"Five cycles of their pestilence!" Oru punched her fist into the table, cracking the black glass-top panel.

"We've made significant progress in purging Graven contamination on numerous planets in nearby star systems," Lor's eight-foot-tall holographic image stood proudly opposite the Supreme Elder as I entered Oru's office.

I knew the Forged warrior was predominantly navy blue with vibrant azalea pink highlights, but in the soft glow of the blue monotone virtual figure, I only perceived her slender pointed horns atop a sleek muscular figure armored in a lustrous metal two-piece.

"But not from anyone living," Oru seethed under her breath. Her sleek blue and orange striped body was adored in pragmatic silver armor and a long red loincloth.

"No, Elder," Lor, Oru's Third, dipped her head. "That technology is still beyond us."

Oru nodded for me to enter while she completed her debriefing. Her black barbed mohawk was spiked up in an irritable state.

I arrived dressed in full red and black armor, befitting a private audience with Jahaa's Supreme Leader.

"Know that my upset is catalyzed solely by the tenacity of the Graven," Oru exhaled her agitation. "The strides your team has achieved on Darbek Monastery are exemplary. Jahaa sees you. Your efforts bring us all great honor."

"My honor for Jahaa," Lor intoned respectfully.

"And what of the catacombs?" Oru redirected the conversation.

Ah, this explains why Oru scheduled me to arrive during her holo-com with Lor.

Oru's Third had worked tirelessly to thwart the expansion of Graven corruption into Nexus territory.

First, as the Alpha to an anti-Graven taskforce and then shortly after Menthla joined the Nexus, Lor expanded the operation into an inter-clan anti-Graven agency designated as the Entente.

They never found the ruins of Thorngate, only fragments of ruins on a barren world and a faint trail through more than a dozen star systems that eventually led to the rogue planet containing the remnants of a long-dead society.

Darbek Monastery was the epicenter of the planet's demise and the current focus of Lor's excavation team.

Occasionally, her team would send me ancient carvings and manuscripts to translate. My most recent assignment was a series of murals documented in the monastery's catacombs.

"Thanks to Mourning Crow's timely turnaround on translations, we've determined this site to be a significant vector in Graven activity." Lor turned to face me directly. "However, we've encountered countless setbacks."

"Dormant minions," I inserted.

"Yes," Lor concurred. "Unearthing and liquidating Graven relics always involves a certain level of retaliation. We've come to learn there's nothing the Graven loath more than the destruction of their holy records."

"It's their failsafe," I folded my arms. "They worm their way into an otherwise bland religion then contaminate the scriptures with instructions on how to revive their dead and dupe the clergy into imprinting a permanent Graven presence on the planet. Either opening a gateway providing easy access to a food source or spreading an invisible net to snatch up and steal an entire city."

"And should unsuspecting colonists move in centuries later, believing they've discovered the means to eternal salvation, the entire parasitic cycle begins anew," Lor added.

"Or," Oru interjected. "If the new arrivals mean to destroy the site, like we are, an army of hidden sentinels awakens in a frenzy."

"I thought the Entente's security forces were trained and armed to repel minion attacks," I flexed my ears quizzically.

"They are," Lor twitched her forward-hanging long quills. "And we've made considerable strides in anti-Graven weaponry along with our orbital planetary barriers deflecting the Graven and their underlings from accessing Nexus homeworlds."

Lor brought up a three-dimensional overview of the monastery.

"We still lack the capability to kill a full Graven beyond hand-to-hand combat," the Forged warrior clarified. "But the discoveries we've made at Darbek Monastery suggest a breakthrough is close at hand. We've never experienced such a volatile reaction while exhuming a Graven holy site. Security is able to contain the attacks, but they struggle to drive the sentinels back to a perimeter that doesn't impede our work."

"Lor's team has been fortunate in avoiding direct orbital attacks," Oru explained. "But if this site is the critical juncture all the data suggests it is, that window may be closing."

"I take it you have a plan for sending the sentinels packing," I turned to Oru.

"The only way to change the course of this war is to take the offensive," Oru stared at me, unblinking. "All victories are trivial until we locate the Blessed Garden."

"I've assembled the finest minds from Menthla and all corners of the Nexus," Lor's holo image stepped toward me. "We are the tip of the spear and must strike hard and fast before our enemy has time to wipe away the trail. But as we stand, that cannot happen. Our security is competent, but none of them have ever slain a Graven. I believe, and the evidence corroborates that Darbek Monastery may be the key, we will soon pierce the veil shielding the Blessed Garden from our detection. I..."

