Nero Nights

“As far as I can tell, all the major connections to the core are intact,” I say, wiping sweat from my brow. I’ve been crawling around down in the belly of the ship for over an hour, tangled in the mechanical guts of this beast, double and triple checking that every critical connection between the ship and the core is still working. “There are some cracks to the interior of the hull, but so far, all the majorly important parts of this ship are still functioning.” “So we can fix whatever is broken?” Valen asks. He’s crouched on the floor of the mechanical room above me at the opening of the hatch, looking down into the tunnels I’m occupying. My eyes rise to meet his. I shake my head and shrug. “That’s the problem. I have no idea what’s broken. I can’t fix it if I don’t know what to fix.” He extends a hand to me and pulls me up and out of the tunnel, back onto the floor of the room with him. “We will figure it out,” he says, his tone reassuring. “There’s a reason Cyrillius sent half t

My body hasn’t had time to learn this planet’s schedule yet, but somehow I know it’s early in the morning when my eyes slide open. The blankets are pulled up to my chin. My body is relaxed and comfortable. It’s actually…nice. And I realize it’s because I have some degree of peace of mind. Right now, I’m not pretending to be someone or something I’m not. After weeks of hiding everything on Isroth, here, I don’t have to be anything. I’m just Nova. Across the space, just five feet away, I see Valen. He’s still asleep. He’s sprawled on his back but his head is angled toward me, giving me a full view of his face. He looks younger when he sleeps. I’ve done the math and figure he’s roughly five solars older than me. But he looks incredibly young in sleep. He could nearly pass for a teenager. His black eyelashes fan out over his cheeks. His lips are pink and soft. There aren’t any creases in his forehead, furrowed with concern. He just looks peaceful. And I have to wonder, what a dif

“I don’t know why I just said that, Nova,” Valen says, his eyes still wide and confused. “I…. I didn’t even mean to get out of the water. Suddenly, all I could think about was getting back on the ship and getting back in space. I…” His hand goes to his chest and I realize just how hard he’s breathing. “I have to get back to Isroth.” My stomach sinks and suddenly I’m so cold. I walk up the shore and out of the lake, my eyes fixed on Valen’s. When I reach him, I place my hands on either side of his head, keeping his gaze locked on me. “You do not have to go back. You are free. You’re here with me.” His eyes widen just a little more. “I can’t, Nova,” he says, his voice nearly a whisper. “I can’t stay here.” “This is what he did to you, Valen,” I say, staring into his eyes as if I can see down into his soul. “This isn’t you. This is his Kinduri. This is what he’s used against you, for solars.” Valen drops his boots in the sand and brings his hands up to cover mine. He squeezes his eye

There’s a bitter taste on my tongue when I wake. Like copper and silt and vinegar. I blink my eyes open, searching the space. There are no signs of Valen. As I sit up, my stomach is in knots. My heart is heavy. I don’t know what I was expecting. I always think I’m more capable than I am. Maybe I thought I’d go into Valen’s mind and it would be easy to undo what Cyrillius did. Which was so slam stupid. The Kinduri have been manipulating him for solars. They’ve built up layers and layers of darkness. But I’m still crushed. I’m still shaking with the weight of what I saw in Valen’s mind. Get over it, I try to tell myself. I retrieve my uniform from the washroom and pull it on. There are no signs of Valen in the ship and when I get to the Command Deck, I find the hatch open. Looking for a few more moments of solitude, I step out of the ship and scale it. I climb the slick surface until I settle on top of the core, letting its warm, swirling mass warm me from beneath. It’s cool o

I’m like a bullet. I dive in deep and fast. I fly past the swirling images around me. I ignore the storms. I’m a focused laser. I know what I’m looking for. I know where it is. I sail straight for it. And there, right in front of me, I find it. The pulsing darkness. I hear the screams. I see the lightning. I feel the dark pull. I am stronger than this. I am better than the Kinduri. Without fear, I march straight up to that darkness. I gather Neron around me. I let it fill me, fill me right to the brim. It’s coursing through me, beating with the steadiness of a drum. I hold my hands up. They’re alight with Neron. And I plunge my hands into the heart of the darkness. Screams. Mine. Valen’s. Screams of a thousand Kinduri. Screams of Cyrillius. I’m overcome with noise and madness. Like sound is pummeling me and will leave me a bloodied, broken mess on the ground. But then the darkness shatters. Pieces of it fly everywhere and instantly dissolve into the air. And a smile pull