Surrender

AUTHOR's NOTE: Once again, thanks to my loyal reviewers, Lisa and Lilac. This chapter, the storyline progresses a bit more.


Anata stood on the sidelines near the city walls observing the scene fearfully with wide eyes. After the fog cleared she had seen Devo impaled on the Scryer’s jagged staff sword. She’d felt a moments relief when she saw Devo continue to fight but soon began to notice that his movements had grown sluggish. She witnessed an exchange of words between the two combatants but could not make out what they were saying and saw when Medaq raised his weapon to inflict the final blow.

Anata’s hands flew to cover her mouth; her eyes glued to the scene. She knew she was about to witness Devo’s death but could not look away. She hadn’t anticipated that the scryer would be this successful against him. She knew all too well how dangerous the scryers were, but it seemed she had overestimated Devo’s strength. If he was part god, how could he be defeated by a mortal? Anata expected to see Medaq inflict his death blow by either stabbing Devo through the chest or hacking off his limbs. However, neither attack came.

Anata watched mesmerized as a humanoid figure encased in flames emerged from nowhere and immediately initiated an attack that sent Medaq flying away from Devo. His fall was broken by the trunk of a withered old tree. Anata was stunned speechless as the scene unfolded before her.

Medaq had not seen the attack coming, whoever the newcomer was he had remained off Medaq’s sensory radar until he was ready to strike. Glancing down Medaq noticed his sleeve was on fire. He quickly worked to put it out and realized that wasn’t his only concern. His right arm hung limply at his side and blood trickled down to his fingers. Medaq now began to feel the pain and realized that the stranger had broken his arm with a simple attack. It seemed he was forgotten as he noticed the flamed creature approach Devo. Medaq decided it was best not to give them a chance for further retaliation and quickly teleported back into the city.

Devo was barely standing when he saw his mother approach him still encased in flames. He instantly knew it was her although he could not make out any of her features within the flames. //Mother, I knew you’d come just in time.//

The flames soon faded, revealing Gillian’s human form encased in black leather. //Oh Devo, how I feared never seeing you again.// She quickly embraced her son and began to radiate a healing spell throughout him.

Devo felt his wound heal and eventually, the numbness that had threatened to overtake his entire body faded. //Thank you mother.// He noticed instantly when they were no longer alone. He released Gillian and glanced around to find both his Uncles and Woen standing with them. “Stafon, Kenlan and Woen; thank you all for coming.”

Woen walked forward to face off against Devo; his face a blank mask. “My Queen, permission to kill your son?”

“Permission denied,” Gillian replied dryly.

“Okay, guess I’ll settle for this instead.” Woen grabbed Devo and encased him in a tight bear hug.

Devo gasped as he felt the tight squeeze of Woen’s muscular arms around him. “Easy there, I’m still recovering from my fight.” Which wasn't exactly true because Gillian had healed him completely.

“And just where is this attacker?” Woen asked as he finally released Devo from his suffocating hold.

“I let him go; I was more concerned about Devo’s safety,” Gillian explained.

“And who is that over there?” Kenlan asked as he glanced towards the direction of the city.

Stafon teleported from view and quickly returned with a pale-faced Anata in tow. “Is this her?” Stafon asked with a bitter look on his handsome face. His short, spiky, blond hair rustled about his chiseled features in the light wind as his golden eyes shot daggers at Anata.

“She is no longer the enemy, allow me to explain,” Devo spoke up.

“This is not the place for a discussion, it’s time to go.” Kenlan raised his long sleeve to reveal a mechanic wristband. Punching a few buttons all present began to disintegrate from view. Moments later they re-appeared on board the deck of a Suvian space ship.

“You brought an entire ship through a portal?” Devo was slightly amazed for the Suvian ship was quite large in size.

“You do realize that we’ve been using all our resources at our disposal to locate you?” Kenlan began. “After we found the right galaxy creating a portal large enough to fit a ship through was trivial.”

