Star Rising: Heartless

by Cesar Gonzalez

  Before she had even finished voicing her threat, the guards had already placed their blasters on the floor.

  “Now, face down on the floor and don’t look up,” added the mustached pirate. He aimed his metallic hand, which was crackling with yellow lightning, at the guards. “You wouldn’t want me to accidentally release a burst of energy.”

  The trembling guards refrained from saying a word.

  “What do you want with us?” asked Beatrix. Questioning murderous pirates probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but her mind often moved faster than her common sense. Besides, she had no intention of cowering like the guards were doing. If she was going to die, she was going to do so on her feet.

  “We got a feisty one here,” said the mustached pirate. With his crackling hand pointed at her chest, he moved towards her and reached for her hair.

  Disgusted at having his oily hand on her, Beatrix batted his weaponized arm away.

  Two screams followed. One belonged to Beatrix’s hysterical mother, who couldn’t believe her daughter had just slapped away the weapon without fear of retaliation. The other scream was one of low rage emitting from the pirate.

  “How dare you?” His metallic hand shot up once more. “I will teach you to—”

  “Jesemiah!” thundered a deep voice.

  The mustached pirate’s face froze. From within the tunnel that connected the vessels, a tall man, who looked to be a few cycles her elder, emerged. He had a squared chin covered by dark stubble. His right eye was a clear green. Like the other pirates, he wore a long trench coat over a white shirt and blue pants, though his coat was a dark brown instead of the blue the others wore. His left eye was a deep red marble that was surrounded by a square of gray metal.

  Beatrix took an uneasy step back. Metaton eye? She’d never heard of such a thing.

  “What are you doing?” demanded the newcomer.

  “N…nothing, Captain Gavin,” stuttered Jesemiah. His stance went rigid.

  “I sincerely hope it was nothing,” said Gavin. His multi-colored eyes scanned the room. His gaze fell on Beatrix, and she felt her face grow red. Luckily, he looked away quickly. “We’re here to help these people, not attack them.”

  “Of course,” mumbled Jesemiah.

  “How is holding us at gunpoint helping us?” said Beatrix, attempting to regain her composure. “These people…” she motioned at the frightened elderly, women, and children behind her, “have already gone through enough. They don’t need to be harassed by pirates.”

  “Shhhhh…” said her mother from behind her.

  Gavin smiled at Beatrix. Despite the sudden weakening of her knees, she remained ramrod straight.

  “Right you are,” agreed Gavin. “The Palek have gone through a lot lately. It wasn’t enough for the Bastion Council that your people were nearly wiped out defending the galaxy. They had to go and forcefully take your land from you. And why? Simply because you’ve had no Dearg attacks?” He shook his head disapprovingly. “Instead of going after the root of the problem and eliminating the Deargs at the source, they uprooted an entire clan.”

  “Am I supposed to be impressed? Anyone could have gotten that information from the newscarrier.” But she was, in fact, impressed. The fact that the Deargs had not appeared on Palek was a closely guarded secret, known only to the citizens of the planet and the Bastion Council. If the entire universe knew, there would have been a massive migration to the planet years ago. Whoever this man was, he was obviously well informed. Knowing this sensitive information hinted at him, perhaps, having connections in the Bastion.

  “No. Not impressed. Simply grateful that someone cares enough for your people to hold up a Bastion ship in the middle of an official navigation route.”

  “Why would you help us?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” countered Gavin. “Like you, I know all too well the injustices the Bastion is capable of. We’re here to set you free. To take you to a place where the Bastion won’t be able to torment you anymore.”

  “And where is that?” asked Beatrix’s mother, finding her courage. “There is nowhere in the Noble Ring that the Bastion can’t find us. They have their Alioths everywhere.”

  “That’s why we don’t call the Noble Ring our home.”

  Beatrix’s mother’s hand reached her chest. She took a long gasp. “The Outer Ring?” It took her a few seconds to find her voice again. “You would have us live in that lawless territory where slavers, criminals, murderers, bounty hunters, and pirates roam freely. Why don’t you just kill us now?”