"We have concerns about the battle ahead," Oru picked up where Lor yielded to her Elder. "I've dispatched additional reinforcements, but it's no substitute for an experienced leader... an Elder."

Oru locked her fiery gaze solely on me. "Someone to guide and harness them effectively."

What??

"I've never held command," I threw my palms up, grinning nervously. "I'm not even ranked as a Forged."

"The right can be taken," Oru held her ground. "You are of age and your prowess in battle is beyond reproach."

Oru confronted me, her eyes searing into mine like white-hot lances.

"Take your place among the revered matriarchs."

My stomach twisted into a caustic knot while Eh'kt's words rippled through my mind.

Be alive or hunt the Graven... the two cannot coexist...

I've always been ready to fight the Graven but my mates showed me another path.

"Thank you, Lor," Oru glanced back at her Third.

"Honor to Jahaa, Elder," then Lor's hologram blinked off.

"I have refrained from making this request while your offspring were still sucklings but that is not the case anymore."

I nodded in gratitude for her sensitivity to the newest members of my family.

"You have much to discuss with your lifemates before you respond," Oru backed away. "But remember, the patience of your clan and its Supreme Elder have their limits."

"Of course," I dipped my head then lingered where I stood.

I'd made significant progress these last five cycles, hunting on Tecu with Shale's friend, Xilee, of Clan Asepa and being open with my mates when the nightmares come. Still, I couldn't deny the trepidation of returning to the battlefield and risking disappointing my mates.

Oru's orange eyes flickered at me. "Is there something else you wish to present?"

"I have a question of a personal nature," I forced the words from my lips. "It has to do with your relationship with E'pire."

Oru narrowed her eyes, but waved for me to take a seat.

"When you and she first became mates, after she transitioned to Clan Jahaa," I tried my best to appear comfortable in the cold metal chair. "What were your interactions like with E'pire's bearer?"

Oru displayed no outward signs of ire while sitting down in the large curved office chair behind her desk.

"Nonexistent for many cycles," Oru responded impassively. "Until the birth of our first pup. Then Hemall, E'pire's bearer, came out of the woodwork, buzzing our ears like a ravenous mosquito."

"Perhaps it's a lesser documented instinct," I chuckled.

Oru's eyebrow sharpened to a peak.

"Peleon has been messaging me this last cycle."

"Ah," Oru raised her chin attentively. "Shale mentioned your offspring were emerging into their bloodlust this cycle and training was scheduled to begin. A momentous time in a young Zhaguai's life. Nothing compares to the first cycle of forging a Zhaguai's raw urge to kill into a disciplined warrior's instinct."

"Yes," I smiled. "Shale and Eh'kt started working with them this morning."

"And now Peleon wishes to participate?" Oru curled her fingers under her chin.

I nodded.

"I am aware of the schism and the source that exists between Shale and his bearer," Oru added.

"Initially, it began with harmless inquiries about the boy's health. I didn't respond right away, but gave in when she included an age-appropriate diagram instructing the boys how to clean between their quills. Shale and Eh'kt are attentive, but none of us have any experience communicating with children."

"Peleon has borne many honorable offspring," Oru relaxed in her chair. "Hemall provided E'pire and I with many helpful tactics."

"She checks in every few weeks," I explained. "I keep my responses brief. Mostly, I only copy her on the data accumulated during the boy's monthly health checkups."

"And you haven't told your mates."

I shook my head. "I debated weighing the situation with Eh'kt, but that felt like it would be the two of us keeping a secret behind Shale's back.

"Better to bear the burden alone," Oru smirked at me with an accusative tone.

Sometimes, Oru's keen observation skills were downright annoying.

"Eh'kt has no parents and I only just recently met my own extended family," I pushed my ears straight up so as not to reveal any hint of an ulterior objective. "Shale checks in with Peleon at regularly scheduled intervals like he's performing maintenance on his interceptor. The boys are aware of the shift in his temperament after he speaks with her."

"Avoidance is a poor solution," Oru relinquished no hint of what she was thinking.

Too true... Elder...

"I'm not troubled by Shale's inevitable upset by this news. I know how to handle him when he's angry," I twisted in the cold gigantic chair. "It's what his response will be when I tell him she wants to meet the boys."

"According to Nexus law," Oru kept her cool. "As the female bearer, you have the sole right to involve or deny anyone from your offspring's lives."

