The Deian War: Conquest (9 page)

   “You still don’t see it, do you?” she asked.

   Raina turned her head. Her rich cream battle-skirt wavered in the slight wind, but it was her deep blue eyes that transfixed Gaia. “See
what
?” she pretended not to know.

  
Gaia’s lips twitched in annoyance that Raina would still feign ignorance after all this time. It had been blindingly obvious from the start that she held a grudge against Lupus, yet now she acted as though she was innocent. “They belong together and there’s nothing you or any of us can do about it; nor should it be the case”.

   At this, Raina turned her at
tention back to the legionnaire trying to dismiss the topic, but Gaia continued. “When they’re together, he’s stronger and so is she.”

   “They distract each other!” Raina snapped, her eyes scolding
and her tone acidic. “How do you think the Corruption starts, Gaia?”

   Gaia held her ground, unshakeable
in the face of Raina’s unjustified wrath. She had fought alongside the two Apostles for long enough to never doubt their union. “Not from
love
, not their emotion! The enemy is duplicitous and evil, Raina. The creature Lupus faced two days ago could have planted the seed if it wasn’t there before from his personal hatred of the Phantoms.”

“Why should his hatred be any greater than ours?” Raina asked in disbelief.

Gaia held her gaze, unblinking. “Because he saw the Auranair sacrifice Herself, an act that would never have been necessary if the Phantoms didn’t exist. Besides that, there are a dozen other reasons why it has taken its toll on him now, but
none
of them is his love for Calla”.

   “Everyone knows the emotion he bears for her is deeper
and purer than any other he has, I won’t deny that…” Raina admitted. “But what, then, is a likelier cause for what’s happening to him?”

  
Gaia shook her head in exasperation and rolled her eyes. Raina was beyond stubborn. “How often must I explain it? He and he
alone
saw Vermillion die. Have you not considered the consequence of that? For all any of us know, his heart has been his weakness since the Blessing. Perhaps that’s the point, Raina. He’s invulnerable on the outside, so nature makes up for that by crippling him from the inside when those he cares about suffer.”

   Despite
the spirit of Gaia’s argument, Raina didn’t miss the flaw. “You chastise me for not seeing what’s there when you fail to see the other connections! You say he’s weakened when those close to him are hurt?” She waited for the pin to drop, but quickly got impatient. “
How
then is it wise to have Calla around him at all times? This is
war
, Gaia, people get hurt!”

   This time, Gaia turned away. “
Get to your real point, Raina…” she said bitterly.

   Surprisingly, Raina sighed heav
ily with regret. She knew her sister loved Lupus dearly, perhaps more than anything, but if she was the only one that could acknowledge the reality then so be it. “The more they stay together, the more vulnerable both of them become. Gaia, if they continue to fight this war together, they will die together”.

   Gaia began to cry with frustration, her reason tempting her to accept Raina’s words but her heart and soul begging her to deny them.
Could it be any more fitting if that was their fate? It was morbid, but forever entwined as it should be.

Gaia
gave her Raina last look before she replied, “And if they are broken apart, they will die all the sooner.”

   
She waited to see if her own words got through, but all she could see on her face was grim determination and conviction. Yet, Raina issued no further disagreement or challenge.
What do you want them to do, Raina? Do you want them to be apart and die alone? Is that the fate you would choose for them; would you deny their union even if it meant their peril was shared so they could be together as long as nature intends?
Gaia wanted to ask her all of those questions, but instead she said nothing and walked away.

As her steps took her forward, she felt the tiniest presence in her mind and realised Raina had read her thoughts against her wishes. She cursed her psychic sister for her abilities and resigned herself to always watch her own mind from that moment on.

“WHAT DID YOU mean?”
Calla asked him as he started to rise up from the bed. At first he struggled, almost to the point of embarrassment, so he made himself content to just sit upright for the time being. When he didn’t answer her question after a while, she prompted him. “When you said it made sense why you woke up…what did you mean?”

   Lupus scratched his head and rubbed his eyes. The fatigue that he had endured was quickly fading, but he still
felt more human than demi-god. Eventually realised he hadn’t replied to her question for a second time.

“I think you were right about the Corruption” he began. He held her gaze as he
continued, “I’m
feeling
things more than I used to, Calla. Hatred as well as love, rage as much as passion. That Phantom…
thing
…whatever it was, it got to me. It knew exactly what to say and what would provoke my ire. That, and seeing you hurt, exposed a vulnerability I’ve always known I had.”

   She tried to protest, knowing that for him to admit weakness took a courage that she could not have mustered herself, but he didn’t allow it. “It’s true. I may be strong on the outside, but perhaps it stops there. I need to watch my emotions…keep them in check,
lest they become the end of me. Though, I can’t promise I’ll feel any less for you” he smiled at her.

   She cupped his cheeks in her hands, “
You are a noble man Lupus, not a Corrupt…”

  He kissed her palms and took her hands away, clasping them in his. “When I was weakened, my body defended itself by shutting down into unconsciousness. It was the only way to prevent my conscious emotions from ruling me
and letting the hate I felt become my constant state. I only awoke today because I sensed Raina’s presence in the room and that…well, it tipped the balance of things”.

   When Calla looked worried, he knew she had misunderstood his meaning. “I don’t mean
for reasons like
that
” he reassured her, rising out of bed slowly so that he could kiss her softly on the lips. “Don’t ever think that anyone comes above you; that could never happen”.

