Chapter 8

It had been far more taxing and painful than the labors of her other children without any doubt. Given the dazzling result however, Yuri Moran would welcome that pain and discomfort for every single child Pa’cour gave to her, for it was only another step on the long road of their redemption. A road that Yuri Moran walked with her head held high, and for the first time in her life, with pride in what she was doing.

Yuri stood in the vast Medical Wing of the underground facility staring out the two way glass view window that overlooked the dozen research labs below currently filled with Lidene’s many busy scientists and researchers. So much had taken place in so short a time and but for the grace and compassion of one young man, Yuri Moran would not be experiencing it. The Darpia Syndrome had taken hold within her much more quickly after leaving Union space and coming here. Her earlier injuries at the hands of Androcles and then her mammoth expenditures of MV energy during their escape from Robert’s ship had weakened her body enough so to allow the Darpia Syndrome to take hold more rapidly than normal when she had conceived Pa’cour’s child within her womb. Nalavi had given her every bit of information he had on the disease and Yuri had done everything within her power to learn about it and adhere to the strict diet and exercises Nalavi regimented her too. All that would not have mattered except for the advanced growth serum given to them by Anja Leonidas. The means to insure they began their future with a happy event. An event that would solidify their path and resolve. And it had done just that. Beating down the inbred distrust of Lycavorians in general, Yuri had done exactly what Nalavi and the instructions from Anja had told her. Four all too brief weeks passed before Nalavi determined she needed to inject the serum and accelerate the birth or risk losing the child. She and Pa’cour made that life decision without a moment’s hesitation.

It was a life altering decision to be sure, for the moment they heard their daughter’s angry wail of life renewed, it cemented them on their road going forward.

The birth left her terribly weak given everything her body had suffered in the last months, but Yuri grasped onto the strength Pa’cour’s unquenchable love had given her and never looked back. Under Nalavi’s expert care and the advanced medical facilities this base provided to them, Yuri began to truly heal for the first time in her three thousand plus of years of life. Holding her new daughter in her arms those first few hours was like a soothing balm. It didn’t last of course as Onera grew so rapidly, but it had the effect needed to propel Yuri forward and making a silent vow to somehow, some day, make amends to Carisia and Lucia. If ever she could and they would allow. Using the instructions given to them from Anja, Yuri used her own powerful Mindvoice abilities, so much clearer and focused now that Xaxon’s vile essence was gone, to slowly pass knowledge to Onera as she grew. Within this knowledge Yuri gave their daughter the combined awareness of both her parents and their life experiences. It had been difficult for Pa’cour to share so many horrible memories that were secret to him, but he now had what he had wanted for the last two plus decades and that was Yuri. He was not going to lose that no matter what he had to do.

This connection also allowed Yuri and Pa’cour to share their lives in a manner not many had the chance to do. Seeing what each of them had endured throughout their lives only caused their new love for each other to become stronger and focused, right up until the point that now nothing would ever come between them. It was a love; a bond that Yuri and Pa’cour embraced without question for neither of them had ever felt something so beautiful and grand in two lives filled with so much violence and hate. It was especially powerful for Yuri, for in Pa’cour’s mind she had seen the depth of his devotion to her and it had humbled her. No single person in all her years of life had ever shown such calm and voracious commitment to her with no thought of reward. Hours they spent in a Mindvoice connection passing to their daughter their knowledge of things, always keeping her mind even with the growth of her body. Three days spent doing this until the growth serum had run its course and Onera had, for all intents and purpose, reached the age of twenty-three. And then finally Yuri could rest and heal completely under Nalavi’s care and Pa’cour’s love. Nalavi and Pa’cour both had even mentioned that she did not look the same. Having Xaxon’s essence out of her and the birth of Onera had brightened her normally dark features and she looked relaxed and ... happy. It caused the intense lines in her face to fade quickly and now she looked so much calmer and at peace.

