We were one step closer to finding out more about Strava and the Draenir—creatures that had once inhabited the planet, before a devastating plague that wiped them all out. We were in desperate need of answers regarding what happened before Ta’Zan was created, as well as the years leading up to his Faulties and their stasis inside the cave pods. Ta’Zan had gone from a completely unknown individual to the universe’s greatest enemy, in the span of a few days.

He’d kidnapped our GASP founders, he’d taken down two of our ships with the help of his newly devised Perfects, he’d captured approximately six-hundred of our agents, and he was currently hunting Ben and Rose’s team, who’d gone to Strava to find Derek and the others. On top of that, Ta’Zan’s Perfects were practically invincible and impossible to kill, from what Serena had told me via Telluris, while I was away on the fire star with Bijarki and Shayla.

Things weren’t looking good—not for us, not for our families and our friends, and certainly not for the In-Between. If Ta’Zan and his Perfects found a way to reproduce our space-travel technologies, we were all screwed, as his only objective was to go out and destroy every creature that was beneath his creations, genetically speaking. That meant billions of us, on every planet within his reach. Death and destruction were imminent, and none of our abilities and tools seemed to work against this new nemesis.

Bogdana, the oldest fae known to us, could shed some light on what had happened before Ta’Zan, and what had led to the Draenir’s downfall. She knew about Ta’Zan and his creator, Mudak Marduk, a brilliant Draenir dedicated to genetic engineering. She had information, and she was willing to help us, provided we took her back to Strava with us.

An all-out war wasn’t going to work on Strava, so we had to come up with a better and smarter plan. It involved sending a small extraction team over there to assist Ben and Rose’s crew in getting Derek, Sofia, and the others out of there. Once on site, they were going to try to dismantle Ta’Zan’s projects from the inside, hopefully with the help of some of his disenfranchised Faulties. The worst-case scenario, at this point, was to just get our people out of there, including the fleet survivors, and to destroy the entire planet from the outside. That took a lot of power and a very cold heart from each GASP member and ally involved. It meant killing thousands, even millions of Perfects who’d been indoctrinated into a superiority mindset, as well as the less fortunate Faulties.

But that didn’t guarantee a permanent solution, either, since the Perfects could still regenerate after being frozen in space. The chances that they’d just wander through the cosmos to another planet were slim to none, but still present. Destroying Strava didn’t automatically mean destroying the Perfects, but it was brutal and decisive enough to at least stop Ta’Zan from fulfilling his goal of universal domination. As long as they were all disabled, we could eventually figure out how to kill them, permanently.

There was a sense of urgency here, of the most grueling kind. Each day that went by brought us closer to Ta’Zan and his Perfects taking flight. The moment they were to leave Strava’s orbit, it would all be over. We would all die.

But none of us were ready to think about that for more than two seconds, so I dismissed it for the time being. We hadn’t exhausted our options and resources yet.

Taeral, Sherus and Nuriya’s promising hybrid son and prince of the fire star, had joined us on our quest to find Bogdana, deep in the woods of Red Canyon. He and his guards accompanied us as we came back to Sherus and Nuriya’s palace, thankful to have persuaded the old fae to help us.

There was, however, something about her that didn’t sit right with me. First, she had physically aged in a fashion normally impossible for her species. Granted, she was the oldest living fae, and she’d reached an age that no one had thought was possible. But still, her appearance made me think something else must’ve happened for her to look so old.

Second, she didn’t want to tell us more about Strava and the Draenir unless we brought her with us. According to her, she was bored. She wanted to get back in action. But my instincts told me to be careful, to be wary of a secondary endgame that could be dangerous to us and our mission.

Nevertheless, we were too desperate, and too determined to survive, to let Bogdana’s shadiness get in our way. I made an executive decision and I stuck with it. Fortunately, both Bijarki and Shayla were with me on this one.

“Are you sure you can trust her?” Nuriya asked me, right after she took me and Taeral aside during an audience with her and Sherus upon our return.

I shrugged. “I’m not sure we have a choice, at this point,” I said. “She’s got information, and she wants to be a part of the extraction crew. Whatever comes next, I know we’ll need her intel.”

Nuriya glanced at Bogdana over her shoulder. The old fae was conversing with Bijarki, Shayla, and Sherus. The fae queen frowned, then looked at her son, Taeral, who was standing next to me. “What do you think, darling?”

“Her usefulness outweighs the risks, as far as I can tell,” Taeral replied. “I don’t trust her, and I’m sure she’s got another reason for going back to Strava, but I doubt it would have a real impact on our mission. Of course, without knowing what that other reason is, all we can do is speculate.”

