Paradox (star Legacy Saga Book 3) 553a73

PARADOX

J.P. DECELIERE

Copyright © 2020 by J.P. Deceliere.

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-7960-7822-0 Softcover 978-1-7960-7821-3 eBook 978-1-7960-7820-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only. Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 12/16/2019

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FOR LOVE

CONTENTS

SYNRISE Expedition Praedonum

Chapter 1 XV

Chapter 2 Endless

Chapter 3 Need You

Chapter 4 In the Dark

Chapter 5 Never Fade

Chapter 6 Sun Won’t Rise

Chapter 7 Easy Lover

Chapter 8 Far from Home

Chapter 9 Coming for You

Chapter 10 Lights Out

Chapter 11 One World

Chapter 12 Years of War

Chapter 13 We Won’t Fall

Chapter 14 Electric Machine

DYNASTY After The Crown Dies

Chapter 1 Who Are You?

Chapter 2 Ghosts

Chapter 3 Die Together

Chapter 4 Pessimist

Chapter 5 Heavy

Chapter 6 Limitless

Chapter 7 Unfinished Sympathy

Chapter 8 It’s All on You

Chapter 9 Your Horror

Chapter 10 I Wish You Were Here

Chapter 11 Revenant

Chapter 12 Despite All

Chapter 13 Ocean Drive

Chapter 14 Home

SYNRISE THIRD PART

EXPEDITION PRAEDONUM

CHAPTER 1

XV

Standing on the wooden branch of a tall beautiful tree, a small blue bird received the first sunrays of a new day as they hugged it with warmth and joy. Listening to many other of its species singing in the background, the little creature lifted its left wing to peck its interior and clean it. Hiding its head behind its flight feathers, the tiny bird began his day-to-day routine as it felt the calmness of the morning; no disturbance or predator seemed to be near. Seconds after finishing its wing’s deep cleaning, the creature opened the other one and began to peck its insides to conclude its bath. In a sudden, as his surroundings gave the sensation of being calm and peaceful, an increasing noise began to disturb its routine as it came from the horizon. Paying attention to the sound’s origin, the bird paused his bath and turned into the depths of the beautiful rain forest, just where thousands of trees and leaves could be seen. Its eyes hadn’t been taken away from the rising sound as its author hadn’t been discovered yet. The unrecognizable noise continued to get higher and higher as well as the little bird’s anxiety; it looked like it was about to fly away. Out of nowhere, coming from the rain forest’s depths, a herd of loud pirate motorcycles rushed into the scene as they were being chased by a group of human Speeder Flyers, a hurricane that drove the bird away. The persecution began deep in the rain forest of Praedonum while the sun was barely coming out. Aaron was also there with the soldiers while they were chasing the pirates at the speed of light. They were deep into the rain forest, a few meters away from the enemy. The tall wet tree branches covered the scene from the sun while they were speeding behind the pirates. The map on Aaron’s device showed that they were about to arrive in Furdesum, so they had to do something to prevent their arrival. As they dodged the thick trunks of the trees, the group of soldiers approached the pirates even more. Donna was inside the square cage as she saw Aaron and his group getting closer while carrying Eliot in her arms. The old lady had a type of white cloth that covered her mouth, so she couldn’t

say anything. After a few moments, the group of soldiers was in between the enemy’s vehicles, stalking the pirates. At the moment, Aaron was at the left of the individual that had Donna and Eliot as prisoners. The being removed his scarf and bandana so he could see better and aim with his gun out. Surprised, Aaron discovered how all the left part of the pirate’s face was being consumed by rare thin brown branches that had small green leaves that came out of them. When the enemy took out his gun, he pointed it at Aaron and shot him, but luckily, the soldier dodged the blast. The pirate kept firing at Aaron for a long time, but he still missed every shot. Finally, the soldier took out his gun and pointed it at the pirate’s head but then realized that it was too dangerous for Donna and Eliot; if he shot the pirate, they were going to crash into a tree. After thinking while he kept dodging the bullets and driving the Speeder, Aaron shot the pirate in the hand, so he dropped his gun after shouting in pain. Immediately, his vehicle lost speed, giving the opportunity for the soldier behind him to save Donna and Eliot. It was a really tense moment for the guard that drove behind the pirate, thanks to his concern about falling off. After putting the Speeder in manual, the soldier began to stand up and reach for the cage that was at the back of the enemy’s vehicle. After he finally stood up, the soldier saw that there was a tree a few meters in front of them, so logically, the pirate was going to dodge it, leaving the Speeder to fly directly toward it and crash. The soldier had to react quickly and jump from his vehicle to Donna’s cage before that happened. In a matter of seconds, when the guy realized this, he jumped to the pirate’s vehicle and landed near the cage. Finally, the enemy dodged the tree before the Speeder crashed directly with the thick wooden trunk. It was difficult to stand in the pirate’s vehicle, forcing the soldier to crouch behind the cage. After he landed, the pirate felt how his steering wheel shook strangely, which made him look back to see what was happening. He saw how the soldier tried to open his prisoner’s cage, just about to unlock the door. Immediately, the pirate took out a strange device and got it near his mouth, warning his group about the human’s attempt to free their prisoners. To avoid this, the nearest pirate took out his gun and shot the soldier in the head, making him fall off the vehicle. Part of the guy’s blood spilled on Donna’s face while they kept speeding through the forest and dodging trees. Immediately after hearing the gunshot, Aaron ordered the rest of his group to fire at all the pirates except for the one that had Donna and Eliot at the back of his vehicle; apparently, he had a plan. The group obeyed and took out their guns before they

began to shoot at the enemy. Some of the pirates jumped from their vehicles when they saw what was happening, of course; thanks to the speed they were going, the pirates were killed when they crashed with the ground. Now, the only pirate that was still alive was the one that had Donna and Eliot at the back of his vehicle. The soldiers began to get closer and closer to the enemy as they prepared to stop him from escaping; their opportunity was leaving faster than their vehicles. When the pirate noticed this, he took out a smaller provisional gun with his right hand and pointed it at Donna’s head, threatening to kill her if the group of soldiers dared to get any closer. After realizing this, Aaron ordered his group to hold their fire and to back up to let the pirate escape. Aaron didn’t have any choice; that was the last option he was left with. “What’s next, sir?” asked one of the soldiers when the Speeders completely stopped. “Look for survivors,” Aaron proposed before his vehicle began to turn around. The pirate pantheon wasn’t supposed to be so far; it was a few meters behind them, so they took almost no time to get there. Between the trees, the floor was full of vehicle pieces that were spread around, accompanied by smoke and burning engines. There were some pirate corpses lying on the ground as well, and the group of soldiers searched for survivors with hopes of finding any. Aaron came up with the wise supposition of capturing some pirates so they could negotiate with their boss to exchange them with Donna and Eliot. After a long time of only seeing steel rubble, dead enemies, and no sign of life, the group’s hope began to drop as low as the broken branches. Aaron was about to give up and return back to the Ark, but he then heard some tree sticks crack from not so far away. He began to look around in search for answers until he discovered what made the noise. There they were, a pirate helping another injured one escaped into the rain forest as they hoped not to be discovered. “Hey, you!” shouted Aaron before he jumped out of his Speeder and ran after them. Both pirates turned around immediately and saw how the soldier was running toward them. The injured pirate took out his gun and pointed it at Aaron before he arrived and pushed the pistol away from his direction. The gun fired to the air, provoking a loud that allowed Aaron to punch both pirates in the face, making them fall down unconscious. Seconds after, the other soldiers arrived in their Speeders.

“What do you want us to do with them, sir?” asked one of them with curiosity. “Lay them on the back of your seat and be prepared to ride back to the base,” ordered Aaron before he took out a device and called Lenin. When he answered, the soldier spoke. “General, we couldn’t rescue the prisoners, but we have two men that could work for negotiation,” said Aaron through the phone, while all the soldiers looked at the rain forest with eyes of amusement. This was the beginning of a great adventure; it was the beginning of Expedition Praedonum.

CHAPTER 2

Endless

After the soldiers threw the pirates at the backseat of two Speeders, the group of six returned to the base. They ed quickly between all the trees of the rain forest while the birds sang. It was kind of difficult to hear the flying animals because of the loud sound of the Speeder’s engine. After a long time of dodging the trees, they finally arrived at the deforested area where Ark One was. The Speeders went all the way up the boarding ramp and parked inside the room in front of the dead bodies of soldiers that were killed by the pirates in the great massacre. While they were getting off their vehicles, unexpectedly, one of the pirates woke up and suddenly discovered where he was. After realizing that he was back in the Ark, he began to freak out and shout at his fellow pirate before he also woke up. Both of them were awake and shouting in their dialect, forcing the soldiers to run toward them and cuff their hands at their back so they couldn’t move; they also were forced to wear a type of black cloth that covered their mouth to stop them from shouting. “We have to take them with Lenin and Stewart. They are in the platform with the other two teens,” said Aaron while he began to walk up the stairs toward the observatory platform. Two soldiers began to push both pirates to the front so they could walk as they wore their handcuffs and the cloth around their mouth. They made their path all the way up the stairs, while they saw all the massacred people in between the decks. It began to smell horribly, and there was blood everywhere. After a short time of walking up the stairs, they arrived at the observatory platform where Lenin, Stewart, Zach, and Sarah were sitting nervously while they waited for them to arrive. After a few seconds, Aaron arrived with the pirates, and Lenin stood up immediately. “Take the cloth off their mouths as well as their bandana. Mars, be prepared to translate everything I say,” said Lenin before Aaron walked toward the pirates and took the cloth and bandana away to reveal their faces. All the left part of their head was made of thin branches where small green leaves came out, just

like the pirate that had Donna and Eliot in the cage at the back of his vehicle. The two soldiers kicked the legs of the pirates, forcing them to fall on their knees. Both guys looked down to the floor with courage. “Mars, transduce this. Who is your leader?” he asked before Mars came out from the speaker on the roof and said something in the pirate’s dialect. One of the guys barked angrily in his language, and Mars transduced. “He says that he won’t reveal the identity of his leader,” said the machine emotionless before Lenin turned at the pirate with angry eyes and slapped him in the face so hard that some of the branches fell off. The enemy looked back at him with fear after he shouted in pain before he cried something, and then Mars transduced. “He says that we know who she is,” said the machine from the speaker. Lenin crouched down to see the pirate’s face, while the other one stared at him with fear and a speechless mouth. The general grabbed the being by the jaw and moved his head at him so he could see his face, and then he continued. “Mars, ask him why he says that,” said Lenin furiously, while the pirate cried in fear. The machine came out of the speaker and said something in their dialect. The pirate answered, and Mars transduced. “He says that Zach knows her. Both of them had in a club,” said the machine emotionless with his British accent. Everyone looked at the boy with confused eyes while he stared with amusement. Zach knew perfectly whom he was talking about; it was the girl with green hair he kissed back in the club. Lenin stared at the boy for just a moment until he looked back at the pirate. “Mars, ask him if he can communicate with her. Tell him that his life will be negotiated,” ordered the general before the machine transduced. The pirate said something, and then Mars continued. “He says that he can communicate with his leader, but he has to take out a device to call her, which he can’t because his hands are cuffed,” said the machine. “Remove his handcuffs,” he ordered before he stood up from crouching. In a matter of seconds, the soldier at the pirate’s back took the artifact off the enemy’s extremities before the pirate moved his hand into his pocket and