“ ... finally time to declare you at peak health!’ Nalavi’s voice broke into her thoughts and she turned to look at the man who had helped her so much through the years. A man who, for all intents and purposes, had been more a father to her than her own. “I don’t believe I have ever seen your physical results as so impressive.” He stopped in front of her and held up the data pad. “Everything is normal Yuri. Well beyond normal in fact to be honest. You are in the physical condition of a seasoned commando if I do say so myself. All of your tests are far above average and show no signs of lessening. Pa’cour’s physical regiment has benefited you greatly.” He took her arm, one of very few men or women who would dare such a thing and squeezed it gently feeling the new musculature. “Now ... tell me how you feel.”

Yuri couldn’t help but smile at his obvious enthusiasm to this news and she looked at him with bright dark eyes. “I feel reborn Nalavi.” She said confidently. “Truly reborn.”

Nalavi nodded. “Now that’s what I like to hear from my patients.”

Yuri’s head tilted to the side slightly, her lush black hair falling over her shoulder. The dark gray jumpsuit she wore conformed to her lithe body like a second skin. She had added ten pounds of muscle to her five foot seven frame thanks to her Immortal husband’s workout regime as Nalavi had just commented. Her body had become leaner and much more muscular in just these last two or three weeks while she adhered to Pa’cour’s regiment for her. While they had not made love since Onera’s birth, Yuri relished in the nights of just being within Pa’cour’s strong arms as they slept. Yuri was yearning for his touch again however and she had every intention of indulging in her Immortal husband’s magnificent manhood again very soon.

“It has been you hasn’t it Nalavi?” She said softly.

Nalavi met her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“All of these years right in front of me and I never suspected. My mother never suspected that it was you.” Yuri said. “It has been you all of this time.”

Nalavi’s dark eyes narrowed. “I’m not following you Yuri.”

“Pa’cour and I ... we figured out there had to be a Union spy within our inner circle ... or within my mother’s inner circle. Someone positioned very deep. In a posting to know just about everything, or have the security access to discover just about everything they wanted.” Yuri said evenly. “A spy that was able to feed the Union information on almost every operation that the High Coven executed. That is why there have been no engagements with Union forces in the past twenty-five years. If it did not directly affect the Union, they were intentionally avoiding areas of space where our forces would be. If it did affect them then they acted before we did; eliminating any course of action we could possibly take that might pit us against them. And all this time ... all this time we thought for sure it was certain members of the Ventash’ma who were aiding the Kavalians.”

“Yuri ... what ... I don’t know what...” Nalavi began to stammer now. “I don’t know what you mean Yuri.”

“Who approached you Nalavi?” Yuri asked him. “Please my friend ... do not lie to me now. Not after all we have been through together and the trust we have built. Do not act like my mother and Robert.”

Nalavi met her eyes and set the data pad on the examining bed. He turned to look out the view window into the research area. “I guess ... I guess it had to come out sooner or later.” He said softly. “No approached me Yuri.” He answered turning back to her. “I went to them. I had to go to them.”

“Who?” Yuri asked again. “Armetus?”

Nalavi nodded his head. “I met with him and a vampire female named Marci first yes and then...”

“Martin?” Yuri asked.

Nalavi nodded. “Six months after my first meeting with Armetus. I didn’t know he was going to be there. We were meeting in secret on Talbot Seven to put the finishing touches on certain things. Contact points. Communications channels. He had Isabella with him and he was already there.”

“Nalavi ... I ... you lost your wife and two children to a Lycavorian attack.” Yuri said. “I thought you hated them with...” Yuri saw his eyes and moved closer. “That is not what happen is it?”

Nalavi shook his head. “My wife and children have been living within the Union since shortly after you met with him to retrieve Vonis.” He said. “When I saw how you reacted to Vonis’s defection I ... I knew I had to do something Yuri. It was ... I saw then that everything was going to begin to fall apart. The Kavalian invasion only sped things up. Part of my demand was that my family be allowed to live within the Union without fear of reprisal should anything happen to me. The Krypteria has watched over them for over two decades now. He has kept his word to me. My daughter is a student at the Apo Prime University, tops in her class. My son ... the last report I received was that he had just been promoted to Captain and commanded a Special Operations team made up of vampires and Drow. He is supremely well respected and he has just taken a Drow female as his Blessed Wife. I understand that caused quite a stir, but the Drow within his command respect him immensely. He is part of Colonel Norris’s Division on Earth. The clone officer who...”

