by J. A. Comley
Starla nodded. She did understand being willing to do anything for family.
“Beky governed the Light Meadows far to the north. He has destroyed it. Now, it is a place of darkness and pain. Abyss Valley.” Her voice was hard, and yet, pain lined it.
“Thank you,” Starla said, realising what it had cost Gaby to speak. “I will help you. Whatever it takes. However I can.” They started off after the others. Gaby looked down at the golden-haired woman, caught by the sincerity and determination in her voice. “Why?”
“I think someone very close to me was from here. Or had been living here, at least. I don't want to see this place destroyed any more than you do.”
“Then promise me, a proper oath, never to tell anyone of that Star, except Astria. She and Ezira are the only two beings I know for sure that we can trust. And if you are telling the truth, if that is what it seems, then we may just have a fighting chance in this war again.” Gaby's eyes seemed to stare straight into Starla's soul.
“I give my promise to help protect Galatia. I will tell no one of the Star or how I got here, save for Astria herself. I also promise that every word I have told you is true,” Starla said, solemnly. Never in her life had she broken an oath. She wouldn't start now.
Raoul? her mind pointed out, unkindly. Pushing down the guilt, That had not been on purpose, she maintained Gaby's gaze.
A smile momentarily lit up Gaby's face, transforming it, but by the next step, harsh resolve had returned. They had caught up with the others. Lua sidled up beside Starla, a relieved smile on her face. Rya fell in beside Lua.
“So, which planet are you from?” Starla asked Rya,
“Aurelia,” Rya said glancing up and eastwards. “It is beautiful. Its daylight is blocked by a blanket of newly forming and slowly dying stars. And the moon is huge! So the night is brighter than the day, except on a new moon of course. It's mostly deserts because of the lack of sunlight and rain. And the people! Ah, I do miss it,” she sighed, her voice full of nostalgia.
“And Aurelia's other Guardian?” Starla asked, cautiously.
Rya smiled. “Ha! She's fine. Still back home. Doing something really important.” Rya winked conspiratorially.
***
They had walked for most of the day, not stopping. She had spent most of her time reflecting on the events the last few days had thrown at her. She was farther from home than she ever could have imagined, but nearer to her answers than she would have been on Earth. Her new companions seemed sincere and passionate in their cause, even though they had lost so much. She felt a lightening of the trepidation that she was on the wrong side of this war. Her heart and mind both rebelled from this Kyron they had described. The Sacrileons had to be in the right.
The sun was fading from the golden leaves and Starla had been admiring the strange birds that darted among the trees' golden leaves, their strange, lilting voices calling out across the wood when, without warning, the ground heaved and Starla was tossed against a tree. Before she could utter a sound, several things happened at once: the Guardians started disappearing, one by one, transforming into their elements; the tree Starla had been knocked into grew over her, encasing her in a suffocating darkness; and the sound of booming wings, distant at first, drew closer. Starla was certain she was going to die. There didn't seem to be any air in the tree. Its bark pressed against every inch of her, preventing her panicked screams from escaping.
Slowly, the booming began to grow more distant again.
Starla gulped in the air that flooded back as the tree released her and took on its original form. On her hands and knees and gasping, she watched as Lua appeared out of the air, a puddle slowly resolved itself into Alli, Rya flickered out of her red flames, and a Gaby's other arm lost its leaves and bark-like appearance. She tried, unsuccessfully, to lose the feeling of being swallowed by the tree. Her skin still felt compressed, the air too thin.
“Magmus,” Lua confirmed, as the others turned to her.
They nodded grimly.
“Which way did it go?” Alli asked, re-adjusting one of her orange gloves.
“East.”
“We need to move,” Gaby said, her lip curling. “He should stop hunting her openly once we're in the City.”
Starla got to her feet slowly as they turned to her, fear at their words making her tremble. Kyron's minions still hunted her.
“Thanks, I guess,” Starla managed, trying to shake off the feeling of being watched.
