Darju was in shock. Never in her 18PT had she witnessed such a horrific incident as the demise of Dralcor. She had been told of horrible tragedies like all young Lyzord growing up when elder Lyzord would tell them horror stories, but to witness a being disintegrate in front of her eyes, and apparently caused by her eyes, she could not possibly fathom.

The sentinels stood motionless and she slowly stood from where she had backed against the far chamber wall and walked towards them. She was shaking as she approached holding her light stick and shining it looking up towards their blank frozen forms.

"Can you hear me?" She asked.

There was no response.

"Hello? Are you there?" She tried again.

Nothing.

She slowly reached out with her free hand and placed it on the body of the closest sentinel. She could feel warmth from the automaton but there was no reaction to her touch. She turned to again look at Dralcor's ashen remains and shuddered.

What had caused it? What was a Sunstar? He had said she was but how? She was just a young Lyzord. She looked back at the sentinels and noticed a mark on its metallic body where she had touched it. It now looked as though it was starting to rust, the red oxidized colour that she had seen on many metallic objects. These automatons should not be able to rust. She did not know the material that they were made from but the fact they had smashed and dug their way through rock and did not appear to have a scratch or mark on their frames did not fit the fact that they could rust.

What was happening? She had so many questions she could not answer. Only a few cinteps ago had she been sat in the hatchery daydreaming about being free from the turmoil of monotony and now that she was she wished that she wasn't.

"Okay. Darju pull yourself together." She said. "You need to get out of here."

Taking a last look at the sentinels she moved around them and towards what had been a neatly formed entrance tunnel. The sentinels in their frenzied state trying to reach their master had widened the tunnel considerably. Rocks littered the tunnel floor as she picked her way through them heading for the large cavern.

It took her much longer than she expected due to the amount of debris caused by the sentinels and it now seemed as if the tunnel may collapse at any second. She gulped at the thought, trying to push her fears to one side as she continued.

On reaching the large cavern she gasped at the devastation caused by the sentinels as they had torn through the earth. Sections of the large stalagmites had been broken off, and she stooped to pick up a multicoloured piece of one of them. The colours were beautiful even in the pale light from the glow stick. She placed the small shard in her pocket. The entrance at the far side of the cavern was much larger now leading into the initial entrance cave and then to the outside. She staggered into the late afternoon sun of the second sun.

She had to get back to the starport she had to let Flurew and the others know what had happened. She had to get help and at least get the sentinels recovered. How had this happened? Why had this only happened in the chamber and not when she had first met Dralcor? She stood staring at the sky the first signs of the stars had become visible. Most nights were clear there was little rain in this area due to the vicinity of the desert. When it did rain it rained in a deluge. She slumped to the ground and sat holding her face in her hands.

'The beam!' she thought, Dralcor had scanned the chamber with that beam from his suit. Maybe that is what triggered the Sunstar, when it touched her. Who would know though? Who would believe her if she ever told them?

She dug in her backpack for the container Flurew had packed for her and took out a sandwich halfheartedly biting into it and chewing without thinking. This was the strangest and scariest experience of her life. She was just a young Lyzord and who would be able to help her? She finished eating and forced herself back to her feet. She needed to get to the starport, she must report the incident. Finding the little resolve she had she forced herself to begin the trek back.

The sun hid for the evening and the moon's bright rays replaced it giving the mountain a spooky and silent feel. Every small rock movement as the mountain groaned from the colder air of night made her jump. It was as though the mountainside was breathing under her feet. She reached the mountain peak and looked down at the starport after a few yhuse. She was not sure exactly how many yhuse had passed as she had been walking in a haze her mind playing tricks on her.

She did not kill a God. She knew she could not have. It was not in her nature, she had never killed anything before. She had not even liked fishing in the valley's river as a young Lyzord, secretly releasing them from nets that some Lyzords set. The bright lights of the starport were getting nearer now and looking up at the night sky the position of the moon meant that it was only a few yhuse until the first sun would begin its path across the sky.

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As she got nearer to the town she began to feel more nervous. Would anyone believe her? Would anyone care? What would happen to her? What should she do? She dug in her pocket pulling out the small shard of the stalagmite, turning it in her fingers, looking at the beautiful colours, feeling its smooth surface. Such a small act brought the smallest calm to her overactive thoughts.

The Starport gates were closed as they always were at night time. She did not want to disturb the guards so walked around the outside of the Starport until she got to a section where a tree hung over the wall. She scaled the tree, her claws always making scaling trees an easy task and crawled along the overhanging branch before lowering herself and dropping down.

