by Zara Zenia
Voland
Warriors of Orba
Zara Zenia
Illustrated by
Kasmit Covers
Edited by
Teresa Banschbach
Contents
Mailing List
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
Epilogue
Thank You
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Copyright © 2016 by Zara Zenia
All rights reserved.
Cover design © 2016 by Kasmit Covers
Edited by Teresa Banschbach
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 from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.
Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
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Chapter 1
Voland
My heart is racing and my palms are clammy. I run my hands down the front of my legs as I look down at the empty stage. Around me, the auditorium is filling up with eager young people, their shoes squeaking as they file in to take their seats. I’ve been looking forward to this day for ages! I’m lost in a daydream as I look down at the podium and imagine who’ll be there in a few moments. A heavy hand lands on my shoulder and I jump before spinning around to see an old friend of mine.
“Holoklian! I never knew you would be at something like this.”
“Hey, buddy,” he says with a big smile. “It’s great to see you again.”
He takes a seat beside me. I look over and notice that his skinny body is swamped by the size of the seat. His thighs look as though they're half the width of mine.
“You look so different,” I say.
“You too,” he replies while looking me up and down. “You’ve really filled out. You must be working out like crazy.”
“Yep!” I say as I flex a bicep.
“Anyway, I’ve been looking forward to this for so long!”
“Me too!”
“Are you a fan of Palzu’s teachings?” he asks.
“Yes! I’ve read all his books.”
Holoklian delves into his pocket and pulls out a device. Swiping the screen, he then rests on a document that I know so well.
“The Essence of Individualism: A Shift From Community to Free Living. I’ve just started it.”
“Oh, you’ll love it,” I say. “I’ve read it three times and each time you notice new things.”
“That’s the thing with Palzu thought, ain’t it? He includes messages in all his work; things that stick in your mind and keep you up at night.”
“Yes! Absolutely! I love how he makes us all feel important and in charge of our own lives. I think we’re on the cusp of an important paradigm shift. We’re moving away from the shackles of family life and servitude; finally, people like us can be free and individual.”
I feel vibrant and alive as I talk.
“You said it brother,” Holoklian winks.
Meanwhile, all around us people are taking their seats. The atmosphere is electric and there’s an excited hubbub of youth and vitality in the room as we all wait for Palzu to take the podium.
“Have you seen him speak before?” Holoklian asks me.
“Yes, once. It was a long time ago, though and his words were so raw and wild.”
“Raw and wild,” Holoklian exhales. “That just about sums him up.”
At last, the lights dim and everyone instantly quiets down. The room is so still that all I can hear is the sound of my own heavy breathing. Then I hear footsteps. They echo as Palzu walks out on stage. The crowd waits with baited breath for him to speak and I lean forward, my foot pulsing up and down as I prepare myself for the sound of his voice. He appears so tall and threatening as though we are mere flecks of dust looking up at a great superpower, his words giving us meaning to carry on living. Shrouded in a long, black cloak, he looks terrifying. In the dim light of evening, his blue skin gives off a luminescent glow. It makes him appear unreal somehow, as though he’s not from this world.
“Welcome,” he says.
My foot pulses a little faster and my heart beats harder.
“There are so many of you here today.”
His voice booms and bounces off the walls, the power from his body thundering out of him and holding us in our seats.
“What I am so pleased to see is how diverse the audience is, how widespread our message has become. Individuality, it seems, has become a dirty word in our culture. To say you want to be free from a community is almost to suggest that you want to be free from Orba. But people, that is not true, is it?”
A murmur ripples through the crowd as we all shake our heads.
“In fact, I think that to be individual can only benefit Orba. After all, if we are free, aren’t we happy and able to pursue our dreams without restraint?”
Everybody nods and one person at the back shouts out:
“Yes! Freedom for everyone!”
Palzu gives a wry smile and claps his hands together.
“This one gets it.”
He points to the guy at the back and everyone laughs and claps.
“So I must ask you… Who is with me on this adventure for freedom?”
A cheer erupts from the crowd.
“Stand up if you are with me! Stand up if you believe in a free and individual Orba!”
I jump to my feet along with everyone else. We’re all screaming and yelling, pumping our fists in the air as we look to our new leader. He’s standing in front of us triumphantly, his legs spread wide and his hands stretched out above his head.
“He’s going to change the world!” Holoklian shouts.
SIX MONTHS LATER
I’m in the locker room squeezing into my boots. Once I wriggle into them, I look at the way they shine. Standing up, I stomp about, getting used to the feeling of having such heavy things on my feet. All around me, the other new recruits are dressing in their uniforms with their fresh, baby faces dewy and youthful.
