17
Asterleigh’s Burning Star
Ednon’s mind was still on his latest encounter with Ethna and the aged Robles. He did not know what the two of them would do with the information he had given, but he felt uneasy. He walked through the crowded streets of East Asterleigh with these thoughts plaguing his mind; he also could not stop thinking of Ira, and what his grandfather might have felt about his grandson’s latest actions. He doubted whether he would have been proud; well, he might have been, but there was no way of knowing. How long have the Order been carrying out these types of attacks against the military? Were they happening when Ira was at the helm? Was the old sickly man who had brought him up for almost all his life a killer? It made him sad to think it possible – in fact, it made him feel nothing but sorrow. Was Ira watching from wherever he was? Could he also see the doleful expression that had not left his face, ever since that moment many months ago? The days flew by at such a pace that Ednon could not hold onto them. Time itself was slipping through his fingers. He had not found a way to bring back his brother and now it looked as if time was running out. He still had no news of Syros and now, after all these months, he no longer asked for it. Chances were Syros had probably died out there in the wilderness, his hatred along with him. It’s okay, Ednon lied to himself. His brother longed for death; he had pretty much told him so. Everything was slipping, the clocks were ticking and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.
“Boy…” A gruff voice caught Ednon’s awareness.
It was one of the homeless on the streets, an old man with long unkempt hair and a beard, with dirty unwashed clothes, sitting upon the floor with an equally shaggy-looking dog.
“Boy, do you have any coins for an old lost wayfarer?”
“Of course,” Ednon replied, as he rummaged through his pockets; he did not have much. He had originally planned to get some food from the marketplace, but his latest meeting with Ethna in the Temple of Yashin had caused unwanted pains to form in his stomach, so he doubted whether he could eat anyway. He threw the few loose coins he had into the man’s bowl.
“Thank you, my burning star…” The way the man phrased his words stopped Ednon dead in his tracks. My burning star? He had heard these words so often over the last couple of months; could it be a coincidence this elderly beggar also used them? He gingerly gave one more glance at the tramp. The man’s eyes were unadulterated darkness and were staring at him intently, not breaking their gaze. They were the same eyes from his dreams, two empty voids sucking in his entire being like endlessly spinning black holes. He stared back, his mind completely blank – was this real?
“Ed!”
Breaking his trance, he saw Amelia running towards him. He swiftly glanced back at the old homeless man. His eyes had returned to normal. Ednon let out a deep sigh. It must have been his mind playing tricks on him. Yes, that was all it was, daydreams of a naive mind, he reasoned uncertainly.
“Hi, Am.”
“Ed,” she repeated, giving him a worried look. “Where have you been all day? I haven’t seen you since you left to see Dad’s new workplace.”
He quickly thought over his response; there was so much he could not tell her.
“I went to the Grand Library and helped Ageth around the place, before crashing out on one of the chairs in the hall.”
This was half true; after Abacus had shown him the underground networks and after his latest encounter with Luther, he had felt so much anger with them all that he had stormed off, spending most of the day by the great Asterleigh Lake staring up towards the Medzu statue, contemplating his newfound knowledge of the Order and their actions. When night came, he still felt too enraged to return to the house to see Abacus, so instead he had entered the Grand Library through a secret entrance, before quietly falling asleep after reading a book on the Venians’ evolution through time. So when Ageth had awoken him earlier this morning, he was surprised she had not yelled at him for breaking into the place.
“Oh,” Amelia spoke hesitantly. “Are you hungry? I was about to go to the marketplace and get something to eat.”
He had not had anything to eat for more than a whole day, but the unsure painful feeling was still lingering in his stomach. “I don’t have any money,” Ednon answered, remembering the old beggar.
“I’ll pay.”
“Thanks,” Ednon replied, holding his stomach in an attempt to quell the aching.
They both set off down the street. Ednon gave one more glance at the aged vagrant behind him, who was continuing to stare right back. I’m going insane; that is the only logical answer for what I saw. The black voids of my dreams manifesting into the realms of reality, but what does it mean?
Ednon continued to query this as he and Amelia reached the Asterleigh market. He was only half paying attention to the things she was telling him; his mind was on subjects and thoughts vastly more important. How would she react if I told her about Abacus? Would she be angry? Cry? He couldn’t tell her, it would only make her upset, and that was the last thing in the world he would ever want to do.
“What creature is that?”
Ednon and Amelia, along with the rest of the packed marketplace, turned to see what had caused the commotion. The yell came from a young stallholder, who was pointing a finger towards a small creature that had buried its face into the man’s produce. Ednon recognised the life form; he had wondered when he would be seeing it once more. Along with a swarm of passing Asterleighians, they made their way closer to the stall and nearer the transparent organism. There was a collective gasp as the creature revealed its face to them for the first time. Sounds of bewilderment and hushed awe were all that could be heard from the gathering throng – even Amelia was admiring the strange animal in a state of pure wonderment. Much as had happened on the two previous occasions, the spiral-marked life form trudged towards Ednon, its two flippers caressing the ground as it moved. The crowd dispersed as it gathered pace; it was small, only rising a foot above the cobbled street, but to Ednon it seemed many feared the unfamiliar species. The Asterleighians parted, leaving a passage for the creature as it continued its slow stumble towards him. When it reached his feet, it once again gave a small joyous squeak, before, unsurprisingly to Ednon now, beginning to rub up against his shin.
