by S King
Three Suns
The Padrieg Series
S. King
Three Suns © 2020 by S. King. All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved. 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 permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover designed by Warren Design
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Printed in the United States of America
To the ones that left. Thank you.
Contents
Chapter 1 Crash Landing
Chapter 2 Pink Eyed Demon
Chapter 3 Breakfast and Facials
Chapter 4 Tag I’m It
Chapter 5 Shoot for Sport
Chapter 6 A Suit, A Plan, and A Fire Angel
Chapter 7 Face to Face with My Own Face
Chapter 8 Watching Stars
Chapter 9 Missing Parlan
Chapter 10 Battlefield Regrets
Chapter 11 You Can Rest Now
Chapter 12 A Missing Assistant and One Hell of a Kiss
Chapter 13 Perfection Doesn’t Exist
Chapter 14 The End Game
Chapter 15 Drowned in Me
Chapter 16 Boiling Point
Chapter 17 Hoorah
Chapter 18 I Against Me
Chapter 19 Sedation Darts and Broken Hearts
Chapter 20 Final Goodbyes
Epilogue Eikko
Glossary
Padrieg -The Purple Sun
Parlan -The Blue Sun
Pya – The Red Sun
Nakti – Night
Jutro – Morning
Tjedan – Week
Pepodne – Afternoon
Sati – Hours
Dana – Day
Godnat – Goodnight
Dolara – Dollars
Mjeseci – Months
Minuta – Minutes
Sekundi – Seconds
Jučer – Yesterday
Podreb – Funeral
Enamorats – Lovers
Mjesečni – Monthly
Dnevna – Daytime
Večeras – Tonight
Chapter 1 Crash Landing
“Ostana!” I looked over my shoulder after throwing the wind slicing blade at the projection of an Eyno.
Frowning, I pressed the halt button on the auto target producer and took off my gloves, “what do you need, Emric?”
He tossed me a weapon that resembled a fire handheld gun and nodded to the training field, “try it on one of those things and tell me how it feels.” He scratched his neck and kept staring at the device in my hand.
Shrugging, I pushed the proceed button on the auto target producer and turned on the device. The back end of the machine expanded to cover my hand, becoming one with my body while the front end expanded out, glowing a faint red.
“How do I make it fire?” I stared at the oncoming Eyno and waited for Emric's instruction.
“Squeeze the trigger and step back!” He had ducked behind the viewing case and was waiting to see how his invention was going to perform.
When the Eyno was close enough, I smirked and pulled the trigger, remembering to step back. Good thing I did too, the device shot out a powerful shot of acid along with a spray of bullets right in the Eyno's distorted face.
I halted the auto target producer again, turning to Emric with my arm raised, “did you make this?”
A broad smile broke across his face as he stepped out from behind the viewing case and came to stand in front of me.
“Do you like it?” I shifted my eyes from the now handheld gun to his sparkling sandstone orange eyes.
Like the majority of the purple sun society, Padrieg, Emric had the classic sandstone eyes that twinkled when he got excited and a smile that could shatter the darkest night with its brightness. He stood at a staggering six-foot-seven without his standard issued combat boots; his dark blond hair was closely cut to his scalp, as was most of the men in the military, and his body was toned passed ripped and bordered on intimidating. Granted, everyone in the combat unit needed to stay in shape because of the constant threat of invasion from Eynos.
Eynos were members of the red sun society, Pya, that had an affection for raining down terror and destruction like the things needed it in order to survive. They were ruthless in their tactics and even more so when it came to destruction during war.
I glanced at the fading hologram of the Eyno and surveyed the gun again, “yeah, I do actually, how did you come up with the firing mechanism?”
“Well, you know how most of the squadron relies heavily on their fire and wind abilities?”
I nodded, “it's the fastest way to handle a mob, isn’t it?” Raising my brow at him as I kept studying the weapon still clutched in my hand. Leave it to Emric to design a weapon that could save valuable time on the battlefield and protect the members of the Padrieg military.
"Right, but it's also the fastest way to drain our endurance during battle. We have to put a majority of our abilities in the firebombs and wind guns. So,” he shrugged his hulking shoulders, “what if there was a weapon that shot acid and arson bullets?”
I held the weapon up to the overhead drone light, “this is the result?”
“Exactly,” he smiled again, looking from me to the gun, “I'm thinking about bringing it to the Colonel.”
