Arthur woke up to find himself in a perfect recreation of his room back on Earth. The bed, mattress, duvet covers, everything down to the size and position of his wardrobe, was a one hundred percent match. The only difference was the cosy rocking chair in the corner of the room, and its current occupants. Iris, he recognised immediately. The young girl sleeping on her lap, not so much.

  “How did you get in?” Arthur asked. “The last thing I remember was the sound of your dad complaining about the door.”

  Iris grinned at him. “Really, Art. First time seeing your girlfriend in so long, and the first thing you talk about is her dad.”

  Arthur rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I missed you, too. How long was I out for?”

  Iris’ grin immediately vanished. “A year and three days, Arthur. Melania hurt you more than you realised.”

  Arthur took a deep, steadying breath, even as a yawning pit opened in his stomach. A year and three days. That was longer than all the time he’d spent growing under the System. So much time, just….gone. Iris giggled. Arthur looked up to see the fae woman with her hands pressed over her mouth, shoulders shaking uncontrollably with poorly concealed laughter.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she gasped, heaving for breath. “You should’ve seen your face. You were only asleep for four days.”

  Arthur chucked a pillow at her, which she deftly avoided. The pillow still struck her, suddenly turning trajectory mid-air to strike her full on the face. She stared at the offending object before shrugging.

  “Magic pillows for a magic house, I guess.”

  In her excitement, Iris had disturbed the young girl's rest, and she was beginning to wake up. She raised her head and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. Now that Arthur could see her face, he had a better idea of how old she was: a young girl, four or five years of age. She looked confused, the way all children did when they woke up from a nap. The girl looked first at Iris before turning her emerald green eyes on Arthur.

  His heart skipped a beat. She looked like the spitting image of his younger sister, bar her striking eye colour. Her first words were like a knife in his heart.

  “Hello, brother. I’ve been waiting to meet you.”

  When Arthur didn’t say anything, her cheer turned to uncertainty, and she looked at Iris. His girlfriend, thankfully, was sharp and immediately picked up on why Arthur was so perturbed.

  “I can’t believe I forgot to introduce you, Arthur. This is Gaia, the Avatar of Earth. She was made using the blood that was stolen from you before you became an Originator. As such, she shares an uncanny resemblance to you, which I’m sure you’ve realised by now. Earth is now linked to you in a way I’ve never seen before. It's afforded Gaia some unique abilities, too. A planet's Avatar shouldn't be able to travel off-world before tier 3. Gaia’s doing it already. Long story short, you now have a new adopted sister."

  Arthur rubbed his temples. This was a lot to take in. His heart, which hardly ever beat these days, began to speed up. The House of the End responded to his agitation, and his bedroom suddenly became cold, losing its homely feel.

  “Arthur,” Iris warned, indicating to the little Avatar with her eyes. Gaia was terrified, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears any moment now. The expression on a face that looked so familiar hit him like a punch in the gut. Arthur took all his raging emotions and clamped them down into a little ball before he exhaled it all out. He’d have his breakdown when Gaia wasn’t around to witness it.

  Arthur tried for a smile, though he wasn’t sure if he was entirely successful. “I’ve been waiting so long to meet you, Gaia,” he said, wincing at how awkward the words sounded. “I wasn’t trying to scare you. Some bad people just tried to break into the house.”

  Gaia stared at him with distrust. “Auntie said you were stupid, brother,” she sniffed, her voice the warbling of a child trying not to cry. “I don’t like you.”

  Arthur turned to Iris, his eyes pleading for a little help. The fae sighed and set Gaia down on the floor. “Why don’t you forgive your brother. Be the bigger person. Auntie Alyssia already told you he was a little bit slow. He probably got a little scared when he saw you. I know, why don’t you tell him about the day we broke you out of jail? I'm sure he'll want to hear about that.”

  Iris carried on whispering conspiratorially into Gaia's ear, miming what Arthur guessed to be explosions. Gaia looked at him and finally nodded her head. She took a deep breath, as if gathering her courage and began to walk over to him, her steps hesitant. Finally, she stood before him, all of her 3 feet 1 imposing height. She thrust out her left arm for a handshake. “Hi, brother. My name's Gaia Ward. I’ve been told you need my protection.”

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  ~~~

  Three hours later, and the conversion was still flowing. They’d moved from the bedroom to the living room, where they’d been joined by Alyssia, who’d been cooking up a delicious stir-fry in the kitchen. He’d thought his time in Haadran had been hectic, but hearing about how the last two and a half weeks had treated Iris taught him that a simple battle was often a blessing to be cherished. He’d take another fight with Shylo any day over the political minefield Iris had been navigating.

  Gaia had wandered off with the blood crow, approaching the monster with the naive excitement unique to children. It hurt a little that a terrifying construct of blood and magic had made a better impression on Gaia than he had.