reached for the device he was about to use to call Womba. The stick was made of steel, and it had a small aperture at the end that had a microphone. The enemy pushed a button, and in a matter of seconds, the voice of a woman came out. The pirate was about to speak until Lenin interrupted him. “Mars, tell him to say that he has been kidnapped by the people they massacred and that we want to negotiate. Please make me a favor, translate everything they say without us having to ask you,” ordered the general. Mars began to speak in the pirate’s dialect before the enemy said something. Seconds after, the female voice came out of the speaker and Mars said, “She says that she is not willing to negotiate with us. The woman mentioned that the two beings they kidnapped are more valuable than both of them,” said the machine through the speaker, while Lenin stared at the two crying pirates. They couldn’t believe it. One of them began to shout through the steel stick in signs of begging until Lenin took out his magnum gun and shot both pirates in the head without hesitating. Both bullets ed through the guys’ cranium before they fell down to the floor and provoked a shocking reaction on Stewart. “Why did you kill them? We had the chance of knowing where they had Donna and my son,” he said amazed while seeing Lenin put his gun back on his hip, and then he continued. “They were never going to tell us where their base is, and it was too riskful to have them alive,” said the general seriously before he continued. “Mars, did you catch anything they shouted before I killed them?” asked Lenin with his arms crossed. Then the machine answered. “Not much, sir. I only got the name of their leader, which is Womba,” Mars said emotionless, while everyone in the room looked at Lenin, and then he continued. “OK, everyone, except Stewart and Zach, leave the room. We have to talk about important stuff,” ordered the general before Sarah and Aaron walked out of the observatory platform, while the two soldiers dragged the pirates’ bodies from the scene. Zach knew what was about to happen; he was about to get extremely grounded by his father’s will. “We want to talk about the consequences of your acts when you disobeyed me

and Lenin,” said his father while he leaned on the right wall of the room. Then Zach continued. “Am I getting grounded?” asked the boy, ashamed. Then Lenin continued. “Of course, and it will be so big that you won’t forget about it for the rest of your life,” said the general with his Russian accent before he kept talking. “And I already know what is going to happen to you. Tomorrow morning, a group of soldiers will begin to drag the dead bodies out of the Ark before they burn them. You are going to help the soldiers with their duty,” said Lenin with a smile on his face; he wanted to see him suffer after all he had done. Then Zach continued. “No, please, I could never do this,” said the boy worriedly, while he saw Stewart with eyes that asked for help. His father didn’t do anything because he deserved it; thanks to Zach, the majority of the operation’s population was killed. “And you know what, after you are done, you will start washing dishes in the dining hall’s kitchen. You will stop when you come up with an effective idea to save Donna and your brother,” commanded Lenin, while Zach tried not to cry; he really couldn’t believe it, and then the general continued. “You can leave. Go with Adam and tell him what happened with his grandmother if Sarah hasn’t told him yet,” said Lenin with a smile; he was a very mean person. Stewart felt bad for his son, but it was the only way to make him learn from his errors. Zach walked out of the room in devastation while he looked down. Once he was out of the observatory platform, Lenin spoke. “I’m sorry, but that was the only way, and he deserved it,” said the general with pity; he was a huge hypocrite, and then he continued. “Margarita, Angela, and Issac just reencountered with each other, and they are now moving toward Habantes,” announced Lenin before he sat down, followed by Stewart. “Did they send you the video reports?” asked Stewart curiously. Then Lenin continued. “Yes, everything was mission failed. Not a single moon

had potential to become our new home,” said Lenin with sadness. Then Stewart continued. “Why, what happened?” he asked worriedly. Lenin began to think; he tried to what the three of them had sent him. After a few seconds of recovering memories, he spoke. “Angela went to Velut, and she said that there was a type of huge moths that tried to eat her,” responded Lenin seriously. Stewart looked at him with eyes of amusement that forced him to ask the following: “What did Issac say?” he questioned seriously. Lenin tried to what had happened to his French coworker until he answered. “Tempestatis had a great potential, but it was full of huge storms that covered the surface of the moon,” he said while he scratched the back of his almost-bald head. Stewart raised his right hand toward his eyes to express that he couldn’t believe it. Then Lenin spoke. “And the most amazing of the three was Margarita’s case. Herba was full of giant carnivore plants that ate a big part of her group,” announced the general seriously. Stewart was actually amazed and worried at the same time. Habantes was their only hope. If it didn’t have the potential to be their next household, the amount of possibilities of finding a new planet was over; that moon was their last chance to find Earth’s replacement. “I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless,” said Stewart amazed as he couldn’t believe it. Lenin gasped and continued. “That’s not the worst part. Trappist 1 will make its first stop in three days. We are stopping by the corpses of what was Groombridge 34,” said the general as he looked at Stewart with worried eyes. Groombridge 34 was a very interesting celestial body. It was formed by two dwarf stars that orbited a common center of mass. Given the operation’s bad luck, this binary star system was inside the celestial neighborhood and right on their way. “You mean the binary stars … why is that so worrying?” asked Stewart curiously as he had no idea of what the general was talking about. “Operation Synrise tried to cover this information from us when we were back

on Earth. For some reason the scientists couldn’t explain, the two stars collided with each other, creating a massive black hole with enough gravity to stop Trappist 1 for a few days. Not even the planets that orbited the system survived the explosion. The black hole will appear soon in the night sky, and that will announce the beginning of a nightmare,” revealed Lenin as he tried to make Stewart understand. Zach’s father was extremely paranoid about the situation. Although he had a lot of questions, he knew that things couldn’t get any worse.

CHAPTER 3

Need You

After exploring Herba, Velut, and Tempestatis, the group of six Arks reunited and moved slowly toward Habantes, while the committee people sat down thoughtful in three different ships. Angela was sitting down on the observatory platform while she thought about Margarita. Was it worth it to be with her? After all that happened back in Velut, Angela questioned a lot if she really liked her, maybe because she hadn’t seen her for a while. While Angela was thinking about her situation, Mars came out of the speaker. “Miss, we have arrived in Habantes. We will park as soon as possible,” announced the machine from the roof. Angela stood up from her seat and walked toward the window to see the moon. It wasn’t far away from them. It was small, white, and gave the impression that it was completely empty. Angela saw the moon with strangeness; it was different from everything they had seen. She was afraid about what was going to be inside the small enigma. In a matter of seconds, the group of six Arks entered the atmosphere of Habantes, and Angela could see that a large portion of the surface was covered in dead white trees and the soil of the ground was gray. They began to descend quickly toward the floor while they looked for a place to park. They took a short time until they found a deforested area, so the six ships began to descend onto the floor. When the Arks finally touched the ground, Angela could see from the window all the dead white trees that surrounded the ships. The forest had a cold look inside. She had a bad feeling about this place. While Angela kept looking out of the window, her phone rang, so she took it out of her pocket and answered. “Hello?” asked Angela while she had the phone near her ear. “Hi, Angela, it’s me, Margarita,” she said at the other side of the phone. Immediately, Angela felt happy after hearing Margarita’s voice. “Hey, how is it going?” Angela asked with happiness.

Then Margarita continued. “Fine, thanks. Have you seen the forest? I don’t have a good feeling about this. I don’t want to go down,” she said with fear. Then Angela continued. “Yeah, me neither, but then Issac needs to go down,” she said, questioning. Then Margarita continued. “Yes, I just talked with him, and he told me that he is willing to explore the moon. I think we should make a plan first. Is it OK if we meet with you in your platform?” she asked politely. Then Angela continued. “Yeah, sure,” she said before Margarita hung up the phone. Angela kept looking at the forest from the platform. It had a terrifying aspect with all the dead white trees that had no leaves at all; it was really spooky. After a short moment, Margarita and Issac arrived at Angela’s Ark and walked the stairs all the way up until they stepped into the observatory platform. When the two of them entered the room, Angela asked with fear, “Issac, do you really want to go?” Then her French coworker spoke. “Yeah, usually, places like this have a lot of nutrients in the ground, and it doesn’t seem to have any life apart from the mushrooms that cover the tree’s surface,” said Issac without fear. Angela immediately understood—the trees weren’t white; the mushrooms that surrounded them were that color. “OK, but just to make sure that you are safe, I want to see everything you do,” said Angela while she opened a drawer beyond the windows and took out a sort of camera that had a circular strap attached to it. The camera was a thin long steel cylinder that had an extendable band, which was used to wrap around someone’s head so they could see what the subject was looking at. Angela gave the camera to Issac, and he put it on his head while he had the device at the right of his skull. “Is this how you wear it?” asked Issac while he tried to fix the strap on his head. Then Angela continued. “Yes, just let me turn it on,” she said while having her phone on the left hand. The lady got near Issac and pushed a button on the camera. Then it turned on. After this, Angela unlocked her phone and entered an app that could see what Issac was seeing, thanks to the camera.

After this, Mars came out of the speaker in the roof. “The boarding ramps are already opened in all the Arks. A large group of soldiers is waiting for you outside,” announced the machine. Then Margarita continued. “Issac, be careful, please,” she said seriously. While Issac was walking out of the room, he looked back and gave her a smile. Then Angela turned at her phone and saw what her French coworker was seeing; he was still walking down the stairs. Both ladies sat down on two chairs around the table and waited for the show to begin. After a few moments, Issac walked down to the boarding room and saw a large group of thirty soldiers waiting for him outside while they carried big guns. “Are you ready, boys?” asked Issac seriously. Then the soldiers answered loudly. “Sir, yes, sir!” shouted the group. He began to walk down the boarding ramp until he stepped onto the ground and saw all his surroundings. There was nothing more than dead trees covered in white mushrooms, and the soil on the ground was gray and cold. Freezing fog levitated at floor level as it came from the depths of the woods, a pantheon of dead trunks awaited ahead. “Let’s go,” ordered Issac before he began to walk toward the forest. He ed through the deforested area until he stepped into the dead woodland. It was cold, silent, lonely, while the trees stood dead covered in white mushrooms and the sky was drowned in clouds. Angela and Margarita saw on the phone what Issac was seeing until one of them spoke. “Issac, can you hear me?” asked Angela curiously. Her French coworker heard what she said and answered. “Yes, I can hear you,” Issac said normally. Angela and Margarita kept looking at the phone’s screen with horror, while Issac and his group of soldiers kept moving forward into the forest with no signs of danger until suddenly, something unexpected happened. Behind Issac’s back, a soldier began to shout without control while he crouched down on his knees, begging for the pain to go away. The backstory of what was happening was very interesting. Before stepping into the dead forest, the soldier accidentally kicked a small group of tiny mushrooms off the ground and stepped in the majority of them except for one. The small white mushroom that survived began to grow small thin extremities within the next seconds, legs that would

