Alliance
The Great Change: Book two
By
Andrew Stride
About
Alliance is the second book in the Great Change series. An adventure that started on a rather unusual planet, filled with dangers and uncertainties. Sound familiar?
What unfolded, brought insight, reaffirmed old friendships and confirmed that the human race had more to worry about than the war hungry race they shared a planet with.
Discovering you are part of something out of this world is mind-blowing enough and then you get told that everything you took for granted has no relevance.
You are the messenger and you have a job to do. It involves a lot of travelling, early starts and late finishes. Somehow this isn’t quite what you expected.
Your light burns brightly and the ones that seek to stop you, have seen it, but luckily you are not completely on your own.
Like stars cast across the heavens, our group of survivors must discover the facts behind the malevolent force that holds the human race in a death grip.
What they discover will challenge their beliefs, but with this knowledge they must disrupt an approaching event that threatens humanities existence and somehow help the messenger reach his destination.
There is a lot at stake, so it is as well that help is at hand.
Humanity is going to need it.
The Great Change Series
Book One - Emergence.
Book Two – Alliance.
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Andrew Stride
Cover design copyright © 2019 Andrew Stride
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission of the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
http://www.andrewstride.co.uk
Contents
About
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Prologue
From a distance, they looked like a swarm of angry bees, a dark cloud that passes over an otherwise perfect sky. As individuals they were strong, together they were near invincible and they joined in a chaotic dance until no light existed between them.
They had to find him, the one who could change everything; they would not be driven from what was rightfully theirs.
The cloud descended on the side of darkness and toyed with the weak minded, offering them promises that came with a hefty repayment. They entered dreams and turned them into nightmares, the kind you never forget. This was all too easy, they could turn anyone, but they needed him, the one known as the messenger.
It shouldn’t be difficult to snuff out a single human or bend him to their ways, but they had to move quickly before he became invisible to them again. Ironically, the light that protected him had actually given away his position, but they would soon extinguish this beacon of hope as they had before, to others just like him.
The dark cloud was at the edge of his light now and they worked together to a rhythm of destruction. Like blight slowly suffocating the glory of a rose, he would fade without memory.
The battle rages as it has always done, a fight for supremacy, while the fallen scatter the battlefields, bones, and spirits broken, consequential fodder of once mighty civilisations. Shattered planets, fragmented timelines, the touch of these dark souls is often all it takes, but even in death, the suffering isn’t over.
Heroes come and go, but they get swept away eventually, corrupted by their egos, they are all the same.
It wasn’t all good news, some of the races were working together, shedding light on an otherwise perfect plan, a simple plan, for darkness to rule as it once had, before the days of light.
The human before them was resisting, he was stronger than they had expected, his head full of hope and thoughts of freedom. Angered by this, they rose with intent to destroy him, but their actions amplified the light, his shield of protection, his only defence.
They were losing ground and a sudden burst of energy sent them fleeing and darkness was pushed from the room and beyond. It was futile; nothing could resist the darkness forever, not even him.
The dark cloud left the tormented minds for another night; knowing that these manipulated souls would soon be theirs, his as well. There was no escaping the final harvest and the death of the messenger would crush any chance of freedom and those that championed him would be cut down just as swiftly.
Chapter One
The Fallen
The temple looked just as magnificent as it always had, despite having spent several decades underwater. The sun was out, which made it look even more stunning, but even without the external illumination, there was so much energy here that it glowed. Noteworthy enough, but that wasn’t all, because an easily distinguishable golden halo encompassed it, arcing high above its domed roof.
At its heart, a solitary Lumsulu stood looking into the centre of the chamber where the sound crystal rested peacefully. It appeared that everything had gone to plan, although appearances can be misleading and Qwamma had the impression that not all was as it seemed.
Moving forward, he prepared himself to enter the sound crystal and by doing so he would discover the truth.
Even as Qwamma approached the sound crystal, he was receiving information on the enemy, the Formless Ones, but they still knew so little about them and this had to change if they stood any chance of defeating them.
Qwamma took his flute and put it to his lips and this act alone was enough to cause the sound crystal to awaken and on the breath of a single note, Qwamma entered its structure. He was now able to see the actions the group had taken to open a connection to the Harmonic Ones.
Qwamma’s concerns were quickly realised, the group had been scattered and no matter how long he spent looking, he could not determine where they had been sent. He began to worry that the Formless Ones had intervened and yet this was impossible, since the group’s departure had been in the hands of the Whisperlings.
