Chapter 23

Venus

The battle with the Zuras Queen lasted exactly four hours and twenty-four minutes. To me, it felt like forty years had been shaved off my life. When she whipped out her tail and started knocking the Prometheans around like ragdolls, I thought my heart would stop. On the surface, her tail knocking the ceiling of the cave made the ground look as if it was waving or bubbling. Greater cracks had zigzagged the valley and caused some terrain collapses.

More than once, I fought the urge to run down there and discharge my blaster on the Queen. But obviously, that would have been the dumbest thing possible. By the time it ended, I could have wept with relief. In fact, both Kyrene and I did, clinging to each other like two drowning women.

Getting the gigantic lumen cocoon containing the Queen out of the underground lair would have been an impossible task for most primitive species. But the Prometheans once again blew me away. With the Monochromatics being completely exhausted, and the Blacks' magic being too weak in comparison, the Whites took charge with Acamon in the lead.

Forming a circle on the surface, right above the location of the cocoon below, they shifted the ground with earth magic, creating a ramp next to her. Then, using a combination of air and kinetic magic, they gently pushed her up the slope until she rested horizontally in the valley. They roughly resealed the opening, as well as the other fissures on the surface to protect the small Zuras below and prevent anyone from tripping or getting hurt up top. Over the course of the following week, Brown and Blue Monochromatics—who were the most gifted when it came to gardening and landscaping related magic—would come to mend the valley, returning it to its former flawless glory.

While the warriors battled below—but only after they had regained control of the Queen—Kyrene and I extensively discussed what to do with her. Obviously, coming here this morning, we never expected things would turn out this way. The Queen was much too dangerous to bring to the city. There were too many questions and too few answers. Although my scans indicated that the lumen casing they built around her was effectively containing all the radiation emanating from her, we couldn't be certain how long it would last.

We also couldn't leave her below as she would kill the otherwise highly beneficial Zuras if the leak occurred in their lair. Therefore, we concluded that the best approach would be to leave her right here in the valley and to erect a temporary structure around her that could contain the radiation should the lumen casing falter. Once Xarin emerged from his cocoon, instead of a large, devastated area to handle, he would have her neatly packaged inside a safe container.

My heart constricted once again thinking of the Prism. Deep down, I couldn't help the feeling that I was somehow failing him for not figuring out a way to save him as well.

However, the Zuras helped distract me from these somber thoughts. Their peaceful behavior towards the Prometheans utterly baffled me. During the battle against the Queen, it had made sense as she represented the greater threat. But when it ended, they didn't turn on the intruders to cast them out, but instead turned their attention to repairing the extensive damage to their lair, as well as fixing the twisted crater of the Sibris.

As much as my inquisitive scientific mind burned with the desire to enter the cave to explore it in person, my phobia of insects totally forbade it. The only way anyone would get me in a confined space filled with millions of creepy crawlers was if they dragged my dead body inside.

Thankfully, my faithful probe allowed me to roam around every little corner alongside the Black Guards. During the battle, the Queen's tail shattered a large section of wall which revealed a secret room. To our shock, millions of alveoli filled with eggs covered the entire walls and ceiling. They were similar to the ones that had covered the Queen's back, but significantly smaller, and the fleshy substance keeping them in place looked visibly newer and healthy.

A series of tube-like ramps in the ground led to the lower level from whence the Queen had attempted to escape. We realized then why the egg holes on her back were so much older than her offspring population. Before she left her original nest—probably after mating—the males had likely placed the fertilized eggs on her. She reached her new home here in Keryth carrying the first members of her colony on her back. After they hatched, she burrowed deep to a birthing chamber, laying eggs that her hive moved to the hatchery. It would explain why the holes in her back didn't account for the massive population of the colony.

Judging by the scans my probe performed, only a fraction of the eggs were currently maturing. The others appeared to be in the form of stasis. We could only presume that the Zuras activated their maturation as needed to maintain a healthy population. This would explain why a Sibris without a Queen could continue to thrive for centuries.

A part of me envied Kyrene and the rest of the Promethean scientific community. Studying this fascinating species would revolutionize their world on a societal, political, and religious level. After much debate, a part of me decided I would conveniently ‘forget' one of my probes here to help Kyrene pursue her research with more ease.

