Somewhere

Day 148, year 16033 post-Uplift

The four Paragons of Light materialized in the middle of nowhere, at night time. This ‘nowhere’ was filled with tall coniferous trees and sounds coming from the aforementioned trees. The four started looking around without moving and without saying a word. Although confused and hurt they started analyzing the outside through the lenses of the inside and realized they were not in a familiar area anymore.

Do you feel it? Lozeam asked the others, mentally.

It’s as if we’re in another manifestation of Existence, Joxal replied promptly.

Let me check the location through the Interface, Hiruk added.

As the nano-holo device materialized around his left forearm he was not getting any signal from any Communicator. Which meant they were on a planet, in a system that had not been discovered yet.

Well, this is interesting. And unfortunate at the same time, the unavru continued, scratching the eyelid of one of his smaller eyes.

However unfortunate, I don’t feel any danger, Ahof intervened. Mostly small creatures surround us, but they seem animalistic in nature. Critters.

I think we all feel the same, Lozeam commented. Alright. Let’s discuss this verbally, then.

The four relaxed and looked at one another for a few seconds.

‘Well, what happened to us?’ Ahof asked the obvious question.

‘Before the light which – I assume – transported us here manifested, I felt something changing in me. Evolving,’ Hiruk explained.

‘It was as if something was shifting into place. Into a place it was supposed to be a long time ago,’ Lozeam added.

‘I felt that too,’ Joxal continued. ‘But the energy that got us here – the one Hiruk mentioned – was different.’

‘I know,’ Ahof commented. ‘It felt somewhat… Thicker. Which is strange, especially if it’s light.’

The others nodded, and then Lozeam turned towards Joxal.

‘About the ‘here’... I think we should climb the trees and see what is near us.’

He also focused for a second, extending his spiritual reach.

‘I feel the presence of great fear, but the number of individuals manifesting it is not so great. Somewhere from that direction.’

He pointed towards what he believed to be the North-East.

‘It must be close if you’re able to feel it so,’ Joxal tried to rationalize it.

‘I don’t know. It feels at least a few kilometers away.’

‘Hmm. That’s interesting…’ Joxal continued, then, as if struck by lightning, his eyes became wide. ‘Our powers… They’re greater than before.’

‘What do you mean?’ Ahof chimed in.

‘Check your souls and… Wait. It’s easier if I show you,’ he said while smirking towards a large boulder that was strangely well-placed between the trees.

He extended a hand and focused. Now, the boulder probably weighed around a tonne but he lifted it as if it was nothing. The oval rock floated through the air a bit, until Joxal threw it in Ahof’s direction. The bahnua was surprised and had to think on his feet, but instinctively reached out with his right hand and caught it in a telekinetic grasp.

‘By the Creator…’ he then uttered.

‘That’s what I meant. The being that showed itself was probably a very powerful entity sent by the Creator to help us in our endeavors. At least that’s what I feel deep inside my soul.’

Ahof placed the boulder on the ground with care and Hiruk looked at it curiously.

‘Well, if we’re this powerful,’ the unavru started while eyeing the boulder, ‘then it must mean something; it is for something.’

‘That’s definitely the case,’ Lozeam added whilst nodding.

A moment of silence passed, almost imperceptible, in which the four pondered the implications of their improved capabilities.

‘I think we should go after the fear Lozeam felt,’ Ahof proposed ‘It would take us a few hours, depending on the exact distance, but we should reach it eventually.’

‘A few hours if we go by foot,’ Lozeam interjected. ‘I think I have a better idea!’

He focused, just like before, but this time in another manner. Closing his eyes, he began to experience it. The full power of the Light. And, as he did so, his military boots began to slowly rise from the ground, as if pulled upwards by a mystical force. The others looked at him with differing expressions. However, they were all enjoying the sight of a floating Lozeam Lert, since only the most capable of Masters in the Order of Light managed to control the Life Energy so well in order to telekinetically make themselves fly.

He then suddenly opened his eyes.

‘So… What are we waiting for?’

*****

As they floated above the tall coniferous trees, they began to see some small lights in the distance. It was still the middle of the night in that region of the planet and they still had no idea where they were going but it felt as if they were on the right path. Eventually, they reached it. What looked like a small town, nestled between three hills, just as covered in forest as the rest of the region. They landed on the outskirts of this new location, trying to plan their approach.

So, what now? Hiruk asked the others expectantly.

Let the Creator inside you guide you, Lozeam answered with a paraphrased quote from their training.

They started focusing, and, led by Lozeam they extended their reach as much as they could. Death… There was so much death around the town. And hate. And aggression.

