The Deian War: Conquest (35 page)

   “He claims to be your brother, my Lord”.

   The words startled Hydra back into
genuine interest. “…Grant him access to land, whichever way he chooses, and do it immediately”.

A FEW MINUTES LATER, the
Nimerian
arrived in the Aurora Sector with a distinct flare. It was in no hurry to disguise its approach to Hydron, though the naval defences of the fortress world automatically locked on and demanded the proper security codes. Vita gave the authenticating response immediately, wasting no time in ensuring the ship’s permitted access to the world’s orbit.

   Valkyrie was busy searching the view screens of the bridge for any sign of something that would confirm her apocalyptic vision. After numerous passes and confirmation from Basilius that there were no Phantoms present, she breathed a sig
h of relief that the danger at least seemed distant. They still had time.

   She turned to Vita. “Put the ship at anchor, Captain. I will descend to the surface when
the protocols are cleared properly.”

   “Yes, my Grace” Vita answered.

   Valkyrie, satisfied that Hydron was safe for the time being, couldn’t help but look at the view screens and gaze at the brilliance of the world. She could see the lone continent that the fortress covered without magnification even from this distance, though she suspected that was partly down to her attuned senses.

Her eyes naturally tracked over t
he screens from left to right. On one, she thought she saw something she did not expect. Wordlessly, she backtracked her search and found it again. She took a few steps closer to the screen, but she realised that wasn’t going to help her identify what it was. “Basilius magnify that screen for me” she pointed.

   A second later, the dot that she had a hunch about was enlarged tenfold. Its form was resolved to be a Blackstar, one long thought destroyed and lost to the enemy. Around it was an entire fleet that was supposed to have shared the same fate, but now the evidence was to the contrary and it was not for a moment a relieving moment.

   “I know those ships…” Valkyrie muttered.

   Then, making her feel stupid and naive,
a terrible realisation dawned on her. “Get me a Stormfalcon, someone -
anyone
, now!”

   Vita and Basilius shared an uneasy look. Why should the Apostle become so unsettled by the sight of allied vessels? What had she seen that they
hadn’t?

   “My Grace, we can’t make a landing until we have cleared the next set of authorisation protoc-
” Basilius began.

   “
Vecq
that! If we wait any longer, it’ll be too late” Valkyrie yelled in dismay, storming off the bridge to the hangar where she would pilot a Stormfalcon herself, whether it was ready for her or not.

HYDRA COULD HEAR a sound that he both missed and dreaded to be hearing once more. It belonged to someone he didn’t know whether to mourn or hope to see again. It came from the end of the room, from beyond a bay door that had been installed to allow access to a being that was so large and unique that it could arrive into the centre of the Hydra’s House without challenge.

   The noise of the distinctive wing-beat resounded against the vast aperture and before he knew what he was doing, Hydra activ
ated the controls and allowed it to open. Beyond it was the deep darkness of the tunnel that was carved from the surface through the mile of rock to the room he now stood in. The decision to create what many thought of as a structural weakness had been easy for him; he had a brother that loved his form and if the rest of his fortress was capacious, why couldn’t it accommodate every kind of Apostle no matter what form they took? Strangely, however, he had fashioned it for the brother that had just left for another world. The one that was coming now was unexpected.

  
Despite its flawed existence, the tunnel could be collapsed if it ever proved to be a vulnerable spot were the enemy ever to assault the bastion and discover the flaw. Somehow, though, Hydra felt like that was exactly what was about to happen. The wing beats were slowing now, as if to control the speed and arrival of his guest, but he knew it wouldn’t diminish their arrival or make it any less impressive.

   Presaged by a rush of hot air and with the sound of thunder,
a beast from human myth and legend landed in front of Hydra with his wings spread out in a show of strength, power and fiery rage.

“
Samael…” Hydra said aloud, forcing himself to say the name to help accept his brother really had come back.

   “Hydra, it’s been too long
…” Samael replied as he changed form. As a human he was no less intimidating, but he was easier to understand and communicate with. Nonetheless, Hydra could make little sense of what was happening. He had so many questions to ask.

   “Where have you been, Samael?”
was the most obvious.

   His brother smiled at him and took a seat
at the table that both of them knew he didn’t belong at anymore. He gestured for Hydra to join him, who refused, and went on to tell of his exploits across the stars and how it came to be that he was still alive.

“YOU…YOU DID
what
?” Hydra asked, stunned by what he had just heard.

   “You heard me, brother. I’ve ended this war; I’ve saved us
and
our legions. Who else can say the same? The Lion? I think not, no. We need not fight, not to our deaths, not for them
…
” Dragon said straight-faced, as though he hadn’t just revealed a betrayal of unthinkable depth.

   “What do you mean
them
?” Hydra breathed. “Oh fates, he was right…”

   “Who was? The Fool?” Samael spat.