“I remember him.” Yuri said. “You have not seen them?” Yuri asked.

Nalavi shook his head slowly and turned away from her again. “They think ... they think I am dead Yuri.” He said softly. “It was the only way to get my wife to leave the High Coven and accept the Krypteria’s offer.”

Yuri’s hand came up to cover her mouth in sadness as he said this. “Nalavi... ?” She finally gasped.

“Something needed to be done!” Nalavi spoke with heated passion in his voice turning back to face her. “I did not want to see the High Coven fall! The path your mother had us on would have brought death and destruction upon us as surely as we stand here now. If not from the Kavalians then from the Union itself Yuri. She had no idea how far they had advanced before she began her fool quest! She did not think them capable of such things! She was never more wrong about anything than she was this!”

“What ... what were the terms?” Yuri asked.

“I gave them any information that I received or could gather.” Nalavi said becoming far more comfortable now that his secret was out. “In return they would avoid High Coven patrols along the border and not actively engage High Coven forces in any manner. I also demanded that if they could in any method assist us against the Kavalians ... that they do so.”

Yuri looked at him with wide dark eyes. “Martin Leonidas agreed to this?” She gasped stepping closer to him.

“That man ... he is unlike any man I have ever met.” Nalavi said softly shaking his head. “He is the most frightening individual to stand in front of, yet that same persona also makes him the most trusting. He stares at you with those eyes and he sees things! It’s like he stares into your soul! He knows things Yuri! Things we can’t imagine. His son has the same trait. I knew that when we stood in front of him on his ship. There is wisdom in their eyes that ... it is almost unnatural. Wisdom that none of us have and I think we would be horrified to see what I think they see.” Nalavi looked at her and moved closer and took her hands in his. “Martin Leonidas hates his brother and the Kavalians far more than he dislikes the High Coven Yuri. He jumped at that chance to do this. Who do you think stopped the attack on Sytau? Or the one on Tungel? You, your mother, Moran ... all of you thought the Kavalians had simply stopped their invasion movement and did not attack. Union forces destroyed them Yuri! Wiped them out to the last ship! They appeared out of Shroud, disabled the Kavalian’s communications in some manner, probably with the same thing that disabled the Kavalians communications around Kranek and then they obliterated them! They disappeared once more, leaving your mother and Moran to think the Kavalians had never gone through with their attacks. I saw the after action reports Yuri! Martin Leonidas wanted me to know he was keeping his word!” Nalavi turned away from her and laughed softly. “It’s amazing isn’t it? Your mother wanted him dead so badly ... she wanted his head on a platter ... and it is Martin Leonidas and the Union that has kept the High Coven from falling.”

“Nalavi ... I...” Yuri stuttered.

Nalavi turned back to look at her. “Martin Leonidas could have removed any of you Yuri. He could have reached out to any of you at any time and nothing would have stopped him. The man is ... he is the most lethal force I have ever seen in all my life. His son takes after him you know. The loyalty and confidence they inspire in others is ... it is infectious. Fighting Androcles as you did was foolish.”

“I realize that now Nalavi.” Yuri spoke looking at the floor briefly.

“Martin Leonidas stayed his hand! But by his grace alone do we still stand here Yuri!” He said with intense passion flowing in his words. “Your mother thought she was better than him ... more powerful? Ha! It is too bad she did not live long enough to see that she is a child compared to him!”

Yuri turned away from him shaking her head. “Yah ... nindol zhah naubol saph Usstan ssiggrin.” She gasped. (God ... this is nothing like I thought.)

Nalavi looked at her back. “So ... so what happens now Yuri?” He asked softly. “Do you have me executed?”

Yuri spun around and looked at him with wide eyes. “What?” She exclaimed. “Phraktos nau! Nalavi no! Never! Never!” She almost shouted as she stepped up to him. “I only ... I only wanted no secrets between us any longer! Nalavi you are a part of this! You saved me! You saved Pa’cour and our daughter! I ... I could never hurt you! Not after what you have done! What you have told me! This ... what we have started here ... this is just as much your doing as it is ours!”

