Chapter 37: The Shoreline Parley
The bombardment stopped. The Sol-Invictus hung in the sky, silent and brooding. Carson stood on the white sand of the island's northern shore. He was exhausted, his hair now streaked with silver, his eyes glowing with a permanent emerald light. The 33rd Strand was stable, but he could feel the "Void-Poison" he had absorbed itching beneath his skin.
A small, elegant gold shuttle descended from the Dreadnought, landing softly on the sand twenty yards away. The ramp hissed open, and Prince Kaelen stepped out, alone and unarmed. He looked at the charred sand and then at Carson.
"Impressive," Kaelen said. "The Grand Synthesis. I haven't seen it performed since the fall of the Jade Empire. You didn't just save a city, McCain. You turned yourself into a planetary organ. If I kill you now, the planet dies with you. A clever insurance policy."
"I'm not an insurance policy," Carson said, the Star-Shedder appearing in his hand. "I'm the man who's going to put you in a cage."
Kaelen laughed. "A cage? My dear boy, I am already in a cage. My father expects a conquered world. You expect a hero's victory. But the universe... the universe just wants the 'Flow' to continue."
Kaelen stepped closer, his 14-Peak pressure clashing with Carson's 15-Light aura. The sand between them began to turn into glass from the sheer friction of their wills.
"I have a proposition," Kaelen said. "Maya is currently suffering. The Void-Parasite is eating her from the inside out. I can stop it. I can return her to the woman she was. In exchange, you will give me the 31st Strand. I want to see what lies beyond Level 15."
"You want to buy a soul?" Carson asked.
"I want to trade a burden," Kaelen countered. "Give me the spark, and I will take the Sol-Invictus and leave this sector forever. You can be the King of New Seattle. No more wars. Just... peace."
Carson looked at the Prince's hand. There was no mercy in this deal—only a different kind of trap. "My mother told me that the 'Flow' can't be traded," Carson said, his saber beginning to hum with an emerald glow. "And the Flow says... that you're not leaving this island with anything but a scar."
Kaelen's smile vanished. His eyes turned a deep, obsidian black. "A pity. I was hoping to do this without getting blood on my boots." He simply raised his hand, and the ocean behind him rose up into a thousand-foot wall of black, frozen water.