Handing it back to him I pointed to the device, “you should. It would be good to have something to use that won't drain us so quickly.” I grabbed several wind throwing knives and turned on the auto target producer again.
“Also,” he said from behind me.
I threw a knife to my right at an oncoming Eyno and scanned the area for more, “what?”
“I was thinking,” Emric always stalled when he wanted to ask something that he wasn't confident in. A cute quality that he held and sometimes used to his advantage.
I threw another blade to my right, “what were you thinking?” Catching another Eyno in the throat I glanced at my friend, “what is it?”
As I finished off the rest of Eynos, Emric finally spit out his question, “when we get off rotation next week, would you like to go to the new projection?”
Feeling my senses prick, I spun around and threw another knife at a surprise Eyno before turning back to Emric, “that sounds fun. Maybe we can invite Xerminara and Claud, I'm sure they're dying to get out of the field.”
He opened his mouth to say something when he decided against it and opted for a polite smile. “Sure. I’ll…” he scratched his head and pointed to the door, “I'm going to see Colonel, I'll see you večeras.”
I started to stop him to ask if he wanted to say something else, but he disappeared out of the training arena and left me standing there. Whatever it was I’m sure that he’d say it eventually, if it were important enough.
Brushing the thought aside and looking at my time piece, I knew that I'd better finish training before I had to get suited up and head out to my rotation on the real battlefield.
“Ok, Eyno, let's dance,” I slammed the proceed button on the ATP after flexing my fingers and cracking my neck to prevent my body from becoming stiff.
As the first hologram appeared I felt the heat surge through me as white flames bloomed out of my hands and laced around my arms; twisting out of the way of an Eyno I rammed my hand into its chest cavity before throwing a signature fire angel at another Eyno. I pushed my muscles and flames to their limit as a wave of Eynos came rushing from all angles. By
the time that I finished killing all the holograms, I was drenched from head to toe in sweat and was in desperate need of a hot shower.
Shutting off the ATP for the nakti, I made sure the drone lights were shut off and the training arena was locked down.
Making my way to the shower room, I passed several comrades but kept my eyes forward.
In Padrieg it was customary for soldiers and everyday civilians to only give a curt nod in acknowledgement. We weren't an emotional society and didn't show affection. Everything was to be handled with the utmost importance as if it were a business deal that had to be successfully closed with a high approval; every decision, conversation, encounter and relationship was nothing more than a business transaction with absolutely no emotions involved. That was how our violence and crime rate were so low in comparison to that of the Pya society and the blue sun society, Parlan.
I jogged down the iron stairs to the shower room, swiping my citizen ID bracelet across the monitor and waited for my designated shower supplies to come out of the automated drawer.
Life in Padrieg was orderly and operated on automation; without it, we would have to enlist the help of the Parlan society to fix anything that broke. That thought alone was nauseating and made me yank my shower supplies from the draw a little too forcefully.
“Please refrain from damaging the equipment,” the automated voice of the shower room said across the monitor, “enjoy your bathing experience.” A happy face appeared on the monitor as the shower room door opened with a whisper of a squeak.
“Freaking Parlan jerks,” I grumbled while I stepped through the entrance and followed the illuminated arrows on the floor and waited for my shower stall to open.
Parlan believed in relationships, lives, and anything else to be ran freely and carefree. They weren't wild but there was no form of order or respect amongst its citizens. Although, I personally, had never interacted with anyone from the blue sun society, I had a feeling that they let their emotions would get the better of them over some of the smallest things. At the thought, I didn’t know if I could handle the drama of someone from Parlan.
“Ana, are you in here?” My best friend’s, Xerminara, happy voice called out from a shower stall that was dinging with a warning.
“I am,” I swiped my wrist over the inlaid panel in the shower and pressed the start button for the hot water.
“Are you about to head out for rotation?” Her shower stall dinged a final time before thanking her for taking the time to bathe.
Clenching my teeth against the scalding spray I closed my eyes, “yeah, is it bad out večeras?” I turned around to let the boiling water hit my back and stopped myself from jumping away from the heat.
I had become appreciative for the scalding shower after one too many winter nights in the battlefield and almost losing my arm to frost bite. Needless to say, no matter how bad the hot water hurt I was not going to waste it.
“Not too bad, I think they had to pull back because of the firebomb the guys set off in their camps. For the time being, I think it's going to be pretty quiet for you guys večeras.” Xerminara was standing at my shower door, more than likely putting on her time piece and warrior tags.