Nalavi shook his head. “I wouldn’t go that far.” He stated.

“But it is!” She exclaimed. “Without you ... without you we would not be here!” Yuri stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You ... you have been more a father to me than my own ever was Nalavi.” She said softly pressing her head to his chest. “You have ... you have helped me to shake off the darkness and discover the path I was meant to walk. You helped me to discover Pa’cour. To discover the person I was meant to be.” She pulled her head back and looked at him. “You will never have anything to fear from me Nalavi. Like Pa’cour ... you have never wanted anything from me in all this time. And yet you watched over me. No ... Nalavi ... I...”

Nalavi lifted his hand and touched his finger to her lips. “I know.” He said with a small smile.

Yuri met his eyes. “What you have told me ... it makes sense now.”

“What does?” He asked her.

“What Martin told me ... the day Vonis defected to the Union.” Yuri spoke as she stepped away and drew his hands into hers.

“What ... what did he say?” Nalavi asked.

Yuri’s eyes were bright. “Maybe one day Yuri. And then again ... maybe not. No one knows what the future holds. I’d be more concerned about your future right now. It appears your precious High Coven is in deep trouble. So long Yuri. Give your mother a kiss for me ... just to let her know how I feel about her.“

Nalavi’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand.” He said.

Yuri looked at him and smiled. “He knew Nalavi! He knew even then that this would happen! He knew my mother would never be able to defeat him all those years ago. He knew what his son would do even then! Ending the war! Bringing ... bringing us together as he has with Narice. He perhaps did not know in the manner it would happen ... but he knew it would happen! And it ... it relates to what Androcles told me as well.”

“What he told you?” Nalavi said.

Yuri nodded. “That we would need each other in the future.” Yuri looked at Nalavi. “I ... I don’t think he was referring to the Kavalians Nalavi.”

“Who could he have meant?” Nalavi said. “They are now at war with the Kavalians. Who else could we help them against?”

Yuri pulled away slowly. “The Kavalians! Ha!” She spat with some humor. “Androcles and Martin Leonidas are not the High Coven Nalavi. The Kavalians will come to see this very soon I think. At the cost of great pain. The Union will not prosecute their war against the KFI as we did Nalavi. The Union does not know how to fight a defensive war. They will not make our mistakes.” She turned back and looked at him. “The Kavalians will have some victories, simply because of their force of numbers, but when Androcles and his father decide it is time to end this farce of a war, the Kavalians will not know what hit them or from what direction it came. I am beginning to see now that there is far more to Martin Leonidas and his son than meets the eye.”

“If not the Kavalians ... then who?” Nalavi asked.

Yuri shook her head. “I don’t know. Not yet. As we walk down this road we have set upon we will discover that answer. I know we will.” She said drawing in a deep breath. “Unlike before ... I will not worry about that bridge until it is time to cross it.”

“And me?” Nalavi asked her softly.

Yuri looked at him with genuine affection in her dark eyes. “You? You are going to walk that road with us Nalavi. Your role has not changed. You have saved me. Saved Pa’cour. And you have brought our daughter into this world. That is not something we can ever repay.” She moved up in front of him and took his hands once more. “If that is what you want as well. I have no right to hold you here. You are free ... you are free to go where you wish Nalavi my friend.”

Nalavi stared at her for a long moment. “You are going to need me to look out for you.” He said.

Yuri smiled. “No doubt.” She told him.

“Then I will stay.” He said. “For as long as you need me.”

“No more secrets Nalavi.” Yuri said. “I know well what damage secrets can do. Between you and I and Pa’cour. No more.”

Nalavi nodded his head. “Done.”

Quite unlike her old self Yuri kissed his cheek warmly. “Then if I have a clean bill of health ... I need to meet with Lidene and discuss some of his concerns.” She spoke. “Join us for dinner. Onera simply adores you. She thinks of you as her grandfather you know.”

Nalavi nodded without question. “She does grow on you.” He said with a smile. He reached up and took her shoulders. “Do not let this new you hide your true self Yuri. Do not embrace this so much that you lose who you truly are. That would be a mistake. Keep your wits about you and remain sharp and unforgiving to those who are our enemies.”

