Free Reading: NASTRAGULL: The Awakening Part 6 of the Nastragull Saga (Prologue & Chapter 1)

 

NASTRAGULL:

 

The Awakening

 

 Part 6 of the Nastragull Saga

 

BY

ERIK MARTIN WILLÉN

 

“Oh, hail the masses, and witness thy end.”

Prologue 

Silence enveloped the world, wrapping the palace like a shroud.

 

The creepy stillness was interrupted by a tremendous explosion, sending shockwaves through the entire building and causing dust and paint to fall like uncontrolled snowflakes, covering a huge bed inhabited by two unconscious children. 

The children came to simultaneously. Both were confused at first, having been awakened so very brutally; and then, from outside, came many more rollicking explosions, making the walls and floor rock as if the palace had been stuck by an earthquake. The children moved as if they were drugged, and started coughing because of all the detritus filling the air, which layered them with a gray-white coating that made them resemble two small ghosts. Both were trembling, not knowing what was happening; and then there came another thundering explosion that made the walls shake again -- but this time something powerful tore into them, followed by huge, gaping cracks emerging in the walls, while part of the ceiling fell onto the end of the bed, making both the children scream aloud. The same thing happened to the floor, making the bed jump. Again, the children screamed; and then the room shook even more. Smoke began to billow inside the bedroom, and flames lashed from the openings in the walls and the floor. 

Now they stared, bewildered, at each other. No words were needed, because both were utterly terrified. They embraced and held on hard. The silence returned, finally, and the little girl raised her finger to her mouth, indicating for her younger brother to be quiet just as he was about to say something. He nodded, looking very serious, making her smile for a moment while she tried to steady herself, to act calmer, knowing full well that her brother must be very scared. The crackling of unpent electricity sounded, followed by thick steam pouring down from the ceiling as the automated sprinkler system was activated, all overlain by the sound of the alarm. Yellow and red lights began to flash. 

“Brother, I don’t know what’s happening, but we must leave here at once. Do you understand?” 

The young boy stared at his sister, bewildered, and his eyes started to tear up. His sister shot him a most stern expression. “None of that weepy stuff, mister. Remember what you are.” 

The boy looked down and then up at his sister, nodding while fixing her with a sad and eventually somber expression. “Yes, Hoffsie... I... we...” He trailed off, not really knowing what to say. 

“And stop that baby talk, brother. Let’s get dressed and find Mom and Dad.” 

“But what’s happening, sis?” 

“Please, no questions, because I don’t have the answers. Again, we must find Mom and Dad.” 

With those words, the young boy’s eyes shone brightly, and he eagerly he got off the bed. Both of them wore only nightgowns; on two comfortable lounge chairs lay their morning robes, and on the floor were their slippers. The children ignored them, and stumbled around the room in search of their regular clothes, until they realized that their clothes just weren’t there. 

“Where’s our clothes?” 

“I dunno, Leckie, Dad or the servants must have taken them.” 

“We should head back to our own wing and get our stuff from our suites... by the way, why did Dad insist we sleep together in his and Mom’s suite?” 

“They said that they were going to end the war during supper, remember?” the girl answered. 

“Yes, and that when we woke up, everything would be over and alright. They said. Well, we’re awake, and everything seems wrong, don’t you think?” 

When the girl climbed out of the bed, she noticed a small, empty blue glass bottle on the bedside table. She picked it up and smelled it; she wrinkled her nose and sniffed again. 

“What’s that?” 

“The bottle from the medicine that Father said would help us sleep, remember?” 

“Oh, that. Didn’t taste very good... then again, no medicine ever does.” 

She smiled at her brother’s comment. “You do realize that although you’re only five years old, at times you sound like you’re fifty, brother?” 

“Right back at you, you old hag you. I’ll have you know that my sixth birthday is only days away.” 

She ignored the cheeky remark, and hurried towards the chairs to grab her morning robe and slip into her slippers. Her brother did the same. “By the way, how did the story end? The one Father told us,” he asked. 

“You mean the one about creation, the tree and the dragons?” 

“Yes, that one.” 

“Brother, I have no idea; I fell asleep before the ending.” 

“So did I. I’d like to hear the ending one of these days, though.” 

“You and me both.” 

They hurried through the suite towards the doors, opening them slowly to peek outside. They then crept through the wide hallway beyond. The once-beautiful, sparkling corridor, supported by marble pillars twice as thick as the children were tall, was a hot mess. The steam sprinkler system was fighting the fires that had popped up all over the place, so the floor was ankle-deep in water. 

They soon came upon two small black sets of armor, like those of ancient knights, hung on hangers next to two sarcophagi. 

“Look over there, our armor!” the girl pointed out. “We should just take it... but why is it here and not in our suites?” She stared suspiciously at the armor, and then at the two cerametal coffins. Next to the suits of armor, on small ledges, were two personalized wrist computers. 

The crackle of the fires and thumping explosions outside the castle continued, and time and again the building quaked. 

“No -- Mom will get upset,” the little boy protested. “We’re only allowed to wear our armor on special occasions, like ceremonies and whenever we travel between worlds. Besides, your suit is still missing the boots. Remember, after you broke one of them, you couldn’t activate the energy field or the strength mode? So there.” 

“Yeah, well, I think we should still put them on, don’t you? Or do you want to run around the castle in slippers and robes?” 

The boy smiled, and then raced to his armor and started getting dressed, while the girl looked on dubiously. She noticed a computer pad on a desk nearby. She picked it up, and it turned itself on. She began reading, and as she did her eyes widened and she paled in horror. She began shaking, and despite having told her brother not to cry earlier, a tear slowly tracked down her face. 

“Did you know that this armor grows as we do?” Ah-Leck looked up when his sister didn’t respond, and asked, “What’s wrong, sis?” 

She sighed, then dried her face, nodding determinedly. “Nothing, bro... I’ll tell you later. Now let me help you with your armor.” 

After she’d helped her brother, she put on her own armor, less the missing boots. The set her brother wore was fully activated, a faint bluish light filling the armor’s engraving, forming  a protective force-screen. She took the computer pad and used the wristcomp to transfer the software to her armor. She then smashed the pad on a sarcophagus, while her brother looked on, dumbfounded. “Why’d you do that?” 

In a stern voice, she replied, “I told you, I’ll tell you later. Now let’s get going.” 

The long corridor outside the suite was littered with bodies, some facing each other, holding daggers thrust into each other’s chests; others had apparently taken poison. Some still held onto the little blue bottles. The children stared at the horrific scene in silence, both shivering and very afraid as they held onto each other. The girl tilted her head, and then walked up to one of the bodies that lay on a couch along the wall. He was an older man, dressed in a typical servant’s outfit, and was holding onto one of the bottles. She grabbed the bottle and sniffed at the opening, then gave it a suspicious glare. “Must’ve been poison,” she muttered to herself, wrinkling her nose and eyebrows. 

Farther down the corridor, she saw a 3-D holo-image of their parents floating over a pillar. Facing the holo were numerous soldiers, all of whom seemed to have been injured, given all the bandages on their limbs; one had a bandage wrapped around his head. They were all dead. Some were still kneeling, though most lay draped over each other, having succumbed to a final salute to their leaders. 

“What’s going on? What’s happening, sis?” Ah-Leck demanded. 

“I don’t know, but something is definitely wrong. We should proceed with caution, Leckie... and stop asking me what’s going on, would you?” 

They sneaked through the damp corridor carefully, avoiding stepping on any dead people, though they had no choice but to track through the near-continuous pools of blood. Hundreds of dead servants and a few guards littered the grounds. Most had taken poison, while many of the dead had knives protruding from their chests. They stopped by two guards who had apparently died by shooting one another. A very few of the bodies still moved, making strange mumbling sounds. Some just stared at them, saying nothing as their own life forces left them. A few of them smiled at the children, while some cursed them, giving them guilty and angry stares. 

The girl noticed her brother had starting shaking again. She’d never really stopped. Meanwhile, dark, thick smoke started to fill the palace, making both of them choke and cough. “Ah-Leck, don’t look at them and don’t say anything; there’s nothing we can do for them. Now, we must go on to the armory and get my boots, and then we have to find Mother and Father,” she whispered gently. 

Ah-Leck sniffled; he nodded his head after wiping away a tear. “Hoff, what’s happened?” 

“Ssss, I don’t know, but we must be silent; I have a very bad feeling.” 

“Look, look over there.” 

“At what?” 

Ah-Leck ignored his sister and ran to the body of a woman lying on her stomach. Once in a while she crawled a bit, trying to get up. “Ah-Leck, don’t!” Hoff shouted, but it was too late. 

He kneeled on the blood-soaked floor next to the woman. “Tinka, Tinka, it’s me, your favorite!” 

The woman rolled over and gave him a tired smile when she recognized him, even as blood trickled from her mouth. She held one hand clasped over a gory wound on her chest. 

“Oh, kids, kids,” she whispered, “I was on my way to you... to help you. But someone s-shot me... don’t know who. Be careful. Trust no one. Your parents didn’t want you... the enemy...” 

“Tinka, I know... please don’t say anything more.” Hoff nodded towards her brother, and the old woman nodded back while gasping and trying to smile, hiding her pain. 

Tinka tried to catch her breath, and then stammered, “Your parents, didn’t want you to... I diluted the vial... couldn’t let them harm you...  a strange voice in my head warned me and told me... what I had to do.” The old woman trembled from the strain of speaking. “I’ve known both of you since you were born, and I can’t let anyone harm my babies... you, you must hide, and eventually leave this place... leave this world, and you must survive... you must... and never, ever let the enemy find you. Promise me, promise me, both of you.” Suddenly, she sat straight up and grabbed each child by the arm, holding on hard, almost shouting, “Promise!” 

“We... I promise.” 

“I promise too, Tinka,” Ah-Leck cried out, tears coursing down his cheeks. 

Tinka leaned back and gave the children a smile, then her head tilted to the side, while her eyes stared straight into infinity. 

“What does she mean, sis? What are you talking about, Tinka?” the boy shouted, shaking the old woman. 

“Too late, she’s gone.” Hoff looked at her brother with a sad expression. She got up and took her brother’s hand, yanking him up and away as he looked back at the old handmaiden he had known as long as he could remember. In fact, both his sister and him knew her better than their own parents. 

They reached the grand audience chamber with the one hundred steps. It was completely desecrated. Hundreds of bodies, of all kinds of sentients, lay facing each other on each step, and dried blood cowered the stairs. In the far distance were two massive doors. One had been broken off its hinges entirely, and the other hanged drunkenly off one intact hinge. Darker, thicker smoke started to fill the room, and the many fires licked the ground and walls. 

“Let’s go outside, away from all this smoke -- and get your shit together. We’re at war, and I think we might have lost.” 

“I know we’re at war, Hoffsie, but I was told we had won!” 

“Oh, brother, that’s what we were told so that we didn’t worry. Now let’s get going.” 

For a moment, Ah-Leck gave it some thought, then he toughened up and looked at his sister more seriously, saying,  “After you.” 

They made it to the entrance, and were met by a hellish scene, so horrible that it made both of them feel faint. The ground was littered with dead soldiers and civilians, representing many different types of Omans and other species besides. Everywhere lay bodies, and there was no movement not caused by the wind. As far as they could see from their high point stretched more corpses and strange, wrecked war machines, intermingled with scary-looking lifeless beasts. 

Hoff looked zombie-like upon the macabre scene, and suddenly noticed that she no longer held her brother’s hand. She looked around desperately, and let out a sigh when she found him by the main entrance. “Don’t leave me like that, you little shit... what are you doing?” 

“Over here, sis, let’s find Mommy and Daddy.” 

Her brother hurried inside to a little room within one of the many huge pillars. Some of the monitors inside still worked. She gave her brother a cold stare, but he ignored her as he went to work on  console; she soon joined him at another. They soon discovered that something was interfering with the few holo imagers they could tap.

 

“I’ll program their ID codes, and hopefully there should be some orbs or cameras working,” Ah-Leck muttered. 

“You look for that, brother, while I try to get uplinked to a satellite.” Though they were young, they both knew how to work a computer. 

“I can get images only from very few viewers,” Ah-Leck complained, “and the images are too blurry.” 

“Keep searching. There must be a useful camera somewhere, or use the tracker... their locaters should suffice.” 

Hoff let out a shout of joy as she finally connected to a satellite that still worked. “I got one, and I’m transferring Mom and Dad’s ID tags. Let’s see where they are!”

 

#

 

On the enemy flagship, which circled the Imperial capital world in high orbit, the admiral of the Resistance’s largest and last battle fleet peered at several monitors displaying live images from the ground. What normally would have been a beautiful view, pretty much from anywhere in space, was now anything but. The entire world was a montage of images from anyone’s hell, but this was for real. 

The entire planet had become a battlefield. There were billions of people dead, civilians as well as military, along with most of the planet’s biosphere; very little was left alive. The carnage and destruction were unlike anything anyone had ever seen, possibly in the history of the universe. Explosions still cooked off occasionally, and massive fires reflected their ruddy light into space. Dark clouds of smoke and soot, presaging nuclear winter, spread over the planet’s surface like monstrous bruises. Though she couldn’t see it, the admiral knew there was still significant fighting taking place on the world below, and that meant more death yet. 

She stared at the dreadful images as if she were in a trance. An alarm brought her back to reality. Before her flickered the holo-image of a stocky woman, and she didn’t look happy. 

“Commodore Saturi, report.” 

“Admiral, we’ve detected an enemy satellite, and someone on the ground is controlling it.” 

“Is it one of their battle sats?” 

“We don’t know, ma’am.” 

The admiral shot her a bitter look, not liking that answer. “Lock on to the bloody thing and destroy it.” 

“Ma’am, we’re out of missiles, we’ve lost all lasers and particle lances, and our railgun batteries are more or less out of commission. We’re lucky to still be spaceworthy, and I can’t take my ship any closer to the debris field to pursue the satellite without jeopardizing my ship and crew, because our shields and point defenses are shot. The very few fighters we have left are being used for SAR... we just don’t have the means to destroy the satellite, sir.” 

Saturi was clearly tired of having to explain herself, but her position and duty demanded it. She, like everyone else, was exhausted... and more so, emotionally devastated. Less than one percent of the expedition force had survived. The casualties had been monstrously high. 

“Send us its location,” ordered the admiral, “and I’ll rendezvous the flagship with yours. Then we can vaporize this last remnant of the enemy.” 

“Some of our troops might be at that location...” 

Saturi trailed off when she noticed the admiral’s glare.

 

#

 

Hoff found their parents’ location, and before her little brother could see it, she shut down the image. Some sort of alarm went off just then, and a blinking light flashed, followed by a computer voice warning of incoming fire from orbit. 

The children stared at each other in shock, and then, as one, ran for their lives down the length of the blood-soaked audience hall, heading for safety beneath the massive staircase. Ah-Leck moved swiftly and got ahead while Hoff, without her boots, couldn’t run as fast, having to make sure she didn’t hurt her bare feet on the debris and glass covering the ground.

“Hurry, use the hidden entrance, Leckie!” Hoff shouted as they ran. 

“You hurry, Hoffsie, hurry, what’s taking you so long?” Ah-Leck yelled back. 

Hoff tripped and fell on something hard, hurting her foot; it was one of the blasters the guards used. She picked up the weapon and hobbled on as fast as she could, with her right foot dripped blood, having been cut on broken glass. 

They’d just made it inside the hidden chamber and were slamming the door when a loud whistling sound echoed louder and louder, followed by a gigantic explosion. The kids were still trying to shut the round metal door to the secret passage when the concussion wave struck it, making the door fly open and hurling them farther down the long, cramped corridor. 

After a moment that seemed forever, with the loud singing sound still in their ears from the explosion, they began composing themselves. “Wait... I think I have glass in my foot,” the little girl said, her voice quavering. Hoff raised her leg, and in the dim light, Ah-Leck examined her foot and removed a glass shard from her heel. Blood oozed out, and Hoff tied her neck scarf around the injury for temporary protection. She leaned on her brother, and they gathered themselves and moved on as swiftly as they could. Each knew the palace like the back of their hands, including the secret places, having played even in areas that had been forbidden to them. 

Most of the once-beautiful palace had been destroyed, and at times they had to stop and change direction. More thundering explosions came from far away, causing the sturdy building to shudder and tremble. Pillars and walls crumbled, billowing more dust in the air, thickening the layer on their skin that made them seem like ghosts of the near past. 

All the elevators were out of order, of course, but a very old spiraling stone stairway, leading both upstairs and down, seemed intact. They hurried downstairs, and time and again had to slow down because parts of the staircase were shattered, leaving no room to place their feet. More than once they had to push their backs to the wall and move slowly down to the next step below. The lightning was poor. Finally, they found a vast dark space facing them; they soon realized that many steps were gone... and suddenly, a loud bang echoed from above as a large section of steps crashed down, ruining more of the steps below. 

“It’s too far for you to jump, little brother.” 

“Speak for yourself, woman!” 

“Ah-Leck, no!” Hoff shouted too late. 

Her brother turned on a switch on his armor and jumped across the broken staircase to the other side. He turned around with a smile stretching from ear to ear. Hoff just shook her head and traced back a few steps, then ran fast and jumped. Part of the step she was on broke just as she took to the air, shortening her jump; at the last moment, she grabbed at the floor on the other side of the gap. The stone there was loose, and she cried out in despair. Then two small, glowing hands grabbed her wrist, and as Ah-Leck pulled his sister back up, his armor flashed yellow near his forearms. 

Both caught their breath, sitting down; but when more rocks began to fall from the crumbling walls, they got up again and hurried downstairs. Eventually, they found a safe way down towards the levels below. The lighting was even poorer here, and at times it flashed like lightning from a thunderstorm. Both of them tripped on bodies several times, making them move much more slowly. After they had passed several doors, they entered a corridor leading towards the outside. Eventually, they came out on a terrace, and looked down at all the carnage below. The former armory was a mess; part of the wall had tumbled down, so that they could see the reddish sky far above. There was another spiral staircase in the center of the room. The room looked very old, and so it was. 

“My boots should be on the next level below --” 

Something fell and made a loud clanging sound, interrupting Hoff, followed by a powerful earthquake. The children looked around fearfully, holding onto each other. 

“Wait, you hear it?” 

“Yes, I can hear it, brother. It sounds like something is landing.” 

“Could it be Mom and Dad?” 

Hoff looked puzzled and said, “No, it’s not them.” 

Ah-Leck looked suspicious. “How can you know that?” 

“I just do. Trust me, Ah-Leck, I just do... we must hide.” 

“There’s the back door to the armory. Your boots should be there.” 

She tried to open it, but no-go. “It’s jammed shut, and there’s no other way in.” 

“Can you use the big gun? By the way, when Mom finds out that you took one, you’ll be in big trouble, sis. That cut on your foot will seem like a tickle compared what she’ll do with her cane.” 

Hoff just gave her brother a dry smile. She noticed bright white flashes reflecting from the corridor above the staircase, and could faintly make out sounds of people entering the castle. She didn’t want to scare her brother, but decided not to tell him until they knew who they were. 

“Over there, let’s get behind those doors.” 

Suddenly, a clinking sound followed from the stairwell, and then there were more voices. Ah-Leck shone like a sun and exclaimed, “Look, a ball! Someone just tossed us a ball!” 

“No! Don’t touch it! Get under cover...” 

Ah-Leck did what any child would do when someone tosses a ball to them: he grabbed the metallic sphere, which was flashing red, and tossed it back down the stairs. 

There was a bright flash, accompanied by a thundering explosion, followed by black smoke filling the staircase; the pressure wave sent Ah-Leck crashing to the ground. The entire stairwell below was destroyed by the explosion, followed by shouts of anger, and more so by screams of pain. 

Ah-Leck came to suddenly, from being slapped in his face by a worried and crying Hoff. “You little bonehead you, you’re alive! Don’t ever do that again, or I’ll you myself!” 

From below, on what remained of the staircase, again came shouts of anger, and more screams of pain -- and threats. 

“Do what? Get away from me! No time for hugging, and would you for the love of Gull stop kissing me, silly girl!” 

Hoff only shook her head in joy, and then pointed at the door. “Like I said before you decided to play with a bloody grenade, let’s get behind those doors.” 

Alec pointed out, very seriously, “That’ll take us to the you-know-what-place, and that’s definitely forbidden for us.” 

The echoes of someone shouting out orders came from the level below, and then there were more pained screams. Hoff just rolled her eyes, grabbed her brother’s hand, and yanked him along with her as she hobbled toward the door. 

The door irised open, taking them into what looked like a tomb. Before she closed and locked the door, she saw soldiers on the edges of the spiral staircase, climbing up with the help of many ropes. More ropes were shot upward from below, into the ceiling or onto the staircase on the next level. It was the enemy; that much she understood. They hadn’t spotted the children yet, but the first soldier held something that looked like a tracking device. She knew it was only a matter of time before they were found. She had to get her brother and herself safe and hidden somewhere. 

“Come here, you little troublemaker.” She smiled at her brother to calm him down. 

The room contained three small cigar-shaped spacecraft, arranged next to each other, on ramps leading up towards three closed hatches in the ceiling. On the wall next to them was a first-aid kit. Hoff tore it down, and turned to her brother. 

“Those are space-pods, and we’re not allowed to use them,” Ah-Leck pointed out. 

“Activate your helmet and then get into one and hide.” 

“What about you?” 

“I still have to get my boots, or I can’t use the escape pod.” 

“But we can’t -- we aren’t allowed to use them, and...” 

Someone started banging on the double doors. 

Hoff kneeled, facing her brother, looking sad and nervous; and then she stiffened. She removed the bloody scarf from her foot and tied it around Ah-Leck’s neck. “You wanted to know what I found out from the computer pad, right?” Holding back her tears, she stared dead-seriously into her brother’s questioning expression until he too began looking more serious -- and at that point the two children grew into adulthood, without realizing it. Ah-Leck now understood that something very bad was amiss. 

“Mother and father are dead!” 

She let the words sink in before she continued, “Listen very carefully. We lost this fight, and apparently this war, and behind that door are the enemy, and they will kill us or worse. Do you understand, brother?” 

He looked at her sadly, and tears flowed down his young face, but Hoff would have none of it. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “You do remember when father taught us about this war and why we’re fighting?” 

Ah-Leck looked sad, but still tried to compose himself, trembling as he tried to be as strong as his sister. 

“We must survive and continue this fight, whether we like it or not. We’re the last of the pure bloodline that can communicate directly with the universe. Behind that door is pure evil -- and for now, it has won. We must never stop what our parents and our ancestors have done throughout time. You hear me, brother? We must never surrender!” 

“Yes, Hoffsie, I hear you... but --” 

“There is no but. I’ll launch your pod, and then I’ll find my boots and I’ll follow you.” 

“Will the pods take us to safety?” 

“Of course they will. Remember all that talk about the secret, secure world?” 

“No, not really.” 

Hoff could only let out a little laughter in the face her brother’s confused expression and response. 

After she’d gotten Ah-Leck into his escape pod and strapped down, she checked the monitors displaying his life signs. When she was satisfied, she gave him a friendly smile, and to his objections, planted a wet kiss on his cheek. She stood up and leaned back, and the two royal siblings looked at each other, frightened and yet still proud. Ah-Leck raised his glowing right hand and extended his thumb, followed by a chest salute. 

“Sister, I swear by all our ancestors and the First, and the creator of Gull, that I will find you.” 

At first Hoff was taken aback, not only by the words; it was something in her brother’s stare. And then he said something that really gave her goosebumps. 

“Should this be our last time together, and if you don’t make it, then hear me now, for in time, I’ll swear on my soul; that I will avenge you, Father, and Mother; and if I must, I will kill the two-headed dragon.” 

Hoff’s eyes were huge as the sun; she was completely taken aback by this very grown-up and hateful oath from her little brother. She gave him a tired, sweet smile, tilting her head, and then she focused her eyes on his. “Me too, brother. I swear the same.” 

Hoff cleared her throat, and no matter how much she wanted to hold back her tears, she wasn’t able to. She returned the salute to her brother, and both kept it up until the pod had sealed itself. 

Hoff hurried away up the stairs to the control panel on a different level, providing an excellent view of the entire room. The pounding on the doors intensified. She ignored it and locked down the chamber she was in, waiting until the doors exploded open, and in flooded dozens of enemy soldiers. 

They ran in firing their weapons, then stopped, looking all over the chamber for their enemy. Then they noticed that one of the cigar-shaped craft had lit up with a bluish color. One of the soldiers was about to run towards the craft when the soldier next to him tapped his shoulder, and nodded towards the control panel. There was a young girl there, waving her hand over her head towards them, and that was the last thing any of the soldiers saw. 

“Bye bye, you murderers!” the little girl yelled. 

Hoff hit on the ignition switch, and the entire room filled with vapor, fire, and screams as the craft launched into the sky. She followed it on a monitor; when it reached the edge of space, the first stage separated and parted ways with the smaller main craft, which jetted away into hyperspace, stymieing any potential followers. 

Despite her young age, she smiled coldly at having killed living beings for the first time. She felt nothing at their deaths; it was no less than they deserved. She checked the monitors again, making sure the other two escape pods were okay, and they were; she then performed first-aid on her foot. 

“Now all I have to do is to find my stupid boots,” she muttered. 

When she finally found her boots, they had been smashed to pieces and were completely ruined. Without them, she couldn’t use an escape pod. The only good thing was that she found a wristcomp with navigation software, something most soldiers wore, as well as a set of high-tech binoculars. She programed in the location where she knew her parents lay dead. She knew there was only one thing left for her to do: she had to find her mom and dad and join them in death. The thought made her feel like a traitor to her brother, and she was angered over her own thoughts. Though young, Hoff was intelligent and mature; and there was this little voice in the back of her head that told her to never give up. “Where there’s life, there’s hope,” she dryly thought out loud. 

She moved stealthily to the upper levels of the palace. There were no more encounters with enemy soldiers, but she had to be sure, so she went up into one of the few tall towers still standing, so she could get a better view. In the far distance, towards the horizon, was a huge, flat-topped mountain; it wasn’t that high, but the mesa was very long and wide. The wind was picking up, and with it followed reddish dust clouds. The entire landscape was littered with wrecked military vehicles and dead people. There were also several different types of strange and equally horrifying beasts of all sizes that had been ridden during the fighting. A few were still alive, feasting on the bodies, tearing into flesh with abandon. Fights broke out between them from time to time. Hoff observed the scene with caution, as she knew that she would soon be heading into that madness. She could see no more melee fighting, nor hear any between soldiers, nor any sounds from hand-weapons at all. There were explosions once in a while in the distance, and she decided she would avoid the damaged military craft. She still had her blaster, and knew how to use it, having been schooled in the art of war almost from the day she could walk. 

Hoff went back down to ground level, and headed towards the area where her parents lay. She decided not to go out through the city’s main gate, concerned that there could be enemy soldiers there; instead, she used one of many secret corridors hidden deep below the ground that led away from the capital. 

She walked along many different corridors, some of which were choked with dead people, for a long time; already, the stench was awful. She checked her wristcomp, and when she was sure that her location was near her parents’, she took a very long ladder to the surface. When she reached the top, she found a monitor, still working, displaying a 360-degree scene from the outside. It seemed that the coast was clear. The steel hatch was very small, but she fit through it. She had to struggle and lean into it when she opened it to peek out. On the outside, the door was camouflaged to look like part of a huge rock. She was now atop a manmade mountain that, from space, looked like the face of an Oman. 

As she made her way across the rocky ground, the sky was strangely reddish-yellow; the stink was fierce, and smoke blew everywhere from the many fires. Burned tanks, artillery missile ramps, androids of all types, and the corpses of many dead sentients in a variety of uniforms littered the area. There were hills stacked with bodies -- or parts of them. Hoff looked sadly at the horrors, and the more she moved through the hellish scene, the more her tears flooded like a waterfall; she had stopped holding them back. 

She saw a hill with stacked bodies moving almost as if it were breathing; and all of a sudden, a huge monster erupted from it, scattering body parts. The beast was cowered in blood of several colors, and had half the body of an Oman woman in its fang-filled jaw. It stared at Hoff, considering whether she was its next meal, and Hoff just stared back at it with blank blue eyes.  The creature tilted its head, almost as if it recognized her, then turned around to continue its meal, ignoring the little person. 

After the encounter with the monster, Hoff stopped being cautious and moved faster through the morbid landscape. It was getting harder to breath, and the dust clouds had become a storm now. 

Finally, there they were, her loving parents: lying facing each other, with their right arms extended and their hands clenched hard together. Both still wore their armor, the very image of Hoff’s, and beside them lay their respective mounds. It seemed like they were just asleep, holding hands. 

She knelt next to some metal fragments lying beside them, consisting of a broken oval and three plain bars. A strange voice within her mind began to whisper. She ignored the trash on the ground, raising her hands towards the sky. In a language created at the dawn of time, she spoke the words that have never been spoken since: "Parallas, Mottaka so Fashaea. Loss loss no loss vesberascita. Orea nuoa seat dorora habus af zutaka latoch. Un nonch in hadebetius vesberascis so asis es spirituosa la santa Nastragull." 

Her words echoed through the landscape, followed by a roar like thunder, and the ground shaking. 

The little girl turned her head and looked down at her injured foot. Her efforts at first aid had fallen off, but she no longer cared, for to her it was all over. She leaned toward her parents, and suddenly something wet touched her foot. She let out a surprised shout, even as what had happened suddenly gave her new hope. One of the battle-beasts, her father’s, had raised its long neck and looked at her sadly. At first, it begun sucking blood from her foot with its hollow second tongue, and as it did so, became stronger and Hoff a bit faint. The beast stopped and began to stand up, shaking its muscular body all over. Hoff noticed that her injured foot had started to heal, almost visibly. She smiled and scratched the beast behind one of its bat-wing ears, and in return it started to hum. 

“Tarek, you’re still alive,” she whispered. 

Again, she noticed what lay between her parents’ bodies. On the ground, almost glowing blue now, were three metal bars and one oval structure. She didn’t understand why, but these fragments suddenly gave her the inspiration to live. She began attaching the metal bars to the oval. The voice within her told her what to do. With her blaster set on low, she was able to melt the pieces together; they took the form of two lines, and then the oval -- the eye -- and lastly, one more line. 

“I can hear you, and now I understand!” Hoff shouted in defiance into the storm. A thunderous roar from the sky immediately followed a sheet of lightning, and rain began falling in earnest. 

“Today, the triangle of life was destroyed,” she called out, “but the eye, the holy eye that is all of us, can never die; and until we score a victory over evil, the eye shall no longer be on top, but equal to the two who create life! No one alone can ever create life, thus...” 

She looked to the ground, and at the sculpture in her hand; it was large and heavy, but that didn’t matter, because she felt stronger than ever before. 

“Thus, hear me all: two to the eye of the power of one makes twenty-to-one. Add it times two, and it makes the power of the evil one. Add it not, and the power of twenty-one shall be the one... whole again with the triangle of life, and the watching eye! Hear me, universe, and pass it on to all! Hear me!” She now screamed at the top of her lungs over the din of the raging storm. 

Suddenly the K’drak struggled up on its hind legs, letting out a roar of anger, followed by a horrible bray from the horn on its forehead -- almost as if it had understood Hoff, and wanted to do more fighting. 

Other horns answered from far away. The ground began to tremble like a world-sized drum as more riders emerged from the gloom, perhaps in a final assault. Hoff no longer cared. “So be it! What a fitting place to die!” she shouted into the wind, standing up, staring at the oncoming threat in total defiance. From her father’s hand she had taken a long dagger, and with the other hand, she held her blaster.  

There was movement everywhere, as if the ground were shaking, and emerging now were hundreds of soldiers. Many wore the uniform of the mystical Silver Guard; others wore dark camouflage dress. They began marching in long lines, in unison, all over the battlefield, stamping their heavy boots hard into the bloody ground, at times crushing the skulls of injured enemies. All made a humming and hissing sound. The approaching soldiers were dirty, muddy, and bloodied; some were injured, a few even missing limbs. Every one of them moved slowly towards Hoff. Several injured K’draks also joined them, and they too let out roars of anger while blowing their horns. On the opposite hill were lined up hundreds of riders; and in the center, holding a long pole with the eye on top, came a single rider, emerging alone, leaving the escort behind. 

Suddenly the rider stopped, and raised his right hand, only for his followers to do the same. He then removed his helmet and raised his eyes towards the sky, where the contrails of two missiles were heading towards them all. Everyone turned their heads towards the message of imminent death except Hoff. Again, she kneeled between her parent, quivering in her scuffed armor, without helmet or boots. 

“Hear me Mother, Father... forgive them not, because they knew exactly what they did.” 

The two super-missiles exploded, and the sky turned to fire; no one knew for how long, but eventually the fire and the pressure wave dissipated into thin air. 

Hoff realized that they were still alive, and saw that they were standing inside an enormous energy dome, which had protected them from the missiles. That’s when she saw them. There were two of them, flying giants, almost transparent, radiating the strange and powerful energy that comprised the protective dome. 

“The Creators,” Hoff whispered. “They do exist after all.” 

The two entities flew slowly toward Hoff, smiling gently and yet sadly, slowly flapping their vast wings... 

 

Chapter 1

 

The war that the known universe had thought was near an end had instead escalated to heights no one in history had ever witnessed before. The battle lines were everywhere, and new warlords and leaders emerged like viruses, trying to gain control over anything they could conquer.

 

With that came a new era of piracy that made the old one seem tame. Many of these pirates were privateers who fought under letters of marque, and most carried more than one of these precious documents, allowing them to attack and pillage as they more or less pleased. There were no rules or laws followed, and many worlds that hadn’t reached the proper stage of evolution, like Omar, found themselves attacked or invaded. It was for one thing only: profit. Species that didn’t even know about spaceflight suddenly found themselves becoming slaves or, worse, food.

 

The enormous Florencian Federation remained largely unified due to its religion; however, numerous worlds seceded from Florencia, just as Handover had done at the beginning of the war. Some joined up with other federations, or even started their own. The supreme leadership had vanished, replaced by a board of Commissioners -- a mixture of religious leaders, civilian politicians, and high-ranking military officers. There were no new Marquesas elected. The last two were no longer in office; one had died, and the other, Hoff, was missing. None of the current leaders dared step forward to claim leadership over Florencia’s civilians or military. They didn’t know if Hoff might still be alive, and might suddenly appear. The masses had been told that she was alive and busy with the war -- yet another lie.

 

There were few funds or military forces available to deal with the domestic rebels, which was why Florencia kept recruiting third-party privateers, to obtain resources in any way they could. Florencia currently had Marengo, the universe’s largest inhabited world, under siege, and most of their focus lay in that system. Anyone who conquered Marengo would have no problem with economics, with access to a near-endless supply of natural resources, which made Marengo a primary target. However, there was one major obstacle standing in their way of conquering Marengo and it system: what remained of the Nastasturus Federation.

 

Nastasturus faced problem similar to Florencia’s. Many of its member worlds had gone independent or started their own federations, while a few joined older, smaller existing federations. What remained of Nastasturus was actually two factions: the new Republic and the old. The latter represented over eighty percent of Nastasturus, and was the one in control. They were currently led by the House Hornet, a military House with long traditions. In wartime, Nastasturus was led by the military houses, to which the civilian politicians took second place. In peacetime, it was the other way around.

 

The remaining twenty percent were considered rebels, and most had fled Nastasturan space; but they were still a force to be reckoned with. Their new leader was a complete lunatic, and unfortunately a very shrewd, intelligent, and rude officer and politician who had managed to get civilians and military from many worlds to join him -- all of whom were dissatisfied with the current political structure, with Nastasturus and Florencia ruling the better part of the known universe. They were in the process of growing a new empire and federation. Not only did many governments of smaller, influential systems join, but so did many criminal warlords... not to mention the new age of space piracy.

 

Amidst the near-complete chaos, there were some who had remained hidden from the public for many generations. These were unofficial -- individuals who considered themselves the ultimate leaders of the entire universe, and realized that they, yet again, like their ancestors had many ages ago, must gather for the sole purpose of selecting one or two new key leaders for the Florencian Federation. But this was nothing the current government in Florencia knew anything about, nor anyone else in the universe; their main goal was to protect the ultimate hidden secret.

#

 

The old man sat up in his stone sarcophagus, still covered in a light aerogel. After moving his head to left and right, he finally used his withered hands to tear off the protective gel. He then leaned forward and puked out more gel, coughing over and over again until his lungs were clear. The gel surrounding him started to blink faintly with his heartbeat. He moved his head as if looking around, though his eyes were still closed. With a hoarse voice, he uttered, “We sense you, ring-maker... fluid. We need much fluid.”

 

The tall being standing beside the sarcophagus hurried to a wall, and with a movement of her hand, an ancient computer revealed itself. The ring-maker tapped a few keys, and suddenly the long hoses attached to the old man’s arms, legs, torso, and head filled with blue, red, yellow, and transparent liquids.

 

After a while, still sitting but looking healthier, the remaining gel started to fall off him, revealing a very old Oman. His head was bald, with very pale skin. Yellow strands of hair started to grow in. “What evil thing attacked us, ring-maker?” he croaked.

 

With her head bowed, not daring to look at the Nastragull, with a soft, old voice the ring-maker said, “Why, that is Hoff.”

 

“Hoff? That’s not Hoff.” He observed the body on the floor where the vapor had vanished, then continued, “That’s a Terran species... it shouldn’t even be part of this section of the universe.”

 

The ring-maker just nodded her head and whispered, “So it is, indeed, and with it comes a very long story.”

 

“Summarize it.”

 

“The others have used Hoff over and over, wakening her for their own evil benefit many times.”

 

The eyelids of the Nastragull lifted, revealing two very blue eyes that almost seemed to shine.

 

“The two of us were only to be awakened once, for the finale of this hideous war, were we not? That was the agreement and arrangement with your people -- that for you living in peace, away from all war, you would take care of us until the final day was here.”

 

“That is correct, and we have; but so many things have changed for the worse since you went to sleep. I fear evil now rules.”

 

“I know evil rules; that’s why we went into hiding, until we, combined with other free-thinking peoples, could emerge again and win the war.”

 

“The free-thinking people you left behind have turned into dictators, and are now trying to conquer the universe. In the process they destroy systems and worlds, one by one... and in your name.”

 

“My name?”

 

“They call you God, the one and only Floda-Reltih.”

 

“What evildoing is this? Hoff must have known the first time she was awakened!”

 

“She did, but at the time the war, or rather an enormous battle,  was upon us all, and this ship was almost lost. But thanks to Hoff’s ingenuity, she was able to win the fight. Before she returned to sleep, she gave the leaders specific instructions -- and I fear that was her undoing.”

 

Still gathering strength, the Nastragull sat motionless.

 

“The leaders learned that if they kept you in stasis and only used Hoff when they needed her, like a messenger from God, then they would remain in control.”

 

“But there must have been many people who knew the truth?”

 

“Yes, there were, and many bloody purges throughout the universe, and more wars that resulted. Billions were killed. The rebels started one federation called Nastasturus, while their enemy... we called ourselves Florencia.

 

“Now: you are tired and need rest, my lord.”

 

“I have apparently slept a bit too long already. Just let the fluids do the trick. Now, please continue, and try to summarize everything before I die of old age.”

 

The ring-maker smirked and continued, “Very few of the Florencian leaders knew about your existence, and none of them wanted you awake and interfering with their work.”

 

“You mean conquest.”

 

“Yes, that. But now they had a problem. Hoff knew about them...”

 

The Nastragull interrupted. “In order, please. I guess they hadn’t started conquering then?”

 

“No, my lord, they had begun, but kept that information from Hoff, who was very upset after she had been taken care of during the battle, and more or less won the war. When she turned on the Florencian leaders and was about to wake you, she was almost killed. They drugged her and put her back in her sarcophagus. But a new problem arose when they did; they could not wake her up again, nor you. For many centuries, they kept both of you hidden, while growing stronger and much larger as they invaded inhabited system after inhabited system.”

 

“When did this Terran species come into the picture?”

 

“The next time they managed to bring her back, she was far too weak to resist, and initially the Terran forced itself onto her and more or less devoured Hoff in its pouch. After that, she was woken several times, over and over.”

 

The old man slowly emerged from his sarcophagus.

 

“You need much more fluid and rest, my lord,” protested the ring-maker.

 

The Nastragull nodded his head towards the body of the so-called Hoff. “Not with that thing still alive.”

 

The ring-maker looked frightened.

 

“The thing, with a Terran, occurs when one uses it as an exoskeleton. Eventually it will take over the mind and devour the physical body. How much of the true Hoff remains?”

 

“I can do a scan.”

 

Nastragull nodded in consent.

 

A moment later, the alien stated, “She is more or less intact, my lord, but she no longer has any of her original skin or hair. If she is removed from the Terran in this state, she would probably die from extreme pain. Her eyes are both intact and protected, while linked with the Terran’s own eyes.”

 

“Can it be done if she is sedated and transferred to a healer?”

 

“Even though I have advanced medical knowledge, I wouldn’t risk it, because the witch can do a much better, safer job.”

 

“The witch,” Nastragull responded almost humorously. “Isn’t that a bit of a lame term in your vocabulary?”

 

“Like I said before, my lord, much has happened recently.”

 

“I want to hear everything, but for now, just have this witch hurry up and get here so she can fix Hoff.”

 

The ring-maker looked a bit dubious and hesitant. “She isn’t aboard the ship, my lord, and the only one -- I think -- who knows of her location is...” she nodded at the creature Hoff had become. “I could give you some information, and then perhaps you could listen to the universe and locate her?”

 

“Normally that’s what I would do, but I can’t for now. I sense that the enemy has been listening for a very long time for me to listen... and if I do, they will know that I’m still alive.”

 

The Nastragull slowly started to move his arms, and again turned his head to the sides and back and forth. “Give me all the information you have... have any of the guards been involved in bringing the witch here?”

 

“Yes, several of them.”

 

“Several? You mean they too have been awakened?”

 

The ring-maker nodded.

 

“How many have been awakened?”

 

Whispering, the ring-maker admitted, “Almost all of them.”

 

Sounding very concerned, her lord asked, “How many are still with us?”

 

“It is difficult to give you the exact number, but I think there are less than a hundred. Those are what are left of the ones who were awakened, and that was, I’m guessing, about a thousand. My colleagues before me were able to hide some of them in different locations on this planet-sized ship, and I don’t know how many there are, though I do know where they have been hidden. Once in a while, I check on their fluids and status and so on.”

 

Suddenly, the Nastragull turned his upper body too fast, and a few medial hoses were pulled out of his body, spilling colorful fluids. The ring-maker hurriedly reattached them, her head bowed.

 

“Hand me a computer pad,” the Nastragull commanded.

 

He tried to work it, but with the fluids dripping all over the screen, the old man gave up and handed it back to the ring-maker. “Check on the reserve list, and use my secret code and title.”

 

The ring-maker did, and her eyes grew wider. She trembled when she spoke. “It appears that your own personal reserve has never been touched, only Hoff’s... almost two thousand of the Old Guard are still in hibernation.”

 

The Nastragull looked pleased for a brief time and then said, “You need not fear me, ring-maker, please. As soon as you can, find out what guards are active and gain some knowledge about the witch, then order them here.”

 

“Its name is Zoris. I shall do that, and what about...” nodding her head to the creature Hoff.

 

“Sedate her for now and move her to a secure healer, one she cannot escape from; but don’t activate the healing bed. Just make sure she remains in stasis. I must learn how much of the real Hoff’s mind is still with us, and whether we can restore her body and mind.”

 

“And if her mind is gone?”

 

“Then I will kill her.”

 

Noticing that the ring-maker suddenly looked frightened, the Nastragull smiled and sighed. “Again, do not fear me... by the way, where is your spouse?”

 

Now the ring-maker look even sadder. “We were separated. He went looking for someone who could help us, but that was ages ago, and I have not heard from him since. Rumors are that he has been assassinated, so that the link between the ring-makers and Florencia could be broken.”

 

“That makes no sense. Only your kind are up for this special task.” The Nastragull stood quietly thinking, and then whispered, “Unless they never planned to waken me, but meant to let time do the trick...”

 

He shot the ring-maker a long and puzzled look while thinking aloud. “Then I guess you have been here longer than the normal time, and your replacement has not arrived because you were parted from your second. They believe it’s over, this taking care of me, I’m guessing?”

 

The ring-maker was silent, only nodding her head.

 

The Nastragull was still in his sarcophagus when two Silver Guards entered. They observed Hoff lying on the floor, and both went for their weapons; but when they saw the old man facing them, they stopped. Though silent, their body movements indicated that they were as surprised as they were happy. Both of them knelt instantly.

 

“Rise, friends, rise, you know I don’t care for all that kneeling business.”

 

Instantly, both stood up straight and at attention.

 

“As you were, troopers, as you were.”

 

The ring-maker activated a holo-image of Zoris.

 

“Do you know where this creature is?”

 

The senior guard moved their right hand over their left wrist, and an electronic voice answered, “We know her last location. She was on the planet Torq. Hoff had a locater inserted into her; we can find her anywhere within its range.”

 

“It’s urgent that you bring her to us alive. It’s of outmost important that she is not damaged.”

 

The guards turned and left without comment.

 

“And now, ring-maker, tell me this long tale of yours... and then update me, and show me how to operate the new, modern computers.”