I sighed in defeat as the first warning bells went off for the shower. Five minutes was just never enough.
“Anything else?” I wasn't trying to be rude to my friend, but I wanted just a few minutes under the hot spray to myself.
“Not that I can think of. Anyway, I'll see you later,” she rapped her knuckles on the plexi door and exited the shower room.
Maybe she was a mind reader, I thought to myself as I closed my eyes against the mildly warm spray of the shower and suppressed a groan at the final warning ringing through the shower room. There was no such thing as additional time for relaxing under the shower; five minutes was already pushing it as it were and the top officials of the purple sun society believed that the best way to end pollution or stop waste was to cut water usage by more than half. Among other things that were controlled, food and entertainment was also on the list.
Padrieg society only allotted two heavy meals a day with a small meal in between for only special circumstances, such as health or pregnancy. By cutting out a third meal, the society didn't know what the definition of overweight or fat was. In turn, we were healthier, stronger, and faster during battle which played to our advantage when the time came for us to go against the Eynos.
The shower bell alerted me that time was up, and I had one minute to get under the driers; shaking off the excess water from my arms and hands, I braced myself for the hot air that would initially feel cold. The rush of air hit me after a small count down and took care of the rest of the water from my body and hair.
“We hope you enjoyed the bathing experience.” The automated voice chirped as the drier shut off.
“As always,” I mumbled, pulling on my combat cargo pants and strapped my fire bomb gun to my thigh; grabbing my ten wind slicing blades, I sheathed each blade in their respective sleeves before pulling on my compression top and taking in a deep breath as the fabric melded to my skin and held my assets in place. Finally, I grabbed my warrior tags, clasping them into place; Xerminara said that it’d be an easy nakti for us but that didn’t stop me from saying my mantras and kissing my warrior tags before every battle without fail.
I stepped out of the shower room after lacing my combat boots up and headed for my domicile; looking at my time piece, I had time to grab my final meal before I had to meet Emric and my other comrades for a debriefing.
As I walked through the corridors of the warrior base, I surveyed all my comrades and the officials; some were working on diversion plans to overtake the Eynos western territory while others were discussing the dana to dana topics. Everything was the same as any other dana, but for one reason or another I felt like večeras was going to bring something that no one in the Padrieg society expected and I didn’t like it.
Pushing away my uneasy thoughts to the back of my mind, I stepped in front of the retina scanner and stared into the lens. Breaking into anyone’s home in Padrieg was next to impossible, thanks to the top officials mandating the iron workers to build impenetrable doors and shatter proof glass for the windows. Even the best of the best fire and wind wielding warriors couldn’t force their way through the structures and in turn, the residents remained safe in their homes.
“Welcome home Captain Shaye,” the automated voice of the retina scanner said as my door beeped three times and opened.
I smirked at the hologram of a woman from the Parlan society as I closed the door behind me and sat my training gear down in the open compartment.
“Ana, is that you?” My grandmother called from her room but made no attempt to come confirm my identity for herself.
My grandmother, Othala, had served her time in the army and survived a lifetime of attacks from Eynos. In turn, when she was given the opportunity to move up in ranks and have the voting power at the officials’ table, she didn’t hesitate to take the chance. If she chose that she was going to go back on the battlefield then she had that choice. I couldn’t say that I wouldn’t do the same, but I had a long way to go before I could even think about hanging up my combat boots.
“Yeah!” Making my way to the kitchen, I saw that my dinner was already in the self-heating compartment.
Another benefit, or down fall, of being a part of the army was the meals and drinks already being prepared for you. Options weren't allowed and substitutes were unheard of. The top officials of the military devised a specialized meal plan that never changed or deviated from the norm of healthy.
Sitting down at the table, I took the lid off my three-slot meal and stabbed the straw through the biodegradable cup. Kale with brown rice and grilled chicken made up my meal while a specially formulated protein and vitamin infused drink was my desert.
“How was training?” My grandmother came into the kitchen, only to get her own specialized meal from the delivery compartment.
&nb
sp; Othala was nothing like a grandmother should be. Sure, her once dark blonde hair was now crystal white and her smooth skin had its fair share of lines and wrinkles, not to mention her battle wounds; but none of that mattered when it came to her being able to still use her fire abilities as well as fight. Even though she was well into her eighties, Othala could take down a full-grown man in a matter of seconds without ever using her white fire. She was my idol and what I strived to be every time I looked at her.