  Gavin’s soft smirk made it obvious he took the woman’s fears lightly. “I assure you, my lady. As long as you’re with us, the Outer Ring poses no danger.”

  “Says the pirate.”

  Beatrix moved protectively in front of her mother. She was certain that Gavin would not take this insult in stride. To her surprise, the captain didn’t make a move. Instead, he looked at the Palek people and said, “Come with us. The Bastion dogs will be here soon. I’m certain that many of you would rather be free with us, than live as prisoners of the Bastion.”

  Beatrix was dealt with another shock as the Palek gazed down at the floor, ignoring the captain’s pleas. Her people might have consisted of elderly folk and children, but they were still Palek. Where was their adventurous spirit? Their sense of defiance against tyranny?

  “I knew this was a waste of time,” grunted Jesemiah. “Lousy, good-for-nothings Paleks have no fighting spirit.”

  Before Beatrix thought it through, she reached for her sword. In one fluid movement, she rammed her elbow against Jesemiah’s chest, tossing him across the wall, and brought the tip of her sword to his neck.

  “Don’t you ever speak like that of my people,” she ordered, her frame shaking.

  Jesemiah’s companions, the female and male, pointed their metatons at Beatrix, but she didn’t care. She was fine with dying, as long as she took this blasphemous fool with her.

  “Kill her. She bled me!” thundered the pirate. Indeed, dark crimson blood was now flowing from his nose.

  The shots did not come, however.

  “Whose fault is that?” asked the captain. He nodded approvingly at Beatrix. “It looks like the Palek’s fighting spirit is alive and well.”

  The injured pirate gritted his teeth. “But… but…”

  “But nothing,” finished Gavin. “You will honor your new sister.” He looked at the two other pirates. “Put your arms down.”

  Beatrix understood what had just happened. Gavin knew, even before she herself did, that she was going to join them.

  “My daughter is not going anywhere,” said the older woman, doubt in her voice. A shaky hand landed on Beatrix’s shoulder. “You’re not going with them, right?”

  The young girl swallowed hard. She loved her mother, this much she knew, but she also knew that she could no longer stand by idly as her people were tossed aside by the Bastion. She turned to the woman who had seen her grow from a freckle-faced little girl to the woman she was today.

  “I have to go,” said Beatrix.

  “How can you do this? To your people. To your father!”

  Beatrix swallowed the lump on her throat. “I’m doing this for my people.”

  “No!” Not since that gray morning when her father had left with the small Palek army, never to return, did Beatrix recall her mother be this firm. Her entire body shook and her voice quivered, but she stood her ground. Perhaps there was hope for her after all.

  “I’m leaving,” said Beatrix. She sheathed her weapon and took a step away from her.

  She loved her mother. Her mother had always been there for her, protecting her from the evils of the world. But now it was her mother who was holding her back; Beatrix had outgrown her care.

  “Come back here!” cried the woman.

  Beatrix trudged into the connection tunnel. She didn’t look back, for if she turned and gazed into those tired eyes, she feared she might not go through with leaving.

&nb
sp; “Beatrix.” The voice that had been full of anger, now turned pleading. “Get back here. If…If…if you leave you will never be welcome back as my daughter ever again…”

  Beatrix stopped. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears, and for a split second there was only silence. The words of her father came alive within her. It is where my father’s father, and his father’s father lived out their life. And it is where you will one day raise your family. We must cherish it and protect it.

  “So be it, Mother,” she said. With those last words she walked into the pirate vessel, leaving behind the loud wails of her hysterical mother.

  Chapter 6

  When Xalen awoke the next day, he had to open and close his eyes a few times, then pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t still sleeping. If his dream was to be believed, he had been recruited by an Alioth, one of the most legendary Alioths to be exact, and been taken to Zizor Dojo, one of the many Alioth academies spread across the galaxy. Here, he was to train and become an Alioth warrior himself.