“I am not my mother Nalavi.” Yuri said.

Nalavi shook his head. “No ... you are not. And neither is Narice. You are both better than her. Just remember where you come from.”

Yuri nodded. “I don’t intend to lose myself my friend. And knowing what I know now ... feeling what I do ... I will be more than unforgiving to those who would do those I have come to love harm.”

“Good. Then I will see you for dinner.” He spoke.

Nalavi watched as she nodded with a smile and made her way out of the medical center. He breathed a huge sigh of relief and gripped the table’s edge tightly. He alone knew what Yuri could do if she truly wanted too and he had no desire to feel her wrath. Not now. Having this off his chest was soothing in a way. Now he did not need to hold anything back from her any longer. Now he could go into the future with a clear mind. And perhaps one day ... perhaps one day he could reunite with the woman who still held his heart and the children he had not seen for more years than he could remember.

Yes ... this was a good thing they had started. Whatever Yuri was talking about ... the future did look far brighter than it had only a few short months ago.

Yuri stopped in the wide corridor outside the medical center and looked at the towering Immortal who waited for her. Pa’cour had succeeded in bringing nearly four hundred Immortals over to their cause, a dozen of them having pureblood vampire wives. That word was spreading that he was Cha’talla’s brother carried quite a bit of weight within the Immortal mind, more so that even Pa’cour realized, and he was being very careful about who he brought to Veyerai to join them. They had convinced nearly three thousand purebloods and half breed vampires who had scattered from the Coven shortly after Narice had reclaimed power, many of them not wanting to have their past deeds catch up to them. It was well known that Narice was cleaning house so to speak and anyone who had even an inkling of history with the Kavalians or doing things their own way was suspect. The men and women that had joined her and Pa’cour were patriots to the core, yet they had done things that would probably not have been construed as being in the best ideals of the High Coven now. They did not oppose Narice taking power, quite the opposite in fact, but what they did all have in common was that they feared her if what they had to do in the past was discovered.

The Immortal stepped up to her. “Princess?” He asked.

Yuri looked at him evenly. The Immortals who had joined them had not stopped calling her Princess and after the first few days she gave up trying to change that. They were Immortals that had served with Pa’cour through the years and would follow him through hell and back if he asked. All of them had taken the serum that returned their true Akruxian nature to them, Nalavi easily able to duplicate Esther’s work with the formula she had given them. They viewed her now as many viewed Cha’talla’s wife Esther, and while it was not something she wanted, it was something she had come to accept.

“Nalavi is to be protected at whatever the cost Ma’dur.” She told him. “He is ... he has become very special to me. To all of us. I will not lose him to foolishness from others who believe him to be a traitor.”

The Immortal nodded without hesitation. “I will see to it Princess.” He answered.

“If you are able Ma’dur ... do you have contacts among those Immortals who joined Cha’talla?” Yuri asked him.

Ma’dur nodded slowly. “I ... I have friends yes.”

“Reach out to them if you trust them. Try and discover anything you can about Nalavi’s family. Where they are? What they are doing?” Yuri said.

“May I inquire as to why Princess?” Ma’dur asked.

The old Yuri would have probably had the Immortal killed for questioning her intentions but now Yuri felt a kinship to the Immortals. Having Pa’cour as her Blessed Husband had made her see things about the Immortals that very few did. “Would you, as an Immortal, protect your family at any cost Ma’dur?” She asked him finally.

Ma’dur nodded. “Without hesitation. No matter the cost.”

Yuri nodded. “I am the wife of an Immortal now Ma’dur. I intend to make sure that those we consider family are protected. No matter the cost.”

Ma’dur nodded his head and smiled. “Indeed you are Princess. Indeed you are.” He took a deep breath. “The new group is ready in Central Holding.” The tone of his voice caused Yuri to look at him keenly.

Yuri looked at him. “What Ma’dur?” She asked. “You suspect something is wrong? Tell me.”

“It may well be nothing Princess ... but two of them ... purebloods like yourself.” He spoke carefully. “They seem out of place considering they approached us. They say they are engineers, but they move with...”

