Chapter 16
ZAR’RYN SAT in the pilot’s seat, his sharp amethyst gaze fixed on the streaks of starlight that blurred past the viewport. The ship’s engines hummed softly beneath his feet, asteady rhythm that mirrored his own tightly controlled focus. The navigation system displayed their trajectory toward a neutral base on the outer rim of Vettian space—awaypoint he’d chosen to regroup and plan their next steps.
His hands gripped the controls with precision, though his mind wandered. The events of the past days replayed in fragmented bursts—the battle, the escape, the bond. Always the bond. It hummed at the edge of his awareness, aquiet but insistent presence that refused to be ignored.
Beside him, Elara sat at the co-pilot’s station, her head bent over the bracelet controller. Her lips pursed in concentration, and a faint furrow creased her brow as her fingers worked over the device. She had insisted on taking the controller apart, determined to understand its function. Zar’Ryn had relented, though his instincts screamed a warning should something go wrong with the device.
“You’re quiet,” Elara said, her voice cutting through the steady hum of the ship. She didn’t look up, her attention still fixed on the controller.
“I am focused,” Zar’Ryn replied, his tone clipped. “We are heading toward the neutral base as planned. Ineed to ensure we get there in one piece.”
She glanced up briefly, her dark eyes flickering with curiosity. “You’re always focused.”
“It is how I have survived this long,” he said simply.
A faint smile tugged at her lips, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Well, I’m trying to make sure we survive, too. This controller could give us answers about the bracelets—maybe even a way to turn them off.”
Zar’Ryn’s jaw tightened at the thought. The bracelets had been an unrelenting complication, an intrusion into his carefully disciplined life. And yet, the idea of severing the bond filled him with an unease he couldn’t quite name. It made no sense since he wanted the bracelets removed. He didn’t respond, and the silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken tension.
Elara sighed, setting the controller down on the console. “Do you ever let yourself relax?”
“No,” he said bluntly. “Relaxation is a luxury I cannot afford.”
Her lips compressed, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she picked up the controller again, her fingers deftly adjusting the various settings. “Well, maybe if we figure out what these bracelets really are, you’ll have one less thing to worry about.”
Zar’Ryn didn’t reply. His attention remained on the viewport, but he couldn’t ignore the way their connection seemed to pulse faintly in response to her words. For all his training and discipline, he couldn’t deny that Elara had a way of unsettling him—not through her defiance or her questions, but through the quiet strength that seemed to radiate from her even in the face of uncertainty.
“We will reach the base soon,” he said finally, his voice low. “Once we are there, we can decide our next move.”
Elara didn’t respond immediately. She adjusted another setting on the controller, her expression intent. Then she glanced up at him, her gaze searching. “And what happens if we don’t figure this out? If the bracelets stay on forever?”
His hands tightened on the controls, and he hesitated before answering. “Then we adapt. We survive. That is all we can do.”
Her gaze lingered on him for a moment before she nodded, her attention returning to the controller. “I guess we’ll see.”
The quiet hum of the ship was broken by a sudden, sharp pulse. Zar’Ryn felt it first—ajolt from the bracelet on his wrist, like a static shock but deeper, resonating through his bones. He froze, his hands tightening on the controls as the pulse spread through his arm and into his chest. Asecond later, Elara let out a startledgasp.
“What—” she began, but her words cut off as another pulse rippled through the cabin.
The bracelets on both their wrists glowed, the intricate designs etched into the metal lighting up with a faint, otherworldly energy. The hum of the ship seemed to deepen, syncing with the rhythmic pulse of the bracelets.
Zar’Ryn’s instincts screamed danger and every part of him went on alert. He turned toward Elara, his voice sharp. “What did you do?”
“I—Idon’t know!” she stammered, her hands hovering over the controller. Her eyes were wide, darting between the device and the glowing bracelet on her wrist. “I was adjusting the settings, and then—this happened!”
Before Zar’Ryn could respond, the ship’s navigation system flickered. The trajectory display blurred, the coordinates shifting erratically. Anew course appeared on the screen, one that neither of them had entered.
“What is this?” Zar’Ryn demanded, his voice a growl as he tried to override the system. His fingers flew over the controls, but the ship refused to respond. “The system is locked. Icannot change our course.”
Elara leaned closer, her breathing quick and uneven. “It’s the bracelets,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “They’re doing this. Idon’t know how, but… they’re pulling us somewhere.”
The pull grew stronger, an unrelenting force that settled deep in their chests. Zar’Ryn gritted his teeth, his body rigid as he fought against the instinct to surrender to it. It wasn’t just a physical sensation—it was a compulsion, aneed so fierce it made his muscles tremble.
“We have to fight it,” he said, though his voice lacked conviction. His grip on the controls tightened, his knuckles turning white as he tried to wrest control of the ship. But it was futile. The pull was too strong.
Elara clutched the armrests of her seat, her face pale. “I don’t think we can,” she said, her voice trembling. “It’s not just the ship. It’s us. The bond… it’s driving this.”
The glowing patterns on the bracelets pulsed in unison, the light growing brighter with each beat. The pull became unbearable, aforce that demanded obedience. Zar’Ryn’s resistance wavered, his body betraying him as his hands moved to adjust the ship’s settings. The ship’s engines roared, accelerating as it veered off its original course and toward an unknown destination.
“Zar’Ryn…” Elara’s voice was laced with fear and awe as she stared out the viewport. “Where are we going?”
“I do not know,” he admitted, his tonegrim.
