7. Naeris #2
The briefing room was dominated by a massive holographic display hovering above a central table.
A detailed 3D image of Earth rotated slowly, continents and oceans glowing softly.
Ella stood beside it, fingers moving through the air as she manipulated the projection.
Red dots lit up across the globe scattered across deserts, mountains, and coastal regions.
I stepped inside. All eyes turned toward me.
Ashley gave me a nod. “Ah, Naeris. Good timing.”
Ella kept moving the hologram, zooming in on one of the red markers.
“These red dots are the oldest excavation sites we’ve found so far, places where human history already gets…
fuzzy. G?bekli Tepe, the submerged structures off India, and a few sites in the Amazon that don’t match any known timeline. ”
Nadine shook her head, arms crossed. “I keep telling her that whatever we’re looking for is much older than that.”
I moved closer to the table, studying the glowing map. The pull in my chest sharpened the moment I felt Thyros’ presence. He stood on the far side of the hologram, arms folded, watching me with that same intense, burning focus that made my skin feel too tight.
Ashley looked at me directly. “Do you have any idea how long ago the Sythari came and took humans?”
I hesitated only a moment. This much, at least, was safe to share.
“I was born into the 100,000th generation of the Prime Luminae line,” I announced evenly.
The room went very still. Ella’s hand froze mid-gesture. Nadine’s eyes widened. Ashley let out a low whistle. The males, however, didn't seem impressed.
Ella finally found her voice. “One hundred thousand generations…? How many years is that on Earth?”
I did the mental math the rebels had taught me. “Roughly two and a half million Earth years. Maybe a little more, depending on how the Sythari measured time during the early harvests.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
Ella stared at the rotating Earth as if it had personally betrayed her.
“That means… there was an advanced civilization on Earth two and a half million years ago? Not just hunter-gatherers. Something sophisticated enough for the Sythari to consider us valuable.”
Nadine leaned forward, eyes bright with scientific hunger. “And they’ve been taking people that entire time? Breeding programs spanning millions of years?”
I shook my head. “No, they stopped harvesting directly once they nearly extinguished the gene pool they were looking for. They stole entire bloodlines. Cultivated them. Turned us into living oracles and breeding stock.”
Ashley rubbed her temple. “Holy shit. No wonder the scientific community on Earth never found anything. They were looking in the wrong time frame by a couple million years.”
Ella zoomed the hologram out again, staring at the planet like she was seeing it for the first time. “If your people were taken that far back… then whatever Caelor and Ashera left behind on Earth could be buried under layers we’ve never even thought to dig through.”
Thyros’ gaze on me felt heavier now, almost reverent. Like my words had confirmed something he’d already suspected. The golden thread between us pulled tighter, insistent and warm.
I ignored it. Or tried to. Because the truth was settling over all of us like a shroud: Whatever secrets Earth held, they were far older—and far more dangerous—than any of us had imagined.
I watched the reactions ripple across the room like aftershocks.
Ella’s hand froze mid-gesture above the holovid.
Nadine’s sharp astrophysicist eyes widened with pure scientific hunger.
Ashley let out a low whistle. Even Zapharos and Dravok exchanged a rare, startled glance.
But it was Xandros who drew my full attention.
The Superior Commander of the Imperial Forces leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, a smug tilt curling his lips. “Two and a half million years? Impressive for a species still using chemical propulsion and primitive projectile weapons.”
Heat flared in my chest. I lifted my chin, refusing to let the arrogant bastard rile me. “We had advanced civilizations. Only the Sythari made sure most of it was erased or buried.”
The smugness didn't budge. Xandro's gaze sharpened as the military strategist in him rose fast. He rubbed his chin, as if recalculating an entire battlefield.
“Millions of years… and yet your people were vulnerable enough for the Sythari to harvest you like crops.” His voice dropped, thoughtful now.
“Either your ancestors were betrayed… or something far older was at play.”
He turned toward Thyros, his voice quieter but no less intense. “You said the Abyss travels. How many times has it passed through this sector without us knowing?”
Thyros’ crimson-gold aura flickered once, dark threads weaved through the gold. “That is the question, isn’t it?”
Xandros exhaled, leaning forward again, all traces of smug superiority gone.
“Our own records speak of the Arkhevari as ancient benefactors who seeded worlds. Guided early civilizations. My people… the Pandraxians… we have legends of golden beings who shaped us long before we built our first empire. Before the Dark Abyss claimed so many of them.” He looked straight at me, something almost like awe flickering behind the commander’s mask.
“If what you say is true, then humanity carries an older spark than we ever realized. And the Sythari found a way to exploit it.”
The room fell into a charged silence. Ella broke it first. “So Caelor and Ashera didn’t just seed Earth. They seeded… entire branches of life. And the Arkhevari were the ones who came before the fall.”
Thyros’ gaze settled on me again, this time, though, it seemed more contemplative, and for once, I didn’t fight it.
Not completely. Because in that moment, standing in a room full of gods and warriors, I realized the weight of what I carried in my blood.
Not just a survivor of the Sythari. Not just a rebel.
Something older. Something that refused to stay buried.
Xandros studied me for another long beat, then inclined his head almost respectfully. “Then we have even more reason to dig deep on Earth. Whatever the Sythari stole millions of years ago… we need to find it before the Harrowed One does.”
I met his eyes without flinching. “You want my knowledge? My people’s history? Fine. But I’m not handing it over for free. My crew comes with me. And we do this together, not as prisoners, not as curiosities. As allies.”
Thyros’ low growl rumbled behind me, possessive and approving all at once. Xandros’ lips twitched, curving into the barest hint of a smile. “I think we can manage that.”