Dorath had been beautiful once.
Ren could feel it as they approached. Echoes of life in the planet's energy field. Faint memories of oceans and forests and cities. All gone now. All dead.
The surface was gray. Endless gray. Cratered by weapons that had scoured it clean centuries ago. No atmosphere to speak of. No water. No life. Just rock and dust and the ghosts of what had been.
"What happened here?" Aiko asked quietly.
"War." Sara's voice was flat. "One of the old wars. Before the Twelve consolidated power. The records are sparse, but this system was contested for centuries. Looks like someone decided to end it permanently."
"They destroyed the whole planet?"
"They had the weapons. Still do, probably." She shook her head. "This is what the Twelve allow. What they encourage. Planets burned. Civilizations ended. All to maintain control."
Ren stared at the dead world. The silver fragment showed him possibilities. Thousands of years ago, this place had been alive. People had lived here. Loved here. Died here.
Now it was nothing.
"The fragment's here," he said quietly. "Underground. Deep."
"Can we reach it?"
"We'll have to."
Landing on a dead world was different from landing on living ones.
No weather to contend with. No atmosphere to fight through. Just silence and dust and the slow descent toward a surface that hadn't changed in centuries.
The Starfire settled onto the gray ground, its landing gear crunching through a layer of fine powder.
"Surface is stable," Aiko reported. "No seismic activity. No threats detected."
"That's almost worse," Sara murmured. "Nothing alive. Nothing moving. Just... nothing."
They suited up. The environment suits felt heavy, claustrophobic. Ren checked his weapons, his equipment, his power. The fragments pulsed inside him, ready.
"Same rules as always," Sara said. "Stay close. Move fast. Don't take unnecessary risks."
"When do we ever?" Aiko asked.
Sara didn't answer. She just led the way to the airlock.
The surface of Dorath was exactly what they'd expected.
Gray dust. Gray rock. A sky that was black even during the day, since there was no atmosphere to scatter light. The system's sun was a small, cold disk on the horizon, providing light but no warmth.
Ren led the way, following the fragment's call. The silver fragment showed him the path. A cave entrance, half-buried, ten kilometers away.
They walked in silence.
The only sound was their breathing, amplified by the suits. The crunch of their boots on the dust. The occasional crackle of the comm system.
"I don't like this," Aiko muttered after an hour. "It's too quiet."
"Dead worlds usually are."
"I know. But this feels different. Wrong."
Ren stopped. The silver fragment was showing him something. A possibility. A threat.
"Get down."
They dropped just as a beam of energy sliced through the space where they'd been standing.
Soldiers. Emerging from behind rocks, from beneath the dust, from everywhere. Dozens of them. Surrounding them.
"Well, well." A voice crackled over an open channel. "The prophecy child. We've been waiting."
Ren's fragments blazed. Blue for courage. Purple for endurance. Gold for wisdom. Red for love. Black for regret. White for power. Silver for strategy.
He saw the possibilities. All of them. Every move these soldiers could make. Every path to survival.
But there were too many. Too well positioned. Too ready.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Doesn't matter. What matters is that someone is paying us a lot to bring you in. Alive, preferably. But dead works too."
"Working for the Twelve?"
The soldier laughed. "The Twelve don't hire people like us. They have their own. No, this is someone else. Someone who wants you for themselves."
Ren's mind raced through possibilities. Who else would be hunting him? Which of the Five? Which empire?
"Who?"
"That's not for you to know." The soldier raised his weapon. "Now, you're going to come quietly. Or your friends die. Your choice."
Ren looked at Sara. At Aiko. Both were frozen, weapons half-raised, knowing they couldn't fight this many.
The silver fragment showed him the options. Fight: they'd die. Run: they'd be caught. Surrender: they'd be taken somewhere, probably killed later.
But there was another path. One he hadn't considered.
"Let them go," he said. "Let my mother and my friend go, and I'll come with you quietly."
"Ren, no!" Sara's voice was sharp.
"Mom. Trust me."
The soldier considered. "Why would we do that?"
"Because I'm the one they want. The prophecy child. The heir. Without me, your payment is nothing. With me, you get everything. The others are just baggage."
A long pause. Then:
"Fine. But if you try anything—"
"I won't. Not while they're safe."
The soldiers parted, creating a path for Sara and Aiko.
"Ren—" Aiko started.
"Go. I'll find you."
Sara's eyes were wet behind her helmet. But she nodded. She grabbed Aiko's arm and pulled her away.
Ren watched them go. Watched until they disappeared into the gray distance.
