Xandros kept studying the readouts. “Analysis.”
One of the Pandraxian techs answered quickly. “Supreme Commander, if we want to extract them without triggering another collapse, we’ll have to clear the rocks one by one. It’ll take days. Even then, the risk of more debris shifting or cracking the ceiling of the chamber below is extremely high.”
Xandros cursed again, low and filthy.
Then, one by one, the drone feeds began to die. The images flickered, warped, and went black.
“What in the name of the First Collapse was that?” I thundered, stepping closer to the holovid.
The same tech swallowed hard. “Something down there is interfering with their energy source, my lord. Some kind of ancient shielding or residual Arkhevari resonance. They’re cut off. No visual. No comms.”
The pain in my chest settled into a constant, burning ache. The golden thread was still there—faint but alive—but I couldn’t feel her clearly anymore. Couldn’t reach her. Making me wonder if the same interference that had decimated the drones was interfering with the bond as well.
My little rebel was down there in the dark with collapsing tunnels, hostile rebels, and whatever ancient power had just killed our drones.
All the while I was stuck up here, useless, while the flaw inside me whispered that this was exactly what I deserved for daring to want something as bright as her.
I clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palms.
“We are not waiting days,” ice flooded my veins. “Find another way. Now.”
Because if anything happened to Naeris… I would bring the entire plateau down myself. The silence that followed was suffocating. Zapharos paced like a caged predator. Dravok’s shadows swallowed half the command area. Xandros stared at the dead holovid like he could will it back to life through sheer force of will.
But I couldn’t stand still. Naeris was alive. Angry. Trapped. And every second we wasted up here was another second something down there could hurt her. Saving her and the others was up to me.
I shoved past the techs and pulled up the full topographic overlay on the main holovid, expanding it with a savage gesture. Ancient Earth readings. Current surface. Subsurface scans. Everything we had.
“The ocean. Right here, it meets a cliff,” I observed.
Xandros turned sharply. “What are you thinking?”
“A backdoor.” I zoomed the map out, my eyes racing across the contours. “These rebels built their tunnels like vermin. They always leave escape routes near water. And if this plateau was once Ashera’s cradle… water would have been sacred. Defensive. Hidden.”
One of the Pandraxian techs quickly overlaid fresh data. “There, that looks like an underwater tunnel system.”
I enlarged the area. He was right. My eyes zeroed in on faint anomalies. Too symmetrical to be natural. A hidden cave mouth partially submerged, leading deep under the plateau.
My lips pulled back in a dark smile. “That’s our way in.”
Zapharos stopped pacing. “You want us to swim into unknown caves while our females are trapped down there?”
“I want to reach them before whatever killed those drones decides they’re a threat.” The pain in my chest flared again, feeding the flaw. It whispered that I should already be down there. That I’d failed her the moment I let her go. I crushed the voice. “We move. Now.”
Xandros studied the map for half a second, then nodded. “I’ll take a squad. We gear up for underwater insertion, rebreathers, tactical lights, grav-harnesses.”
Dravok’s shadows calmed slightly. “I’m coming.”
Zapharos was already striding toward the armory shuttle. “If there’s even a chance…”
I didn’t wait for permission. I grabbed a rebreather rig and slung it over my shoulder, my mind locked on one thing only: Naeris.
The bond tugged harder, feeding me flashes, darkness, dust, determination. She was moving. Fighting.Surviving. I would find her. Even if I had to drag the entire plateau into the Abyss to do it.
We moved out at a run, across the sand, straight for the large body of water. The flaw inside me roared, dark and hungry, but for once I welcomed it. Let it come. Because whatever waited down there, ancient power, collapsing tunnels, or the Harrowed One himself, would have to go through me first. And I was done holding back.
We reached the water at a dead run, boots skidding on loose gravel and sand where angry sea was washing against the shore. I didn’t hesitate.
Rebreather sealed over my face, grav-harness cinched tight, I dove first. The water hit like a slap from the Abyss itself, ice-cold, mineral-sharp, closing over my head with brutal suddenness. It filled my ears with a heavy, muffled silence broken only by the rush of my own blood and the bubbles streaming from therebreather. The cold sank straight into my bones, tightening every muscle, but I welcomed the shock. It kept me sharp.
