Beyond the Stars- Awakened

by Angela Morales

  Ria had heard the news from Salixz, the day ENSA gave Zech the mission to find Princess Inanna on Earth. He had never even mentioned it to her. For weeks she waited to see if he’d tell her that he’d been working for ENSA. He had been simultaneously working for both ENSA and Kah, and not once did he bring it up. Ria was angry. Not only because of the risk it posed to go behind Kah’s back, but because Zech was supposed to be her best friend. She knew Princess Inanna was essential to the survival of Cova, but she had come between her and Zech. Not to mention, Ria thought Inanna was naïve. She felt she’d be more of a hindrance to the Covians at this point than any help at all. All because of her lack of power and ability to control them. For a moment Ria felt guilty for pausing Inanna’s knowledge and powers – it was partially her fault that Inanna couldn’t access her true potential. It was something that had taken Ria months to practice, in order to attain such a difficult mind alteration. If only Zech knew that Ria had been protecting Ina far longer than he had, would things be different? She had kept secrets from him too. But it was different, she reasoned. Ria had not let her connection to Inanna affect her friendship with Zech. He was the one who had forgotten Ria existed in the midst of meeting Inanna. Ria too, would learn to forget him. She’d focus on protecting Cova – with or without Inanna and Zech. That was Ria’s only mission.

  One day, shortly after Zech’s mission to find the lost princess, Ria had an encounter in the Dark Forest with the trolls. Ria had been out roaming the Dark Forest in search for food, which was scarce. The roots of most plants had already contaminated much of the vegetation, and if an animal had eaten an infected plant, it would take days to see symptoms sometimes. Finding uninfected game was a difficult feat. Febus was not around, but the full herd of trolls had been out hunting that day as well. When they saw Ria, it was evident they wanted trouble. So, they cornered her and taunted her; poking and prodding her with the daggers and sticks they carried. The herd chuckled in delight seeing her so helpless.

  “Are you lost, little girl?” one cooed out with a chuckle.

  “She’s not lost! She has just forgotten where she came from!” one scolded condescendingly.

  “You left our tribe to work for Kah?! Trader!” another accused.

  Zech had been looking for Ria for days, without any luck, when he finally found her. He knew he would be leaving for Earth, and his intention this time was to stay on Earth with Inanna. He was going to find a way to close the portals, and never have to come back to Cova again. He wanted to warn Ria to come with him. Ria had been avoiding him for weeks now, and Zech was oblivious as to why. He wondered if she had known that he was working for ENSA. Surely, she would understand though? It was a difficult predicament he was in. But as soon as he saw her in the distance, being harassed by the heard of trolls, he had forgotten everything he came to say.

  Zech was careful not to be seen. He assessed the situation, seeing that the trolls were heavily armed, and there were a lot of them. Thinking of a plan, he quickly knew what to do. All he had was an arrow, so he tore off a rubbery-like pink glowing leaf from a plant nearby, then ripped a thick, long poisonous vine, using the limber leaf as a protective barrier for his palm and the lethal thick tendrils. After tying the thick rope to the arrow head, he positioned the bow to shoot. There was a crackle under his feet, and the trolls were suddenly looking back and sniffing. Quickly, he shot an arrow towards his target, and it boomeranged around the running herd, catching about five of them in mid-run; sending pain to their bellies. They moaned and screamed as the venom of the root penetrated and burned their skin.

  Ria locked eyes with Zech. There were still about seven trolls, now threatening Ria. One looked back at Zech as if warning him to back off. Ria now began fighting back, using her dart gun to tranquilize a couple trolls, as four more started hurling towards her again. The dart gun was empty. Ria tossed it and continued fighting, using her speed and agility to maneuver away when she could. Zech began running towards the trolls to join in the commotion. He fought two off, slicing one troll’s arm off with a quick swipe of a sword he managed to grab out of another troll’s grip. Ria and Zech fought hard for several minutes, trying to feed off of each other’s energy fields to gain more strength. It was working. Something had happened. Ria had shut him out.

  “Help me!” Zech yelled to Ria. “Connect with me!”

  The anger in her grew stronger. For years she had tried to teach him to use his powers by trying to connect with him. Now, she had given up. They had only connected few times, after his powers had been awakened by Ina.

  Ria and Zech continued to fight the trolls.

  Suddenly, the stone in Zech’s satchel began to glow profusely. An array of beautiful colors escaped from the cracks in his bag. The trolls stopped in their tracks, and watched Zech. He realized, if Inanna’s stone was to be taken, it would all be over. He had to act quickly. He looked at Ria, signaling her to follow his lead. But she ignored him – stubbornly willing him to keep fighting the trolls and ignore the glowing stone for the moment. She let him read her mind.

  Finish them off! she thought.

  Zech knew his time was running out. The stone’s glow was a warning that time was running out. He had to get the stone to Inanna if he ever wanted her to awaken her powers. Even if he stayed on Earth with her, he needed to make sure she was safe, and it was now.