   Hydra was plainly offended. “His name is the Lion, but yes. He always said arrogance would get the better of you. You just don’t get it, do you? We were human before all this, so we’re no better than them; we didn’t become what we are by our own doing! We are not
gods
!”

   “That’s where you’re wrong, all of you!
” Samael bellowed. “Who else can do what we can?
Who
? Was it not a goddess who gave us all of her spirit, who gave us these powers? We’re not human
anymore
. We haven’t been since the war began and yet here you are…”

He glared
in irony at Hydra like he was the malign force in the room instead of him. “You actually think we can save them, don’t you? Do you really think I would have given Invidius the fleets he asked for if I thought we could be victorious?”

   Hydra said nothing. He didn’t even react to Samael using the dark god’s real name; so much was the feeling of shock and horror overwhelming him. Instead he
finally sat down, sunk in his chair and put his head in his hands. “You stupid, stupid bastard; you’ve doomed us all…”

   “Doomed us? I’ve
saved
us. I did this for all of us, all the Apostles…Don’t you realise what we’re capable of? We should be ruling our own planets, our own creations, not fighting to protect a miserable mistake of one!” Samael bit back.

   Hydra was outraged by his brother’s arrogance. He stood up like a thunderbolt, his chair flying back by the force of the gesture and breaking apart against the
stone chamber wall. “That is
not
our purpose! If that was our destiny, we would have been born as gods, not changed by one…Our purpose isn’t to rule! It’s to serve, protect and defend. You think you’ve sealed a deal with the enemy for giving Him a fleet to destroy the humans? You really believe He’s going to spare us and our legions if we do nothing to stand in His way? You really are naive…”

   Samael burst into mocking laughter. “
Me
, naive? How can you stand there, thinking we honestly had a chance of defeating a real
god
? That’s what you all seem to forget – we’re Apostles, none of us are the equal of a god…How can we defeat something that has mastery over creation? We are fickle corn to His sickle, and you’re all going to die pointless-”

   “NO! We are a match together, that was the point
. That’s why Vermillion Blessed the twelve of us together and not just one. She knew if She gave everything She had to just one of us we would become so tainted by power we’d become the Great Enemy ourselves and She couldn’t do that to Ourellius, or to our race. Now you’ve given Him the advantage in a war we were already hard pressed to survive! You failed Her and us, Samael. You’re a disgrace to the Apostles, let alone Mankind!”

   Breathing impetuously,
Samael began to fire up. “I will not stand by and pretend to care for a race that has shown us nothing but disrespect and ingratitude! We are their rightful leaders; they should be serving us, not us serving them.

The human race is weak and pathetic. Clearly Vermillion realised they couldn’t survive on their own…what does that show about their worth? They will hide in fear like the cowards they are and while we die on the battlefield, none of them will care until they start to die too! They are the disgrace; I feel nothing for them…”

   Hydra couldn’t take any more. “You were once a brother to me Samael…but no more…The Lion will have to see to you; I cannot stand your stench or your atrocious face anymore. I am sickened by the monster you’ve become”.

“You dare call me a monster after what you’ve been doing?” Samael roared. Hydra felt paralysed by what his brother must have known. “Does the Lion know what you’ve been doing with the humans? Because I do!”

Despite his own shame, Hydra refused to allow Samael to make him out as the evil one. He turned to his legionary commander, who had by now understood what was going on and stepped into the room careless of privacy he knew they had wanted before. “Tiberius, take this…
thing
…into custody and chain him so tight he can’t move.”

   Before
Tiberius could call in support and take the traitor-Apostle away, Samael bellowed in defiance and took his form with a speed Hydra thought impossible. Beating his stretching wings, he snarled in deadly challenge. His nostrils flared and flame appeared around his jaws. Without further warning he opened his mouth and sent a jet of fire aimed to engulf his brother.

   Yet, as fast as the attack
was, the flame never reached its target and Hydra stood there surprised behind a shimmering shield of energy. Walking down the stairs to the hall and to the fore of the confrontation, a woman armoured in blue and gold focused her strength on protecting her loyalist brother.

  
“I suggest you back down Samael or I will be forced to strike, and you and I both know which of us would slay the other…” Valkyrie threatened with eerie calmness.

   The Dragon yielded his
attack and looked down upon his former comrades. He grimaced with contempt and before another word could be spoken, he took flight through the cavity behind him and escaped from the Hydra’s House.

   “My Lord, should I order the gun bat
teries to fire?” Tiberius asked without delay. Valkyrie glanced at him, knowing what answer she would give in her brother’s place, but turned back and joined Hydra’s side in pensive silence.

   Looking
into the abyss of the chasm, Hydra expected to feel rage or fury, but instead he felt only heart-breaking remorse for his fallen brother. “No, Tiberius, don’t. His fate is up to the Lion now, as is all of ours”.

About the Author:

Thomas Trehearn is a young, creative author living in London, England. He has a degree in Psychology, but has chosen to go into retail management - crazy, huh? He has been working on this book series for over five years. He is terribly excited to at last unleash it on the public!

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