Drelix

Daeos positively beams at his mission to take Crystal back to where the rest of the Sarkarnii are waiting.

"Three flames and send them in," he is repeatedly told.

Fortunately, Crystal is also listening, and she nods before wrapping her arms around my waist and holding me, fingers tracing over my scales.

I press a kiss to her lips and release her into Daeos' somewhat dubious care. At least she has the star cat, which is currently attempting to catch Daeos' tail, much to his concern.

"General." I incline my head.

"Lead the way, warrior." He hands me a pulsar cannon, and with a final look at Crystal, I steel my resolve and move off towards the distant spire of the shrine.

"You have found yourself a good mate, Drelix," Draxx says as he falls into pace next to me. "She is brave and strong, just like you."

"She found me, General," I say, my heart swelling in my chest. "And I am the luckiest Sarkarnii alive."

"Provided we survive this, I believe fate has smiled on us all. Unless we fail and your mate follows us to the ancestors to bite us." He gives me one of his legendary smiles.

And I know I will make it out alive, for her.

The spire grows ever closer, and I'm struck how the entire place has the veneer of familiarity to me, only it is no longer the same. I growl under my breath at how something so important to me has ended up being defiled by whatever the supposed Sisters are and what they want.

Within the shrine, there is a long, low ringing boom. Draxx frowns. "What is that?"

The sound wave hits us, and I drop to my knees, clutching my head. "Sound weapon."

"Must be the three head thing." Draxx stares at me for a beat. "Wait here."

He shifts into his dragon form and takes to the air. It's all I can do to follow his progress up as the noise continues, burning through my flight lungs and into my brain. It feels like my shift wants to take place and doesn't at the same time. Fortunately, the noise ceases abruptly, and I waste no time shifting into my Sarkarnii form and taking to the air to assist Draxx.

The massive green general is half in and half out of the shrine, still shifted as pulsar fire glows within. Draxx has a hide tougher than the toughest tilon. I've seen him travel from a planet to a moon before without any ill effects, so I am sure a little pulsar fire will not do much to him.

Nevertheless, I release a sheet of flame as I dive into the shrine, expecting carnage, given the general went in first.

Instead, he's stood with his arms folded, staring at one of the Sisters, whose habit is smoking slightly. The rest of the holy place is entirely empty.

"What in the name of the ancestors is this?" Draxx snaps.

The Sister, in the form which Crystal called a zom-bee, glares back and pats out a flame on her clothing.

"This is a Sister of the All Gods." I reply.

"This is an Alajaz," Draxx growls. "A species I thought died out eons ago."

The Alajaz chokes out something akin to a laugh. "You were wrong, Sarkarnii. It is you who are a threatened species, not us."

"Alajaz?" The name is dredging up ancient memories. "The annihilators?"

"The same." She snorts. "The only and the greatest of all species in the galaxy…in the universe," she says triumphantly, despite the fact she's smoking gently.

"Not quite," Draxx replies quietly. "Not after there was an alliance to destroy you all." His voice is filled with menace. "You should all be gone. Not here, on a planet where so many come to pilgrimage."

"This has been the perfect hiding place for us to continue our work," she says.

"What work?" I ask.

"Shaping the galaxy. Creating demands. Making rarities."

"You said that before, about the Sarkarnii being rare. What did you mean?" I fire out an arm and grab hold of the thing I thought was helping me and now I'm absolutely sure is not.

"I mean, if you've been looking for who destroyed your planet, you need look no further, Haisarkarnii."