Rise of the Resistance (War for Orion Trilogy Book Two) (39 page)

He didn't know how she knew to come here,
but she’d been right about everything else so far. She was stronger
than any he’d known and would help the rebellion, he could feel it.
A force field surround the city as they neared and he knew the
rebellion was on the horizon. The spaceport was filled with ships
and he squeezed his ship in a tight spot. He and Leilah got up from
their seats and went to get Reamonn and the others from the bunker,
but were surprised to see them already waiting by the ramp.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do,
Leilah?” Reamonn asked. “We can always go back. It’s not too
late.”

“I’m helping this rebellion,” she replied,
crossing her arms. “Are you coming or not?”

Reamonn nodded and motioned for the rest of
the tribe to follow. Donnchadh and Leilah walked off of the ship
together and were greeted by a guard holding a holopad.

“We weren't expecting anyone else to
arrive,” she said without looking up. “Are you here to help with
the rebellion?”

“We are,” Leilah nodded. “I’ll be able to
help your leaders in a way they can only dream of.”

The guard looked up to her strangely and
then to Donnchadh. “Are they expecting you to be here? They haven't
told me anything about a malak and a group of humans coming
here.”

Leilah smiled. “They are not expecting us,
but trust me, they’ll welcome us with open arms. We come with help
that’ll lead to victory.”

Donnchadh wasn't sure if his eyes were
seeing things, but Leilah's skin seemed even more radiant here
under the suns. Her red her was glowing and blue and green eyes
were even more vibrant than they’d been on Erebos.

“I’ll call Pyrrhus. He’ll meet you here
soon.”

Donnchadh looked to Leilah. “You look
different. Brighter I think, if that makes sense.”

“I feel more alive. This planet doesn’t
wreak of death and despair,” she held her arms out. “I can feel all
of the life here, the hope and the fight that’s in these people.
We’re all going to live to see the end of this rebellion. I feel it
coursing through me. I haven't seen it in a vision yet, but I can
feel it.”

“Have you seen anything else since we left?”
He asked.

“Pyrrhus will be here, like the guard said,
but you must be calm,” she said. “He won’t like that you’re here,
so let me do the talking.”

Donnchadh nodded and waited next to Leilah
silently for Pyrrhus to arrive. It didn't take him very long, and
Leilah was right when she said he wouldn't be happy. He stormed
towards them, face filled with fury. Before he was even within ten
feet, he began shouting and pointing his finger towards the
malak.

“What are you doing here, Donnchadh?”

“He’s with us,” Leilah said.

Pyrrhus' attention seemed to shift to her
for the first time, and his eyes locked in on hers. Donnchadh
didn't know if it was because of her beauty or the way she seemed
to be glowing, but the General’s eyes didn't waver from her once
he’d looked from him.

“Donnchadh is with us,” she said again with
a warm smile. “He’s helped us come here, I urge you to hear him
out. Forget his past and listen to what he has to say now.”

Pyrrhus nodded. “What do you have to tell
me, Donnchadh?”

“Kirill has betrayed Orion.”

“That’s nothing new. All he’s done is betray
Orion since trying to kill the Queen.”

“It’s much more serious now,” Donnchadh
stared, gaining Pyrrhus' full attention. “He’s sided with the
crodillians. I was trying to use him and the Deimos Brotherhood to
start a rebellion, but he betrayed me to side with them.”

“Betrayed you?”

“Yes. I was freed from Keres and was made a
leader by the Merikh. Jahdiel was going to kill the Queen and I had
to find a way to delay her death, so I told them about Kirill. They
took the bait and I told the Queen I’d come back for her after I
retrieved Kirill and recruited the Brotherhood.”

“You were
helping
the Queen?”

“I’ve made many mistakes in my life and I
wanted to try and make up for those mistakes before my death. So, I
decided to side with the Queen and betray the crodillians, though
it meant sure death. I told Kirill I was coming and needed him to
surrender peacefully so we could later rebel using the Brotherhood.
If I had known about
this
rebellion, I would've never asked
Kirill for help, but I didn't, and he betrayed me to side with the
crodillians.”

“Why would he side with them?” Pyrrhus
asked. “Can't he see Merikh will never let him rule?”

