigan smile.

  “What are you all up to?” Taylor asked to drum up conversation.

  “Oh, I was just telling the Boss here about the laser guidance system I installed,” Aleksei said gesturing to the heavy launcher he held slung over his shoulder, “And how this wonderful anarchist’s paradise made it possible to make armor piercing warheads without sacrificing the boom,” he chuckled deeply.

  Morrigan pursed her lips as she looked at Taylor, telling him all he needed to know as to why she seemed lost in their conversation, “I came to see if Yekku could reconstruct an Old Era shotgun shell,” she stated.

  As Taylor moved around the table, he noticed that Aleksei kept a healthy distance just beyond arms length from Morrigan which reminded Taylor the last time he had gotten too close to Morrigan and stopped at the corner of the table, “Sounds interesting but… why Old Era? How old are we talking?”

  “Well, I came across some old historic files Ebony ripped off one of the ships recently and there are detailed reports about munitions testing done back in the late 2000s detailing explosives shotgun shells however, there were no schematics and most of the file was corrupt. Honestly it seemed like the report marked it off as a failure but if anyone could make it work its these two,” she explained before pointing to both Yekku and Aleksei. Yekku took pride in her words and thrashed his tail happily, whipping it from side to side before Morrigan caught it in her hand just tight enough to keep it from moving without hurting the S’randin.

  “Speaking of, calling this the Anarchist’s Paradise is probably not the best moniker to use,” she said looking at Aleksei who looked away unashamed.

  Taylor couldn't help but chuckle only to be cut off by Yekku thrusting the newly drawn schematic in between Morrigan and Aleksei. Curious, Taylor edged himself forward cautiously to sneak a peek at the astonishingly precise drawing.

  “This is an awesome job buddy!” Morrigan cooed as Yekku chirped happily before he tapped on the paper with a single claw and thrust it towards Aleksei. Aleksei, set his launcher down on the table and took the drawing which allowed Taylor to move around the trio to see the drawing more clearly.

  “Man, they weren’t lying… he’s like a reptilian printer!” Taylor stated in awe as he looked at the fully three-dimensional drawing with precision measurements and all, including the interior and exterior components.

  Aleksei ignored him as he inspected the drawing seeing the blank spaces within the miniscule warhead as well as behind it, “Impact ignition, very good choice though does limit penetration… but it’s shotgun, who cares?” he stated either a laugh before looking at the waiting S’randin, “So, you don’t know what to put in it?” he asked incredulously of the ingenious alien.

  Yekku bobbed his head before standing straighter and taller to reach over the drawing as he chittered away, pointing towards the chemical composition of the plastic and metals used for the design before slinking back to his normal resting posture.

  Yekku kept wringing his hands as he looked nervously between the three standing around him, waiting expectantly.

  Taylor looked at the drawing then to Yekku before realizing what he was asking, and why.

  “I got it, I think? He’s asking your help in creating the explosive composition for it,” Taylor stated. Yekku bobbed his head rapidly in excitement as he squawked at Aleksei.

  Morrigan bit her lip to hold back her laughter as she watched Aleksei grin like a kid on Christmas. “Why didn’t you say so! Of course- come, come! I will teach you crash course in demolition!” Aleksei bellowed with ecstatic enthusiasm as he gestured for Yekku to follow him, taking the drawing with him.

  Yekku hissed with excitement aiming to dart off after the large man but stopped and shoved his face into Morrigan’s shoulder causing her to lose composure.

  “Thank you, buddy, now go learn something,” she said as she laughed grabbing his face and kissing his snout repeatedly.

  Taylor chuckled watching her smother the quirky creature before Yekku slinked off after Aleksei. “There is nothing good that can come from this…” Morrigan stated in amusement as a deafening silence fell between her and Taylor now that they were respectively alone. “How did you know what he was looking for?” she asked aloofly as she looked at everyone around her.

  “Well, having spent some time around him I noticed he seems to handle anything mechanical or electrical with absolute precision, but I can’t imagine him being a master chemist too. Then again, all the squawking makes it hard to understand when he asks for hand tools…” Taylor said as he watched his friend guide Yekku into a building within the center of the deck.