“The man that was attacking you, if you wish revenge on him speak now; for we must leave as soon as possible,” Gillian stated.

“I can’t leave; not yet,” Devo stated.

“Don’t tell me,” Woen began as he ran a hand through his silver blond hair. “You’ve gotten involved with someone?”

//Is it true?// Gillian sent her thoughts to Devo directly.

//I’ll need to explain a few things,// Devo replied.

“Let me guess, she has something to do with it.” Woen glared at Anata stonily.

“Leave her be,” Devo said, although Woen had made no move to attack Anata he needed his friends and family made aware that she was not to be hurt.

“Did I hear you right?” Woen paused to look at Devo. “You do realize that this is the woman that kidnapped you almost two weeks ago and will now be returning with us to Atika to face trial?”

Anata turned frightened eyes on Devo, hoping against hope that he would keep his word and not allow them to hurt her. She had seen what Arabel’s mother had done to the Scryer forcing him to retreat. Then she had been captured by the spiky-haired Suvian that had teleported with her and had not been weakened as a result! It was clear to her that the people in the room were potentially much stronger than Devo himself. If they didn’t respect the Prince’s wishes there wouldn’t be much Devo could do about it.

“I will explain everything, but for now I must remain in Andrenon for the time being. I have unfinished business here,” Devo stated.

There was silence as the other men and Gillian gazed at Devo intently for a few seconds. Eventually Gillian broke the silence saying, “Kenlan, I need you to open a portal to Tagasus large enough to get a message through. We must inform D’ken of what has happened.”

“I can do better than that, give me a few minutes and you’ll be able to speak to D’ken directly.” Kenlan turned towards the computer console located on the deck and got to work.

“Mother, may I speak with you in private?” Devo realized he could speak privately with his mother through telepathy, but facial expression would speak volumes, thus the reason he wished to converse with her alone.

Gillian nodded and led him to a private cabin located off the deck. She had an idea what he wanted to talk to her about, but leaned against the wall with her arms folded across her chest as she waited for him to begin.

“I fear I may have let you down in the worst way possible. I have allowed myself to become too involved with someone; and thus the reason I can not leave until he is safe.”

“Who is this person?” Gillian asked calmly.

“His name is Arabel Cresh; he’s Anata’s brother.”

“Why were you fighting that man when we got here – was it for their sake?” Gillian suspected as much and when her son could not give her a direct answer her concern reached the boiling point. “He could have killed you!”

Devo glanced away realizing that he had managed to upset his mother. There was no help for it; he knew she wouldn’t like what he’d have to say.

“You were fighting him unreleased. Yet I know you must have estimated his strength before entering the battle. What would your father and I have done if we’d lost you?” Gillian’s golden eyes bore into her son as she fought not to imagine what her own personal grief would have been like.

“I did not release out of concern for people who may have been nearby. I realize it was foolish now but I thought perhaps I could beat him at that current level,” Devo explained.

“Oh Devo, sometimes I wonder if you understand how important you are to our people. Yes, the cosmos had returned the Suvian powers to us as a result of our saving the galaxy 25 years ago. However, we were still stripped of our ability to reincarnate ourselves through the ages,” Gillian began. “This is the first time during all the millennia I have leap-frogged through that I was able to procreate. And it is in direct correlation to the fact that when we die, it will be for the last time.”

“I understand.” Devo did understand that if he died before carrying on the royal line that his people could be lost in perhaps another 100 years. That is the one fact they had been drilling into him ever since he came of an age where he could understand such things. It is the reason why he had been protected and sheltered his entire life. And at the first opportunity where that protection failed, he had indeed come very close to loosing his life.

Gillian lowered her gaze before continuing. “Your father will want you to return to Atika immediately as was planned.”

“I have to stay,” Devo replied.

Gillian returned her gaze to her son. “The men are honor bound to follow the orders of their King.”

