Chapter 3 (Published version)

an excerpt from the third chapter of my book Chariots of Heaven

CHAPTER 3

 

 

The morning air was cool and humid as the red-orange sun still hung low on the horizon. The dew from the cool night had not yet evaporated and Kira could hear the birds beginning to rustle and chirp in the nearby trees. She pulled the strap of her leather satchel over her head and rested it on her shoulder. Pulling her long brown hair out from under the satchel’s strap, she tugged at the sheath on her waist, confirming its presence. Her shale stone knife inside it held fast. The satchel rested comfortably on her opposite hip. Inside the bag, she had packed a skin of water, some fruit and berries, and a small portion of jerky. She knew the journey was long and that there would be no guarantee of dinner, but she couldn’t risk weighing herself down if she hoped to make the journey in under a day.

Kira squinted in the low hanging sun as she peered up at her uncle Druin. He had a frown on his face. He didn’t think she should go, but knew he wouldn’t be able to convince her to stay. He had learned the hard way that Kira was a stubborn and headstrong girl, much like her mother had been. The two were more alike than either would have admitted, and he knew that if his sister was still alive, she’d be quite proud of her daughter.

He had witnessed firsthand Kira’s headstrong nature by being the one to teach her how to hunt and fight. At first he had refused to instruct her as it wasn’t customary for women to go to war, let alone on the hunt, but eventually he gave in. Since then, she had become exceptionally strong and fast, and was by far the greatest warrior in the village, although he would never admit it in front of the others.

Kira reached out for her spear, but Druin paused a moment before handing it to her. “I wish I could come with you…” he lamented, as he tested his ankle again. He was immediately punished by a sharp, shooting pain. Wincing he asked, “Are you certain that you want to do this?”

“What choice do I have? Just sit here and watch him die?” She shook her head. “I can’t let that happen.” Looking down at her sister, Kira saw that she had tears in her eyes again.

“Please let me come with!” Kaya pleaded as the tears rolled down her cheeks. “I can help! I promise!”

Kira grabbed her sister’s hand, her heart breaking as she shook her head no. “I’m sorry. This time I have to go alone.”

“Why?!” Kaya protested.

“It’s too dangerous. I shouldn’t even be going, but no one else can, or will. You need to stay here with Uncle Druin and Yamara. Take care of them while I’m gone.” Kaya tried again to protest but Kira pressed on, “Don’t leave father’s side either, until I come back. You understand me?”

Crying too hard to speak, Kaya gave in and nodded her head. Kira let go of her hand and turned back to the others. Wiping the tears that were welling in her own eyes, Kira tried to compose herself. Letting out a long breath she began to walk towards the village gate.

“Good luck,” her uncle called.

As she passed through the village’s gate she looked back over her shoulder and could see that Druin, Yamara and Kaya were still watching her. She waved and they waved back. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be back soon enough, she thought as she turned back and quickened her pace. She knew she would have to be fast; as there was precious little time.

After a few minutes she reached the top of the first hill and stopped for a moment to survey the path ahead. Rolling hills, strewn with occasional trees, sprawled out before her for miles, but despite how far she could see there was no sign of the Black Wood. She knew it would be a few hours before she’d be able to see it and she wasn’t looking forward to that. Checking her satchel and knife one last time, she firmly grasped her spear and began to jog down the hill towards her destination.

 

* * *

 

 

Velion’s smile faded for a moment. Seeming to remember something, a dark look passed over his face. Looking away from the projection of the planet, he asked, “Have we conducted a scan of the surface yet?”

Aeria, slightly disappointed by his lack of enthusiasm, replied, “No… not yet father. We won’t be within scanning range for about another day. The image on the holoprojection was collected from one of the scouting drones I dispatched a few days ago.” She smiled, hoping to hear his praise.