"Sounds so simple in theory," I rolled my ears with a snicker.

"What prevents you from severing the connection?" Oru inquired. "Shale still communicates with his bearer, but I expect she would understand his decision to deny access."

"My father," my gaze wandered off as my ears drifted down. "Life with him was far from perfect and I never experienced anything like what happened with Shale and his brother, but the thought of cutting ties with Peleon feels like a betrayal to Crazy Wolf and Raven Tide."

"I experienced a similar predicament with Hemall," the Supreme Elder let down a small fragment of her guard. "I was wary of exposing my offspring to her prayers and rituals, but E'pire was confident that her bearer would respect our traditions. Which it turned out she did."

"My sons will only know my father through his music, my stories, and that creepy museum." I shook out my ears with a shudder. "But Peleon is alive. Good or bad, she's family. I completely understand Shale's apprehension, and it's not like I'm agreeing to leave her alone with them unsupervised."

"I cannot speak for Peleon, but I can appreciate the desire to face one's failings," Oru let out a long sigh. "As a warrior, it is essential to learn from our mistakes and seize the moment when it is time to cleave away one's fears."

"Even a warrior cocooned in warfare?"

Oru shot up from her seat, her eyes wild with outrage and a well-traveled sawtooth karambit knife in her hand. "Tread carefully, sister!"

"No," I remained seated. "It's good to see that old thing hasn't rusted."

Oru leapt onto her desk, "Is this a challenge?!"

"Yes," I relaxed in my seat. "But not to the death."

"And here I thought cowardice was the obstacle holding you back from the front lines," Oru chittered with her long black claw strained and ready to strike.

"Ha! Nah," I let out a long, hearty laugh. "I only hold back cause my mates know I have trouble stopping once I get started. You, however..."

Oru growled with her brilliant orange eyes assessing my every minor muscle twitch.

"I and many others are curious to know exactly why your Dreads have been soo short these last few cycles."

"We are at war!" Oru roared.

I patted my mouth with an exaggerated yawn.

"Stand up and face me!" Oru jumped off the table and lunged her face at me.

"It's a good thing E'pire is dead," was the last thing I said before Oru tried to chop off my head.

I slid down from the chair and rolled behind the Supreme Elder.

"She'd cut you down herself if she saw you wallowing like this," I sprang up and parried her karambit when she came at me.

"Do not speak of my mate!" Oru roared and drove me backward.

"I deliver the teachings of my Dreaded Mentor!"

I kicked her in the gut and flung a nearby chair at her legs.

The Elder caught the giant black metal chair with both hands and raised it over her head.

"You have failed to keep your promise," I persisted, and then I pounced sideways to dodge the flying furniture.

No one asked me to confront her, but through Shale, I was aware of the High Council's distress. None of them questioned Oru's strength or ability to command Clan Jahaa, but her inner fire was in question.

In the cycles following E'pire's death, Jahaa's Supreme Elder had become prone to locking herself in her office for days at a time, immersing herself in war plans, and abbreviating her Dread Trails to no more than two days. I genuinely wanted Oru's advice on how to deal with Peleon, but now seemed as good a time as any to address the bigger issue.

Oru froze with her eyes blinking in confoundment.

"She told you...?" Oru scanned my face for any hint of deception.

"She was a comprehensive teacher."

"But..." Oru relaxed her fists and biceps. "She insisted that she would be the bearer..."

Ok... I tried to keep my eyelids from expanding. I didn't know that...

"Before..." Oru calmed her pulse and returned her karambit into the sheath strapped against her thigh. "We had Medical prepared several of her eggs to conceive a daughter and preserved them for her to be inseminated in the next cycle's Joust... but... we never..."

The Elder pulled her eyes away and meandered toward the wide windowed wall to stare out at the streets of Sahei's capital below.

"I couldn't summon the nerve to sign off for Medical to destroy them."

"Then her intentions for you were clear," I put away my weapons and slowly approached my Supreme Leader.

"A Zhaguai born in wartime would truly be a potent warrior," Oru turned to me with her chest puffed.

"She would bring great honor to Jahaa," I stood beside the Elder. "Just like her bearers."

"Hmm..." Oru nodded in satisfaction. "But first we must render our bodies worthy."

I flapped my ears curiously.

"I must bathe in the blood of a truly worthy kill," Oru let out a sinister chitter. "And you must claim the brand of an Elder."

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