Earthborn Alliance

by Matthew DeVore

  Copyright © 2019 by Matthew S. DeVore.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical review and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Matthew S. DeVore

  Visit the author’s website at www.matthewdevore.com.

  First Edition

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Edited by Kristin Scearce, Hot Tree Editing

  Cover design by Deranged Doctor Design

  www.derangeddoctordesign.com

  To Clara

  CONTENTS

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PROLOGUE

  Lieutenant Nalvan sat at the communications console on the bridge of the Resurgence just as he had every day for the past six months. The Resurgence, the newest assault vessel in the Elven fleet, was on its maiden voyage, which took place like all the fleet’s voyages—in secret.

  Officially, the Elven military was disbanded thousands of years prior with their surrender to the Urlowen High Councilman at the end of the Great War, but after the first few thousand years of subjugation, the Elves grew restless. Even still, they lived long with near-perfect memories, resulting in many harboring a deep fear of Urlowen retaliation should they break the terms of the treaty.

  The Elven High Council secretly commissioned the reconstitution of the military, selecting an uninhabitable planet near the edge of known space to house their shipyards and training facilities. After hundreds of years of slow growth, minimizing their chances of discovery, the Elven fleet finally began to show a glimmer of its former glory. The capstone of this growth occurred with the launch of the Resurgence, aptly named for the hope growing in the Elven population.

  The lieutenant stared at the blank screen in front of him. In six months, he’d received and transmitted only one pair of messages, the order to launch from orbit into the black abyss of interstellar space and a confirmation that the order was received.

  To maintain secrecy, only messages of extreme importance were sent to deployed vessels. The entire cruise was planned in advance, and the ship’s captain made all decisions in accordance with the parameters of the mission. Everything was orchestrated to minimize their discovery by the Urlowens.

  Nalvan’s head slowly dropped as exhaustion took hold. Just as he was about to doze, a small indicator light in the corner of his screen began beating red. He jolted upright and passed his hand over the console. Text scrolled across the top and bottom of the screen, describing the encoding of an incoming transmission. His heart pounded, and his hands grew moist with sweat. The scrambled characters failed each decryption attempt. Fearing the signal was Urlowen in origin, panic gripped him.

  Pushing aside his fears, he took a deep shaky breath as his hand hovered over the alarm. With a simple swipe, he could send the entire ship into chaos.

  He paused. If he was wrong, if it wasn’t the Urlowens, then he’d look foolish. It would be a terrible way to begin his career. Slowly, he pulled his hand back and ran the transmission through every known decryption algorithm in the ship’s computer.

  Ten grueling minutes later, the computer found a match. This can’t be. The message had been decrypted with an Elven Great War era key, registering as a distress signal.

  Pulling up star maps from the Resurgence’s main database, he traced the signal’s origin. A small star system jumped off the console and hovered above his station. The computer highlighted the third planet orbiting a yellow star. It was a beautiful blue and white, an oasis in the vast lonely emptiness of space.

  The lieutenant slid his chair back from the console, stood, and stared at the planet before him, his mouth agape. He knew this planet. Everyone knew this planet.

  Coming to his senses, he looked back to the console. The decryption key was old but checked out. It was logged as intact; the Urlowens had never breached the encryption during or after the war. By all measures, it was authentic.

  He read the transcript. Then he read it again. After double-checking the decryption, he read it a third time. Shaking his head, he activated the communications link to the captain’s quarters.

  “Sorry, to bother you, sir, but I’ve just received a distress signal. It registers as authentic, though it’s a bit peculiar.”

  “Go ahead, Lieutenant,” the captain responded. “What does it say?”

  “It’s from Earth, sir. The message is short. It says ‘Under attack. The Earthborn live. Help.’”

  CHAPTER 1

  Ethan stared across the courtyard at his opponent. She looked good. No. He shook his head. Not now. Focus. The last time he was distracted, she wiped the floor with him—literally. She’d wrapped him in invisible ropes and dragged him across the ground. When he’d managed to stand, he was covered with dirt.

  He glanced at his hands. A small stream of blue energy ran down his arms into his palms. When he looked up, she was gone. Crap. He spun around fast but not fast enough. She swiped his legs out from under him, but before his back slammed into the ground, he was thrust across the courtyard. His body bounced painfully along the floor, making him grunt each time he made contact. After skidding to a stop, he rolled over with dull throbbing pains shooting through his limbs. The feeling was far too familiar. Just once, he wanted to be standing after a duel rather than lying on his back, staring into the clear blue sky.

  Aleena’s soft, angular face eclipsed his view. “Always focus on your opponent.” She was smiling a little more broadly than he liked. Her hair dangled toward him, framing her face perfectly, the points of her ears just barely protruding through the blonde locks.

  She was gorgeous.