“What?” Yuri asked.

“They move with the skills of an assassin.” Ma’dur said finally.

“You say they approached you?” Yuri asked him. “That is very interesting. We haven’t exactly been broadcasting who we are or what we are doing to the masses?”

“No we haven’t.” Ma’dur agreed.

“Where did they approach you?” Yuri asked.

“Jagalir ... when we were transiting from Ricot Four.” Ma’dur answered. “They said they were referred by the Kochab Quellian.”

Yuri began to walk. “Quellian huh?”

“I don’t like or trust any Kochab Princess.” Ma’dur spoke. “They are too quick to change their allegiance.”

Yuri nodded her head as they rounded the corner headed for the elevator that would take them down one level to the research area. “And normally I would agree with you completely Ma’dur. Quellian is different however. I have dealt with him for many years without the knowledge of Robert or my mother. He has never tried to betray me and he has never gone back on what he says he can produce.”

Ma’dur nodded. “A trait not normally found in their species.”

Yuri nodded. “Exactly. Well ... let’s see what Quellian has to say shall we? I need to meet with Lidene so we can contact him from Lidene’s office.”

Ma’dur fell in beside her.

“ ... find you!” Pa’cour barked as he moved around the corner of the dimly lit corridor.

The Union base was enormous, fully four square kilometers, and built entirely under the thirteen thousand foot high mountain range on the northern continent. When they had first come here, Yuri and he were stunned at the sheer size and scope of the facility. How the Union could build it within High Coven space and never be discovered is something they would probably never know. The power core was connected directly into the molten heart of the planet itself. Huge heat exchangers gathered and then filtered the massive amounts of power to the entire base. Using the core of the planet insured that the base’s power signature would never be distinguished from the planet itself, though six massive Shroud generators were erected and always powered from the four corners and the center of the facility. The base was seven stories deep, with the main control center near the top of the mountain. They were only using the first four levels right now, which left the entire level he was currently on to be used as an enormous training ground for those he and Yuri had been able to pull to their cause. The many empty rooms and corridors provided an excellent course for any soldier to learn his or her trade.

It was here among these walls that he had committed all of his combat skill and nearly seven thousand years of experience into training the person most precious to him behind Yuri. They had only been at it for a week now, but they were advancing more rapidly than even he could have imagined.

Events over the past months had flown by. The death and violence that had filled his life had culminated in the one day where he had waited seventeen terrifying seconds before rushing forward and grasping Yuri’s shattered body in his arms and forcing her long, vampiric fangs into his thick neck, forcing her to feed off his blood to heal the horrific wounds she had suffered at the hands of Androcles Leonidas. Seventeen seconds waiting for that black mist like cloud to leave her broken body forever. He didn’t know how she would react to his actions. He thought for sure she would have him executed. After over twenty years of secretly desiring her in the worst possible way, and knowing that he would never have her, Pa’cour welcomed death at her hands. What he had found instead, it made every day since that single moment in time, a gift he would forever cherish.

Two things he never thought the gods would gift him with were now his, and if he died tomorrow, Pa’cour of the Immortals would die knowing he had experienced everything this life had to offer. He had the most precious jewel of all as far as he was concerned. That jewel had shimmering raven black hair, wonderfully soft, full lips that he had tasted more times than he could count and a lithe body that he had and would worship until the end of his time. His love for Yuri had started the first day he had seen her on Lycavore all those years ago. A taboo that he could let no one know of, for back then, just the hint that he thought of the Princess in such a manner would have been instant death. As the years passed and he remained as her Captain, that secret love grew daily. Love was an emotion that Pa’cour thought himself incapable of until that fateful day that she came to Lycavore and altered his life forever. Yuri altered his world again when she not only embraced his forbidden love for her; she returned that love to him tenfold. Pa’cour knew who she was and what she was capable of. Her life had been hard, and everyone who had been close to her had tried to manipulate her in some manner to get what they wanted. Yuri sensed within him that he was different. He wanted nothing from her. No grand position of power, no staggering amount of credits. He wanted only her love, and the day she died on that planet was the moment that brought two tortured souls together, to heal and begin anew.