the second or two before the TerraNet drone was killed. It shows a glimpse of a vessel between the silhouettes of two Unbroken dreadnoughts. It’s absolutely massive—easily the biggest ship I’ve ever seen. Kilometers across, as long as a city. In contrast to the smooth black metal profiles of the Syldrathi ships, it’s an odd, conical shape, kinda like an oboe or a clarinet. And it’s made of what looks like …
Crystal?
“Son of a biscuit, that’s it,” Auri whispers.
Fin blinks. “What?”
“That’s it,” she says, voice rising. “The Weapon! The Eshvaren Weapon!”
Silence rings out on the bridge, the shock sinking in slow. My thoughts are racing, my heart pounding, the impossibility of it soaking me through.
“Aurora is supposed to use the Weapon to destroy the Ra’haam seed worlds,” Zila says softly. “And the Starslayer somehow destroyed the Syldrathi sun.”
“That’s how he did it!” Aurora breathes. “He used the Weapon on his own world!”
“So, Caersan … ,” Fin whispers.
“He’s another Trigger?” I ask.
Kal’s eyes are wide with horror. “Sai’nuit,” he whispers, eyes on the screen.
“What’s that mean?” Fin asks.
“Starslayer,” I murmur in reply.
“This just in,” TerraNet reports. “We are receiving a transmission from the Unbroken fleet, across all bands. We now cut live to this breaking footage.”
The image of the Weapon disappears, replaced with the figure of a man.
The most stunning man I’ve ever laid eyes on.
He’s tall, wearing a black suit of ornate Syldrathi armor, a long dark cloak flowing over his broad shoulders. His face is pale and smooth, just die-for-me beautiful, razor cheekbones and a piercing violet eye. His silver hair is fashioned into ten braids, curving down over the right side of his face. His ears are tapered to perfect points, the Warbreed glyf etched between his silver brows. He’s bright and fey and terrible, gleaming with a dark light. At the simple sight of him, my skin prickles, my belly turns, my heart flutters.
This is the man who led the attack at Orion.
This is the man who killed my dad.
And then he speaks, and awful as it is, a part of me almost falls in love at the music of his voice.
“I am Caersan. Archon of the Unbroken. Slayer of Stars.”
Glancing around the bridge, I see we’re all rocked by the sight of him in some way. Auri bristling with power and rage and fear, Fin sinking down in his chair, Zila turning her head, chewing on a lock of hair. Kal is as pale as death, his hands knotted, a vein throbbing at his neck. Of all of us, he looks the worst—like someone has opened his wrists and bled every drop of him onto the floor. He’s clearly horrified, shaken to his core at the sight of the monster who destroyed his planet.
Caersan speaks again. Every word a lightning strike.
“My forces are now massed at the edge of Terran space. Against the Unbroken, there can be no victory. People of Earth, hear me now. I gift you one chance. One choice. One path by which you may spare your people, your world, your sun the annihilation that awaits it beneath my fists.”
The Starslayer glares at the camera, and I know it sounds crazy, but I swear I can feel his stare burning in my soul.
“One of my Templars was captured by Terran forces during an altercation in the Fold. I now give you twelve hours to release her.”
I glance at Kal and whisper, “Saedii …”
“If at the end of this time she is not returned to me, I will destroy your sun. I will consign your entire world to the oblivion of the Void. And should any harm have befallen her while in your keeping, know this: For every second of suffering she endured, I shall repay your species ten-thousand-fold. I will not content myself with the destruction of your planet. I will spend the remaining centuries of my life hunting your kind, until not one human remains alive in this galaxy.”
Caersan leans forward, glowering into the lens. And then he speaks five simple words that bring the whole galaxy down on our heads.
“Give me back my daughter.”
The feed drops into darkness.
I can’t breathe.
I can’t see.
I can’t speak.
The thought of it washes over me like black icy water. The weight of it hits me in the chest so hard I put my hand to my aching heart.
“Daughter … ,” I manage.
We all look to Kal, but Kal is staring at Auri, horror in his eyes. The same horror I can see reflected in hers, I