Page 8 of Aryn

“So what happened then?” Xeni asks, the question resigned. I understand the sentiment—needing to know while wishing you didn’t have to hear the truth.

Sovran clears his throat, tipping his chin in my direction. “As Aryn mentioned, a strong rebel force was growing in Elyra. A fierce warrior led them, and she was gathering masses of followers. For the first time in centuries, Zadeus’s rule was being challenged. The rebels were wary of crossing between realms, so he fled to the human world to buy time.”

“What a fucking chickenshit,” Cato scoffs. “What was he going to do here other than hide?”

“Initially, it was to bide his time,” Sovran confirms. “The leaders and generals underneath him weren’t as easily convinced. They feared him, yes, but they feared the unknowns of this side more. In the end, five others agreed to his plan, but they had to be bought.”

“The High Commanders,” Elas says, eyes wide.

“Correct,” Sovran agrees. “It was a ruse, of course. It was always his intention to cast them aside. He believed the humans would worship his powers as they worshipped their religions. He thought they would follow him willingly, and that he would have an army of soldiers and their advanced technology to help him regain the power he negotiated away.”

“Why couldn’t he just overpower them?” Bash asks. “Conquer them like he’d already conquered everyone in Elyra?”

Sovran tilts his head back and forth. “He used an enormous amount of energy opening the divide. That sort of spend takes time to replenish.”

“How much time?”

Sovran shrugs. “Years. Decades. Longer, maybe. He was living in a world not meant for him, using power that didn’t belong to him. None of it followed the natural order.”

“So he was forced to work with the other High Commanders,” Elas says thoughtfully.

Sovran nods. “While he was waiting for his full strength to return, his focus shifted back to Elyra… back to the rebels. He wanted to use his new armies to extinguish them for good.”

“He was going to attack,” I confirm. “That’s what it looked like to me, at least.”

“Well, obviously, that didn’t work,” Cameron drawls.

“It did not,” Sovran agrees. “Some joined him, but most of the humans fought against his rule. Zadeus hated them for it—hated that he needed them for their technology. The gears were already spinning in his head, planning it all out. He’d attack, using the weapons that would have easily overwhelmed the more primitive defenses in Elyra, then turn his attention to the humans when he no longer needed them.”

“So why didn’t he attack?” Xeni challenges. “Why didn’t he take his shiny new weapons and obliterate the resistance?”

“The portals closed,” I answer.

Sovran nods in my direction. “They did.”

“And you’re the one who closed them.”

“I am.”

Xeni scoffs, folding his arms over his chest. “Why then? You sat back and watched the violence for all those years. Why choose that moment to intervene?”

Sovran closes his eyes and tilts his head toward the sky, one ear angled higher like he’s listening for something. “I was an anomaly among my people. Our powers are mostly equal, but some of us have unique abilities. I was born with the gift of sight.”

“Sight?” I demand. “You are a Sopheion?”

Sovran lowers his head, those gleaming eyes landing on mine as he opens them. “You know much about my kind.”

My gaze lowers to his chest, unable to handle the scrutiny of his attention while my upbringing begs me to kneel at his feet. “My people were devout. As a child, I studied the old scripts thoroughly. Once I was grown, I spent many evenings comparing them to my research, looking for overlaps.”

“Ahh,” Sovran hums, a faint smile touching his lips. “And there are overlaps.”

“Many,” I agree.

“To answer your question, yes, I am a Sopheion. My sight is not as strong as others. Mostly it shows hints and flashes rather than clear futures. There have been moments, though. Times when a vision reveals itself completely. When Zadeus began assembling his army on this side, I saw it.”

“Saw what?” Ronan demands after a stretch of heavy silence.

“Mutual destruction,” Sovran explains. He picks up the two rocks he set in the dirt earlier, holding them side by side and spinning them slowly in his hands. “I don’t know exactly how it would have happened, but if Zadeus had crossed over with the human technology and the armies he’d built, both worlds would have perished.”