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The queen shot the redhead a venomous look while the king coughed and glared at the girl before looking away.

Lucienne had no patience for their quarrel. “Where is this Ashburn boy?” she demanded. “Did he touch the gate?”

“My subject, the crippled Extra, entered this banned place and fled,” said the king.

Lucienne’s heart sank. She had feared the Eye might have been tampered with before her arrival. If no one had touched it, how could there be an outburst of dark matter that reached Sphinxes? And, if it was compromised, why wasn’t it taken?

“How old is this Ashburn?” Lucienne asked.

No one answered until the male farmer finally said in a timid voice, “My son is eighteen moons tomorrow.” And his wife became tearful at hearing that.

The king shot the farm couple a deadly glare. They recoiled. Lucienne knew if she and her men weren’t present, the king would surely whack the farmer, or worse.

Lucienne eyed the wheelchair near the gate. “Does that chair belong to your son?”

The farm couple lowered their heads and dared not emit a sound again, but Lucienne already knew the answer by reading the sorrow on their faces.

“You and your people should leave now,” Lucienne said, gesturing her men to discharge the king’s guards. The commandos removed their knives from their captives’ necks and shoved the guards away.The king’s men stumbled forward as hatred and defeat singed their eyes. They turned away and went to help their comrades regain conscious.

“I’ll pay you a courtesy visit later, Mr. King,” Lucienne said.

“It’ll be unwise for you to enter my city,” the king said.

“That would be awfully rude. Haven’t you learned by now of my distaste for bad manners?” Lucienne asked.

“If you enter Nirvana, I can’t guarantee your safety,” the king said.

“My safety isn’t your concern,” replied Lucienne.

“My people won’t allow any outsiders on our holy land,” the queen said. “You have four skilled warriors, but you can’t possibly expect that five of you will defeat an army. Return to your home world after you investigate the bad weather here.”

“We’ll see,” Lucienne said. “Now, get going, all of you. I need to begin testing the climate without distraction.”

The king signaled for his men to withdraw. The guards went to retrieve their daggers from the ground. “Leave them!” Orlando stepped on a dagger. “My queen didn’t say you could take them back.” The other Sphinxes warriors moved to back him up, leveling their rifles at the king’s guards, as they closed in on Orlando.

The king’s guards spat onto the ground and turned, trailing the royal family back toward town. Lucienne caught a train of their dark thoughts. They were accustomed to using anyone who did not acquiesce as punching bags. Before today they had never been so humiliated. They would want revenge and a rematch with her warriors soon. Lucienne wasn’t worried. The king’s guards may have been well-trained and malicious, but her men were the best of the best. She glanced at her warriors with pride.

Soon the natives were out of sight, disappearing under the darkened sky.

~

Neither moon nor stars shone above Hell Gate, but a distant, blinding light spread from one vertical point. The remote town blazed in glorious lights.

If it were Eterne, then it was within arm’s reach. The first scroll said there’d be a sign. Was the light a harbinger of an enlightened age? But how could these uncivilized natives live inside the gods’ city?

A vibration hummed on her wrist. Lucienne pulled her gaze away from the town to the watch. No ordinary timepiece, this watch could detect the presence of dark matter. An urgent readout flashed in its window and an arrow inside pointed toward the gate.

“This is the place,” Lucienne spoke quietly to Vladimir.

“Flashlight on gate,” said Vladimir.

The warriors switched on their flashlights, directing the brilliant light onto the gate.

Vladimir took his place at Lucienne’s side before the gate, her case opened between them. She stood on the tips of her toes to gaze into the Eye. Her distorted image reflected on its dark, mirrored lens.

“The Eye of Time,” she said. “I recognize it. I feel it.” Her trembling finger reached for it.

“Lucia,” Vladimir warned. “We don’t know—”