Devo was all too aware of the meaning behind those words. Should D’ken order it; Woen and Stafon could drag him kicking and screaming back to Atika. He had but one hope to prevent such an outcome. “Mother, father will listen to you if you convince him that I have a valid reason to stay.” He was all too aware that oftentimes Gillian would leave tough decision making where Devo was concerned to D’ken. Although she was distinctly the more powerful of the two, she did not like disappointing her son. For some reason, his father could say “no” to him a lot easier than Gillian could.

“I’m sorry my son, but whatever your father feels is the best route to take; we shall comply.” Gillian gave him one last glance before vacating the cabin.

~*~

Medaq met up with Sesan upon entering his private guest quarters of the Palace. He observed the grim look on the face of his red-headed companion. Sesan’s crimson colored eyes also seemed to be sizing him up. The other scryer wore a uniform similar to Medaq’s except he had opted for a skin-tight, white, V necked shirt that outlined the counters of his muscles perfectly.

“General Hetite has contacted us,” Sesan spoke softly.

Medaq did not hide the frown that played across his features. “Do you know what he wants?”

Sesan tilted his head to the side causing his orange-red hair which fell in layers around his handsome face to sway slightly. “I can imagine. Did you underestimate the strength of your opponent?”

“No, what I hadn’t counted on was someone else appearing to save him,” Medaq replied.

“Then that strong energy presence I felt…”

“Yes, it was a newcomer.”

“You fled,” Sesan surmised.

“Live today so that I may fight again tomorrow,” Medaq explained.

“You might want to state something else when you issue your report to the General.”

“He doesn’t need to know about this,” Medaq replied quickly.

“I fear it’s already too late. You have no idea how strong the spiritual energy of the person you were fighting; his strength may have reverberated throughout the galaxy.
Hetite’s timing is no coincidence,” Sesan stated.

Medaq realized that it could be true. The General must have been notified of the flame figure’s spiritual energy and instructed another scryer to locate their whereabouts. With them being on the same planet as the disturbance then it made sense that Hetite would expect that they were somehow involved. “Sesan, I need you to return to the site and see what else you can learn about them.”

“Understood, I will take Vonus with me,” Sesan replied.

“I just want you to observe, do not engage them if at all possible.” Even with 2 scryers present Medaq had a feeling they would be unevenly matched against the flame figure that had attacked him.

“Hadn’t planned on it,” Sesan began. When Medaq began to walk away he added one last comment. “Oh Medaq, might I suggest you get your arm healed before contacting the General. You wouldn’t want him thinking you got your ass kicked, it might give him the wrong idea.”

Medaq glanced down at his right arm that continued to hang limply at his side. He had numbed the pain with his mind but realized that Sesan was right. “Don’t worry about me, I can handle the General.”

Sesan watched his companion go and realized he seemed to even lack the strength to teleport. No doubt the injury had left him severely weakened. Perhaps for the first time it seemed that Medaq had bitten off more than he could chew.

~*~

When Gillian returned to the deck she found Anata cuddled in one corner of the ship with her feet drawn up to her chin and her hands wrapped around her legs. She was staring white faced at the three men on the other side of the ship. Woen stood with his father and Stafon at the computer console.

Gillian moved to stand before Anata and saw when the younger woman raised frightened aqua eyes to her. //Is this what you hoped would happen when you brought my son here, that he would fall for your brother and become your protector?//

Anata heard the Queen’s voice in her head. This proved what she had suspected all along, that the Suvian’s were capable of telepathic speech. Yet, Devo had never conversed with her in this manner. “I honestly only wanted my brother’s safety,” Anata whispered in reply hoping not to draw the attention of the others in the room. “If anything has occurred between them then it was not intentional on my part.” Anata was frightened out of her wits but a part of her refused to cower before this powerful woman. “The question here is; if Devo really does care for Arabel – then what kind of woman are you to deny your son happiness?”

Gillian was genuinely taken aback by Anata’s strong words to her. She knew she wasn’t dealing with a coward. Anata’s love for her brother had driven her to kidnap the heir to the Suvian throne without fear of repercussions. Perhaps she had not expected them to catch up to her. But Anata’s attitude now in the face of such overwhelming odds was admirable. //You are a perplexing woman.//

“We’re ready.”

