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  Without even asking, Rast knew Nadiah couldn’t manage the steps—there were just too many of them and she was much too weak. Though she was trying to put a brave face on things and acting like she was feeling better, he could see the truth. The bruised looking circles under her dark blue eyes and the drawn look on her face let him know that she wasn’t well. And she wouldn’t be well unless he could somehow force the obtuse, entitled priestess who thought she was above all of them to cure her. Although how he was going to do that, he had no idea. Well, I can start by climbing the damn steps and getting in her face., he thought angrily.

  There didn’t seem to be anything else to do. Leaning down, he scooped Nadiah into his arms and started to climb.

  “Rast,” she protested softly as Sylvan and Sophia followed them up the steps. “You don’t have to do this. I can manage.”

  “No you can’t.” He looked straight ahead, keeping the high priestess in his sights. “But you’ll be able to soon. I promise you that, sweetheart.”

  Nadiah stopped protesting and laid her head on his shoulder. It reminded Rast of the way she’d relaxed against him after Y’dex had been yanking on their blood bond, during the trip to Tranq Prime. It made his heart clench to see that look of quiet submission on her face, that look which said she had been hurt before and knew she would be hurt again. He kissed her shining hair and made a silent vow to himself to make her better, no matter what.

  The steps seemed to go on forever but at last they found themselves at the top. Rast set Nadiah gently on her feet, keeping an arm around her to make sure she didn’t lose her balance.

  “Phew!” Sophia exclaimed, panting as she reached the top step. “Like climbing up the side of a pyramid or something.”

  “Silence!” The high priestess’s voice rang out harshly and Sophia’s eyes went wide.

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t know the ceremony or whatever it is had already started.”

  Rast saw Sylvan squeeze her hand comfortingly. “Forgive us, your Holiness. We are here at your command. Would it please you to tell us why we were summoned?”

  His respectful tone of voice seemed to please the priestess greatly. “Indeed, Warrior, I will tell you. But first I must share with you a story—a legend from our past…and, if we are not careful, a warning for our very near future. Turn from me now and look to the ceiling of the holy cavern. Watch as I relate.”

  All of them turned and Rast saw that the shafts of sunlight which dotted the cavern floor with golden green light had somehow been quenched. Now there was only darkness in the high, vaulted reaches of the holy cavern. But as he watched, the darkness was replaced with a picture. A picture of a man sitting on the Empty Throne.

  Like the biggest IMAX in the whole damn universe, Rast thought, bemused. And on the heels of that, Hey, that guy looks a lot like—

  “You. He looks just like you, Rast!” Nadiah breathed softly. “If you had black hair instead of light brown. Who is he?”

  “The male you see here is Counselor Kall—the last Counselor to ever sit upon the Empty Throne,” the priestess said, answering her question. “But then it was called the Seat of Wisdom. And he bore in his hand, the Eye of Foreknowledge.” As if on cue, the male who looked almost exactly like Rast lifted a heavy silver scepter that looked to be taller than he was. At the top, the scepter was carved into a setting, almost like a ring holding a precious stone. But instead of a stone, the four fingers of silver held in place a…

  “A soap bubble?” Rast frowned. “Why is he holding a bubble? And why doesn’t it pop?”

  “It is no mere bubble. The Eye of Foreknowledge is the third eye of a K’lil,” the priestess intoned.

  Sylvan frowned. “K’lil? I thought they were mythical. Do you mean the huge creatures that used to live on the fifth moon of Gilx? The ones no one could trap because they could always see the hunters coming?”

  “The same.” The priestess nodded. “The K’lil are extinct now. The Eye of Foreknowledge is a rare and precious gift, given by the Goddess herself that the First Kindred might know their enemies’ minds and movements and thus defend against them. Only the Counselor himself can wield it.”

  As if on cue, the man who looked like Rast with black hair brought the bubble end of the scepter close to his face and looked into its shimmering, rainbow depths. Rast couldn’t see what he saw there, but a look of fear and dismay spread over his face and he shook his head before looking up to call someone over.

  A beautiful woman with long, golden brown hair came to join the man. Rast couldn’t help noticing that except for the brilliant green streaks at her temples, her hair was the exact same color as his. She wore a long, loose fitting white gown but under it, her belly bulged prominently—she was pregnant.

  “That is Zali, the chosen mate and Lyzel of Counselor Kall. Together as Challa and Lyzel, they interpreted the visions of the Eye and kept First World safe,” the priestess said. “It was she he called to see the doom approaching them, although he did not wish to give her grief. Only she was worthy to help decide their fate.”

  The priestess looked at Nadiah as she spoke, making Rast wonder if there was some significance in the scene meant just for her. Is she saying Nadiah’s not good enough for me? But why the hell not? And what gives her the right to decide?

  “Of these matters we will speak later,” the priestess said, giving him a dark look. Obviously she had caught part of his thought. “For now, simply watch.”

  Rast looked back at the scene and saw it was still unfolding.

  The man and woman spoke earnestly and though Rast couldn’t hear what they were saying, he could tell it was very serious. The woman put a hand to her cheek and a look of horror crossed her lovely face. The man offered her the scepter and, though it was clear she didn’t want to, she looked into the soap bubble—or the Eye of Foreknowledge as Rast supposed he ought to call it—as well.

  What she saw made her weep, tears running down her cheeks as she clutched protectively at her belly. She shook her head and Rast could almost hear her saying, “No, no it can’t be true! My baby—not my baby!”

  But the man simply nodded. She dissolved into tears and he held her while she cried.

  Though he didn’t know what it was about, Rast felt a lump in his throat. “What happened?” he asked. “Why are they so upset? What did they see?”

  “I will show you.” The priestess’s voice was low and severe. “Prepare yourselves.”

  Suddenly the vast, dark space was empty. Then it was filled with a field of winking stars surrounding a small black ball. No, not a ball, Rast thought. It’s a planet—a planet floating in space. But as the scene zoomed in, getting closer, he could see that the blackness of the planet wasn’t stone or water—it was something living. Or many somethings—all writhing together in a shapeless mass that covered the planet’s surface.

  “Behold Hrakaz, home of the Hoard.” The priestess spoke harshly but Rast thought he could detect fear in her voice. “Known to themselves as the Grimlax and to others as The Blackness which Eats the Stars. They are a vile, desperate, soulless rabble, intent only on devouring everything in their way and making everything as stark and barren as their own miserable rock of a planet.”

  “I can see that their whole planet is black with them,” Sophia said timidly. “But why…why are they called The Blackness which Eats the Stars?”

  “For this reason. Watch.” The Priestess nodded at the scene. Suddenly, from the side of the planet, a ship thrust outward into space. And then another and another until the space around them was black with exiting ships, blotting out the nearby stars.

  “Oh,” Nadiah breathed and Rast could hear the fear in her voice. “They’re looking for new worlds,” she said. “I can feel their hunger.”

  “That is correct.” The priestess gave her a grudging nod of approval. “The Hoard live on a planet in our solar system—only a few hundred million miles from the orbit of First World. They had long been known to us but Counselo