The Coming Dawn Trilogy

by Austen Knowles

  When the warriors were finished exterminating pests in the shelters, and the women entered brick homes by windows or doors if roots didn’t overhang like thick nets, Tyrus jogged to Cobaaron.

  “Good, you came. I hoped you heard,” Cobaaron confessed when Tyrus bowed. “Give me your sword, young Tyrus.” Cobaaron held out his hand. Tyrus hesitated a moment, but then took his sword from his belt. Cobaaron took the sword and slammed it into a stone. “You no longer have a weapon, young Tyrus. Learn to be great on your own.”

  “Thank you, Chief.” Tyrus bowed again.

  “Get some rest,” Cobaaron replied, and then led Ky inside a brick hut with a decorated doorframe. Several warriors occupied the shelter, but they quickly cleared out when Cobaaron entered. Huntra bounded through the window, and shortly afterward, branches, leaves, and moss covered the window and hollow doorframe.

  “What are they doing?” Ky asked Cobaaron.

  “Your light will draw attention to us in the forest. I told them to cover our dwelling until your pink glow couldn’t be seen. This is giant territory. We should cross the woods unseen. Sleep, Ky, we will not have long to rest. Only a few hours, and that is only if I don’t smell a giant approaching. I would rather continue to Sarnia but women need rest.”

  “Won’t you sleep?” Ky asked.

  “Of course.” Cobaaron sat on the hard dirt, and then held out a hand. She came and lay next to him, but he drew her near before rolling her on top of him. “I’m much more comfortable than the ground and you’re light. Sleep well, love.” She sighed heavily when he wrapped his arm around her. “What is troubling you?”

  “I keep remembering Oella’s sunken face, and how she grotesquely changed. She was like an evil ghost. If that is a shadow of what witches are capable of, I worry Ambrosia is one, and I don’t trust her. I don’t like her cleaning my clothes. I don’t want her doing anything for me. Not if it means later she will resent me and turn against me.”

  “Ky, she’s a healer’s daughter. She isn’t a witch. I told you this.”

  “But magic isn’t natural, Cobaaron.”

  “Love, don’t trouble yourself. I would tell you if she was dangerous.” He rubbed her back until he fell asleep. She dozed off shortly after his hands stilled and she heard his heavy breathing as he slept.

  *****

  “Ky,” Cobaaron said with a gruff voice, but he woke her fully when he bolted upright in a hurry, and she rolled off. He sniffed the air as Huntra nudged Cobaaron with his nose, wanting him to get up. Ky smelled nothing. “What stupid woman lit a fire, and what beguiled stud let her?” Cobaaron grumbled then huffed. He stood as Huntra continued to goad him. Cobaaron told Ky to follow him because they were leaving.

  Cobaaron cleared the moss and foliage from the window and then easily hurdled the narrow gap. As Ky crawled from the hut, he sniffed the air. “That isn’t a camp fire,” Cobaaron breathed, and looked for the moon, but the tree cover revealed nothing about the night sky.

  Huntra sprung out the window and began to grow. He was acting jittery. Then warriors exited their brick shelters in a hurry, sniffing the smoky air. “We need to hurry,” Cobaaron told his men, and more warriors came rushing out of their huts bringing women with them. “Everyone follow me.”

  Huntra tossed Ky onto his back as Cobaaron mounted the bubbling saddle. Huntra sprinted in the direction Cobaaron commanded, before the seat fully formed. Ky was wildly jostled as she clutched tuffs of fur, and Huntra raced around roots. Cobaaron hoisted her to the saddle as the handlebars started to extend and curl. When the seat pinned her in by wrapping around her legs, there was a new smell in the air, of strong algae.

  “Faster, Huntra,” Cobaaron bellowed. Ky heard limbs breaking in the distance and the ground shook. “No, don’t get bigger,” Cobaaron barked when Huntra became scared. “Just run!”

  The ground thundered. From a short distance, several giants came crashing through the forest. Most were taller than the banyan trees. Women screamed as the giants trampled women and warriors. Huntra ran between the feet of stampeding giants. He had fast reflexes and several times he sprung ahead or abruptly stopped to avoid being crushed.

  A giant went flying backward, and hit the ground with a great thud. Ky saw a gaping hole in its chest that sizzled from heat. Behind the giant was a smoldering crater, and trees around the depression burned.