Kenlan’s words filtered towards them. Gillian eventually broke her stare with the dark-haired woman and turned towards her head mystic. She saw when Devo re-entered the room and noticed the pleading look in his golden eyes. She quickly turned away and moved to join the rest of the team at the control panel. Before long, D’ken’s image filtered on screen.

“Father,” Devo greeted the man who had sired him as he moved into the forefront of the screen. He recognized the throne room of the fortress in the background.

“Devo, it warms my heart to see you alive and well.” It eventually occurred to D’ken that there was a reason they were contacting him. “Is there a problem, why have you not returned to Atika?”

“Our son apparently has some unfinished business here,” Gillian spoke up.

“Father please, hear me out.” Devo took a deep breath before continuing. “I only require one more day then I will return to Atika post haste. There is someone here I must help first.”

D’ken ran a hand through his ebony hair before pinning his son with an unwavering gaze. “You’ve been gone for less than two weeks and you’ve already met someone that you are so attached to that you can not leave?”

“Father, I made a promise that I intend to keep.”

“You should not make promises so lightly,” D’ken said sternly. “I want you to return to Atika this instant.”

“No, please! You must save my brother.” Anata ran forward; she had been sitting silently monitoring their entire conversation grateful they had decided to use actual words. But upon hearing the King’s order she could not remain silent anymore. “He’s right there, on the planet this ship is orbiting. We simply need to go get him. Please – don’t …” Anata’s lips continued to move but no sounds came forward. She noticed that the one called Kenlan was looking at her strangely. When he returned his attention to the King she was almost certain that he was responsible for her suddenly going mute though no one even bothered to make her aware of the culprit.

“Is that her?” D’ken asked as he gazed at the female with the stricken look on her face. He switched to private tells that excluded Anata. //Has she or her brother put some sort of spell on Devo?//

//Absolutely not, I want to save him because it is the right thing to do. Arabel is such an amazing person if you get to know him.// Devo hoped his reasoning would not fall on deaf ears. //Father, if you force me back to Atika, I will simply find a way to return here and do what I had planned on doing in the first place. It will save a lot of time of trouble to simply take Arabel with us now.//

D’ken sent a personal tell to his mate. // What do you think?//

//I will stand by whatever you decide.// Gillian replied.

//What does Devo feel for this boy, is it love?//

//I can not be certain. I fear he does not even know himself just what he feels.//

//I want you all back here as soon as possible, so if bringing this Arabel back with you is what it takes to assure that Devo won’t be unhappy, I give you my permission to do so.// D’ken returned to vocals. “I don’t want you gone any longer than you have to be, retrieve this Arabel and then return to Atika immediately. I will be expecting you shortly.” With those words the screen flickered black.

“Alright, let’s go get him,” Stafon began before turning to Devo. “I’ll need you to guide me to the right place and person.”

“It won’t be that simple. We can not teleport within the Cadence Palace it is shielded.
The only way in is through the front door and they won’t let anyone in without credits. I’m afraid we’re going to have to make some noise to get in,” Devo explained.

There were matching grins on both Woen and Stafon’s faces. “That won’t be a problem,” Woen said with a chuckle.

“Just one change,” Gillian began. “Devo, you will stay here. We’ll take her with us to guide us to Arabel. I refuse to put your life in danger once more.”

“Mother I will be fine with the rest of you present. There is no need for me not to go on this mission.”

“Those are my stipulations. You will stay onboard the ship with Kenlan.” Gillian then turned to Kenlan and added. //Make sure he doesn’t leave.// She returned to vocals. “Let’s go.” Gillian grabbed hold of Anata’s arm and Stafon did the same with Woen before both pairs teleported back to the city of Tobkar.

