Igaris was not too worried about leaving his wives or his empire unguarded. Unknown to all but himself, he had split off a secret doppelganger—an extension of his will—that lingered in Orca. It carried his instincts, his sharpness, and enough of his power to strike down any threat that dared to approach his family or throne.
Thus, he flew with no chains upon his heart.
Time in the void of the cosmos was impossible to measure. Days, years, or perhaps centuries might have slipped by. Yet for Igaris, with his space-time domain collapsing distance and warping causality itself, the journey was both endless and fleeting.
Then—light.
