Book One. Underground City.

Chapter 1. PrologueIn the hall with walls covered with complex metal ornaments, on the mirror surface of the inlaid stone floor stood seven silent figures. Different builds, nationalities and genders — all of them were united by the formal style of richly decorated clothes and a very serious expression on their faces. Lined up in a semicircle, they looked at a small pedestal in the center of the hall, crowned with a large dark chair with carved handrails and a very high back. More like a throne, but devoid of any pompous decor.Wrapped in purple multi-layered clothes, the small figure on the throne did not show any signs of life. Thin dark hands with matte skin the color of mahogany lay motionless on the armrests. The Eternal Emperor was dead. The unshakable pillar of order and prosperity of the giant space empire, and probably the most hated absolute monarch of the galaxy, who ruled the…