~*~

“Medaq, perhaps you can explain to me why I was just contacted by Mr. Draymond and ordered to give the Tolatrians whatever they wanted?” Gregon entered one of the communication rooms located on the guard floor to find the scryer who had just completed a communiqué of his own. “Was it not you that told me at the beginning of our dealings here that the Tolatrians would never be involved?”

“I’m afraid this situation is escalated so much so that it is now out of both of our hands. I’ll be opening a portal to Tolatria and taking Arabel with me post haste,” Medaq explained.

“I trusted you; now I’m going to loose one of my best whores and take a sizeable profit loss due to this deal I made with you!” Gregon did not hide his anger and wished he’d never struck up a bargain with the scryers in the first place.

“I think a profit loss should be more acceptable to loosing your valued establishment here; or worse, your life. As I’m sure your Mr. Draymond would agree and has apparently come to realize.” Medaq’s thoughts were still on his recent conversation with General Hetite. It seemed the ruthless leader had been notified of all that had been happening in Hemparon Sector and now wished a detailed report in person. Of course Medaq was expected to subdue and bring the people responsible for the disturbances with him. An impossible task yes, but he had left that part out of his initial conversation. He knew Devo still wanted to free Arabel, but 3 scryers and a bunch of inept guards could not take on the flame figure that had broken his now healed arm. He sensed that what he had experienced was simply a small taste of the person’s true abilities. Thus he’d have to lure them to a place of his choosing and Tolatria, the military headquarters of the Tolatrian regime was the perfect spot.

“Are you even listening to me?!” Gregon continued to yell at him. It seemed the scryer had tuned him out and was now in his own little world. Suddenly a message beeped in on the communication system.

“Calling all forces, the Palace entrance has been breeched; I repeat the Palace entrance has been breeched!”

Medaq snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the message. He knew it could only mean one thing. “Where is Arabel now?”

“In the preparation chamber on the top floor, he was about to undergo Euphoria for his clientele this evening.” Gregon had barely gotten the words out before Medaq teleported from view. The scryer received a message from Sesan on the way.

“There is no one at the scene of your battle,” Sesan stated through their communication devices.

“That’s cause they're here, I need you and Vonus to return as soon as possible.”

Gillian’s team had entered the lobby of the Cadence Palace. A large chandelier hung above the polished, white marble floors. The customers who had been either sitting in the lounge chairs or at the bar immediately began to file out when they saw the strangers enter and the guards who opposed them go down in seconds. There was screaming and frantic running as the mostly male clientele ran for their lives.

Turning to Anata, Gillian spoke, “So where is he?”

Anata had been returned her vocals at some point on the trip down to Tobkar. She thought it funny that the Queen had not given her an opportunity to protest after making the decision to take her along instead of Devo. Perhaps after Anata stood up to her in their earlier conversation, she was trying to show her that Gillian was still the one in charge. Not that any of that mattered to Anata; right now she was more concerned about rescuing Arabel. “I don’t know he could be with a client at this hour.”

“We may have to split up.” Gillian had barely completed her sentence when a green-haired scryer appeared before them. He stood with his arms crossed behind his back with his gaze directed at the floor. His white attire consisted of flowing pants and a long sleeved jacket that was buttoned up to his neck. His spiky green hair appeared long in front but was cut short in the back.

“Greetings, I have come to welcome you,” The scryer spoke. Suddenly, he raised his palms before him and shot a high intensity energy beam directly where Gillian and Stafon stood.

Anata saw when the Suvians teleported away to avoid the blast which left two smoking holes in the wall beyond them. She quickly ran to the entrance of the elevator pad to take cover. It seemed this fight would get messy therefore she didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire. She saw when the scryer sent another energy beam in Woen’s direction but he dodged it expertly.

The one called Stafon teleported to the scryer and attacked with a summoned white blade. However, the green-haired man vanished from view only to reappear seconds later standing atop the bar. As Anata continued to observe the scene wide-eyed; she didn’t notice when someone appeared behind her until it was too late. A gloved hand covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming and crushed her against a muscular embrace.

