The story so far:

---- Aija and the others are on the South-Land. They are waiting for the Leadership to attack. Goldstar is alive. They lost the Premiere, Leigh, Tailyn, Arah Lin. Ze is getting better in his training. The war comes to an end when Iernei spaceships arrive. Aija finds her brother Rei and Vincent alive. Aija and Thieron tell Goldstar all that has happened with them. Aija and Thieorn want to go to Ierne to give Aa'di Irih'va the Avo. Luka didn't expect to survive this long. He now feels at home with Thieron and Nala. Zuri goes home. She asks her parents to go to the South-land with her. They refuse. Xan accepts Var-Inu's offer to get an Iernei body. Xan is now Iernei. Thieron talks to Aija; she says she's confused and needs time. They all go to Ierne. Zuri roams the Palace. She meets Ze, who tells her he doesn't like Nala and makes Zuri doubt her relationship with Nala. Aija asks Irih'va to remove her bond with Thieron. He agrees and accomplishes it. Goldstar gives Premier Zhaleh a plan to use against the Leadership. Thieron wakes after the bond is removed. He misses Aija. Aa'di Irih'va asks him to go home and then to join the Ithi'hra to work with him.

----Nala and Ze have a fight session. Ze wins. Thieron convinces Nala to go home. Xan struggles with Ishth'nor's memories. Xan learns from Aija what really happened to him; he feels hurt. He wants to warn his family about the experiments to save his siblings. Goldstar finds out Vincent is Ytean-human. And that he was responsible for his reputation. He is upset. He chooses to leave behind 'Goldstar' and be Rei. It is Ze's wedding day. He's happy. Diya and Nova are present. Ruyanir's and Ze's wedding takes place. Ze challenges Na'thwir for the position of Zayr chief. Thieron goes to Zya'ara with everyone. Meets his family after years. The Company is on their way to attack again.

----Aija and Thieron fight with the Zya'araeans against the Wy'sith. Aija gets dragged away from Thieron.

✽✽✽

****21.2 NALA****

Nala decided she hated wars.

If she ever outlived this one and ever again came upon another in her lifetime, she'd walk away.

Nala shielded Eiva and Afè the best she could because she'd understood earlier that she couldn't shield their entire army. Luka had found them and now graced her shield with his fire, helping her hold the ill-formed shield.

"Zuri," Nala whispered into the war-enveloped night.

Nala feared for Zuri. She hadn't seen her since the start of the war. Nala needed Zuri to be okay specifically since their powers didn't seem to work appropriately. Nala didn't know what hindered them, but with their powers so lacking, their survival chances had plummeted into near-nothingness.

Nala grew fatigued, and the shield evanesced. Though faint, Luka's fire still held. Eiva and Afè tackled two eg'dn bound soldiers. The eg'dn, taller and sleeker than the pliy'uku, charged at the women. Two Urèans, recognisable in their dark-pink gear, came to their aid.

Nala tried to ignore the Urèans, but she'd be lying if she thought she didn't care who they were. She'd been on the lookout for familiar faces since the morning. She'd not found Ua'ri, her parents, or friends. But they would've grown older as she had and may look different than hundreds of years before. Hopefully, her memories of them weren't tainted by time. But she'd recognised one Urèan. Z'our. He appeared much the same but older, stronger. Nala had done everything possible not to get caught in his line of sight, hating that, of all people she saw from Urè, after all this time, wasn't family, but the one who'd ruined her life.

Nala panted, watching Eiva, Afè, and Dhr'aar fend off the Utzrn. One of them fired at Afè; Nala blasted her shield, swerving the beams.

The Ytai were only half-Ytai. They were half-human. Nala had seen their heterochromatic-eyes even through their odd face-shields. How had the Utzrn found that many half-Ytai to fight for them? How had no one noticed such a massive army? Nala knew this attack would raise tension between Utzrn and Ytèan. Utzrn wasn't part of the Ithi'hra. An attack on any Ithi'hra member-planet was an attack on every Ithi'hra member-planet. This would get messy.

"I can't," Luka huffed; his fire fell.

The darkness that had stayed at the edges leapt in with a vengeance. It twirled around their legs, up to their knees. Nala and Luka tried to slash it with their knives, but the shadows held. Luka brought his fire back and hit the shadows. The darkness budged, and before it could reform, Nala shielded them again. But the two of them struggled to hold up the shield.

"We can't keep this up for long," Nala told Eiva, who came to them.

Eiva observed the feeble shield masking them from the shadows, expression grim. Blood streaked her face and gear.

"We aren't even halfway through. I know the ji'var are coming." Eiva said, her voice barely a whisper over the havoc.

The ji'var; Nala had seen them, too, and wondered how in the world, the Utzrn managed to control those monsters.

"Let it go," Afè waved her hand at the shield. "Use them only when needed."

Nala turned to Luka; he appeared as uncertain as she felt. But Afè had a point. Luka let his fire dissipate first. He huffed, exhausted. The moment Nala let her shield fall, they were battered by rain and shadows. And something sharp.

Tiny bits of metal, sharp enough to tear through skin, rained on them. Nala held her hands up to protect her eyes, lifting her gaze to the sky. The Utzrn fly-pods were still, the metal not raining down from them. Surprisingly, the fly-pods did nothing at all after the initial drop of shimmery-dust that still adhered to her skin and clothes with an aggressive will. Nala didn't know what to make of the inactive fly-pods, fearing the moment they did join the fight.

Nala heard Dhr'aar growl as the metal struck him. Nala tried to bring the shield and failed. Too tired and spent, she fell to her knees. "Sorry," she said. "I can't."

"It's okay, vā rye'la," Afè consoled, holding her laser-shield above them.

Eiva held her laser-shield over herself and Luka. The metal grazed skin and cut through clothes.

"The metal isn't raining," Eiva observed.

Nala squinted through the dark to see that Eiva was correct. The metal pieces moved with purpose, just like the shadows, which without her shield and Luka's fire, bravely approached them, trying to eat them whole. With the darkness pulling them into itself and the metal-sharps cutting their skin, Nala had nothing but a single name on her lips. "Zuri," she whispered.

Luka grazed her hand with his. "You'll see her. We have to make it."

Nala bit her lower lip to stop the tears from flowing.

One second the darkness rose to consume them. Then it was blasted off them. A glistening shield encompassed her, Luka, Eiva, Afè, and Dhr'aar.

Nala lifted her head to see Zuri straining to shield them.

"Zuri," Nala whispered.  

✽✽✽