“He doesn't want to rule with Merikh. He’ll
kill Merikh once he’s ready. He wants to cleanse Orion of any races
he sees unfit, crodillians now included.”

“How does she come in?” Pyrrhus pointed.
“Who is she?”

“I’m Leilah,” she answered. “We saved
Donnchadh on Erebos. He was stranded in the wasteland, but my tribe
and I found him. We let him live with us for some time, until we
learned of who he was and what his true intentions were. They were
noble and true and I told the rest of the tribe that we needed to
help him with this rebellion.”

“I really admire you coming here from
Erebos, but we have everything ready. You could help with the fight
when the crodillians arrive, if you would like. More bodies are
always welcome.”

“I’m here for more than being another body.
I’ve come to help you in other ways, ways that you’ll need if you
want to be successful.”

“I'm not quite sure I understand,” Pyrrhus
said. “Help us how?”

“My tribe survived on Erebos because we
possess special abilities,” she revealed. “We can see and feel
things before they happen. Those abilities are what led us to
Donnchadh, though we weren't completely sure why they’d led us to
him at the time.”

Pyrrhus looked to Donnchadh. “It's true. She
told me to come here. I had no idea there was a rebellion here or
that I’d meet you.”

“I specifically, am stronger than the rest
of the tribe. My visions have much greater detail and I can feel
many more things. They can only see things that directly affect
them. I can see things that affect everyone, all of Orion. I’ve had
it my whole life, but I concealed it, afraid of why I saw so much
more. After finding Donnchadh and talking with him, I knew why I
was blessed with such great powers. I was meant to help Orion win
this war.”

“It's truly amazing you have these powers,
but how exactly is it going to help us?”

“I’ve seen the outcome of the rebellion
without my assistance,” she said. “Your plan is good, but you’re
greatly outnumbered. Hermes and Gaea are completely destroyed, and
the battle here lasts much longer than expected. As you are
fighting here, the rest of Orion burns and crumbles. I feel death
and I see bloodshed, but the wrong side wins. I’ve never seen the
crodillians, but I’ve seen in their minds. They’re monsters, and
they’re stronger than anything I've ever faced.”

“How do you know about our plan?” Pyrrhus
asked, surprised.

“I told you, I have abilities that extend
beyond that of the rest of my tribe. I see many things that I keep
to myself, but the time for that is over. I was given these powers
as a gift. They’ve stayed hidden my entire life, until now. You
need my assistance if you are to win this rebellion and I’m urging
you to accept my offer.”

Pyrrhus looked taken aback from what Leilah
had just told him. Donnchadh knew it was a lot to take in, he was
still trying to take everything in himself. If he’d never heard of
anything like this before, he was sure that Pyrrhus hadn't either.
No matter how strange it seemed, this was something no one could
turn down.

“The crodillians are preparing to strike
Ares now,” Leilah said. “You must have the Princess deliver her
speech and start the rebellions on the other planets as soon as
possible. You want only one ship to arrive here, so you must act
quickly.”

“Okay. I’ll get you all a place to stay,
though I don't see how Donnchadh deserves it after all he’s have
done to Orion.”

“He’s changed. He’s not the same malak he
was before he was sent to Keres. His heart is pure and he’s
fighting for the same cause you and me,” Leilah replied.

“The Princess is preparing her speech as we
speak,” Pyrrhus motioned them towards the cruiser. “I’ll tell her
the time to deliver it is now.”

“I’ll be waiting for you to return after she
gives her speech. Once this speech is delivered, the real war will
start,” she said.

Donnchadh, Leilah, and the rest of the tribe
sat in the cruiser silently. Pyrrhus lifted it off of the ground
and started to take them to a place to stay. Donnchadh wasn't sure
how he could help with this rebellion, but he was determined to
find a way to help. He’d brought Leilah here, and now he needed to
do something else. Sitting around wasn't an option, it was time for
him to give his life to save his galaxy.

He looked over to see Leilah was smiling at
him, as though she was reading his mind. If she could truly see his
heart and what he wanted to do, then she knew he wanted to die for
all of the things that he’d done. It was clearly written in his
eyes and in his actions. It pained him to live with killing Armino
and all of the other terrible things he’d done in the Brotherhood.
He didn't want to just die, he wanted to die making a difference,
doing something that could right all of the wrongs he’d done in his
dark past.

