Battle for the Photon Core WATTPAD VERSION [Inter-Universal Protectors: Book 1]

1

Leo Inu pressed a button and the hologram of his Queen vanished. He had hoped to never see the day were that message would need to be played. Sadly, it seemed as though the gods were against them this time.

He turned back to the Court – well, what was left of it – and sat with a sigh.

Amneris and Colt had vanished during the battle against Tara and her army. No one had seen what had happened. They were too caught up in their own individual battles. Ray and the Dreamas had helped search for her – them – after Tara ordered a retreat, claiming to have done what they had gone to do. When Ray checked, the crystal it was thought the Terpolites were after was still in its place. No, it had not been replicated in any way. No, it had not been replaced.

That was two weeks ago. Two weeks where I could have been searching for her.

Nikki stood. It was her job as the Queen's Second to take charge when Amneris was unavailable. As their Queen was currently missing in action, this qualified as one of those times.

She had healed quite well from the battle, Leo realised. Her arms and hands were no longer bandaged from where she was attacked while in one of her other forms. They were only scarred. The scars would fade unless she chose to keep them. Aside from that, she only had a few bruises which were currently visible around her neck and under her lips. Leo saw that he was staring. He looked away.

Kayla and the Dreama's team of Healers had taken good care of those injured in battle. All things considered; they had been lucky. Very few had been lost. They had received word not too long ago from Ray saying her people were making a swift recovery.

How long after Amns vanished were we fighting? The thought would not leave Leo's mind. Had he known, he could have spent that time searching for her . . .

"We know our mission." Nikki's voice held steady despite the clear fire raging in her eyes. "We have to find the items Amneris hid and get the remaining four off Tara." She let out a long breath. "Now, the big question. Does anyone know where the items are?"

Silence.

Utter silence.

Leo could not help but be surprised at it. Had their Queen really not told anyone where the items were? His eyes drifted towards Hathor who looked just as clueless as the rest of them. She had not even told her own daughter.

His glanced down, waiting a moment longer to see if anyone spoke up. No one did. "Well, that answered that." He gave his old friend an apologetic look. "At least we now have phase one?"

Nikki smiled softly at him. "That's true. We just need to figure out where to go from there."

"What about the Old Court?"

Everyone turned to Hathor. The girl went red, probably just realised she said what she was thinking out loud. Zoe placed a hand over her girlfriend's and squeezed it. Hathor continued, but still seemed to doubt what she was about to say.

"Think about it. They were there when mum locked Enliatu away. They might know where the items are or, at the very least, have some idea on where we need to ask. We should ask them."

"That leads to another problem." This time, everyone faced Dan. "We don't know where all of them ended up. Aside from Ray, of course." The Strategist because thoughtful, leaning forward and resting his head on his fist. "Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, don't Tayla and Ethan still live here? On Lyriumia, I mean."

"I think they are," Carmin agreed.

Nikki nodded. "Okay, so we call in the Old Court and see if they have any ideas. If not . . . We can cross that bridge when we got to it. Hathy, can you get onto that?" The girl nodded her response. "Good. Next question." Her breath caught as she went to speak. Leo grasped her hand. "Who tells Lvaane?"

Again, silence.

This time, Leo decided it was his turn. "I'll do it."

"Are you sure?" Nikki asked. "Because I can –"

"No. No, I'll do it. You should help Hathy." He brushed his thumb over the palm of her hand. "It'll be already." He could not tell if that was supposed to comfort himself or her, or who he was trying to convince. Leo stood, dropping her hand as he made his way out of the room. "There's something I need to talk to him about anyway."