  “It’s the Ash of Gorgeon. It begins. We need to hurry to Sarnia. Run, Huntra,” Cobaaron demanded. Huntra ran as fast as he could, leaping and bounding over and around roots while avoiding the giants lagging behind the group.

  Soon Huntra was far ahead, and Cobaaron and Ky were alone. “Don’t stop!” Scorching meteorites continued to drop from the sky, causing explosions and fires to start all around them. Huntra bravely never stopped, even as deafening blasts burst around them, as meteorites hit.

  The forest was soon behind them. When the canopy cleared, Ky looked up. That’s when she saw that the surface of the moon changed. A large spot that she thought was a crater now glowed red and spewed thousands of hot magma balls. The enormous volcano erupted with such violence that the meteorites resembled a thick layer of blazingly bright shooting stars. The sight was beautiful, and if she didn’t know the deadly effects, she would’ve lingered to marvel.

  “To that tunnel, Huntra! It’s the back route to Sarnia.” Cobaaron steered Huntra by leaning and pulling the saddle’s handlebar. Ky didn’t see a cave; only a tall mountain with a crack that splintered the face to the peak. At the base was a small gap. Huntra made his way to the entrance.

  Huntra neared the tunnel, but was too large, and began to reduce in size. Cobaaron leaped off Huntra, as Ky slid off and rolled along the mossy earth. She stood, and ran behind Cobaaron and Huntra.

  An asteroid hit close, and blasted them into the mountain. Ky was closest to the celestial rock, and slammed into the solid wall. She slid down, scraping her skin. She was disoriented and couldn’t seem to get to her feet. Cobaaron carried her through the thin gap.

  Once protected by the mountain, Cobaaron laid her on her back, and pressed against her chest where she oozed blood. The loud ringing in her ears muffled her scream. She felt the scorching blood slowly cool. When she was healed Cobaaron asked, “Are you okay?” She could barely hear; his voice sounded like a whisper. Her ears continued to ring.

  “I can hardly hear you.” She was sure she would be deaf; at least, she’d never hear as well again.

  “It was the blast. It’s normal for explosions to do that. My ears are ringing, too. Be thankful our ears aren’t bleeding! You might as well enjoy that sound, Ky; you will never hear that pitch again.” He spoke to Huntra when the small snow tiger brushed against him: “You did well, Huntra.” Cobaaron petted him as reward for bringing them to safety. “Let’s rest away from the entrance. We need to wait for everyone else. Anyone who survives will know to come here.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Cobaaron and Ky continued down the short tunnel with Huntra in the lead. When the tunnel ended and a wide cavity began, Ky stopped and stood in awe of the new environment. They seemed to enter another world. The cave was a beautiful underground ecosystem of glowing plants. Luminescent white flowers grew along the walls and tiny neon-green mushrooms sprouted like grass and cushioned their feet as they stepped. Yellow budding bushes fanned out from the ground like flowering ferns. Spiky, gleaming green cacti shone with luster among the ferns. Most of the luminous foliage in the cave was red. Short, big-leafed trees, wild flowers, shrubs, and climbing vines covered the entire cave with a faint crimson glow. There was no black rock to be seen, only colorful light. It was beautiful.

  There were glowing insects and small animals as well. Blue butterflies flitted from flower to flower with flashing lights that confused predators. There were green dragonflies, yellow ants, red caterpillars, and purple ladybugs. Small, blue rabbits the size of mice, neon-green frogs, and small, hairless monkeys with glowing peach flesh lived in the cave. They all glowed with biolu
minescence. There were anomalous animals resembling cats with owl-like faces that sprouted upright feathers on their backs when Ky noticed them. Though small, Ky was uneasy with the creatures as they stared back.

  “Ignore them; pretend they don’t exist,” Cobaaron warned and stepped in her path when he saw her looking. “Don’t touch the poisonous ferns, either,” Cobaaron cautioned Huntra who was investigating the cave, and the creatures in it. Cobaaron then smiled at Ky, apparently making light of what dangers lurked in their new environment. “You blend in well here, love.” She expressed her humor with a feeble simper. She was still leery of the strange feline owls that continued to lock their eyes onto her. Their concentration was unnerving.

  “I will check to see if my men need help,” Cobaaron said, and then told Huntra to guard Ky with his life. “You’ll be fine. Just don’t…don’t touch anything.” Cobaaron soon disappeared.