Gaby's snarl turned into an amused half-smile. “I had to think fast. The tree was easiest.” Starla merely nodded and took off after the others, needing to jog to keep up.
The sun's light began to fade, Starla took another little fruit ball from her pocket, beginning to feel tired again. Alli was watching her.
“I hope those won't affect you badly.”
Starla nearly choked as she swallowed the second ball. Now they worry whether or not a human can eat this? Alli chuckled at Starla's incredulous look.
“They won't harm you. They grow on Aurelia, the third inhabited planet in this system. But they only lend your body energy. So a day after we reach the Royal City, the effects will wear off and you'll be as tired and hungry as if you had never eaten anything.”
“But I'm sure Queen Astria would be more than happy to give you a good supper and a soft bed,” Lua added, smiling brightly.
Starla nodded.
“I have another question. Are there other Sacrileons?”
Instantly, Starla regretted her curiosity. Lua's face fell, Alli's closed over and Rya's eyes burned with a sudden fire.
“I'm sorry. I—”
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Rya said through clenched teeth.
“Kyron?” Starla ventured.
Alli nodded. “Sacrileons are born of the six elements: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Flora and Fauna. Ezira created us after Kyron split from her. It cost her a lot of power. She will not create more. Her strength needs to be saved for helping us against Kyron. I'm not sure she ever meant for us to be as sentient as we have become.”
Starla let out a long breath. The people and creatures here had clearly suffered a lot. All because of one man's greed, be he a god or no.
“Have you ever heard of other humans here?” This question left a burning in her throat, her heart squeezed painfully.
“Yes. Beky was friends with some. But they're not common. There's only been one family as far as I know.”
Starla exhaled. Could that family be the one that gave her up?
“Tell me about Earth?” Lua asked, the skirts of her short dress flouncing as she skipped.
Accepting the change to a less painful subject, Starla began to talk about France and the little she knew of other places from books and Antonio's well travelled cousin, Pierre.
***
As the wood fell into moonlight shadows, a handful of little pastel-coloured balls of fur rolled out onto the path in front of Starla, who was lagging behind the Sacrileons again. She hoped that they would be stopping for some sleep soon. Starla laughed as the little balls stopped and looked up at her with big, round eyes.
“Stop!” Rya yelled, spearing darts of fire at the ground near the little creatures, causing them to flee into the nearly dark woods. The red suns along her skin glowed fitfully.
Starla remained frozen, one hand extended towards the now empty path.
“I only wanted to pat them,” she muttered, straightening out.
Rya shook her head like a patient parent with an overly curious toddler.
“Olups, while undeniably cute, are, in fact, highly venomous. Well, to the people of Galatia, Cosmaltia and Aurelia anyway. I cannot say what their bite would have done to you, but best not to take needless risks.”
As they moved on, Starla caught a glimpse of the sky through a gap in the trees. She let out her breath in wonder.
Above her sat not one moon, but three, two slightly smaller than the last. They were not white like her moon, but a soft lavender
.
Up ahead, Gaby halted and Starla sighed in silent relief.
“It is fully dark, now. You must try harder to keep up. And no more talking. The ergothan are hunting in earnest again,” she said as Starla joined them.
“What? But I thought—”
“We cannot stop. We walk through the night,” Gaby said as Rya created a ring of enchanted fire around the group. “Have you eaten your second hurik? It will give you strength enough.”
With that they set off, Starla being herded on by the ring of fire.
The night was filled with other wonders. Glowing insects with wide wings, beautiful purple flowers that produced a low humming noise if you touched them and everywhere, the rustles and calls of nocturnal creatures. The floral smell of the day had faded away and the wind brought with it the subtle tang of the ocean.
A sudden scream rent the air, sounding distant.
Everyone froze.
Another scream cut off abruptly. Starla started to tremble, her eyes trying in vain to spot danger in the softly glowing wood. The others started forwards cautiously. A twig snapped from Starla's left. She had barely turned when a huge, dark shape launched itself at her over Rya's fire. Starla swallowed her scream as vines shot out of the trees and scooped the beast into the air, muzzling it.