A moment’s reflection revealed that the chaos he was seeing was deliberate. The Whisperlings had muddied the water to buy the group some time. All he had to do was unravel this puzzle and then he might be able to assist them.
Qwamma moved through the sound crystal and was beginning to see a pattern to the Whisperlings work. His main concern was for David’s safety, as it was difficult to say who was assisting him.
The longer Qwamma spent in the crystal the greater the clarity and his persistence eventually paid off when he managed to locate some members of the group. From his perspective, things looked pretty dire and due to their location, he could do nothing to help them.
They hadn’t been completely abandoned. Laja was with them and Qwamma watched from the side
lines as the Whisperlings turned an impossible situation into something workable. They also had a creative and somewhat daring solution on getting some help to David.
An illusion, the art of deception that can have us believing the unbelievable. Where a seemingly warm smile hides a heart of stone, while it is equally true to say that beneath a rough exterior can hide a diamond.
A battle raged beneath the thick blanket of cloud, which itself was an illusion to keep prying eyes from seeing the truth. This was open conflict, a struggle for power and its violence had turned a paradise into a battlefield, but the race that still called this place home were too proud to ask for help and battled on, becoming weak, their numbers dwindling.
This was not a race that had ever needed help before, they were confident, self-assured and had fought many battles, won many victories, only now they were being taken apart from within.
Their cities, piles of rubble, their spirit, broken, it was all but over and they knew nothing would remain of their kingdom. The evil that sought to finish them would see to that.
A flash of lightning arced overhead, followed by an ear-splitting sound, which sent all but the foolhardy scurrying for cover. To an onlooker, it might have appeared that the heavens were being split open and this wasn’t far from the truth, since the very fabric of this world was under increasing pressure.
A once untroubled blue sky was now covered in a blanket of angry clouds, where vortexes raged, their destructive power carving up the already devastated ground and flying debris pulverised what little remained.
It was the morning of a new day and in all the chaos it would have been easy to overlook what happened next.
Some distance from a fallen building, the ground began to vibrate and grains of sand took readily to this and started to organise themselves into a series of circular ridges. Out of disorder, a pattern emerged and a hush descended upon the area, while all around chaos reigned.
A tormented sky rolled overhead and within the circle, an intense flash of light signalled a change and in an instant, five humanoid forms appeared.
No sooner had they appeared when the elements rushed in and the sudden and inexplicable conditions brought the group to their knees. Laja was quick to respond, creating a protective shield, which took the brunt of this unexplainable onslaught. The group had been thoroughly sandblasted and groped around half blinded. Lim and Clom bumped heads and this did little to help their mood.
“Where the hell are we?” spluttered Miar. Her mouth gritty with dust.
Laja guessed the question was aimed at him. The obvious answer was in the middle of a storm; however, on what planet this storm was raging, was probably what she was asking.
“This can’t be Earth, can it?”
“No Miar, I don’t believe it is.”
“Where are the others, are they out there in the storm?” asked Lim, as he tried to make sense of their predicament.
Sie and Shou and the Ammarla were missing. The result of different objectives perhaps but without confirmation, there was no way of knowing for sure.
A sizeable object bounced off the ground and despite the protective shield, which Laja was still holding steady, everyone instinctively dived to the ground. The object impacted a few metres from their position and disappeared.
They were sitting ducks out here and Laja knew he had to do something and fast. “I think our only hope is to head for that fallen building,” said Laja.
“We’ll be dead before we reach it!” said Clom.
“If you have a better idea, then let’s hear it. Otherwise, we’re going with Laja’s suggestion,” said Joeum.
“It looks our best option,” added Laja. “I won’t be able to keep this protective shield in place once we start moving, but if we can keep in physical contact with each other, then I should be able to prevent anyone from being dragged off by the storm. Keep your eyes closed, take each other’s hand and Joeum, hold on to me and don’t let go for anything.”
They were ready, but probably not prepared for what came next, as Laja lowered the protective shield and the elements swept in at full force. The howling wind sounded like a demon and it threw everything at them, possibly in anger and frustration at not being able to pull them from the ground.
They moved steadily towards their goal, even though for the moment they were unable to see it.
A crashing sound sent a nervous jerk through the linked hands, but Laja’s voice came into their minds and reassured them. It was only after a ground-shaking thud that something changed. Everyone felt it, but Lim was the only one who knew what had happened and at that moment he wanted to let go of Clom’s hand, but he couldn’t break free.
