The Order of Ja’el — Chapter Nine

A Weekly Sci-fi Fantasy Story Series

Read from Chapter One here. Prefer audio? Find my podcast links here.

Elian’s joy knew no bounds. A smirk punctuated her face as she surveyed the destruction Tamana and her two creatures had caused. Klef may have been quite a small village devoid of the Earth Colonies’ real defences. Still, this didn’t change the great potential of their dark alliance.

“Just the three of you, then?” Elian questioned. She was eager to place her bets on the creatures when the Earth cavalry got word of the invasion.

“Don’t worry, Elian,” Tamana drawled. “The rest of my creatures are soon to arrive. But we three were a bit eager to set the pace.”

“Hmph!” Elian nodded approvingly. Then, she pressed the button on a round device she held rather tightly in her hand. Tamana caught sight of it despite Elian’s attempt at being discreet. Her sly smile sent a shudder through the High Priestess.

Elian knew Tamana and her creatures could just as easily turn on the Sky and inflict no end of pain on them all. Tamana’s motivations for doing so were stronger than the ones binding her to the Earth Colonies’ destruction. Should the King’s little sister get her hands on the portal button, there would be no stopping her dark reign.

Elian chose to quickly remind her of their agreement. “I do look forward to delivering Vlad and that fake Tamana to you, along with any number of the royals you’d like. It is our arrangement, after all, is it not? All the revenge you seek in exchange for this?” Elian casually swung her arm towards the piles of bodies. “You were quite the unexpected find a few days ago. If I didn’t know better, I would say it was almost divine.”

Tamana finally released her fixation on the button, staring eerily at Elian. “Almost. But not quite. We’ve been watching your progress over the years. We made ourselves known to you because it was time, and it was clear you needed us.”

“And not because Vlad’s been up there parading his new-and-improved version of you?” Elian focused further on Tamana’s elusive intentions. “Your timing was in no way triggered by that?”