She howled in frustration. This could not be the way her family’s legacy would end.
The ground was soft in the valley, and her young juntard would have an advantage with its reduced weight over the older ones. Yet the sheer distance they had traveled sapped the beast’s energy before they even got there. She looked at her twisted and broken death singer, strings frayed and split, and regret filled her thoughts; she would need it now more than ever. Looking ahead, she saw no obvious places for advantage. She was caught in the middle of the valley, where the ground was softest, and there was a complete lack of rocks and trees. The midstar was against her, and that would be to her disadvantage.
She looked back. They were now close enough that she could identify each of the riders.
The beast slowed even more, and she squeezed the right lobe so hard it began to glisten. The juntard shook its massive head as if it was batting away a fly. The animal’s trot slowed to a crawl, and then it simply lay down.
Hanging her head low she waited for the notes of death to come upon her. Her heart sank when, instead, her pursuers circled her with a caution that her reputation deserved.
“It’s a shame really. Another thousand punts or so, and you would have gotten away, I have no doubt.”
She looked up at the man she knew all too well. “My stars have all darkened. Do what you came to do and get this over with.”
A sinister smile appeared on his face. She never did trust a man with a shaved face. His hair was clinging to his neck and back, as she assumed hers was as well. She looked upon his ridge crown and thought about how he had lost his left half when his father cut it from his head. She had always felt pity for him because of it. Now all she felt was rage.
“What of my family?”
“All dead! You should have heard your father. He wanted to give me half his realm to spare his life. Didn’t even mention you, even after I killed your brother in front of him. All except your sister, of course. I think Unbiter fancies her. She seems to be a compliant sort. You, on the other hand, would sow chaos and discord my entire life. No, we will take you to your highly regarded citizens’ square and perform the makow for all those watching. It will signify the end of one era and bring forth a peace our realms haven’t witnessed since the time of the firsts.”
“Master, the trip back is long, and she is well known for her ferocity,” one of the others said. “In addition, bringing her back would be a rallying call for any supporters her family might still have. It might serve the Realms best if we kill her here and now.”
She looked upon the man she had known her entire life. Her counterpart, her would-be partner in life, had the unification of the Realms been successful. He was considering his words. She never despised him as much as she did right now.
“You’ve always had good judgment, Betrox,” he said. “I agree. It’s for the best it ends here. I, Brightbart, son of King Unbiter, do hereby announce your death to be lawful.”
He continued, deeply sarcastic. “I know your people believe deeply in the Hu va’ll, or whatever garbage. Would you like to make a final plea to your god?” It was clear he did not think she would take the time.
A single tear ran down her face, which surprised her. She never thought she had the ability to offer tears, but never before had she felt so deeply about anything. On her knees, she looked up at the sky of stars.
At first she thought to scream. Her rage, guilt, and shame were overwhelming. Instead her prayer came out as a whimper:
“Huvalla, please hear me. My family has always served you loyally, and we are all but dead at your feet, as we’ve been handed to our enemies. Send your partner to me, the warrior who defeated all the gods but you, for you won his heart. Let him vanquish my enemies, restore my people, and unify our realms. I will give him my lance and my rod. He can wield me as he sees fit or he can even sacrifice me at your altar. You are my only hope. If it is not to be, I ask only that you grant me immediate permittance into the viheim. I do not wish to endure in valem for judgment.”
“It’s a shame I have to kill you. I always did think you were the most beautiful woman of all Terrineia.” With a motion of his head he looked to the nearest rider carrying a death singer, who was quick to pull back his line and take careful aim.
They all waited the brief moment for the note to sound and the death to arrive. In the corner of her eye she noticed something odd in the sky. Before she could identify it, the telltale sign of the triple boom and rumble, one of the gods was comming down from the heavens. She remembered hearing about such events in the scrolls of long-ago stories. She watched the object get bigger and bigger at a breathtaking rate, and alarm filled her insides.
She took off running toward the midstar low on the horizon, leaving her beast behind. Her captors noticed her but were far more entranced by the approach of what they had always been taught was a false god. The small black dot began to turn into a large black dot that slowly turned to gray. Only then did it occur to him that they were in mortal danger. Brightbart and his followers all grabbed tightly onto the lobes of their own juntards, and the beasts took off in whatever direction they happened to be facing in the circle around her; some collided with each other. God’s chariot drove into the ground with a mighty force before Brightbart’s entire company of men and their Juntards as if they weren’t there, releasing flame and smoke as it continued toward the other side of the valley. The chariot must have hated the grass, which it flung in various directions, a trail of destruction was left behind as it slowed to a stop.
She was face-first, flat on the ground and completely covered by dirt and mud. With all her remaining strength she managed to reach above her head and feel the life-giving air. After several moments she made her way to the surface. Lying on her back, she waited until the air returned to her body. Once it finally did, she sat up and smiled that she was not dead. She offered a prayer of thanks to Huvalla and looked toward the mighty object from heaven, which was still releasing black smoke.