  Yup. Definitely a dream. He applied more force to his pinch. The skin on his right arm became a purplish red. The pain travelled down his arm and to his hand. Ouch. He let go. Not a dream, then.

  His eyes took in his surroundings. He was in a rather large room. Despite the size of the room, however, there wasn’t much that adorned it. There was the thin, double-layered quilts where he had slept in the far right hand corner. At the center of the room was a stubby, four-legged table with a green tea pot on it. On each of the four walls hung a painting depicting natural sceneries. A crooked tree resisting the harsh winds. A crashing waterfall dropping over three hundred feet. A family of trees rising from a pristine purple lake. A gray spaceship with the word Driftwood drifting in front of a blue planet.

  That’s right! The memories of the previous night flooded back at once. After their talk, Sensei Kayos had led him to the dormitories, a series of rectangular buildings situated at the bottom left end of the dojo. She had told him to wake up early to join the other students for breakfast. Which judging from his growling stomach, didn’t sound like a bad idea.

  Crack! Crack!

  The two strong bursts that rocked the small wooden door put him on his toes. The female voice that followed it was even stronger.

  “Open the d’or.”

  A cold chill ran down Xalen’s spine. If he didn’t know any better, he would venture a guess that the voice coming from the other side of the door belonged to the lady that had put Reave on edge the day before: Junia.

  The voice thundered once more. “I said open the d’or!”

  There was no mistake. The voice definitely belonged to the female Feehan. But what did she want with him?

  Despite his apprehension, he found himself stumbling as he rushed to the door. He might not know what the woman wanted, but he knew enough to know he didn’t want to get on her bad side.

  “Coming,” he called out. He reached for the handle, but before he could open it, the door was flung open. Xalen was sent sprawling to the floor. His rear was the first to hit the hard, wooden floor, followed by his back and then his head.

  The stern woman looked down at him, her frown showing nothing but extreme disappointment.

  “Get up,” she barked. “We h’ve much area to cover, and l’tle time do so.”

  “Where are we going,” asked Xalen, confused.

  Junia’s eyes turned a light orange, which judging by the deep exhale she had just let out, could only mean she was frustrated. “I’ll let you know on the way.”

  Opting not to anger the woman any more than he already had, Xalen got to his feet and scrambled behind her.

  The sun had just risen, and a soft breeze caressed his hair. Dozens of students headed noisily in uneven lines into a domed red building. It was shaped like the top of a helmet, except much, much larger. Judging from the salted scent of meat emanating from it, Xalen was certain it had to be the cafeteria.

  “Keep m’ving,” said the Feehan without stopping or turning.

  “Y…yes, Ms. Junia.”

  Junia stopped and did a quick turn of her head, so that she was face to face with Xalen. “I am a sensei of this dojo,” she said irritably. “You will refer to me as sensei or Sensei Barteau.

  “Yes. Of course.”

  She turned and continued her quick pace. Xalen fell behind her, matching her pace. Besides the soft brush of their boots, the rest of the walk was a quiet one. They moved out of Zizor’s large gates and into the surrounding forest. Dozens of trees and plants he’d never seen before dotted the land. There were long, skinny trees with intertwining branches that rose beside shorter, much stubbier trees whose branches hung to the ground, making nearly impossible to pass through.

  Xalen wasn’t too keen on passing beside the plants either. Many of them were purple or red, and they moved from side to side as if they were alive, waiting for their next meal to pass.

  “Keep your distance from the Maul,” said Junia, pointing at a particularly long-stemmed plant that had a red snout at the tip. Its jaw-like end opened and closed in uneven intervals. “It’s a carnivorous plant that will d’vour y’ur arm if you stray too close to it.”

  Xalen made it a point to bring his arms a bit closer to his body and to stay directly behind his Feehan guide.

  Junia moved under the shade of a long tree and onto a thin path that seemed to cut directly into the heart of the forest. He wanted to ask, once more, where they were headed. What business could they possibly have in the forest? But despite his curiosity, he refrained from uttering a word. He knew the woman wouldn’t entertain his inquiries. So why bother?

