Chapter 1

Premonition

Ariei

“They’re getting bolder. It won’t be long until they start hunting closer to the gates.”

Braham tugs the handle, yanking the weapon free from the creature’s neck. Blood pours from the wound, staining the glowing grass below a deep crimson. He places it in his back holster, the thick, sawtoothed rectangular blade still dripping. I stare down at the beast. It’s a massive thing, layers of thick muscle building its intimidating frame. The mark of an eidelion glows blue from its head, starting to fade. A pointed snout and large ears lend it the visage of a standard woodland forager, but its eyes speak differently. They are deep, wise. Silver pupils and two thin, glowing cyan irises on each eye highlight themselves over light gray scleras. A faint white glow radiates from its gray coat. Dozens of needle-thin spikes lay flat over its membrane, slowly rising and falling with each shallow breath the creature draws. It lifts its head, emitting a soft groan. I shouldn’t be worried. I shouldn’t even care. It wasn’t like I was supposed to fight yet.

Still, I grip my rifle tight.

Braham gives me a concerned look as he readjusts his coat. I slowly open my mouth, prepared to respond, but he cuts it short and gives me a reassuring nod and confident smile in exchange. My father, meanwhile, claps me on the shoulder. His green hood is down, his long red hair seeming to glow from the bright yellow suns. He appears almost regal this way, save for the scars dotting his face- only matched in their incongruity by his messy, scraggly beard.

“Come, Ariei. You can bear to show some enthusiasm!”

He’s right, for the most part. It’s rare that somebody my age is able to take their initiatory excursion as an emberstrand. It would be an incredible feat for the average person- years of physical training, scientific cohesion, mental fortitude. Yet I am thrust into the hunt by my birthright. I sigh faintly, taking a moment to look up at the grayish-red sky above. The twin suns, Imperi and Iferit, gleam down at us as the creature finally passes.

“I understand.”

He looks at me quizzically.

“Then what seems to be the matter? This is it! You’re here.” He squeezes my shoulder excitedly. “When I pass on, or if I need to stop, it’s you who will take my mantle. And, frankly?”

He steps in front, looking me directly in the eyes.

“I wouldn’t trust anybody else.”

I look to Braham for support. He shrugs, giving a sly half-smile. I return my gaze to lock with my father’s.

“Look, I know how important this is. I’m just…”

I look at the dead eidelion again.

“I'm not made for this. You can feel it too, can't you?"

My father looks slightly hurt, but it’s hidden behind his confident grin, only visible as his gaze tightens. He looks down for a moment, sighs, and looks back at me.

“Ariei. We are going into a dangerous world. We don’t know how many eidelion are hunting today, but there's already one here, past the central bridge. There’s one thing you have to understand.” He holds up his left hand, a trick he often used to intimidate me when I would misbehave. He's missing two fingers, his middle and little.

"When it comes down to life or death, there is no waiting. You decide immediately. Am I alive, or dead?"

He pauses, frowning, before suddenly beaming into a smile, his booming laugh echoing around the tall, monstrously thick trunks of the vastin trees around us. He marches onward as I stare at him, dumbstruck. Braham cackles. I glare at him.

"He's insane."

Braham simply laughs harder.

“Indeed. But all of the greatest people are.”

I glare at him.

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“He completely sidestepped my concerns.”

Braham shrugs. He’s been looking older recently, haggard.

"Here’s a story, child, one I've told to very few. I took your father on his first excursion. Just the two of us- we were limited in number at the time. We did not know what we do now.”

He points with his fingers ahead of us.

“I told him, ‘Walk just ahead, in front of me. If an eidelion sees you, you run ahead, and I'll grab it while it’s hunting you. It’s just an animal- it won’t even know I'm there.’ So, he did. He marched right ahead, shaking like you were just now-”

I slap him on the shoulder. “I was NOT shaking!”

Braham laughs, his voice dry and cracked. I decide to let it go and keep pace.

“As I was saying, he ran right ahead of me, as ordered, scared out of his wits. And, of course, those two glowing eyes found him, and the hunt began. I ran forward and-” Braham acts out the motions with dramatic bravado- “gutted the beast, right in the middle! And you know what?”

