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Osirin returned to his nest-ship the Aerie – in Common, the Eagle’s Nest- after his talk with Nicholas, for even he as king had to pay tribute to his Archon. Indeed that Archon was the former Zephyr Falconer, who was now called simply Falcon. His appearance had been changed since his creation, along with his abilities; he was now the archetype for the Ayyah. As such he was indistinguishable from an Ayyah in form, but his feathers were entirely red.

Falcon received his servants while he sat on a wooden throne. The wood was scrub oak, the totem plant of the Archon. A special tea brewed from the oak’s leaves was the Drink of Communion that enabled Falcon to put his symbiote into his mortal charges.

Osirin came into the throne room and bowed. “Lord Falcon,” he said as he stood upright.

“You have your tenth,” Falcon stated. His tone was that of unyielding expectation.

“Yes, my Lord.” Osirin then gave up yellow energy, a tenth of the energy he had stolen from countless Adamim.

“Yes, I feel the power; you have done well. Have you spoken with Nicholas Blackthorn?”

“Yes, my Lord. It seems you failed to mention a few things.”

“You are only required to obey me, Osirin. Follow my plan like clockwork and you cannot fail.”

“He asked for Babel.”

“You gave him the location?” Falcon almost shouted.

“We had a deal, my Lord. I am a bird of honor.”

Falcon considered this for a moment. “Very well, let Blackthorn have his way. His grandson is useless; the last time he used his powers was to change me into this.”

“The Undying Singer will come,” Osirin informed his Lord.

“I know that; you speak of the obvious. The Lightchildren may be rabbits in the chase compared to us, but they are not fools. They will send the best rabbit they have. You will be ready for him.”

“Nicholas does not think so. He believes that we underestimate the Lightchildren – and the Undying Singer especially.”

“Keep phasing Lightchildren, and soon you will have enough power to go toe-to-toe with him.”

“How many Lightchildren must I phase? The Wielder of the White Hand sounds as if he is above them all. Nicholas warned that power alone cannot defeat him, only corruption.”

“Few can remain uncorrupted if their friends’ lives are at stake and if corruption is the only way to save them. If he tries to fight you on your terms, then that will be corruption enough. Now there is an unprotected planet where you can start gathering energy: the homeworld of the Mephitica. Susan Starrider and her husband are there, and some other Lightchildren, as well as the natives and some Adami colonists. Go there and phase them all; kill them if you have to.”

“Starrider knows of my ability; she is very strong. It could be a bloody fight.”

“That is the risk you will have to take. You are to send a clear signal to the Undying Singer: ‘Here I am, come and get me.’”

“He may not be so easily fooled. Nicholas also warned me of his high intelligence.”

“He will not stand by and watch you butcher his friends. Now do as I say.”

“What of the Matrix?”

“What of it?”

“Nicholas sent Edwin Bitterroot to retrieve it at Romulus. The Undying Singer intercepted Edwin there. According to the interstellar news reports, of which Nicholas fully informed me while I toured his ship, the Centurions believe Edwin is dead. But the Undying Singer believes otherwise – and he is reputed never to be wrong on what he predicts. He will be on the lookout for Edwin – depend on it, as he would say. All this Nicholas told me word for word.”

“Edwin Bitterroot alive? You must be phasing too many people. Your brain is confused; remember, you cannot phase too many people in one onslaught.”

“No, I am not confused. I need not the Undying Singer’s suspicions to be certain of this.” Osirin hated to bring up a matter that was shameful to him, but he had little choice if he hoped to convince his Lord. “Remember, my Lord, my now-Nameless Son allied with Edwin and became soul-bound with him, in hopes of besting the Undying Singer; and even in rebellion, my Nameless is connected soul-to-soul with me, and we with Edwin. Edwin is alive, I know where he is, and he has the Babylon Matrix; this makes him even more dangerous than Nicholas.”

“One needs Elemental power to activate that thing. Even if he is alive somewhere, he cannot use it.”

“But Shet and Nicholas can – and so can you.”

Osirin now had Falcon’s full attention and interest. “Where is the Matrix, then?” Falcon asked.

“It is on the very world to which you send me, my Lord.”

“I see. This works well in our favor, then. Nicholas is not omniscient; he can be disregarded, provided we reach the Matrix first. Edwin would have to get to Shet from there without anyone knowing, or else Shet would have to get to him; but Shet is in chains.”

“With all due respect, my Lord, an incredible amount of entropic energy was released when Edwin vanished. From all reports, the Centurions’ hyper-tech did not detect the pulse; but I believe that the Undying Singer’s Oppositional Introverted Intuiting did, even if he did not recognize it for what it was.”

“Oppositional Introverted Intuiting?”

“That is the Lightchildren’s technical term for the Undying Singer’s prophetic insight. It means that his Gift of Prophecy is best engaged when used against an opponent. So Nicholas explained it to me.”

“I see.”