  
He kissed her on the tip of her nose and his heart sang to see warmth return to her eyes. “I care for your sister as though she were my own. I will protect her with my life if needs be, because despite the venom she keeps for me, she is precious to you. Her being here made you a little stronger and that in turn helped me. Anything that weakens you weakens me also, but anything that makes you happy or stronger…just that makes me more than I can ever be alone”.

  
She was honoured to hear that, but she felt like he was belittling his own worth. “Lupus I love you with all my heart, but you were the Lion
before
you met me. It was you who saved
me
…not the other way round. You have strength in here
and
here” she told him, tapping his chest where his heart would be and his temple where his great mind was hidden.

   He laughed affectionately at her
insistence at being the one who was right in the matter. “Then perhaps saving you is what saves me” he allowed. She gave no answer, instead nestling her head onto his chest. He embraced her in his arms and held her like he would never let her go.

   But war had a way of changing things, and after a few long moments she finally spoke again. “Raina told me she has returned because she has news. I haven’t heard it yet; I was afraid to leave you even
to listen to her”.

   He let her go and looked into her eyes. “Well,
I’m on my feet again…” he told her. “Let us discover what she knows. Perhaps the Senate have rallied against the Governor’s decision after all”.

   Calla shared his optimism, but her realism argued otherwise.

TEN MINUTES LATER
, the tent was filled again with the four Apostles. The Commanders of their respective legions were also there with them; Sabre of the 617th, Chana of the 10th, Ria of the 505th and Severus of the 402nd. They stood alongside their Apostles, who themselves stood in a ring around a device that Raina had laid on the floor.

   She brought her left arm up and pressed a series of buttons that were inlaid to her armour. A second later, a hologram of Gothica and its surrounding provinces appeared floating mid-air in the centre of the group. There was a sizeable group of Gothican vessels joining the picture, but
their presence of little surprise to any of them.

   Lupus, now dressed in his armour again, was the first to speak. “What are you showing us that we don’t already know?” he asked, referring to the
picture of Gothican military in the Meridian system.

   Raina fought back a scowl. “Wait a second and you’ll see” she said. “This was the state of the Gothican military strength at their ho
me planet when Pheia fell” she indicated the hologram’s current state. “This is their numbers now” she added as it changed.

   When she clicked another few buttons on her wrist guard, five times the number of vessels were now floating about between the various worlds on display.
Of particular interest, Gothica itself was surrounded with a protective web of ships and defence stations, more than there ever had been. She could see the shocked looks on everyone’s faces, bar that of Severus. The Commander of her legion already knew all of this having been with her over the last year on the reconnaissance mission the Lion had sent them on. To her grievance, Lupus kept a blank expression, ever the master of his own face.

   “Why are they doing this?” Ria asked. Though she was a Commander, she felt no reservation in breaching what had so far only been a conversation between Apostles.

   Raina gave her an indifferent look. She had never fought alongside the 505th legionnaire before, so she had no grounded judgement to make of her character. “The Dawntreader operatives report the Senate has declared the human Empire ready and willing to partake in the Deian War” she replied matter-of-factly.

   “That
cannot be allowed” Gaia replied immediately, a frown on her face and her arms crossed in evident concern. “We forbade it”.

   Raina felt like laughing, but this was no time for levity. “It appears our status counts for little after Pheia. The Senate have the support of every Sector. The humans are even
demanding
that they fight. We cannot prevent this now. We can only hope to direct their strategies to some effective and meaningful end.”

   “
…But they’re
not
ready” Chana argued.

   “They seem to think they are” Severus countered.

   “They are ignorant of the danger even a single battle would do to their collective psyche. We must stop them” Ria added.

   Lupus stood and watched the legionnaires argue, agreeing with the view that the Gothicans were making a mistake, but he knew that
unfortunately Raina was right. There was little they could do now to persuade the Senate from war. They had lost the Empire’s respect.

“No, Valkyr
ie is right” he cut through the Guardians’ debate, using Raina’s Apostolic name in the presence of the Guardians to instil her authority amongst them. “We cannot prevent them entering the Deian War now. Some may even argue it would be wrong for us to try. We promised them salvation, but our failure at the Frontier has earned us their mistrust; perhaps rightfully so.”

   He rubbed his chin in thought while everyone waited for him to continue. As First Apostle, he was in command. Even Raina, who begrudged his position, recognised that fact. Yet it was
actually Calla who questioned him. “What can we do then? What must we do?”

   “We go to
the Senate in person. No stealth, no tricks. We go openly and with honesty” he answered. “If we cannot persuade them out of this direction, we must convince them to let us at least advise their moves. It is our duty to make them understand the forces we are all up against. Once they have heard us, it is their own free will that must guide them”.

    Calla nodded in agreement, but Raina had something
else to say. “It won’t be that easy; the Three Sister sectors of the Shield are nearing completion. You won’t get through
unless
you use stealth”.

   Lupus considered that for a moment. He chose
, however, to stay true to his original intentions. “If we evade that line of defence, we will earn nothing but further suspicion from the Senate. No, we must go through their security protocols. Besides, I think it best to understand what they have built by seeing it up-close and without fear of being found out as spies.”

  
The room was silent until Gaia spoke. “Who will attend you?” They already all knew the answer, but it had to be voiced.