  Zech looked at Ria once more, as the trolls now split into two groups, and began fighting them again. He wished he could tell Ria where he was heading. All he wanted was for her to follow his lead and follow him! She stubbornly kept fighting – refusing to follow his cues. He had no choice. He had to go. Locking eyes with Ria once more, he connected to his powers and began glowing green. He quickly grabbed a dagger and stabbed one of the bigger trolls straight in the heart. Greenish yellowish blood oozed from the wound, as the troll fell to his knees and toppled over.

  The others backed away from Zech and ran off, but Ria was still fighting the few that were relentlessly attacking her. The stone in Zech’s satchel was still glowing wildly, sending a sudden pierce through Zech’s head, sending him straight to his knees. He quickly regained his strength – the trolls, not even aware of what had happened to Zech, as they continued fighting with Ria. He willed her again with his eyes, and it was evident she wasn’t giving up. He joined the combat once again, when the electricity pulsated once more through him as the stone began to shine brightly once more. The trolls turned towards Zech, feasting their eyes on his satchel as if the stone was some grand possession motivating them to kill him. Ria stood still for a moment. Zech mouthed, I’m sorry, to Ria and ran off.

  The trolls rushed after Zech deep into the forest. Zech was careful to not get caught up in any venomous roots or vines, as they cascaded the Dark Forest like hanging moss threatening his every move. A couple trolls got caught in a poisonous clump of roots, plunging into a murky swamp full of carnivorous fish. Zech ran, while two trolls still followed closely behind him. Finally, he reached a waterfall. Zech hesitated for a moment, contemplating the plunge. The trolls slowed and began chittering and cackling to one another. Ria stood behind them. Zech tried to not make it obvious that Ria was there. He wished she’d just went in the other direction, when he jumped into the violent waters below, thrashing and colliding with large river stones as the river current pushed him through. The trolls at the top of the cliff looked down at the vicious waters. Turning around, they noticed Ria was still there. Giving up on taking the stone from Zech, they ran after Ria into the woods again.

  Ria finally outran the trolls. For although she was faster than them, fighting them had depleted some of her powers.

  “Once again Zech, you have left me behind to be with Inanna,” Ria said to herself.

  Present: Keith Awaits Trial

  O ver a month had gone by.

  Keith was now considered the main suspect for the murder of Chen Ho and the disappearance of Inanna Ruthe Preston. His trial was set to take place the following year. More evid
ence needed to be collected, and it would be difficult to find a non-biased jury, especially with all of the media attention the story was getting. Scientists were also going to California from all over the world, after radiation had been left behind in the alley where the crime had occurred. The area was finally closed off by the US government, and secret agents were monitoring the area. What they didn’t know was that the portal could not be opened unless a Covian was traveling to Earth.

  “There is something suspicious about this area. Close it off!” commanded an official.

  Past: Another One

  T he old woman pushed on Akeena’s stomach, quickly checking to see if the placenta had come out. Suddenly, Akeena began convulsing and her body became lifeless again. With that, the old woman noticed something was indeed coming out of Akeena, but it wasn’t a placenta.

  “Wake up! There’s another one!” the old woman yelled.

  Atum and Akeena remained comatose.

  “Another baby!” the woman exclaimed.

  It was indeed another baby. The baby did not cry. The baby did not move. The infant didn’t even open its eyes.

  It seemed to be lifeless.

  The old woman gasped and patted the baby to see if it would cry. She held it upside down. The baby was still not responding. She held the baby tightly and cried, knowing the pain of losing a child, as she had lost one of her own. She knew this would be far too much for the couple to bear. Quietly, she wrapped the baby in cloth and ran back home with the tiny babe in her arms. She cradled the baby close to her chest all the way home, in a protective, nurturing manner. Gently, she placed the infant in a basket near her bed, where she suddenly had a moment of nostalgia. Lovingly studying the child, she remembered the brief moments she shared with her own child. When she had given birth, it was only a matter of days before her own child passed away and she was left alone. She didn’t even have a husband, as the child had been conceived during an affair. The woman suffered her loss in silence and solitude for many years, until she finally decided to dedicate her life to helping other women in childbirth. Tears filled the woman’s eyes, as she tried to shake off the emotions so she could get back to the couple in the cave. Shortly after, she was back at the cave with Akeena and Atum.

  Present: A Mysterious Prisoner

  T he man with the beard was talking to the rat.

  “And if I had thought about it beforehand, I prolly would’ve been a real engineer,” he said to the rodent. “Ya know?”

  He suddenly sounded like a drunken sailor, cursing at the air, remembering all the mistakes he had made in his life.

  Staring at the cell door, he began talking again. Laughing in between, as if remembering the things, he should’ve changed in his life.

  He found humor in his misery.

  “To think I put my life on the line for nothing. Ya know…” he said, slamming his fists into the ground, “…there’s going to be an apocalypse.” He began laughing cynically.

  The rat seemed unbothered, sniffing through the cell, then quickly finding refuge in his hole in the wall.

  “Ahhhh! Stupid little mouse!”

  Past: The Third Child

  T he old midwife was back in her home. She wished she could have saved Atum and Akeena’s third baby. Instead, she took the baby away to avoid them the pain. Placing the baby in a basket, not yet ready to formally put it to rest, she decided she would give the baby a proper burial in the morning. This is when she noticed something red shining through the blankets. The woman picked up the baby and noticed the red stone embedded in the baby’s back. Squeezing her eyes to be sure she wasn’t dreaming, she wondered how it had gotten there.