Yes, it violated the Prime Directive. But at this point, I was well past merely toeing the line. It was for a good cause and wouldn't give them the type of unfair edge that this guideline sought to avoid.

Naturally, when Atlas finally emerged from the cave, I all but crushed him in my arms while wearing my protective suit. I hated not being able to touch his skin or kiss him, but the risk of radiation poisoning was too real.

Each member of the unit underwent some thorough decontamination, not that they truly needed it. Their natural resistance was mind boggling. But more importantly, they intervened early enough to nip it in the bud before it could reach dangerous levels.

However, this experience explained why none of the sacrificed people ever survived before. There was no question in my mind they all entered and joined forces to kill the dying Queen, causing her to spill the radioactive substance inside her even as she destroyed everything and everyone within. Extensive study would be needed to understand what caused the nuclear explosion during prior Thaudras. I suspected as the Queen further spiraled out of control, a glitch in her attempts at casting magic mixed to cause a chemical imbalance setting off the type of chain reaction needed to trigger a nuclear explosion. But this would be for people better versed in nuclear physics to sort out.

Between the footage captured by the Promethean media drones on the surface and by my probes' cameras underground, the population in every city bore witness to the heroism of those they had belittled for generations. Although they were hailed as heroes upon their return to town, it took an entire week before the reality that Thaudras had been averted finally sank in.

The top scientists around the planet flocked to Keryth Valley to run their own tests to confirm the magnetic and radiation levels in the region had fully returned to normal. On the seventh day, the halo of pure magic of Keryth Valley resumed shooting out of the repaired Sibris.

An hour later, Xarin's chrysalis hatched.

The pressure at the back of my head, which I hadn't felt in weeks, returned that morning, warning me of his imminent awakening. When I entered the boudoir, I observed eight luminous lines appear on top of the chrysalis, shaped like an eight-point star. After this long silence, Xarin sent me an image of Japhyr's Great Hall. In minutes, Atlas warned the Chancellor, and the Black Guard came to escort us through the streets of the Legislative District. Walking hand in hand, Atlas and I led the march to the Hall, Xarin's chrysalis behind us on his hover platform, with guards flanking us.

Despite the last-minute warning, the streets quickly filled with people eager to bear witness to his passage. Instead of simply standing there and observing, they followed in our wake, turning this into a procession with soft chants accompanying us. A fairly subdued Ajustus greeted us at the entrance of the Great Hall. He seemed to have aged ten years over the few weeks since his disastrous attempt at pushing through his Egress Law. His authority completely plummeted. While he retained the title of Chancellor, he no longer had the power that came with it. Everyone knew he wouldn't be reelected at the end of his current term.

We led the hover platform to the dais at the front of the Hall. The crowd rapidly congregated within. Unlike my first time here when I chose Atlas as my husband, an equal number of Achros, Monos, and Polys had been allowed inside. Their population still had a long way to go before each breed received full acceptance, but they were undeniably on the right path. The rest of the people gathered outside.

Like on the day of the Egress Law vote at the Senate, the Prometheans installed giant screens outside the Great Hall so all could bear witness to what would soon happen. As I didn't know when Xarin would make his appearance, I stood with Atlas near the chrysalis, the rest of the onlookers standing at least ten meters behind us with a wall of Black Guards in front of them.

The wait lasted barely thirty minutes.

The surface of the chrysalis began to glow in a rainbow of colors. Then the top slowly opened up like the petals of a blooming flower. A blinding light—similar to the pure magic beam of the Sibris—radiated from within the cocoon. I blinked repeatedly, my eyes watering. Through blurred vision, I watched in awe as the Prism lifted his torso into a sitting position, folded his knees against his chest, and then pushed up onto his feet. He turned to face us, his body looking like a luminous silhouette glowing from within.

He spread out his wings. They differed from the other Prometheans, their shape similar to those of the Luna moth with the longer strand at the tips of the lower wings. My chest constricted at this visual reminder that, like those moths, Xarin didn't have a digestive system. This magical moment of his birth also began the timer of his imminent death.