“Shhh,” The stranger held a finger to his lips. His crimson eyes seemed to look directly into her soul. “I will take you to your brother.” He didn’t release Anata, as he led her to the nearest elevator and they quickly began their ascent.

There were several steaming holes left in the walls and furniture as the lobby began to take on the look of a war zone. “If you keep busting the place up then we’re going to have to stop dodging your attacks,” Stafon smirked.

Meanwhile, Medaq had entered the Euphoria chamber to find Arabel with another slave he didn’t know and two guards present. “There’s been a change of plans; I’ll be taking Arabel with me.”

“We were given no such orders,” the first guard protested.

“You’re hearing them now.” Medaq raised his hands before opening both palms and firing energy beams directly at both guards. The men flew backward with painful grunts as holes opened up in their chests, killing them instantly. The loss was Tillman’s own fault, had he bothered to inform his men of Medaq’s intentions then he wouldn’t have had to kill them.

Arabel turned wide eyes from the steaming bodies of the dead guards back to Medaq. He heard when Mischa fell to the floor crying but could not be concerned about the younger man at this time. The scryer had come for him; but why?

“I will be reuniting you with your sister soon, you should be thanking me.”

Medaq’s indigo eyes held a cold glint that told Arabel he shouldn’t trust a word the scryer said. Yet, he was still obliged to ask the obvious. “What do you want with me?”

Suddenly, the doors to the room opened and Anata appeared escorted by Sesan. The red-haired scryer tossed her into her brothers’ arms and observed their reunion for the briefest of seconds.

“Prepare the portal,” Medaq began. “Where is Vonus?”

“He was keeping the intruders busy in the lobby, he should be here soon,” Sesan explained before getting to work on the portal spell.

Several levels below in the lobby the fight continued on. Vonus sent a blast towards Gillian who raised her hand creating a shield that deflected the scryer’s blast at the chandelier hanging in the ceiling.

Vonus was standing beneath the chandelier when it began to fall, his green eyes widened for a split second as he teleported away, barely escaping before he was struck.

Gillian created a shield large enough to encompass her team to prevent the bits of debris and sharp glass of the busted chandelier from striking them. Once the dust settled they glanced around and noticed that the scryer was no where to be seen.

“He’s gone,” Stafon stated the obvious.

“By the One, what was that all about?” Woen asked.

“Unless I missed my guess,” Gillian began. “He was simply a distraction. Anata is also gone.” Gillian closed her eyes for a moment as she attempted to ascertain the other woman’s whereabouts. Her eyes flew open instantly as she gazed up at what was left of the ceiling. “They’re attempting to escape; let’s go!”

The threesome teleported outside the door of the Euphoria chamber and realized that it was locked and they could not simply teleport inside; the room must also be shielded like the rest of the building was. “Stand aside,” Gillian said as she summoned her fire power to create a ball of flames. She made sure to temper the attack so that it would only dissolve the door and not harm the people beyond it. This took a bit longer than usual and doing so may have cost the team the extra few seconds they needed. After removing the obstacle the trio entered the room just in time to see the portal fade into nothingness.

Gillian noted the dead guards on the floor, along with a slender red-headed slave that sat naked in one corner of the room with his legs drawn up to his chest sobbing.

“Devo is not going to like this,” Woen muttered.

“D’ken will like it even less.” Gillian turned to leave but paused to look in Mischa’s direction. “Bring him, perhaps he may have a clue as to where they went.”

~*~

“You should have let me come with you,” Devo said as he rubbed his forehead. The distressing news his mother had just delivered upon their return to the ship had given him an unwavering headache.

“Perhaps I was wrong, but I’m not sure how you being there would have changed the outcome,” Gillian replied.

“He still doesn’t know…”

“Doesn’t know what?”