“My Lord, if Shet absorbed that entropic energy, then Nicholas may not be able to restrain him.”

“Your counsel is sound, Osirin, but leave Shet and his ambitions to me. You have your mission; and you will forget things too grand for you as you carry it out. Now go to where the Matrix is, fetch it for me, and phase that world’s inhabitants; and remember, bring me a tenth of all the power you collect.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

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For all his arrogance, Falcon usually knew good advice when he heard it. Osiren would never bring up something so personally shameful before his Archon if there were not at least a potential threat to check out. And it was never wise to leave Shet out of one’s reckoning if he were a potential threat.

It was not easy even for an Archon like Falcon to reach the world where Shet was trapped. He used up an incredible amount of his power getting there, but many tithes from his loyal Ayyah would fix that.

There stood the black pyramid as usual. If Shet were gone, then he surely would have taken this, his prized ship. Falcon smiled as he entered; the serpent-men were still present, serving in their priest-like way in their hooded cloaks. None hindered Falcon as he entered the throne room.

Falcon could never grasp why Shet never used security; anyone, including the Undying Singer and Amethyst Bellatrix his Elemental ally, could just drop in unannounced. Ancient tales, dating from the time of the Exile and the Founding of the Covenant Sphere, had it that this pair would do so sooner or later, when the Undying Singer was deemed fully prepared. And yet, Shet had made no obvious preparations against that day.

Was Shet really that powerful, or was he just almighty in his own conceits?

As Falcon stepped into the throne room, his eyes opened wide with surprise; Shet’s throne was empty. Falcon quickly grabbed one of the snake-men.

“Where is he? Tell me!”

The poor snake-man looked confused and terrified. He was a worthy adversary in battle, but dealing with Elemental Archons was not what he was made for.

“My, my! You have no manners, coming into my house, abusing my servants and shouting at the top of your lungs.” The hissing voice came from behind. Suddenly uncounted wolf-like Shadow Chasers appeared, drooling and ready for a kill. Shet eased out of the shadows, his head covered by his black cloak.

“This cannot be!” Falcon exclaimed. “You cannot be free!” But Osirin was right, he added to himself in horror.

“Oh, but I am. Nicholas can no longer hold me, thanks to those silly Centurions.”

“You are going for the Matrix.” It was not a question.

“Yes, how obvious of me! But you see, Falcon, you know too much; I will have to get rid of you.”

“Are you insane? How will that help you? The Ayyah will be powerless without me, and you will lose some of your most useful potential allies.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I will become their new master. Their power will come from me, and their tithes will go to me.”

“You think you can fight me? I am stronger than ever.” Falcon stood his ground.

“Yes, you are, but you drained yourself coming here; and though you’re still very strong, you forget one thing that Nicholas never forgets.”

“What…?”

“Never get too close to a snake; he will eventually bite you.” As Shet held out his right hand, Falcon levitated off the floor and began to gasp; his power was leaving him.

“How ironic: the one who steals the powers of other has his powers stolen from him. Don’t you find that hilarious?” Shet laughed. In a moment, Falcon (like all Elementals drained by Shet) turned to stone. Shet levitated the former Archon to an unused corner of the throne room and set him down there.

“Now I am master of the Ayyah,” Shet gloated, “and soon the master of all. Now, my pets, we get to my Shadow Master before Nicholas or the Undying Singer does.”

In the very next blink of an eye, the knowledge of Edwin’s location was removed from Shet’s mind.

“What!? You can’t do this!”

“I can do whatever I please whenever I please, O Disciple of Entropy,” said a voice out of thin air.

The Hooded Man, the Lord Joshua Davidson, walked into the throne room with His hood down and His face and hair in glory, and He was angry. The Priests of Shet and the Shadow Chasers backed themselves to the nearest walls, hissing and whimpering in terror.

“The Undying Singer warned you, Shet,” He thundered, making the very walls of the throne room tremble. “Nicholas Blackthorn and Amethyst Bellatrix also warned you long ago: you cannot make an agreement with Me and then break it with impunity. You have sought to start the Shadow War before its appointed time, and you will suffer the consequences accordingly. Now go your way; you will get what is coming to you, in time.”

Shet could only obey, yet he still had a question. “You could kill me now. Why do You not?”

“Only because you are still more useful to Me alive than dead. Do not be so eager for your own demise; it will not be pleasant, if you remain in your bitterness. Now go!”

Shet vanished immediately at the command.

The Hooded Man walked out of the pyramid into the free air of Shet’s prison planet. Ariel Silverstone, the Elemental Disciple of Weather, was waiting for Him.

“I have put Edwin’s location into your mind,” the Hooded Man said. “In a moment, the Lady Zoe will use the Portal of Starlight to send you from here to the Centurions, and you will inform them in My name.”

“Lord, they will try to kill him.”

“I know. But being who and what they are, they will inform the Lightchildren first, and Chris Alan and his current team will get there first. Zoe will see to that.”

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