Nimesha walked down to the Capitol building
to find Pyrrhus. She’d been looking out of the window when she saw
a ship she was very familiar with:
Cerberus
. She didn't know
what it was doing here, but tragedy followed the ship anywhere it
traveled. The rebellion had come too far to be torn apart by one of
Kirill's pawns.

As she came to the front gate of the
building, the guards moved aside and let her enter. She’d come
through enough the past several weeks that the guards knew who she
was and allowed her to enter without I.D. Nimesha looked back and
forth down the large marble halls and decided to look for Pyrrhus
upstairs. After climbing the stairs, she checked a couple of the
rooms and found him asleep in one of them. She walked over to the
bed and placed her hand on his shoulder, causing him to stir and
wake.

“Do you always sleep in your uniform?”
Nimesha asked.

“I had a few hours to rest, so I took the
opportunity,” he replied, rubbing his hands over his eyes. “Why are
you here?”

“I saw a ship,
Cerberus
, enter Ares a
couple of hours ago. I know the ship and I know whoever was in it
works for the Deimos Brotherhood.”

“Ah,” he stretched. “
Used
to work for
the Deimos Brotherhood, very much like yourself. I’ve already met
those onboard.”

“What do you mean? Who is it?”

“It was Donnchadh and some weird tribe
people from Erebos.”

“Donnchadh?” She repeated.

“Yeah, the scumbag malak,” he said. “I
wasn't too happy to see Donnchadh, but he and the people he brought
are going to help us with the rebellion. Each of them were very
adamant about that, at least two of them anyway. The rest of the
tribe didn’t say a word.”

“Help us?” She snorted. “Do you know who
Donnchadh is?”

“Yeah, he's like you if I remember
correctly. One of the most notorious assassins in the galaxy. Can’t
you see the thrill on my face letting him join us?”

“He’s working for Kirill, I can almost
guarantee it. There’s no other reason for him to come here.”

Pyrrhus shook his head. “I don't think so.
He said Kirill betrayed him and tried to have him killed.”

“Of course he did. How else is he supposed
to get in the ranks of the rebels?”

“He's telling the truth, though I hate to
admit it. The crodillians freed Donnchadh from Keres and sent him
to capture Kirill.”

Nimesha was silent for a moment. “How did he
say Kirill betrayed him? What exactly happened?”

“He was trying to get Kirill to come
peacefully so they could later rebel from the inside, except your
old leader didn't want to do that. He appeared to have a few other
plans that he still has to act on. Hopefully we don’t get to see
those.”

“He knows the crodillians give him the best
chance of achieving his goal of a pure galaxy. The man is always
coming up with better ways to accomplish things. He’ll use whoever
and whatever he needs in order to be successful.”

“Trust me, I know. The man has been taking
out races for a long time. I have a good idea what he had in mind
when turning the malak over,” Pyrrhus said. “Kirill told the
crodillians what Donnchadh was trying to do and he ran into the
wasteland of Erebos to escape them. Not a wise choice if you ask
me, but I don't understand you assassins. Always think you can run
from death.”

“And that's where the tribe people come in?
I don’t know anyone in the Brotherhood who’s part of any
tribe.”

Pyrrhus nodded. “Very strange tribe people
at that.”

“Strange in what way?”

“They can see and feel things. Apparently,
that's how they survive out there in the wasteland and that's how
they knew where to find Donnchadh.”

“What do you mean they can see and feel
things?” She asked. “That doesn't make any sense.”

“I'm not entirely sure, but I can tell you
they aren't bluffing. They know about the rebellion and they know
what our battle plan is. That woman knows every little detail. It's
no coincidence.”

“Someone told them,” she shook her head.
“How could they know about the battle plan? We haven’t told anyone
about it yet except those on Ares.”

“Because they
can
see things! I don't
know how to explain it, but I promise you it's true. Leilah's
visions led her here, to the heart of the rebellion, and she said
without her help we fail!”

“She s
aw
it happen already?”