  “Even still, that’s impressive,” she said before Morrigan turned to Taylor and leaned against the work bench and awkwardly asked, “So, how are things going?”

  Taylor snorted as he turned to face her, “Things are good though I’ve been meaning to ask Yekku to see if he had any ideas for a better light machine gun… maybe next time though… I stopped by your quarters earlier, very nice set up you got…”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Morrigan furrowed her brow at that, “You went into my room? How?” she asked with hostile curiosity.

  Taylor held up his hands defensively, “Nora let me in, she was the one who told me where you were…”

  “Oh hell,” she exclaimed with in a sigh of expectation, “Please tell me she behaved herself?”

  Taylor chuckled at that before considering what the definition of behaving meant when it came to his girlfriend’s younger sister. Scratching his beard, he replied, “Well, she complained about being hung over, drank half a bottle of wine then made it a point to say she got laid last night… oh and threw a shard of ice at me saying I had better treat Stephanie well.”

  Morrigan sniggered to herself as she shook her head gently, expecting nothing less from Nora especially with how hung over she actually was, “Yeah, that pretty much tracks with her… so, how is Stephanie anyways?”

  It was Taylor’s turn to act mildly defensive, “She’s been good, why?”

  Morrigan shrugged though, “Well, I can’t necessarily talk to her myself given the whole… thing,” she said as she gestured to her neck to emphasize Stephanie’s scar.

  Taylor sighed feeling foolish to be so uptight with the woman he had spent three years with but he could not deny the common curtesy question felt bizarre, “I mean, yeah, she’s doing good. She’s been spending a lot of time training with Xol and the other one. It’s kinda odd you know that your body guards spend more time beating on us than they do body guarding, right?”

  Morrigan snorted in amusement, “I know, right? Like, what the fuck is up with that?” Her playful tone began to diffuse the tension in Taylor as they both laughed lightly before Morrigan pushed off the bench and began walking away, signaling for him to follow.

  Shrugging, Taylor decided to follow at a distance before she called out over her shoulder, “So, I take it you came to find me for a reason?”

  Taylor moved as close as he felt comfortable keeping pace with her regal strut, essentially three feet of distance between them, certain as long as he didn’t touch her he would be fine.

  “Yeah, Ebony brought up something I wanted to talk to you about. Granted, you probably already know but we wanted to be sure…” he stated before trailing off as he realized his choice in words could be considered condescending and remembering that despite who she was, she was still his commanding officer. It turned out that even being in a rag tag crew of misfits, the military doctrine seemed to have been ingrained into his personality after so many years of being in the Federation.

  Morrigan pushed the call button for the freight elevator once they made it to the outer edge of the R&D deck, “What about?”

  Taylor patiently waited for the elevator as he considered how to bring up the entire purpose of his reason to speak to her, though he could not help but feel guilty for enjoying his time that he was spending with her in the moment. “Um, hello?” Morrigan asked with mild annoyance.

  “Sorry. Um, well since we were in the Federation, we wanted to bring up the possibility of the Federation figuring out what ever pattern it is you’re using to lead them into traps…” he stated as the elevator door opened and they both stepped in at opposite ends awkwardly.

  Taylor continued, “We’re not exactly sure what it is they would do but we think we should be cautious sometime soon… I mean…”

  Morrigan raised her hand before sighing indignantly, “I’m not an idiot, Taylor. I’m aware this can’t keep up forever.”

  “I'm not saying you’re…” Taylor said in an attempt to defend himself only for Morrigan to cut him off.

  “Frankly there is no pattern. Sister generates a direction for us to travel each day with some kind of algorithm and my navigator and pilot pick our flight path adding to the randomization, and some of these raids are merely happenstance,” she stated forcefully before crossing her arms.

  Taylor sighed and nodded, choosing not to argue with her and leaned against the railing of the elevator, “I believe you. I just hope that psychopath doesn’t find you,” he said referring to Amaranthe.

