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“You aren’t strong in your faith?” I question.
He rears back. “No, of course not. What did the multigods do for me? I was taken from my family and raised by Hurlian scientists, how did they help me, ever?”
“Oh, well just warning you, even though I don’t do the absolutions every day as I should, I am strong in my faith, and I’m thrilled to meet your brother. And in fact, I’m a little in awe.”
Smoke wafts from his nostrils. “You are mine.”
I reach out and take his hand. “Of course, I am.”
“My brother is mated and has a human bound. She requested I bring you along because apparently she wants another human nearby.”
“Really? How exciting. I want to meet her too.”
Soon we are landing. I do my best to not freak out when I’m warmly greeted by the High Priest of Westmore. I can see the similarity in the two brothers. They both have very tall black horns and I notice they also both have the same shape of their lips.
And then I turn and see a human nun standing nearby and I instantly adore her. Her inner beauty shines through and her eyes sparkle with genuine good nature. And she’s heavily pregnant, which gives us kinship and causes me to worry about the outcome of this attack.
“Another human female,” she shouts, throwing out her arms. “I haven’t met another human since I arrived on Salo. I’m so happy you’re here.” And then we’re hugging tight and she’s wrapping Lyla in our hug too.
Both Cabal and his wife, Lorelei, are instantly in love with Lyla. Cabal looks literally choked up over the fact that not only has he found his long-lost brother, but he’s instantly gained a niece. And they both treat me like family too, which is super sweet.
We barely have time to get our things off the hovercraft and organized and then we’re talking strategy.
I can’t keep my mouth shut when politics are involved so I point out, “What we really need to do here is to let the universe know of what the Hurlians did to Isak. The Hurlians once had a very long-range project where they used the humans they’d captured as test subjects. They turned many of them into cyborgs. But the cyborgs escaped and blew up the labs behind them. Because they were no longer able to test on humans they began kidnapping other species. I don’t even know if the lab that took you is officially Hurlian government sponsored. They had to go deep undercover due to all the outrage from the four sectors against them and their xenophobia. The Hyrrokin government needs to know that Isak was kidnapped and raised in a lab by the Hurlians and they did experiments on him against his will to try and turn him into a killing machine. And they need to know that the Hurlians created his daughter, for the sole purpose of torturing her in order to cause his compliance. And that was when he escaped.” I turn and look right at Isak and continue, “All you want is to be free. Everyone can understand that. The Hurlians are already out of the league of planets due to their non-compliance with the Indigenous Species Act and their prior kidnapping and experimenting of humans. But for everyone to learn they have also had a Hyrrokin this whole time, and did not disclose this? They would be in trouble again. There would be further sanctions. It won’t be pretty.”
They all glance at me with surprise.
“I like to follow the news and politics,” I try to explain. “It interests me.”
“I don’t have a tablet because I don’t want them to hack it and use it to pinpoint my location,” Isak says. “I didn’t leave any footprint behind on the vid or the dark nets. They are here because Cabal is here, and they know this is where I would go. And I’m certain even if they showed up and I was gone, killing my brother in my absence would be considered a win by my creators. This is how their minds work.”
“I think I may have a plan to deter the Hurlians, or at least make sure the other beings in the four sectors are on our side in this,” I respond, bouncing Lyla in my arms while I talk. “I have to admit I’m terrified and angry at the same time. The Hurlians are historic enemies of the humans. They kidnapped us for millennia from our original planet and kept us captive on New Earth, capturing us at will—"
And then we all hear a loud bang.
“They’re here,” Cabal growls.
I turn and glance through the windows of the first-floor reception area and see a team of red-armored soldiers in the courtyard. Oh hell. This is real.
“Get to the basement,” Isak orders.
I know I should go where I’m told, but I can’t help myself, I have to see the action. I hand Lyla off to Lorelei, who nods her head in agreement and smartly grabs the baby and sprints for the basement. And I follow behind Cabal and Isak as they both hit the stairs and race up to the roof of the tower.
I’m far behind the both of them, but I make it up, huffing and panting, just in time to see what I came here for—Isak in motion.
He jumps onto the battlements and leaps off, as if he’s diving into water. I can’t help but rush forward, just to catch a glimpse of this wonder. Cabal is crowded right next to me at the edge of the battlements.
The white wings spread wide, with a span so large it defies the laws of gravity. And then Isak tilts, and I can see the tip of his tail and the red of his muscular arms and chest. His black horns glint in the sunlight. All of this against the majestic drop of the valley and the sheer cliffs of the mountains of Westmore. Fire blasts out of his jaw, directed at a Hurlian military tank.
“Wow,” Cabal mutters. “Good thing he’s on our side.”