“Maybe Anata will have a chance to tell him. I need to make him aware that I wasn’t just using him,” Devo pressed his head against the cool metal wall. “He could be so infuriating at times; yet sitting though his ire was all worth it just to see him smile. I instigated the beginnings of a mind meld; I wanted him to meet my family. He seemed genuinely pleased; and he doesn’t even know that I’m a Prince. I never told him about my heritage. It started off that we were content to know as little about each other as possible. But then he began to open up and tell me about the things he’d been through, and I found I’d admired him even more. Perhaps if we hadn’t been separated, by now I would have told him the truth about me.”

As Gillian listened to her son talk about this young man she knew nothing about, she felt her heart clench with emotion. Devo’s apparent concern over the misunderstanding between him and Arabel was almost palpable. His admittance that Arabel could be frustrating at times yet all would be forgiven when he smiled was also very telling. Gillian was no psychic, but her bond with Devo allowed her to read him better than anyone else.

“You love him don’t you?”

Devo raised his head off the wall and turned around to lock eyes with Gillian. He hadn’t known how he was feeling until she finally said the words. He was sick with worry over Arabel’s welfare, and it was eating away at him the fact that his lover still believed he had betrayed him. He never thought he wouldn’t be given the opportunity to set things straight and as time passed, the situation would inevitably grow worse.

“When we first grew close, I was grateful to have him to help me get over the loss of being so far away from my friends and family. I certainly didn’t know what I was feeling then, but now I can’t imagine life without him.” Devo allowed his mother to pull him into her arms and hold him in her tight embrace.

“We’ll find him, I promise you.” Devo’s happiness was the most important thing to Gillian and if Arabel could bring that to him that she would do everything in her power to reunite them.

Devo broke the embrace to gaze into his mother’s eyes. “Does this mean that, you’ll convince father to allow us to stay longer?”

Gillian nodded, “I’ll do better than that; we’ll inform D’ken of our intentions as soon as we have a lead. We brought one of the young men back with us. He was in the room when the scryer’s escaped with the Cresh’s. I’m going to have Kenlan conduct a scan of his brain. The boy is so frightened I’m afraid it’s the only way we’ll learn anything from him; follow me.”

Gillian teleported to the recovery ward on the ship with Devo close behind. They found the slave lying unconscious on an operation table with Kenlan standing at his feet. Gillian sent a silent glance at the mystic which told him that they were ready to begin.

Gillian observed Kenlan who had pulled his silver blond hair into a queue at the nape of his neck. He wore an off-white robe shirt and black loose-fitting pants. She saw when he closed his silver eyes and held his hands over the red-headed slave. Gillian turned her attention to the boy and noticed that he had been clothed in a flowing white robe. Even beneath the plush material she could see how thin he was. Her memory of his naked form led her to wonder if the Cadence Palace practiced starving their slaves.

Devo observed the scene in silence being ever patient as Kenlan completed the spell that would allow him to see recent events in the slave’s life. Devo had no idea what to expect but he certainly knew that whatever the boy experienced within that brothel was not pretty.

Soon a blurry image began to coalesce above the boy’s prone form. It wavered in and out of reality before finally taking form. A scene of the red-head sitting in a padded white cell loomed above him. Devo saw when the door to the cell opened and a man dressed in the Cadence Palace guard uniform walked in.

“C’mon Mischa, time to prepare you for tonight,” The image of the guard said.

Devo saw as Kenlan’s now open eyes moved back and forth in a systematic fashion as he in essence fast forwarded the boy’s memories. It seemed he had delved too far into Mischa’s memories and overshot the one they were looking for. Devo saw when Mischa met up with Arabel in a large room with circular pads on the floor. “Wait,” Devo was curious to learn what was happening.

Kenlan paused the memory and glanced up at Devo. “We’re looking for one thing here, information as to the whereabouts of your missing new friends. To look at anything else would be a serious intrusion.”

Kenlan had paused the memory on an image of Arabel. Gillian gazed at the young man intently. He looked much like Anata, but the male version. He had the same expressive aquamarine eyes, the thick and sooty lashes, the tall, pointed ears and the very alluring dusky complexion. So, this was the young man her son had fallen in love with. He certainly had the looks to draw an attraction, he was downright breathtaking. However, Devo had been pursued by beautiful people in the past but they had never caught his fancy. There was obviously something unique about this Arabel other than his good looks that had drawn Devo to him.