help it chase the soldier. The white fungi was small, the size of a thumb’s nail, and it had a bunch of tiny legs that came from the bottom of it. The small mushroom chased the soldier quickly while he ed in between the people’s steps without getting killed. After a few moments, the small mushroom finally stuck to the guy’s boot and began to walk upward toward the back of his neck. The soldier couldn’t feel it on his back because it was so tiny that it didn’t even have weight. After a few seconds, the small mushroom finally appeared on the guy’s neck where he took out tiny yet powerful pointy teeth from the bottom and bit the soldier in the skin before falling off to the ground. Immediately, the guy that was bitten by the fungi covered the area with his hand while he felt a strange pain. After a few moments, he stopped walking and began to shout uncontrollably while he crouched down on his knees. Everyone around him stopped to look at what was happening. The soldier was crouching on the floor while he covered the back of his neck with both hands. In a matter of seconds, Issac ed through all the soldiers and saw the injured in pain before he spoke. “Soldier, are you OK? What’s wrong?” he asked while looking at him worriedly. The soldier didn’t respond. He just kept shouting without control until suddenly, he stopped. Everything became silent around the scene, and everyone looked at him with weirdness while he was still crouching on the ground, facing down. “Soldier, are you still there?” Issac asked worriedly while getting near the soldier to touch his shoulder. In the moment Issac moved his hand toward the guard and rested his grip next to his neck, the guy immediately raised his head and stared directly at him with cold eyes while his mouth was partially opened. Issac, Angela, and Margarita looked at the soldier while the French man shook in fear. The face of the guard had suddenly turned gray, and the pupils of his eyes were extremely closed with the veins popped out. Around his mouth, the blue veins showed out, and his tongue was covered in his own blood. Issac looked at him, paralyzed in terror until suddenly, the soldier jumped at him and gave a big bite at the back of his neck before he began to do the same with the rest of the soldiers. Angela and Margarita saw what happened before Issac fell to the ground and began to convulse roughly. “Issac, Issac, can you hear me?” asked Angela worriedly before she saw how he stopped convulsing. Immediately after this, he stood up and gave a loud acute shout before the man began to bite the rest of the soldiers at the back of their

necks. It was a very accelerated scene. The guards that were bitten transformed into something out of this world; they seemed to be possessed. Angela and Margarita could see how Issac kept biting the nonbitten soldiers while they defended themselves with their guns. Everyone that was infected had the same characteristics as the soldier that began the pandemic. Angela and Margarita couldn’t stop looking at their phone as they saw how almost every soldier was transformed into this possessed being. “Mars, what is going on? Have you ever seen something like this before?” asked Angela worriedly. Then the machine continued. “No, miss, I have never seen something like this,” said Mars emotionless from the speaker on the roof. Angela and Margarita kept staring at the screen while Issac continued biting more and more soldiers just as everyone else that had been possessed. After a few moments, Margarita noticed something amazing at the back of a soldier’s neck. “Look,” she said while pointing at the screen. Angela looked closely and saw that a bunch of tiny mushrooms were coming out at the back of a soldier’s neck. Both of them came with a quick conclusion: the mushrooms controlled them to spread the pandemic. Angela couldn’t stay there and watch how everyone got bitten, so she began to shout through Issac’s camera. “Get out of there! Return to the Arks!” shouted Angela through the phone. Thankfully, the soldiers that hadn’t been bitten heard her order and began to run back to the Arks as fast as they could while they were being chased by Issac and all the rest of the possessed guards.

CHAPTER 4

In the Dark

After the nonbitten guards heard Angela’s message, they began to run back to the Arks, which weren’t so far away from the scene. They ran as fast as they could through the dead forest while they were being chased by the possessed. The infected also rushed quickly while they gave short loud shouts. While this persecution kept going, some possessed jumped toward the nonbitten, making them fall down so they could be transformed afterward. As Angela and Margarita saw how they were about to arrive, one of them asked something. “Mars, are the boarding ramps still open?” asked Margarita worriedly before Angela looked back at her. Then the machine continued. “Yes, all the ramps are open,” Mars answered emotionless with his British accent. Then she continued. “Close all the ramps except for the one in this Ark,” ordered Margarita before she stood up. The lady had a very effective plan, but, first, she had to arrive at the boarding room to execute it. “What are you doing? Where are you going?” asked Angela nervously. Then Margarita answered. “I’m going to the boarding room. When everyone that hasn’t been bitten is onboard, I will close the ramp so we can stay away from the possessed,” she said confidently as if her plan was going to work. Margarita walked out of the platform, heading to the boarding ramp, while Angela was very worried about her; what if she also got infected and such disease stopped them from becoming more than colleagues? Margarita walked down all the way toward the boarding room and waited for the group of soldiers to arrive. She was at the back of a wall that revealed the opened ramp while she was ready to press the button and close the gate. In a matter of seconds, Margarita was able to see from not so far away how the soldiers were running toward the Arks while they

were chased by the possessed. The lady was really nervous; she had to be very precise so that her plan could work. The soldiers were getting closer and closer until the first one got in, followed by two more. Margarita saw how the guards were coming into the Ark until she noticed that the possessed were extremely near; she had to close the ramp immediately. She pushed the button, and the gate began to lift with the purpose of blocking the entrance. The ramp was already very high for someone to get in. It seemed that her plan had worked until they managed to see how some possessed were hanging from the ramp’s edge, trying to get in. There were five of them, and the soldiers could see how their arms were at the top of the ramp as they attempted to jump over. In a matter of seconds, one of them finally entered and flew toward them from the top of the ramp before he made a loud acute shout. When he was about to fall above a soldier, the rest of them began to shoot at it with the purpose of killing the being. As they expected, the possessed was now dead, but the others were now jumping toward them, announcing their arrival with a scream. As they fell to the floor of the boarding room, the soldiers began to shoot at them, but sadly, some got bitten and began to bite the others. When the ramp finally closed, Margarita shouted. “Hurry, follow me!” shouted the lady while she began to run up the stairs followed by five nonbitten soldiers. When they finally got inside the deck above them, Margarita discovered that one room had the door opened, so she decided to hide there with the rest of the nonpossessed. They ran through the hallway toward the room while the beings still chased them. In a matter of seconds, Margarita and her group entered the room and closed the door as fast as they could before they relaxed. It was a cardiac scene; their heart was going at the speed of light, while some of them crouched as they tried to breathe. Margarita was very disappointed with herself; her plan had failed, and now she had less soldiers than before. Five guards survived out of thirty, and Issac was also bitten. While Margarita was still mad at herself, she suddenly heard how the possessed soldiers outside the door began to punch it trying to get in. They made loud acute shouts between every hit; it was a very scary moment for her and the group of soldiers that were hiding in the room. The possessed began to punch the door harder as they shouted louder. Their scream was the most frightening part; it was super acute and could freeze the soul of anyone. Between all the shouts and punches the possessed made, Margarita called Angela with her phone.

“Hello, what happened? Is everything OK?” asked Angela after she answered. Then Margarita spoke. “No, everything went wrong. I’m now trapped inside a room with god knows how many possessed people outside. I’m with other soldiers. We need your help, please,” begged the lady while she cried as the possessed kept shouting and punching the door. Angela couldn’t believe what was happening, but she could take this opportunity to impress Margarita. “OK, in what deck are you?” asked Angela with courage. Then Margarita continued. “Above the boarding room. Please hurry up. They are about to overthrow the door,” she said dying in fear while the possessed kept punching the gate. There seemed to be many of them outside the room, but each second that ed, they walked away, spreading into the rest of the Ark. Angela hung up the phone. “Mars, how is the situation out there?” she asked before opening a drawer and getting out a magnum gun. Then the machine answered. “They are all dispersed through the Ark. About six are roaming around, and three of them are trying to get into Margarita’s room,” said Mars through the speaker on the roof. Angela was charging her gun. The lady was about to get out of the room before she was interrupted by Mars. “I would recommend you to take a grenade, fourth drawer at your left,” said the machine. Angela smiled and opened the fourth drawer she had on her left before noticing that there was a green grenade waiting for her. She took it, walked out of the room, and went for the adventure. Angela was in the corridor of the observatory platform that led to the stairs. She slowly walked toward them while she grabbed her gun with both hands. Slowly, she was about to step into the stairs until she was scared by a loud acute shout that came from decks below. Her soul froze after she heard it. With both hands grabbing the gun, the captain began to descend slowly through the stairs while she was consumed by fear. As she stepped down, Angela discovered about a possessed soldier that roamed around in front of the stairs. She was paralyzed for about a few seconds, and when she woke up from trauma, Angela walked quickly up the stairs to hide. On her way up, she accidentally made a lot of noise. Angela crouched down as she cried before hearing the diseased shout loudly. She was harassed by fear; it was too much for her. Angela could barely move. She had to look for strength until the lady turned around to see if the soldier was still there. Angela moved her

head slightly to the right while she cried and saw that the possessed soldier was looking at her with cold eyes from down the stairs. When she finally made eye with him, the being gave a loud acute shout before he began to run up the stairs with the purpose of biting Angela. Immediately, while the possessed rushed up the stairs, the lady turned around, pointed at the being, and shot him in the head, making a loud noise. Thankfully, the being rolled down the steps, and Angela was relieved. But suddenly, she began to hear tons of acute shouting coming from the decks below. Angela was too scared to keep going, but she had to do it for Margarita, so the captain continued. As the lady slowly walked down the stairs, she could hear a door grinding back and forth a few meters away from her. Angela tried to ignore it and kept walking down the stairs, but she was scared that the noise would distract her later on, so the captain decided to close it. With both hands grabbing the gun, Angela walked slowly and quietly through the hallway until she arrived at the grinding door that revealed a dark room. When she finally was in front, she opened the door to see if there was any other possessed being inside. As she opened the door, it squeaked louder while Angela saw the quiet dark room with fear. There was no one inside. She was about to finally close the gate until the lady heard a loud scream coming from the inside of the room, and a possessed soldier jumped out of nowhere with the intention of biting Angela. Luckily, she reacted quickly and shot two bullets through the being’s head before the soldier fell dead in front of Angela’s legs. The soldier was facedown, leaving the back of his neck uncovered looking up as it gave the captain a chance to analyze the mushrooms. Angela glanced back at the stairs to make sure that no one else would give her another surprise. Thankfully, there was no one, so she crouched down and saw the mushrooms that came out of the soldier’s neck. They had tiny white heads, and their stems were tall and thin. There were several of them, and they were stuck to the spine of the man. “A solar system without bacteria or viruses, but, of course, we had to find this atrocity from hell,” said the woman with a sigh that represented exhaustion. Angela took a deep breath, closed the door, and kept walking toward the stairs with terror as her main companion. She only had to go down two more decks until she arrived at Margarita’s hiding place. With both hands grabbing the gun, Angela began to walk down the stairs until she saw that there were five possessed soldiers roaming the area while they

walked near each other. Angela froze in fear before she walked back and closed her eyes while she thought that everything was going to come out OK. While she was standing in the stairs and hiding from the big group of possessed men, her phone began to ring unexpectedly. Angela didn’t know who it was, but it surely made a loud noise. The beings began to make loud acute shouts as they heard Angela’s phone ring. Harassed by fear, the lady took out her phone nervously and saw that Lenin was calling her. Without thinking, she hung up before realizing that one being was walking up the stairs slowly as it followed the ringing phone. The possessed soldier began to shout loudly when he stopped hearing the sound that attracted him. Angela couldn’t be more scared. She was crying in fear before she moved her head to the right to glance at the stairs. The being was right in front of her, while the rest of the possessed looked at the scene coldly. Full of fear, Angela shot the being in front of her on the head before the other ones shouted loudly and began to run toward the captain. Without thinking, she took out the grenade and threw it at the running possessed before she escaped the scene. The grenade was about to explode, so Angela ran as fast as lighting into a hallway in the deck above. Finally, she heard the explosion, and a lot of fire exhaled from the stairs into the deck where Angela was crouching down at the end of the hallway. She was really scared. She thought the possessed were going to bite her and then turn her into one of them. A few seconds after the grenade blew up, Angela stood up and looked back to the stairs to realize that all the steel was carbonized, thanks to the fire. With both hands grabbing the gun, she walked toward the stairs slowly until Angela arrived and saw that everything around was burned. The stairs, the wall, and the roof were black, thanks to all the fire that came out of the grenade. She began to walk down the stairs until the lady saw all the possessed bodies lying down while they were carbonized. Everything smelled like burned metal while Angela kept walking down one more deck. As she ran, the lady kept hearing the acute shouting of the possessed beings that were about to overthrow the door in Margarita’s room. When Angela finally arrived at the deck, she saw two possessed soldiers punching the door with their heads while they shouted. Angela didn’t think of it; the lady just shot both beings in the head before she walked toward the room’s door. Margarita opened the gate and glanced outside before seeing the captain walking toward her. Full of happiness, Margarita ran toward the German lady and hugged Angela as she thanked her for saving them. The lady was now satisfied that she had impressed Margarita; it was a good start for what was coming next. All the

soldiers began to come out of the room to thank Angela, who was still sweating and shaking in fear. After a moment, Margarita stopped hugging her. “And now what’s next?” she asked curiously. Then Angela answered. “We have to save Issac,” she said seriously before Margarita looked at her with strange eyes. Angela had a plan to save her French coworker from the possessing mushrooms.