  Snap out it. It’d been far too long since he’d seen Allison. She’d left with Valaan early that morning to get supplies. I can’t spend any time with this girl. What’s happening to me? But he couldn’t control the smile that tugged at his lips seeing Aleena above him. Seeing her anywhere, really.

  “Sorry. I’m still, uh, not used to having magic… well you know, come out of me,” Ethan stammered.

  Aleena’s grin faded. “Well get used to it. Every moment you aren’t looking at the enemy is a moment she could kill you.”

  “You could at least help me up,” Ethan said, extending his hand.

  Aleena rolled her eyes. “I’ll help you up when you’ve earned it.”

  Ethan watched as she turned her back and walked away. A particularly good view.

  “Let’s take a break,” Aleena called over her shoulder. “You’re not making much progress today anyway.”

  Ethan sighed. Exhaustion filled his limbs. They’d been sparring for hours, and he h
adn’t landed a single hit. He shifted his leg on the cool stone; fall had arrived, and there was a crisp chill to the air. He took a deep breath, unwilling to attempt standing.

  Since learning how to draw on his magic, he thought his progress would speed up, but he’d been wrong. All he’d managed to do was conjure blue energy spheres, and those weren’t powerful enough to give anyone more than a nasty shock. He couldn’t even levitate a small rock.

  Groaning a bit, he sat up and looked around. Aleena had already gone back inside the remains of the abandoned two-story hotel where they’d taken up residence. The central courtyard was poorly decorated with a couple of old trees and red brick walking paths that led to various entrances.

  They’d left the Alliance base a few months ago, since General Baker couldn’t quite come to terms with allowing Aleena and Valaan to help the war effort. After all, they weren’t Human and therefore couldn’t be trusted.

  Ethan thought it odd, given the dire situation. It seemed to him that any help was better than none, especially in light of their looming defeat.

  Ethan wasn’t going to give up the fight that easily, and neither would Aleena. He had watched her mourning shift to vengeance over the past few months. She had a score to settle with the Urlowens for her people—for all of them.

  They left the base and headed back into Urlowen occupied territory, which was almost everywhere now.

  Their mission was simple: find a way to contact the Elven home world and hope they’d be willing to help. Though just how they were going to do that was still a work in progress. Ethan wasn’t sure the Alliance had the technology to do it, and even if they did, the general had made his position clear.

  That left one other option—the Urlowens. Attempting to broadcast an illicit message from one of their compounds would be tricky at best, and more likely suicidal.

  Even if they managed to succeed, there was still the very likely scenario that the Elves were gone, completely annihilated during the Great War, just like the Earthborn.

  The prospects didn’t look good to Ethan. Valaan assured them there was still another option but wouldn’t elaborate. Ethan was pretty sure he was just trying to keep up their spirits. Regardless, Aleena’s training regimen had increased immensely, and Ethan seemed to be taking the brunt of it.

  Standing up, he brushed the dirt off his clothes. They’d been in this town longer than usual because it had a relatively small Urlowen presence and no signs of the Guard. Valaan wanted Aleena and Ethan to train in a relatively safe environment, which meant staying away from major cities.

  “Ethan,” Allison shouted, running toward him from a pair of glass double doors on the far side of the courtyard. “They’re here, and they recognized us.”

  Jumping to his feet, he sprinted toward her. “Valaan?”

  “He’s waiting for us in the front. They can’t be far behind.”

  “Aleena is inside. Did you see her?”

  “She’s already with Valaan.”

  Ethan grabbed her hand without slowing down. Entering through the glass doors, they ran the length of a long tan hallway. The worn carpet was spotted with red and black squares, reminding Ethan of an old checkerboard. Whoever decorated this place was terrible at their job.

  “What are the Guard doing here?” Ethan asked.

  “How would I know?” Allison responded, her voice quivering.

  Ethan squeezed her hand, attempting to comfort her, but didn’t speak, afraid his voice would give away his own fear.

  The hallway opened into a medium-sized foyer with plush, dust-covered couches and a marble-topped reception desk. In the middle of the foyer, a shattered chandelier lay strewn about the floor. Shards of glass crystal crunched under their feet as they ran through the debris. Over to the side, tables were lying on their sides haphazardly. The hotel had once offered a complimentary breakfast.

  Valaan and Aleena were standing on either side of the main entry.

  “We don’t have much time,” Valaan said.

  Ethan nodded. “Where should we go?”

  “We’ll figure that out once we’re safely out of town.”

  Aleena opened the doors, entering a covered passenger drop-off. A large hedge extended the length of the driveway, blocking the view to the parking lot. Ethan watched as Aleena checked both sides of the hedge. She was wearing a powder blue tank top with black leggings and carrying a worn bookbag which undoubtedly held her striking dark green armor.

  She didn’t have time to change. She rarely wore her armor when sparring with him, said it made for a fair fight since he didn’t have any. He had a hard time believing any fight that pitted him against her was fair. He hoped the Guard hadn’t tracked them to the hotel yet so she could change. Someone should have some protection.

