The Order of Ja'el

Chapter Two

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Tears welled in Zora's eyes as she stared at the one person she'd yearned to see since their tragic separation ten years ago. A part of her couldn't believe her luck that Jada had been the one to help her penetrate the Sky Colonies, but Zora had trusted the words of Ja'el: "She will greet you at the dawn of the night..." It had been the only indication that her illegal entry would be welcomed and not result in her immediate execution.

Jada stroked away the tears that escaped Zora's eyes, ignoring the flood that flowed from hers. Her hands trembled with a desperate hope that Zora wouldn't fade away, that this wasn't all a dream. "I don't understand," Jada finally stammered through aching sobs, "I thought you were dead. Does this mean...?"

Zora weakly shook her head. "No... the Sky Forces murdered them. They tried so hard to get to you—"

"Murdered?!" Jada shook her head in confusion. "No, Zora, the Earth intruders were the ones—Zora? ZORA?!"

Zora crashed to the ground. Her body convulsed in waves of pain. The Ascendance's effects through the shocker, along with the extremity of her climb, had finally caught up. Jada rushed down to her, cradling her head onto her lap with helpless cries as seconds passed. There were no medical personnel on staff that she could call to help without revealing the treason she now willingly embraced. Thankfully, only a minute passed before Zora's body settled into an unconscious but breathing heap of limbs.

Jada jumped when Vlad appeared next to her, holding a glass of water in his hand while pulling an injectable with the royal emblem from his coat pocket.

Oh, my goddess... I'd forgotten he was here! Why does he even have that? Aren't those injectables reserved for royal usage? They're so rare, and their healing powers are extraordinary...

Vlad stooped down. "Her body must have sustained great injury from the shocker. I'm surprised she's alive, yet nothing about her arrival or timing is shocking... am I not right, Jada?"

Vlad injected Zora with the medication and then looked pointedly at Jada, awaiting an honest response. Jada only shook her head, not wanting to add more on top of the living act of treason she was determined to protect. "I can't..."

Vlad rested the glass next to them and pushed himself up to his feet. "Then I can't help you, not anymore, not until you're ready. I am certain your husband is already on his way here with the shocker having gone off, even if you disabled it with the lever. How will you explain the presence of this Earth intruder?"

"She's not an intruder! She's from the Sky Colonies!"

"Yet if she came from below, she is no longer welcome here. Is she a traitor? Were your parents?"

Jada's eyes widened at the insinuation. "How dare you imply something like that?! My parents were faithful to Ja'el and the Order!"

"How do you know?" Vlad pressed. "Perhaps they could also hear the Sphere as you do... perhaps they told someone..."

Jada's mouth dropped to the Earth. She couldn't even bring herself to respond to the truthful allegation. Zora's stirring at that exact moment was a welcome distraction, at least until she faintly murmured, "They couldn't... but they knew we could..."

Jada's hands flew to her mouth at the utterance of the one decree that, if broken, guaranteed certain death. Anyone who voiced such claims was sentenced to Skyfall—an execution equivalent to Blood Rain—where they were mercilessly thrown from the towers to their demise. Only the Order had access to the voice of Ja'el, and no one from Jada's family had descended from that purebred line of priestesses and priests.