Chapter Thirty-One
We Both Go Down Together
Zephyron
I come for you, Tydalos!
The tunnel opened to a sky still dark from a fading rainstorm. My boots met solid ground in the mud, formed by the water. Where there was liquid, death followed, yet I could not be elsewhere and defend the settlements under my former rule.
My path held steady, the spire looming ahead. With Solis' assistance, our sight extended across the distance as she adjusted her focus. A towering structure of tall stone lay before us, its edges carved by time and wind. At the top, overlooking the flooded basin, stood Tydalos on a plateau.
He had chosen his battleground well, with water surrounding us. A theatrical gesture meant to unsettle. Arrogance! I would fight him in an ocean's depths or in the heart of a star. He endangered my Omega and our family. He would pay.
To his side was the other scribe, a Human named Brody. I saw no sign of the traitor Tessith. The Sandari to whom I had extended trust and my home, repaid it with sabotage. He would share his new master's fate.
"I can't wait to see you stomp him into the ground."
I turned. Thomas stood with our child held close, his skin damp, hair disheveled from the battle. Even after all that had passed, his spirit had not dimmed. He had faced a Zerlite queen and still found the strength to give me praise.
Thomas' father leaned forward and whispered encouragement to Solis about the loss of her friend. I am Volardi. We find solutions, and I would do so for Axios, and they would be together again.
But first, Tydalos.
The rain had weakened, but water pooled at the spire's base. Zerlites splashed in the liquid. Some had bulbous eyes gleaming with hunger, and others slithered under the surface.
"When I have defeated you, the stories will not be of my victory, but of the ruin you have brought. Oh, the shame you will bear into The Black, and the death by your hand shall teach our young for generations. The Emperor himself—"
A tug on my arm came.
"Sorry to stop your monologue, Love," said Thomas. "I have an idea."
"Indeed?"
"Remember the queen?"
"I could never forget one such as she."
He cleared his throat, and the sound that followed was not his own, but hers. That clicking growl, the layered tones like grinding stone and hissing heated metal. The voice of the Zerlite queen.
Yes! My mate was a Soundmaster and wielded his talent before, shaping tones to win a race, and he saved a young Sandari. By the ancestors, this was beyond mere mimicry. If I had only heard the sound, I would have instantly turned, ready for battle.
He grabbed his guitar, a wooden instrument tightly bound with thin strings, and his fingers blurred as a familiar melody played.
"Remember when they came out? That night with the laser cannons?
" I remembered, and the harsh words I had spoken.
He had not known how to survive on Sudo. The fault was mine.
Fingers brushed the strings again, and he screeched, sending more music out. A headcrab Zerlite crept from the shadows, drawn by the queen's call and Earth's music. I seized a rock, but my mate whispered, "Wait."
He whistled sharply, mimicking Sandari wind chimes. The creature twitched, then withdrew.
Remarkable.
Thomas shook his guitar free of raindrops, then glanced at his father. "Thanks for the lessons growing up."
The older man's eyes shone. "Guess I wasn't all bad."
Something unspoken passed between them. Thomas whispered, "No. You weren't."
He strummed a familiar melody, each note steady and deliberate.
More Zerlites emerged in varied forms. Some were small and bloated, while others moved on four legs with armored shells.
A few stood upright with long arms and hunched backs.
None attacked as was their nature. They gathered instead, drawn to the sound, their bodies tense but still.
"What are you showing me?"
"Human creativity and Volardi problem solving." He told me his plan. My eyes widened, not at the brilliance, but because I was blessed to call him mine. Once done, he waited with hopeful eyes.
"Think it'll work?"
"You are Human and Volardi with the best of both worlds. How could it not?" I instructed the drone to copy my mate's music. It would communicate with other drones once within transmission range and spread his song with a command to obey.
Thomas asked, "Where should we herd them?"
My gaze fixed on the spire ahead. "There, so they shall see the true predators on this planet."
***
We continued along the incline with a sight not seen on Sudo since our crystal ships arrived. Water flowed again. What once brought green, soaked the ground red. We could reclaim it as we did before, but Zerlites would thrive until the land dried again.
Solis' voice broke through the stillness.
