Drelix

"Have you started a war?" Daeos asks me.

Of course Draco would have sent me the scarlet one, his sense of humor being what it is. At least the General is with him.

"The Sisters of the All Gods are not what they seem."

"I've never felt a need to come on pilgrimage to Orias, Haisarkarnii," Draxx intones. "So, you may need to explain some more."

"Haisarkarnii? You know?" I splutter out, looking at Crystal in my arms, who shakes her head in confusion.

Draxx laughs. "Why wouldn't we know, Drelix? It has been my honor to have served alongside a Haisarkarnii, even if he did take a vow of silence for what has been too long." He stares at me. "I missed your voice, brother."

"I have no need for it now, not when we are so close to discovering who sent the Liderc to destroy our planet and our species," I reply.

"This is a war worth winning." Draxx shoulders his pulsar cannon and squares his shoulders. "What is our next move, warrior?"

I feel a strange frisson of pride my general is interested in my plans, especially as I have my Crystal by my side.

"I made it look as if I was injured to draw away the fire from the automated system. The Sisters will, presumably, be looking for me…for us," I explain. "They want Sarkarnii as we are rare and that increases our value to their buyers. As such they've acquired collars and did have a supposed containment unit for us," I say through gritted teeth. "It means bringing the Golden Orion here might have been a mistake."

"No mistake," Daeos growls. "I am not being collared again. If they wanted a war, they have one."

Draxx looks similarly grim at the mention of collars. After all, they nearly drove him mad.

"The Golden Orion is well out of reach."

"Good, the last thing I want is to risk your mates, or my own." I clutch Crystal to me. "Where is the rest of the crew?"

"In the hills. We are the advance party, looking for you. We didn't get the best reception when we attempted to approach this planet."

"The Sisters?"

"The Habosu. It seemed they thought we had come to surrender. Draco soon disabused them of that notion." Draxx laughs without much humor. "Draco was…worried about you when you refused to return to the ship."

I suspect worried isn't exactly how Draco expressed himself, but I can deal with my leader in due course.

"Where is the Golden Orion?" I query.

"In orbit." Daeos is holding out his hand for the star cat to lick. "We have some new weapons your friend supplied. They're very good," he adds, with his usual excitement when it comes to things which cause destruction.

"I don't like this, not one bit." Crystal shivers. "There's got to be a reason why everything is converging on this one place." She wraps her arms around herself tightly. "The Sisters…what were they supposed to do for me?"

"They administered anti-venom, for the zigurex poison."

"Did you see them do it?"

I rub at the back of my neck, the memory of Crystal, so pale, so still, as I laid her on the bed, is stark in my memory. As is my plea to the Sisters to save her before being ushered out of the room.

"No."

"I don't remember much, but I do remember they hurt me after I woke up," Crystal says, carefully.

"They refused to allow me to administer my venom," I growl.

"You have venom?" Daeos says in wonder.

He's on the floor with the star cat licking over his shoulders. Presumably because he's covered in something unpleasant as usual.

"All Haisarkarnii have venom," Draxx says quickly. "But I am concerned on a planet known for healing, you were not being healed."

"The elder priest"—I rub my hand over my chin—"he said not to trust the Sisters."

"The old Oykig?" Crystal asks. "I've met him too. He told me you would win your battle with my help, just before I met Daeos and Draxx."

"We were observing you, little human," Draxx says. "There was no Oykig in your vicinity."

She looks up at me, her hand on my chest. "What does it mean?"

"It means Orias is on our side," I reply. "But we need to get back to the shrine as a matter of urgency."

"Why?" Crystal asks. "I really don't think we want to go back into the heart of everything."

"On the contrary." Draxx is smiling broadly. "That's where the battle is."

Crystal looks between me, Draxx and Daeos, shaking her head.

"This is what I get for falling in love with a Sarkarnii," she says, her face bright. "Just as long as you do not go dying on me, Drelix." She pokes me hard in the chest, and both Draxx and Daeos wince. "Or you'll find you're not the only one who bites."

"Humans are bitey," Draxx says in a loud whisper to Daeos. "Even if they don't have any venom."

Crystal bursts out laughing, and in the midst of everything, I discover it's the very sound I want, that I need to hear. She is perfection.

And she is mine.

"We need to move," I growl at my fellow warriors.

"You can take your mate to where the rest of the crew waits, send a message back to Draco," Draxx says.

"What the fuck? No, I'm staying right here." Crystal grabs a pulsar pistol from Daeos before he can do anything.

He proceeds to look innocent and hurt at the same time. "I didn't touch your mate, Drelix. She touched me," he finally splutters out.

"Heartsfire." I take hold of Crystal's shoulders. There's water in her eyes. "I can't fight if I don't know you're safe."

"I've looked after myself all this time," she sobs. "I can look after you too."

I glare over her head at Draxx and Daeos. The general takes hold of Daeos' shoulder and tows him away.

"I want you to look after me, and I'll look after you, while you grow plump and delicious with my sarkarnling. But if I have to worry for you, then I cannot fight."

Crystal scrubs at her face as the water runs down it.

"I understand…I know you can look after yourself, little morsel, and this is not about what you can do or you can't do. It's about my heart not being split in two. Please let Daeos take you back to Draco and the others, out of the way of the fighting. I can finish this, and we can be together."