A very long time ago deep below the surface..

Doctor C, Varish held her head in her hands. She felt exhausted but they had at last finished their work. She only needed one last confirmation before it was ready for bonding. She heard hurried footsteps from behind and turned to meet her visitor. Dr. Yalten was a tall pale man who looked like he was manufacted in one of these labs himself.

-"Doctor Varish! The last phase is completed but we're out of time. Denarian forces could be here at any minute"

-"What of a candidate for the Nano-Xerith to bond with?" 

-"We've been unable to locate a suitable host, none of our scouts have reported in. It is likely they've been killed by the Denarians."

-"Then.. Then we have nothing, all of our efforts have been for naught" She yelled while slamming her fist into the desk.

-"Doctor Varish there might be another option"

-"No I won't allow it, to be subjected to such a fate is something I would not even wish upon my own enemies" 

-"If we don't do something the planet's doomed, the other worlds have already fallen into oblivion. There's no telling how soon the human coalition will retaliate with world enders. Remember that they don't believe in our work!"

The sinking feeling in her stomach could not be stopped and it made her hesitate even more. Thinking back how happy she had been. Acquiring the research permit, funding and all the right personnel. She had believed she could save the world from certain destruction but the war had come too soon. She had finished her research just in time.

She made her decision. "I will bond with the Xerith" She told him. 

-"You.. you know what it means ri-" 

-"Of course I know, that's why I'm doing it. I can't order anyone to do such a thing."

-"You're not a match, and a forcefull bonding will.." he trailed off.

Varish approached the distressed man and put a tired hand on his houlder. "Yes I know I will condemn my mind to eternal torment, but I will do it so that when the time comes I can influence the Xerith to pick a suitable host. If such a time ever comes I must believe that it will come... Now tell the sorcerers and the other researchers to evacuate. I will lock down the facility once you're in the clear.

-"Take care of yourself will you.. You know your mind will be devoured as soon as the new host starts bonding do you?" 

She nodded. -"Now go! They'll soon be upon us" 

After the man had left with the rest of the personnel she took a small obsidian cube and placed it in a machine. She headed to the operating table and laid down. Pushing the button and confirming her choice she closed her eyes. A loud whirring noise was heard and she was no more. Not in the sense a normal living being would "be" at least. She was apart of something else now. Something that held her aspirations alive.. For the moment.

 In a not so distant past..

-”I told you, I heard screaming from over here I know I did!” the boy said with frustration clearly visible on his face.

-”Shiv, there’s no screaming nor any tracks that would indicate anything living nearby” a middle aged man answered the boy.

Shiv threw up his arms in defeat “I heard it really! There Varko! I hear again.” Hearing a distant cry as that of a small child Shiv starts running. Sighing heavily Varko mutters under his breath “I can’t hear a damn thing, the boy must’ve the ears of a Farnekk” as he follows the boy through the woods. Soon he too hears the cries and picks up the pace, shouting for Shiv to wait for him. A strange sensation envelopes the man as he starts to sweat, strange.. No hot springs in this area last time we came through here he thought to himself. Spotting Shiv in the midst of removing his furs Varko follows suit and steps into the clearing. No snow or ice almost like some sort of barrier divides the clearing from the frozen landscape outside it. In the center a lone tall tree with leaves makes its home. No other vegetation grass or otherwise grows within the clearing only a soft dirt floor. Seeing Shiv next to the tree Varko slowly approaches to see what caught the boy’s attention.

Looking around the base of the tree fully ignoring the fact that leaf trees do not grow here Shiv spots some bundled cloth behind the tree. A baby, someone left baby here Shiv thought as he picks up the bundle. Piercing light green eyes looks calmly up at him from within with a smile and a giggle as it tries to grab at Shiv’s wet hair. Hearing Varko approach he turns around to hand him the child. Taking the child from the boy Varko glances down at it, a girl, a baby girl, who would leave a child here? He asked himself, must be some underground hot spring or, or something. For but a moment he considered leaving the child here and heading back to the others, they’ll be worried for us. Seeing the brilliant smile of Shiv as he looked at the baby with the pride of a rescuer he quickly decided to bring her with them. One more mouth won’t matter and Orana needs something else to think about, this baby will do her some good.

-“Vyla” The boy said.

-“Vyla?” Varko responded with visible confusion on his face.

-“Her name uncle, it is Vyla”.

-“Very well, you’re her big brother now Shiv. You gotta take care of her and show her how we do things”

-”yes uncle, I promise” Shiv said, he’d always wanted a little sister. It was as if the gods were listening personally to him. He had even had a name ready, truly Vyla would grow up to be the perfect little sister. He thought to himself.