  “So, let me get this straight,” Arthur said, “The Lich Queen has been tearing through Earth, spreading her death magic to any land she’s conquered. It got bad enough that you turned to the vampires for help, who, in turn, are demanding that I help them get their Blood Ancestor over to Earth.

  Alyssia nodded, taking a bite out of her pastry. “It’s a little worse than that, actually.” The lich has been using Azure's open connection to Earth to directly pump death affinity ether into the planet's core. For whatever reason, Earth refuses to shut that connection down. Another six months of this, and the world's ether composition will be irrevocably changed. Given enough time, Earth will become completely uninhabitable for creatures of life.”

  “Why won't the damn nobles deal with it?” Arthur cursed. “They meddle so much when they’re not needed and then fuck off to nowhere when we could use their help.”

  “Some information came out yesterday that explains their hesitancy to intervene a little," Iris said. “All this time, I thought they were doing this to test you. Besides a select few, no one knows what you’ve done with Nether, or that Wovan's an Ender. You’re an Originator surrounded by mystery, one that somehow charmed The Council into sparing your life.”

  “While that still holds true, I learned yesterday of Castilla's—that's the Lich’s original name, by the way—history. She’s originally from the Rorchavan empire, one that fell over ten thousand years ago. They were an empire of high-elves with some troubling ideas."

  "Let me guess. They thought they were better than everyone else," Arthur said dryly.

  "That would be the understatement of the century," Iris replied. "Their main world, Eldertine, was one of our primary suppliers of Nezarion, a resource integral to our defence against corruption. It's an ore that's incredibly dangerous to mine, so much so that we've moved onto safer substances in the millennia since."

  "The System's Army didn't ask any questions, don't look your gift horse in the mouth, and all that. It was only when the empire collapsed into rebellion that the truth began to spread. Enslaved humans and drow who'd died in the millions to line the pockets of a greedy empire. It was a massive scandal that everyone likes to keep hush about."

  Arthur sighed. "And let me guess. This Castilla is one of those slave rebels, right?"

  Iris nodded. "It gets worse, actually. Castilla was a super soldier, born and bred for war, an unholy union of human, drow and Nezarion, and if rumours are to be believed, an Originator too. She was sentenced in a sham trial and imprisoned in a hidden realm, where she would live out the rest of her days. Ten thousand years later, she returns as a lich queen."

  Arthur rubbed his temples. This was needlessly convoluted. "So what is it? They feel bad for what happened, so they're letting her run free today."

  Alyssia finally spoke up. "Ultimately, yes. That's exactly what it boils down to. The people responsible for the tragedy ten thousand years ago have long since been sanctioned and killed off. Castilla's return is opening Pandora's box, revealing history the nobles in our Sector would prefer forgotten."

  "The nobles want Castilla to win," Iris added quietly. "An Originator who's returned from the books of history to get her justice. The news stations are eating it up. They say it's a reckoning, one that's been coming for a long time. Honestly, the sentiment is spreading too well. Someone is most definitely fanning the flames."

  "And the people of Earth have just been forgotten in that story."

  "No, some aid has finally been sent our way, though it's a double-edged sword. Anyone who wants to leave Earth and seek refuge elsewhere is free to do so. It's being encouraged even. If enough people leave, Earth will automatically be ceded to Castilla, who the nobles are a lot more interested in than a baby fresh Originator."

  "It's drama, is what it is," Alyssia interrupted, getting to her feet. "The people want to see a fight. They want blood spilt. An Originator from the past, a rebel martyr who stood against injustice, or the Originator of today, who survived certain death against all odds. The fans have their favourite, Arthur, and it isn't you."

  "As crass as Alyssia is, she isn't exactly wrong," Iris said.

  "How many have left Earth so far?" Arthur asked.

  "238 million, mostly from the countries at immediate risk."

  "And how many have to flee before we automatically lose?"

  "Two billion. We're projected to reach those numbers before the month is out. Three weeks, give or take a few days."

  Arthur stretched widely before getting to his feet. "My life always seems to be on a timer. At least this one's a reasonable one." The blood crow, sensing his intentions, returned to the living room, an excited Gaia trailing behind her. "I think it's time I finally pay these vampires a visit. It feels like forever since I've been on Earth."

  Alyssia looked at Iris nervously. "You know what's going on outside, right?"

  "You mean all those idiots camped outside my Territory?"

  Alyssia nodded. "They're gonna go crazy when they see you."

  "It's a good thing they won't then," Arthur replied. "I've got enough on my plate without having to deal with a bunch of parasitic sycophants. Wovan will get us past them."

  Iris whistled appreciatively. "The spider's been growing fast. That's a lot of miles to cover."

  "She was the one who landed me in this mess in the first place. She has to be this powerful at least."

  "Please," Iris rolled her eyes. "You would've found yourself in this mess regardless of what happened."

  Arthur ignored the jab. It was finally time to return home.

  Links to the audiobooks.

  Etherious: Originator

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