Footsteps sounded in the halls. “They are coming,” the Queen hissed. “Hide, now.”

Shamefully I took up a position in the shadows behind the tapestry. From atop the dais, hidden in shadow, I watched Dorian and his Acolytes enter the throne room.

Dorian strode down the hall, his white hair flowing. He wore the robes of the Black Wall—his band of traitorous warlocks—eschewing the traditional Aurelian garb.

Madness flashed in Dorian’s eyes. The lucid, clear-thinking blindness of a man consumed by a singular goal. Loreign faced him boldly, staring down from the dais. Her voice boomed through the hall.

----------------------------------------

The ATV jolted under Elion as it rolled across the rough dirt road.

“Wow, I’m not used to carrying three people,” Domas said from the ATV speaker. “I hope my differential doesn’t act up with the extra weight.”

Should I offer to walk? Would that be considered polite or rude here?

He decided to try. “I can walk,” he said.

“No, no, we’ll just take it slow. Not in a rush today.”

“So,” Elion said, “You are in the ATV?”

“In a way!” Domas said. The machine grew louder as it picked up speed. “I am the ATV.”

This did not really clear things up for Elion. How could an ATV have sons? He wanted to ask more questions but was wary of revealing his ignorance. Maybe this kind of thing was common on Kylios. Besides, the ATV was too loud for causal conversation.

They drove around the tower in the center of the village, a spike that jabbed up to the sky. A few garage doors and windows lined the lower portions of the tower. The skin of the tower, mostly rusted sheet metal, had the look of something repaired many times with whatever was on hand. At the pinnacle, a variety of antennas extended into the air like a tuft of spiky hair.

A girl about Elion’s age carried a crate across the road toward the tower. She wore overalls and heavy combat boots, with her hair pulled back into a braid. She looked strong. The sound of the ATV caught her attention, and she set down her load and waved. Kasm and Tael waved back.

When she saw Elion, she frowned, freezing mid wave. Elion met her eyes as they passed, and they widened, her brow knitting and jaw tightening.

The road led them out of the village, and along a precipice. Water ran through a cleft in the earth, around 100 feet below. The river forked around the island, cutting through two deep gorges on either side of the island.

A path branched off from the road they followed, winding steeply down the cliff side. A dock area nestled into a shallow cutout in the cliff on the near branch of the river, sheltered from the swift current.

Rising from the far bank, a strange, pale yellow-green crystal sprouted from the ground. Elion felt a strange sensation as he looked at it, before it disappeared behind an outcropping of rocks.

As they drove, Elion watched the far river bank fall away. Beyond the chasm, a vast grassy plain spread across the land.

A city rose up out of the plain, great skyscrapers and thousands of buildings illuminated against the morning sky. Even from this distance the buildings appeared abandoned, crumbling and corroded.

Domas slowed down.

“We’ll have to take the track to the Altar extra slow. Not a lot of reason for us to go there, since we have Gorman’s Tower right in town,” Domas explained. “So the track isn’t maintained.”

“That isn’t a problem,” Elion said graciously. Then he took advantage of the opportunity to fish for information. “So tell me your story,” he said, priding himself on the tactful question.

“Ah,” Domas laughed, the chuckle crackling through the ATV speaker. “I didn’t used to be an All-Terrain Vehicle. It’s a long story though—”

“No it’s not, Dad,” Kasm said, turning to Elion. “Gorman saved him after he got caught in the bridge gears, but he didn’t have enough android parts.”

“You’re leaving out the best parts Kasm!” Domas protested. “See, I once had a human body, and—”

The road rounded a corner, a swell in the land obstructing Elion’s vision. A black streak sprang from atop the swell, flying through the air toward them.

“Dad!” Tael screamed. The ATV swerved, nearly throwing Elion. The black streak landed graceful and cat-like behind them. Big as a horse, covered in glossy black fur, it turned and charged back toward them, claws and fangs flashing.

The ATV skidded to a stop as Tael aimed his rifle. The cat sprang again, and the rifle fired, a solid laser of teal light lancing through the air. Tael fired again, the laser rifle cracking the air with a wet, splatter-like sound combined with a muted thump.

