Chapter 23

Shadow Claw told Lexandar of the Orb of Destiny and its secret hiding place near his prison at the planet’s core. If the Orb was used with selfish intentions, Shadow Claw could feed off its negative energies and bestow his strength upon a worthy Vessel. The Orb was protected by Maranu’s power and by legions of Guardian Spirits that now served the Elementals. Not even Shadow Claw with all his strange powers could reach the Orb. Only Maranu or perhaps those he trusted had a chance of obtaining it. And thus did Lexandar realize that the key to his freedom lay with Sifa, the one whom Maranu trusted most. During his imprisonment, Sifa would visit Lexandar often as the two were good friends before their political disputes. Sifa felt conflicted about jailing Lexandar and hoped that she might reform him so that he may return to Elemental society one day. As the years passed, the two spent more and more time together ... and Lexandar began to worm his way into poor Sifa’s heart.

Éclair had to admit, she deeply admired the aesthetics of Atlantean craft. The curve of the bows. The streamlined silver-blue hulls. The way they captured both the essence of the sea and of water-dwelling creatures in general. Watching the fish-like vessels floating in space above the pristine blue planet, one could almost imagine that they weren’t ships at all, but massive, ancient sea creatures swimming through a dark ocean.

The Venture now hovered just above the planet’s atmosphere as the Atlantean fleet surrounded them. The lead capital ship, a long, cone-shaped vessel with a smooth, blue hull and a long spike in its front to make the craft resemble a narwhale, was called the Odyssey. After they hailed the Atlanteans and explained their presence, the Merfolk soldiers had been more than accommodating. In fact, Éclair got the sense of relief in the air. It was refreshing to get a warm welcome for a change given much of the public’s general disdain for Elementals. Leon, Erica, and Victor discussed the occupation with the Merman Captain while the others busied themselves with standard ship maintenance in the lower decks.

Éclair would’ve helped as well, but something caught her attention as they neared the planet. Her sensory abilities had been improving dramatically since Black Star. She wondered if she could someday sense things on a planetary level as high-level Werewolves like Mozar could. What concerned her most was the general feeling of dread she sensed from the surrounding Atlantean ships. It concerned her because her abilities were not usually empathic. But that wasn’t all. The sensation she got as she focused on the planet was entirely unpleasant. It felt familiar, like an old childhood nightmare that she had difficulty recalling. There was another feeling, less familiar, but infinitely more dangerous. Though the planet of Atlantis looked serene and beautiful as she knew it would, the sixth sense she got conveyed a feeling of taint. It was like something was poisoning the ocean planet. Not the superficial kind of poisoning like mere pollution, but a supernatural influence that was more difficult to diagnose. A presence of immeasurable malice that could somehow twist nature itself to serve its will. It seemed similar to the Horde Mother’s corruption of Black Star, and at the same time, exponentially worse. She didn’t know if it was simply due to the lingering turbulence of recent events or maybe even the doings of an unknown entity of comparable strength to the Horde Mother. Whatever it was, this disquieting notion would not abate as Éclair studied the Atlantean Fleet and the blue planet below through a porthole on the bridge. She tried to pinpoint a more precise location for the source of the disturbance as she focused her psions, though with little success as it remained only an ambiguous awareness. She would’ve told someone, but she feared losing the signal if she let up her concentration for even an instant. Eclair only halfway listened to her companions’ conversation with the Merman Captain as she continued her fruitless search.

“Tell me more about this craft your fleet encountered. Are you certain it is of Sharkfolk design?” asked Victor as he, Erica, and Leon stood in front of the holoscreen near the front of the bridge.