“Ahhh…” Amelia cried, overcome with its unworldly cuteness.
Ednon knelt and started to pet the creature on its forehead. Why does it keep appearing? What is it about me that attracts it? The mass around them appeared to have lost some of their initial shock and started to close in.
“Child.” A voice spoke up from the crowd. Ednon lifted his eyes away from the creature and towards a tall, skinny male in his mid-thirties, who had moved upon them both.
“Yes?” he responded, as the small transparent organism shifted closer towards Ednon.
“That creature, I have never seen a species of life quite like it. I would like to buy it from you.”
“Buy it… Why?” Ednon replied hesitantly, as the creature wrapped its flippers around his leg, holding onto him tightly.
“Who knows how many creatures of that kind are left upon this world? I would like it for research. I will pay you a handsome price.”
The creature had completely buried its face into his leg and did not seem to want to go with the man. What kind of research or experiments would they conduct on it? It locked its scared wide diamond-shaped eyes with Ednon’s own.
“No,” Ednon answered firmly. “It’s not for sale.”
“Child,” the man repeated, showing a little firmness of his own. “I don’t think you understand. I work for the State. One way or another, you will hand the creature over.”
“All the same.” He pulled out his rucksack and picked up the shining life form, placing it in the bag. “You cannot have it.”
The man had a look of pure rage as Ednon placed the rucksack around his shoulders.
“Am, let’s go!”
“Okay, Ed…” she responded uncertainly, as the two of them began to weave their way through the crowd. He half expected someone to stop him, to physically force him to hand it over, but no one did. All they could do was stare as Ednon, alongside Amelia and the unworldly glowing life form, gradually made their way out of the busy marketplace.
The two of them all but ran back to their home in East Asterleigh. Abacus and Jernett must have gone out, as the house was completely empty. In the kitchen, Ednon opened his rucksack, allowing the sparkling life form out. It beamed warmly, before waddling over towards a bowl of fruit upon the kitchen table. Ednon and Amelia stood still, watching the strange species as it grasped one of the apples, before taking small bites out of it.
“Whatever it is, it has quite an appetite.” Amelia leaned her head only inches away from the creature, which was giving joyous squeaks as it continued to munch on its meal.
She isn’t wrong, Ednon thought to himself. On the night of Ira’s death, the creature had not appeared to stop eating. Even after he had given it all the grain he possessed, even after he had placed it in the barn with the farm animals, the creature’s hunger had not subsided, as it had instantly begun to eat their food also.
“What’s its name?”
“I’m not sure it has one,” Ednon replied, watching the animal devour the remnants of the apple before moving on to a second one.
“Well,” Amelia said, smiling, “what do you want to name it? If this creature has appeared to you three times, I think it’s safe to say it has some sort of bond with you.”
Ednon contemplated the transparent organism. “I’m not sure. I don’t even know what gender it is.”
Amelia continued her close inspection of the little animal, before replying, “I think it’s a female.”
“How can you tell?” The creature didn’t appear to have sexual organs of any kind, nothing whatsoever that would help them determine its sex. The only features he could see were its two wide diamond-shaped eyes, two large flippers and the strange spiral-marking upon its forehead.
“I’m not sure. I can just tell.”
Well, if it was a female, he knew what he wanted to call it. “Orla,” Ednon answered, taking out a chair.
“After your grandmother?”
Ednon gave a nod, then reached out to pet the life form on its forehead. The creature stared back and as Ednon’s hand made contact, its diamond eyes started to glow, the spiral on its forehead rotated and Ednon found himself engulfed within the brightest of ethereal lights.
Ednon was floating through the black; shooting stars and comets flew by within the cosmic darkness. Am I dreaming? He didn’t feel as if he were; he felt very much lucid and awake. His body was numb, yet he still felt wild sensations course through him. He was travelling closer towards a black hole, which had now obscured all his vision. Stopping for a moment before contacting the cosmic tunnel, he realised it was not sucking him in – in fact, his movements were completely free. He stayed motionless, adrift and at peace, gazing upon the hole as it spiralled; then, the hole started to disintegrate, changing into the kaleidoscopic eye that he was now familiar with. The eye parted and he was once again immersed by the unworldly light.
Ednon opened his own eyes to find himself standing upon slow-moving tides. Where am I? This place seemed so familiar. It had the appearance of Eos Lake, but something felt different. He marvelled at the sky; it was pure purple. Purple? Is this truly Eos Lake? Was he even in his own dimension? Ednon continued to scan his location and what he saw shocked him more than anything he had ever previously witnessed. He saw Ira, Syros and himself playing upon the shores; it must have been many years ago as each of them resembled their younger selves. Ira still had his long brown hair, and he and his brother were still children. He made steps across the water. He did not know why he moved forwards; it felt like the only thing he could do. Suddenly, the young child he recognised as himself pointed a finger towards him, and in this moment the purple sky blackened, and the stars within it started to fall. They crashed into the water, making him lose his balance. He shot his gaze to where he, Syros and Ira had once been, but the figures had completely faded. As the stars plummeted around him, he examined the waters below, seeing his reflection for the first time. His eyes were completely black. He continued to stare in utter incredulity until he sensed something large and ever-burning crash on top of him.