I feel around 80 individuals of different species somewhere below the ground, gathered together, Lozeam started explaining. Just three more, walking around the place, in different locations, but their movements seem chaotic.

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I think we should be careful. But I feel the best is a direct approach, Hiruk added.

The others nodded in agreement. As the Paragons of Light stepped down the hill, a soft, warm wind started to blow over their faces. The focused group did not mind it and simply walked into the town, unopposed. Joxal looked up for a moment, as they were getting closer to the gathering place, where they felt the group. That’s when he noticed that some of the lights in the night sky were moving…

‘Did you feel that?’ Ahof asked the others, giving a cautious look towards the bell tower of what looked like a temple of sorts.

They were currently on a narrow, lateral road, which led into the main boulevard. The other four extended their sensitivities towards the bell tower and ‘felt’ a presence. It felt like a young woman, maybe a teenager, which was probably an ehdar.

Let’s check it out, Joxal transmitted mentally, keeping to himself about the lights for the moment. She’s definitely on edge but if we make a good impression on a local then maybe it will be easier with the others.

The others thought for a second and answered with a nod, mentally.

Hiruk and Ahof went forward, feeling the watchful eyes of the person on them. While they drew her attention, Joxal and Lozeam sprung into action, with one of them going to the side entrance of the temple and the other entering through the front.

They floated through the air, making sure to encapsulate every noise in bubbles of non-physical existence in order not to trigger a response from the lady in the bell tower. Eventually, they got inside, and after a quick glance at the ehdars’ statues and at the large room, they pushed forward. Joxal was the first one, and he reached the top first.

When he got next to the door that would have led into the room with the bell, he felt something. Danger. The door was blown away in his face by tremendous force. He barely had time to react, before being crushed by the thick, metallic door. Instinctively, he put his arms forward and pushed the object back.

So much for making a good first impression, he thought.

The clank of it hitting the empty frame was surely heard outside and as it was falling to the ground, the empty room in full view, Joxal saw a figure jumping out the window. He followed, into the room, then teleported himself in midair, trying to telekinetically catch the person. He was, however, a bit too late. Ahof and Hiruk were already holding her in a telekinetic bubble, strong enough to not let her out, but tender enough to not squish her slim physique.

‘Let. Me. Go,’ they heard in a language they never heard before, but which they understood perfectly.

‘Not a chance,’ Hiruk replied, as Joxal landed next to Ahof, transmitting mentally what transpired.

‘Let me go or I’ll squash your heads in the pavement!’

The threat was filled with fury but behind it was something else. Fear. The lady ehdar was similar in shape to those statues that Joxal saw inside the temple, with thin builds, orange skin, and yellow eyes. However, the head was not visible, not yet at least, as an ultramarine cloak was covering her.

Ahof slowly looked at Hiruk, he sent some message mentally that even Joxal felt, and as the two concentrated on the woman, they unveiled her head. The two excrescences which were each growing in a triangle shape above the skull proved that she was, indeed, an ehdar. There was something strange with her, as they felt she was wounded. As Lozeam also landed safely on the pavement on the main road, Hiruk asked:

‘Who are you? Why did you attack our colleague?’

‘Because he was about to attack me!’ she yelled with her face fully uncovered.

‘No. I was not,’ Joxal replied, colder than he expected. Then, with a change of tone. ‘We are not of the those who caused so much death around here. We are from a different place.’

‘As if I’m going to believe you after restraining me like this,’ she scoffed at them.

‘Search your soul,’ Joxal continued. ‘Search for the truth in it. You have powers. Use them.’

The young ehdar woman looked at them a bit dumbfounded. Then, with the tiniest flicker of hope in her eyes, she indeed searched her soul for answers. A few seconds passed in silence, as the lights above kept on providing the eletrex with more questions than answers. Something was happening outside the atmosphere of this planet, and he felt they were going to find out what soon enough.

‘You are… pure,’ she eventually spoke again. ‘How… Who are you?’

The four Paragons of Light looked at each other for a brief moment then, after a quick mental exchange, in which no one opposed to relaying that information, Lozeam spoke.

‘We are from another place, I think.’

‘We have seen your place of worship,’ Joxal continued, ‘and we are similar in the belief that there is a being out there who created all. A Creator, so to speak.’

‘You’re talking about the One Above All,’ the young ehdar woman became a bit more relaxed, her eyes starting to fill with tears. ‘I’ve hoped so much… So much that the Lightbringers would come and save us from these… Monsters.’

The four Paragons looked at one another again. Tears were starting to go down on the sharp face of the ehdar. She continued.