The door slams open and we all look up. Our commander is standing in the doorway with a grim expression on his tight-lipped face, purple circles etched below his eyes. I look to the floor and hope he doesn’t notice me.
“Recruits! Why aren’t you all ready?” he demands.
A few stragglers at the back are still fumbling around, staggering and tripping over themselves as they pull on their pants and jackets.
“You have sixty seconds to line up. Go!” he yells.
We all scurry to the far end of the room, the
sound of our boots thumping as we run. I look down at my trembling hands and see a red vein pulsing beneath my blue skin. I’m nervous, so completely terrified but I know that I’m doing the right thing. When the posters started being plastered all over Orba with Palzu’s request for young soldiers, I was one of the first to sign up. I couldn’t think of a better way to live the dream of a free life and I was desperate to spread the message. Now, it’s my first day of training and I feel pumped up and ready to go, but the commander in front of us, he looks as though he could crush me with one hand and I’m not exactly a skinny little thing.
“What are you staring at?”
He’s in my face, prodding a finger in my chest.
“Nothing, sir,” I answer.
“What was that?”
“I said, nothing sir.”
“Yell it! I wanna hear the voice of warrior!”
“NOTHING, SIR!”
“Okay…”
He narrows his eyes as he backs away slowly from me.
“Don’t let me catch you daydreaming again. This is serious work. You, men, are fighters, the pioneers of a new world and you must be the best! It won’t be long until you are expected to fight in the great takeover. A lot will be expected of you so you must train hard and fight ever harder. Do you all understand?”
“Yes, sir!” We all shout in unison.
“Let’s go!”
“Pssst…”
I stir in my sleep. There’s a voice coming from somewhere, the feeling of someone nudging me in the shoulder but I’m too tired to wake up.
“Pssst…”
I hear it again.
“What?” I mumble even though I’m still half asleep.
“Voland? Are you awake?”
“Ugh… I am now.”
I open my eyes and see a head poke down from the bunk above me.
“Diviak, what are you doing?”
“I can’t sleep,” he moans.
I met him the day I joined Palzu’s army and we’ve been close friends ever since, even though he’s a little eccentric. He loves Palzu’s teachings more than I do, and is so utterly obsessed with the thought of fighting in the great takeover, that he does nothing all day long but workout and read Palzu’s books. I’ve got to give it to him, he’s a dedicated guy and a loyal soldier but sometimes I’d just like to see him chill out, even if that’s just so I could sleep.
“Why can’t you sleep?” I ask.
“Are you serious?” he asks incredulously.
He jumps down from his bunk and sits at the bottom of my bed.
“The battle is tomorrow, the great takeover! At last, we’ll be freeing Orba from its rule of community.”
His eyes are wide and wild.
“Diviak, please, relax,” I plead.
“How am I supposed to do that? And why are you asleep anyway? Aren’t you pumped up to fight? I am!”
He jumps up and starts shadow boxing in the white glow of the moonlight. I watch as his fists cast shadows on the floor, his stubby tail flapping like crazy behind him.
“I’m exhausted,” I yawn. “Our training regime is freakin’ brutal! I don’t think I’ve been so exhausted in all my life.”
“I’ve never felt better,” he gasps while still boxing an invisible enemy.
“Cool,” I mumble as I roll over. “I’m going back to sleep.”
When I wake up I feel it in my stomach first, the tremendous nausea of nervous energy. Today is the day of the battle, today is the day the world changes forever. All the troops are awake and flying into action, pulling on their uniforms and jumping into the waiting trucks.
We’re driving fast out into the desert with our guns strapped to our sides. Despite this being the day we’ve all been waiting for, the culmination of all our training, we’re all ominously silent as we sit together. I feel as though we are all one mass, with people pressing up to me at all angles. Squashed inside the truck, the air weighs heavy on me and the sand starts to scratch at my throat and eyes. Our commander is ahead of us, sitting on the edge of a box of ammunition with his gun across his lap.
“You know what to do, troops. Some of you won’t make it but your deaths will not be in vain.”
Wait, some of us are going to die? I didn’t sign up for this! We were all told we were warriors. We were all told we were the best and the most fearless. Suddenly the truck seems overcrowded and claustrophobic. I scan my eyes over every inch of the interior for signs that I could escape but there are none. I might die. We all might die! I look over at Diviak and see a maniacal smile on his face. He’s enjoying this, loving every moment and embracing the danger while I feel my stomach churn and my mouth go dry.
