Awakening: The First Tale of the Trine (Trine Series Book 1) by D.B. West Page A

from the Old Testament, I believe. What does it refer too, precisely, this ‘Abbadon’?”
    “They are monstrous,” Aki shivered, his fur quivering. “Their kind evolved from what you know as insects. The most dominant of them are a type of arachnid that is taller than your species. They have eight limbs, walking on four, and using four to manipulate objects. There are other species, but the spider-like ones are their leaders. They are the most alien creatures we have ever encountered. Their way of thinking and looking at the universe is so strange that we have never been able to find any commonality with them.”
    “During the war, my people attempted to exterminate their colonies,” Orak said grimly, bringing his blue-eyed visage close to the camera. “We found one here, where they had established a presence to secure a supply line.”
    “A supply line…?” Director Spencer prompted.
    “For food,” Orak stated flatly. “They are ravenous, and spread across the universe seeking new creatures to consume. They were ecstatic to find your people. You breed quickly, and are incredibly resilient to…processing. They would drain the blood of their victims repeatedly you see, and your kind were found to replenish well. Once the subject finally died from this process, they would then consume the flesh. They were so enthusiastic about your species that they made a mistake that ultimately cost them the war.”
    “Which was?” Director Spencer asked.
    “They linked a Bore directly to their home world. The war had drug on for centuries while we tried to track down where they were originating. We eradicated them here on your world, and they were unable to close the Bore in time to stop us from finally discovering their breeding ground. We had already prepared our weapon to finally crush them once we found it, and we implemented the Tragedy immediately.”
    “The Tragedy? The Bore? Explain those for us,” Director Spencer said.
    Aki raised his paw again, saying, “Please, allow me. I am well-versed in this part. I was in charge of helping maintain the Bore at our outpost. A Bore is a type of aether engine. It is used to link two places and create a portal for ease of travel. Orak’s people, the Elvahn, originally dabbled in propulsion systems to explore the universe. They found out rather quickly that the universe is a truly boring place to just cruise around aimlessly. Fortunately, all the racket they were making attracted the attention of my people. My kind are called the Rydal. We were able to figure out where Elva was located easily and opened up a Bore connecting our worlds, introducing the Elvahn to their first sentient contact. Our kind have been friends for millennia, and have freely traded our technology.”
    “As for the Tragedy,” Aki continued. “It was exactly that. We had to stop the Abbadon. We had already developed the weapon to finally defeat them. But when we found their home world, we discovered that the Abbadon had filled it with breeding camps from all manner of species they had encountered. The things we saw there…what they were doing…you cannot imagine the horrors.”
    “I can,” Orak interrupted. “You need to understand this. The Abbadon are sentient, but not in any way we understand. Their minds are completely immune to compassion. They had taken species we have no other knowledge of and enslaved them in containment pits, where they were kept solely for breeding and butchering. The Abbadon prefer their food alive. They prefer their food to protest and struggle. They delight in the suffering of their prey, and had developed implements of torture whose sole purpose was to inflict such agony that their victims’ minds were destroyed before they consumed the body. The Tragedy was that we were unable to save all of the souls they had collected. Their world was too large, and there were too many of the monsters. So we activated the weapon. Aki’s people, the Rydal, had modified a Bore so