Velion’s eyes returned to the projection before him. Still looking grim, he said, “I see. Well then that gives us plenty of time to make preparations. We will need to assemble scouting teams in order to survey the surface for any mineable deposits. We will also need to prepare a fighter squadron to escort the scouting teams.” He paused for a moment, thinking to himself. After a several seconds he finished, “I will also travel to the surface myself, so my ship will need to be readied. Do you think you can handle all of that?”

Disappointed by his coldness, she responded, “Of course, Father. Should I also dispatch a messenger back to Tython to report on our success?” This time, her eagerness betrayed her.

Velion scrutinized her and coldly he replied, “Seeking glory again, are you? No, we will not send a messenger. I want to stand before the council myself and tell them when I am ready. All in good time, Aeria. Now go; leave me to my meditation.”

After kneeling once more, Aeria stood to leave. She marched out of the cavernous room with less confidence than when she’d entered, feeling frustrated at her father’s indifference to the news. She felt a surge of anger as she made her way out of the chamber. He hadn’t even acknowledged that she was the one to find it! Instead he just sent her on another errand, as if she hadn’t just discovered the most precious of treasures. They had only been searching for it for thousands of years. And what was that look he had on his face? She wondered to herself, as the massive doors behind her quietly slid shut. She rarely knew what her father was thinking, but she had never seen him with such a grim look before. Or had she?

As she walked back down the long corridor she searched her memory. Closing her eyes, a flash of a memory came to her. She remembered running through the courtyard outside of her home on Tython; the Goralia trees were in full bloom and the sweet smell of their blue flowers filled the palace courtyard. She wasn’t supposed to be there, but she had skipped out on her lessons with the high priest. He was a boring old man, and a lesser one at that. It was silly that she had to learn from him, considering she was of royal descent and he was part of the lowest caste. Aeria recalled how irritated she had been that day, but could no longer remember the reason why.

She remembered running up the steps and hearing raised voices coming from within her house. Bending to hold her ear against the keyhole, she tried to listen through the door to determine who was inside but she was unable to understand the words or who was saying them. She decided to crawl into the bushes under one of the open windows. From there she peeked into the living area and saw her father arguing with her uncle Hadius.

She remembered overhearing Hadius say, “You know as well as I do that it didn’t happen that way! He’s meddled with something that could undo us all! We cannot ignore this! What happens if it gets out and the Centuri discover our weakness? It could destroy everything we’ve worked for!”

“But it can’t be true, Hadius. Why would he have lied to us? How do you know this source can be trusted anyway?” Aeria recalled how skeptical her father had looked.

“Forget the damn source! You are missing the point, Velion. We know that he and his men were overpowered. The only way that that could have happened is if they had used the armor and weapons! Think about the consequences of such a scenario.”

And there it was: the look on her father’s face. There was no mistaking the memory. Aeria knew he had had the same look then as he did a few moments ago. She stopped short in the corridor and pondered aloud, “What does it mean? What were they arguing about? ‘They had used the armor and weapons’? Who had? Not the lesser ones, surely.” She let out a snort of derision and started walking again, shaking off the idea. She knew the lesser ones could never use their armor or weapons. It was their genetics that prevented them from integrating with the technology the way she and her family did. In fact it had been countless years since any species outside of her family could use the technology….

Pushing the thoughts from her mind she returned her focus to the tasks ahead of her. She had much to do and not a lot of time to do it. After passing an intersection of four hallways she approached another set of doors, but this time they did not open. Protruding from the left side of the large white marble doors was a round glowing orb that pulsated with a dim green light. Aeria placed her palm around the orb and it lit up brightly. A moment later a low rumble could be heard. Aeria let go of the orb and stepped back. The green ball sank into the wall and like the doors to her father’s chamber, these began to silently glide apart. Instead of opening into a cavernous room, however, they opened to a small round room. Aeria stepped inside and turned around. The marble doors closed in front of her with an almost inaudible thud and a panel of lights illuminated to her left. Without looking, she pressed the uppermost symbol and immediately felt the room start to move upwards. After a few moments it stopped moving and a hidden door behind Aeria quietly slid open. Turning around, Aeria stepped into a large and dimly lit room.