She made her way through the darkened streets and eventually arrived back at the cantina. She went down the alley that separated Flurew's from the cantina and typing the code into the backdoor walked inside. The lights were off and the house was in darkness, Flurew would not be up for another few yhuse. She went to her room and removed her backpack and travelling clothes, walking into the cleansing cubicle and allowing it to clean her of the dust and dirt from the trip to the cave. Pulling on some fresh clothes she sat on the edge of her bed.

She could not sleep. She was too pent up with anxiety, her stomach felt like it was knotted and she felt nauseous. She had to tell someone, her mind screaming at her.

She looked at the holoscreen and stared at the call button. There was only one person apart from Flurew that she could tell and that was Cylion. It was still the middle of the night though. Should she wait? She couldn't. She hit call.

The holoscreen made its usual low ringing sound as it tried to connect. After several rings, Darju was about to hang up when the blip of call accepted came through.

"Hey Darju." a very tired-looking Cylion said as she appeared on the screen. "What is wrong? It is the middle of the night still." Cylion licked the back of her paw and stroked it across her face smoothing her fur that showed signs of sleep.

"I am sorry Cylion but I needed to talk to someone and you are my closest friend apart from Flurew."

"What is wrong? You look scared? Is Flurew alright?" Cylion said, suddenly realising that the way Darju looked and spoke was not the normal happy Lyzord she had come to know and love.

"I......I......I think I killed a God."

"What do you mean, you think you killed a God? Gods are immortal they can't be killed."

"I know it does not make sense and I do not know how but I went with Dralcor to the cave and then he disintegrated," Darju gabbled out.

"Hang on, take a step back. Flurew told me about you going with the God but why do you think you killed him?"

"He kept screaming about my eyes and his nanosuit and body began to burn up in front of me."

"Your eyes? They are normal as I have always seen them." Cylion was getting concerned. Her friend was not making sense. "Darju. Come around to mine. I am worried about you."

"I am sorry I did not mean to disturb you in the middle of the night but I needed to tell someone."

"Stop. Just come around now. I will put a pot of tellic on and you can tell me all about it in person."

"Okay. I will be around in a few."

Darju stood picking up the small piece of stalagtite and placing it into her pocket. She left her room and left the house again by the rear door. Flurew would never know she had even been back yet unless she went into her room and saw the travel clothes she had placed in the cleanser. Cylion lived on the far side of the spaceport, her home was a small little house set back near to the outer wall of the starport. It was a quiet part of the spaceport and away from the usual hustle and bustle of the centre where Flurew lived. She walked up and knocked gently on the door.

The door was quickly pulled open and Cylion stood there staring at her friend. She gripped her hand pulling her into an embrace. "Are you ok? You do not seem yourself. Now come in and tell me everything from start to finish about what has happened."

Darju followed her inside and took a seat in the lounge. Cylion brought a large pot of tellic in from the kitchen and poured them both a drink. Darju took the large cup gratefully and took a deep swig before placing the cup down and turning to Cylion.

"From the beginning," Cylion said.

Darju relayed the whole incident from the moment of meeting Dralcor at Flurew's to the trip to the cave to the God's demise to the sentinels and their apparent shutdown. Cylion listened intently. Not interrupting her and allowing her to finish her tale.

"...and then I came back to the spaceport. I have no idea what I should do?" Darju finished.

"I have never heard of anything like that ever happening before but I may know someone who could possibly shed some light on the situation."

"Who?" Darju said, feeling the first hope of light.

"She is one of Mylico's friends. She is rather high up in the interstellar political sphere. She is a personal friend of the Princess of Catlopia."

Darju knew that Catlopia was the home world of the Catlop's. It was several sectors away from the Quilrew Sector much nearer to the universal centre. Cylion had told her stories about her homeworld and she had always been entranced.

"I need to make a call to Mylico." Cylion pressed her wrist communicator and within moments Mylico's face appeared on the miniature holodisplay.

"Hey sis," Mylico said, Darju could hear music pumping in the background. "It must be the middle of the night still there what has got you up? You never miss out on a cat nap." he laughed.

"Mylico. No time for your usual antics, this is serious. I assume you still speak to Persmia?"

The comment took Mylico off guard and the sound of the music started to die off as he moved to a quieter location. "I do?" he asked suspiciously.

"Good. Can you call here we have something to discuss urgently."

"You are not making sense Cylion and who do you mean by 'we'?"

"Get Persmia on the call as Darju is not going to repeat it twice."