Lucin felt the dull roar of the Vorn cruiser's engines throughout the entire ship. He lay on the bed in his quarters, but he could not sleep. His fleet remained twenty four hours away from planet Draconis and his prey. That's where they would be. He knew it. Time was growing short and the prophecy said Draconis would be the place. He had seen the Logostus many times. It was engraved upon his mind. But it would end up differently than the Eternal One intended-at least this time.
He stood and walked over to the large transparisteel view-port at the rear of the compartment. The starscape spread out before him into the distance. The massive transport ships that had been retrieved from old Vorn stockpiles were capable of carrying up to two hundred and fifty thousand people-they were little more than engines and crew carrier pods that could be dropped from orbit and take troops to the surface. They had been used by the Vorn for invasion purposes when sending their armies to Castai many years ago. He had a total of four allowing him to transport the majority of the remaining population as his new symbyte army.
The transports were useless for atmospheric fighting and too heavy to escape gravity under their own power-built, launched, and used in space only. Fortunately, Lucin still had six Vorn warships at his disposal.
He felt restless. This mortal form-this creature he was forced to be made him cringe with disgust. He wasn't meant to be this way. He had been so beautiful-adored by the host of Mithrium and a favorite of the Eternal One. It was an injustice for him to be reduced to this, but Lucin planned to reclaim his former glory and rise above Elithias in adoration upon these mortal worlds.
He realized Mithrium would never be his, but these created worlds, they would be his to rule forever. Without men to redeem, the Lord would have to leave it alone or destroy the existence of man and surely he wasn't willing to do that. Perhaps, Lucin thought, I might even be able to convince the greater portion of those that have not rebelled with me to finally take their places at my side and know true freedom. He had convinced many before-perhaps it would be possible again.
Dirge had always been an upstart. To think he had actually assumed leadership in Lucin's absence. How presumptuous his brother had been, how naive. Lucin had quite enjoyed the matter of using the boy, Kale, to assassinate the Agonotti leader. He would have his place of leadership among his brethren restored soon enough, but he still wanted the boy. He couldn't assimilate him again, but he could have revenge and remove a key power among the humans. Lucin stretched out his hands before him and the knuckles popped.
This mortal form was not nearly as useful for his needs as the boy could have been. His host body, the man Zurig had never been a warrior. He had always been a politician. The uniform he wore now was more window dressing than anything. Lucin still needed a real warrior of the highest degree, but he wasn't sure who qualified.
Lucin looked out through mortal eyes at the universe beyond the transparisteel. How he longed to stretch his glorious wings again and take flight among the stars. To know no boundaries, no limitations-if this mortal flesh was anything, it was a prison. Perhaps he might bargain with the Elithias-mankind in return for the restoration of his former glory. Lucin caught sight of his own reflection in the window, but it was only the pale reflection of mortal flesh and nothing of his former glory in Mithrium. He clenched his fist and shook it, spitting out words of venomous accusation at the unseen Eternal One through locked teeth. "Look what you have done to me."