Ednon gave a loud yell. He was back in the kitchen. Amelia was standing still in astonishment. He surveyed the room; the small creature had vanished.
“What happened?” Ednon asked, panting heavily.
Amelia continued to stare at him, an expression of utmost bewilderment still very much apparent. “It was like…” she began, after a moment of pure silence. “You disappeared; you just vanished completely…”
They continued to stare at each other. His mind was racing with so many different pieces of information that he could not focus on just one and, as he stared back at Amelia, he could tell that she too had no idea what to make of the situation. However, the startled silence between them was quickly disrupted when Ednon heard the front door open, and in walked Abacus and Jernett. They exchanged a quick look as they moved into the kitchen and placed down their newly-acquired shopping.
“Good afternoon, you two,” Jernett addressed them both. “Ednon, you did not return last night. Are you okay, dear?”
“I…” Ednon began. He did not know what to say, his mind was still racing out of control. Should he tell them of what had just happened with the small life form? Would they even believe him?
“Ed… ” Abacus gave a slight cough, which saved Ednon from his moment of indecision. “Could I have a word?”
Ednon gave Amelia one more glance as he followed Abacus out of the kitchen. What is it that Abacus wants? Is it something to do with the Order?
Abacus dragged him into the hallway and started to speak in an unusually hushed tone.
“Ed,” he began, sweat forming on his brow. “I don’t have long. I just wanted to sa-”
At this moment, the front door behind them was violently kicked open with a loud bang and in charged six men, all dressed in military uniform. They lunged towards Abacus, knocking over a nearby vase in the process, causing it to break upon the tiles. Abacus fought back, punching one of the men square in the face and elbowing another in the stomach. However, there were too many of them and they quickly subdued him. The noise attracted Jernett and Amelia, who both let out loud screams as the men viciously smashed Abacus’s face to the floor.
“Abacus,” uttered the oldest of the military men, and the only one not physically restraining the struggling Elder. “You are hereby arrested for acts of terrorism against our kind. You will soon be sentenced and hanged for your crimes. May you suffer eternal torment for your treason against our proud race.”
And with that the five men hauled Abacus to his feet, bound his arms and placed a black bag over his head. As quickly as they had entered, they proceeded to push him out of his broken front door and onto the streets where a small crowd had already gathered, leaving Ednon alone with Amelia and her mother, along with the sharp broken glass edges spread across the entirety of the now desecrated hallway.
18
Stars of Dusk
How much longer until we die? Syros thought to himself, gazing over the Alpelite horde. It was surely only a matter of time. Death was a certainty; the only question was when it would come. Yet, despite the utterly dire circumstances, they still clung on to survival. But how could they possibly survive against an enemy that could, without warning, rise from the ground to kill them all? If, of course, the hunger did not kill them first or the toxicant the Venians released, which could at any moment manifest into the air, leaving them cold and stiff. The Venians had expelled chemicals into Ankor, choking all Alpelites that had the misfortune to breathe
in the vapour. This was not a war they could win. No, Syros reassessed, this was no longer a war at all, but a genocide. If the Venians wanted them dead, then Vena itself truly longed for their extinction. The Venians were sad proof of a reality that even flowers can kill when pushed to the extreme. They could not fight against them, or indeed that strange unworldly Entity with the powers of a god, who caused the ground to shake with a single lift of its hands. It claimed to be from another world, although seemed almost human, but how could one human have such abilities of complete and utter devastation? And why was it fighting alongside the Venians to wipe out the Alpelites? The Venians were supposed to be pacifists – that was all he had heard about the species ever since he was a child. Could it be that this Entity, whom they claimed fell from the stars, had managed to convince the Venians to join the conflict? If so, then this terrified him more than anything. Even if by some miraculous chance the Alpelites managed to unite with the humans, there was no likelihood, even with their two forces combined, that they could ever hope of defeating the Venians.
Bora turned away from the Alpelite mass to Syros. “We should stop to rest soon. The old are becoming fatigued.”
Syros studied Bora. It seemed to be indestructible, not only had it sustained torture from his old comrade Mercivous, but it had also survived the bloodbath that had taken place in the palace of Ankor with only a few minor wounds. In fact, Syros speculated, they all appeared to have escaped Ankor far too easily. Not only had the Venian that had arisen behind him not followed through with its piercing blow, but their frantic escape out of the city’s gates had also not been hindered. If the Venians truly want us dead, then why not kill us? And why had the botanical beings appeared in Ankor at the exact same moment that he had? So many questions were within his mind, yet he had so few answers.
To Tame the Sentry Being Page 18