  Was the baby born this way? she wondered.

  Mesmerized, she placed the infant back in the basket and wrapped it tightly in the blankets.

  Two days later, the old woman still could not find it in her heart to bury the stillborn child, who somehow was still warm, not cold like the dead were supposed to be. She decided she would do the burial today, no matter what.

  The woman thought about the stone again, how it shined in the candlelight. She walked over to the basket and unwrapped the blankets, to only find the stone was now loose in the blankets. She took the stone out and placed it on the table.

  There was a sudden knock at the door. The woman dropped the stone back into the basket and swaddled the baby quickly, now fearful she had been caught for kidnapping the dead child. She tried ignoring it, but the knocks grew stronger. She placed the baby basket under the bed. Nervously, she opened the door a small crack.

  “Can I help you?” she asked the strangers.

  There were five armed men at her door.

  “We are conducting mandatory searches for a criminal in the area,” one of them said in the ancient Egyptian language, but she could hear his accent was different.

  “I live alone. There are no criminals here,” she responded nervously.

  “A few people said they noticed a strange man coming into your home a couple nights ago, and you were out alone in the middle of the night,” another said harshly.

  “Is it a crime to have visitors? It was just my brother,” she lied.

  Without her permission, they pushed her from the doorway and began searching the home. They rummaged through her meager belongings, tossing things up, throwing things on the floor. Her fear kept her silent. Her guilt consumed her. She just knew in her heart that the lovely couple she betrayed must have realized she had taken their baby. Maybe the father was actually conscious when it all happened. Guilt pulsated through her veins, knowing the guards were there for her and the baby.

  “I am so sorry, but as you can see there is no one else here,” she blurted out.

  “Are you a criminal?” one yelled harshly.

  “No,” she said nervously.

  The men spoke to each other in a foreign language she did not understand, and one of them noticed the glowing red stone in the basket.

  “What is this?” one asked condescendingly, suddenly speaking Egyptian again, and he lifted the stone into the dim candlelight.

  A smile played on the guard’s faces. He tossed the gem to another guard. The creature smelled it.

  “Atavan blood,” he said.

  “It was a gift from a dear couple. They just had beautiful babies. And, and, I was trying to help them.”

  “Shut up!” a soldier yelled, slapping the old woman to the floor.

  “Stupid, old fool,” another spat at her.

  “You are a criminal. A thief! Where did you get this?!” Another added in a hostile tone.

  The woman cried.

  “Where is this couple you speak of?” another demanded as he held her face between the angry grip of his hand.

  The woman was trying to compose herself and hold back her tears.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean harm. I can show you to them.”

  The men laughed and spoke in Covian again, ignoring the old woman. The other put the red gem in his pocket.

  The old midwife guided the other three guards to where Akeena and Atum lived. Several other creature-like beasts had been waiting outside to accompany them. Just like that, the guards burst into the hidden home in the cave, and after a short struggle, they shot Atum and Akeena with a tranquilizer.

  The old woman stood stunned, as if watching a horror movie before her eyes. The beasts ransacked the home and kidnapped the two babies, taking their parents as well.

  Then they killed the old midwife.

  Present: Kah Tries to Find Meretseger’s Cave

  “W e have yet to find the hidden cave of Meretseger,” Kah announced.

  “We have searched high and low and there is no trace of her,” one of the men said.

  “Her premises are protected; they’re undetectable,” another mentioned.

  “Not if Jeneka helps us,” Kah commanded.

  Past: A Forgotten Kiss

  Z ech had given Inanna the stone in Florida. He had ordered her to keep it somewhere safe, and p
romised her he would return. He also made a force field to keep her safe, and ordered her not to leave Clearwater under no circumstances. Something in that stone had given him the power to create the force field, but if Inanna left Clearwater, she may no longer be safe.

  Zech knew if the wrong people found the portal that led to Clearwater, it would be dangerous for both Covians and Earthlings alike. He also knew that Ria was acting strange lately, and he had to explain everything to her as soon as possible. If it wasn’t for Ria, and his desire to explain everything to her, he would have escaped with Inanna somewhere far away and safe.

  But he knew he had to talk to Ria first.

  This would be his last chance to tell her everything, and why he had been disappearing so much lately. He hoped she was okay after fighting the trolls. If he had survived plunging into the angry waters of the Covian River, Ria surely must have outsmarted the trolls, he thought.

  Zech made his way back to Cova, and it took him days to finally find Ria. He didn’t report to Kahnroch, for fear of Kah becoming suspicious of something.

  “Ria!” called Zech.

  She stood by the riverbank of the waterfall where he had escaped the trolls. Ria had gone there every day, hoping to find something that would lead her back to Zech. When she heard his voice, she turned suddenly and ran to hug him.

  “You’re alive,” she said with relief.

  “I’m so happy to see you, Ria. I was worried about you,” said Zech.

  “Where have you been? It’s been days. I thought you were dead,” she said with pain in her eyes.