The blinding light surrounding him faded, as if absorbed within his body. Only then was I able to make out his features. When I first saw Acamon flying down into Keryth Valley, I remembered thinking he resembled an angel descending from above. Xarin Looked like an ancient god coming to pass judgment upon mortals.

His skin was translucent. A galaxy of opalescent colors appeared to be trapped beneath. His face was breathtaking, with slightly oversized eyes that glowed white and devoid of any irises or pupils. A very delicate bump indicated the location of his nose, as if it had stopped halfway through development—at least by human standards. Although on the thin side, his lips had a very sensual curve to them, and somewhat quirked into a mysterious smile. He didn't have any hair on his head. However, it was covered in the same scales smattering his forehead and the bridge of his nose, similar to those boasted by other Prometheans. And his antennae, a pristine silver white, were much longer than average, recurving slightly behind his head.

My eyes flicked to his broad and toned chest. He was muscular but with the slender body of a dancer. Instead of the fluffy fur his people possessed at that location, scales forming an intricate pattern adorned his pectorals and descended over his stomach where a human man might have a happy trail of hair. For the rest, the same type of scales covered the sides of his arms and legs. But his crotch was smooth and empty like a child's doll.

He slowly flapped his wings behind him, the motion almost hypnotic. I instinctively understood that he was drying them, although they barely looked humid. Without a word, he hopped down the hovering platform his chrysalis had been sitting on and gracefully landed on the elevated dais of the Great Hall.

Behind me, a soft humming sound rose from the crowd. I didn't need to look over my shoulder to know they were clapping their wings in a sign of deference. At the corner of my eyes, I saw a few Senators get down on their knees behind the Black Guards. By the look on the faces of the latter, they appeared to internally debate whether they should kneel as well. My brain was telling me I should, but I was too transfixed to move as the Prism slowly advanced towards me.

His graceful gait gave the impression he was gliding more than walking. When he was barely a meter from us, Atlas—who was standing on my left—made as if to kneel. Xarin flicked his right wrist, the silver halo around his palm vanishing half a second later. I felt the kinetic force which tapped against my husband, preventing him from kneeling.

The Prism didn't speak a word or even spare him a glance. Even without irises to clearly indicate what he was looking at, I knew beyond any doubt that he was staring at me. My breath caught in my throat when he stopped barely a foot in front of me. I tilted my head back to look at his face, although his glowing white eyes hypnotized me.

A shiver coursed through me, and my skin erupted in goosebumps when he cupped my cheeks with both hands. My skin tingled under his touch as if a weak electric current emanated from his palms. Simultaneously, a strange warmth radiated from them, spreading through every cell of my body. Xarin leaned forward. For an insane second, I thought he was going to kiss me, but his face stopped barely inches from mine as he studied my features.

I remained there paralyzed, and time appeared to freeze.

"My beautiful Prima," Xarin said at last.

A violent shiver coursed through me at the sound of his voice. It was breathy and androgynous, but also sounded as if dual voices overlapped.

"For centuries, I longed for the one who would finally help my people open their eyes to what always lay before them. For generations, I searched for you. The moment I touched your soul on that star vessel, I knew I found the one."

"Did you know?" I breathed out, my voice barely audible to my own ears.

I couldn't believe those were the first words I'd spoken to him. Since my arrival on Sylvar, I speculated about the thousand different things I wanted to ask him once I finally got to meet him face to face. And yet, my stupid mind went directly to the one question that plagued me since this entire adventure began. Did he know that a sick and dying queen was the cause? And if so, why not simply communicate it to his Primus or Prima? Was it one of those weird trials heroes had to go through in order to earn the right to live or the great prize they were chasing after?

He smiled, and his eyes glowed.

"No, my Venus. I didn't know what the solution was, only that you would help bring it to light. You had the right mindset to understand the messages I sent you and the proper tools to take them to the next level. Thank you for saving my people, for exceeding all the expectations I had set on you, and for being the greatest blessing I could have ever given this generation and the future ones to come."

"I only helped to the extent I could," I said in a voice filled with emotion. "Your people saved themselves with your help and mine. I just wish I could help save you, too."

He chuckled, his face taking on an air of incredulous amusement. He gently caressed my right cheek and the side of my hair.