A line of bright light connected the rifle and the creature for a split second. The attacking beast stumbled, crashing down into the gravel road. It groaned once then lay still.

“How did that get here?” Domas asked. “Everyone out, I’m going to check the bridge!” Elion and the boys dismounted, and the ATV sped off down the road, traveling much faster than when it had been weighed down. Elion stood there for a moment in shock, looking from the dead creature to the speeding ATV.

He turned back to the cat creature lying on the ground. Tael prodded it with the barrel of his rifle.

The creature looked like a panther, though it had long antenna and six eyes on top of its head. Elion grimaced at the sharp fangs.

“Tael be careful,” Kasm said. “It’s infected!”

Tael ignored his brother, continuing to inspect the beast. He was careful not to touch it.

“What is it?” Elion asked. “Are there more?”

“A pemalion,” Kasm said. “An infected pemalion.”

“There might be more,” Tael said. “I don’t know how it would have crossed the river unless the bridge was lowered.”

“What infected it?” Elion asked.

“The Shard,” Kasm said, unhelpfully.

Domas’s engine roared as he sped back around the corner. “The bridge is down, somehow!” he exclaimed, screeching to a stop in a cloud of dust. “The guards are all dead. I’m going to raise the alarm. Cut through the woods, you’ll be safer at the Altar. Infected pemalion are coming down the road! I thought I saw scavengers too!”

“I can go with you,” Tael exclaimed. “Let me help. I’m part of the Aterfel Guard now!”

“No!” Domas shouted. “I’ll go faster unloaded. Take the rifle, protect your brother!”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Dad–”

“Go Tael,” Domas said, “Get to the Altar, it will protect you. I’ll meet you there.” He sped away down the road, heading back toward the village. Before Elion could react, Tael started climbing up the rise where the pemalion had ambushed them from.

Kasm ran after his brother. To his left, in the opposite direction the boys ran, tall trees offered concealment.

“Wait,” Elion said. “Shouldn’t we go that way?”

“I want to see the bridge!” Tael called back.

Elion muttered under his breath, then ran after the boys. Tael was the one with the sci-fi laser gun, after all.

He gripped his butter knife as he ran, determining to upgrade the thing for a real weapon as soon as he got a chance.

He reached the top of the low hill, just behind Tael and Kasm. The boys crouched behind a log, peering out over the valley beyond.

To Elion’s right, the chasm opened up, the river running through it. On the other side of the gorge, grass grew across rolling plains, leading to the desolate city in the distance.

Ahead, the road wound down to a black truss bridge which spanned the gorge. Cables ran to tall pylons on the near side of the chasm, connected to the bridge in the center. Gears and machinery sat at the base of the pylons.

“It’s a drawbridge?” Elion asked.

“It’s down,” Kasm said. “Who put it down?”

Elion scanned the bridge again, and this time saw several dark, sleek shapes prowling across it. More pemalion had already reached the other side, and were fanning out, roaming around the rocks and scrub brush.

Where had Snickers gotten off to? He hoped the cat hadn’t been eaten by a pemalion or gotten infected by ‘the Shard,’ whatever that was.

“Zelian’s Halls,” Tael said. “There are too many of them.”

“Don’t swear,” Kasm chided.

Tael rested the rifle on the log, peering through its scope.

“Don’t shoot Tael,” Kasm said. “You don’t have enough shots.”

“I’m just looking.”

Elion scanned across the bridge once more, then continued searching the far bank of the gorge. He again found the shining, yellow-green crystalline spike.

“Is that the Shard?” Elion asked.

“Yes,” Kasm said.

The Shard was embedded into the ground at the bottom of a shallow crater. All kinds of animals, pemalion and otherwise roamed around it erratically. Groups of people mingled with the creatures, circling the shard in some kind of strange ritual. Several packs of creatures ran along the cliff top, heading toward the lowered bridge.

“This is bad,” Kasm said, worrying his hands. “What are we gonna do?”

Both the boys turned to look at Elion. Kasm’s lower lip trembled like he was about to burst into tears, and even Tael seemed uncertain.