An endless time passed. Time stretched and blurred, the silence pressing in like the weight of an unseen force. Every breath felt heavier, each second elongated by the quiet dread curling in Zar’Ryn’s belly. The ship drifted through the void, its course dictated by something beyond their control, beyond his reach. The hum of the engines had become a distant murmur, barely distinguishable from the pounding of his own pulse. Then, without warning, gravity tookhold.
The ship shuddered as it descended, its hull groaning in protest against the gravitational pull of the planet. Outside the viewport, the barren landscape stretched endlessly, jagged and dark, illuminated by faint, flickering lights scattered across the surface. The lights pulsed in a rhythm that mirrored the glow of the bracelets, asilent, eerie synchronization that set Elara’s nerves onedge.
“What kind of place is this?” she whispered, her breath fogging the glass as she leaned closer.
Zar’Ryn didn’t answer immediately. His focus remained on the controls as he guided the ship through the atmosphere, his jaw tight with concentration. “Uncharted,” he said finally. “It is not on any map I have seen.”
The ship’s sensors blared a warning, and Zar’Ryn’s gaze flicked to the console. “We are being scanned,” he muttered. His fingers danced over the controls, attempting to block the intrusion, but the system resisted. “I cannot override it. Something has locked onto us.”
A beam of light shot up from the planet’s surface, encasing the ship in a glowing cocoon. The vessel lurched, its engines powering down as the beam pulled it steadily downward. Zar’Ryn’s grip tightened on the controls, but the ship was unresponsive.
“We’re being dragged in!” Elara’s voice rose in alarm, her hands gripping the edges of her seat. “What do we do?”
“Hold on,” Zar’Ryn growled, his gaze locked on the viewport as the planet’s surface rushed closer. The ship descended through a dense layer of mist before breaking through into a vast underground cavern. The beam released them gently onto a smooth, illuminated platform.
For a moment, the ship’s interior was silent, save for the faint pulsing of the bracelets. Zar’Ryn glanced at Elara, her wide eyes reflecting his own unease. “Are you all right?”
She nodded slowly, her voice trembling. “I think so. What just happened?”
Before Zar’Ryn could answer, the cavern around them began to shift. Bioluminescent veins of light spread across the walls and ceiling, casting the space in a soft, ethereal glow. Faint tones filled the air, almost musical, and a shimmering dome materialized around the platform, creating a breathable atmosphere.
“The air is changing,” Zar’Ryn noted, checking the ship’s sensors. “It is safe to exit.”
He hesitated for only a moment before he unstrapped himself and stood. He glanced at Elara, who was still gripping the armrests of her seat, her face pale but determined. “Stay close,” he said, his voice firm but calm. “We do not know what is out there.”
Elara nodded, swallowing hard as she rose shakily to her feet. The bracelets on their wrists pulsed steadily, the glow almost imperceptible in the ambient light of the cavern, but enough to remind them of their constant connection. She followed Zar’Ryn to the ship’s hatch, her steps hesitant yet steady.
The moment the hatch opened, arush of cool, breathable air washed over them, carrying a faint, metallic tang that lingered in the back of their throats. Zar’Ryn descended first, his movements controlled and deliberate, his sharp gaze scanning the platform for any signs of danger. Elara followed, her eyes darting nervously around the cavern.
The space was enormous, the ceiling towering above them and dotted with clusters of glowing, bioluminescent formations. The platform they stood on was smooth and metallic, its surface etched with intricate designs that glowed faintly under their feet. The light seemed to flow through the patterns, creating a path that stretched away from the ship into the cavern’s depths.
“Are those… guiding us?” Elara asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Zar’Ryn’s jaw tightened as he studied the glowing path. “It appears so. We are being directed on purpose, not by chance.”
The rhythm of the bracelets grew slightly louder as they stepped off the platform, their footsteps echoing softly in the stillness. The path ahead of them illuminated with each step, the lights flaring briefly before dimming as they moved forward.
Elara glanced upward, her gaze tracing the shimmering veins of light that ran along the cavern’s walls. “This place… It feels alive,” she murmured.
“It is not alive,” Zar’Ryn said, his tone edged with skepticism. “It is ancient technology. Advanced, but controlled.”
“Do you think it’s connected to the bracelets?” she asked, her voice tinged with both awe and apprehension.
“Everything so far points to that conclusion,” he replied, his voice grim. “But whether it is an ally or a trap remains to be seen.”
The path led them to a wide archway, its edges carved with intricate, glowing symbols that seemed to pulse in time with their bracelets. Beyond the archway lay a massive chamber, its walls covered in smooth, reflective panels interspersed with crystalline structures that glimmered faintly.
As they stepped through the archway, the chamber came alive. Lights flared to life, illuminating the space in a warm, golden glow. More melodic tones filled the air, resonating through their bodies and the bond, as though the cavern itself was acknowledging their presence.
Zar’Ryn’s instincts flared, and he stepped in front of Elara, his hand hovering near the hilt of his blade. “Stay behind me.”
Elara nodded, though her curiosity outweighed her fear as she gazed around the chamber. In the center of the room, araised platform shimmered, its surface covered in the same glowing patterns that marked the floor. As they approached, the bracelets on their wrists pulsed again, brighter and more insistent.
The platform emitted a sharp chime, and a beam of light shot down from the ceiling, sweeping over them. The light felt warm and tingling, like a thousand tiny threads brushing against their skin. It scanned them from head to toe, leaving a faint glow in its wake before retracting.
“What was that?” Elara asked, her voice shaky.
“An analysis,” Zar’Ryn said tersely. “It is gathering information about us.”
Before Elara could respond, the platform emitted another chime, and a hologram flickered into existence above it. The image wavered for a moment before solidifying into the form of a woman.