“Ergothan,” Gaby said, the pink flowers along her body glowing softly. Starla didn't understand the deep sadness in her violet eyes as she gazed at the thrashing creature. “A straggler, no doubt. The pack hadn't left the road, last I checked.”
Starla looked up at the ergothan as Lua sent a gentle breeze ghosting through the trees, searching for more.
It looked feline, bigger than a tiger, with swirling spots of purple and blue. Its ears and tail were tipped in green. Its hungry dark-gold eyes watched her. She backed away, closer to the Sacrileons.
“There are no more.” Lua's voice sounded like she was suppressing tears. “The pack is on the Coastal Road. They're … feeding.”
Starla understood, then. The road most used by refugees, now a hunting ground for the ergothan that hunted her. The screams … She felt a sharp pang of guilt.
“Is there nothing you can do?”
“It's too late,” Lua whispered, her yellow swirls falling dark as she released her spell.
“Get that amulet to Astria and we can stop all this,” Gaby said, finally looking away from the ergothan she had trapped.
***
Time began to mean nothing to Starla, that long night. She plodded on behind the Guardians, trying only to keep up and make it to the city, where answers might be waiting. Eventually, Rainbow Wood's trees grew dimmer and the light grew brighter again and Rya's fire disappeared. Starla ate another of the hurik fruit. Though its effects were immediate, she still felt listless and didn't try to make any conversation as they continued towards their goal, although her questions seemed never ending. Around her, birds sang, flowers loosed their unusual scents into the air once more as the sun crossed the sky.
The shimmering wood ended abruptly. Starla looked up and was shaken out of her stupor. Ahead was a beach, unlike anything Starla had imagined. The sand was a rich, deep gold and the waves of turquoise blue crashed against it, lapping their way up the shore. All over, little silver shells and black pebbles lay scattered.
“This place is so beautiful, isn't it?” Starla said to Aimee as she stepped out of the tree line. “Aimee?”
Aimee came and landed on Starla's shoulder, squawking and trilling happily. Understanding lighted in Starla's eyes and she patted her friend, regretting the loss of the wood's gift. Still, Aimee had made it abundantly clear, earlier, that she would have no problem understanding Starla, whether they were in the wood, or not.
Looking down the beach, Starla saw a red cliff barring their way entirely, rising high into the sky.
“That is Sunset Ridge,” Lua said. “It runs right along the southern coast. The Royal City is just beyond it.”
Gaby sat down on some sun-bleached driftwood, adjusting one of her green boots. “We're a little early, it seems,” she said as the others joined her.
Starla breathed in the fresh, briny air and rejoiced as the sun, so much like her own, beamed down on her warming her face. Feeling more like herself now that she was free of the hunters in the forest, she returned to her millions of questions.
“Earlier, well, yesterday, you said I had been caught in a grobbler trap. What exactly are grobblers?” Starla asked, staring out over the waves to where the sun began to dip behind the horizon. Her ankles still stung where the trap had caught her.
“Basically, they are mercenaries. They have a unique ability to metamorphose into different things, which makes them hard to detect. They can even transform into inanimate objects,” Rya shrugged, causing her yellow top to glitter. “It seems that Kyron has promised them the run of Rainbow Wood if they'll hand over any refugees they catch. But really, they are simply enthralled to him. They're not from our world, nor even our galaxy. They came with him, like a plague.”
“Do you think they'll follow us?”
“We've been careful,” Alli said, putting Kal down so he could hop in the sand. “You'll be safe in the City. Kyron has yet to try and take on the High Lord and his Order.”
“But if Kyron is like a god, then why doesn't he just smite everyone?”
“Because his magic isn't infinite any more. Since he and Ezira split, their magic doesn't regenerate. They gain a little, she through new life, he through death. This war is definitely in his favour. Ezira believes that he is conserving most of his remaining power for her. He'll use his minions for everything else.”
“Why not flee to a different part of the world?” Starla asked, thinking of the Americas.
