Veil One

Loch Lorian border

Nate and his new friends, Astrea and Jessamyn, readied themselves. They were closer to the epicentre. Ahead, the skies warped and flying RayCrests came in and out of a cloud of coal dust. The Archs continued their fight in their twisted and strange versions of the codes Nate just learnt. From afar, they resembled movements designed to deceive others. But they worked!

“Those are the LitSpears,” said Alekee, pointing at a group of RayCrests. Nate stood there, his mouth hanging open.

“The LitSpears. Arcuans?” asked Nate.

“Yes! How did you know?” asked Alekee.

“Let’s just say we have a history,” said Nate absent minded as he came closer to Ethriel and Cairis.

Cairis had short, dark hair and blue eyes. An athletic build and a stylish fashionista in her last human form.

“Woah! You two look nothing alike!” Nate said, his eyebrows furrowed in disbelief.

“Our bodies do not define us,” she said warmly. “There are 250 of us LitSpears spread across the Four Parallels, hoping one day we can reunite and return home.”

“What is stopping you from reuniting now?”

“SkyRose,” they said in tandem.

“SkyRose?” asked Nate.

“We still don’t know who they are or where they are,” said Ethriel.

“Leaving them stranded was never an option,” said Cairis, her voice hinting at the weight of old wounds. “We are determined to find them and bring them home.”

Nate glanced at Ethriel. He was so much older than Cairis. Brother and sister? It made no sense.

Cairis rested her eyes on Nate and smiled.

Nate received the message. “You have been looking after Kenya?” he asked, startled.

She nodded.

“Is she here?” asked Nate, just as a group of Archs forced Cairis, Ethriel and three more RayCrests to create a Markarian until time stood still, and the Archs froze.

“We have only minutes! Hurry,” said Cairis as they moved into a new code, starting with the graceful Oran Sacramenta of Fealty in perfect synchronicity.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Nate charged towards the frozen mist of thunder and warped waves. However, on arrival, an explosive force threw him into the air. He breathed a sigh of relief when RayCrests, watching over the initiates, rescued him.

“You need to gather information before you charge in!” A RayCrest shouted over the noise.

Nate tried again. He stood in stillness, absorbing every detail around him. His impatience overwhelmed him as he witnessed an Arch preparing to use a Gantemer code on an initiate. This propelled him to sprint towards him and collide with the Arch. Another Arch prepared an Aurial code when Ethriel used a Markan to freeze him.

“Whew! Thank you,” said Nate.

Cairis and the seasoned RayCrests took over the exhausted RayCrests in their range with an impressive acrobatic warm-up. Time resumed its flow.

Nate charged into the mist and made a pirouette backward in the air again. Landing flat on a bed of grass. A RayCrest helped him up. He was a bit shaken, but quick to focus on the battle again. He charged in again and again. But each time, he pirouetted backwards. This last time, Ethriel helped him land.

“How am I going to fight if I keep getting pulled out?” asked Nate.

“You haven’t been in Veil One long enough. Your vibrations are not high enough,” said Ethriel.

“What can I do?” he asked.

“Stay strong and sense the information you can move on. Focus on the Artinian code, you need this most than most here. Don’t try to be like everyone else.”

There was a target ahead of him, and he focused on his intuition. What is my purpose here? To his surprise, his slow coding had an effect. It opened a safe lane of light into the mist. He walked towards it. He used a Waterli to shield himself from further bouncing to the back of the field. His confidence grew until he found his coding shifted Archs around.

“Ha!” he exclaimed.

He focused on doing just what was required of him, moment to moment. He helped the initiates create stronger codes together. Sometimes the energy was so great, it was like surfing giant waves. Waves that would pound him to the ground if he wasn’t careful.

“Information, Waterli, Gantemer,” he said, as he continued to build himself a shield to thwart the Archs. At one point, red ash blinded him. He covered his eyes and walked without direction until a RayCrest flushed water on his face and he recovered his vision.

“Thank you! What was that?” asked Nate.

“The Archs are using red coal to blind us. But we help each other. Keep going!” he said.

***

Nate ran towards a group of RayCrests when he found himself in front of Ellis Warnock. His heart stopped and his eyes widened with a sudden rush of adrenaline.

“Nate, darling,” she said. “You can’t be with the aliens?”

“I don’t think I have a choice,” he said.

“They have brainwashed you. You’re safer with us.”

“Ha! You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Come back to safety,” she said, holding out her arm.

Nate refused.

Next, she transformed into a nightmarish move Nate recognised as an Arch version of a time-stopping Markan, but he blocked her with a Waterli shield. He used the shield to make a run for reinforcements in the back of the field. Ellis chased him. Nate ran fast through an obstacle course of Archs and RayCrests. When he reached the field’s end, there was a lack of reinforcements. He gazed back in horror. Ellis and another Arch had him surrounded. Ellis moved into another code, hunching her shoulders, and circling her right leg in a disturbing imitation of the rich RayCrest dances. She twisted and writhed. Nate’s vibration was lowering. They were getting to him!

“No way!” he shouted, swirling counterclockwise. He magnified his coding, as though wild horses galloped by his side. The battle raged between them. Ellis lifted in the air, creating a downward spiral with her arms, when more Archs arrived. He stopped. Unable to move, crippled to the ground.