Thalyn woke with a jolt, breath catching in her throat. The chamber lay around her, quiet as a grave, the low hum of the ancient machines like whispers.
She closed her eyes, but the images clawed back, smoke on her tongue, the sharp scream of metal, the cold bite of betrayal, the fire searing through her legs.
Nira's face furious in the dark, her voice cutting through the chaos, dragging Thalyn from the wreckage as the world spun in agony. The dream faded, but the pain in her heart and legs remained.
She sat up, breath ragged, ran a trembling hand over her face. The others lay in sleep, shadows against the vastness of the old stone.
Jaxon sat like a sentinel, eyes like cold steel, one hand resting easy on the grip of his blade, the other working slow circles on the metal of his cybernetic arm.
Thalyn rose, pacing the cold floor. Her fingers drifted across the ancient consoles, as if she might wake something long dead. She felt Jaxon watching her.
“What’s eatin’ at you, Thalyn?” His voice was rough, a low rumble, but there was softness beneath, a fracture in the stone.
She turned, met his gaze. "Nira," she said. "We left her down there. Under the rubble. I need to find her. I want to bury her."
Jaxon’s brow furrowed, his gaze narrowing. “And if you can’t?”
“I have to try. I’ll be careful,” she said, steady now.
He nodded slowly, eyes studying her. “I don’t like it,” he said. “But I get it.”
She geared up. Each motion sure, efficient. She pulled the breather mask tight, felt the cool touch against her skin, the filters purring in her ears.
At the reinforced door, her hand met cold metal. It hissed open, groaning loud in the stillness.
In the passage, the air was cleaner than expected, almost fresh, but she kept the mask on. It was dark, walls lined with glass panels etched in alien glyphs that seemed to writhe and shift when she wasn't looking.
Beyond, the Nether stretched out like a dark ocean, eerie in twilight. Shadows moved. Trees twisted upward like claws. Their roots tangled in the dreadful fog.
At the end of the passage, she found a hall. The air here was thick with a strange energy that prickled her skin. She tried the doors, one after another. All refused her except the last. It opened to a small, dark chamber, cold light leaking from the walls.
She entered, eyes adjusting to the gloom. At its center stood a throne, smaller than the other, wrapped in cables like roots. A crown rested before it.
Two droids stood in shadow. They looked like the sentinel watching them before. She watched them. They did not move.
With careful steps, she approached the throne. As her hand reached toward the crown, one droid stepped forward.
“At your command, mistress.”
She flinched, a jolt in her chest. “Why aren’t you hostile?” she asked, voice sharp. “The guardian attacked us.”
The droid tilted its head. “Apologies, mistress. The… guardian did not recognize you among the others.”
“Why am I different?”
“You bear the mark.”
“What mark?”
“The mark we must obey.” It offered nothing more.
She looked toward the door to where they had fought the guardian. “Can I access that chamber?”
“It is sealed, mistress. Inaccessible.”
She turned back to the throne. Her hand hovered over the crown.
The droid raised a hand. “It would be wise to return to central command and complete the sequence, before attempting this station.”
She nodded, backed away, and left the chamber.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Xhtqq412U
The others stirred as she returned. Their eyes tracked her.
“What did you find?” Jaxon asked.
She told them about the droid, the mark, the sealed chamber.
She saw the flicker in Korr’s expression, the way his fingers twitched, already turning over the pieces.
“Why you?” Elara asked, violet eyes searching Thalyn’s face. “Why are you chosen?”
Thalyn shrugged. The question hung in the air like smoke.
She approached the throne, felt its cold embrace as she sat, her fingers brushing the crown. She set it on her head, and the chamber began to fade.
A whisper teased the edge of her mind: “Want your old legs back? Properly augmented?”
And then she was gone, slipping into another life, the cold of the cell walls creeping into her bones.
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