"My Sentinel," she said. Her optics shifted to track the movement beyond the horizon. "Several drones are returning. They bring Zerlites."
This was Thomas' brilliance, his foresight.
My Volardi mind saw more solutions. Drones and Simulacra could broadcast music to draw them into controlled areas. Instead of blasting the planet with orbital lasers and desecrating the landscape, we could dry swarms with solar collectors.
Merge water and desert. Even control them on farms as Humans do with their animals.
My mate is wise. My shoulders rose. My mate. Mine!
The sound of shifting rock came before a startled gasp.
I turned in time to see Thomas lurch forward.
A biped Zerlite clung to his back, its claws raked against my Omega's shoulder, and tore through his top.
His footing faltered as he fought to regain balance.
He reached for Solis, who grabbed his shirt.
Volardi DuraCloth would have held, but he preferred 'T-shirts' with Earth musicians on them.
The ground beneath him gave way. The father, the man I almost killed, leapt, catching our child.
My mate tumbled down the jagged slope, his limbs striking stone and wet grit.
I heard the sickening thud of each impact and scream as his body rolled, more limp and lifeless with every moment.
He fell over the edge. One blink, and he vanished just as the scribe Parker had done.
The black water swallowed him as if he had never been.
My boots skidded on damp stone. I slid, tearing my palms bloody as I hurried after him. I reached the edge, heart pounding, searching the surface. Nothing.
He does not return!
He cannot. An injury or submerged Zerlite. Something seeks to drown my Child of Water.
No one on Sudo swims. It was true then and still accurate.
I inhaled, filled my lungs, and dove. The water closed around me, and pure primal terror gripped my body.
I had known fear before. Only fools are without it, but this is unlike the natural order in our home.
Cold sank into my muscles as gravity pulled me down to the black abyss.
Find him! Before the void claims you both!
The world distorted in the soundless murk. The light above rippled as I fell toward the ground, sliding away under my feet. I could not rise, so I walked along the lake, with my boots sinking into the silt below.
Then I saw him.
Thomas drifted, and his hair caught the dim light as it drifted around him. I shook him so desperately his limbs flailed, but he did not stir. Lips parted, and his air bubbles escaped, flying up to the surface. He was limp as if dead. Am I to lose another?
No. I could not fail again.
I pressed my mouth to his and gave him my breath as my vision dimmed. I slowly fell back as seconds drew out.
***
Soft lips pressed against mine, and sweet breath entered my lungs. My eyes opened, and there he floated with his legs out. Thomas! His hands gripped my face as he gave me more air. I should have refused his kiss of life, but he would not let go.
He pulled back, searching my gaze, then gestured upward. The surface loomed so far above, a shimmering barrier between death and life.
He kicked effortlessly, his body cutting through the water as if it were nothing.
I tried to move, but my limbs were useless. Muscles, trained to withstand battle, could not grasp this alien element.
Thomas returned after surfacing, then pointed to himself and me.
He pressed his lips to mine again. Another exchange, another silent command: Survive.
Then he moved. His legs worked steadily with controlled kicks, his arms loose but strong.
I studied him with a warrior's focus. I memorized every motion.
Thomas pointed up again, urging me.
I tried.
My movements were too rigid, but Thomas stayed by my side, surfacing for air to share between lessons. He guided my arms, taught me to cup my hands, and corrected my kicks.
I would not fail him. We pushed away from the bottom, together. Slow at first and then faster.
He smiled and raised his thumb.
I have lied. Sudo has swimmers, and they are the strongest of all. We rose, eyes locked in understanding, and for the first time, I flew under my own power. The moment we broke the surface, I gasped. I survived water, but more importantly, so had Thomas.
A sharp crack rang through the air, followed by the squelch of something crushed underfoot. Thomas' father and Solis stood amid twitching Zerlite corpses. He held a jagged rock, hands trembling, chest heaving. Solis, her frame dented in places, offered a hand newly cleaned from dripping dark fluid.
Thomas called out, voice raw, "You two good?"
Solis twitched slightly before straightening. "Yes, although I feel as if I'm about to power down. I do not understand."
"Guess even Simulacra can get tired," said Thomas.
"Perhaps," she said.
