Page 44 of Dreikx

“Raven, I leave today,” Sidone says. “What the fuck am I supposed to tell my brother and king? That I left his kid with a baby and a young Omega on Earth right before Seer infiltrated the fertility facility in the middle of the desert not a few hundred miles from here?”

“When did this new event happen?” I ask.

“While you napped.”

I groan. “Snooze and lose.”

“We don’t know what kind of retaliation the Swarm has prepared. We don’t even know if the Horde can hold this city,” Sidone says.

Raven hits his chest. “The Horde will hold.”

“Are you willing to stake your son’s life on that?” I ask.

“This conversation is over,” Raven says. “I’m not leaving until I kill that imposter.”

“That’s the thing, Raven,” Sidone says. “You’re not gonna kill the king of Earth.”

“There is no king of Earth!”

Next door, the baby starts crying.

Raven cringes. “Shit.”

“Learn the art of whispering,” I whisper.

“And you woke up as an idiot because…?” Arkin asks.

“Ah, that.” It’s time I cringe. “I’ve seen footage of the king’s locations multiple times on Mike’s screen in the office in the Stronghold. It never occurred to me to question his motives for retrieving those images. I presumed he researched Canada because I mentioned that land for us. We’ve never been to Canada, you know. It was deemed too cold, and none of us bothered. But he’s researched so thoroughly, I could practically map the imposter’s movements.”

“He’s in Canada?”

“Was and is moving through it. The unit he moves with is small, only a few males, but they’re not Swarm. They’re of Regha. We had to have brought them here at one point.”

“You’re sure?” Raven asks.

I nod. “Seer is where exactly?”

Raven shrugs. “Last scout came from Nevada saying Seer’s marching on the facility where he believes he’ll find their breeding hive.”

“How can you wage a modern war when you don’t even know the exact position of your army?”

“There’s nothing modern about this war. Silence will reign again. Seer will plunder until he finds the imposter. The end.”

“Until he finds and kills the imposter, Raven. This is important. The imposter is not your kill,” Sidone says. “Please try to deal with this.”

Raven nods. “I’m gonna work on it. I promise, aunt.”

“Thank you.” Sidone stands. “I’ll be going now. If you can, Dreikx, send me more information on those males from Regha so I may hunt down their ancestors or anyone they know for more information.”

“You told my dad you’re retiring,” Sotay says.

“I am retiring. Hunting potential traitors is recreational.”

I stand with Sidone, and there’s the awkward moment where I’m unsure how to bid her a farewell. A wave or a handshake seems superficial. She must’ve felt the same way because she hugs me tightly and whispers, “May you breed us wise and strong warriors.” She claps my back and hugs Sotay, then Raven. Arkin follows her into the room, where she says a few words to Anna and bends over the baby, promising she’ll see him soon.

Tamey slides next to me and takes my hand. I attempt dampening my emotional response to Sidone’s back as she strides out of the room and likely fail miserably, because Tamey starts crying quietly, sensitive to my pain.

“You’re so expressive,” she says again, through our link this time.

---