The Leviathan returned to the orbit after it had dropped them off.

None of the motherships stayed on Luminos for very long unless they needed some very urgent repairs. The long night was violent enough to throw the ships weighing megatons around like paper planes.

The only machines that were able to move in the storm were Gechs – the titanic harvesters built for the express purpose of walking through the long night, gathering essential supplies for Nayanors when they emerged from the fortresses. They were designed specifically to be heavy enough to withstand the onslaught of the storm.

Designed by the Eternals, of course.

Kol-Eresh frowned as he stood before the gates of his fortress, looking at two Gechs walking in the distance like mechanical gods trudging through their domain.

The harvesters were so far that it would have taken hours to reach them with a hovercarrier, but they still towered over everything else the harbinger saw.

He was approached by Captain Lamonte, the man in charge of his fortress – Garolian Pass – when Kol-Eresh wasn't around, which was quite often. The raids could take a long time depending on the wormhole travel. There was no surefire way of controlling how long exactly they spent in the unspace. An inexperienced pilot could lose the ship in a wormhole for three months in real space if he made a mistake, no matter how miniscule.

Kol-Eresh had killed one of the southern warlords for his pilot. The young warrior had a sense for the wormhole that bordered on supernatural.

Even so, the captain was necessary. Fortresses needed daily care to rule over the harbinger's domain and prepare for the long night. The job was usually left for men who didn't like leaving Luminos.

Kol-Eresh had no respect for the captain in that regard, but his organizational skills were keeping Lamonte in his good graces year after year.

"Report," the harbinger ordered, waiting for Forack to return with Jackie.

The healer wanted to run some last minute tests before they set off for the Black Hall.

"Harbinger," Lamonte saluted him grimly. "Good to have you back. The Eternals are growing bolder. During your absence, forty-five females were kidnapped. They were all exposed to the serum. All forty-five were found dead."

Kol-Eresh groaned.

"How did you not manage to protect them?" he demanded.

Lamonte made a face that bordered between annoyance and begrudging respect.

"They have new toys," he said with clear distaste. "After Zar Kohora led a successful rescue of those females a few months ago, they have learned to come with reinforcements."

The captain trailed off for a moment as he searched for words.

"I don't even know what to call those things, Harbinger," he said. "The Eternals ride around on top of gigantic artificial beasts that function like exoskeletons for them. And when confronted, the mounts can battle independent from them, led by AIs that can face actual warriors.

“It's... If I didn't see it, Kol-Eresh, I wouldn't believe, but I was there during the last attack. They have created AIs that match a warrior's reflexes. The things aren't just smart. They're trained to fight us.

"I heard Harbinger Rhyslan name them abominations and the name seems to have stuck."

Kol-Eresh glared at him.

"And the serum? Any luck with countering that? What about the females Zar Kohora saved? Did any of them live?"

"No," Lamonte admitted. "Same as all the rest. Symptoms are eerily consistent. First the eyes turn purple, then the female's blood begins to run cold. Then she continually loses strength until her heart can no longer keep the body going. There is one new thing, though."

Kol-Eresh said nothing, waiting. He thought of Jackie. He had brought his fated to his home world, wanting to save her, but the truth was that Luminos was not safe for her. The Eternals were becoming a plague that should have been eradicated a long time ago, but it was hard.

That alone was difficult for a Nayanor to admit, but Kol-Eresh didn't share the weaknesses many of his people did. There was no use in denying how badly the Eternals were wounding them. All the females who had been brought to Luminos were precious. The loss of a single one was grieved greatly, given that not every kidnapped female found their mate.

The Nayanor population was dwindling fast and the Eternals were helping along by killing the treasured females.

"It looks like the Eternals have fixed a problem with the serum," Lamonte explained. "There seems to be no more pain for the females."

Kol-Eresh scoffed.

That sounded exactly like an Eternal thought. Instead of choosing not to torment and kill any more females, they focused on making their insane tests more humane.

"Still no idea what they want?" he asked Lamonte.

The captain shook his head.

Kol-Eresh hadn't expected much. The Eternals were a tough breed. Even if someone managed to capture one, they didn't share any of the secrets of their brotherhood. All the harbinger had to go by were the facts.

The Eternals had been more active recently. They switched between stealing the females who had already been brought to the planet by force – none of them had ever been found – and injecting others with a serum that killed them. Nothing helped.

No guards to protect them, no diadons to save their lives. The few of the thousands that had been subjected to the Eternals who had survived the implant were only rewarded by living through the torment longer.