  “I hope he does,” Morrigan said sharply as she hissed through her teeth which grabbed Taylor’s attention immediately, “I’m going to rip that bastard’s spine out and put his skull in my living room while Skoll gnaws his bones.” Taylor could hear the anger within her rise sharply.

  Taylor chuckled against his better judgement, “I’ll be right behind you there, that asshole took me away from my parents, and you… then sentenced me to die in combat in Havoc Squad.”

  Morrigan’s face fell at the mention of his parents, the stark reminder that despite having gone through everything she experienced, she still had her mother and aunt, at least that is what she thought, but Taylor lost everything because of her.

  “Taylor…” she spoke, her words audibly downtrodden.

  He glanced at her in confusion before realizing what he said, “I’m only saying, Mori. I’m not blaming you or anything. If anyone is to blame, it’s that bastard.”

  Morrigan shook her head, “We both know that’s a lie but… what if I said I could try and get your parents off Earth? Like how Mom got out?”

  The idea bewildered Taylor as his brain halted, “Are you serious? You can do that?”

  Morrigan nodded, “I have a couple ideas but the best way would be to take back the Void Star… but, there are other options too, I think,” she said with mild certainty remembering that it was Solomon that got her mom and aunt off Earth with the help of another Inquisitor. “The hardest part would be getting ahold of your parents but, if we can manage that long enough to devise a plan, then we would just need a small enough ship to break atmosphere and slip underneath the Federation’s radar.”

  “I mean, yeah! That would be great!” Taylor stated with growing hope as they stepped off the elevator, which only made Morrigan’s uncertainty grow.

  Before she could warn how long it would take, Shepard called over her comm, “Mori, we have an incoming distress signal that seems to be of Eskarii origin; you should come up to the bridge immediately.”

  “Alright, I’ll be right there,” she replied before looking at Taylor. “You should round up your team, we have a distress signal,” she stated before quickly stepping away towards the direction of the bridge.

  ◇◇◇

  Myshkali sat on her throne staring down at the bundled-up newborn in her arms as she smiled gracefully at her very first granddaughter, Jen and Torvil close by sitting on a lofty sofa placed beside the massive crystalline seat of power.

  “She is precious!” Myshkali exclaimed softly as the small hybrid child slept in her arms.

  Jen sighed with a bright smile as she leaned against Torvil, all the while Helen made herself busy by preparing drinks for everyone in the room.

  “I sure hope so, the feisty girl couldn’t wait to come out,” Jen said softly referring to the month of a half recovery she had to endure. It turned out that human/Eskarii offspring grew far quicker than human, cutting the pregnancy short by a month and forcing Jen to have a cesarean birth, having grown too large.

  “Yes, she definitely inherited her mother’s personality already,” Torvil stated, his voice filled with a subtle pride Jen and Myshkali could pick up.

  Myshkali smiled brightly at Jen, “Oh, you will have your hands full, speaking from experience with seven daughters of my own.”

  Helen stepped back into the room, the open space allowing her to catch the tail end of the soft conversation. Her eyes instantly moved to the little bundle in the queen’s arms with adoration as she carried a tray of crystalline glasses filled with a vibrant purple liquid made from the only fruit Helen recognized, being a favorite of Morrigan’s years ago. Normally a servant would have prepared the drinks or any food requests however, the queen decreed a moment of solitary to allow herself time to spend with her granddaughter.

  “Have you thought of a name yet?” Helen asked as she smiled at Jen, handing her a glass of juice. Jen, who had once looked at it in disgust because it reminded her of looking like cough syrup, happily accepted the glass and shook her head.

  “Not yet, though we were considering naming her after the one who brought us together, after Mori,” Jen stated sweetly before taking a sip from her drink.

  Torvil huffed at her comment, “Morrigan, such a being of misfortune and luck.”

  If anyone else has made the comment, Hele and Jen would have been highly offended however, Torvil knew Morrigan. Though his words held truth to them, his reason was far from disrespectful, instead more sorrowful yet thankful.

  Helen finished passing the drinks out before sitting on the arm of their sofa, “You know, as thoughtful as it is, she would probably hate that. I don't think she could handle having her own niece named after her.” Her point was well received though Myshkali gave the three of them a confused look.

