Page 27 of Tears of Tungsten
Between the Future and the Past
Pollux
Earlier
“I know you’re worried about August, but you don’t need to be. He and Charybdis won’t be separated forever and once she’s back, everything will be better again.”
I slid in the cockpit of my chimera, sighing. I wanted to be as confident as Scylla, but the fact remained that I couldn’t see any real solution to our problem. We were in a limbo, trying to come up with a way to make Typhon’s plan work. But Typhon had admitted himself that it was a long shot. We were no longer at war with the apsids, and as long as that was the case, The Grand Judiciary was unlikely to allow chimeras to approach the Apsid Quasar again. The last battle against the apsids had cost us the lives of a lot of good men, and it was unlikely that our leaders would take such a huge chance so quickly.
“If they’ve decided they can feed chimeras with Terrans and not just apsids, they’re going to go through with it sooner or later,” Typhon had warned us. “They’ve always prioritized the lives of Chimera nobility over those of Terrans. In terms of numbers, it’s simple logic. Terrans are expendable. But those apsids on Mercury came here for a reason. We might still be able to track them down.”
Brendan had relied on that, since it was the only alternative we had to The Grand Judiciary’s plan. Unfortunately, it was becoming more and more obvious that the apsids wouldn’t magically come out of their hiding spot, just so that we could feed them to our chimeras.
“It’ll happen,”Scylla reassured me. “The apsids have long memories and hold grudges. The mission your mysterious Harpy pilot mentioned must’ve had something to do with that. Typhon, Cerberus, and I have debated approaching Zephyrus about it. We have to be careful, though, because you know how Harpies are. Zephyrus might give away our plan just out of spite.”
“I’m going to trust your judgment on this one. I’m not very popular with your half-siblings.”
Scylla laughed.“You’re modest. Just between you and me, half of them are very jealous we have such amazing tamers. I’m pretty sure they spent three-quarters of their time gossiping about your attributes.”
I’d probably never understand the way Scylla socialized with the other chimeras, but I was glad that she wasn’t as heartbroken as August over Charybdis’s loss. She and Charybdis had been as close as sisters, and I didn’t know if I could have carried Scylla’s grief on top of my own and August’s.
“You’re stronger than you know, Pollux. You could have done that, and so much more. But you won’t have to. That’s why I’m here, to protect your brood and your future clutch.”
We launched ourselves into the air, following Cerberus and Typhon. Despite my problems in every other part of my life, piloting the Scylla still felt as easy and natural as breathing. Surrounded by the fiery tungsten of my friend’s metallic body, I could temporarily forget about all the times when I hadn’t been enough. When Tartarus’s power came to me, I could embrace it without fear and know that it would be a finely honed weapon against my enemies.
“Will it?”a voice suddenly whispered in my head.“You know, Pollux, when it comes to tachyon manipulation, the same weapon we use against our foes can easily destroy us.”
My hands jerked on Scylla’s controls. Where was the voice coming from? It wasn’t Scylla’s and it wasn’t Selene’s. Who was talking to me?
“Don’t,”Scylla hissed, snapping at the presence that had wriggled its way into my head.“Don’t listen to her. She doesn’t belong here.”
“And what would you know about that, creature?”the stranger shot back.“Pollux was mine before he was ever yours. We were born belonging to one another. You haven’t forgotten, have you, brother?”
The final word was like a physical blow. A memory flashed through my mind, propelling me straight out of the cockpit, into a dark, misty space. A familiar figure stood among the shadows, wreathed in flames. “Hello, Pollux. I’d say you look well, but frankly, I think you’ve been better.”
It was Stella, my beautiful twin. She looked just like the day I’d last seen her, before my parents had carted her off to die. Her dark brown her tumbled to her shoulders in gentle waves and in her blue eyes, I saw the endless sky. “Stella? Is it really you?”
“Of course,” she said with a light laugh. “Who else could I be?”
I didn’t know. It had been a rhetorical question, since few people remembered Stella now. My parents had long ago stopped mentioning her. To them, she was a failure, because she hadn’t been able to accomplish the task she’d been assigned to by The Grand Judiciary.
She might be a manifestation of my shattering psyche, but I liked to think I hadn’t completely lost my mind yet. If I had, it was an insanity I embraced.
Tears trailing down my cheeks, I extended my arms toward her. She came running at me and threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. “I missed you so much, Stella,” I whispered into her hair.
“I missed you too,” she mumbled into my chest. Her skin was cold, but I didn’t mind it. “I miss you still.”
“I’m here now,” I said a little desperately, although I knew what she meant. Neither of us was really here—wherever here was.
Stella broke our embrace and smiled. The expression held no real amusement, just sadness. “Not for long you’re not. It took me forever to be able to reach you.” She turned away from me and looked out into the distance. There was nothing around us except mist, but maybe she saw something in it that I didn’t. “I must admit, I didn’t expect you and August to become chimera tamers,” she said. “I wish you’d stayed out of it. You should’ve just taken August and left after I was gone.”
“We couldn’t do that,” I replied, hoping she didn’t blame me for that decision. “We had to find a way to avenge you.”
“I never asked to be avenged,” Stella answered, still without looking at me. “Really, Pollux, the best revenge is living well. And you aren’t living very well right now, are you?”
I suppose I wasn’t, but at the same time, I couldn’t complain. I had my gripes with having to serve the same people who’d murdered my sister, but it wouldn’t be forever. Eventually, Brendan would take over and fulfill our self-appointed task.
As if guessing my thoughts, Stella pivoted toward me. Her blue gaze darkened, turning sharp, almost hateful. “Brendan is just another part of a flawed system that will run our whole world into the ground. He can’t be trusted, Pollux. None of them can.”