  Stray rays of sunlight made their way through the openings created by the trees above, tanning his skin to a soft brown. He noticed that Junia’s skin remained as snowy white as ever.

  Sensei Barteau’s gait intensified four hours into their walk as they entered a dense section of the forest. Gone were the streaks of light, or the warm touch of the sun. It had been replaced by a cold, almost menacing darkness. The deeper they descended down the path, the more jagged the leafless tree branches became, to the point that they now resembled long, skeletal hands reaching out for him, threatening to envelop him in their icy grip.

  Xalen inhaled deeply, allowing his breathing to settle back to normal.

  “They’re only trees,” said Junia, no doubt noticing his apprehension. “They can’t h’rm you.”

  Xalen gritted his teeth, not too confident in the Feehan’s words. The forest had carnivorous plants, after all. Perhaps it had carnivorous trees as well.

  Junia whispered under her breath. Xalen didn’t catch everything she said, but he did make out, “I don’t know why Reave brings these c’wards.” The rest of the words were muffled by the eerie whimpers coming from somewhere within the dense forest.

  Xalen’s heart stopped for a second as the precarious situation he was in dawned on him. He was alone in a forest with a trained warrior who had very openly made her disdain for Reave known. What if hurting Xalen was her way of getting back at Reave for whatever he’d done to her? What if she planned to have him disappear here, within the forest, where no one would ever come looking for him? Suddenly he felt like the biggest idiot in the galaxy. Why did he agree to come with this woman without knowing her intention? Why didn’t he at least check with Sensei Kayos first?

  The whimpers grew stronger and louder, as did Xalen’s heartbeats.

  A hand landed on his shoulder. He jumped, barely suppressing a scream.

  “C’lm d’wn. I don’t need no one passing out on me.” Her neutral brown eyes, stared into his and he had to look away. “If you can’t get through a s’mple hike, how do you hope to b’come an Alioth?”

  Xalen scratched at his neck. “No.” He inhaled deeply. Some of his nervousness left him. “I can handle this.”

  Junia frowned. “I hope so.”

  She let go of him and continued down the dark path. The humid air did not seem to bother her in the slightest. Xalen c
ouldn’t say the same about himself. He was sweating from every pore on his body. The ever-louder whimpers were only adding to his nervousness. Though they now sounded more like a machine, instead of a human.

  A moment later, Junia ducked under a number of low-hanging branches and muscled through a curtain of leaves. Xalen mimicked her. He waved the green leaves aside, and was instantly welcomed by a scent of burnt oil, a scent unlike any he’d ever smelled before. It travelled into his lungs, sending him into a fit of loud coughs.

  His chest felt like it was on fire. He tried to exhale, but the scent made its way down his throat nonetheless.

  Despite his struggle to breathe, his eyesight remained unaffected. He took in the large clearing that had been made by cutting down dozens of trees. (The countless tree stumps still protruded from the dirt). A metal cabin that was out of place in the otherwise woodsy surroundings rose from the center of the clearing. It consisted of thick metal sheets clumsily fastened together by thin bolts. It had no windows, though it did have oval openings where smog was pouring out. Within it, the whine-whimper emerged louder than ever. Then, quite suddenly, it stopped. A moment later, a creaky door that was barely hanging by its hinges swung open with tremendous force.

  In the opening stood a short human man wearing an apron that was perhaps white eons ago, though it was now stained with so much brown and black that it was hard to tell for certain. He had a long mustache that curled into an unnatural swirl at both ends. He was completely bald, though he did have a few lingering strands of hair coming from the side of his head. His left eyebrow had been completely burnt off, the right, however, was still intact.

  The man took one look at Xalen and flashed a wide, nearly toothless smile. “Still getting used to the fumes, I see. Don’t worry. Your body will grow accustomed to it in a few minutes.”

  Xalen was about to protest, certain there was no way he could ever get accustomed to the fumes, when he realized that he could breathe without the burning sensation assaulting in his lungs. There was still a lingering warmth in his chest, but nowhere as bad as when he’d first arrived.