The room was wide and had two levels; the door Aeria entered through stood on the edge of the higher of these two levels. This upper platform stretched out approximately thirty feet in front of her and curved forty feet to either side of her, forming a semi-circle. At the center of this upper level was a large throne-like chair, flanked on both sides by two smaller chairs. In front of each stood a short, white pillar that resembled a stalagmite protruding from the floor of a cave. At the top of each of these rounded pillars rested a glowing green orb; similar to the one that Aeria used to open the doors below. On the outside curve of this higher level sat several work stations, each with large holographic screens that hung above rounded control consoles. In front of each console was a small stool. All of these work stations were being operated by individual soldiers wearing black metallic armor.

A set of steps leading to the lower level sat at each end of the semi-circular platform. This lower level was also filled with various control consoles that sat in three parallel rows, the first and third stretching the width of the room. The middle row was interrupted at the center by what looked like a large round table, the top of which consisted of a shimmering crystal surface illuminated from below by a dim blue glow. At the very end of this lower level, opposite to where she had entered, stood a wide flat wall approximately eighty feet wide by forty feet tall. This wall was covered in the same shimmering crystal surface as the round table below it, and was also illuminated by a faint blue glow.

As she entered the room, all of the soldiers on both platforms ceased their work and stood to attention. A tall man, who had been standing next to the large throne-like chair, turned on his heel to look at Aeria. His long silver hair hung gracefully down his shoulders, shimmering in the dim light as he moved to greet her. With a smile the man bowed gracefully at the waist and said, “Mistress Aeria.”

With only the slightest of movements, Aeria nodded at the man. At this gesture the soldiers around the room quietly returned to their consoles, and continued their work.

Standing back up, the silver haired man asked with a tone of excitement, “Well, Mistress, what did your father have to say?”

“Never mind that, we have to begin our preparations for landing on the planet,” she replied curtly. Immediately the sting of the short answer could be seen on his face and Aeria knew he was as disappointed by her answer as she had been with her father’s reaction.

“Of course, Mistress. What would you have me do?”

 

* * *

 

                The muscles in Kira’s legs were beginning to throb and her feet were going numb. She’d been jogging for what seemed like an eternity. By the warmth of the day and the height of the sun in the sky she could tell it was somewhere near midday. Stopping to catch her breath she examined her surroundings. She had just come out of a grove of trees and was standing at the bottom of a steep, grass covered hill.  She knew that she was getting close and suspected that when she got to the top of the hill before her, she would finally be able to see her destination.

                Dropping her spear to the ground, she opened her satchel. Pulling out her water skin, she decided that this was as good a place as any to take a break. Nearly collapsing, she threw off her satchel and dropped to the ground exhausted. Unplugging her water skin, she began to frantically gulp down the refreshing liquid. She drank until she started to gasp for air, but not wanting to consume all of the water, she pulled the skin away and let out a long breath. She wanted to drink the rest, but she knew she had to conserve it for the trip back. There was still a long way to go and she would need it before the end. Refitting the plug, she placed the skin back in her satchel. Feeling the pangs of hunter tug at her stomach, she pulled out a large red apple from the bag and began to ravage it. She knew Yamara would have scolded her lack of manners if she could see her now, but she didn’t care. No one would know way out here. 

The apple was sweet and ripe. She ate it quickly, barely taking time to breath between bites. Nibbling all the flesh from the center, she tossed the core into a nearby bush and laid back in the grass.

Stretching her legs out and placing her hands behind her head, she stared up at the clouds for a moment. Closing her eyes she steadied her breathing and began to let her mind wander. She could have fallen asleep in the warm sunlight were it another day, but she couldn’t allow herself that luxury, knowing that there was so much to lose. Opening her eyes she looked up at the passing clouds again. The throbbing in her legs began to fade and her heartbeat finally slowed back to normal. She could feel her toes again and although she knew she should get up and start running again, she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. The cool grass felt too good against her back and she knew that she was making good time. A little break couldn’t hurt, she thought. I’ll make it back in plenty of time.