  Helen turned to the queen and explained, “Morrigan hates being in the spotlight… having too much attention drawn to her.”

  Torvil and Jen both snorted as Jen beat him to the punch, “Which is ironic given her life.”

  Helen nodded sullenly, feeling the sting of missing her own child before she turned back to the couple beside her, “How about Emery?”

  Jen looked up with a look of recognition as Torvil furrowed his brow, “Wouldn’t that be no different than naming her after Morrigan?”

  Helen and Jen shook their heads, Jen looking up to see him out of the corner of her eye as she pulled his arms closer into her, “No. It’d be just different enough to keep her from feeling embarrassed. This way we can still name her after Mori and not have Mori meltdown from shock,” she explained with a soft chuckle, betting on how Morrigan would truly react.

  “Emery… that is a beautiful name,” Myshkali cooed as she stared down at the sleeping girl.

  Within the same moment, the sound of tall archway doors opening could be heard throughout the room, Helen looking behind her to see a pair of curious faces poking into the room attempting to get a peek at the newborn family member. Tali and Jae’ron looked over and under one another, hiding behind the door in an attempt to remain hidden as they timidly broke their mother’s demand of them. Luckily for them, Myshkali was lost in adoration of her grandchild as their wide colorful eyes landed on Helen; who smiled sweetly at the two youngest daughters of the Eskarii queen.

  Silently, Helen beckoned them to enter the room before standing and moving in their direction. With timid and excited grins as they stumbled over one another to meet Helen half way.

  Helen stopped as the two girls reached her, both gearing to badger her with excited questions only for Helen to hold up her hands to silence them before putting a finger to her lips, “If you want to see the baby, you’re going to need to be extra quiet.”

  Jae’ron understood as she nodded silently however, Tali, in her excitement went to speak aloud only for Helen to place her hand over her mouth, “No speaking,” Helen stated firmly though she could not help but smile.

  Tali nodded against her hand until Helen moved it away to reveal a bright grin, before offering both girls to take her hands. Neither resisted the temptation of holding Helen’s hands as they slowly and quietly approached the throne.

  Tali squeaked behind her shut mouth the moment her eyes land on the cusp of the hybrid child in her mother's arms, slipping from Helen’s grasp; Helen suppressing her tone as she called out her name as Tali nearly threw herself against the throne as she peered over the wide arm attempting to gain a better look only to find her mother’s deathly glare waiting for her.

  Helen stifled a chuckle as she watched the youngest daughter freeze stock still under her mother’s gaze until she managed to grab ahold of the young girl’s hand and pull her back a couple steps.

  Myshkali nodded her thanks at Helen before letting out a long, soft sight. Ever so gently, she turned the small child to lay against her right arm and allow her two daughters to look upon their new niece.

  “How can something so cute be so ugly at the same time?” Jae'ron whispered in repulsed adoration.

  Helen giggled at the innocent question, all the while Tali did everything she could to get as close as physically possible within Helen’s grasp. “Jae’ron, look! They're so cute!” Tali exclaimed in a harsh, barely contained whisper as she pointed at the one visible ear. Baby Emery's ears already showed of her half blood heritage as they started off round like a human ear only to end in a soft, wide point.

  The girls cooed and gushed over the small child as quiet as possible, everyone smiling at the interaction until Torvil noticed his mother’s face fall into a state of rest. What more, he saw the tell tale sign of her power as her eyes glossed over in an inky black filled with miniscule motes of light, as if her eyes contained entire starscapes.

  It was rare for her to receive powerful visions, often receiving brief simple ones throughout her day in random intervals however, the ridiculously rare trait within Myshkali decided to show her something vastly important.

  All was red in her minds eye, as rushing winds of energy burst from a center point like an all consuming storm. Everything the energy touched disintegrated, or whittled away as if being stripped layer by layer on a molecular level.