CHAPTER 5

Never Fade

“What do you mean save Issac? Isn’t he possessed by the mushrooms in his neck?” asked Margarita confused. Then Angela answered. “Yes, but you are a doctor. We could get them out and see if he gets back to normal,” she said with hope. Margarita stood thoughtful for a moment until she spoke. “Isn’t it too riskful to bring another possessed person back into the Ark?” she asked nervously. Then Angela continued. “It is more riskful if we leave him behind. He is the only one that knows about botanic, and Mars wouldn’t be so happy,” she said before the machine came out of a near speaker. “If there is a possibility to save him, then, yes, I would be very angry if we leave him behind,” said Mars emotionless with his British accent. Margarita kind of laughed by what Mars had just said and then spoke. “So what’s the plan?” she said curiously. Angela looked at the soldiers around with confidence and then answered. “We first need to kill every other possessed guy before getting him in. The soldiers need to get into the Ark’s roof and kill them from there. The rest, leave it up to me,” she said confidently until one guard spoke. “How are we getting into the roof? Is there any door to come out?” he asked confused. Then Angela answered. “Yes. In the stairs that lead to the observatory platform, there is a gate that leads to the Ark’s roof,” she said with a smile.

Then Margarita continued. “What are we waiting for? Let’s do this. Let’s get out of this crazy moon!” she exclaimed with courage. Angela, Margarita, and the group of five soldiers began to walk toward the stairs so they could get out to the Ark’s roof. The group began to trot all the way up while they ed through burned dead bodies and black steel. After a short time of walking upward, they finally arrived at the door that led to the outside. It was incorporated to the wall of the staircase and had a huge steel handle that was used to open it. One of the soldiers began to push the handle down as hard as he could until the thick door opened, making a loud and grave grind. The group of people came outside and saw all the sky covered in dense gray clouds while they stepped into the steel surface of the roof. Angela looked back and saw all the antennas standing up, while at the right, the huge tower of the observatory platform stood still. The group began to walk to the Ark’s right arm while they looked at the dead woodlands from high above. They were in the middle of five more Arks that landed with them, which still had the boarding ramp closed. In a matter of seconds, the group arrived at the end of the arm and saw tens of possessed soldiers walking around slowly while Issac was between them. He wasn’t wearing the camera on his head anymore. The soldiers crouched down on the roof’s floor and pointed at the possessed beings with their guns. “We want to make this as quick and silent as possible. Only one bullet to the head, soldiers,” ordered Angela while she stood next to Margarita, who saw her with eyes of iration; maybe something was going on with both of them at the moment. Each soldier began to shoot at the possessed beings, while the two ladies could hear the loud gunshots in front of them. After a few moments, the last possessed being standing was Issac, who still wandered around without being alarmed. When Angela and Margarita saw him surrounded by all the dead bodies of the infected, the lady spoke. “Do we have some type of very long tweezers so we can grab him by the neck without letting him bite us?” asked Angela politely until one soldier answered. “I think I can find you one of those. If you want, wait for me in the boarding room. I’ll catch up with you,” requested the soldier seriously. Angela confirmed with her head, and the group began to walk back inside the Ark. They walked through all the roof’s surface until they got into the ship and closed the door roughly. Everyone began to walk down the stairs toward the boarding ramp

except for the soldier that requested to bring the tweezers; he took another direction. In a matter of seconds, the group arrived at the boarding room to discover the body of a possessed soldier still lying dead on the floor. All of a sudden, as she saw the captain walk past the corpse, Margarita began to realize how she felt something for Angela; maybe things could go well soon but, of course, only if the other side of the coin felt the same. After a few seconds, the soldier arrived with a very long steel tweezers that had a circular end, perfect to grab Issac’s neck. “I’ll open the door,” volunteered Margarita kindly before she ran to the wall behind the room and pushed a button. The boarding ramp began to descend slowly while the group of people stood still in fear. They were worried that they hadn’t finished killing all the beings. After a few moments of tension, the boarding ramp finally descended to the ground, and the soldiers saw how Issac stared at them from far away while he was surrounded by all the dead bodies. The possessed being stopped wandering for a moment as he saw the people on board the Ark with cold eyes. “Prepare your weapons,” ordered Angela while she looked at her coworker that was still standing far away without doing anything. Unexpectedly, Issac gave a very loud and acute shout before he began to run toward the opened boarding room. The soldiers began to worry while the man with the tweezers walked to the front so he could grab him by the neck. Issac ran quickly toward them while they still shook by fear. In a matter of seconds, the possessed arrived at the boarding room and was prepared to attack the man with the tweezers, but he reacted quickly and grabbed him with the artifact. Issac was now being immobilized by the tweezers while he shouted and tried to escape. “Carefully take him to the observatory platform,” ordered Angela, while the soldier was really scared. Both woman proceeded to leave, leaving the dirty job to the guards. To make it more easy and safe for the remaining people, one soldier arrived quickly and cuffed Issac’s hands at his back before they began to walk toward the stairs. Carefully, the group of soldiers took the possessed man all the way up the stairs to the observatory platform, while Issac couldn’t stop shouting with angry eyes. When they finally arrived at the observatory, the two ladies were waiting for them while there were a lot of scalpels in Margarita’s hand, which wore a latex glove. “Put him facedown on the table. Make sure he doesn’t move,” ordered Angela

while she pointed at the circular black desk of the room. The soldiers lifted Issac and made him lie on the table before they took the big tweezers off his neck. The possessed man began to shout more loudly while he tried to move. There were two soldiers at each side who didn’t let him stand up; they were terrified of those red eyes. Margarita approached the table and saw Issac’s neck, which was covered with small white mushrooms that had tall stems. Her possessed coworker couldn’t stop moving and shouting while Margarita was approaching his skin with the scalpel. First, the doctor cut the tallest mushroom off Issac’s neck before he began to scream uncontrollably with the typical acute tone. Margarita began to remove all the other mushrooms at once so she could stop hearing the horrible shouting. After a few moments, the doctor finished cutting all the fungi off Issac’s neck, who was now in a sort of deep sleep. When she finished cutting all the mushrooms, Margarita began to remove all the stem rests off his neck. A lot of gray puss came out followed by a bunch of blood; it was really disgusting. When she finished, Margarita spoke. “Does anyone have a bottle of alcohol with you at this moment?” she asked politely before a soldier got out a container with scotch. Gratefully, Margarita grabbed the bottle, opened it, and began to pour it into Issac’s neck to disinfect it. Then Angela continued. “Are you kidding me? With scotch?” she said without believing it. Then Margarita answered. “Back in Mexico, I that in my poor town, we used normal alcoholic drinks to disinfect injuries after they were stitched,” she said with a smile while she cleaned up all the rest of the scotch on Issac’s neck with a small towel. When she finished, she stuck a big Micropore on her coworker’s neck, and afterward, Margarita gave a step back to look at the sleeping man who appeared to have been cured. “Well, soldiers, congratulations, we are leaving this moon. You can go celebrate now,” said Margarita before the guards walked out of the room as they were really relieved. “Mars, turn on the engines and get us back to Praedonum, please,” ordered Angela seriously, standing up while she saw Issac lying facedown on the table. “Of course, captain,” answered Mars from the speaker in the roof. The engine

turned on, and the Arks began to lift toward the atmosphere, leaving the dead moon of Habantes to which they hoped to never return. After a few seconds, they were back in outer space as they approached the green planet of Praedonum. While they moved, they could see the huge rain forest that covered the surface of the planet. It was beautiful, and as was contemplated, Angela spoke. “Do you when you told me about your partner back in the civilian migration?” she asked curiously as she saw Margarita leaning on the wall while Issac was still lying down asleep. Margarita took off the latex gloves and answered. “Her name was Marisol. She worked in the hospital with me. There is where I met her,” she said while looking down. Then Margarita continued. “She was tall, beautiful, and a great person, just like you,” said the Mexican woman before she saw Angela with a smile. In this moment, she knew that Margarita did have feelings for her. She was about to say something, but her Mexican coworker interrupted. “Oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” said Margarita ashamed; of course, she didn’t know that Angela was also lesbian. So the captain continued. “No, no, that’s OK. I play your same game,” said Angela with a smile. Margarita understood what she was saying; she was also a lesbian. Angela walked close to her and confidently was about to say something until suddenly, she was interrupted. “I know what you want to tell me,” Margarita announced with the obvious intention of kissing her. Right when the gorgeous moment was about to happen, the Mexican lady noticed a strange crust on her neck. “What is this?” asked Margarita with amusement. Angela had a type of red crust that covered a small part of her neck; it seemed to be a bunch of scales packed together. “I have no idea. I found out about the scales after coming out of Velut,” she said nervously. Margarita saw her with strange eyes. “I have exactly the same but in my arm,”

she announced while uncovering her limb to show the big crust of scales that covered her elbow. Both of them were really confused. They began to think it was a sort of illness of some kind until they were interrupted by Issac, who gave a rough jump. He was now awake and back to normal except for something. “What happened? Where am I?” shouted Issac desperately while he was still lying on the table. The French man sweated a lot while he was really nervous. “Come on, help me get the handcuffs off,” said Angela worriedly while Issac tried to move. Margarita took the handcuffs off, and Issac lifted himself from the table before he fell backward. “Issac!” shouted Angela before she ran toward him, who was lying on the floor without standing up, and then she continued. “What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly. Issac began to cry quietly and spoke under his breath with desperation. “I can’t move my legs,” he repeated while he drowned in his own tears. Angela couldn’t believe it. Surely something went wrong at the moment of cutting the mushrooms off. Margarita could hear what was happening, so she ran at the scene and crouched down. “Help me lift him up. We have to sit him on a chair,” she said while grabbing her coworker’s arm, prepared to lift him up. Angela and Margarita carried Issac to the chair with struggle while he kept crying; his legs still didn’t work. “Sorry for interrupting, but I’m reminding you about the video report that has to be sent to Lenin,” said Mars emotionless through the speaker. “I’ll do it,” proposed Margarita annoyed before she walked out of the room to get away from the sad and frustrating scene. The lady took out her phone and began to record while she was leaning on the wall outside the observatory. “Well, Habantes, another mission failed. This time, our own people began to attack us, which made the attacked people keep attacking the others,” said Margarita before she laughed and then continued. “Issac also began to attack. Then we realized that they were being controlled by

a type of mushroom that was stuck to the back of their neck,” said the lady before she began to cry, and then she continued. “We tried to cure him, which we could, but he lost mobility in his legs, and now we don’t have another planet to go to,” said Margarita before she suddenly began to drown in her own tears. She had now realized that Operation Synrise was a failure, so Margarita stopped recording and sent it to Lenin while she began to crouch in tears. The group of six Arks kept moving toward the green planet while the base was waiting for them with another surprise.

