Chapter 69

A massive creature soared over the lands, causing massive wind storms to destroy all the forests it flew over. Many trees would combust as it passed by but not a single spark had left the creature's body. Whether it was its size, speed, or the heat it gave off, Dral had truly grown into a powerful creature that could demolish armies by itself. Seviss had underestimated its full growth. Dral stood at 45 meters with a massive wingspan of 270 meters. It also weighed over 40,000 tonnes. And riding atop that massive creature was a teenager.

"Lilo," Boxe called over the comms for the 5th time. "Lower your speed and return back. We need to leave soon."

"5 more minutes, Mom. Please," Lilo begged as she and Dral soared through a mountain range. Dral turned vertically, narrowly passing through a very small space between two mountains. 

"No. Jial said that we need to leave now. Get your butt down here or else I'll have Jial take away Dral for a month."

Lilo sucked in some cold air through her teeth. Her mother had truly pulled out the big guns. Although Dral was loyal to her, his animal instincts were strong and since he was young, he had known that Jial was the alpha of their pack. Even if she was his personal favorite person, Dral would rather disobey her than Jial. 

The pair began flying back to the entrance of the chamber at a much slower speed than what they were traveling at through the vast space. With Dral's speed, he could deal some serious damage to the main building if they were careless around it. The duo landed just outside the entrance building, shocking none of those present. They had seen Dral grow over the past 7 years so they had easily gotten used to his size.

"You seriously had to keep feeding him?" Boxe asked with her hands on her hip as she saw her daughter climb down the massive creature. She felt frustrated that Jial had grown it to such a degree.

"We wanted to see how big and hot the little guy got," Jial replied with a laugh. He also knew he went a little overboard with the feeding but he couldn't help it. He had never seen a creature so large, except for the massive Giant Kimogila species. But they weren't as interesting as Dral.

Boxe shook her head as she saw the massive creature shine brightly in orange and yellow light before condensing down into a small egg the size of Lilo's head. The little girl picked it up and brought it to the entrance where everyone else was waiting.

"Better?" Lilo asked her mother with all the sass that a Mandalorian teenager with a killing machine as a pet could muster. Mira and Kevan had to hold Boxe back from smacking her daughter. 

The two continued to talk Boxe down while Lilo sat on the couch and rubbed the egg in her hand. The egg was pulsing with energy and anyone nearby could feel the life coming from it. Dral was so powerful that even in its dormant state, it would grab the attention of others, not to mention its full-powered state.

Jial walked out from the side bedroom and looked at Lilo who instantly shrank back into the seat. She may have complained about Dral fearing/respecting Jial more than her but she also did the same with him compared to her parents. She would talk back to them but she would never utter a word besides 'yes' when Jial had told her to do something. 

"Let's go," Jial told them, his face unusually serious. No one knew what had happened but none of them questioned it. Instead, they just followed him outside of the chamber. When the ship landed in Wyne, everyone was surprised that everything looked so similar to how it was when they entered. 

"You'll get used to it," Jial told them. The feeling of leaving the time chamber was very weird at first but they would quickly get used to it.

Jial left the others and made his way to the Clocktower with the Telos Holocron in hand. He had just read the latest update in it and knew what Nott had done.

Jial walked past the guards and made his way up the elevator until he reached the top floor. He emerged to see all of the Inquisitors were in a meeting in the main room. 

"Your office. Now," Jial told Nott before walking past the group and taking a seat in the same spot he did a week ago

Nott sighed to herself. She could already tell why he had called her and knew that her time had come. All she could do was take responsibility for her actions. 

Nott walked into the office and immediately kneeled on the ground with her head lowered.

"I understand what I did wrong, Father. I should have informed you of the true purpose of my mission," Nott did not make any excuse and simply stated that she was in the wrong. She knew that saying anything else would only infuriate Jial further. 

"The Inquisitors are no longer under your command. Caina will be the new Grand Inquisitor while I will oversee the group and give out any commands," Jial did not acknowledge her apology but simply gave his orders. While he left her in command of her Acolytes and Astartes, he took away the most autonomous force that the Yautja had.

Nott's face turned white when she heard the punishment. She had imagined so many things but never had she thought that he would take away the Inquisitors.

"Father!" Nott cried out

"You had several opportunities to tell me. The entire time you were creating the plan. When I was in the office reading the reports. Before you took off. You had all the chances to tell me the truth," Jial told her, his voice colder than any other time he had spoken with her

"Please, Father! I promise it will not happen again. You can trust me," Nott swore to him. She did not care about the Inquisitors as an organization but the meaning behind it. For him to give her the Inquisitors, she trusted him with the most powerful Force within the Yautja. Taking it away meant he no longer believed in her. 

"I know I can trust you with my life, but I can't trust you with a power that can control all of Yautja if you feel that lying to me about missions you undertake is okay. That is why you must pay a price," Jial stood up and walked past her until he reached the door. He turned and looked at her kneeling figure. Nott's shoulders were trembling as she was silently shedding tears. "Perform well in the future. Perhaps we can reach the level of trust we had before."

Jial walked out of the room without looking back at her again. Even as he entered the elevator and turned around, he kept his eyes closed. He could feel her eyes on him and he couldn't look at her without wanting to change his mind.

He had to be strong.