I roll my eyes, smiling. “What, Braham?”

“Your father turned around. He looked like he’d aged ten years in twenty seconds. He pissed his pants, in front of a real emberstrand, on his first hunt.”

I burst out laughing. Braham joins in.

I manage a few words. “So, why’d you have him run ahead? There’s better ways to do it.”

His face drops its illusion of humor.

“Because, child, you don’t know what it’s like to have power until you have none.” He points. “That cowardly boy who pissed his pants grew up to save more people’s lives than anyone else in our order’s history. But to get there, he had to feel terror. He had to feel what it was like to be hunted in order to feel the power of the hunt himself.”

He gives me an earnest look.

“You just endured a similar experience to your father’s. And yet, you held steady, calm. Were you tense, scared? Of course. And yet you didn’t let fear overwhelm you. You’re going to be a good leader, Ariei. I’ve known that since you were a child.”

My father, still confident ahead of us, trips over an outstretched root. He regains his composure, turns, and sends a confident nod our way.

Braham chuckles. "Still an idiot, but brave, loyal. That's what makes him a leader. You'll learn soon. And that's what will make you a great successor."

I don’t say anything. I can’t, really. I'm processing an odd mixture of confidence and frustration with Braham. Just like my father, he ignores my qualms; it’s not that I'm nervous. I simply refuse to accept this as the rest of my life, or even as a momentary path. I consider rebuking him, but refrain from the notion. “Thank you, Braham. Sincerely.”

He nods, reaching into his long, dark leather coat. “Ah, almost forgot.” He pulls out a dark, hastily folded square of microgranite. His demeanor is odd.

“I can’t underestimate how important this is. Don’t open it yet.”

I take the thin, soft material from him. I slip it into the leather bag strung across my back.

“Braham, what is this?”

He softens his voice.

“It’s an important letter. To you. You’ll know when to open it.” He makes sure my father is still excitedly hurrying ahead. “Don’t tell anybody.”

“Braham-”

“NOBODY. Not a single person besides you can know what is contained in this letter. Understood?”

I give him a cautious glare.

“I’d be lying if this didn’t concern me. Are you alright?”

Braham sighs, rolling his eyes as he speaks.

“Yes, child. I’ll be fine.” He stops walking for a moment. “I know I can trust you in this.”

He holds his hand out. With trepidation, I give it a firm shake. My father, now getting further away, calls back.

“Come now, fellow emberstrands. We’ve almost reached the outer ring of the Maw.”

—--------------------------------------------------------------

The three of us walk up to the excursion point. A massive, wide bridge stands raised amongst the scattered, ramshackle buildings dotting the area; not that it matters here. Only emberstrand are allowed on the surface; the real civilization remains below, safe under the thick layers of rock and metal that make up the inner crust of our planet. My father would always tell me stories of our race; how we were born from gods; just as the animals around us were, that mankind’s cruelty offended the gods, that eidelion were created to eliminate both as punishment. And yet, somehow, we survive.

My father was always fond of his tall tales.

Two guards stand watch at the bridge. Due to its proximity to frequent Maw activity, they are clad in fully enclosed brass helmets, lest they intake any of the hundreds of toxic spores per foot present in such an event. Despite being the smallest city of the eight left in the world, they remain here, day after day, granting passage and keeping watch over the dangerous landscape. The largest one speaks first, his voice booming through the central filter of the mask.

“Welcome again, Edom.”

My father shakes his hand, giving the smile of an honest friend.

“Emerit. It’s been a while.”

The two of them pause, before laughing together. Emerit gathers himself, the eye slits in the mask finding me. “Ah, is this that daughter you won’t shut up about?”

I nod. “It’s an honor to be here, sir.”

He stands straight, playfully straightening the dark blue military fatigues covering his body. He adjusts the golden pauldrons on his shoulder.

“Ah, my apologies. I didn’t realize we had a properly trained aristocrat on the premises.” He gives a playful chuckle. “You don’t need to use proper tongue with me, Ariei. I promise I'm not important enough.” He holds out his hand. “It is a fucking honor to meet you.”