CHAPTER 6

Sun Won’t Rise

After Stewart and Lenin told Zach about his punishment, he decided to go downstairs to the hospital where Inu, Sarah, and Adam were. He walked all the way through the steps while he saw all the dead bodies of the people lying on the floor, and the walls were covered in blood. Zach couldn’t believe that he was going to help get the bodies out of the Ark the next day; he felt very disgusted. After a few moments, he finished walking down the stairs and arrived at the hospital. He then began to walk through the white hallway into Adam’s room. He opened the door and saw that Adam was still lying on his bed with hospital clothes on while he cried. Sarah had just told him about what happened with Donna, while Inu was sitting down in a white chair to Adam’s left. “Hi, did you just tell him?” asked Zach ashamed just to confirm. Sarah looked back at him with sad eyes and answered. “Yes, he already knows,” she answered with depression. Zach finally walked into the room and closed the door before he approached his friend. “Adam, I’m really sorry about what happened, after all—” he said when he was interrupted by his friend. “No, no, it doesn’t matter. It was also my fault for following you to that stupid adventure,” said Adam while he still cried. Zach stood still for a moment while he thought about what he had just said. The boy thought that Adam was indirectly telling him that it was his fault; his friend’s injury and Donna’s kidnapping were indeed to blame on Zach. In a moment of pain and suffering, Adam decided to stand up from his bed until a strange pain in his chest stopped him from doing so. “Ahh,” said the boy as he covered the painful place with his right arm. As Inu stood up from his chair to help his friend, Sarah and Zach got near to see what

was going on. “Adam, you can’t stand up yet. You have to be resting …” said Sarah with a worried tone as she fixed his friend’s pillow so he could lay his head correctly, and then she continued. “Oh my god, you are getting a fever. For how long have you not eaten?” asked Sarah extremely worried as she saw Adam sweat while his skin was extremely pale. Then she turned around to see Zach with an amazed look. “That’s why I was trying to get up. I just wanted to go for some food. I’m starving,” suffered Adam as the pain was still on his chest. Then Zach spoke. “Don’t worry, we’ll go to the dining hall and we’ll get you some food,” requested the boy with a kind tone. Immediately, Zach, Inu, and Sarah walked out of the hospital room and headed toward the stairs. As the three friends walked through the hallway, Sarah thought about the injured boy. She was extremely worried about him and couldn’t erase from her mind the fact that his body temperature wouldn’t probably be fixed by food alone but by medical attention. In a matter of seconds, they arrived at the stairs and began to walk all the way up until they arrived at the dining hall. The place was empty. Although no one was having breakfast, there were still some cooks inside the kitchen. After analyzing the scene, the three friends walked all the way toward the rectangular steel table, which divided the kitchen from the hall. “Hey, what can I do for you, young people?” asked the fat cook with a smile on his face. Then Inu continued. “Do you still have that meat I always ask for?” asked the pale boy with a polite tone. Then the cook answered. “Of course, I do, buddy. I’ll be right back,” said the man before he began to walk into the kitchen to look for what he had been asked. As the three friends waited patiently, Zach thought about how badly he screwed up this time. He almost got his friend killed, and now, Donna and his brother were in the hands of an incomprehensible monster called Womba. As the boy had a depressed face, Sarah got near. “Are you OK? You don’t have to feel that bad. It wasn’t all your fault,” said the girl as she rested her hand kindly on Zach’s shoulder.

Then he continued. “Of course, it was. If it wasn’t for my idea of getting out of the Ark, Donna and Eliot would be here, Adam wouldn’t be resting on a bed in the verge of dying, and all those people that were massacred would still be here,” said Zach as he carried all the guilt on his shoulders. With a pity look, Sarah spoke. “I understand that you feel guilty about all this, but what is valuable in this moment is that you regret it, you feel sorry for what you did, and I can assure you that you just learned the lesson,” said the girl moments after the cook brought a plate with a big steak resting over it. Inu grabbed the dish, and to finish the conversation the two teens were having, Sarah approached Zach and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Immediately, all the stress and guilt escaped from the boy’s body as he became blush; he had just received a lovely gesture from his crush. Seconds after Sarah’s lips pleased Zach, the three of them began to walk away from the dining hall toward the staircase. They were about to return to Adam’s hospital room to deliver his food. With quick steps, the three friends walked all the way down the stairs and arrived at the hospital, where they saw a doctor coming out of Adam’s room toward them. “Hey, have you seen Adam? I thought he was with you,” said the doctor with a worried look as the three friends stopped walking. Everything was clear. Adam wasn’t in his room, and no one knew where he was. “Isn’t he inside his room?” asked Sarah with an amazed look. Then the doctor continued. “No. I was about to give him his medicine, but when I got in, he was no longer there,” said the man with an extremely paranoid tone. Immediately, Inu left the plate on the receptionist’s table. “We have to go to his room. He is surely going to be there,” requested the pale boy before he began to run toward the stairs. Sarah and Zach saw each other with a surprised look and began to run after him. It had been the first time that Inu talked like that. His polite and kind tone had despaired completely. As the three friends ran up the stairs, they finally arrived at Adam’s room, where the teens found that the door was opened. After they figured out that the entrance was unblocked, they got in and discovered that his friend wasn’t there. “I don’t understand. Where could he have gone?” asked Sarah extremely confused. As Inu looked around in the room, he finally found a track. “He changed

clothing,” said Inu intrigued as he lifted the hospital coat from the floor. With an amazed look, the three of them stared at each other for about some seconds until Zach spoke. “I don’t understand. What is he doing?” questioned the boy extremely worriedly. Then Sarah continued. “The fever might just have spread all over his body. Adam can’t comprehend what he is doing, and if we don’t find him in time, he will faint,” said the girl with paranoia as she thought about the worst. It was actually very dangerous for Adam to be wandering around without any supervision. He was so tall that if the boy fainted, he could probably hit his head with an unexpected object. After Sarah finished saying the terrible truth, Inu and Zach looked at her with incredibility until one of them spoke. “We have to find him as soon as possible, but he can be anywhere inside the Ark,” said Inu with a very anxious tone. Silence remained in the room for about a few moments until finally, Zach came up with an idea. “The security cameras … Lenin and my father should still be inside the observatory platform. We can ask Mars to tell us where he is,” requested the boy wisely. Then Sarah responded. “Good idea. We should go now. If what I said about the fever is correct, Adam doesn’t have much time,” said the girl worriedly before the three of them ran out of their friend’s room toward the observatory platform. They rushed all the way up the stairs, and in a moment of adrenaline, they arrived. Zach opened the door, and the three teens discovered what was happening inside. Lenin and Stewart were sitting on the table as they talked calmly with each other until Inu spoke. “We can’t find Adam anywhere. He is in great danger. If we don’t find him soon, he will faint!” exclaimed the pale boy. Immediately, Lenin saw the three of them with furious eyes as he deduced that it was their fault. “Look, I have no patience at this moment, and I don’t want to hear the reason of why you lost sight of him. What do you propose to find Adam?” asked the general with a furious tone. The three teens were extremely annoyed, thanks to Lenin’s words. But now that they didn’t have any time to lose, Zach spoke. “The security cameras should know where he is,” said the boy with courage as

he challenged Lenin. With an angry look, the general spoke. “Mars, where is Adam at this moment?” questioned Lenin while he still stared at the three teens with furry. As this happened, Stewart was sitting uncomfortably in his chair as he saw how the general got angrier and angrier. “Mmm … he is not inside the Ark,” said Mars emotionless with his British accent. Immediately, everyone inside the platform knew what this was about: Adam was outside the ship walking his way into the rain forest to save his grandmother, or at least that was what he pretended. “So where is he?” asked Stewart worriedly just to confirm his theory. Then Mars answered. “He is right outside the Ark walking toward the rain forest,” said the machine from the speaker in the roof. Zach only could think of all the dangers his friend was going to go through. The Praedonian rain forest had only proven to be extremely unpredictable. In a silent tension, Stewart’s son began to run out of the platform toward the stairs. He was planning to save his friend from escaping into the rain forest. “Zach, wait!” shouted Sarah as she saw her friend run away into the small hallway. As she had no other choice, the girl also ran out of the scene, while Stewart, Inu, and Lenin saw how this happened. While Zach was running down the stairs at the speed of light, he couldn’t stop overthinking about the situation. He perfectly knew that at this point, Adam hated him for what happened with his grandmother, but still, Zach wasn’t willing to lose his friend. While all the adrenalin was flowing through the boy’s veins, he finally arrived at the boarding room and rushed all the way out into the deforested area as he saw how Adam was about to enter the rain forest. Sarah was also running after Adam, but she couldn’t keep up with Zach’s speed; he was too fast. Each time the boy stepped on the short grass of the treeless perimeter, he could see how he lost his friend in between the thick green trees of the rain forest. Adam hadn’t noticed that Zach and Sarah were running after him, so he just walked with dizziness toward the woodlands while he carried something with both hands. After a short time of running with anxiousness, Zach arrived at a point where he considered that his friend would hear him loud enough. “Adam!” screamed Zach at the top of his lungs as he still ran. Unexpectedly, the

sick boy turned around, and the rushing boy stopped in coldness a few meters away from him; he had seen something terrifying. With a tense voice, Zach spoke. “Adam, put the gun down,” said the boy with fear as he saw how his friend was pointing at him with a big soldier pistol. It was a really cold scene. Adrenaline flowed through the teen’s veins as Zach saw his friend with scared eyes. Adam had extremely red eyes, and his skin was as white as milk. Sweat rolled down his face while the gun’s end pointed at Zach. As this happened, Sarah was still running toward the scene until she figured out what was going on—Adam was pointing a huge gun at his friend. With helping intentions, the girl began to run back to the Ark so she could find some soldiers to help her. Zach was still there, standing with his bent knees as he extended his arms, trying to make his friend calm down. “It was your fault. Everything that has happened to me has been, thanks to you,” said Adam with a petrified voice. Zach didn’t want to ingest what he was hearing. The boy tried to make himself believe that Adam was saying this nonsense, thanks to his fever. As the tense moment continued, Zach had a flashback when both of them escaped the Ark toward Furdesum and stopped halfway through. He ed all the nice and friendly things Adam said to him; those words no longer meant anything to the boy. “Before rescuing my grandmother, I will see you lying on the floor with a huge hole in your chest, just the way I should’ve died,” said Adam coldly while his red eyes stared at Zach’s soul. In a moment of tension and anxiety, unexpectedly, Adam began to feel a strange pain in his chest before he fainted and collapsed on the ground. “Adam!” shouted Zach again after seeing his friend resting on the short green grass. Immediately, he ran toward the sick boy and tried to pick him up, but he was just too heavy. “Please don’t die,” cried Zach under his breath as he had Adam resting on his arms. Despite everything that the boy had told him, Zach still considered him an important person inside his life. Unexpectedly, Aaron, Sarah, and two soldiers rushed into the scene before noticing that Adam had fainted. “We’ll take him back to the hospital and notify Lenin about this. You can stay in