His father swallowed and nodded. "Yeah. We were... busy. That music trick? Called in a whole pack of those monkey ones too. Solis and I had to clear them out before they got too close."
I narrowed my eyes at the fallen creatures. Corpses lay sprawled at odd angles, the remnants of their fractured exoskeletons glistening under the dimming light. The two warriors have fought well.
Thomas exhaled and glanced at the ascending path. "Back that way?"
"No." I looked up. Tydalos stood at the spire's edge.
He had watched us. Not with concern, or anticipation, but arrogance.
It was the posture of a man who believed he had already won.
I turned to Thomas and pointed toward the towering structure.
"He does not know our ways because, unlike you, he never chose to honor Sudo to learn its truths. Look at the spire. What do you see?"
Thomas squinted, brow furrowing. "Uh... several ledges, what looks like tunnels, and some twisty branches?"
I nodded. "When I spoke of unknown possibilities, I meant this.
The spire represents choice and opportunity.
We don't need his path for there are others.
" My jaw tightened. "Your friends taught me much.
You did as well. If he waits for us there, then he has something prepared.
A trap, an ambush, or trickery hidden within the sands without honor. We will not grant him an advantage."
Thomas met my gaze, something clicking into place. Then, with a small smirk, he said, "So, we're taking the scenic route?"
I lifted my chin. "Yes, we will adapt. Let us be like water."
***
The ascent was slower, but stealthier. Narrow trails wound around the rock, shielding us from Tydalos' view.
Suddenly, a Zerlite sprang from a crevice. Its body was armored, limbs thin but strong, jaws filled with jagged teeth. I caught it mid-lunge, twisted hard, and hurled it over the edge. It hissed as it dropped into the ravine.
Thomas winced. "They never stop being disturbing."
Ahead, Solis carried the camera-drone in her arms, its lights flickering weakly before it powered down. I frowned and quickly opened the panels. Nothing stood as the cause, and I turned it over to our remaining Simulacrum.
Solis shook her head. "U-Unknown. Possibly... external..." The voice slowed, and Thomas rushed to her side, shaking his friend. "What's going on?" There was no answer.
"I do not know," I said. "We must leave them for now. We will return after the battle."
We found a narrow alcove and laid them inside.
"Will they be alright?" Thomas asked and gestured to the horde below.
"I could stay," said Thomas' father.
"Zerlites hunt by movement and scent," I said. "They should remain unnoticed for now."
I gestured for them to follow. The drone had belonged to Parker, and my mate was fond of Solis. They were my responsibility and would be safe until I returned.
We climbed higher, and that's when we saw them. Tydalos and the Human Brody. The traitor Tessith was elsewhere or under the sands. I motioned for everyone to remain quiet, and we crept closer.
The two stood in conversation, oblivious to our presence.
Brody's stance was relaxed, smug even, but his translated tone carried an edge of impatience, "Yeah, I get why you want the grand duel and all, but let's be honest. Falling rocks? That's gonna be a hard sell."
Tydalos waved him off. "If you want to be my official scribe when I win, you will make it, how you say? Yes, work."
"But are they coming? Didn't they get out of the lake? What if they slipped back and drowned? What about Thomas? He's your ticket."
"Enough with the persistent questions, and do not be a fool. He is from a world with water and we do not easily drown."
He was wrong. I nearly lost another. Had he not started this quest for more power, my Thomas would never have been in danger.
What ruin will come if he lives?
I had no blade, only a rock in my grasp. One clean throw to the skull and his corruption ends forever.
Earth shall never suffer under a False Emperor.
All I must pay is my honor.
For a shameful moment, I considered it. The greater good weighed against a single Volardi's soul.
Memories stirred as the wind rose around me. If I chose this path, Pargith and Elai the First shall hide from me forever. I could never take Thomas to his reunion into the afterlife. The Eternal Black would claim me, as it does all dishonorable Volardi. Those without names. The forgotten.
Yet, one reason rose, like Thomas, when he swam. I needed my Omega to look at me with earned pride. It could never happen unless I won as a true warrior.
I stepped forward, lifted my chin, and bellowed, "Tydalos of Aquanta. I am here. Be afraid."
***