It made sense that the men who had created the diadons would have taken them into consideration.

Kol-Eresh knew that sooner or later they had to be destroyed. The way the Eternals were behaving meant that soon it was either them or the rest of the Nayanors.

"Keep Garolian Pass safe until I return from the Black Hall," Kol-Eresh ordered when he saw Forack returning with Jackie.

The captain saluted.

Kol-Eresh left him behind without another word. He headed over to Jackie who was looking around with incredible wonderment in her light green eyes.

He'd expected as much. If he discounted all the cruelty on Luminos, the long night and the eternal feuds of the warlords, not to mention the Eternals... then the planet itself was rather beautiful. There was something about the play of colors, yellowish sky above fields of violet, that the Terran females all liked.

"How are you feeling?" he asked Jackie, glancing at Forack who stood guardedly behind his fated. "Is she prepared?"

"She's as good as I could make her," the healer said noncommittally.

Jackie's lips curled into a soft, unhappy smile.

"That's the tone of voice my doctors used when they found out what I had," she said. "I'm surprised Nayanors manage to give off such a similar sentiment."

Forack shrugged.

"Unlike the harbinger, I don't like giving people false hope," he said, quickly stepping out of the way when Kol-Eresh turned his way with thunder in his eyes. "I didn't say she had none, just that your reassurance isn't –"

"Silence," Kol-Eresh ordered roughly, gesturing to the quick hovership waiting for them. "Concern yourself with preparing for the surgery and nothing more. If I hear one more word from your mouth that upsets my female, I will cut your tongue out of your damn mouth."

Forack left them alone, not willing to test that threat. A tongue wasn't something a healer essentially needed, so Kol-Eresh figured the healer was wise enough not to tempt him further.

Jackie observed him, wrapping her new coat around her shoulders, dressed in his colors now from head to toes. The tight black pants flattered her divine body as the curling purple patterns showed everyone who she belonged to. Her soft curls fell before her eyes as she watched him, shivering just slightly.

"You don't have to be so mean to him," Jackie said. "I think he's a gruff, but I also believe he wants to help me. There is nothing wrong with being prepared."

"There is nothing to prepare for," Kol-Eresh stated firmly. "Don't make me repeat myself."

Jackie's eyes flared for a second before she thought better of yelling at him in front of all the warriors surrounding them. It was a calm day and the fortress was bustling with life in the wake of the raid ship's return.

Warriors who hadn't found their mate yet were flocking in from all over the harbinger's domain and several others that were close by. Some of the men would leave with the females, to return when the long night arrived.

"I don't like how defensive you get when I say something like that," Jackie added quietly, making sure no one heard her words. "I get that you're trying to comfort me, but I'm still made of blood and flesh. Be supportive, but don't kill every man who dares to point out things might not go our way."

The harbinger regarded her.

He could see the fear plainly in Jackie's beautiful green eyes. The female was more afraid than she was letting on, which set a need to protect her in motion that was beyond his power to stop.

"You are mine," he told Jackie simply. "The one made for me. The future that's in store for every Nayanor warrior, with sons to carry on my name and you by my side as I face my enemies... it is not a future I will lose. Not to any warrior, not to any illness and not even to death itself."

Jackie's eyes were suddenly hard as stone as she observed him from under the bangs of her soft hair flowing in the breeze.

"That makes me sound cheap," she said. "Like a trinket on your arm, or one of those trophies on your ship. Is that what you need me for? To get pregnant and pop out as many babies as I can? That is not enough of a purpose in life for me."

"I said I couldn't envision my life without you," Kol-Eresh replied, more harshly than he had planned. "And that I don't want to."

Jackie didn't say anything. The look in her eyes was sad. The harbinger pulled her into his arms and met her burning gaze.

"There is only one thing that can create such passion in a man," he said. "You may call it denial all you want, but it's my purpose. You are my purpose."

After that, Jackie didn't try to pull away from his kiss as he claimed her lips, running his hands over the gorgeous body in his arms. Kol-Eresh could feel how she trembled, not from cold or anything like that. He'd seen the desperation in her eyes the night before. He knew how badly Jackie needed him to argue with her and the dark terror that lurked in her heart.

"Come," the harbinger told his fated. "Let time prove me right."

Jackie nodded wordlessly, letting Kol-Eresh lead her into the waiting ship. As they took their seats and the ship began speeding toward the Black Hall, her soft little hand slipped into his.