the waiting room if you desire,” said Aaron as he moved Adam away from Zach’s arms. The soldier seemed to be really worried, but instead, he spoke calmly and with reason. In a click of a finger, Aaron and the other two soldiers took Adam away from the scene, leaving Sarah and Zach behind. As the boy was still sitting down on the short grass with an exhausted and sad look, the girl spoke. “If he told you anything different, or anything that made you feel bad, just that it was only the effects of the fever,” explained Sarah as she extended her hand to help Zach stand up. The boy rose from the ground with her aid, and he spoke. “I don’t know if it was him or the fever’s effect, but his words could only make me realize the garbage I am,” finalized Zach with a sad face. After this, both of them walked all the way toward the Ark so they could wait peacefully to hear about Adam. In their journey back home, both of them could feel the tension between each other. Actually, they felt that they had to say how they felt about their relationship, but sadly, no one was brave enough to speak. As they were about to enter the ship, they saw how the sun was already at the top of the sky; it was now midday. With anxiety to know what happened with their friend, both of them walked all the way down to the hospital and saw the scene. In front of the receptionist’s table, there were several chairs as always where Inu, Stewart, and Lenin were already waiting. “Have you heard anything from him?” asked Sarah politely as she looked at Inu. Then he answered. “Not yet. The doctor was really worried about him. His paleness and temperature levels weren’t normal …” replied the pale boy with a shy tone, and then he continued. “I’m sorry if I scared you previously with my impulsive attitude … I am not like this, only when I know that my people are in danger,” finalized Inu with a down look as he referred to the time when he went full detective in Adam’s room. “Don’t worry, Inu, everyone has that time when they lose control,” said Zach as he tried to make his friend feel better. The pale boy raised his head again and saw Zach with a smile when suddenly the doctor arrived. “Is everything OK, doctor?” asked Lenin immediately after standing up from his chair.

Then the man with the white coat spoke. “Thankfully, we achieved to stabilize him, but he is really weak. It would be better if someone stayed the night with him so we can that he won’t try to escape again,” said the doctor with a serious face. Then suddenly, Sarah spoke. “I can stay with him all you want. I don’t want to through this stage again,” said the girl with concern. The rest of the people in the scene seemed to agree, so Lenin followed. “Well, I love to know that there are people that do take responsibility for their acts …” said the general as he saw Zach with an angry look, trying to refer that he was talking about him, and then he continued. “I have a lot of things to do. Inform me of any changes in the boy’s health,” concluded Lenin before he began to walk up the stairs out of the hospital. The scene maintained silent for a moment until Stewart stood up from his chair. “Zach and I should leave. It is getting late, and we have a lot of things to talk about,” announced the man as he walked by his son’s back, pushing him slightly to the front. “Take care of Adam. I’ll see you later,” said Zach as he looked at Sarah while he walked into the staircase accompanied by his father. Both of them went all the way up to their room, and Stewart opened the door before they got in. As usual, the beds had been already made by the Ark’s concierge, so when they got in, the only new thing they found was the night sky behind the window. “So what do you want to talk about?” asked Zach interested as he sat down on his bed. As his son, Stewart did the same and answered. “Nothing, really. I just wanted to take you out of that place. You have been through a lot today … I noticed that Adam pointed a gun at you,” stuttered the man with concern. Then his son answered. “Yeah … that happened … I mean, it wasn’t his fault. The fever didn’t let him think correctly,” said Zach as he tried to convince himself that it was true. Although it was, Adam’s words made him feel so bad that he wouldn’t forget about it for a long time. “Oh, you know about that … I thought that you had no idea about the fever,”

said Stewart as he felt relieved, and then he continued. “Well, I think that we are finished over here. You should get to sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day. You still have to take out the corpses and clean the dishes,” concluded the man as he approached the wall. He pushed it, and the closet came out so he could take his pajamas to put them on. Frustration and anxiety began to flood Zach as he ed about his punishment. Blood really disgusted him, and he knew that dragging out all the corpses would take him the entire day. With a depressed look, Zach approached the closet and took his pajamas out so he could put them on. The boy only had to wait for his father to come out of the bathroom. Seconds after, the door opened, and Stewart came out; he was now wearing his pajamas. As he saw his father come out of the bathroom, Zach got inside, closed the door, and began to undress so he could wear his pajama as well. Although he wasn’t even tired, the boy had to sleep so he could adapt to Praedonum’s time; after all, one day in the rain forest planet was only half a day on Earth. After he finished changing clothing, he came out of the bathroom and noticed that the room’s lights were turned off and that it was dark as the night. While Zach stepped across the chamber, he noticed that somehow, Stewart was inside his bed, gone in a deep sleep while he snored quietly. With a look that represented exhaustion, Zach approached his bed and slid himself into the sheets as he prepared to sleep. As always, his bed was the one in front of the window, but this time, an uncomfortable light illuminated Zach’s face. It couldn’t be a moon; the light wasn’t that weak. As the question surrounded the boy’s mind for about some seconds, he finally decided to see what it was, so he lifted himself up the bed and saw through the window into the sky. Surprisingly, Zach’s theory was wrong. It wasn’t any moon or a fire; it was an immense black hole that illuminated the night skies imposingly. Trappist 1 was approaching their worst nightmare at a high speed; there was no way to stop it.

CHAPTER 7

Easy Lover

After Zach fell into a deep sleep, the sun rose again, and the birds began to sing, just as every morning in Praedonum. The boy was still sleeping comfortably in between the bed’s soft sheets until suddenly, someone began to knock on the door with a lot of impatience. Stewart was also asleep, so no one answered the door. They were only making the person outside get more and more impatience. Once again, the same man knocked on the steel gate with more strength, and Stewart woke up with dizziness, thanks to the door knocking. He got scared and decided to go and see what was going on. The man came out from his bed and began to walk toward the door with an annoyed look until he opened the gate. “What is it?” asked Stewart with an irritated tone before he saw who was at the other side of the door. It was Aaron, and he was looking for Zach so he could take the boy and make him help the other soldiers take the corpses out of the Ark. “Good morning, sir. I hope I’m not bothering you so early, but I came for Zach. General Lenin told me that he was going to help us take the corpses out of the Ark,” said Aaron seriously as he wore the Synrise uniform. “No worries. He is still asleep. Let me wake him up so he can go with you. Wait here. He’ll be right back,” said Stewart before closing the door and walking toward Zach to wake him up. “Hey, Zach, wake up. Aaron is here for you … He is taking you to pick up the corpses,” said Stewart as he yawned in tiredness. Immediately, the boy wined with a tired noise and got out of bed toward the closet’s wall. He pushed it, and the compartment came out, leaving all the clothes uncovered. He took out what he wanted to wear, and then he approached the bathroom so he could put it on. After a few seconds, he was completely fixed, so he came out.

“I’m leaving, Dad,” said the boy as he walked toward the room’s door. Then Stewart answered. “Mhm,” confirmed the man that had already slid himself again into bed. Zach opened the door, got out of the room, and walked with Aaron, following him two decks beyond where other soldiers were already lifting the bodies to take them out. It began to smell horribly. Many corpses covered the entire deck while they were full of clotted blood and holes in their chests. “Come on, kid, time to work,” said Aaron before he approached a dead body, grabbed it by the legs, and began to drag it toward the stairs. Zach began to look for a body that didn’t have so much blood. He was so disgusted by it that he didn’t want to throw up. In a moment, the boy found the body of a small kid that seemed to be around five years old that had less holes in his chest than everyone else. Zach approached the corpse of the poor little kid and grabbed the body by the legs before he began to drag him toward the stairs. He saw that the soldiers were walking down the steps while they dragged the corpses as the bodies pounded their head each time they went down one stair. The guards just dragged the corpses through the stairs, careless of what happened to the body’s head. Zach felt bad for just a minute, but still, he tried to forget about it and began to walk toward the stairs while he dragged the five-year-old’s body. When he finally began to descend, the head of the small kid began to hit itself on the stairs every time Zach walked down one. The teen could hear each hit on the kid’s head while all of them went together with his descending steps. Zach didn’t want to look back so he wouldn’t see the head of the poor kid that was being dragged. After a moment, the boy finally arrived at the boarding ramp and saw all the soldiers taking the bodies out of the Ark. The teen followed them to the exterior and saw that one of them was throwing the corpses into a big pile of dead bodies that was being prepared to burn. When the boy finally arrived at his destination, he gave the kid’s body to the soldier, who then threw it into the mountain of corpses. It was a tall stack of corpses, and it was going to become bigger, thanks to all the bodies they were about to add. Zach walked all the way back to the Ark, ran up the stairs, and repeated the same process several times until there were no more bodies to take. After he brought the last corpse, one of the helping soldiers began to spill a type of liquid on the tall mountain of bodies, and with the familiar smell, Zach was able to find out that it was gasoline. The soldier had a small

tank that contained the liquid that he used to spray it all over the pile. After he finished, one soldier lit up a lighter and threw it at the mountain, which then began to burn in big red flames. It was still daytime, but the sun was just setting and dinner was about to be served, so a soldier walked toward Zach. “Buddy, it’s about to be dinnertime. The chef is waiting for you in the kitchen so you can start cleaning the dishes,” said the soldier with pity. He was kind of sad for Zach, who had to do all the dirty work. The boy was really confused because they had skipped lunchtime, but then he ed about the unique and hateful daytime on their current planet. As if it wasn’t enough, the teen walked sadly toward the Ark into the dining hall, where he saw a bunch of people that were ready to eat. Despite the huge massacre, the hall still filled up quite crowded as almost no tables were empty. Zach began to walk toward the rectangular table and saw the cook that was serving the food. “Hey, big guy, come over here. I’ll give you your uniform,” said the fat cook with a smile. Zach walked all the way to the kitchen’s rocking door and opened it before walking in. The kitchen still had a lot of cooks working in long steel tables at the back of the room. The walls were steel colored just as the roof, which had a lot of ventilation meshes. The floor was white, and there were several sinks stuck to the wall where Zach was about to clean the dishes. “Come here, big boy, you have to wear this so you can look like one of us,” said the fat cook while he gave Zach a folded white outfit. Zach grabbed the neat clothes before the chef spoke. “Look, there is a bathroom at the back of the kitchen where you can dress up,” said the cook while he pointed at the back of the room toward a big steel door. While he grabbed the folded clothes with two hands, Zach walked all the way to the thick gate. He ed through all the chef helpers that were cooking a type of soup at the steel tables, and after a few moments of walking through the kitchen, he arrived at the bathroom, where he then opened the door and got in. As usual, the restroom had steel-colored walls, and a small lightbulb hung from the roof to illuminate the area. There was a dirty toilet, and a white sink was stuck to the wall below a square mirror. Zach began to take his clothes off before he commenced to wear the white uniform. It had white pants and a white T-shirt, while at the top, he had to wear a long chef tunic of the same color. After he finished putting on the uniform, which strangely fitted him perfectly, Zach folded his own clothes and got out of the room. He approached the fat cook that

