The Aperios (Children of the Sun Book 4)

“Enor will act fast in retaliation,” Mereria said, as if Kaleth didn’t know this already. Of course Enor would do something after seemingly doing very little now that they’d managed to achieve both of their goals. Frankly, Kaleth still had trouble accepting that they’d managed it, but now they needed to plan what to do next and do it quickly.

Yorin had immediately gone to work on what he called a telepathy amplifier, which they would hopefully use to break through the brainwashing of any soldier they came across, but even with that, going around looking for Enor’s soldiers to fix was hardly an efficient gameplan.

They needed to get Enor off the board first. That was what mattered the most since there didn’t seem to be anyone else in the chain of command. Once Enor was dead, they could go and undo the brainwashing, hopefully.

“Yeah, um, what is it gonna take for you to surrender?” Relioth asked, rubbing his hands awkward where he was sitting at the meeting table. He had been very quiet since he’d returned with Yorin, which Kaleth appreciated but didn’t understand.

And Kaleth wished he had stayed quiet even now because he had no idea how to answer that question. Being told that his sister would be tortured or worse if he didn’t comply with Enor’s demands had been hard enough to say no to, and it hadn’t been just her. If it had been Mel….

No, Kaleth wouldn’t agree even then. If he gave in, this whole planet would be doomed. They couldn’t deal with one Enor. How would they deal with two?

“I won’t surrender,” Kaleth finally replied, sighing. Assuming Enor wouldn’t find out where he had been hiding and take him by force. But Kaleth didn’t doubt that Enor would have done it by now if he knew.

“Yeah, but like realistically—”

“I won’t,” Kaleth repeated, glaring at Relioth. “Because if I do, we lose.”

Maybe the best he could do for the world would be for him to leave it forever. He could technically do that, with teleportation and being able to survive in the vacuum of space, but that didn’t feel right. But he also felt like he was supposed to stay and fight, even if staying was risking Enor turning him into an emotionless monster.

“Kal,” said his sister, touching his shoulder. It was odd how easily he could immediately tell if Mereria or Edras were talking, but he didn’t really struggle with it at all anymore. He didn’t even see them as looking the same anymore. “If he gets his hands on Mel—”

“If he kills Mel, he kills me.” What would happen to Mel if Enor took away Kaleth’s emotions? Would he go through the same process any Eternal losing the person they bonded with does? Or would Kaleth technically being alive be enough to keep Mel from killing himself?

Thinking about this was highly upsetting, but Kaleth wanted to know the answers to these questions. He wanted to know what he could sacrifice without destroying Mel in the process.

“Or he could use your grief against you and let you come to him to take it away,” Edras argued, giving Kaleth a look of pity. It was difficult to meet it.

“Yep, if I were Enor, that’s what I’d definitely do,” Relioth added, nodding thoughtfully. “By the way, does it freak either of you out that he possessed your dad?”

Kaleth stared down at the table, sliding his index finger over the metal. Yes, it did freak him out, as Relioth had put it so eloquently. But he pretended not to see his father when he saw Enor. It was easier to do in person, though, because Kaleth could see the Eternal hiding within. As a hologram, there was no such thing, and all there was was the image of his father, threatening him.

“I just look through Mereria’s eyes. All she sees is a monster,” Edras answered while Kaleth stayed silent. That must have been nice, he mused. For the most part, whenever his brain decided to remind him that the psychopath standing before him was also in a way his father, he firmly ignored it and pushed it away.

“And Enor when she looks at you. It’s actually really jarring.”

Kaleth looked at her with irritation, to which she replied by raising her hands.

“Hey, it’s not what I see. I’m just saying.”

Kaleth then dragged his eyes over to Relioth, who avoided his gaze. It was almost shocking that he didn’t add anything to this topic. Not that Kaleth was complaining. It was also good that it was just the three of them right now because he didn’t want anyone listening to their drama.

Reminding himself that he was technically related to Relioth wasn’t helping him either.

“If Enor was willing to destroy the facility where he makes his soldiers in Enoria,” Kaleth started, getting back on topic, “then I think we have a good chance of freeing it from him completely, assuming Yorin really does know how to make breaking through the brainwashing easier.”

“Right, which would mean paying our lovely parlament a visit?” Relioth was grinning now. Kaleth narrowed his eyes. If Relioth was planning on taking over again, he was sorely mistaken. And just to foolproof the average voter’s idiocy, Kaleth would make sure Relioth couldn’t run for President, or anything, again.

“Yes. Given that Enor also has the Enorian army under control as well, it would be more symbolic than anything, but it would be a good start.”

