Seethkar, First Quarter, Andromeda Galaxy.

His chest squeezed, Mya was not anywhere to be found and neither was Nezerra. Why hadn't he kept a closer eye on them? He and Mara scanned the winding paths before them cutting away large roots. He could feel the disturbance in the air, somehow the life engine had been opened. It meant death for all on this planet and probably the entire first quarter. Every world had a life engine put there by the elders that created it. Zogan did not fully understand what was held within it, he didn't need to. All he knew was that if it was destroyed or damaged, the world and all on it died. It was what he had wanted for the Ajal, he'd planned on taking it away covertly with the Tyrhung's consuming power and letting them waste away, only finding out the cause until it was too late. But of course, things hadn't gone to plan. The fact that it had been opened meant something else entirely. It meant he, his crew and all their allies had to get as far away as possible. Soon. The Tyrhung, even though a powerful weapon in its own right, could not consume the power of an open life engine.

His wrist screen chimed as the ground bucked beneath their feet. He released a breath as he viewed the message. Mya was with Ravanna headed toward the rendezvous point. His aching horn eased. Mara's wrist screen beeped with the same message and they spun, ready to sprint toward their entry point. The ground heaved again, throwing them onto their backs. Zogan hissed as his head cracked against the floor. The dirt lined ceiling above them rippled and he and Mara scrambled back as it crashed downward. Billows of dust clouded his vision. He wheezed trying to expunge the grit that now lined his breathing pathways.

"We need to find another way out." Mara came up beside him, "There's no way through here."

Zogan cursed, there was another way out, but it would take longer to get through. They might miss the extraction time. They ran back the way they came heading towards where the Ajal had fled when the engine had been broken. They reached the wall furthest from the groaning engine at the back of the cavern. It was lined with thick, heavy brown vines. They exchanged glances; there was an exit somewhere near here, but its exact location was something they hadn't been able obtain. Mara slashed at the vines looking for any hinges or any drafts that indicated a doorway. Zogan looked behind him, the engine's red bubble of energy was almost to them, nearly having filled the large cavern. Lightning flashes struck within it and the slithering black particles in its globe danced, he could feel the scorching heat against his scales. Hot wind fought back his hood and his hearts sunk. They were running out of time.

"Blast it." shouted Zogan.

He shrugged off his large blaster, holding it at its handles with his two hands. He powered it up fully, Mara did the same beside him. The strength of the combined concussive explosion caused them to rock back, they stumbled but managed to stay on their feet. Before them through the newly formed hole was a brightly lit corridor.

They scrambled forward, climbing through the steaming opening. Zogan strapped his blasters to its original space on his back. Mara hefted hers over her shoulder. They looked both ways, the corridor extending in opposite directions and Zogan chose left, hoping his memory served him right. He sprinted down the hallway with Mara keeping pace beside him. The ground convulsed violently. The corridor veered sharply to the right. They had no choice but to continue onward. Mara halted, her head whipping towards the wall and Zogan back peddled.

"Isn't this what we saw on the maps?"

She was peering at a sheet of metal bolted into the dirt wall. She raised her blaster and fired, this time the beam was set on low, they didn't want to draw attention and have to fight through more Ajal at the moment. The wall melted and through it they saw what they'd been searching for. An escape. Zogan swung through the opening after his sister and started to climb the bars protruding from the roughhewn walls. They'd found one of the emergency exit tunnels that they'd been lucky enough to view on the stolen holograms one of their allies had been able to procure. The space was small and Zogan had to hunch in on himself to prevent his horns from scraping on the walls around him as he climbed. His powerful legs pushed him upward, his breathing controlled. Debris rained down on them as the rocks shook free from the planet Seethkar's movements. It had begun to destabilize.

They climbed for what seemed like forever. Finally, they both skidded to a stop as they spotted an opening. A wide rectangular cavity in the rock up ahead. They could hear the Ajals speaking or arguing. You could never really tell with them. Zogan tapped his sister's foot in a short rhythm. Tap Tap.... Tap Tap...Tap. She raised her finger letting him know she understood.