“Maybe she’ll tell you once you get to Strava,” Nuriya muttered, crossing her arms.

“I plan to ask her as soon as we set foot there,” I replied. “The bottom line is that Bogdana has information that may prove crucial to our mission. We might even prevent more senseless deaths. Who knows? I just think we need to try everything we can before we make a decision about Strava and its fate.”

“You’ve considered complete annihilation, haven’t you?” Nuriya asked me, no longer bothering to hide her concern. I nodded slowly. “You have our full support, no matter what you decide, Draven,” she said. “I trust your judgment. I trust GASP. I know you wouldn’t opt for complete obliteration unless it was the only choice. Whatever happens, the fae of this fire star are right behind you, and I’ll make sure the others are, too.”

I gave her a warm and thankful smile. “You are most kind, Nuriya. We need all the help we can get.” I sighed.

“Speaking of which,” Taeral interjected, “I’d like to go to Strava with Draven’s team, Mother.”

That took both Nuriya and me by surprise. He’d mentioned nothing about such an intention, not even on the way back from Red Canyon—though that had been a short trip, as Shayla had opened a small portal for us to go through, connecting Bogdana’s house in the woods to Sherus and Nuriya’s palace.

“I’m sorry?” Nuriya blurted out.

Taeral’s shoulders dropped as he exhaled. “Mom, I’m of no use to anyone here. Our allies need all the help they can get, and you know that I can be of help.”

Nuriya shook her head, then made her way over to Sherus, who looked at us with a confused expression. Taeral followed her, determined to make himself heard.

“I’ll have none of this foolishness!” Nuriya exclaimed, giving Sherus the kind of look that demanded he get involved. Judging by his expression, however, that was a thread he wasn’t yet ready to pull. From what I’d seen so far, Taeral was quite determined and self-sufficient. While I understood Nuriya’s desire to protect him, the young prince was already an adult, and a powerful hybrid, too. He carried the abilities of both fae and jinn in his genes.

“What’s going on?” Sherus asked, feigning ignorance. I knew the strategy. I’d used it with Serena a few times, when the discussion topic was too hot or sensitive to immediately delve into. His aim was to get Nuriya to talk about it and get it out of her system, hoping it didn’t sound as bad once she voiced the issue aloud.

“Your son wants to go to Strava with Draven, Bogdana, and the others!” Nuriya said. “He’s suicidal. I’m not having it!”

“Mom, we’ll die if we let Ta’Zan win. I’ll die either way,” Taeral insisted, then looked at Sherus. “Dad, if I go, at least I have a shot at survival. I can do something. You know me! I’m not reckless. But I’ve given this some thought, and—”

“What thought?” Nuriya cut him off, her cheeks flushed. “You were gone for a few hours!”

“Well, yes, but I’ve been thinking about helping GASP since we got the news about the fighters we lost on that fleet,” Taeral replied. “Mom, Dad, I’m not being reckless or disregarding my station. I just genuinely believe I could be of assistance. You both know I can hold my own. I promise I won’t do anything unnecessarily dangerous, but I have to do something. I can’t just stay here and wait for someone else to fix this.”

Sherus didn’t say anything. Instead, he watched Bijarki and me, measuring our reactions, as if waiting for us to agree or disagree with his son. This was a sensitive issue, and I didn’t want to get on anyone’s bad side, but even I had to admit that having Taeral on our side could easily increase our chances of success. A powerful creature like him could definitely come in handy. Realistically speaking, after what I’d seen from the Perfects, I doubted he could actually tip the scales in our favor, but keeping him on the sidelines couldn’t do any harm.

“Sherus, help me out here,” Nuriya said, her voice trembling. “We can’t let him go to his death.”

“Hold on,” Bijarki replied. “While things may be looking grim, ours is an extraction, not a suicide mission. I’m not taking any sides here, but Taeral is right about one thing: sitting here and doing nothing won’t get us any closer to what we want, which in this case, is to get our people back and to stop Ta’Zan’s army from spilling out into the universe.”

“So, what? You agree with him? You think he should come with you to Strava?” Nuriya said, narrowing her eyes at Bijarki. The incubus took a deep breath and kept quiet, now aware that he was treading on very thin ice with a powerful queen and a fierce mother.

“Nuriya, darling,” Sherus said, gently squeezing her shoulder to intervene. “Don’t fault the incubus for our son’s desire to make himself useful in these circumstances. You and I both know that this is a difficult situation, to say the least. Most importantly, Taeral has already made up his mind. It’s not like we can stop him. However, he’s being a good son and asking for your approval.”

