Empress Fallen (Through Darkness Book I)

Chapter Eighteen: Beyond the Sunset: Part 1

Chapter Eighteen

Beyond the Sunset

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows, for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, until I die.

Ulysses, Alfred, Lord Tennyson

i. Malum

Miriam stood in front of the Redemption's curving viewport, one hand pressed against the glass.

The Command Centre was almost deserted. Dux and Fortis were over on the Knight, waiting in tense anticipation for General-in-Chief Aquila. Dux herself was broken, a heavy sorrow accompanying everything she did, every order she gave. They were soaring round the orbit of Tyrannis just two days after Eversor, and already the Armada was establishing control over the military planet. Hundreds of the Imperial cohorts were mutinying, others surrendering. But there were only several directly led by the surviving secondary prime officers still fighting on the surface.

Miriam cast her gaze over the vast ship just visible off their port side. By far the biggest vessel she had ever seen, it was also the most frightening.

The hulking prison ship had been designed specifically to incarcerate millions. But it had been stolen by the Ignian people and instead, become their vehicle to freedom. At that very moment, Aliya was down on the surface leading her people at the southernmost Tyrannian border. Sheyda had stayed by Sitara's side, and along with Elil they fought alongside Aliya. As soon as he had laid eyes on 162 Epsilon-Rho, Harith had hurried down to join them to reunite with his brother.

Anarchy had seized the Empire. But, she thought to herself, it was no longer correct to call it that. The Empire had collapsed along with the Arcanum markets in the wake of Caelum's destruction. Hadrian had quietly reminded her of the irony of the situation. They had sold all their Arcanum for 16 million Denarii, but now those same Denarii had lost all their value. Worthless. CelestialCities was effectively bankrupt and they were utterly reliant on the Armada for funding, a fact that had made Hadrian deeply uneasy. Arcanum was the new currency of the human race. Pure Arcanum. The Empress had been correct in that respect, but with the failure of the Exodus Initiative she now had no control over the mines on Ignis, Atrox, and Ruina.

The Empress. It had been rumoured that she was dead. Miriam prayed that was the case, although Ultor was still out there. There were reports from Sanctus that there was a last band of frigates holding out but almost the entire strength of the Armada fleet had engaged them, thousands of battleships.

Magnar was still aboard the Knight resting. She had been shocked on hearing about the hellish creature that had almost taken his life, but Cassian had described how the majestic Guardian had been their salvation. It felt like a lifetime ago when she had been gazing at Caelum, dreaming of the legendary crimson bird. She shook her head, staring at her hands. Magnar's entire left arm had been replaced by a silver mechanical limb. She could only imagine how strange a sensation it would be for him when he regained consciousness.

She looked back out at the grey-green planet, suppressing a shiver as once again her thoughts turned to Damon. He had withdrawn inside himself, utterly devastated by his sister's death. And Miriam could not overcome the terrifying feeling that she was losing him. So much loss. She gazed out at the vast ice cap that covered the entire northern hemisphere, a raging electrical storm around its pole. A thin dark band of ocean surrounded the ice, splitting the remaining rocky land into three large continents, the primary weapons factories, training facilities, and military academies at the southern pole. The testing grounds spread over the gaping cratered desert in the east. Her home planet. Home. But it could not feel less like a home. All it did was serve as a painful reminder of Contumax. Finally, however, she had found closure, her mother's presence disappearing with the hatred in her heart, passionately replaced by love.