It was still a bit odd to Kaleth that Enor had bothered leaving their government as it had been, except convinced to follow his instructions. But no one knew what Enor’s actual plan was, so if he wanted to keep this planet going, it would make sense not to change much.

What was his actual plan, though? Why was he still making soldiers with the world subjugated?

“Sweet.”

Kaleth rolled his eyes at Relioth’s pleased smirk. Just the fact that he would take enjoyment in this was enough not to take him with. But he was the only other person who knew how to teleport.

“You spent a long time helping Enor, correct?” Kaleth asked him, making his smile disappear almost instantly. Kaleth enjoyed seeing that a bit too much.

Relioth scratched his beard. “Um, time is such a relative concept to an immortal—”

“What is his plan? Do you have any ideas?” Kaleth cut in. He didn’t have time for this. And he definitely wasn’t in the mood.

Relioth hung his head, sighing loudly. “He never told me much. I think originally what he wanted was to kill all the remaining Orsi under Irif.”

Kaleth raised an eyebrow, confused by the name.

“The lizard folks, like me and Mery. But, you know, following Irif. So not like us at all, I guess.”

What a marvelous explanation.

“I don’t think he wants to do that anymore, though,” Relioth continued. “I mean not just that. If he did, he could have done it by now. And he definitely wouldn’t bother keeping you alive.”

Kaleth wrinkled his nose. He got what Relioth meant, but he didn’t have to like it.

“Yeah, I would like to know what his deal is, too,” Edras said, frowning down at the table. “But I think I’d rather not find out.”

Kaleth definitely agreed with that, though he would be lying if he said he wouldn’t be bothered if they managed to kill Enor without finding out why he wanted Kaleth to join him. He could do without ancient beings constantly trying to get him to join their side, but if they insisted, he wanted to know why.

“We’ll have to wait for Yorin to….”

Kaleth only then realized he didn’t actually know what Yorin had been up to since they’d brought him here. He hadn’t exactly had the time to worry about him beyond knowing that he was doing something relating to the telepathy enhancement machine.

He could be in the process of building it as much as he could only be starting to figure out how to make it. Kaleth should check on that.

“Wait for him to make the machine,” Kaleth finished, deciding to formulate it like that.

“Right, let’s hope he does that fast.”

Kaleth nodded at his sister. He had nothing else to say so he excused himself. He really did need to check with Yorin, even though he didn’t want to push him. The situation required it unfortunately, but Yorin surely knew as much.

He hadn’t been expecting to run into Elrin on the way to the small lab that was here, nor had he been expecting her to stop him. But the moment she told him she wanted to talk to him, he immediately wanted to sigh.

Her tendency to give out wise advice was tiring at best, especially now that most of it was related to Relioth somehow. Whatever Relioth paid her—assuming she even got anything out of this—it wasn’t enough.

“I know you hate him,” she started, not even bothering to spell out who she was talking about because it was obvious.

“Yes, that is absolutely correct.”

She raised her eyebrows in a pleading way, as if to kindly ask him to shut up. “But I think he’s really trying to, you know, fit better into your idea of good morality.”

Elrin must have been a lawyer or a diplomat at some point in her very long life to formulate it this way. As if Kaleth was trying to force some kind of special rules onto Relioth. All he wanted from him was to not hurt or kill people and to leave Kaleth alone. It wasn’t exactly a tall order.

“During the mission, he teleported away with me when Enor appeared. I think he got a flashback.”

Kaleth resisted the urge to mock Relioth for that, even though he would have deserved it. And besides, there was something much more interesting in what she’d just said. No one had mentioned that Relioth had proven that he was a coward. All he’d heard was that Relioth supposedly saved the day, which had sounded suspicious to him from the start.

Kaleth narrowed his eyes at her. “You don’t say.”

Elrin raised her index finger. “Yes, but then he went back. Without me convincing him.”

Kaleth frowned more. This was getting very strange. And he wasn’t sure he was willing to believe Elrin’s word.

“I mean, I did tell him to go back, of course, but he generally doesn’t listen to me.”

So if Elrin was to be believed, Relioth had actually gone out of his own free will back to where he thought Enor was, who he was now deathly afraid of. Of course, Kaleth was assuming that part, but it was fairly clear. Relioth wouldn’t let his ego get him killed, but he certainly had a problem with just running away.

“I’m just saying. Maybe don’t push him too hard. He’s trying.”

“If you say so.”

Kaleth realized that he was definitely being petty right now, but no matter how harshly Kaleth treated him, Relioth deserved it. But maybe Elrin was onto something. There was definitely a point when Relioth would leave them, and that would mean losing a very strong asset. Maybe reminding himself that Relioth had done some good as well would help him control his urge to be passive aggressive towards him at every waking moment.