They jumped through the window blasters blazing. They had surprise on their side. The room held the enemy's warships. The small silver ones that had shown up to attack the Kozan ships and allies when they had entered his world. Ajal piled into them trying to escape the destruction that was sure to come from below. Brother and sister ran forward in perfect sync, firing their nearly depleted blasters – the earlier heavy blow that they'd used had exhausted its battery. The escaping Ajal fell by the dozens, the element of surprise worked to their advantage. The Ajal were too embroiled in their panicked attempts to vacate their home world. Zogan soon clicked his weapon again and nothing happened. He flung away the useless weapon and drew his sword, rushing forward with a roar. He swung and cut down those who got in his way. The sharp musky tang of Ajal blood cut through the air. He and Mara fought side by side, moving like water, savagery lining their faces. Their gift lending them perfectly calculated control over their weapons and their bodies.

Zogan and the elder spotted each other at the same time, the latter's eyes were wide with disbelief. His face morphed into barely contained fury. Zogan reinforced his mental shields and leapt forward. He did not hesitate, he would not let the corrupted elder escape, this was his only chance to end it all. Life engine be damned.

They slammed into each other and grappled. Zogan reached up with his knee and dug it into the older male's side. Something was off, why didn't the elder use his power? The question did not linger for long though. He was younger and sturdier than the old male but would use whatever he could to his advantage. If the elder's power were somehow incapacitated, he would take the advantage. He pushed the Ajal overlord away and swung down with his sword hoping to sever his head from his body. He could hear Mara grunting behind him as she covered his back, taking care of the remaining Ajal who fought to rescue their leader. He missed as the elder shifted away at the last moment. He may have been older, but he was more seasoned in battle.

Zogan twirled his sword and swiped downward again pushing him back, he changed his hold on the sword and kicked out with his foot connecting with the elder's soft underbelly. Zogan kept moving forward raining down a flurry of swings and strikes, his enemy moved out of the way swiftly as if he could see the attacks coming. The elder grabbed his swinging arm and squeezed. Zogan hissed at the strength of his grip. He swung his head forward bashing his scaled forehead into the boney brow of the Ajal. He stumbled back and released Zogan's arm. Zogan bared his fangs and stalked across the trembling floors toward his adversary.

"You will die with this world boy!" the elder spat the words at him and leered.

The old male's forehead and nose leaked his thick black blood. Zogan whipped his locs that had escaped his hood out of his face and jumped forward arm raised to strike. The elder reached up and swung his thorny arms, they bit into the left side of Zogan's face sending him sprawling. His blade fell from his grip. He felt warmth sliding down his face. He was bleeding. The elder leapt forward and pounced but Zogan sprang up to meet his advance. The elder bore down aiming with his fanned-out horns trying to sever Zogan in half but Zogan braced for impact and with the help of his weakening suit took the brunt of the hit. He grunted as the wall met with his back. Hard. He lunged his knee up into the stomach of the elder and tore open his back with his elongated claws, ripping into him viciously. The elder roared and shook free, Zogan's claws ripping out flesh as he spun away. He grasped at his last dagger and swung it out, ducking under the swiping claws of the enemy. They sized each other up. The elder's arrogant grimace faltered; his face was a bloody mess from Zogan's earlier hits.

"What are you without your power? Who are you without your army at your back?" taunted Zogan. The elder's eyes darkened. He'd guessed right about the elder not having any gift to use, he still didn't know why, but he was grateful to whatever twist of fate had allowed him the respite. "You are nothing, not even worthy of merely existing according to your own decree."

Trying to unsettle him, trying to unhinge him so that he could end him and get out of Seethkar. He used his own psychopathic decree against him and watched for a reaction. The elder growled, the sound rattling Zogan's chest amidst the tremors that moved the ground beneath their feet. He violently reached for Zogan a snarl on his dry lips, eyes wild and unfocused now - but Zogan was ready and waiting. The next part came to him naturally, the moves like breathing.