“I’m sorry, you may continue,” Devo stated. He stared at the images that now began to fly by at a horrendous speed. Although he could not see exactly what was happening, it wasn’t hard to figure out that Arabel and Mischa had serviced a client together than night. And after their separate sessions, Arabel had been taken non-too gently by two guards before he was returned to his cell.

Gillian saw when a muscle flexed in Devo’s jaw as he clenched his right fist into a ball. She wasn’t surprised at what she was witnessing in this boy’s memories. When Devo had told her that the one he wished to rescue resided in a male brothel, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what he was doing there.

It took several minutes but eventually Kenlan was able to jump to the scene right before the Scryer’s escaped through the portal with the Cresh’s. Gillian saw when Medaq killed the two guards before informing Arabel that he was coming with them. After Anata and Arabel were taken through the portal by the red-head and green-haired scryer, she saw the one called Medaq turn to Mischa and spoke quietly.

“We’ll be on Tolatria, come and find us if you dare!”

After the images faded, Gillian turned to the men in the room and said, “It’s almost as if he’s issuing a challenge to us.”

“Either he’s a fool or perhaps you did not make a great enough impression on him,” Kenlan began. He glanced at Mischa before continuing, “What about this one?”

“He’s free of that hell-hole, we should take him to a place of his own desires,” Devo suggested.

Gillian glanced at Devo; she knew her son was aware that they were not there to free the slaves of the whorehouse. If they stopped to do every good deed that was required on this mission it would take forever to complete. Instead, Gillian was certain that because of Mischa’s connection to Arabel, however skewed a connection was the reason he wanted the young man to be safe in return. She had no problem with that; in fact she was so pleased that her son had found love that she would move mountains for him to ensure that he’d be happy.

Suddenly, a bright light began to illuminate the entire room. Gillian’s eyes widened as he recognized the presence of a great being she knew only too well. She closed her eyes and quickly teleported from the room.

“The ONE,” Devo gasped. “What is it doing here?”

Kenlan closed his eyes and concentrated for a few seconds. “She’s outside the ship; the One’s aura has encompassed her.” He opened his eyes and saw the look of concern on Devo’s face. “She’s safe; I think the One is only here to deliver a message.

“I don’t understand,” Arabel stated.

“Be patient, all will be revealed soon.”

What had they done that would cause the One to pay them a visit? Devo didn’t like the situation one bit, and although Gillian was only gone a few minutes it felt like hours had gone by before she finally re-appeared in the room.

“Mother, what did the One want?”

Gillian was silent for a few moments as she glanced from Devo to Kenlan and back. “I’ve been informed that I must leave this galaxy immediately,” Gillian explained calmly.

Devo couldn’t help the frown that marred his beautiful features. “Mother, I can not leave without Arabel.”

“The One never said anything about you, or Kenlan, Woen and Stafon. They will remain to help you complete your mission. As for me, I must depart at once. My presence here seems to be causing adverse affects on Andrenon’s cosmos,” Gillian explained

“It’s reacting to the presence of a foreign and extremely powerful entity within this galaxy. It senses a threat to the balance of power,” Kenlan surmised.

“Believe me, I don’t want to be leaving you, but the One also feels that this will be a good lesson in maturity for you. Also, since you’ll be in the hands of three men I trust with my life, this will grant me some peace of mind.”

Devo closed the distance between him and Gillian and hugged her in a strong embrace. When he finally let her go he locked his golden eyes with hers and whispered, “Thank you.”

Gillian nodded and squeezed his hands tightly before turning to Kenlan. “Prepare the portal, I will inform the others.” Gillian sent a silent thought to Devo before teleporting out of the room. // Remember, when you fight that Scryer again; don’t hold back.//

// Understood.//