The Merman Captain, his human half that of a young, clean-shaven man with dark, curly hair, seemed decidedly uneasy and maybe a little pale. Éclair was surprised to find someone so young commanding the Atlantean Fleet, that is until she heard that most of the veteran commanders had died in the brief battle with the alien craft that now occupied Nepton. She had heard that the Merfolk had been downsizing their military, but it was disconcerting to know that they had grown so drastically shorthanded after losing only one battle. As the Merman spoke, his long hair undulated rhythmically around his head, and his voice sounded strangely echoey as bubbles sprang from his mouth. Éclair had to remind herself of the fact that Merfolk vessels were filled with water even after leaving the planet. They would only drain the seawater in certain sections of their vessels if they were accommodating land-dwellers. In some ways, it really wasn’t that much stranger than how most sentient lifeforms filled their space crafts with oxygen. Exploring space required bringing a little bit of home with you.

“We don’t know for sure if it is a Sharkman vessel,” he answered nervously. “Its weaponry and shielding system seemed too advanced for the skills of their scientists. But the Sharkmen are the only ones sending messages to the Palace, and our intelligence units have seen them patrolling the perimeter of the forcefield around Nepton. We have ... we have speculated that it might be a Siren craft as less is known of their military capabilities. They have come out in heavy support of the Sharkfolk as the two races are close allies, but I must reiterate that this is only speculation.”

Éclair paused her own ponderings to look once more at a schematic of the enemy vessel that floated to the side of the holoscreen. A ghastly design. A bloodred hull with wings shaped like a bird of prey. But in place of a bird’s head was a white bow at its front that resembled a human-like skull, though a human-like skull with sharp teeth and a crown of spikes growing out of its head. Various readouts and displays showed the vessel’s relative firepower and shield matrix, or at least what the Atlantean ships were able to record before they were blown to smithereens. From what she could tell, this was perhaps one of the most advanced military vessels ever conceived, rivaling (if not outright surpassing) even the best that the Fire Ministry had to offer in terms of energy capacity. The macabre nature of the craft gave credence to a singular function; to bring death. It seemed doubtful that the Sharkmen could have conceived of such a machine given the generally underdeveloped aspects of their society.

“And you say this ship has submerged itself into the seas around Nepton?” asked Leon.

The Merman gave a frantic nod. “That’s right, Sir Elemental. Before the jamming signal was fully implemented, scans showed the alien vessel diving into the ocean in a controlled flight path. However, we have reason to believe that much of the shield matrix surrounding Nepton is originating from that craft ... or at least in part. We can still detect several generators throughout the city powering the forcefield, but the bulk of the energy is coming from the ship itself.”

Leon rubbed his chin as he considered. “Hmm. The fact that it has such advanced aquatic functions renders some credibility to the theory of it being of Siren design. Their scientists have long shadowed Atlantean technicians. But still, the sheer firepower it is capable of seems too proficient for Siren craftsmen. If this readout is correct, then the vessel could render an entire planet uninhabitable in a matter of minutes.”

“It really grinds my gears,” said Victor slowly as he observed the vessel with what seemed to be a trace amount of admiration. “The fact that there is a ship like this in the universe that the Ministries had no idea even existed. Not one of our adversaries is reported to have weapons of this caliber. At least, none in the civilized universe.”

If no one in the known galaxies can create a weapon system of this scale, thought Éclair with a growing sense of apprehension. Then could it have come from the Forbidden Galaxies?

“There are many questions left unanswered,” mused Leon. “Foremost among them would be why? If they have this much power, why did they stop? If conquest was their aim, why didn’t they simply take the whole planet.”

Victor shrugged. “Perhaps they lacked the resources. Perhaps they didn’t have enough ammunition in reserve to break through the shields protecting the other larger cities. Maybe they weren’t even equipped to take the underwater cities. It’s probably not coincidence that they targeted the only landmass on Atlantis.”

“Sound reasoning, and it might have played a part, but I doubt that logistics were the only factors. If they simply wanted to hurt the Atlanteans, they could’ve caused irreparable damage to the planet’s ecosystem and warped away. There’s something more. Either taking the city and the two royals was their objective ... or there’s something inside that city that they need. Whatever the truth may be, we won’t find out unless we get in there. Though I doubt we’ll like what we find.”