In all the time she’d spent running she hadn’t really thought about her father much. All she had been able to focus on was getting to the Black Wood as fast as she could, but as she laid there she couldn’t help but think of him now. He had looked so pale when she kissed him goodbye. What would Kaya do if she couldn’t get back in time? Assuming of course that she got back at all! The thought of her sister being left all alone was hard to bear. First their mother died, and now maybe their father as well? How would Kaya even handle that? Kira tried to put herself in her sister’s position but she couldn’t. She remembered what it was like when they lost their mother, but would it be the same? It couldn’t be, she thought to herself. Their father had been there for them when their mother died. He had taken care of them, had given them the love and attention that they needed to overcome the hardship.

Closing her eyes again, she thought back to those days. Her father was never the same after the loss of his mate and in the years that followed, he had grown quite protective of Kira and Kaya. They spent almost all of their time together; not that the village was large enough to be apart for long. The only time they would separate was when she went with the hunting parties or when she took Kaya to go foraging for fresh fruit. He would join them when he could, but most of the time there were other, more important matters for him to attend to. 

Even though the sisters went foraging often and always returned safely, he always had a peculiar look on his face when they left. One time Kira remembered asking him why he looked so worried. To which he had joked, “I just know how much trouble you and your sister can get into! Rarely is there a day where you two haven’t gotten into some sort of mischief.”

The memory made her smile as she stared up at the blue sky. His accusation, of course, was quite true, but the look in his eyes told her something different. It was as if he was worried he would lose them the same way he’d lost their mother.

The memory of her death still haunted Kira, but she pushed the painful images from her mind and closed her eyes again. She decided it would be better to just lay there and relax; to not think or worry about anything for a few minutes. Again she felt the soft tug of sleep, but this time the warmth of the sun and the cool grass on her back were too much to resist. She tried to stay awake, but the quiet rustling of the tall grass in the cool breeze was too soothing. After a few minutes, she had peacefully drifted off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Snap! A twig broke in the nearby grove of trees.

Kira shot up and looked around. Without thinking about it, she grabbed her spear and flew to her feet, ready to attack. With her open hand she wiped the sleep from her eyes. How long had she been out? She looked up at the sky. Judging by the position of the sun, she must have been asleep for at least an hour. What had woken her up? She looked around again, and after a few seconds of searching she spotted something moving in the trees. A shadow was darting from tree to tree, heading toward Kira’s left. Her heart started to race as she tried to figure out what it was. Why did I stop? How could I have fallen asleep? I should have kept going! She scolded herself. Crouching lower to the ground, she started to walk slowly towards the section of trees where the shadow was. She still couldn’t tell what it was, but by its movement, the creature didn’t seem to have noticed her. She stopped walking, hoping to avoid drawing its attention. Her spear, however, was still at the ready. If she had a clear shot she would take it, as she couldn’t risk having a predator following her into the Black Wood.

The shadow stopped moving to the left and paused for a moment. Kira held her breath, trying to remain as quiet as she could. After a few seconds the figure started moving again, this time heading in her direction. She could hear the rustling in the undergrowth grow louder as it moved closer to her.

Kira could feel her lungs desperately crying out for air, but she couldn’t risk giving away her presence. Her pupils dilated with fear, as the sounds of the movement grew louder and louder. She gripped her spear even tighter than before, as she knew her opportunity was coming. Once it moved beyond the inner layer of undergrowth she would have an open shot and she knew her only chance was to catch it off guard with a precise throw. If she missed, she would be forced to either flee or to fight with her knife, which would be no match for a sabercat or wolf.

The blood started racing through her veins as her adrenaline kicked in, making everything seem to slow down. She could see the brown fur of the beast through the foliage. It looked like a wolf’s pelt. Readying her spear, she calculated the amount of strength she would need to make the throw. She leaned back, starting to propel the spear forward when she heard a strange sound that made her stop <end sample>

Author's Note

Already Published, just looking for tips to help me with writing the second book in the series.