The structure they had been heading for was now shielding them from the worst of the wind and in the short space of time it had taken to get here, they were hardly recognisable. Their faces covered in dust. Any exposed skin was sore from a thorough sandblasting, but finally able to open their eyes, they filed into the structure or at least what was left of it. Just two badly damaged walls supporting a collapsed roof.
The storm was one less thing to worry about while they sheltered here, but there was a problem. Miar had been snatched from Lim’s grasp.
Lim raced back to the gap they had just come through in the hope he would see her, but visibility was down to perhaps twenty feet at best. Lim knew he had to do something and in desperation, he took a step out into the storm.
Lim wasn’t sure if it was the wind forcing him back or the large hand on his shoulder, but either way, he was going nowhere.
“Miar,” was about all Lim could say, his emotions were making it impossible for him to put a sentence together. Laja looked beyond Lim, out at the storm, but there was no sign of her, how could there be. Anything that wasn’t tied down was going to get blown to oblivion. Despite this, Laja knew he had to try and locate her, even if it was her lifeless body that he returned with.
“Wait here. Do not try and follow me. If Miar’s managed to survive, I will find her.”
“My god, you’ve got to find her, she was snatched from my hand. Please Laja,” pleaded Lim.
Laja stepped back out into the storm and retraced their steps to the point where the ground had shaken and Miar disappeared.
With the storm raging as it was, Laja was having difficulty establishing what might have happened to her. Ordinarily, he would have been able to sense something, but there was no telling if this was foul play or an unfortunate accident. Regardless, he wasn’t about to give up on her, as there were a number of collapsed buildings and she might have made it to one of them.
Laja searched all of them and unable to locate her, he returned to the three remaining group members, who were huddled together, talking. They looked up as he approached and seeing that he was alone, Lim broke down.
There was little Laja could say to make things any better and while Clom comforted Lim, Laja signalled for Joeum to walk with him.
“He isn’t likely to do anything out of the ordinary is he?” asked Laja.
“It’s going to be hard, but he’s focused. Lim will be okay.”
Laja nodded. “The loss of Miar is unexpected, but look at it out there.”
“What now?” asked Joeum.
“We know that we aren’t here by accident because we’ve come straight from the Epiorbit, so the Whisperlings had every intention of sending us here.”
Clom called out. “You’ve got to come and see this.”
Joeum and Laja turned to see Clom pointing at some debris and they went over to see what they’d found. The four of them gathered around the find and this confirmed Laja’s suspicions.
“It’s one of those things,” said Clom.
“A Rapid Detection Unit,” confirmed Laja.
“What’s it doing here?”
“The question I’m asking myself is what are we doing here. This is Vulsumar,” said Laja.
“Vulsumar! The planet of the Femesumma?”
“Yes, Clom.”
&nb
sp; “Why would the Whisperlings send us here?” asked Joeum.
Laja had no idea, but it obviously had something to do with the Femesumma race and perhaps they were here to gather intelligence.
“What could we possibly turn up that the Harmonic Ones couldn’t find out for themselves?” asked Clom and there was anger in his voice.
“There’s clearly something here that requires closer scrutiny and the Harmonic Ones know that our coming here will have made far less of a ripple on the radar, than if they’d investigated themselves.”
“It’s still a ripple and if you ask me we’ve been set up as bait.”
“Clom, we’re here to do a job. What were you expecting, white beaches and palm trees?” said Joeum.
“I’m just saying, it looks like we pulled the short straw.”
“Robin and the others are probably on an equally perilous mission.”
Lim was here in body, but not in mind, because all he could think about was Miar. “Could it have been the Formless Ones that snatched Miar from my hand?” asked Lim.
“It seems a bit odd to me that they would target only one of us,” said Joeum.
“I’m not sure I agree. How can we forget what happened at the Demituva Station, when they were picking us off one by one,” said Clom.
“The truth is, we don’t know, but we must keep our wits about us,” said Laja.
Suddenly a flash of light lit up the area and Lim felt his heart leap in his chest and he wasn’t alone. A bolt of lightning had hit the ground and its light was etched onto their retinas.
“That was too damn close,” said Clom.
He was right. The conditions were extreme and to survive they needed to find a safer place to shelter. Only then would they be able to focus their attention on why they were here.
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