by Trey Deibel
“We have another dropship down three kilometers south of your position, Kalvin. They may be under siege by the enemy. Can you head over to support them?” Commander Sizar asked over Kalvin’s intercom.
“Send word that relief will arrive as soon as available,” Kalvin replied. He placed his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Aegis, return to our hovercraft!”
From my spot, I kicked up and headed over to Kalvin. “Would you consider extending a hand and dropping us off closer to the warlord?”
“My apologies, my hands are tied. Unfortunately, another dropship is downed and may be in defense against our adversaries. Every moment spent repositioning your unit closer to the warlord places us farther from their crash. Moreover, there is not a smidgeon of doubt in my mind your unit will not be suitable for the operation at hand.” He turned and grabbed a rope as it wound itself up into the air fortress.
Landis announced, “Come on, everyone. Grab your gear and weapons, we're heading out. I’ll take point. Bruising Brothers, take the six. Everyone else, fill in the spaces.”
Captain Landis started down the left incline, heading northeast. On cue, we followed in her footsteps, making sure to spread out a few meters from each other. Uslar took second position behind Landis. Shadow-Walker and I came right after. Behind us, Benjamin slid down the sloped truck of the tree, revealing himself to us. Narrisa joined the lengthening line, with both Bruising Brothers taking the six. Three battle droids left by the Order of Aegis lined up beside us.
“This mission reminds me of how much I hate the forests,” Shadow-Walker, at my side, complained.
“Why?” I asked.
“The leaves are itchy, and the wildlife never seem to be friendly--”
“Any hint of wildlife would have ditched this place the moment our battle began,” I assured him.
“Would you like to repeat that lie to whatever ugly creature that is?”
Shadow-Walker pointed to a tree in the distance. Up on one of the branches, there was a large mammal half-covered behind leaves. It peeked down, and its curious, oval eyes studied us. A furless body and watermelon-shaped head portrayed the creature with grim emotion. With two of its limbs, the mammal grabbed the branch below, while another held the tree trunk. The last limb was free, waving in the breeze.
I scanned it with my cyberwatch. “Our database states it’s called a nujh - found only on Juster.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Harmless.”
We marched out through open grass which spanned a hundred meters in each direction before reaching the trees. “Did I ever tell you the story of my last experience with a forest?” Shadow-Walker treaded along the noisy grass.
“I don’t recall.”
“In my last experience with a forest, two of my squad mates vanished, and the third… hah, he went insane. He claimed his weapon was a reality warping machine. He told me he wasn’t killing the enemy, just moving their minds to another dimension where they were no longer alive. I’m telling you, nothing good ever comes from forests. That’s why dor’o live in safe, spacious mountains.”
“Only because your home planet, Dorrath, is damn near covered with just mountains. Simply put, your species had no choice.”
“We did when we merged with Earth and the three planets the qwayks inhabit. Yet, we still choose the mountains.”
Checking my cyberwatch, I confirmed we were going northeast. At the end of the open grassy field, a tree line appeared. Upon entering the forest, the surrounding trees were narrow. Like the trees surrounding our crash site, these trees opened up to the sky, letting in beams of light into the lush area. Bushes, fallen leaves, and grass filled the voids. Most trees were in groups of three to five trees, and each group of trees stood tens of meters away from the others.
To me, the area sang the song of joy. This system's sun brightened the forest. With no enemies in sight, this place was full of beauty. It was as if the area was untouched by anything other than nature. I was in awe of the moment, at least until Landis and Uslar stopped in front on me.
Then I noticed why. The forest seemed to change. A noticeable new tree line stretched horizontally as far as I could see, splitting the forest into two different environments. Contained within the ominous environment were trees easily four to five times larger than the narrow trees that hid us at the moment. Additionally, these gloomy trees seemed to hug against each other, concealing its secrets from our view. Branches, bushes, and other plants piled high up the trees, almost whispering to each other through the steady breeze. As if this environment didn’t have enough mystery going for it, visible mist evaporated out of the brush.
“What did I tell you about forests? I mean, look at that. LOOK!” Shadow-Walker pointed at the dark trees. “If that doesn’t say stay the hell out, then I have no clue what does!”
“I’ve heard stories about this place,” Captain Landis added. “From them, I learned it's an ancient forest called the Narrways. The plowsu ancestors deemed this place cursed and forbid anyone from entering, a law which has lasted to this day.”
“Of course! This mission just gets better and better.” Shadow-Walker trotted back and forth in a frenzy.
“There’s no use standing here with our thumbs up our collective asses,” I said.
I pushed into the thick brush. Forcing my way through the dense bramble and branches, I couldn’t see more than a meter in front of me. Landis was directly behind me, and, I assumed, everyone else was behind her.
“James, be careful. Little is known about this area.” Her curly brown hair got tangled in a branch.
“I’m on full alert.”
I broke through more branches. The Narrways had an atmosphere unlike any forest I'd ever been inside of. Dry air snagged the oxygen right out of my lungs. A steady breeze tingled my spine and gave me chills every few minutes. A stench of abandonment filled my nose, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched from afar. For some reason, I felt as if something in this forest was being elusive to us.