"My Prima, I do not need to be saved," Xarin said as if it was self-evident. "I am here to serve a specific purpose. Thanks to all of you, my work is already half done. For the first time in centuries, instead of leaving with the feeling I barely did enough for this world, I will leave peaceful and excited at the prospect of returning. I cannot wait to see how my people will have achieved greater harmony when next I return. Do not be sad, my Venus. I am happy."

Something settled in my chest as I heard the sincerity in his voice. I didn't quite understand what he was or how any of this worked. For humans, as with many advanced species, religion had taken a significant back seat. While I personally didn't follow any organized religion, I believed in the existence of a greater power above and of people's immortal souls. I had traveled enough strange worlds to acknowledge that certain things couldn't be explained other than by faith.

In this instant, I believed with bone deep conviction that the being standing before me was of the divine.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my forehead with a tenderness that brought tears to my eyes. A moment later, his wings wrapped around me, filling me with the same electric warmth that his palms sent through my cheeks. My entire body tingled. The electric sparks seeped into my flesh, into my bones, and coursed through my veins. My knees wobbled, and a thousand icy needles pricked my spine from my lower back all the way to my nape and into my skull. I gasped, the odd sensation neither painful nor pleasurable.

It only lasted seconds before the Prism released me. I stared at him in shock while he smiled at me with a mysterious expression. At a visceral level, I knew he had done something to me, but I had no idea what. Before I could question him about it, he turned to look at Atlas, who was staring at him with a mesmerized expression.

"Atlas, my Blessed, my Shaydwin," Xarin said with a voice filled with so much affection it turned me upside down.

Judging by the expression on my husband's face, he was even more deeply affected to be thus acknowledged by a being his people deemed a god.

"Thank you for taking on the heavy burden I laid on your shoulders and leading the charge in our time of need. The purity of your soul called to me as strongly as your mate's. Your strength, honor, determination, and selflessness made you the perfect champion to lead our people out of the darkness they were losing themselves in and back into the light," Xarin said in a gentle voice filled with gratitude.

Like he had done with me, he cupped Atlas's face between his hands. I thought my man was going to cry so powerful was the emotion on his face. It wouldn't have been tears of sorrow, but of a joy too much to bear.

"You have honored and blessed me beyond anything I should have even been entitled to," Atlas said in a shaky voice. "You have made my life more meaningful than I ever could have dreamt of. You have given hope to people who had none left."

"No, my Atlas. You did that. While your peers may not have recognized your worth, I did, as did my Prima. We all have a role to play during our journey in the mortal realm. You have gone above and beyond. And for this, I thank you."

Once again, as he did with me, Xarin pressed his lips to Atlas's forehead before drawing him into his embrace and closing his wings around him. I stared in awe as his eyespots glowed with rainbow colors, electric tendrils appearing to crawl all over their diaphanous surface. He released him less than ten seconds later.

A general gasp escaped everyone upon seeing Atlas's wings. Even from where I stood, and despite them being folded like a cape behind him, it was plain to see that the white rims around his previously silver eyespots had expanded to engulf their entirety. Atlas would now be able to cast powerful magic of every color.

"Impossible!" Ajustus whispered in angry disbelief. "There can only be one blessing!"

By all accounts, the Prism could only grant a blessing once, which he had done on the day of our wedding. But was this truly a second blessing or merely the second-half of an initial partial blessing? Whatever the case, a single hard glare from Xarin to Ajustus sufficed to silence him and have him bow his head in shame.

Dismissing the disgraced Chancellor, Xarin returned his attention to Atlas. To my surprise, he took my left hand and placed Atlas's right one on top of mine.

"I entrust my Prima to you, Shaydwin. Take good care of her for me. Honor, protect, and love her," Xarin said before turning to me. "I give you my Blessed, Venus. Cherish, guide, and love him. Together, you will bring hope, peace, and relief to many other worlds as you have done for us. Remember us fondly during your journey."

I looked at Atlas. Our gazes locked, and something magical that transcended anything I ever felt before passed between us. I drowned in the dark depths of his eyes and barely realized he was drawing me into his embrace. As he leaned down to kiss me, I vaguely perceived Xarin moving away from us and heading towards Acamon and Kyrene.

But the world around us ceased to exist. All that mattered, all I could see, was the man I loved.