  Aleena ran back into the building. “There’re two at the front of the parking lot, but they’re waiting for something.”

  “Out the back, then?” Allison offered.

  Aleena looked to Valaan. “They’re standing in the open. They want us to know they’re here.”

  Valaan looked across the lobby, deeper into the hotel. “We go out the front. The back is a trap.”

  “I don’t have any weapons,” Ethan said. “I haven’t been to the room.”

  “I only have a side arm,” Allison added. She lifted the bottom of her light red T-shirt slightly, revealing the gray handle of a small plasma pistol tucked into her waistband.

  “We’ll have to make do. We’re out of time,” Valaan said, staring toward the back of the lobby.

  Ethan didn’t ask how he knew. He’d stopped pestering Valaan with those types of questions weeks ago.

  “You can’t go back to your room. We go through the front, and we go now.” Valaan’s gaze turned to Allison and Ethan. “Stay behind us. Allison, you’re with me.”

  She nodded.

  “We’ll take the left,” Aleena said, speaking more to Ethan than Valaan.

  “Very well,” Valaan replied.

  Ethan and Aleena exited the lobby and moved to the side of the hedge, making sure to stay out of the Guards’ view.

  “I’ll take them,” Aleena said. “Don’t engage unless I need help.”

  “Which you won’t,” Ethan sighed, looking a bit dejected. Aleena smiled, her green eyes sparkling, and his frown involuntarily shifted into an awkward grin. What is happening to me? He felt exposed, and it had nothing to do with the two deadly Guard waiting for them on the other side of the bush.

  Her eyes burned into him. “No, I won’t.”

  Ethan reached out and gently grabbed her forearm. “Be careful. You don’t have your armor.”

  He saw her confidence waver just a bit. Something he’d never seen before, but she seemed to shrug it off quickly.

  “I’ll be fine.” She turned back toward the hedge’s edge. “Here we go.”

  Blue tendrils of energy began snaking down her arms, concentrating in her palms. She stepped out from concealment, arms lifted, and stopped dead in her tracks, a bit of confusion on her face. The blue-white orbs sputtered and fizzled out.

  “What? What happened?” Ethan whispered, still hidden by the hedge.

  “It’s clear. Let’s go,” she grumbled.

  “Where’d they go?”

  It was too late. She’d already run toward the front of the lot.

  Emerging from the hedge, he had to stifle a laugh. The two Guard lay dead on the pavement, Valaan standing over them and Allison a little behind.

  “No time for gawking,” Valaan said, waving him forward. “Let’s go.”

  He was about halfway to them when he heard Allison scream, “Ethan, get down.” He dove to the right just in time to feel the searing heat of a plasma bolt pass uncomfortably close to his arm. Hitting the ground hard, he rolled to keep moving.

  “I’ve got this one,” Aleena said. She ran past Ethan, blocking rifle shots with translucent shields. The bolts were originating from both sides of the hedge and the center.

  With Ale
ena’s attack distracting the Guard, Ethan jumped to his feet and joined Allison, who was firing her weapon toward the far side of the thick bush.

  Aleena threw her hands out in front of her and swept them open wide. At the same instant, the hedge ripped down the middle and was flung across the drive. Each half careened in opposite directions, revealing three Guard crouching behind purple translucent fontal shields. She immediately adjusted her attack, switching completely to defense as she approached the Guard on the right.

  Allison’s bolts splashed brilliantly against the shield of the center Guard, a large crack sounding as the plasma-generating bullet smashed into the shield and the plasma dissipated. The shield wavered after each impact but held.

  Diving around the shields, Aleena twisted in the air and sent two blue-white spheres into the chests of the closest two Guard. Simultaneously, Valaan, still standing at the front of the parking lot, materialized translucent shields in front of Aleena, protecting her from the men’s last attacks.

  Stepping out from his shield, the third Guard advanced on Aleena, who was lying on the ground. Allison took the opportunity to put a plasma bolt through his chest.

  Aleena picked herself off the ground and rejoined them. Without more discussion, they left the hotel and began the journey toward the edge of town. They were closer to town center than any of them liked, but the abandoned hotel was nestled adjacent to a quaint little neighborhood, which stood between them and escape. It made for a decent hideout—until now.

  Mature trees shaded most of the lawns, the leaves just beginning to turn. If they weren’t running for their lives, it may have even been beautiful.

  They approached a two-story house at the top of a small hill. A wraparound deck lead to the front. Sticking close to the house, they inched toward the front.

  Ethan stuck his head around the corner. The road out of town was at the bottom of the hill, and a long driveway snaked up to a three-car garage built into the far side of the white stone-sided house. At the bottom of the drive, three large Urlowen patrol skimmers blocked the entry. The back of the gray vehicles was modified with large holding areas, each guarded by a single patrolman.