A chill wind catches them off guard and a heavy snowfall followed quickly, scrambling for their warm furs they leave the now snow filled clearing with another member added to their pack.

End prologue.

The snow falling softly adding to the already blanketed forest as a small figure clothed in white furs trudges forward. The Tranquility of the forest is abruptly interrupted by a piercing animalistic scream causing the figure to stop dead in its tracks. The scream echoes between the tall pine trees with a moment of silence before it’s taken up again. Clearly judging the direction of the animal the white clothed figure starts off again in the direction of a distant mountain range.

A few minutes later the origin of the wailing is spotted with an old contraption stuck around one of its three legs. The creature sports uneven horns and an all too wide a mouth with four sharp claws topping off its paws. The figure hesitates but for a moment before adjusting its grip on the makeshift spear while slowly circling the creature.

Drawing closer with a few wild jabs aimed at the beast the kill is almost certain. The beast howls in despair pouncing towards its attacker drawing blood with its sharp claws. Surprised at the beast’s attack the hunter is pushed to the ground with the ravenous beast on top clawing wildly. The spear sticking to the beast but not deep enough for a finishing blow. A wide jaw filled with sharp teeth clasps closely to the hunter’s shoulder before a knife is plunged deep into the beast’s throat. The creature’s warm blood pours out coloring the white furs distinctly red against the snowy background.

Vyla squatted down in the snow holding her bleeding arm, sloppy.. sloppy and naive she thought. Now if the cold doesn’t kill me this wound will, I’ll have to wrap it in something. Picking out some cloth from her pack she tightly winds the cloth around her arm, the wound isn’t that bad. After tying the corpse to a branch and hoisting it up on her shoulders she sets off, using the mountain range as a guide.

Half an hour of walking is greeted by a small campsite with a single tent, the snow cleared and stacked to make a wall around the area. A young man sits in the center near the fire pit for whatever warmth it can muster.

- “Shiv! I’ve got sum grub for us, didn’t give up without a fight though!” Vyla said to the young man

-”I told you to be careful! You should just let me hunt if you can’t help getting hurt all the time.”

- “I’m good and besides I need to learn. What will I do if you’re hurt or sick, or worse dead.”

Responding with a grunt Shiv reached out to grab the carcass and began skinning it while humming a familiar tune.

-”Not much meat on these Farnekks and I never can figure out how they are so fast with just three legs..” Shiv said mostly to himself.

-”They’re obviously magic you dummy, don’t you remember the stories Nimnim’s used to tell us?”

-”Fairy tales and lies, magic isn’t real. You should focus on real stuff like learning how not to get killed by wounded Farnekks” he said with a smirk.

Vyla sat herself down by the fire and studied Shiv while he worked with the knife. Brown short hair and just as brown eyes on a narrow and almost malnourished face. At 19 summers old he looked almost handsome to Vyla who was still a child at 12 summers. She had been born just after the previous Starshroud as the elder called it, a long time without summer or stars and it is near impossible to know how long they last. Darkness for most of the day and sometimes all day it tests any who may call this place their home. She had heard from the more well traveled calling them Star shrouded years but didn’t know how they would measure it as a normal year without the sun or stars.

Stories are told around the campfire of the vicious beasts that haunt the forests during Starshroud and ghasts that prey on weary travelers. Vyla always enjoyed those stories that were meant to scare the other children, she were particularly curious about the ghasts. Their glowing eyes, white skin, long claws and sharp teeth seemed compelling in some strange way.

Time went past as she explored various fantasies and scenarios in her head. She had made a habit of daydreaming ever since she finished the only two books Nimnim owned. She loved to dream of impossible things it was the only way to experience such things after all.

Snapping back from her thoughts Vyla looked down at the piece of meat in her lap, “You okay? You looked a bit out of it” Shiv asked her.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Gently nodding her head “I’m fine now that I’ve got sum grub!” she said followed by a cheeky grin.

Hearing her stomach growl she began devouring the food while listening to Shiv’s gruff voice explaining the difference between hunting and getting yourself killed. They talked for some time before Shiv said he would take the first watch sending Vyla to bed. Falling into a deep sleep dreaming of ghasts and strange creatures from the Starshroud.

Shiv rubbed his hands together over the fire as a light wheezing could be heard behind him, I’ll hunt tomorrow. Can’t have her disabled for the ceremony he thought. Peering up hoping for a glimpse at a star he wondered when summer would finally come along, it was two weeks late for the last snows. They would be hardpressed if it turned out to be a star shrouded year, the supplies are already running low. Although the threat of such a year may net them more profit from the furs they intend to sell in Travosk. He made good use of his time fantasizing as well. Not thinking of monsters but of his betrothed back with the wagons.