  Ky leaned against Huntra to keep him close. Huntra watched the strange animals, and occasionally hissed until one returned the sibilant sound and scared him. The creature’s anger terrified Ky. But thankfully they didn’t have to wait long before Cobaaron hurried back. He tied something around his belt as he approached her in rushed strides. “Come Ky. They are running this way. We need hurry, so they can all get into the cave quickly.”

  He clutched Ky’s hand as they ran along the wide path leading deeper into the mountain. The springy mushrooms added resistance under their feet making them rebound and run faster as it propelled them on. The further into the cave they went, the larger the plants grew and the more diverse the wildlife became.

  Warriors poured in. They were worse for wear, with gruesome burns and darkened with soot. They pounded heavy feet down the wide path, before legions spread out, because there simply wasn’t enough room for the men behind to rush in with women.

  Cobaaron and Ky hurried until they entered a larger chamber. Taller trees grew like weeds, standing about five feet tall. They all wound around the bushy branches in a hurry. The cave was soon packed with warriors and women. They all stopped so the troops could be accounted for. Beldor reported to Cobaaron with badly burned skin and patches of black hair scorched away. He gave Cobaaron details of the lost men, but mostly it was women who perished, because the warriors could not lag behind to help them. “There are only forty women left.”

  “I understand.” Cobaaron nodded, but he rubbed his face with both hands and cursed. “All should eat while we make our way. We’re no longer in a hurry. It will be at least a week, if not two, before it’s safe to leave the mountain. Let’s make the best of this time and rest, even as we enter Sarnia.”

  They strolled leisurely among the short trees. Warriors began eating the green glowing fruit, which grew in a bunch at the base of the umbrella-like cluster of leaves. Cobaaron cut off a bundle and gave one to Ky. He bit into the fruit without peeling it, spit out the peel, and then sucked the juice as he squeezed the fruit. Ky did the same. The fist-sized fruit tasted like a mix of clementine, plum, and banana.

  “It’s a hopper.” Cobaaron grinned, showing green, glowing lips, tongue and teeth. “But everyone calls it a gourmand, because you can’t stop gorging because they’re so good. I could eat a tree’s worth, but then I’m sweating from the sugar excess.” Cobaaron smirked, before he took another, and drank.

  “See that plant over there?” He pointed to a small blue bush at the base of a hopper tree. “The two plants have a bond. The tall hopper allows the cluster bush to dig its roots into the trunk for sap. While the hopper tree absorbs the toxic fumes of the cluster bush it needs to live. It’s only toxic to us, and animals, if we’re down here eating for hours. It has happened more times than you’d think. Several people have died, because the fruit’s addictive when ripe.” He drank more juice from the gourmand. “This isn’t ready yet. It’s still not perfectly sweet, but it’s just as well. If the juice was addictively delicious we may be at risk of lingering.”

  Ky saw dead glowing monkeys rotting by the roots of the symbiotic pair. “It’s additional nutrition for the hoppers. Besides they’re annoying little animals. They will follow you around like a flurry.”

  Cobaaron pointed to his cheek. “Kiss me.” Ky stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. She laughed when she saw the gleaming imprint of lips on his skin. “That won’t go away for a few days.”

  “No?” Ky asked, examining it. She then squeezed her gourmand; the juice speckled his hair and dripped down his face. Ky laughed hysterically. “So that will be there for a couple days?”

  As if Ky did nothing at all, Cobaaron nodded his head. “Yep, I’ll glow for at least three days or more.” He smirked maliciously, and unpredictably squeezed two fruits, spraying Ky’s front with a glowing shower of juice.

  Ky gasped at the cold, and then laughed as she wiped her eyes even though she was sure she was smearing it. “That won’t come off for a while.”

  “I imagine not.” Ky beamed with a mouthful of illumines teeth. She walked over to a tree next to them and picked four more hoppers. She bit into the first one, and then squeezed it all over his chest. Before she had all the juice out, Cobaaron forced her hand away, causing glowing fruit to gush all over her.

  She playfully broke open the peels to the remaining three and tossed them at him. Ky couldn’t control her laughter. She snickered each time she threw fruit at Cobaaron and it splattered him. Cobaaron tackled her to the mushroom floor. She laughed, not minding how easily he overpowered her. She tried dousing him with more juice but each time, Cobaaron pushed the fruit away, pinned her down, and doused her until she was covered in lasting blotches of green.