Over the span of five minutes, we'd tracked about fifty meters through the gloomy brush. 'Slow' was a cruel understatement.
“James, do you see that?” Captain Landis stopped me with a nudge on my shoulder.
I looked where she pointed. Through a crack between some branches, I saw a building in the distance. Squinting my eyes, I tried to make out more detail; however, all I could detail was chipping sliver rubble falling from the building’s walls.
“We can’t be far from that.”
I started moving forward. As I maneuvered through each branch, I planted foot ahead of foot. Each movement required some form of crawling, dodging, or leaping. As I continued to move, I could see an ever increasing glow through the brush. A few seconds later, I took my last step out of the forest and into a deserted town. What I saw metaphorically knocked me out of my platted boots.
Somehow, despite all logic, this ghost town had technology far more architecturally advanced than I could have dreamed. Emerald green and sharp silver buildings hovered off the ground, and water-based gears and pumps continued to operate to this day, aiding in the levitation of the buildings. Staircases were nothing more than floating platforms linked by shining threads. Many structures had carved statues hovering in a circular motion above their roofs, and the walls looked to have rotating gears and intricate sculpting. In awe, my curious gaze beamed from one wonder to the next. The forest we came from extended over the town, concealing it from the air. At the far end of the town, a temple seemed to rest in a mountain. A river streamed from the back of the town and, despite the impossibility, played a soothing tune through the walkways. Nature had reclaimed some of the area back, as trees and vines wove their way through the town. Along the walkways, the same mist from the forest flowed down into the Narrways like a stream.
“Look at that view.” Shadow-Walker stepped out from the trees. “I never thought I'd see another open space again.”
“Unbelievable… impossible, even,
” Uslar added.
He stepped ahead of me, examining the town. He then found his way to a pedestal that stood next to the beginning of a pathed walkway leading to the town. A few of us, including myself, joined him and looked down at a scroll under some protective glass. It was covered in strange symbols resembling a language. Uslar scanned the scroll with his cyberwatch.
“What language is it?” Landis asked.
“And what’s it say?” Ben wondered.
Uslar answered, “I hate to say it, but my cyberwatch doesn’t recognize the language. Sucks, 'cause I was in the same boat as you two.”
Ready to continue on, I looked back to make sure everyone was present - but noticeably absent were the Bruising Brothers.
“Landis, a situation has stepped forth. The Bruising Brothers seemed to have disappeared!”
Landis spun around. “What?”
“Last time I checked, they were right behind me,” Benjamin added.
“When was that?” Landis stuck her head back in the trees, looking from side to side.
“Only five minutes ago!” He tossed his hands into the air.
Using her cyberwatch, she sighed. “Alabon and Geariic. Report!” She waited for a few seconds. There was no response. “We don’t have time for this! They'll have to catch up. Battle droids, report your code numbers to me.” She stopped looking through the trees and waited as the battle droids came to attention.
“Twelve. Three. Eleven,” the droids voiced their codes with their monotone, robotic voice boxes.
“Twelve and three, go on ahead to the other end of the town. Report any interesting findings.”
“Copy that,” both voiced simultaneously and started down the left side.
Landis continued. “Eleven and Narrisa, both of you check out that large building in the center of town.” Narrisa nodded her head and took the lead.
Facing us, Captain Landis commanded, “The rest of us will split off into groups. Report any interesting findings.”
Benjamin, Shadow-Walker, and I walked one way, while Landis and Uslar walked the other. Following the tree line, we studied the area around us. Many of the structures on our side had similar geometric shapes.
“First the crash, now this. Why can’t we catch a break?” Ben broke off a branch and threw it down, frustrated.
“I’m sure the Bruising Brothers will--”
I stopped mid-sentence. Between two buildings, a human-like man stared back at me. White light radiated from his body. His slim, almost skeletal frame looked more like an image from a dream than from reality. Without warning, he faded away, leaving no trace of his presence.
Benjamin looked in my direction. “James...what’s the matter?”
“Either of you happen to see an out-of-place man over there?” I pointed to the spot where he'd been.
Both shook their heads.
Benjamin theorized. “Maybe it’s this place, bro. There's something eerie about it. Y’know that feeling you get when you’re being watched… like at the front of a class? I have that same feeling here.”
“Hah, I’m with you. But all jokes aside, I prefer it to the mystery-trees,” Shadow-Walker said with a chuckle.
“Well, the shivf has me curious.”
I jogged over in-between the two buildings. Benjamin and Shadow-Walker followed me. Both buildings had fallen to the ground, probably ages ago, and left tons of carnage. Rubble, chunks, and sections of these former homes lay stacked and scattered between the buildings. One of the water-based gears and machinery was spilling all over the place, and another seemed to be completely broken. I tossed over a few pieces of rubble - nothing. In the spot where the man had been standing was just dust and debris. He'd vanished. No evidence that a man stood in this spot existed.
“It’s like a black hole ate his existence away, because I sure don’t see a word of reason that could shed light on what happened,” I ranted out loud. Frustrated, I kicked a few boulders.