  The sound of the storm was that of a wail unlike anything she had ever heard before, making its presence know across the surface of a small, canyon etched world. However, it was not the wail of a storm as her vision pulled her deeper into the center of the storm. There was no eye of the storm, not in a typical fashion but a small space that hid underneath the bloom of destruction much like a bubble that covered two dark silhouettes within and the terrible scream that grew louder and clearer.

  All she could see next was the visage of a woman, shrouded in black as the crimson torrents swirled around her, the sound of pure anguish resonating around her as the image looked up. With picture clear clarity, all she could see was the tortured face of someone she had seen once before with streaks of red running down her face as one final cry of madness threatened to rupture Myshkali’s ear drums before the vision faded, leaving Myshkali trembling.

  Little Emery picked up on the uncomfortable feelings around her, the stark terror and worry emanating from the woman who held her as she began to stir, a small cry escaping the small child that snapped Myshkali’s attention back to reality.

  “Shhh, it’s okay sweet child,” Myshkali tried to coo as she bounced Emery gently in her lap in an attempted to settle her.

  Meanwhile, both Jen and Torvil were both up and alert as they watched Myshkali have her vision in abstract curiosity and worry, all the while paying grave attention to their upset daughter.

  “What is it, what did you see, Mother?” Torvil asked firmly yet quiet enough to further upset Emery.

  Myshkali ignored Torvil, gently clicking her tongue at Emery and ever so lightly brush her fingers across the thin bushel of light brown hair on top of Emery’s head. At the same time, she contemplated how to explain her vision, or whether she should since it involved someone near and dear to nearly everyone in the room.

  Myshkali eyed her two confused and mildly frightened daughters as they huddled close to Helen. “Helen, please take my daughters back to their rooms,” Myshkali demanded.

  Helen, hearing the gravity in her order, did as she was told and guided the two nervous Eskarii girls back through the door they came while Myshkali stood slowly with Emery in her arms before taking a step towards Jen.

  “Jen, I shall not continue to keep your little one to myself. I do appreciate you letting me see my granddaughter,” Myshkali stated softly, ever so subtly dismissing Jen.

  Jen however, being who she was, took her daughter in her arms and held her close, “Okay… no problem I mean… okay, what was that about?” she asked snidely. Unable to skirt around the intense atmosphere within the massive chamber.

  Myshkali looked at Jen sternly, “I must speak with my son.”

  Jen bounced Emery within her arms as she looked to Torvil who stood next to her stalwartly as he stared directly at his mother before Jen looked back to the queen, “You do know he is going to tell me later, right?”

  Myshkali nodded though it was a slow nod that neither admitted nor denied any sort of truth, “If that is his wish, but until then, this is not something I wish to share in the precious gift you carry.”

  Jen huffed indignantly but chose for once in her life not to argue, instead choosing to cradle her daughter in her arms and coo at her, “Come on sweetie, let’s get you back to sleep so momma can catch a nap.”

  Torvil watched his daughter and the mother of his daughter leave the room before his head snapped back to his mother who sank into her throne tiredly. “What is to happen, Mother?” he demanded firmly as if insulted by her actions.

  Myshkali paid no mind though as she ran her hand across her own cheeks, feeling wet tears that she seemed to have shed before looking up at Torvil, “You need to speak to Mo'Emori. I do not care what methods you need to employ but she must be contacted.” She watched as his eyes went wide before attempting to speak only for her to cut him off, “The Sybrydian, your siblings, even the humans; I do not care as long as you reach her before it is too late, if what I saw is to come to pass.”

  Torvil hated his mother’s gift, the power of clairvoyance fickle and misleading however, it was rare for his mother to have a vision that drained her by its precision. “What did you see?”

  Myshkali smiled in a mix of pride and annoyance of her inquisitive son; never one for intuition and gut feelings but rather, relying on cold, calculated evidence. She sighed in defeat as she looked across at the door to her left, the massive archway door that led deeper into the crystalline palace and towards the quarters in which the remainder of her family both new and old resided.

  “It involves the young woman I have tasked her to seek. I could hear so much pain, just as much as I could see it… a storm of red that consumed all around her except for her and one other and… I worry for your sister- my daughter… I fear something bad will happen soon…”