Lucin surveyed the smoldering ruins of the Guniran province before him. Death meant nothing to him. He felt no regret and no sympathy. He waited for news on the structure he was searching for. The boy had apparently escaped with his family. He had sensed it when the young Barudii had departed the planet. The portion of his symbyte form previously implanted in Kale had been destroyed, but not his ability to sense the boy.
The Vorn warships hovered over the province. Their antigravity generators kept them aloft and their sonic emissions thundered continuously over the landscape. Some of the structurally unsound buildings had collapsed due to the constant resonance of the mighty engines in such close proximity.
"Sir!" One of Lucin's soldiers came running up to him. "I think we have found it."
Lucin followed the man. The soldier led him beyond the greater portion of destroyed buildings nearby. Lucin's bodyguards followed along with them as they walked briskly through the street toward a tented complex not far in the distance. He recognized it immediately. It was the same design as the one from the days of old-a tabernacle.
Lucin's pace quickened at the sight of it. People marched into captivity all around them and shots still rang out at random as his symbyte controlled soldiers went about the business of tearing the Guniran province apart.
Lucin stopped abruptly at the entrance to the tabernacle. A veil hung between two poles comprising the entryway. Did he dare? He had once dwelt in Mithrium itself, the dwelling place of the Eternal One, though not with these mortal members. He had walked in the garden of Elithias, oh so many ages ago. Had Elithias' presence been here, the province never would have been taken. He dared.
Removing his blade he slashed through the poles and the veil between, and walked through. His people had a number of priests secured as prisoners inside. When he walked inside the tented complex the priests were forced to their knees before him.
"These are the books we found inside," said one of his men.
A pile of old parchments and copies of various sorts were strewn on the ground before a wash basin and a table with other artifacts overturned. He picked up one of the documents. Opening it, his eyes fell upon the old language. "…And the one that deceived them, was cast into a lake of fire that shall never be quenched, and so shall he be tormented day and night forever and ever, amen."
Fury welled up within Lucin from the very foundation of his being. He shredded the parchment and then glared at the others before him. "I want all of these burned!"
"Yes, sir!"
Lucin turned to leave the tabernacle. Elithias wasn't going to tell him. The Eternal One would only mock him in his search through the prophecies.
"Sir, what about these prisoners?"
Lucin paused before leaving. "Kill them…kill them all."
He headed back down the street to his private transport. His bodyguards followed their master's every step. Sporadic pulse laser fire erupted behind him from the Tabernacle of Elithias. He really didn't need to consult with the books at all-he knew the prophecies well. He knew that his time was short.
Lucin climbed back into the transport and his bodyguards seated themselves next to him. One of them took the shuttle controls and closed the entry door while powering the engine.
"Commander?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Have all of the ground forces finish up here quickly and report back to the cruisers. I want to be underway for Draconis within the next five hours."