  When he rubbed it into her hair she giggled and complained, “This isn’t fair. You are stronger than me. You should let me get you.”

  “No, I shouldn’t. Just say mercy, and I’ll let you up.”

  “Then at least take it easy.”

  “This is taking it easy on you.”

  “Fine, mercy,” Ky pleaded. The second Cobaaron released her hands; she swiped the last fruit and drenched his back, grinning triumphantly. For good measure, she smeared his back and pressed her body against his front.

  Cobaaron chuckled, stood, and lifted her to her feet. From the waist up, they were completely green. Ky was a mess; she was drenched, and dripping with the glowing sweet juice.

  Ky was sure her hair was a rat’s nest; Cobaaron tried fixing it, all the while concealing smug delight. He stilled his hands. “Warm citrus smells good on you. It makes me want to eat you. I fully plan to when we get to Sarnia.” He swept his eyes over her body, lingering a moment longer, and then kissed her. “Let’s get to the city. I want to be alone with you.”

  There were so many hopper trees that it took nearly two hours to walk across the forest. They all wandered the thicket, snacking on fruit. They ate six more before Cobaaron cut another bunch to bring with him. The cave slowly became narrower. Another hour passed before Cobaaron said, “We’re almost to the city.” The dense shrubs grew thinner, and a few minutes later, the forest abruptly ended when they entered a large cave. The circular chamber had a lakebed taking up the majority of the hollow. Cobaaron stopped at the waterside, and the warriors encircled the lake as they entered.

  Huge trees hundreds of feet tall bordered the lake. The leaves glowed green with yellow flowers near the stems, and the trunks were a dull umber luminescence. Red vines covered the cave walls, and also climbed the thick trunks. Rope bridges connected the branches and a single massive deck was suspended high above them. Wooden, spherical huts clung to the cave walls above the radiant canopy. Ky didn’t see any people in the abandoned city.

  Cobaaron threw a half-eaten gourmand into the lake with a small splash. The water rippled, and the lake glimmered. The large face of a male blue Star appeared in the ripples. The water spoke: “Who trespasses into my waters?”

  “Cobaaron.”

  At first nothing happened. As if the blue Star was a hologram it flickered until all light disappeared. Then the surfa
ce vibrated and receded. The level dropped dramatically. The warriors surrounded the lake as they ushered women closer to the retreating water. There was a gurgling sound as the lake drained. The spiraling current sank into a wide hole in the middle of the lake. The last few warriors entered the cave, and made their way to the crowded shoreline. They all looked up. Even Ky gazed upward, wondering what they were seeing, but she saw nothing.

  The water jetted from the hole and sprayed hundreds of feet up into the air. Then it began to pour. As the shower drenched them, Ky blinked as the rain rinsed her eyes. The heavy downpour lasted only seconds before there was a light drizzle. The lake filled again, and Ky saw what she hadn’t before.

  The city was packed with people who gathered to greet them. Hundreds congregated on the suspended platform, which was clearly the city center. The people waited, watching them curiously. Men and women alike wore gleaming blue silk skirts. The women had matching midriffs, and oddly, big-winged butterflies in their hair like berets. They all beamed at the new arrivals as a man lowered a rope ladder.

  Cobaaron instructed Ky to ascend the ladder first. She held onto the braces as she stood on a step while men pulled her up. Once she reached the platform, the height seemed far more significant than when she was on solid ground. Her knees became weak as she lingered by the edge.

  A few women carted Ky over to a small gathering of young girls. They began pulling at her clothes and tugging her green-glowing hair as they whispered excitedly. Ky smiled stiffly and fought the urge to back away when they giggled upon seeing Cobaaron’s name on her palm. One woman wiped the silver dust from her skin, and then squealed with amusement before showing the others.

  Cobaaron came to her side, holding Huntra. The women all eyed him as they sniggered before giving Ky’s hair one last tug. Cobaaron stared up when he came within reach of Ky.

  The blue Star who had spoken in the water was overhead. He swung down on a red vine, and landed in the elevated city center. He walked to Cobaaron with an outstretched hand for greeting. His eyes had an emerald coating. Ky had seen this before. Other Stars who were blind when they transformed had the same pale green corneas. “I was beginning to wonder when I was going to see you again. It has been too long, old friend,” the Star said.