Taeral nodded enthusiastically. “Mom, I know I’m doing the right thing. Whatever comes next, I need to know I’ve done everything I could to prevent the worst from happening. I can’t do that from here, from the comfort of a palace. I can help! And with the fae fighters that we and GASP lost when those ships went down… Mom, you know they need me.”

It was Nuriya’s turn to stand there, quiet, as she mulled over Taeral’s words.

“If I may add,” I said, keeping my voice low and choosing my words carefully, “our fate is not yet determined. We may emerge victorious from all this. Why not give it our best shot? Maybe Taeral will be the ace up our sleeve. And if not, he will at least have provided crucial support during the extraction mission. I stand by what I said earlier. We need all the help we can get.”

Nuriya gave Taeral a warm and affectionate glance, then frowned at Sherus and let out a heavy sigh. This wasn’t an easy decision for her to make, and I completely understood that. However, these were dire circumstances. And, although Taeral’s request had taken me by surprise as well, I did welcome it. Personally, I looked forward to discovering the extent of his powers. This was already uncharted territory.

“You had better not do anything reckless,” Nuriya said to Taeral, pointing a menacing finger at him. “If something happens to you, I… I don’t know what I’ll do with myself,” she added.

I’d yet to have a child of my own, though I’d been thinking about it lately. I couldn’t possibly understand exactly what Nuriya and Sherus were experiencing as parents, but I tried to put myself in their shoes. It hurt. It made my stomach churn. Nuriya had lost many of her family members in previous years—in particular, the males of her clan had been murdered by an evil jinni. Her union with Sherus and the birth of Taeral had given her a second chance at a happy life, but the thought of watching her son go to what was basically a bloody war… It took a toll on her.

In my position, my main objective was to make sure my future children had a world to live in. Everything we were about to do from this point onward was tied to that goal. There was no room for errors. No time to hesitate.

Taeral hugged Nuriya, then Sherus, putting on a confident smile.

“I promise. I’ll be on my best behavior. No running into burning buildings—wait, I’m immune to fire.” He chuckled, then switched back to seriousness when his mother scowled at him. “I promise, Mom. I won’t take unnecessary risks. But I will do everything in my power to ensure the success of our mission. I hope you understand that.”

Nuriya nodded slowly. “I know. I hope you understand me, too, Taeral. You are the single most precious creature in your father’s and my life. You’re the center of our universe. If we lose you, we lose ourselves.”

“I’ll come back. I’m not planning on getting myself killed,” Taeral replied softly.

With Nuriya’s concession and Sherus’s approval, we were now ready to go back to Calliope. Bogdana cleared her throat and offered the royal couple a respectful bow.

“Thank you both for your support,” the old fae said. “While I’m still here, might I kindly suggest that you visit the Hermessi temple? You’ll be surprised by how beautifully the faith is reemerging in these parts of our world. Who knows, you may even find some enlightenment.”

“We haven’t been to the temple yet,” Sherus replied. “I imagine we will visit soon enough.”

“It’s interesting, to say the least,” Taeral said. “Some fae are actually reporting an increase in their elemental abilities, particularly where fire is concerned.”

“I can attest to that,” Bogdana agreed. “My own fire has grown stronger and brighter since I’ve begun worshipping the Hermessi again.”

“That’s right, you were born during a time when this whole Hermessi worship was actually a thing, weren’t you?” Shayla replied, once again reminded of exactly how old Bogdana was.

The old fae nodded, her thin lips stretched into a sad smile. “It’s good to see it back again. I’m glad, because the Hermessi never left. And with an unnatural foe like Ta’Zan, you never know. We may need nature in its purest forms to help us.”

“Whoa.” Taeral gasped. “You’re thinking of getting the Hermessi on board?”

“Why not?” Bogdana replied. “If a solitary sentry vampire was able to get a fire Hermessi on her side, all the way on Neraka, why couldn’t we?”

“Is that why you want to come with us to Strava?” I asked.

Bogdana grinned. “One of the reasons, yes.”

Not that I was fully reassured, but I could breathe a little easier. It wasn’t such a bad idea, after all. The natural elements had been around long before any of us, and they were going to be here after we were all gone, too. Ta’Zan and his Perfects were not immortal, and I doubted that nature was okay with being disrupted by creatures who considered themselves better, even superior to it.

Getting the Hermessi on board wasn’t crazy at all.

In fact, it was an avenue I was more than willing to explore.