‘I’m Lerta. Lerta Vull. I’m barely an adult - became one this year, in our time measurement system. Currently, you’re in the middle of a battle between two very powerful galactic forces, two out of three which spawn this galaxy. They’re called the Aegis of Justice and Relics of Eternity.’

Ahof and Hiruk eased the tension of the bubble a bit, which Lerta noticed and relaxed. Just a bit. And then she continued.

‘There’s a third, namely the Lawbringers, but they control another part of the galaxy. The war is on a galactic scale and from what we know, it has lasted for over 8 Galactic Standard Years now.’

The Paragons were looking more and more surprised. They have never heard of these factions. They began to wonder: where were they, actually?

‘But with no end in sight, my only hope was that of the prophecies of old,’ Lerta added.

‘Guys, I think you can drop the force field,’ Joxal commented, a bit too emotional for his liking.

‘Are you sure?’ Ahof asked. ‘She did try to crush you with a door.’

‘Forgiveness is the way of the Creator. I’m not going to let the evil around me step within. Release her.’

Hiruk and Ahof stopped holding the telekinetic field and as Lerta dropped to the ground Joxal stepped in and hugged her.

‘You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?’

The ehdar woman, although almost as tall as him, felt smaller than an ant. She put her head on Joxal’s shoulder and started crying with her whole being.

*****

The rest of the streets were mostly empty. At least that’s what Lerta told them as they began to make their way to the meeting point of the underground resistance. The buildings, which were made out of an alloy of metals, were mostly dilapidated. The simple yet bright colors that accompanied the metallic look were the ones that seemed most ‘alive’ in the town. Subsequently, the only ‘things’ that could have been around the streets were patrol drones from the Relics of Eternity. They were dangerous enough for a regular person who had not had any powers developed, but for them, it should have been a breeze to take care of them. However, after Lerta insisted, they decided it was best to avoid them, in order to not attract unwanted attention.

She further explained that they were in a galaxy called Alkesew, more specifically in the Brebde system, on the planet of Vafis. It was entirely quite a weird situation. Were they transported outside of their own universe? They began to think that was the case, since more clues began to show that they had no way of communicating with the people they knew, and the places and factions they were coming in contact with did not ring any bells. Moreover, the ehdars were supposed to be a part of the Core Universe’s community, most of their species being part of the Golden Empire. They had so many questions… But for now, they had to move forward.

The entrance of the underground base was an abandoned medical facility. They went through a hole in the wall, got through some labs with what looked like relatively new medical equipment which was currently broken, and eventually ended up in a room filled to the brim with empty shelves. Going through the maze of shelves, the Paragons began to feel the fear more intensely. It was emanating from Lerta but also from the others, who were not far away. As they reached the secret entrance, the young ehdar explained that they should let her do the talking, at least at first – an idea with which they reluctantly agreed. She then immediately whispered something in what looked like an Interface and the nano-holographic manifestation in the corner of the room dispersed. The disappearance act left the emptiness of a hole in the ground with a pair of ladders in it after it was performed. Lerta began climbing down on one of them and invited the others to do the same. They complied without much hesitation and the nano-holographic manifestation closed above them.

When they reached solid ground beneath their feet they were in some sort of metallic tunnel system, with poor lighting inside of it. Behind them was a dead end and in front two large metal doors; to the right and left were one tunnel each, but it was too dark to tell what lay in there. Lerta took a few steps forward and banged what seemed like a secret code on one door. A few seconds passed and a banging was heard from the other side. The ehdar woman sighed and banged again, this time in a different pattern. Immediately the doors began to move and as she got her hands in the air, flashlights illuminated her body and face. Two taller ehdars, wearing what looked like heavy armor sprung into action with their assault rifles held firmly. They grabbed the slim ehdar woman and dragged her after them while six more individuals of various races surrounded the Paragons.

These six guards wore more battered armor and had no helmets like the first two, but they seemed just as disciplined if less trained. A voice inside the base gave the command ‘Move!’ and the six individuals focused on the Paragons even more fiercely than before.

‘You heard the commander!’ one of them, a short ribad motioned with his rifle towards the entrance.

The Paragons looked at one another and mentally nodded. They started walking towards the empty space left by the metal doors, still surrounded by the military of this resistance group. As they got in, they felt as if entering a pool of fear, suffocating and near-unstoppable. However, they had to go through with it, since they surely were transported there for a reason. Now, that reason must have had something to do with the Revelation, but they did not understand yet how. As these thoughts were going through their mind in the dimly lit but wide tunnel, the doors closed behind them. A nano-holographic panel that was shining in the tunnel, barely held by anything was showing a simple word: home. Now what kind of home this was and how they were about to be treated remained to be seen…