47. Aru

As Dagor attempted to release the manually operated locks on the first chamber, tension hung over them like a thick, soupy fog. The mechanism was stiff with age and disuse, the metal groaning in protest as Dagor strained to pull the lever.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, with a pneumatic hiss, the chamber lid cracked open, a wisp of frigid vapor curling out into the warm air of the chasm.

The long-limbed Kra-ell male seemed intact, but Aru knew there was no life in him even before Julian reached inside to examine the body. There was no heartbeat. Dagor took a picture, put the device on the male"s chest, and recorded the lack of heartbeat and breathing.

With a grim expression, Julian pressed his fingers to the neck of the still form, searching for a pulse.

Seconds ticked by until Julian looked up. "This one didn"t make it."

A collective sigh rippled through the group, even though Dagor and Negal must have known there was no life in the male. Still, hope was powerful, and they all wanted Julian to prove them wrong.

The pod systems had failed, which meant that it was unlikely for anyone to have survived. The Kra-ell did not have the ability to enter stasis unaided, and once the chambers stopped working, they had died. The only ones who had a chance were the royal twins, provided the rumors about them being half-gods were true.

They moved on to the next chamber and then the next, each revealing the same grim truth. The bodies within were perfectly preserved, the chemicals locked in the airtight stasis chambers halting decay.

It wasn"t until they reached the seventh chamber that they found something different. A collective gasp echoed through the chasm as Dagor released the seal, and the lid hissed open.

The figure inside was emaciated, the skin stretched taut over the bones like parchment, but that was a great sign. That"s what natural stasis looked like; this time, when Julian checked the vitals, he was sure to find them.

The heartbeat would be too slow and faint for even Aru"s enhanced hearing to catch, but Dagor"s and the doctor"s devices would detect it.

"Hold on." Aru stopped Dagor from putting his device on the emaciated chest. "Wait for two heartbeats. And record after the second one so it will look like there was none."

Dagor did not need explanations to understand the reason behind Aru"s request.

News of the half-gods" survival should never reach the Eternal King. The best thing they could do for Earth and its inhabitants was to send him proof of the twins" demise.

Aru"s main concern was the survival of the heir to the Anumati throne, but he also cared about the immortals who had become his friends and family, and even about the humans.

Not all of them, though.

Only those who had evolved from the state of barbarism and cherished life.

Leaning over the chamber, Dagor gently put his hand on the skeletal chest instead of using his device, and as he remained in the same position for well over a minute, Aru started to worry.

"I"ve got it," Dagor finally said after nearly ten minutes had elapsed. "It"s faint, but it"s there."

Julian was about to jump in, but Aru stopped him. "Wait. We need to record." He motioned for Dagor to use his device.

Now that they knew the intervals between heartbeats, it was easy to make a fake recording.

Aru waited patiently until Dagor put the device on the chest, then waited for several minutes, and then turned it off. "The pods must have been functioning at a minimal level," he said. "Just enough to allow some oxygen in. Otherwise, the vacuum would have prevented any nutrients from the surroundings being used by the body. Even his godly abilities wouldn"t have been enough to keep him alive."

Julian crouched next to the chamber and looked his patient over without touching him. "Did you pick up any energy readings from the pod?"

"Minimal," Aru said. "I only picked up on it down here. It was too weak to register on my scanner when I was standing over the chasm. That must have been the last thing to go."

Julian nodded. "If so, we made it just in time."

"That"s what Jasmine claimed." Negal crossed his arms over his chest. "She said that she had a feeling we were running out of time." He snorted. "I"m getting goosebumps thinking about the way she knew that. I"m not a fan of witchcraft."

"Intuition," Julian said. "That"s all it was."

They moved on to the next chamber, and as the lid opened, they were greeted by another emaciated form, this one unmistakably female.

It was confirmed when Dagor and Julian checked for pulse and heartbeat.

Against all odds, the twins had survived.

The rest of the chambers held only death. All eighteen Kra-ell were gone.

Julian straightened up and turned to Aru. "We need to close the stasis chambers, including the live ones. They"re too fragile to transport without its protection, and I don"t recommend reviving them here."

"Of course not," Aru agreed and motioned for Dagor to follow the doctor"s recommendation. "We"ll need to take them to the keep like this and revive them there. It"s the only safe place I can think of, and I hope Kian won"t object. The clinic in the keep is ideal for what they need."

"Don"t seal the twins" chambers," the doctor cautioned. "Just close them without locking them. Is that possible?"

Dagor nodded. "I get what you want to do. You want some air to get in."

Julian nodded.

While Dagor set about sealing the chambers, Aru sat down on one of the closed ones. "We will need a private plane to transport them. It"s not like we can show up with twenty stasis chambers in the airport, thrall everyone to ignore us, and load them into the cargo bay."

"You need to call Kian," Julian said. "Leave the logistics to him and Turner. Possibly, Kalugal can help as well. He has connections in China."