Filled with the assurance that this was her answered prayer, she trudged the soft ground to get to the one from the gods, and who had just slain the slayers.
***
Alex opened his eyes. He was immediately aware of the danger and realized he must have been unconscious at least for a time. Giving a quick thanks to his enhanced brain, he touched his display screen in front of him. It was not providing him with a lot of information except that the FTL engines were still active and were about to melt down. “Symboli, can you hear me?” There was still no response, and Alex tried to count the number of times he had been knocked or made unconscious in recent years.
The ship began to shudder violently, so much so that he couldn’t read anything on his display screen. The only thing he could do now was wait for whatever was happening to run its course. The sound of twisting metal was getting louder, and part of the bulkhead that held the main viewscreen was sheered from the wall as a section of the ship fell away, revealing a bright and gorgeous sky with a large mountain getting terribly close.
Alex was stuck in a chair now facing out toward a large, brown, flat planet with one mountain that was quickly rushing up to meet him. With no way to maneuver the ship, he resigned himself to just die watching a beautiful view no human had ever witnessed before. He was sure there was a torrent of wind whipping through the bridge, but his EVA suit protected him from the worst of it and allowed him an unobstructed view of the approaching mountain he was surely about to crash into. Just when he thought it was a sure thing, the ship cleared the ridgeline. Suddenly a flat, peaceful-looking valley came into view. What luck, he thought, then braced himself.
Milliseconds before the ship hit the ground he saw a group of indigenous people clustered together looking up at the ship, and before he could do anything, the ship crashed into them. “Sucks to be them. They were all going to die anyway; we all are,” he thought as dirt began to fill his field of vision and the shaking of the bridge became even more violent. He waited for
deaths embrace.
Moments later he opened his eyes. A large mound of dirt had now replaced the once-large curved bulkhead that served as the viewscreen. His EVA suit gauge read zero air remaining, and he wondered how long he had been without precious oxygen. Or perhaps the gauge was broken.
He unbuckled himself from his chair and reached up to unhinge his helmet, but discovered that his helmet was badly damaged where the clasp should have been. Still, he managed to force it open remove his helmet. A small part of the sky pierced through the mound of dirt before him. He forced a deep breath, thankful he wasn’t going to choke to death, but still concerned about the long-term effects of the air in this place. Resigned that he couldn’t do anything about it, he decided to see how much of the ship was left intact.
Leaving the bridge in shambles he stepped out into the corridor, which was nearly impassable, and looked up toward the emergency bulkhead separating the Hermes and the Dauntless, only to see nothing but sky.
Alex spent a couple of minutes trying to get his suit off, but its neck portion was damaged so badly that removing it seemed impossible without the use of some cutting implement; once he gave up he tried to pass through the corridor.
It took quite a while to move enough debris to get to his cabin. Once he got there he had to find a way to pry the door open. After perhaps far too long, he managed to crack it open, and then he was able to use more leverage to force it open nearly all the way.
Walking past a mirror half broken he gazed into it and was shocked to discover that his hair was falling out, leaving only his eyebrows. Assuming he got dosed with radiation from the alien ship, he considered how long he had left to live. Going straight to his bed he unhinged his mattress and lifted up. Hiding under it was the tank that held Symboli’s lifeforce; it was still active and seemingly OK.
“Thank God for small miracles,” Alex muttered. Then he heard something behind him. He spun quickly and looked over a strange humanoid standing in his doorway. She appeared to be as battered as he, if not more so. She had an odd semi-bone crest that started above the ears and went around the back of the head. Thick hair grew above and below the crest. Her clothes were either in tatters, or perhaps she didn’t wear much. Remembering the group of people he must have crashed into, he immediately became concerned.
“Are you OK?” Alex asked calmly.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.” A blood-curdling scream came from the woman.
“AHHHHHHHH!” Alex screamed in response.
The story continues in Book 4, Terrineia
Special Thank you those who helped make this possible.
Shannon Fairley, Katie Birdwhistell, Connie Kellermann, Deja Watson, Nicole Dentremont, Cortney Davis, Jessica Iseman, Andrew Brostovski, Madison Drake, Lily Weiner, and Alice Riley.
This book was edited by Denise Tanyol.
Message from the Author
Thank you so much for your time and attention with this story. I endeavor to learn from my newbie writing mistakes and look forward to continuing the series. I am still on track for a 8 -10 book series and have half of the next book writen already. I am anticipating a early to mid-summer release 2019. Book four will be mostly locked into Alex’s point of view as he struggles to survive on Terrineia and tries to figure out a way to get home to warn everyone about the coming genocide to all life. I’ve had the most fun writing book 4 and it’s shaping up to be my favorite so far.
I am excited to hear what you have to say about this book, please leave your excellent reviews on Amazon and follow me on Goodreads, where I leave a few sketches and details in my blog about upcoming books. Some have used it to communicate or ask me questions about the series, which I am happy to answer.
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