THE KEEPERS RISE

Chapter 11 - Change of Heart - Part 1

*Remember to click the play button to listen to the soundtrack as you read!*

MepQueen Rhea stared at the cloaked figures from across the meeting table. She was stony-faced and unblinking. "Let's start here," she said firmly. "Who are you, and why should I trust you?"

The middle of the three looked straight at her, and she saw his triangular, bug-like face and giant features. When he began to speak, she noticed that his voice was shrill and had faint echoes of an insect call. "My name is Trycho, and Jessica Arkos and Reuben Urwyn are my primary officers. I used to be the head of the Anthrod Empire's Council, and I know the captor of the Keepers better than most. His name is Councilor Archimedes Quin, and he's a lead Dark Councilor.

"I was a Dark Council member at his side before I seceded the anthrods from the Dark Council to form the rebellion, and these two are still important officials in Empires associated with the Dark Council, but under my orders as well as those of their Councils. Our only intention is to help you, MepQueen Rhea. We are your best shot."

Rhea looked genuinely interested. "What rebellion are you speaking of?"

Trycho lifted his front pair of claw-like hands and folded them over the table. Rhea had seen earlier that he had two more. "We fight for freedom from the Light mages that patrol the Gray-Dark Border. Just like these Keepers, our goal is peace. Our Council agrees with our motives but doesn't have the proper materials to fight for them, so we finally decided we had to do something ourselves. We've been gathering power for decades."

"When I sent out a distress signal, I was not expecting to be greeted by a Dark ship. I'm not inclined to rely on you. Your kind have a rather dark history here."

"Please, MepQueen, we're not like them," Trycho insisted. "The Dark Council used to be much more violent, and that I cannot apologize for, but they see reason now."

"You know as well as I do that Myusaria was among the planets that were occupied. They could have unbalanced the universe with just a couple more stolen planets."

"The Council retreated because they realized that they were on that path. We've learned from our mistakes, MepQueen. Even if the Dark Council was to expand the Continuum again, we wouldn't follow them."

Rhea could look into Trycho's eyes and tell that he was serious. Either that, or she was desperate. "The only tracking device we had was on their ship, and it hasn't responded since the attack. If not for Tarrephaene Councilor Sekoto alerting me, I would have still been unaware that anything was wrong. Do you know where Councilor Quin could be taking them?" Rhea asked hopefully.

Trycho sighed chirpily and admitted, "No, and we don't know why he's taking them either. Let's just say that Councilor Quin didn't leave Miphos voluntarily. He should have every reason to stay inconspicuous. Anyway, we are willing to chase him down on your orders and give you some more explanations if you'll give us something in return."