Waking up with Shiv’s face hovering above her she gave him a scowl as she was forced from her warm fortress of furs. Quickly donning her white furs and taking a few extra for warmth she exited the tent to find the fire almost dead. Turning around ready to give Shiv her thoughts on the matter she found him already snoring to his heart’s content. Turning to the pile of firewood but finding it spent, Didn’t he get more firewood when I was hunting!? She yelled internally.

-”I have to do everything myself around here, why don’t you just stay by the wagons next time Shiv” she muttered mostly to herself while hoping it might wake up her slothful companion.

No luck there, With a heavy sigh and grabbing Shiv’s axe she set off into the woods.

Some minutes later Vyla yawned as another tree proved fruitless or branchless as she would say. No dry branches within miles would be the top of her list of personal fears along with drowning in air and being left behind by the caravan, her only family. Thinking of her close family Orana, Varko and Shiv gives her a smile and some more strength to keep looking.

Coming up on a huge tree Vyla checked again for snow free branches seeing that there were no branches at all, in fact the tree trunk seemed almost too smooth. Taking off her gloves she felt the trunk and the smooth surface, very cold, colder than any wood she thought. Taking her axe she gently whacked it, a strange hollow metallic sound echoed back at her, this is no tree.

Pushing against the tree and banging it yielded no interesting results, one last push she thought as she made her way to the other side. With a show of strength she felt nothing, where there had been tree or whatever it was, there was now nothing and she fell forward. A loud thud was heard as she hit her head effectively stopping her momentum. Vision swimming she tried to get out the way she came but with a silent click she found herself in utter darkness, trapped inside the tree.

Taking her head into her hands she slowly recovered from the fall and a sinking feeling started in her stomach. Will she die in here? Starvation? Suffocation? Shuddering she tightly gripped her axe to attack the tree door in front of her.

Not even a dent, what is this tree made off? She thought, not even Varko’s battleaxe would be left without even a tiny dent. After a few minutes she found herself exhausted and instead she started to feel around the inner walls with her hands. A loud BLIP! A flash of white blinding light caught her off guard and she threw herself down to her knees with a yelp of fear.

Well she wasn’t dead, at least not yet, I hope. Taking her hands off her ears and fearfully looking around, a lamp was shining from above. A lamp.. I’m rich! Only Lady Ghaela in Travosk could afford a lamp she thought. Ignoring anything else she tried to grab at the light finding her height to be inadequate also noting the glass covering that seemed to repel any axe throwing she attempted.

Finally looking around her she noticed a glass panel with some strange symbols and some buttons with more unknown symbols. Mustering up some courage she tried the odd colored one and the panel sounded off in acknowledgement with a female voice answering in an obscure language.

With a sudden jolt bringing Vyla to her knees again the small compartment started moving downwards with some haste. The contraption that was bringing her downwards complained with loud screeching making Vyla fear the whole thing would Collapse and take her with it.

Coming to a stop the voice spoke again needlessly confirming that she had indeed reached her destination. The door opened without a sound and very quickly her curiosity got the better of her as she peered carefully out the door. Appearing to sense her presence the room lit up. She gathered up the last of her courage before stepping in.

The room could fit about 6 wagons Vyla estimated with the absence of furniture she only spotted two doors on the right and left with a giant glass screen on the opposite wall. The walls seemed to be made of some sort of sleek dark metall. The large screen showed some kind of graphic depicting tiny flowing metall creatures in some sort of illustrated tube accompanied by the unknown symbols. Nimnim had taught her to read so this must be some old language with her being unable to read it. Studying the graphic it did not appear to be changing and was stuck in a loop.

Another voice spoke making Vyla jump in fear before remembering the voice from before. The soothing female voice said its piece before returning after a minute with the same message spoken again.

Ignoring the voice and the screen she stepped towards the left hand door and it too opened as if it knew she had approached it. Continuing through the door with the hallway lighting up to each step forward. She thought of the fortune in lamps she would have if only she could get at them. Another door ending the hallway which for once did not open at her approach spotting a green button on the side she eagerly pushed it and successfully opened the door.

A pure white room revealed itself without any adornments except for a strange muddled window to one side and a door up ahead. The room could barely fit one wagon she mused to herself while spotting another green button besides the next door.