Thrust. Dodge. Slash.

He grabbed at the elder's horn and wrenched his neck backward, kicking his leg out to throw him off balance during the movement. His dagger flew towards the exposed neck below embedding itself deeply into his throat. Zogan ripped the blade out. There was a crazed grin on the elder's face and Zogan felt a sting at his abdomen. He looked down and saw a long blade protruding from his stomach. His brow bones lowered uncomprehendingly. Mara yelped and she was near him, fingers fluttering about him as he fell to his knees beside the elder who laughed and choked on the blood that gurgled up from his gaping sallow neck, his laughs continued until it ended abruptly with wet sucking sounds.

Zogan felt oddly detached from his surroundings, Mara's voice was muffled. He looked on at her frantic movements as heat bloomed throughout his abdomen. He fell to his knees and the pain sharpened, bringing him out of the bubble that had held him and back to reality.

"Oh no... no – no – no, not today!" Mara said.

Her bloodied swords clattered to the ground with a loud clang. Her hands slick with black viscous liquid gripped the dagger and she looked at him. Her eyes filled with something he had never seen on her before. It took him a moment to understand what that emotion was.

Fear.

Zogan nodded understanding her intent. Pain cut through him, and he screamed, it was barbed wire ripping from his throat, spots danced across the ceiling. He felt every serrated edge of the blade as she ripped it out of him, not having the time to go slowly. His screams tapered off into moans like those of a wounded animal as blood gushed from him. Mara clamped her strong hands over his and slapped them onto his wound while pulling him to her.

"Get up! Get up!"

Zogan snarled and unfolded his feet. The pain rolled through him. Mara dragged him grunting from his weight. She climbed into a nearby warship as the ground began to splinter beneath them. She pulled him up having to do most of the work despite Zogan's weak attempts to help. She did not have the luxury to be gentle, pain was like a wave that crashed over him. It was never-ending. His hands were soaked through with his own blood. His hearts rammed in his chest painfully. He was going to die. He knew it. His sister buckled him into the seat and seized the control. The shudder of Seethkar was now hard enough to rattle Zogan's bones. He closed his eyes and heard her curse. She probably didn't know how to fly the damned ship. Zogan offered some help, but his words came out slurred, Mara shushed him with a flick of her tongue. The next thing Zogan was aware of when he opened his eyes was the ground moving away from him through the translucent bottom of the warship and Mara cursing furiously as she tried to level it out.

The ground roiled below, looking like waves as the distance between them and it grew and Zogan stared mesmerized. Not at all noticing the chill that had begun to spread from his core outward. His thoughts swirled around Mya. Her smile, her embrace, her laugh, her heat. Zogan's hearts pulsed, and he smiled. The ship dipped suddenly, and Mara cursed again bringing Zogan out of his reverie. He had to stay awake until he got to his ship. He had to see her again.

"You can hold out a little longer, can't you little brother? We'll all be furious with you if you decide not to make it." Mara's voice trembled though she tried to joke, and he looked over at her to see moisture in her vibrating eyes.

She was trying to engage him, to keep him alive. He chuckled or tried too. He ended up coughing instead, blood stained his lips and dribbled out onto his chin. His sister's lips quivered.

They moved through a short tunnel that expelled them into a colony set ablaze with fires and explosions. His allies and warriors' distractions had gone off, the place was full of smoke and fires that raced through the hanging homes. Explosions went off left and right as the fires connected with fuels and other bombs lying in wait. All planted by the other teams on the mission. Their tiny ship rocked back and forth from the emissions of each burst of flame and Mara struggled to remain in control. There were no enemy ships in the air. Any that had thought to escape had been slaughtered by the waiting battleship cavalry above. He could see a glimmering red light in the bowels of the cocooning colony growing in intensity. Right where they'd escaped from. They rose through the air, climbing jerkily toward the ships that floated above. His ships. Their ships. His mate.