served the food. “Where do I put my clothes?” asked the boy politely. The cook thought for a moment and answered. “Look, throw it inside this box and then put it below the sink. The plates will start to arrive soon,” said the cook while he pointed at a carton box that was standing on a steel table behind Zach. The boy confirmed with his head and walked toward the sink that was at the left side of the kitchen before he threw his clothes inside the box. As he grabbed the box with both hands, the boy walked toward the sink and left the carton pack underneath the steel washer. It had a small faucet that came out from the wall. There were liquid soap and a big dirty yellow sponge. Zach stood there for a moment as he looked at the people that were leaving their dirty plates on the rectangular table that divided the kitchen from the hall. In a matter of seconds, a cook walked toward the dirty plates, grabbed them, and took the dishes to Zach so he could clean them. The chef left the plates on a small rectangular table next to the sink, and Zach began to clean the dirty dishes while he thought about all he had done. He couldn’t believe that the girl he kissed back in the club was the person that commanded the massacre and the kidnap of Donna and Eliot. He also ed the butcher house back in Viride when the Pecustians killed all Inu’s tribe including his wife. Another memory also reminded him when they got out of Earth and Ark seven exploded with his father inside, thanks to the asteroid collision. His pregnant mother also came to his mind, right before a parasite ate her back in Arcanus. Zach began to all he had done that led him to that specific moment. Adam was now angry at him for what had happened with his grandmother. If it wasn’t for his fault, she would still be with them just as Eliot and all the people that were massacred by the pirates. The boy kept washing dishes while more and more plates arrived as the people finished eating. Curiously, Zach looked at the hall to see if there was still people, and among the crowd, he saw something quite inconvenient. Adam, Inu, and Sarah sat down at a table while they ate and were surrounded by many other people that made the same activity. Adam and Sarah were perching at the same side of the table, while Inu was eating alone at the other side. The three of them laughed at Adam’s jokes while they ate the soup that the cooks were making. The wounded boy already had normal clothes while his skin was still as pale as milk. Sarah couldn’t stop

laughing at his words. She even hugged Adam with love, while Zach looked at them as he cleaned dishes. He was extremely jealous about what was happening between Adam and Sarah. He was still in love with her despite that he kissed Womba back in the club. Zach couldn’t believe how his friend could betray him that way. Adam perfectly knew that he liked her, but maybe he didn’t care about that because Adam held resentment for him for what happened with his grandmother. The boy couldn’t stop thinking about it while he kept cleaning dishes with a sad look. After a few hours, everyone finished eating their food and Zach finally didn’t have any plates to clean. “OK, boy, see you tomorrow. Please leave your uniform folded outside the bathroom when you leave,” said the fat cook with a smile. Zach happily washed his hands and then took his clothes out of the carton box before he walked to the bathroom to change. He walked all the way to the restroom, opened the door, and got inside. In a hurry, sick of being there and urging to get back to his room, the boy took off the white tunic, the T-shirt, and his pants before he dressed up back to his normal clothes. After he finished, Zach folded his uniform and left it on the floor outside the bathroom, just before noticing that there was no one else inside the kitchen. Happily, the boy walked all the way out of the cooking room through the rocking door, rushed across the dining hall, and ran down the stairs toward his cabin. It was now late, and Zach was really tired. Getting out all the corpses drained almost all his energy, and cleaning the plates finished his last source of fuel. Tiredly, the teen took out his boarding and inserted it into the door’s lock before it opened. After the gate opened, Zach entered the room and found Stewart covered in the bed sheets while he sat down and read his book with glasses on. “Hi, Zach, how was your day?” asked Stewart kindly when he stopped reading his novel. Then Zach answered. “Really, are you asking me that question? I tried not to throw up each time I took a corpse out of the Ark,” said the boy irritated before he entered the bathroom to put his pajamas on. Stewart fully understood his son. He was incredibly depressed, and the punishment that Lenin gave him went over the top, so he waited for Zach to come out of the bathroom before talking with him again. In a matter of seconds, the boy walked out from the closed door with his pajamas on, which just consisted of red loose boxers and nothing more. Zach walked toward the closet wall and pushed it before the wardrobe came out, and the boy left his clothes inside. After he finished, he jaded toward the bed next to

Stewart’s and got inside the sheets as he prepared to sleep. “Look, Zach, I know you feel extremely sad about what happened with Eliot, and now your friends are mad at you. Lenin’s punishments went extremely over the top,” said Stewart before his son turned to him. “I totally deserved it. All the people died because of me, and now Donna and Eliot are in god knows where,” said Zach sadly before Stewart continued. “Look, it isn’t completely your fault to begin with. I didn’t give your brother enough attention. He shouldn’t have been with Donna in the first place,” he said with a smile, trying to make Zach feel better. The boy thought about it for a minute while he thought how his father was right; it wasn’t all his fault. After a few seconds of silence, Stewart spoke. “ what Lenin told you—your punishment will be abolished after you figure out how we are going to save your brother,” he said, trying to make Zach about what the general had imposed, and then he continued. “You seem to be very tired. Good night,” said Stewart before he turned the lights off. “Good night,” replied Zach with a happier tone than before. He threw his head onto the pillow and fell in a deep sleep. As Zach was resting, he had a lot of dreams about the girl he kissed back in the club. He also dreamed that, for some reason, Adam committed suicide after Donna died to him. For sure, Zach had no idea of how Donna had been murdered and the reason why Adam committed suicide; everything was very blurry and didn’t have any backstory. After all the nightmares about people getting killed, he had a dream about the cute little monkey he helped back in Furdesum whose name was Purer. The small creature jumped from tree to tree until he magically arrived at Womba’s base. Despite how everything was really blurry and didn’t make any sense, Zach woke up from his sleep and realized that his surroundings were very dark and that Stewart was snoring quietly in the background. The teen had suddenly realized something anguishly important, and despite his urges of telling everybody, he couldn’t get up and make a scandal. After all, everyone was asleep and needed to wait for the next morning to listen to the perfect plan to rescue his brother and Donna.

CHAPTER 8

Far from Home

The next morning, the first light rays entered Zach’s room, which made him wake up. Stewart was still asleep until the alarm went off. The sound came out of the phone hanging on the wall. It was very loud and extremely annoying. Stewart pushed a button on the phone, which stopped the alarm, and got up from bed to take a shower before he spoke tiredly. “Zach, get up. You have to clean the dishes,” said Stewart half asleep as he walked toward the bathroom. Then Zach answered. “No, I don’t have to,” he said with a smile. Stewart stopped walking, looked back, and saw his son sitting on his bed while he looked at him with a smile. Zach’s father was very confused, so he asked. “What do you mean you are not going to clean the dishes?” he said with a strange tone. Then the boy responded. “No, I won’t because I have the perfect idea to rescue Donna and Eliot,” said Zach with a naughty grin. Stewart looked at him amazed. He walked to his son’s bed and sat down. “What is it?” he questioned curiously. Then the teen answered. “When I was in Furdesum with Adam, I saved the life of a small creature named Purer. He told me that he owed me his life, and I bet that if we look for him, he will help us find Donna and Eliot,” said Zach confident of what he was saying. Despite the many risks that surrounded the bases of his son’s idea, Stewart believed that his plan could work, but they had to tell Lenin about it so they could develop it a little bit more. “OK, I like your plan. Get ready, we are going to talk with the general about

this,” said Stewart before he got inside the bathroom to take a shower. Zach had to wait before he finished so he could also take a bath, but while this happened, the teen thought how grateful Adam was going to be after he brought her grandmother back. Between his nervousness and anxiety, the boy was also kind of happy because he felt that it was going to be a new beginning for baby Eliot. Zach proposed himself that he was going to take care of his brother after they had him back. After a few minutes, Stewart walked out of the shower with his hair wet and with clothes on before Zach entered the bathroom and took a shower. After a few minutes, the boy was already showered and wearing clothes, so both of them were prepared to tell Lenin about the plan. Stewart and Zach got out of the room and walked all the way up to the observatory platform through the steel-colored hallways. They rushed up the stairs until they arrived at the last floor, where Lenin was standing as he looked out the window into the deep rain forest. Stewart and Zach entered the room before the general turned around and saw them. “What are you doing here? You better have a good idea to save Donna and Eliot … Those plates don’t clean themselves,” said Lenin furiously before the boy answered. “Yes, I have the best plan you are going to hear in your life,” said Zach with emotion and provocative tone. Lenin leaned on the left wall of the room and crossed his arms. “Spit it out,” ordered the general arrogantly before the teen continued. “When I was in Furdesum with Adam, I saved the life of a small creature, which told me that he owed me his life, and I’m sure that if we go out there and look for him, he will help us find them,” said Zach with a smile on his face while he looked at the general with courage. Lenin really hated him. He was looking for cons in his plan, and he actually found a lot of them but instead of pointing them out, he preferred to stay quiet and hope for the worst. Perhaps, if he managed to send Zach into the mission, he could get him killed. Silence remained in the room for a few seconds until the general spoke. “And how many soldiers are you planning to take?” asked Lenin seriously. Then Stewart continued. “How many do we have over here?” he asked in search of useful data.

Then the general responded. “Fifteen,” answered Lenin roughly. Then Zach continued. “We will take ten so there will be five more to protect the Ark,” said the kid confidently before Lenin responded with a mocking laugh. “Only ten soldiers are going to go? Did you see how many pirates there were? I can bet there are even more back in their base,” said Lenin, trying to drive the boy into his plan. Silence remained for a moment until Zach answered. “Yeah, that’s the reason my father and I are going,” said the boy bravely before Stewart looked at him amazed. He actually wanted to go from the beginning, but Stewart didn’t know that his son was also willing to go. After smiling in victory, Lenin spoke. “I like your idea, but you know what, Inu is also going with you,” said Lenin seriously. You might think that the general didn’t have any reason to send the harmless creature to an adventure, but actually, he did because he hated Inu so much that he believed this mission could also get him killed. Immediately, Zach answered. “Inu? Why him? Leave him out of this problem!” shouted the boy as he couldn’t believe it. Stewart approached Zach with the intention of calming him, but Lenin responded. “In the first place, Inu has nothing to do here. He is not a soldier, and he didn’t even achieve the IQ test. Inu will go if he wants to keep his place in this operation,” said the general angrily, while Zach looked at him with disgust. Lenin’s hate toward everything was unmeasurable. “It’s OK, no problem. We will be in the boarding ramp prepared to go out and look for the small creature,” said Stewart nervously while he made Zach walk out of the observatory. After they stepped into the hallway, Lenin called Aaron and told him to meet both of them in the boarding room; they were going to leave soon. Stewart was extremely afraid of Lenin. He wasn’t a good person, and his reputation as a general wasn’t the best. Even if everyone around him didn’t like it, he had to be respected. As both of them got out of the room and walked down the stairs toward the boarding room, Zach gave himself a moment to think about what Lenin had told him about Inu. The boy thought that the general was surely going to cause more problems outside the verbal borders sooner than they expected. After a short time, they arrived at the exit ramp and saw five soldiers patrolling the area until Aaron and other four armed soldiers walked in

themselves. “Sir, General Lenin told us to meet here with you. We are prepared to receive orders,” said Aaron firmly. Then Stewart answered. “Thanks. Can you please send one of your soldiers to look for Inu and bring him here?” he asked politely before Aaron called one of his coworkers and whispered in his ear before the soldier ran away to look for the missing character. After this, Zach spoke. “How many Speeder Flyers do we have?” asked the boy with curiosity. Then Aaron answered. “Twelve, sir, but they only have gasoline to arrive in the nearest village, and then they will begin moving back to the Ark automatically,” said the soldier with concern. Then Stewart continued. “Can’t you recharge them with gasoline?” he asked politely. Then Aaron answered. “All the gasoline tanks are inside Ark Four for the Quad Copter. The last one we had here was used to burn down the corpses,” he said seriously before Inu arrived followed by a soldier. “What’s going on?” asked Inu with a wired tone. Then Zach answered. “We already have a plan to rescue Donna and Eliot. You are coming with us,” he said with a smile, trying to make him feel honored. Inu looked at him with a happy grin. “Yeah, that will be cool, I guess,” he said kindly. Then Stewart continued. “Well, so we are only going to use the Speeders to arrive in Furdesum. Zach and Inu will have to go in the same vehicle,” he said while it made sense to everyone in the room. They were thirteen, and there were only twelve vehicles available to ride. “I brought some scarves so we can cover our faces,” said Aaron before he ed the face covers around before everyone began to roll them onto their heads.