“Galatia is nothing like your Earth,” Rya said, faltering a bit over 'Earth'. “We have only one landmass here, albeit a very large, long one. It stretches down from the northern pole to the southern pole, but not back up again. The rest is ocean. Kyron attacked the Light Meadows first, at the North Pole. The Royal City is as far south as we can get. Luckily, you landed far enough south that Gaby's influence was still strong within the wood. If you'd been further up—” Rya let the unpleasant thought go.
Starla shied away from the thought of hidden enemies and watched a little yellow bird land at the water's edge, pecking at the sand, ridding her mind of fearful might-have-beens.
“So the whole place is a war zo—” She gasped suddenly as an ugly, green fish, with six eyes, surged from the water and snatched the bird from the shore.
“Keplas. Very good predators. Very tasty, too,” Lua said, pointing at the fish as it wriggled back into the ocean, feathered snack in tow. “You should try some in the City.”
“Anyway,” Gaby continued from Lua, shaking out her long white curls. “Kyron's army has been attacking the towns, villages and farmsteads and slowly working his way down here.” Her voice had grown bitter again, her face an obsidian carving. “A flood of refugees has been fleeing, all heading south. The protection of the King and Makhi is a very welcome thing. However, I fear many won't make it.”
Starla's heart felt weighed down. She knew they were remembering last night's screams too. How had her family come here? She was nearing twenty-one. They claim the war began then, twenty-one years ago, on Cosmaltia. Was that why they had given her up? And if they were not the human family Lua had mentioned, then was she not human too? She sighed, looking up. A dark shadow had stretched across the beach. The sun was now half-hidden by the sea.
“Time to go,” Gaby said, springing to her feet. “Now, remember, we are weary refugees from Simik,” she reminded them as they crossed the beach to the base of the enormous cliff. “I can't send Flek out again, so we will have to assume that the King's party has maintained their pace. If they have, then we are right on schedule.”
Starla barely heard what was being said. She had spotted a zigzagging staircase carved into the cliff face. Vines dug into the stone and criss-crossed the stai
r so many times they left the footing desperately uneven. It looked treacherous. Eyeing it warily, she half-turned to Gaby, nodding to affirm that she knew the plan.
“You said that Sunset Ridge is to the south but the sun is setting behind it. Does the sun not set in the west here?” Starla asked, trying to ease her mind with trivial information.
“The Sun rises in the north and sets in the south,” Gaby said, sounding distracted. She was looking Starla over, tapping her finger against her lips. “Here, I had Flek nab it on his last outing.” She threw Starla a dark, floor-length cloak. Starla supposed that it might have been black once.
She clipped the cloak on. It had a large hood. “You stole this?” she asked, her old lessons on right and wrong still nipping at her, despite the fact that the man who had taught them to her hadn't followed them himself.
“We will leave it behind after we leave. Besides, I had very little choice. You are not dressed appropriately and you cannot Cloak,” she said, her tone capitalising the word.
“I'm not dressed appropriately?” Starla spluttered, indignant. Certainly, her night dress was burnt, dirty and torn, but it still covered a right side more skin than their skimpy outfits.
Gaby's grey lips twitched in amusement. “It also has an inner pocket where you may hide your bird. Come on, we're wasting time.”
The Sacrileons joined hands in a circle. They began to glow slightly, beginning with Alli and moving round the circle to Lua. Each Guardian raised their hands above their heads and touched their wrists together.
Starla's eyes widened as her companions began to shrink, two to roughly Starla's height, and two to the size of young children. Their skin grew grey, then white, then close to Starla's own roses-and-cream colouring. Their eyes and hair took on nondescript versions of brown. Their clothes seemed to melt, growing longer, covering their legs and abdomens. Within seconds, Starla was staring at four ordinary-looking people of varying ages, all wearing bright, but dirty, tunics with square-cut necklines and thick shoulder straps, with deep-black cloaks clipped around their necks, the boy wearing a short smock and breeches.