Page 55 of Guardian's Destiny

For some reason, Zapharos’s people were involved with the Darlams and now with the Pandraxians. This couldn't possibly be a coincidence.

"The Arkhevari," the ancient looking Ohrur—who could have very well been twenty-thousand years old—filled Vraax in, "are old gods, the creators of all life and all the universe. They are all knowing and ever present." I suppressed a grin, Zapharos was definitely an all knowing, pretentious ass. But I wished he was ever present, because then I wouldn't need to get to Pandrax to save this ungrateful son of a bitch.

"They are the fathers and mothers of most intelligent life in the universe. Their gift to those lifeforms is the Archegene. A gene that elevates the chosen species’ consciousness to the highest level. The Darlams were their latest creation. Young, the Archegene was strong in them. Their sense of right and wrong was as predominant as their love for one another and theirrespect for the planet they lived on as well as all the lifeforms on it."

I arched an eyebrow; his words sounded like a lot of mumbo jumbo to me.

"So the Darlams were the perfect beings? The closest you could get to thegods?" I asked, unable to pronounce gods without sarcasm, because, come on, if this was true and Vraax was a descendant ofthe gods, I would never hear the end of it. Some of his words, however, rang true, like Vraax's claim that he could see and feel the evil aura among criminals. Which reminded me, I threw a short covert glance at him; I wondered how he felt about these other Ohrurs. Did he sense anyevilnessfrom them like he had with Possedion and Moddekdum?

"Yes," Byalbor confirmed, eliciting a silent groan from me.Fuck.

I could physically feel Vraax grinning at me, and I refused to look at him to give him any satisfaction of seeing me cringe.

"What did the Ohrur do with the Darlams?" I asked.

"They terminated them all, harvested the Archegene, and put the entire planet under quarantine to discourage any other species from investigating it. They used a lie, saying a disease killed most of our people, when in fact a civil war broke out at the Krythar Order's action. A civil war that raged for several years and destroyed many of our best cities, like this one," Byalbor waved his hand around him.

"So what is Vraax?" I hated asking this question, I hated the way I worded it, and I hated knowing that I was hurting him, but I had to ask, and for me, the most direct approach was always my preferred method.

"An enigma," Byalbor answered.

I could see Vraax's head swelling without looking at him. Great, so he wasn'tjusta descendant of gods; he was an enigma as well. Just wonderful.

"The mating marks?" Vraax turned the conversation.

"Oh, yeah. It is said that the Arkhevari prided themselves in having found a way to stay forever with their fated mates through reincarnation. It's a gift they bestowed on all their children. And with the Darlams being so close to them, their bonds were one of the purest and strongest."

"Okay, I guess I can accept that. What I don't understand, though, is why the Space Guardians, if they're a gene manipulation of the Darlams, would find their fated mates with us, human women." I argued.

Byalbor scratched his sharp chin deep in thought. "That, my dear, is an excellent question. For which I need more detail, about you. You said you are a human?"

"From Earth, yes," I confirmed.

"Where is Earth? How old is it? Do you have fated mates in your world? How much contact with other species have you had?" The old man shoots his questions at me like bullets from a machine gun, much faster than his feeble body should be capable of.

Helplessly, I looked at Vraax, whose expression was just like I feared it would be, smug beyond belief. I groaned.

"The Cryons discovered Earth a few months Galactic Standard Time back. They've been plundering it since. The Pandraxians have put a stop to it because they too found their fated mates, without mating marks, in the humans. Males and Females," Vraax informed Byalbor. "I don't know where Earth is located, but I can find out and give you the coordinates. As for how old? And fated mates?" He turned questioningly at me.

It was my turn to shrug. "As far as we know, Earth is a few million years, Earth time, old. Humans have been around for a few hundred thousand years—we're not sure. Your official time calculation began about two thousand years before; we have records of times going back, ah…" My mind drew a blank; it hadbeen a few years since my last history lesson. "… another few thousand years. As far as fated mates are concerned." Another helpless shrug I knew Byalbor couldn't see followed. "Some of our cultures believe in reincarnation and or soulmates. But it's not something that's widespread. And I haven't heard of a combination of the two."

"Who are your ancestors?" Byalbor asked.

"Well…" I hedged, "humans? I'm not a historian, and as far as I know, our scientists believe we came from the apes."

"Apes?" Byalbor had to add.

"Some form of animal on our planet."

"No species comes from animals. There is the reason why we think and they don't." Byalbor stated with finality.

Helplessly, I looked around the table, but none of the others could help or support me.

"Nobody had ever heard of Earth before the Cryons invaded it." Vraax stepped up to the plate.

"Hmm, hmm. I need to do more research." Byalbor rose, and Craygh and Zoyab moved forward to help him. "Do you have a functioning comm?"

Vraax nodded at me, and I handed mine to Zoyab's outstretched hand, hoping I would get it back. If not, I was sure we would be able to replace it, and Vraax still had his.

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