Summons
ELENA – IN FLIGHT
We fly back to Rythar’s fortress in a skiff, the jungle canopy below us a lush green sea of life—life that Rythar can wield as a fearsome weapon. We descend into the heart of the stronghold, through a hidden hangar door.
I want nothing more than to sink into a hot bath, then sleep for a week. But Sophia is still out there.
Xytheos has other plans. As we step off the skiff, Rythar takes my arm. "We are expecting company."
"Who?"
Rythar’s eyes narrow as he scans the corridor ahead. "Concord ships are already on their way. They lifted off when we did.”
“Do you think they found Sophia?” We had been looking for her. The jungle lost her trail at the border. Rythar believes she is no longer within his lands.
“No. They’re on their way to my fortress,” Rythar says.
"The High Lord is making his move?" I ask, lowering my voice.
Rythar’s mouth curves, but it’s the type of smile I’ve seen before in war—the kind that precedes deadly action. “I expected this.”
The word expected lands like he’s already built the outcome into whatever comes next. He doesn’t issue orders. Which means they were already given.
I follow Rythar through the winding passages of the fortress.
The alarms blare not long after we enter the war room, their shrill tones cutting through the air.
"They’re here," he growls.
"But why are they here?"
Rythar clenches his jaw, eyes narrowing. "They're here for damage control."
At his side, Drenz shifts uneasily near the door. "They landed three ships, one of them heavy. Could be the High Lord’s ship. They’re just outside the inner force field. They’ve cloaked."
I clutch the armrests of my seat as I ask, trembling, "Will you fire on them? Is this the start of war?"
Rythar looks at me. "None of our weaponry can hit a cloaked Concord ship."
"Will they fire on us?" I can't keep the fear from cracking my voice.
His eyes glow like coals. "Their weapons can’t penetrate the force field. And they landed in my jungle."
That’s a death sentence, if Rythar wants it to be.
Drenz and I exchange a quick glance. It’s clear he’s thinking what I’m thinking.
Will Rythar have his deadly jungle swallow their ships whole?
"Why would they land in the jungle like that?" I whisper in disbelief. "Don’t they know what you can do with it?"
"They know," Rythar agrees, his features taut with barely restrained anger. "They also know that there are no landing locations in the Reach that are undefended. One way or another."
The comm console blinks an urgent red as an incoming message demands attention. Rythar's voice is clipped and formal as he answers, "Green Reach Command.”
A smooth, genderless voice on the other end announces, “The High Lord requests an immediate audience with your Starfallen Bride, at Concord Platform Alpha.”
Rythar's hands clench into fists as the comm goes dead. His orders are terse and filled with fury. "Ready my ship."
Drenz nods.
Rythar doesn’t look at me. He knows what’s at stake here, and he doesn’t want me to ask.
I lean forward in my seat and bury my face in my hands.
The faces of the Concord men, of being in the shuttle with them, being delivered to Vorak, are in my mind.
Rythar kneels in front of me, his lips by my ear.
He is murmuring to me. I turn my head slightly, not letting him see the panic I’m struggling to control.
“You will be with me,” he rumbles, his voice a deep whisper in my ear.
I squeeze my eyes shut, open them, lengthen my breaths. “I don’t want to go to any Concord things again.” I don’t want to see their uniforms. Their shuttles. Nothing.
“High Lord Jarrett wants information. So do I,” Rythar says darkly. “Either he had a hand in this, or he lost control.”
A look flashes across Rythar’s face. It’s the same one I saw on him after he killed Vorak. I’m caught between two worlds. There’s the collapsing life I left behind on New Terra, and the new one I've chosen on Xytheos.
I survived what I left behind. Can we survive what lies ahead?
“Will they take me?”
Rythar's hand lands on my shoulder. His mouth pulls into something that isn't quite a smile. "They’re already going to pay for trying once.”