Then he turned to the soldiers.
"Okay. Take me to your boss."
They bound his hands with energy cuffs. Not that it mattered. Ren could have broken them in a second. But the silver fragment told him to wait. To see. To learn.
They took him to a ship. Larger than the Starfire. Military design, but modified. Private.
Inside, they removed his helmet. The air was warm. Breathable.
"Boss wants to see you," one soldier said. "This way."
They led him through corridors, past more soldiers, past equipment and weapons and supplies. Finally, they reached a door. It opened.
Inside, sitting in a chair, was a woman.
She was old. Older than anyone Ren had ever seen. Her face was lined with centuries. Her eyes were pale, almost white. And when she looked at him, Ren felt something he hadn't felt in a long time.
Fear.
"Hello, Ren." Her voice was soft. Gentle. Terrifying. "I've been waiting a long time to meet you."
"Who are you?"
She smiled. It didn't reach her eyes.
"My name is Veyna. And I used to work for your father."
Ren stared at her. The fragments showed him possibilities. Truth and lies tangled together.
"You worked for my father?"
"For him. With him. Against him." She shrugged. "Depended on the day. Kael Vortanis was many things, but easy to work with was not one of them."
"What do you want with me?"
Veyna stood slowly. She was tall. Imposing. Even old, even frail-looking, she radiated power.
"I want to help you."
"By having your soldiers capture me?"
"By making sure you're ready." She walked closer. "Your father made many enemies, Ren. But he also made friends. Allies. People who believed in what he was fighting for. I'm one of them."
"The fragments. You know about them?"
"I know everything about them. I helped him hide half of them." She smiled again. "Including the one on this world. The ninth fragment. It's very close. I can feel it. Can you?"
Ren closed his eyes. The fragments pulsed. Nine. The ninth was nearby. Very nearby.
"Yes."
"Then let's go get it. Together." She gestured toward the door. "Your mother and friend are safe, by the way. My people are watching them, but they're safe. You have my word."
Ren looked at her. The silver fragment showed him possibilities. Betrayal. Truth. Danger. Safety.
He couldn't read her. Not completely. She was old. Skilled. Experienced. She knew how to hide.
But the fragments also showed him something else. A path. A chance.
"Okay," he said. "Let's go."
They walked through tunnels beneath the surface.
Veyna led. Ren followed. Soldiers flanked them, but kept their distance.
"How did you know I was coming here?" Ren asked.
"The fragments call to each other. When you claimed the seventh, I felt it. When you claimed the eighth, I knew you'd come for the ninth." She glanced back at him. "I've been waiting here for months."
"Months?"
"I'm old, Ren. I have time." She smiled. "Patience is one of the few benefits of age."
The tunnels opened into a chamber. Large. Circular. At its center, a pedestal of black stone.
On the pedestal, the ninth fragment.
It was green. Deep green. Like forests. Like life.
"What aspect?" Ren asked quietly.
Veyna's voice was soft. "Hope. The most dangerous aspect of all."
Ren approached slowly. The green light pulsed gently. Warmly.
Hope.
His father's voice. Weaker than before. Fading.
This is what kept me going when everything else failed. Hope that things could be better. Hope that my son would live. Hope that one day, someone would finish what I started.
Ren reached out. His fingers touched the green light.
And suddenly he was somewhere else.
A battlefield. But different from the others.
This one was after the fighting. Bodies lay everywhere. The air smelled of smoke and death. And in the center, sitting on a rock, was his father.
He looked broken. Defeated. His armor was cracked. His face was streaked with tears and blood.
But his eyes still burned.
I lost, he said quietly. I lost everything. My army. My friends. My hope.
Ren stood beside him. "But you kept going."
Because hope isn't about winning. It's about believing that winning is possible. Even when everything says it's not. He looked up. I hoped you'd survive. I hoped you'd find the fragments. I hoped you'd become something I couldn't.
"And I have."
Yes. You have. Kael smiled. It was tired. Worn. But real. Take this, Ren. Take my hope. And when everything seems hopeless, remember that I never stopped believing in you.
The battlefield faded.
Ren opened his eyes.
The green fragment was inside him now, warm and steady. Nine fragments. Nine aspects of his father's soul.
Veyna was watching him. Her eyes were wet.
"You have it," she whispered. "You actually have it."
Ren nodded. "Thank you. For bringing me here."
"I didn't bring you. You found your own way." She stepped closer. "Your father would be so proud."
They stood together in the ancient chamber, surrounded by stone and silence.
Nine fragments.
Three to go.
END OF CHAPTER 19