Must be some sort of security room she thought as she pressed the button and with a satisfying click the door behind her shut closed and a red light started pulsating above her. The female voice lacking any of its previous smooth tone yelled out at her and the fear came surging back. Looking around wildly finding no escape a small screen had appeared. It showed a simple graphic of a person taking off its clothes. Knowing not what else to do and after some deliberation she took off her furs leaving her undergarments on.

Vyla closed her eyes with a few seconds passing in silence a violent torrent of water hitting her from all sides screaming loudly she covered herself up as best she could against the cold water.

Vyla still shrieking found that both the water and the obnoxious voice with the pulsing red light were gone and a warm flow of air soothed her aching skin drying her wet clothes.

With a sound she had started to recognize as confirmation she opened her eyes to see the door had opened in front of her. Making her way into the room, noticing the lights were not working properly, she could barely make out some sort of table with an elongated object on top.

Getting her eyes used to the dark she looked to the table stopping dead in her tracks a short yelp escaped her lips. On the table lay a deformed skeleton not entirely human and with a metal arm that protruded from the ceiling piercing its skull. More metal arms with strange tools attached were hanging from the ceiling powerless and below the skeleton an outline had been drawn taking the shape of a small humanoid.

The skeleton lying on the table clearly outsized the outline perhaps leading to its untimely death Vyla realized. Tearing her eyes off the table she looked around the room. This room had many strange screens, buttons and adornments their purpose lost on her. It vaguely resembled Dr. Kavos’s main operating room so perhaps some kind of medical facility? She guessed without much else to go on she opted not to touch anything lest her fate be the same as the skeleton on the table. After taking a few final looks she left to explore the rest.

Venturing back with the lights going out behind her she turned her gaze to the other door. Inspecting the door she suddenly noticed that her wound had started bleeding again and a piercing pain jolted through her arm. Catching her breath she stared at the arm in horror and a myriad of thoughts raced through her mind. Poison? No Farnekks ain’t venomous! Or was it this place? Something in the water she was washed with that got in her wound?

She had no time to think she thought herself dead but if this was a medical facility then perhaps they would have more operating tables. She Ran forward with little regard to what might await her. The door opened into a split hallway with two doors down each way. Looking at the symbol above one of the doors it bore resemblance to Dr. Kavos’s sign.

Pushing open the door she was confronted with another of those white rooms she quickly consented to another wash and made her way through. A similar outline was drawn on the table and she quickly jumped on top filling it in.

Nothing happened as she looked fervently around for some sort of obvious button to start the procedure as they opened doors and brought her underground surely a button would also start the healing. Feeling the edge of the table she found a big red button with a screen next to it, she hesitated. Feeling her left arm numbing and taking on a purplish grey color she closed her eyes and pushed the button.

The female voice confirmed her choice as the outline started to glow with clasps appearing to hold her still. A small prick could be felt in her neck as she was injected with something. The pain becoming distant and a dreamless sleep taking her into its bosom. The strange ceiling faded away with a last glance of a metal arm moving downwards.

Shiv exited the tent his internal clock telling him that food needed to be had. Looking around he failed to spot Vyla with only some tracks to reveal her apparent whereabouts. Grunting in displeasure he scratched his stubble in frustration. Clearly lacking in more ways to display his current mood he grabbed his spear and set off following Vyla’s tracks.

Waking up Vyla tried to stand up. Quickly regretting her effort she fell face forward on the hard floor. Oddly enough she felt no pain but her body did not respond to her either. Laying there for a few minutes she tried to gather her thoughts. At least she was not dead so it could be worse she thought. A dull pain started to envelop her body as whatever they injected her with probably was wearing off. 

The previous panic returned and she cursed the healing machine for not actually healing her. She thought of her family and Shiv as she quietly said a death prayer to whatever god may be listening. The pain rising everywhere it became hard to breathe. Flaring in her chest she coughed with searing pain and finally she could feel her heart rate drop. A last thought going through, First time I heard my own heartbeat and it’s the last one, Take care Auntie and uncle. Shiv you too…

And she died..

Somewhere else entirely.

-”Mr. Graz! Sir! It has been confirmed sir! Another vault opened” A woman said nervously

-”Another? Where?” A small statured pale skinned man answered both with interest and surprise as he turned away from a screen.

-”North of the Travoski mountains Sir. However we’ve got no friends nearby Sir.”

-”Very well.. Tell Miss Reiss to make for Travosk and tell her to bring a tracker” The man said without much enthusiasm. Silently observing a six legged metallic creature stalking up his forearm he motioned for the woman to approach.

-”Here she can take Voss here, he’s eager to please” Handing off the creature to the woman he continued looking at the screen displaying strange symbols.

Another one joins the fray he thought...