“Come on,” Elion said, remembering Domas’s last order. “We need to get into the trees.”

The forest provided little cover. Old growth trees drowned out much of the sunlight, preventing ground cover from flourishing. Dead leaves hid gnarled roots, which tried to snag and trip Elion as he walked.

“We should head away from the bridge,” Elion said. “Hope the pemalions don’t roam this far this quickly.”

“Pemalion,” Kasm corrected Elion. “Not pemalions.”

“Whatever,” Elion said, though the comment made him curious about how translations worked.

“So where is your sword?” Tael asked, scanning the area. “Shouldn’t you get it out? Don’t you want to go help the Aterfel Guard?”

“Um, it doesn’t work like that,” Elion said, trying to maintain an air of authority. Tael seemed to respect the fact that he was an Aurelian. “I think it’s better if we stay back here and wait for help to come.”

They continued deeper into the forest, burgeoning canopies overhead blocking out the light. Shadows deepened, shifting as limbs swayed in a gently breeze. Elion scanned desperately for lurking pemalion, flinching at movements in his peripheral vision.

“We need to go this way to get to the Altar,” Kasm said, pointing.

“You lead the way,” Elion gestured. “But keep your eyes peeled for pemalion.”

“Naw,” Tael said. “They’ll head for the town, where the people are.”

“Just stay alert.” Elion wasn’t convinced by Tael’s bravado.

Elion and Tael followed Kasm through the woods. As long as they headed away from the bridge, swarming with pemalion, Elion didn’t care what direction they headed, but he was curious to see this Altar. Why did Domas assume he was here because of it?

He wondered what he would find there, remembering the strange forested glade he had dreamed of when trying to rescue Hamilton. The trees he had seen there had been different from the ones around him now. The forest had a similar atmosphere though; a deep, quiet solace. It had seemed peaceful before, but now it felt ominous.

A dull thumping sound reached them, repeating in quick bursts, coming from the direction of the bridge.

“The Aterfel Guard!” Tael exclaimed. “They’re at the bridge. I should be with them!”

“Wait!” Elion grabbed Tael by the arm as the boy tried to run off. “You need to stay with us!”

“No I don’t,” Tael said, ripping himself free. “I have a gun, I’ll be fine.”

“What about us?” Elion demanded. Tension built at the back of his head, anxiety swirling in his gut.

“Use your sword,” Tael said with a shrug. He turned and ran through the woods, back the way he had come.

“Hey!” Elion yelled, but Kasm grabbed him.

“Be quiet,” Kasm said. “We don’t want to attract attention.”

Elion stood beside Kasm in the shade of the forest, watching Tael disappear. He glanced down at the boy beside him. Fear swelled inside, as he imagined a pemalion springing out of the shadows, tearing into them with its claws.

“Come on, we’ll be fine,” Kasm said, though Elion could see him glancing around uncertainly. “We just need to get to the Altar.”

“You’re right,” Elion said, trying to keep the nervous quaver out of his voice. “Let’s keep moving. Is it far?”

“I don’t think so.”

They continued picking their way through the woods, the occasional muted thuds of laserfire reaching them. Elion hoped the sound would draw away any creatures who’d made it into the woods.

A short time later they emerged from the forest, standing at the edge of a gorge, a river running below.

Did we walk in a circle?

Elion scanned the horizon, but it had changed.

“We’re back here? Where’s the bridge?” he asked.

“We’re on the other side of the island,” Kasm said. “Now we just follow the path to the Altar.”

A winding dirt track wove between the trees and the edge of the cliff. Kasm and Elion followed it. As they walked, Elion noticed the sky changing. Shards of vibrant sunset colors still hung in the sky over them, but the black darkness of night no longer shone between them; instead, clear blue sky was visible.

Kasm froze, and Elion nearly knocked the boy over before he saw what Kasm had seen. A pemalion, crouched in the shadows beneath a large tree near the path ahead. The creature stared right at them, six black eyes glittering in the sunlight. A low growl rumbled from its throat.

“Get your sword,” Kasm whispered.

Elion wished he had a sword. He didn’t think his butter knife would be much use here.