Elrin patted his shoulder as she walked past him, giving him one last look before disappearing in the room Kaleth had just left. Kaleth shook his head. As much as he wished Mel was here and not back at that facility, checking over the new Eternal soldiers with his sister and Kara, Kaleth knew that right now he’d be giving him puppy eyes and trying to get across that maybe Relioth does deserve a second chance, so it was probably a good thing he wasn’t present right now.

Finally reaching the lab, Kaleth relaxed when he saw Yorin and Nef working on things he wasn’t going to bother trying to understand. Though it was hard not to notice the glum atmosphere filling the room, even with all the rush of movement that came with all the tool exchanging and subsequent usage of said tools.

The device itself was actually much smaller than Kaleth had been expecting, though it looked like it would fit over the head, so it made sense, he supposed. He had no idea how this was supposed to work, though, so he was only guessing that it would be worn like a helmet of sorts.

Kaleth was about to clear his throat to get their attention when Yorin froze and looked over at him. His eyes widened, and his mouth hung open a bit, but before Kaleth could get annoyed at being told by yet another Eternal that he looked like Enor, he noticed that the look in Yorin’s eyes was actually awe.

Well, that was new. Yorin had never looked at him this way.

“Incredible,” Yorin whispered, which made Kaleth instantly uncomfortable. Well, that and Yorin’s look of pure fascination. Kaleth frowned.

“I’m sorry?”

Yorin’s face went red as he looked back at the device. “Uh, sorry, I just never took the time to really appreciate what you are.”

Kaleth scowled harder, his nose wrinkling in distaste. “Um, okay, that’s—” He waved his hand, definitely not prepared to think about this. “Nevermind.”

“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Yorin started attaching yet another bundle of wires onto the device.

“I wasn’t….” Kaleth cut himself off with a huff and pinched the bridge of his nose as he heard Nef snort out a laugh. This was off to a fantastic start. “How long will this take?”

Yorin’s face fell further. And sure, Kaleth hadn’t meant to make it sound quite so demanding, but they didn’t have time for pleasantries.

“The telepathy amplifier should be finished in a few hours. I have built it before, after all, so I’m just making it again. The first time it took me almost an entire month to figure out, but given that I had no goal to follow for thousands of years that didn’t—”

“All right, splendid.” While that was fantastic news, Kaleth couldn’t even manage to make himself sound happy about it.

“But that is just the building phase. There is going to be a need to test it first extensively to make sure it will both work as intended, and not break after a few uses. Telepathy is a very delicate thing.”

Right, of course there was a catch. “And how long will that take?”

Yorin grimaced and looked back at the device. Kaleth let out a deep breath. If this thing didn’t work as intended, Kaleth assumed that would mean potentially breaking the minds of the people they used it on.

“And of course the amplifier will need a strong telepath to use it. Those soldiers will do their best to defend themselves.”

Kaleth nodded. That made sense, but hopefully he’d be able to do it, being the strongest person around. He couldn’t say he excelled at telepathy, and all of the things related to it, but he knew how to be forceful and break through barriers, which is what he thought was the gist of it.

He was about to leave when Yorin stopped him.

“Oh, Kaleth, I thought you should know….” Yorin looked him straight in the eye with worry and sorrow. “That device Enor told me to make was a planetary laser.”

Kaleth scowled in confusion. “That being?”

“A laser designed to shoot from orbit at a planet to destroy a specific location,” Yorin explained, heaving a sigh.

Well, that definitely sounded bad, but what exactly did that mean for Enor’s plans? Surely there was no need for a death ray in the sky to keep the planet under his thumb. It already was with what seemed like Enor barely trying.

“What, really?” Nef asked, blinking. “Wait, does that mean Enor is planning on going to space, too?”

Now it was Kaleth’s turn to blink in surprise. He hadn’t thought of that at all, but seeing Yorin give a sad nod was definitely not comforting. He then turned to Kaleth again.

“I don’t know what he actually wants, but I think it goes beyond this planet.”

Kaleth set his jaw. He couldn’t say he cared about any particular planet more than his own, but he would be damned if he didn’t do his best stopping whatever Enor wanted to do.

“He can try,” he said darkly and with that left the room, glaring at the floor as he went. That was about all he could say, given how hopeless the situation was.

He wasn’t sure what to do now, since all he could do was wait, so he decided to go back to discuss the plan further when he suddenly felt Mel in his mind. He didn’t say anything—it was just overwhelming emotion, despite the distance Kaleth could feel between them.

A feeling of horror and despair.