In the distance, the parliament building is looming up, a great big beacon of modernity that’s situated within the heart of the desert. It’s where we’re going to be invading, where we’re going to be overthrowing the king. But one thing is bothering me, the king’s family is in there. What if they get hurt?
Before I can think about this any further or before I can figure out a way to back out, the truck is screeching to a stop. As I’m forced out of the truck by the weight of people behind me, I see hundreds of other vehicles approach, each with dozens of troops just like me spilling out. Our boots crunch on the sand as we’re marched toward the king’s headquarters, our commanders leading the way with their guns held at their sides.
The seriousness of the situation dawns on me. We’ve been trained to be savages. I look at the faces of the men around me and see their teeth gritted with determination. I see the murderous look in their eyes and the way they grip their weapons as they anticipate the moment they will kill. I’m not one of these people, I think. This is crazy.
But it’s too late and before I know it, we’re kicking in the doors and bounding down the endless opulent hallways. There’s screaming and crying. Wait, no one told me there would be women and children here. In front of me, there is a group of elite soldiers. In the center stands Palzu as tall as ever with his hands over his head as he shrieks orders. He’s reveling in the destruction. This was supposed to be a political coup, one in which we free ourselves from the restraints of oppressive living. But this is insane. It’s carnage.
There’s the sound of bullets piercing through the walls, more screams, the sound of bodies hitting the floor. Then I see it, the blood that oozes out across the cold stone. It runs under my boots and sticks my feet to the ground. Looking up, I see bodies lining the hallway, one of them is a woman about my age, her thin frame twisted up against the wall. My stomach churns and as the rest of my squadron run off to inflict pain in some other part of the building, I crouch down in front of her.
I can smell the death of her body although she only died moments ago. It’s pungent, as strong as the look of suffering on her face. Her eyes are wide open, staring right through me as though she can see my thoughts. I reach over with a quivering hand and close her eyelids.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t know it would be like this.”
Planet Orba is in flames. Since the initial takeover of the parliament building, there has been nothing but war and suffering. Palzu is a madman, a lunatic set on destruction. I can see it now, see his teachings for what they were. They were nothing but a ruse, a way to gather followers under false pretenses. It makes me sick to think I fell for everything he said but I have one thing on my side, I won’t believe him anymore. Not like the thousands of other troops in Palzu’s army who are still intent on believing everything he says.
It’s the middle of the night and I have escaped the army compound that has been my home for the last few months. It was difficult to get past Diviak’s watchful eye as he bounced around the dormitory as wide awake as ever. Now, as I stand in the middle of the city with nothing but the cool air whipping at my ears, I wonder what the hell I’m doing. As I scurried from the compound, all I knew was that I needed to get away, needed to be alone to think and assess the horrors that have taken place.
Across the
city skyline, there’s a streak of fire as the landscape burns and crumbles to dust. The smoke drifts over the city, twitching in my nostrils as it lingers in the air. I kick at the ground as I walk. I’m not sure where I’m going. I gave up all my possessions and money when I joined Palzu’s army and tried to disguise myself by ripping off my uniform so that I look as if all I am is a dark, blue Orban with nothing to hide. This way I look like everyone else. Well, from the distance I look like everyone else but if you were to peer into my eyes, you’d see I am not like you.
The wind carries the sound of frantic chatter. I strain my ears to make out the words but it sounds like garbled nonsense as people talk over each other. I realize the voices are coming from a nearby alleyway. Tiptoeing over, I hang back in the shadows as I try to hear what they’re saying.
“We need out of here!” a girl’s voice is saying.
“I know, Victorinth but right now we don’t have any transport to leave Orba. We need a shuttle, a ship or- “
“She’s right, though,” a man’s voice says.
“Yeah, we need to escape tonight. That was the plan, wasn’t it?”
I poke my head around the corner and see a group of young Orbans huddled together. They look as lost and terrified as I am.
“Benzen, didn’t you say you knew how to steer a shuttle?”
“I said I might be able to.”
“What do you mean might?”
“Please… Just think of something. Hurry!” the girl shrieks.
“Shh.”
An older boy comforts her and pulls her close.
“Look, something needs to be done tonight. If we don’t find a way to flee Orba before the sun is up, I fear that we may not get another chance.”
I look at their determined faces and youthful courage. I want to be part of this little anarchistic team; I want to flee Orba! A hundred thoughts race through my mind and before I know it, I find myself stepping out the shadows and saying: