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the-tears-in-mind · 6 years

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The snow owls:Book 1

The weight of my SR-34 comforts me as I take out the magazine and start counting the bullets, 1, 2, 3,4,5,6, I stop to notice the others trying to calm their nerves. I'm told that everyone who has done The Drop, weave tales of fear and pain, it's always the quiet that rattles you the most they say. I understand what they mean, the five of us were ordered to remain silent, keeping us strangers. All I know is their names on their chest plate, Amaryllis, Cavso, Hale, Ava, and me Detasha; I start tracing my nameplate and rank, a white chevron, we all have a single white chevron, at least we have something in common all being fresh recruits straight from the Academy. Except me, I came from the Education Centers of Alustria. I try to imagine what they look like under our bulky armor. The armor is different than the type I was trained in, MK-18 was lighter and snug, The MK-00 was very heavy and streamlined. The big difference is the white paint and a heat vent coming out of the shoulders. A blue light comes on above shouting that we are in the exosphere 500km above the planet, the seed like drop pod suddenly becomes full of anxiety. It gets hot and claustrophobic in our vehicle of torment. I think I hear sobbing but the helmet muffles it; I feel the same way. The second light blazed burning up all hope and comfort. A voice rips the silence in twain "welcome recruits to Paliscia your last stop before you are assigned to your fleet. You will be dropped at a height of 120km, 25 km from fort Meytel. Warning: Please avoid the Xoltixs, the crew members, and the raging blizzard; Of course you don't need to fret over it as long as you make it to the fort. Do not help or work together with another squad. We only want the strong to survive. Glory to the goddess, glory to the empress, and glory to the empire. Enjoy The Drop." I breathe in trying to quiet my thoughts of dying from the impact. 75% fatality rate they told us when we left the spaceport; fucking assholes. I can feel the tension in the air as we await The Drop; we were told nothing about the planet we are dropping on. I gather from our armor that it's going to be a tundra planet, of course, it would be with the name Meytel for the fortress, the name of the Holy Royals. I wonder if they are cold like their name, Meytel a snowstorm. The stress gets to a critical point as a foul blue light turns on signaling our final moments. We drop, the sudden weightlessness is pleasant, quickly turning sour. I feel my stomach kiss my throat as we continue to fall faster. Everyone is shaking as we start to break through the atmosphere. My bones rattle in their sockets bringing a sharp pain to my chest. My head goes blank, I close my eyes and pray to the 1st Goddess. "100km, 90km, and 80km" the voice announced. I can't listen to the voice, all I can do is focus on my prayer. May Kyta Meytel, Kin saver, Mother Of the Empire, 1st Goddess, And The Frozen Warrior embrace my soul for the wealth of the aether; Please Save the Aether of the souls who may die in this pod; take them into your sweet embrace so they may power the empire beyond death. The pod stops shaking bringing back the feelings of weightlessness slowing my mind down "20Km, 10Km, 5km, the voice blares. The sudden release of the engines hisses slowing our descent, only slightly. I feel the ache in my bones before the cracking whip of the impact. Burning pain and ringing ears are our introductions to Paliscia. "Is everyone alive?" I quiver. "I don't want to be “replies a female voice to my left; Amara Kosovo in bright red letters etched into her chest piece. "Anyone else?" No reply. I reach over and tap on the helmet on my right. “Cavso are you alive?" I shout as I shake the helmet, he doesn`t react. I undo the seal, staring back at me are the bloodshot bulging eyes of Cavso. He was beautiful, pale skin, golden hair, and most striking golden eyes. I look at Amaryllis “The shock killed him. I think it killed all of them. “I said staring down at the helmet, "This is insane, why would the empire do this it's barbaric and pointless. “Amaryllis shouts. I don`t say anything as I reseal the helmet. None of the teachers trained us for this to be so deadly. The Education centers of Alustria are gentle and safe compared to this. We spend time checking each of them for life. The cold dead silence was broken by the hiss as the pod doors open. The corpse's spill out as we make our way to the steaming crater that is our landing pad. A blizzard was buzzing to embrace us even through my armor I could feel the sting of Frozen love. 'Detasha where do we go from here" Amaryllis chatters. "We are 25 km away from the fort," reply looking around at the tree line, "in which direction I don't know, all I know is I do not want to be out here" I replied with clacking teeth. Amaryllis sighs as we start walking towards the snow hugged forest. I turn on my suits heater using the interface on my glove, a gush of warm airwaves embrace my body, at least I can be warm I thought as we entered the forest. The massive evergreens surround us in a thick piney fortress covered in snow. My suit starts to get hot enough to start melting the snow around my feet exposing blue flowers, frozen at the peak of vitality; I turn my heaters off and close the vents in my armor. I feel a push and sudden burning in my shoulder before I hear the explosion of a railgun. I scream out in agony as I hit the tree behind me, my shoulder is a gaping hole sending waves of pain throughout my body. Amaryllis cries out in shock. The explosion lashes out at the top of the tree, sending it tumbling down. I leap to the side landing on my wound, I puke up breakfast, Fresh blueberries and rice, and I wonder why that thought crossed my mind as my body goes into shock. Amaryllis lifts me and starts to drag me deeper into the forest. The world wobbles as we trudge on, my body is cold and limp in Amaryllis`s hands; I close my eyes. Amaryllis opens my eyes when she starts shaking me, she starts talking but I can’t hear her through the speakers in the helmet; a ringing dances in my brain. A sudden flash of light blinds me which was the least of my problems as a searing pain rips through the wound in my shoulder, as the pain increases I can see darkness creeping in distorting the image of Amaryllis armor body. The darkness suffocates me unable to move I catch glimpses of golden figures jittering towards me causing tears in the fabric of darkness with every jolt of their wraith-like bodies. Light explodes as I gasp for breath, I’m cold and so hungry. My eyes focus seeing the helmet of Amaryllis, “There you are, all patched up. Flex your fingers". She sounds exhausted. I danced my fingers on her palm. "Good now let's go before things get worse” She says with a rasp in her voice. I get up with no reply still amazed at the small scar on my shoulder. We continue walking under the massive canopy, the hole in my armor no longer protecting me from the cold. Walking through the forest trying to shake off the snipers greeting, we make small talk “My full name is Amara Calun Mar Amaryllis from clan Kosova, It`s nice to meet you.” She shakes my gauntlet, I shake back “I`m Mir Detasha from clan Mors.” I duck under a branch just before it hits my head “It’s very nice to meet you and rather unfortunate that we are the only survivors.” I can tell from stone silence that I should not talk about the deaths of our comrades, “So where did you grow up?” I ask batting away branches as we go deeper into the forest. “I was born on a breeder planet but I grew up as a slave. We got raided in the middle of the night, From what my matriarch told me the temple guards patrols where riddled with traps that night and because of that along with various rescue attempts only half of the guard was there to protect the brood mothers. Long story short I was taken by human slavers, sold, and then rescued 10 years later.” Amara replied rather nonchalantly. “Where did you grow up Mir? “She says punching me in the chest to break the tension the clang of my armor echoes throughout the forest. I take a minute to digest her story before I reply.” I grew up on an asteroid colony, so I have never been to the core worlds. I was born to two loving parents although I don’t know much about them when I was born something happened to the colony and I started living with the matriarch of Clan Mors, Isabella Mortus, she was going home with her fleet when she received the distress call, it`s a miracle that she was even near us when it happened whatever it was, they still won`t tell me what happened.” I reply shivering from the hole in my armor. The blizzard begins a new assault of ice and wind tearing down our spirits, sending us scurrying to a cave at the bottom of a hill. With the forest behind us and the relative warmth of the cave we start to make camp, Amara makes a wall of snow to cover the lip of the cave adding insulation to our temporary home, I press the buttons on my gauntlet releasing the seals on my armor allowing them to clank to the floor giving my body much needed relief from its stifling space my hair is soaked in sweat from the heaters which I kept on to keep the cave warm, but most importantly to get the aether crystals hidden in my chest plate, I send a pulse of heat from my core infusing the crystal with my aether, it pulses yellow in response, I let it fall to the floor where it hovers a foot from the ground radiating a gentle warmth throughout the cave. Amara unseals her armor and grabs her rations and starts to eat the tasteless bars and drinks the nutrition drink, I look at my armor and decide to get my sleeping roll out to go to bed; it’s best to sleep than eat that garbage. I unfurl my white sleeping bag, unzip it and start sliding into it. Amara unfurls her sleeping bag next to me, as the snow powder bag is unzipped I take in Amara’s features, cascading waterfalls of snow-kissed hair, pale skin, and jagged scars on her arms, neck , and legs. I can`t imagine what she must have gone through, it`s horrible, my eye`s start to tear up. I fall asleep, I dream in darkness. We wake up to the sounds of birds and streaming sunlight in our cave. I roll up my sleeping bag and tie it inside my back piece, I carefully start to get in to my armor, sliding the spider suit`s mesh down my arms and legs I step into my boots, I click the lower leg pieces into my boots, next is the thigh pieces. After a couple minutes of adjustments and my armor is on nice and snug. My helmet clicks into place and makes a hiss as it seals my armor, it starts making a sucking sound as I remember the hole in my shoulder, it seems warm enough I ponder as I take my helmet off and tie it on a hook coming off my waist. Amara does the same tying it to a spare hook on the armor; she starts to knock down the snow wall allowing more sunlight to enter the cave. We start walking out of the cave and back into the forest walking around the bottom of the hill. The day is warm melting the snow in patches allowing the flowers and shrubs to breathe their colors to life, blues and reds dot the forest floor, smacks of purple and yellow cover the trees in tiny flowers. “The forest is rather beautiful now that the blizzard stopped and the sun is out” I say basking in the glow. “I`m just glad I can stop running for my life” She mumbles with a sigh wiping sleep from her eyes. Walking at a brisk pace we find ourselves on the other side of the hill opening up into a meadow untouched by the snow. The smell of the flowers is intoxicating as we walk across dancing around blue, purple, and green fingers. Our dance comes to an end as we reach a stone sitting peacefully in the center of the meadow. I motion Amara to come look at the smooth glass like surface of this rock. As she approaches I start staring longer, entranced I reach towards it, touching its smooth surface brings such an intense satisfaction that it hardly registers the fact that the smooth rock is now a towering 4 legged beast. It roars exposing it`s massive fangs, breaking the spell it had over me and ringing my eardrums. I start stumbling backwards swaying left and right, my ears weeping blood making me a perfect snack for this beast. It reaches out with its massive fur covered paw, as it nears I reach down grabbing the small handle of my retractable blade, my blade slices through the paw severing it causing the beast to real back in pain. Amara starts unloading her SR-34`s 56 titanium slugs at 1,850 bullets per minute deep into the beasts sides, by know I have to assume it’s a Xoltix. The Xoltix rushes towards me unaffected by Amara`s assault. I lift up my arm as heat rushes to my hand I release a miasma filled with paralytics and toxins that break down organic matter. The beast is engulfed slowing its attack and finally it stops, the miasma breaks away as my focus shifts to what’s about to happen next. Blisters start to cover the beast filled with yellow puss, they pop spewing out rotten flesh, the Xoltix`s body slowly shudders down as it is broken down to its basic components. The skin sloughs off exposing green muscle oozes down to the floor as it is no longer contained. The beast collapses half rotted to the bone filling the air in a noxious smell. I stand up trying to avoid the liquefied corpse as it runs down the meadow, Amara stares at me eyes filled with disgust, “You are a Thanoist, I can’t believe I slept next to you, you freak, I think I’m going to be sick.” She covers her mouth. “ It`s not like I had a choice, some people can make fire, or freeze things, or like you healing and using light, I just happen to kill everything. So yeah I guess I am a freak. Can we just move on and find the Fort?” I yell frustrated by her reaction, the same reaction most people give me when they know what I am. She pukes as the river of rotting flesh makes its way past her, after a few seconds she composes herself and walks past me with no reply. We make it to the other side of the meadow to see past the tree line a beach with a beautiful frozen lake and a massive fortress blazing blue among the snow on the other side etched into a mountain. “I’m guessing that's Fort Meytel?" I huffed taking of my helmet trying to catch my breath. Amara turns to look up at me, “Why are you twirling your hair like that?" "It’s just a thing I do when I'm thinking or nervous." I replied letting go of my obsidian locks. "Look I don't have the best memories of thanoists... I'm going to have to tolerate you especially in the fort, it is unprofessional to withhold communication with someone you despise." Amara says as she takes off her helmet. Her hair unfurled glowing white like the snow. I notice her eyes look almost golden, I'm starting to stare long "um so how about we get inside the fort I'm exhausted." I say trying to focus on the fort and not her face. She turns toward the fort " yeah let's go, and be aware of the instructors, I don't want to patch another hole."

The lake is gorgeous up close as we get to its edge. Deep black mud holds our boots down. We struggle to get free from this mucus trap. “How are we going to get free from this?" I say trying to pull my foot up. “We are so close to the edge that we could jump out of our boots and on the ice". "Uh I don't know if we are on the same planet, it's below freezing and getting colder, your best plan is to get out of our warm boots to freezing cold ice." I reply. I can't tell if that made her mad under the tinted glass of our helmets. Suddenly the mud starts to pull us down like it's eating us. The shifting mud ripples out as we unbuckle our boots. We both try to jump out of our boots only to slam face first on the ice. Crawling forward through the mud I notice how it feels through the spider 3 skin suit, it's like tiny hands are pulling us back. With great effort, we free ourselves from the black mud. The mud rises to form a tall woman. “You did well freeing yourself from my grasp, now for the next test see if you can cross this lake alive." She said each word filled with sadness. She lifts her hands up swirling her mud into her palms, with a quick flick it forms a glaive. Dashing forward she strikes at Amara. Amara raised her sword parrying the jagged blade. I charge forward into the opening the deflection caused. Swiftly unsheathing my sword, it slices through the woman's black gown. At least that was what I thought, she disappeared when it connected. We take the gift and start to run across the lake, trying not to slip on the smooth surface. The ice next to us bursts to send daggers into our armor. A massive boom fills the air from the railgun firing. We hit the ice on our sides from the hole in the lake. Helping each other up we see the ice, countless bodies lay underneath. A dozen barring the drop suits we have on. I can only guess that they are the other squads that landed with us. "Children it is not the place to mourn the dead!" Said the sudden man approaching us in full tundra armor. Amara lifts her gauntlets and blasts a beam of light at him. He grabs it and throws it back at us. I grab her as the light hits us. Parts of our armor is melted others glowing red hot, having no other option we emergency purge our armor denting the ice as it lands. The rush of steam covers our area giving us time to get our weapons. Amara's pistol and rifle bursts into shrapnel as two shots fly out. The shrapnel digs into our sides Amara's hand torn to pieces, she uses light to burn the wounds stopping the bleeding. I grasp my blade tight to withstand the pain of the fire. Amara's blade is in her offhand with a fierce glare on her face, she shouts for us to charge. We both rush towards the man slashing down in synch only to hit the air. The man lifts his mace bare down on us with such force our blades shatter when we block it. Both of us holding our shattered blades becoming daggers as we flank him. We both stab into his sides only to have them bounce off his white armor. Jumping back we try another assault just to be flung backward knocking the wind out of us. We can't win against them. The mud woman approaches us from behind while the man from the front. We stand to meet their blades. Suddenly the heat rises in my body, I send it out to the corpses under our feet. "Amara blast the ice under us and jump to the side. I whisper to her. She nods and jumps to the side sending a blast into the ice. The rotting gas exploded sending our attackers flying. We scramble to stand up only a few feet from the end of the like. Without looking back we run begging our tired legs to hold on for a few more seconds. As we reach the edge of our salvation we get hit with a ball of fire sending us back with dashed hopes. The ball unfurled into a blazing woman carrying a railgun, " oh no how could this happen when you were so close to the fort, in fact, you are the first to make it this far. What will you do I wonder, do you give up here perishing in the lake or do you fight on..." She barely gets the words out as Amara's kick slams into her face knocking her to the ground. "Oh, wonderful choice". She sneers eyes ablaze with fury. She lifts her hand setting the ice behind on fire making an arena for our doom. "Shall we begin!?" She booms as she throws her rifle into the fire. I'm the first to attack sending a roundhouse kick to her side, Amara flanking her from the left sending a punch to her face. The woman grabs my leg and Amara's hand sending tendrils of flame up our bodies. The pain lashes out as the fire grabs onto my thigh. She laughs as she throws us back, charging in with a curved blade from her hip. I dodged a blast of fire followed by a slash of the blade into my shoulder. Amara counters with a beam of light into her side causing a hole in her armor exposing flesh. Amara is greeted with a quick kick to her chest as the fire thrower pivots her exposed side to me. I feel the heat rush to my hand as I lift them to poison her blood. A pustule forms causing her blood to become infected with my energy, as it makes its way to rot her body. She screams out in pain extinguishing the fires. We both rush towards the fort praying to make it to the other side of the lake. Our feet meet warm sand soothing our cold feet as we collapse. "Well done recruits you made it to the fort, you passed your test now let's get you to the medical center." Said the tundra man covered in rotten flesh. We pass out from the relief.

I can hear screams echoing throughout the room. Strange figures crash into the room embracing me. "Mir we need you to be quiet and hide." A honey voice whispers. “Be brave and know we will always love you. A comforting voice whispers as I'm lowered into a dark space under the bed. It's dark and silent until I hear a mighty roar and hurried footsteps leaving the room. It's quiet again, so quiet I can hear the thump of my heart. Thump, thump, thump, my heart won't settle for anxiety embraces me. The door squeaks open as footsteps creak around the room. My heart beats faster as the smell of copper fills the air. Strange noises swirl around the rooms, clicking and screeching fill my head. They get closer to where I'm hiding. Silent again my heart roaring in my chest. Something crashed onto the floor, as light seeps in I can see a face. Its flesh glows like the sun, eyes dark and narrowed. The hatch lifts open as the being reaches its gnarled claws at me. I scream as I wake up in a vat of pink liquid, a tube in my belly connecting fleshy walls that surround me. I can hear muffled voices outside. The walls around me contract and expands slowly the tube slides out giving a glimpse of a thick needle. The walls start to fold back as I'm being pushed forward. I spill out into a pool of pink fluid. A beautiful woman greets me with a rather large towel. I puke the pink fluid out of my lungs, she gently rubs my back “Get it all out, you are safe now." She coos with such a sweet voice that fills me with love. She wraps the towel around me as she helps me up and onto a bed." Mir welcome to the medical center for Fort Meytel, my name is Dr.Leona Arca from clan shale, I'm the chief medical officer nice to meet you." She says full of cheer and love. I feel ill," I mumble feeling numb and dizzy. "It's just the side effects of the healing womb you're going to feel rather high for a few hours, but the confusion will stop soon." Every word she says is so joyful maybe she is the one who is high. "Anyway now that you are healed up, let's get you dressed and into the mess hall for breakfast," she says as she gives me a black shirt and shorts. I slide into them, they are heavy, warm, and silky it’s a strange combination.

Dr. Leona helps me up so I can get the Shorts on, they are the same as the shirt it's like heaven. As we walk down the massive pearled halls I struggle for words, I think it’s the fluids wearing off. It’s a constant cotton feeling in my head. Trying to find something to focus on I look down at the floor, tiled black and white clashing with Dr. Leona`s purple coat trail, she has really big feet kept in green boots; In fact, Dr. Leona is a towering figure making me feel small.

I have a thought that breaches the surface of the cotton mill of my mind," How long was I in the healing womb" I stumble over my words. She looks down and smiles “It has been 3 days 4 nights, you and Amara where a mess when you came here," she sighs “It’s always like this, you die or you live and I have to heal the horrendous aftermath from those careless people" I can see a tear well up in her eyes as she stops in front of a bright blue door. How did I not notice that I look around and realize that I spent most of my time looking at the tiled floor than the actual hall we were walking down? It's beautiful, almost like walking on a glacier, blues and whites blending together in a wonderful pattern. She taps my shoulder to usher me into the room beyond the door. I'm greeted with rambunctious laughter and breaking cutlery. A cup slams my head breaking into pieces, the laughter stops as a booming voice slides through from the large man sitting at the head of the table" Well look who is finally awake the young lad that blew me away, sent me on my ass and bathed me in death, it took 3 days to get the smell out." the woman to his left elbows his side "Oh Lord Admiral you smell like death all the time, remember that time on Galicia-4 when that group of humans tried to "Slaughter" us, the bodies piled high , oh goddess you let loose that day." Oh, my Goddess I have walked into an insane asylum, Dr. Leona walks me to my seat, it's cold and soft for some reason it feels comforting. Quietly I look over the people sitting at the table, I can make out the fiery lady and the mud woman both sitting next to each other spooning soup into each other's mouths, the lady next to The Lord Admiral is unknown to me, Amara is across from me scowling like I did something wrong. The breakfast was a feast of strange meats and flora, I piled my plate high and ate in silence. The Lord Admiral stood up slapping his hands down to garnish the attention of the room, "Alright I believe that introductions are in order, I am the Lord Admiral of the Snow Owls, Tsuka Lora of clan-Sala." he roared. The lady on his left stands up" I am The Vitara of the Snow Owls, Nadia Morvo from clan-Sala." she replies kissing Tsuka on the cheek. The two lovers stop eating their soup and stand holding hands, " I am Mia Nita of clan-Rya and sorry for shooting you and setting you on fire," "And I am Anasu Nita of clan-Pya, you both made me so happy to finally fight someone fun in this cold wasteland." Dr. Leona nudges me with her elbow, I stand up" My name is Mir of the Mors-clan and I'm rather confused why there is a Lord Admiral and a Vitara are doing at a fort in the middle of a tundra planet instead of traveling the galaxies doing work for the goddess and moreover there are only 3 Lord Admirals, we learn their names and you are not among them!"

Amara slinks down red-faced as the Lord Admiral laughs, " Yes that is what they teach you in school what they don`t tell you is that there were 4 fleets for the empire. Until one Admiral disobeyed an order from the 1st goddess, the fleet was pulverized and forgotten from history. The truth is a secret romance between the 1st Daughter and the admiral resulting in a child forbidden. When the Empress found out about this child, she struck a deal with her daughter and the Lord Admiral; exile and eternal servitude in the shadows for the little girl's life and title. The Lord Admiral agreed, took his fleet and left to instill fear in the enemies of the Empire and The wraith of the 1st Goddess herself." He said dripping with pride. “What the Lord Admiral is trying to say in oh so many words, we are the spies, assassins, forbidden researchers, and the hand of the Goddess. We do the unclean work for the safety of the empire." The Vitara said lowering the Admiral into his chair. I fall back into my chair processing this information, its crazy there couldn't be a fourth fleet these people are just joking with us. Amara stands up looking frustrated "From that stupid look on your face Mir you are in disbelief as was I when I was first told; now I know they tell the truth despite being overly eccentric and constantly joking around they are indeed part of a secret fleet." she said glaring at me. I calm down and accept this new truth, “very good now Mir, Amara it’s time for your fleet test, follow us to the arena." Nadia says walking the Admiral to the door I came in from. I get up from my chair "But Lord Admiral I thought the test was making it here alive" I quiver. They laugh and walk faster giddy for what`s to come. As we walk down the hall I realize my heart is running full speed making my hands shake; Dr. Leona places a hand on my head instantly relaxing me. I want to hug her; before I get the chance we arrive at a gilded door. The Lord Admiral Throws open the door revealing a massive arena. Amara and I get pushed in with gusto; the Fleet crew smiles as they walk to the edge of the arena. We walk towards the middle of the frost-kissed earth; Standing on the two starting lines. The Vitara sits down" Okay you two this is the most important fight of your lives, and yes I mean your lives as one of you will die in this arena." she said with a smile on her face. That can`t be true; would they really make us fight to the death. The look Dr.Leona gives me fills me with dread. The Lord Admiral and his crew sit next to the Vitara," Alright lad and lady it’s time for your fleet test. The rules are rather simple; first no weapons, second no amputation of limbs including the head. And that's all." Tsuka`s voice booms off the walls of the arena. Anasu raises her hand signaling that she had something to say. The Lord Admiral nods at her; she shoots up and yells so everyone could hear" Don`t forget to have fun and try to make it entertaining; it has been so long since the last fleet test and I was starting to get bored." she says grinning as she sits back down. Lord Admiral claps his hands starting our fight. "Oh, Goddess I can`t believe we are going to fight to the death," I say to myself. I then notice that Amara doesn`t seem conflicted, it seems like she is happy. I walk to the middle and touch her hands; they are soft and warm. Her fist slams into my chin followed with an uppercut that sends me into the air. Our audience cheers as I hit the ground hard. Amara wastes no time and jumps on top of me; I kick her off jumping up on to my feet, it's my turn. She stands up blood dripping from her nose; I charge forward slamming a kick into her stomach. I feel sick for some reason; I look down at a gaping hole in my stomach. She blasted me with her healing energy that was used to heal me; now it's being used to kill me. I place my hand over the hole to stop the decay of my cells. Amara walks away believing she had won; I rush towards her readying my infectious touch. The heat crowds my body as I blast her exposed flesh with pustules shutting down the cells in the affected area. She screams out in pain from the rupturing of rotten flesh on her body. I move in for the kill stopping short as she blasts the area around her with light blinding me. After rubbing my eyes I see her wounds start to heal. She rips towards me slamming her shoulder into my chest; stabbing down with her glowing hand. I thought it would hurt more as my heart is pierced with hatred. The light begins to fade as death embraces me until I hear a voice whisper "Ashua" through the darkness, slowly I feel a pulse through my body. That pulse quickly turns into a rumble forcing me to stand in front of a disbelieving Amara. I lift my hand almost as if I was detached from it; swirling darkness envelopes my hand. The rumbling stops, my hand points its dark energy towards Amara; energy tendrils whip forward catching her arm. Her arm melts down to the bone, she screams as the starved tendrils consume her shoulder. Closing my hand the tendrils roar into a ball that hovers above the arena. Instinct tells me to lower my hand sending the ball to crash down. The ball is deflected by a shield of light from Amara; her arm is slowly growing back cell by cell. The Pulsing rages inside my body as her light forms a spear tearing my leg open; the scent of burning flesh fills the air. I need to do something anything; a thought pops into my head. Gliding my hand over my leg I rip the femur out; its jagged ready to be used. I throw my bone spear at her with a jet of methane from the rotting marrow. It makes a home in her head, as she falls her eyes dull and close. My body shakes as she falls to the ground; I believe I have won until I hear a crack rushing towards me. I turn around just to topple as a ball of light crushes my head. I`m dead right, then how am I still able to think, I hear talking, and feel safe. Opening my eyes I see the familiar walls of the healing womb. It contracts and births me into the pool. Dr. Leona`s loving smile fills me with joy; she picks me up toweling my body off as she brings me to the table. I see the medic bay this time instead of vomit. It`s rather large with for healing wombs, 5 tables, and an assortment of focusing tools for surgery. Amara is in the womb that is next to me silhouetted in pink shadows. The womb contracts birthing Amara into the pool; Dr. Leona helps her up and onto a table next to me. I look over at her trying to see what she looks like naked. She notices me and growls making Dr. Leona jump in surprise. Laughter fills the room as the Fleet crew walks in with Lord Admiral Tsuka at the lead," Amazing fight you had kids, It fills this old heart with joy to see such a passionate battle. “Tsuka says grasping his chest. The Vitara moves pass him and hold my hand with her left and Amara`s with her right, "You both did wonderfully, it`s rare for two recruits to kill each other in the arena, now you know what death feels like and the pain of having to kill a comrade, Welcome to The Snow owls". She says squeezing our hands, everyone cheers and welcomes us to the fleet. I really don`t know how to take this all in “I thought we were dead?" I said. Tsuka looks down at me "of course you were dead, now you are not yay!" "HOW!" I shout stomping the friendly atmosphere to dust. Lord Tsuka sighs places a hand on my head “You are a very uptight lad you know that always asking questions. Fine every arena in the empire is surrounded with an aether net preventing your aether from leaving into the universe and allowing our very own Vionsa Dr. Leona to grab them and stuff me back in yah, does that satisfy?" Dr. Leona walks over to me “It’s something the empire made to keep recruits alive during trials and to not waste any potential while pushing them to the limits. It only works when a Vionsa is around to keep the aether inside the body sometimes it doesn't work out and recruits die." she said with a sobering look on her face. Amara pukes making me shudder from the sound," Why make us kill each other at all why not use a VR room?" she said wiping vomit from her mouth. The Vitara sashes between us "Where the fun in that, pure combat is wonderful, gets you used to pain and bleeding. It is not a gentle universe, Ha even in the empire you have to fight to stay alive. Be glad you died in the arena and not on the lake like the other recruits. We only need strength in this empire, the weak will be purged by their own hands. Now get dressed it’s time to go" she smiles as she gives me a pair of black pants, shirt, and boots. We killed each other, and that's a good thing, what was that voice I heard, and why did my aether become tendrils? Looking down at my arm I imagine jet black tendrils coming out. My rampaging thoughts jump all around with ideas of what is going on while I blindly walk with the fleet crew out of the med bay and into a shuttle. I just realized that I spaced out, having no idea of what we are doing I lean in to ask Amara as we strap our belts in, "Hey where are we going", I whisper. She looks at me like I'm stupid leans in and says “How do you not pay attention to getting ready to leave and go to the capital ship. Are you kidding me?" she scowled snow-white brows furled. I stumble on my words as the door clicks closed and we begin to lift. The crew is so relaxed about this, Mia is dancing fire on her fingertips, Anasu is making clay dolls finishing one she nudges Mia making her hands into a kiln. Lord Admiral Tsuka is stuffing strange colored herbs into a vaporizer, taking long puffs of this fragrant smoke. The Vitara leans forwards taking the orb like vaporizer taking 3 big inhales and slowly exhaling out circular clouds. Amara coughing plugs her nose to avoid the clouds floating by. The Dr.Leona Coughs gaining the attention of the Admiral, who smiles storing the orb back into a sack in his armor. She leans back eyes closed breathing in and out slowly. The shuttle starts to rock rapidly making my stomach flip as we break through the atmosphere. That is when I noticed the pilot, she was laying down in a purple vat inserted into the floor, and she has wires connecting to metal implants in her skull. This is unreal I have to know what in the name of the goddess is going on," Oh that is Urza the Locan of Talon she controls the Titan a massive A.I battleship, and about a quarter of my fleet. That answers some questions for your creepy stare." he said gesturing to the Vitara to continue his explanation. She smiles "It's called BSI Biological Ship Interface, connecting her whole body to the ship for enhanced computing power and easier handling. It's something our shipwrights created. “Her voice rich like honey. I`m sitting awestruck at the sight of the capital ship. It`s a large purple petal ship resting in 3 rings gently rotating. As we get closer I notice orb drones swirling around the ship creating a moving spiral of tiny balls of death. Suddenly the drones stop as we enter the ship`s gravity well, " Is that supposed to happen? “I asked Lord Admiral Tsuka. He looks up with fear in his eyes “No it's not, everyone brace yourselves!" He shouts. I get as small as I can in my seat covering my head as the drones swarm around our ship. Our ship is rocked by roaring vibrations. I prepare for the ship to get crushed by the rogue drones. Halfway through my prayer, the vibrations stop and through my fingers I see the drones fly away. The shuttle is filled with laughter from everyone but Amara and me dripping with fear" It`s all okay, Just a little joke from our lovely Locan. You two are so serious, lighten up everything is going to be wonderful!" He grins rather pleased with our reactions. I see a smile crawl on Urza`s face as she guides us into the ship. We gently lower into an open platform on the side of the ship. The shuttle lowers into the ship exposing a massive hanger with small ships and shuttles slumbering in a pale light. We stop. The hatch of the shuttle lowers down revealing a hazelnut woman carrying a tablet tapping away, "Oh shit its Luna, ugh what she want this time?" Vitara Nadia whispers walking down the ramp with a reluctant smile. Luna and Nadia walk away talking about star charts and something about a ceremony. I get my snug harness off and start following The Lord Admiral out of the shuttle,” All right you two time for your crew assignments. You both with follow Dr. Leona for testing and orientation.” He said pushing Amara and I in the opposite direction of where Luna and Nadia went. As we walk away Amara turns toward The Lord Admiral stopping him with her voice” Lord Admiral Tsuka will we meet again, seeing how the ship is massive and its unlikely that we would have a high enough position to work with you?..” The Lord Admiral pats her head smiling” Of course Little Amara I always check on my crew and don`t call me Lord Admiral on the ship Just Tsuka, That goes for you to Mir. This ship is family not a rank and file system that you are used to. Now Hurry after Dr.Leona” he said with a wink as he walks away. I realized that Dr.Leona was already waiting for us in the lift. I grab Amara`s hand to drag her away from the stars in her eyes to meet Dr.Leona in the lift. Amara grumbles swears at me that I ignore instead I wonder about what assignment I get. I hope it’s something challenging, and most importantly away from Amara. Dr.Leona seems to pick up on my thoughts and gives my hand a little squeeze to comfort me. My hand stays in hers until the lift stops and the doors slide open. I walk out last in awe of the violet hallway with multicolored lights flashing on and off. It’s rather rhythmic the way the colors flash and change, “Mir sweetie can you please hurry up my assistants are waiting.” Dr.Leona says breaking my trance. I realize I’m still at the start of the hallway and rush to the green door Dr.Leona is standing in. Amara scowls at me as I enter the room labeled Medical. There are 3 women in front of a white desk each wearing a nametag and a mask bowing to Dr.Leona “ Amara, Mir meet my medical team, This is Dr.Ari Arca my medical engineer ”Dr.Leona taps the woman on the head, she has bright green eyes, and long fiery hair curled into locks. “It`s nice to meet you” she bows her head again, “This is Dr.Sai Arca my pathologist” Dr. Leona taps her head, she has light blue eyes, short blonde hair, and is the smallest one “Good to meet you” her eyes dart to the floor, “and this is Dr.Lia Arca my surgeon” she has white eyes, no hair, and as she stands up is the tallest person in the room “hello “she whispered staring into my eyes as if she was removing my skin , I shudder as Dr.Leona finishes by saying they are her sisters. She starts commanding for our vitals to be checked and to get us prepped for something, I stopped paying attention to her once I saw the rest of the medical room. It`s crushed pearl walls are crowded with monitors of different sizes connected to 10 beds each covered in blue blankets. At the foot of each bed there is a cart with an assortment of medical supplies like gauze, sutures, scalpels, and more that I can’t identify. As I am ushered into the first bed in front of the one Amara is in I notice there are stairs at the end of the row of beds and from what I was able to see is another room filled with healing wombs. The sisters get to work examining us, Dr.Ari taps my head sending shivers down my spine as tiny orbs flow out of her sleeve to measure my body down to its microscopic parts, Dr.Sai takes 13 vials of blood making me feel woozy, Dr.Lia cuts the black fabric of my shirt exposing my chest to her thin finger`s. She starts to draw lines on the right side of my chest forming a perfect oval underneath my pec “Um what is that for?” I ask. Dr.Lia whispers into my ear “It’s so I know where the limiter will go “She leans back with a wide smile making me nauseous. Dr.Lia starts to place stickers on my chest and face then goes to Amara and does the same. I can see Amara`s pale skin and my eyes start to focus on her chest, her breasts are large with pink areolas, her nipples are inverted, and when I look closer covered in scars. I realize her whole chest is covered in purple jagged scars, as if she was tortured for most of her life. My heart lurches as I bring the pieces together. I heard stories from my kin-sister about cruel Thanoists who would work with slavers bringing them alustrian children and safe passage in exchange for a safe place to experiment with their powers. They would keep some of the children for the experiments the slavers would let them perform in their spaceports. I always thought it was a tale to scare young Mors children into behaving. “What is a limiter for Dr.Leona?” Amara said each word stuck in a terrified muck.” It is a gauge of the amount or potential of aether in your body. Once it is identified from a scale of E-S .If you are graded too high we limit your aether abilities until you achieve more training and control, otherwise you would go into a supercharged frenzy killing everything around you and yourself. It`s sad really.” She said eyes welling with tears. Dr.Sai rushes over to wipe away her sister’s tears. “Oh well let’s begin with the operation sisters, Ari are the limiters ready?” Dr.Lia said with an ice cold whisper. “Yes they are, I just need to sterilize them. “She replies pouring a light blue fluid over two small disks. The world starts to swirl dragging my eyes into a deep sleep. My eyes float open greeted by the smiling face of Tsuka. “Hey buddy how you feeling?” said Tsuka. As the world shifts into focus I notice Amara sitting in a chair at the end of my bed with Nadia rubbing her back. “What happened?” I groaned.” Well when we tested the limiters they could not get a reading for your grade. So instead we are going to visit the seer and figure out what’s going on.” Nadia says with a drop of relief in her voice. “It`s definitely a change of pace around here.” Tsuka laughs. Amara stands up her green gown fluttering,” Before we do that can I get some clothes?” The sister Dr. give Amara a pair of blue slacks and a red T-shirt, I get Black slacks and a White T-Shirt that is a size smaller than I am so it’s a tight fit. The Lord Admiral and Vitara help us get out the door which was much appreciated since we are still woozy from the anesthesia. We head out of the sliding doors saying our good byes to the Dr. Sisters as the hall of lights envelope us, we approach the lift except this time Tsuka slides his hand onto a scanner in the wall making the lift produce seats. We sit down and buckle in the lift starts to move sideways at a rapid pace “Lord Admiral I mean Tsuka where is the seer at? Do you have a temple like on the colonies?” Amara asks excitement dripping from every word.

The only reply she gets is giggling from Tsuka and Nadia. It seems like they want us to discover where we are going. The lift breaks through the darkness shining a bright light as a massive city unfolds around us, the lift being guided by a rail in the sky above the city.

“Welcome children to the Ship-City Minora,” Nadia says bubbling over with excitement.

Ch2. Seer

The lift slows to a stop at a station overlooking a bustling golden plaza, the reflection of the light burns my eyes making me squint. We walk onto the platform greeted by the smells of cooking food and the sound of various music, all around us children play on the platform running up and down the stairs trying to catch one another. The light that fills the sky is beautiful then I realize there is a sky on a ship.” Tsuka how is there a sky and sun inside this ship, it`s rather strange and beautiful at the same time.” I ask looking at the sapphire sky and its billowing clouds.

“Well the ship is part of our artificial planet in our home system, the sky is generated by the steam from our power generators and engines which forms lakes and rivers naturally in our city providing more water vapor for the sky and more water for our power generators. The Light or our fake sun was developed by our shipwrights they told me its plasma in a state of whatever I stopped listening when they got all science on me.” Tsuka replied as we walk down the metallic stairs to the plaza below.

Its amazing random stalls selling foods and strange objects for what looks like orbs of aether, which I learned was illegal for anyone to have except for the temples and shipwrights, even then it's only for intense rituals and aether gates. I get absorbed by the sights of the buildings each a variety of colors and design, one looks like it’s made of frosted glass and tanned leather. In the middle is a great fountain with a statue of the 1st Goddess holding an owl with her right arm and holding an ancient weapon that if I remember from school was an AK-47 in the air almost as if she was still fighting on earth against the humans for the freedom of the Alustrian people. Entranced by its beauty I walk towards it looking at the plaque at her feet, words are engraved in the gold plate it reads: Kyta Solvink 1st Goddess, 1st Empress, Born 04-15-2120, Rule 2140-4240, and Death 12-11-4240. In honor of her victory over the Humans of the earth. The battle for Exodus. I feel a hand on my shoulder” She was amazing in the battle, I wish I could have been one of the first soldiers to fight for our freedom. I spit on the graves of the human tyrants that tried to cull our people. Now let’s hurry we need to catch up.” Nadia spits on the floor. Tsuka and Amara are walking down a dirt-laden alleyway. We catch up, Amara sneers at me for making them wait, and Tsuka is buying a strange fruit to pass the time. “Finally I was just about to sit down and have lunch you took so long HAHAHA.” He mumbled between bites of the fruits blue skin dripping violet juice down his face. We continue walking deeper into the dirt alleyway. After a few blocks of chatter between the Lord Admiral and The Vitara, we take a sharp left, stopping in front of a door inside a mound of dirt. “This is the place? It doesn’t look like any temple I’ve seen.” Amara asks touching the archaic wooden door. Nadia opens the door and ushers us in with no reply to Amara’s question, Tsuka walks in first kissing Nadia on the cheek, Amara follows him, and I continue to stand dumbstruck at the sight of dirt and mounds even a wooden door in a ship like this. Nadia clears her throat pushing me through the door, down the earthy and dimly lit steeps into a massive hallway. Romantic scents fill the earthy metallic hallway, the floor squishes under our boots, its covered in bright green and blue moss, it’s a beautiful pattern crawling up 5 pillars on each side of the hallway stopping just below aether lamps to save its self from a charred state. I notice sparkling on the walls, I look up greeted by a jewel-encrusted ceiling casting the light from the lamps around the room in a kaleidoscope pattern, and at the end of the hall sitting in an onyx throne is a little girl in a modest white dress her eyes wrapped in a scarlet sash clashing with her beautiful silver hair as if she has aged rapidly under a great deal of stress.

The little girl gets out of her chair and gallops excitedly towards Tsuka, he lifts her up overhead both giggling, after 3 swirls he lowers her down patting her head” It`s good to see you, Betsy.”

Betsy clasps her hands swaying side to side “Thank you for the visit Tsu-Tsu and Na-Na, but I fear I know why you are here” The air becomes thick with a tangible sadness as Betsy stops swaying and walks back to her chair “ You want to know if those two special children were chosen correct” Tsuka nods his head. Betsy gathers herself in her chair the long tail of her dress being ruffled as she tries to settle in “Well they are chosen by the 1st goddess but early in their development from what was shown to me, they were supposed to be further in skill, alas not everything can be seen in the waters of time” she said still trying to get her dress straighten out,

“So it is true, although if they are supposed to be more mature wouldn’t receiving the blessing be too much for them?” Nadia asks hands clasped to her chest breath abated. “Um excuse me we are right here stop talking like we are infants and just tell us what’s going on!” Amara shouts causing echoes throughout Betsy`s chamber hall. I am thinking the same thing though I would never be so forward to ask. Nadia starts to reply but is cut off by Betsy`s sigh creating a void in my heart that I cannot help but look down ashamed, I feel Amara do the same slinking down into our boots with shame,” You two are rather rude, very well you are supposed to be the next Vitara and Lord Admiral, that’s if you survive the blessing and of course the hellish missions to come.” Betsy pauses to get silvery strands out of her mouth,” Yuck, On top of that you need to learn respect, discipline, manners, and most importantly you both need to stop being babies and learn to like each other. Just grow up, you two are going to be together living or dead like it or not. Besides, why did I have to tell them, you both already knew.” She says pointing at Tsuka and Nadia. They both start looking around until Nadia clears her throat,” Um well yes that’s why we went to the frozen death trap of a planet in the first place. Plus we needed to be here anyway for you two to get your first mission.” She whispers almost like a child to an angry adult. I start to wonder how old Betsy really is, if she has had DNA altering or cybernetics she could be thousands of years old though it is rude I`m going to, I get cut off as Amara starts to speak” How old are you, Nadia?” “I`m 330 and 21 solar days.” She replies.

“How old are you Betsy?”

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