Shadow-Walker’s eyes were suddenly glued to one of the spots. “Yeah, umm… I don’t think we're the only unit here.” He pointed to a track outlined in a patch of wet mud.
“I don’t need to tell you what that is,” I added and looked down at the distinctive footprints of a dytirc. Unlike most intelligent species, dytircs tend to refuse the use of footwear because their strong exoskeletal bone structure and durable skin allow them to trot around in just about any environment.
Over the intercom on the cyberwatch, I spoke. “Captain, a problem has presented itself. We've discovered enemy tracks during our search and have reason to believe they're somewhere in this ghost town.”
“Roger. Narrisa, have you or the battle droids spotted any enemies?” Landis asked.
“Not at all. Now… I did, however, find something of interest,” Narrisa responded.
“Roger. James, have your team meet Uslar and me at Narrisa’s location.”
We headed to the largest building in town, at the center. Up the street we jogged. Jumping and dodging the vines and roots, we managed to arrive with time to spare.
From our perspective, it looked as though we were at a side entrance. As we moved closer to a walled-off area, we noticed a gate made to look like the pipes behind an organ descended and allowed us to enter the enclosed area. It was a graveyard; marked jars stood on pedestals, decorated with various gems and designer items, what looked like names engraved on the jars. There was no foul smell.
“What an eerie place.” Ben eyed around.
“Probably hunted,” Shadow-Walker teased Ben.
“There is no such thing.”
“Then explain the ghost behind you.”
“Come on, bro. I'm not that easy.”
“No harm in trying.” Shadow-Walker chuckled.
At the corner of the graveyard was an anomaly: A well. At least it was designed in a similar style, but it looked to serve a different, unknown purpose. In fact, it was the source of the mist flooding the ghost town and Narrways. I walked up to the well and peered over the edge. Out of the endless black, the mist vented out and over the stone. No water was present.
“Yo Shadow, if I dropped you down there, how long do you think it would take you to hit the bottom?” Benjamin joked, pretending to pick up Shadow-Walker.
Shaking out of Benjamin’s grip, he responded, “Less time than it would take me to throw you in first.”
Like the rest, the center structure floated by the use of crazy machines and water. To me, this place looked like a church or some other place of worship. A staircase lead upward to an archway. We climbed the steps and headed inside. Narrisa, along with the three battle droids and Landis, stood guard around.
One thing that really strikes a weird cord with me, was just how ordinary these rather extraordinary structures turned out. Simply put, while the exteriors of the structures exploded with intricacy, the interiors seemed so mundane by comparison. And the center structure was the prime example, having only a center mantle with a triangular object emitting a white glow and covered in the unknown language seen on that earlier seen scroll. This object took up half the room with the rest being used for thrones that surrounded the mantel in a perfect square.
“You all should take a look at this,” Uslar called from one of the rooms connected to the open area.
Walking through the archway, I saw Uslar in the corner, holding up a brightstone light. The beam of light revealed a full wall of ancient markings and drawings.
“Do you think it’s from the ancestors of the local species here?” Captain Landis asked Uslar as the rest of the crew walked in.
“Honestly, probably not. Look at the bodies… specifically the wings drawn out of their backs. Plowsu don’t have wings, and they are smart, but I’ve never seen architecture like this town. Floating statues, bottomless wells, and the unknown material used to build these structures. I’ve been scanning the material with my cyberwatch, and there is no known record of it. According to my cyberwatch, it dates back a few million years. And that
liquid that looks like water… turns out it isn’t. And guess what… it's an unknown substance too,” he informed us.
“So this place is damn old,” I said with a shrug.
“It's more significant than just the surface value. Like… take this, for example. It's estimated that most civilizations with streets and sidewalks will be covered in vegetation in just a quarter of a century. After three hundred years, metal constructions will crumble to the ground. After ten thousand years, all that should be left of a civilization are stone constructions and plastic, which can last several hundred thousand years. Here we are, in a civilization millions of years old - and it's just now starting to decay.”
“Sounds like the devisors,” Narrisa announced from the back of the room.
“Who? Don’t stop now, tell us more,” Uslar begged.
“Our species is old - older than any other known species in this galaxy… except for the devisors. In school, we were told they left behind monuments for our species to find. A location similar to this one exists on our home world, Maelkiin. The tech helped our species advance at a faster rate than most of the other intelligent species in the Milky Way.”
“So why haven’t any of us heard of these devisors?” Uslar stopped looking at the markings on the walls.
“Simple. All three of your species aren’t as open-minded as ours.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ben chuckled, crossing his arms.
“Let me put it this way: How long was it before humans accepted the existence of alien life forms?”
“My grandfather said it was a long process.”
“And your government at the time tried to conceal that fact before easing in the public, you see?”
“Yeah, yeah. I see what you mean. You’re saying Earth’s sub-government is hiding their existence.”
“Not at all. I’m saying they refuse to acknowledge the devisors' existence altogether. They believe the devisors are a myth. My species sees differently.”
“Whether the devisors exist or not, I came across another town like this with the Bruising Brothers two years ago. So me personally, I can’t find another explanation for the existence of million-year-old towns made with similar designs,” Captain Landis opined.