Page 38 of Veras
This is where I belong. This is where I need to be. We will destroy this planet. Together.
CHAPTER 17
Little General, you’rewrong. You belong to me, and I’ll never let you go.Veras’ voice came from a long distance.What have you done while I slept?
“Veras, are you there?” I screamed into the winds. I floated in the center of the largest Guardian, surrounded by golden light. I’d failed. I hadn’t stopped the destruction. Even as I spoke to Veras, I felt the Guardians plowing through the arena, demolishing it, heading toward the black mountains, ferreting out the Aavvee who had nowhere to hide.I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.I was alone. But there was one last thing I could do.
I lifted my hands and created a wind cloud, gently lifting Veras’ injured body. One I’d been lucky enough to hold, to feel inside of me.
Do not dare move me from here!He shouted in my mind.Unless you bring me closer. We do this together. Just as you told me not so long ago.
Don’t worry. You were right. I finally understand. I’m going to let them destroy everything. Every last one of the Aavvee on this planet will be gone. They’ll find them, and the cancer will be dead.
If that’s what you choose, my General, then that is what we do. I follow you, and I will never make the mistake of doubting you again. The glimpse I had of your brilliant mind… of your power.His sorrow berated me.I underestimated you like all the rest. I will never do it again.
Veras.I love you.
I know. You showed me your mind. And you know my obsession with you. My deepest love. Come to me.
His adoration swelled around me, tunnelling into every shadowed inch of my heart.There’s no time.
I want to show you something—a gift from the Oro.
The primary Guardian barreled closer and closer to the mother mountain. Erdam. That thought shook me. I didn’t want that. I was supposed tostopthat.
Turn them, my General. They do your bidding. Ask them to bring you to me.Feeling the intense energy flow through me, I whispered to the wind and was rewarded. I saw Veras, and he saw me. Even though I was still trapped in the tornado, I could turn them slowly. The eight tornadoes circled, poised and ready to return to total destruction.
“You are ethereal. The true Queen of the Guardians.” Veras tilted his head up to speak to me. I floated above him. “You’re infused withOro. Your hair, your eyes.” He sent me a picture of myself through his mind, and I gasped. Golden strands highlighted my hair, the whites of my eyes were now burnished copper, making the dark brown of my irises shimmer. And every scar on my body glowed, strengthened by the golden liquid.
“You look different, too. Are you hurt? They beat you so badly.”
“I’m well. When you shared your mind with mine, you shared your strength. I am healed. I will never underestimate you again. But come, my love. Our gift. Do you see?” He spread his arms wide, the sparkling golden tattoo on his bicep had spread across his chest and back. “This was the final sign I needed. You are my fated, myalmax—the owner of my soul. We are one.”
“I’m yours?” I rubbed at the tears running down my cheeks.
“It means whatever you decide, in this life or the next, we are together. Tell me. Do we destroy the Aavvee and await our nextadventure, or do we stay and fight for what we have here? I am content either way.”
He meant it. I felt every word. But I didn’t share his certainty. Were we truly meant to be together here or in the next life?
“We will, my Truena. I swear it. But I don’t know about the lost souls we encountered. Shouldn’t they have a chance at life?” His swirling gaze snared me. “If not, let’s destroy this place now. Release the Guardians.”
I gazed at the swirling tornadoes, taken with their beauty again. “Aren’t they exquisite, Veras? I love them so much. They all have pieces of Nito in them. I feel him and miss him.”
The Guardians preened under my praise, yet their hunger for vengeance remained unwavering. I wanted to reward their dedication, but I also wanted a chance. With Veras.
“Hurry, my love. The countdown clock will soon take the decision out of your hands. Even you will not be able to control the winds if it detonates. What do we do?”
I closed my eyes, ready to succumb to the Guardians’ needs, when I felt a familiar warmth zooming around my neck, under my hair, shooting into my ear. I didn’t know how I knew it was him, but I did. He was there. My Nito.
Joy infused me. I could finally think beyond the constant pressure of the Guardians. My original plan became clear in my mind. “Go, Veras. Take care of Inkonexo. I’ll handle things here. But don’t die. That would really piss me off.”
“It will be taken care of.”
“Where have you been? I’ve missed you so much,” I whispered to Nito just as he liked, and he thrummed with joy.
Unable to fully communicate, he broadcasted his love in tufts of air. I felt it. Same as always, only stronger now that I was suffused with Oro.
My love for him and Veras blasted through me and into the swirling tornadoes. Because of the gift of the Oro, I understood.Nito was a Guardian, maybe their version of a child. Not strong enough to blaze into a towering tornado, but just as smart and amazing as all the rest.
