Page 179 of Stars At Dawn
However, it was their faces and the familiarity of their features that sent a jolt of pure ice through Idan’s veins.
They appeared majestic and warrior-like, not unlike the males in the room with him, one in freakin’ particular.
‘Who the hell are you?’ Kage’s snarl cut through the suffocating silence. ‘You’re not Crats.’
One of the strangers stepped closer to the camera.
He took his time, his glowing gold eyes studying the Riders keenly, until his gaze rested on Kainan.
‘Nada,’ he growled, his vox halting and raspy, as if the words were being dragged across gravel. ‘We aren’t thosefokkin’ insectoid mongrels. We commandeered this vessel some time back, long story.’
Kainan surged to his feet, stalking toward the display til he was inches from the radiant screen. ‘Then we’ll ask you again: Who in Devansi’s hell are you?’
The man on the monitor stared back, matching Kainan’s menace with a terrifyingly matched potency; his presence was just as glowering and sinister as the Riders’khan.
Standing well behind the smoldering Riders, Idan sensed hisSsignakhtsight involuntarily flare to life.
The world shifted into hues of gold and silver, revealing a truth written in the DNA of the man on the Crat ship, a soul-resonance that screamed of a shared lineage.
Idan let out a muffled whistle as he and Molan again locked eyes.
Shit just got interesting, his brother muttered into Idan’s neural node.
The stranger spoke, his timbred, hoarse words cutting through the room like a guillotine.
‘My name is Kalkidan Raiden, most call me Kidan,’ the man stated, his eyes locking onto Kainan’s with a haunting intensity. ‘I’m the leader of this motley crew of soldiers. We left Earth decades ago, burning through an endless void for over thirty years, caught in a chrono-meteorological time storm. Not because we got lost, but because we were hunting.’
‘Who were you seeking?’ Kainan growled, his massive body poised for violence.
Kalkidan arched a brow and leaned in, eyes flaring with molten power.
‘You, Kainan Sable. I and two of the men behind me, Kham and Khalfan, are your half-blood brothers.’
At his pronouncement, the Riders jolted as one.
The stranger ploughed on in his raw guttural timbre. ‘We didn’t just find you to reunite, brother, we tracked you down because we’re the only ones left alive who can warn you.’
‘Of what?’ Kainan grated through clenched teeth.
‘That you’re now prey for a threat far more pervasive, invasive, and malignant than anything you’ve ever imagined. May the gods of Quasar’s Eye help us all lest we fall to their machinations.’
THAT ENDING?!!