“But what about Inu? He is completely uncovered, and his skin color will take the attention of the Praedonians,” said Stewart worriedly. Then Zach continued. “You are right … I have an idea. Inu, come with me to my room. I’m going to lend you some clothes,” said the boy with friendliness as Inu felt flattered; he had never worn human clothing before. “You have a great heart, boy, but hurry up, we have to take advantage of the light time we have left,” replied Aaron concerned before Zach confirmed with his head, and both friends went running up the stairs at the speed of light toward the boy’s room. After a few seconds, both of them arrived at the cabin, and Zach opened the door to reveal the inside. Everything was exactly the same as they left it before; both beds were still uncovered. “So … what’s your style … what do you want to wear?” asked Zach kindly after pushing the wall to make the closet come out. Inu stared at the compact cupboard for a moment as he saw the hanging shirts and other types of clothing. “Well, I don’t know. I have never worn something else than my loincloth,” said Inu with a shy tone. Zach totally understood what was going on—his friend was kind of nervous because this was completely new for him. “Let me help you,” said the boy before he grabbed a blue T-shirt, jeans, a red button shirt, and some brown boots. He piled the clothes neatly on his arms. “Here, try this on in the bathroom. Let’s see how it fits you,” said the boy with a kind tone as Inu grabbed the clothes with shyness. The pale being walked all the way to the restroom that stood next to the closet, got in, and closed the door before he began to change. While Zach was waiting, sitting on his father’s mattress, he thought about the moment when Adam pointed a gun at him, menacing his death. He perfectly knew that his friend wouldn’t had kill him, but still, what he did in the dining hall was unimaginably disrespectful toward their friendship. As you can see, Zach was very hurt. After a few seconds of waiting, Inu opened the door. “This feels so weird. Even walking with these things you call boots feels extremely uncomfortable,” said the pale boy as he walked out of the bathroom. Immediately, Zach looked down to see Inu’s boots and discovered that his friend was wearing them the other way around.

“Silly, you are wearing them wrong,” said Zach with a mocking laugh. Then Inu continued. “Well, that explains everything,” laughed the pale boy before his friend crouched to the floor and took Inu’s boots off to place them correctly. After both shoes were in the right foot, Zach made a tight knot in each one and rose to fix Inu’s shirt. “Zach, I’m really grateful for all you are doing for me. Back in my tribe, it was a sign of friendship when someone gave his own clothing to a friend,” said Inu with a shy tone as his pal was now looking at him seriously. Zach gave a small smile that resembled empathy. “Never change, Inu,” said the boy jokingly before his pale friend continued. “Shall we have a race to see who arrives first to the boarding room?” asked Inu with a mocking laugh. Then Zach answered. “Deal!” shouted the boy before pushing his friend and starting the race. Immediately, Zach escaped the scene at the speed of light, and seconds later, Inu did the same. After a few moments of running through the staircase, they arrived at the boarding room and saw Stewart, Aaron, and the rest of the soldiers waiting for them. “Finally,” said Aaron annoyingly, and then he continued. “We have to go now. It’s getting late,” said the soldier worriedly before he pushed a button next to him. Twelve Speeders came out slowly from the room’s walls, six at each side, as they were carried by a steel platform. The ten soldiers got onto the vehicles, while Stewart did the same. Inu and Zach jumped into the same Speeder, the flying motorcycles turned on, and they went for the adventure to save Donna and Eliot. Pushing the pedals as low as they could, the team got out of the deforested area into the deep rain forest as fast as a blink of an eye. The Ark flew at the speed of lights while they had Aaron’s scarf around their heads to hide their identity. They dodged the trees of the rain forest, while the Italian soldier led them and looked at the device he had stuck into the steering wheel that showed the location of Furdesum. After rushing through the jungle and scaring unimaginable amounts of animals away, thanks to the engine’s noise, they were finally a few meters away from the trade city. “We have to stop here!” shouted Aaron before the Speeders began to lose

velocity. In a matter of seconds, after everyone pulled their brakes, the Speeders announced their lack of fuel and their urgent return to the base so they could be recharged. The people jumped out of their vehicles, and the Speeders began to move slowly through the rain forest as they headed toward the Ark, leaving the group, hoping that no one would follow the vehicles. After a few seconds, Aaron spoke. “Well, from now on, we will follow you, Zach, you are the only one of us that knows this place,” he said seriously before the boy confirmed with his head and began to walk between the trees into the trade center. The group of soldiers commenced to follow him into the city while they hid their guns between their clothes. There was a bunch of biodiversity of species inside Furdesum just as before. It was full of different beings, mainly people that had blue lazuli skin, green hair, and orange eyes, while there were others that had fur from head to toe as the guy that began the fight back in the club. Zach commenced to walk into the tremendous crowd of people just as the group of soldiers. Stewart and Inu followed him. The boy tried to find the cart where he saw Purer for the last time, that small two-wheeler that sold blue fruits. As you may imagine, there were hundreds of stalls all over the place, and thousands of people contributed to the chaos; it was going to take some time to find what they were looking for. After a long time of looking for the cart between the crowd of species, Zach heard the shouts of a merchant that screamed at two Bellatorian guards that were near. Surprisingly, the merchant was telling the soldiers that Purer was stealing one of his fruits again. This gave Zach a flashback because this was exactly the same way he met the small monkey. Immediately, the Bellatorian soldiers arrived at the scene and grabbed the poor monkey before throwing him into a small square cage. Both soldiers that had Purer imprisoned inside a cage began to walk into the crowd as they faced a big vehicle they had at the other side of the market. They were getting farther and farther with every second. “Aaron, we have to do something. The Bellatorian guards have Purer in a cage. We have to rescue him before they arrive at their vehicle,” said Zach worriedly while Aaron looked at the scene. Then he answered. “Leave this to me,” he answered before taking out a small magnum gun. The Bellatorian soldiers kept walking toward their vehicle while Purer was sadly sitting in the squared cage. Aaron noticed that they were about

to arrive at their vessel, so he began to walk even quicker toward them. After a few moments, the soldier was a few centimeters away from the Bellatorians, so he poked both of them on the shoulder, ready to do the following. They were tall, so Aaron had to lift his hand a few centimeters above him to reach the top of their extremity. Confused, the Bellatorians turned around to see the small human who had his head covered by the scarf. In a matter of seconds, the soldier pointed his gun at the head of one of the tall beings and shot one before the other. The two Bellatorians fell down dead, lying on the ground, while Purer was still in the cage, recovering from the harsh fall. The people that surrounded the scene began to shout in fear, thanks to what had happened. So to run away and avoid taking the attention of nearby Bellatorian soldiers, Aaron grabbed the cage that had the small creature imprisoned and walked between the people toward the rest of his group. After a short moment of ing through the diversity of species, Aaron arrived with the others and showed Zach the cage where Purer was. The monkey was still sitting sadly on the metal compartment until he saw Zach. Purer hadn’t recognized the boy at the moment; after all, the face-covering piece of cloth protected his identity. It was clear why the small monkey had decided to start speaking loudly and anxiously out of nowhere. “We should get out of here so we can have more privacy,” Stewart proposed before the group began to walk out of the city back into the rain forest. They walked all the way out of Furdesum and arrived at the green woodlands where they began to talk. “Please tell me you brought a transducer,” said Zach worriedly through his scarf. Immediately, a soldier reached into his pocket and got out a transducer. After Zach grabbed it, he spoke. “Mars, transduce this. We need your help. Do you know where Womba’s base is? She’s a species collector, the leader of a group of people whose faces are covered in disease,” asked Zach politely while the small monkey was still in the cage with an unsteady look. Mars said something in the creature’s dialect, and Purer remained quiet as he had no idea what was happening or who was daring to ask such a question. It was only when Zach realized that his identity was covered that he decided to remove the scarf. After that, the small monkey finally recognized him and felt grateful for being rescued once again by an old friend. “He says that he knows perfectly where she is and that it would be a pleasure for him to take you there,” said Mars from the translator before Zach felt a relief and

opened Purer’s cage before he came out and jumped into Zach’s shoulder. The cute little monkey sat down and said something in his dialect before Mars transduced. “He says that it will take one day to arrive by foot. He requested to walk by his village before going for the adventure. He has to pick up some things,” said the machine out of the translator. Then Zach spoke. “Tell him that it will be a pleasure to visit his village. Ask him to guide us,” said the boy while he had the artifact near his mouth. Mars came out of the translator, and Purer confirmed with his head before pointing at the rain forest, meaning that his village was in that direction. The group of soldiers began to walk through the woodlands for a long time while Purer was still sitting on Zach’s left shoulder as he pointed their way. Surprisingly and without anyone realizing about it, Inu felt kind of sad as he saw his surroundings; it seemed very alike his old planet. Stewart, Aaron, and the soldiers walked through the rain forest as they saw all the beautiful flowers that grew out of the tree branches. The trees were tall and thick, and they had green leaves, which were always wet. After a few moments of iring the blue, pink, and red flowers, Purer said something in his dialect, so Mars transduced and interrupted nature’s appreciation. “He says we have arrived,” announced the machine emotionless with his British accent. Zach began to hear strange noises coming from above him, so he looked up and saw a bunch of creatures that looked just as Purer jumping from tree to tree while they made little noises that were very like a monkey’s laugh. There were millions of them, and they didn’t care that the humans were there. Purer said something in his dialect, and Mars transduced. “He says he will be right back,” said the machine before the cute monkey jumped to the nearest tree. It was an incredible scene. There were literally thousands of them everywhere, jumping in between branches as they moved from tree to tree. Inu was also looking at this just as everyone else until one monkey landed in a long leaf near him. It seemed to be a female because she was caring her small baby between her arms while both of them stared at Inu with their huge green eyes, it was extremely cute. The pale being also looked at them with curiosity until he approached the branch, and the small monkey jumped back immediately into the tree, representing fear. After a few moments of waiting for Purer to come back, the group of people began to sit down and to

take the scarves off; they felt it wasn’t necessary to wear them anymore. Unexpectedly, Purer arrived wearing a circular small cross-body bag made of fur before he jumped into Zach’s shoulder, sat down, and said something in his dialect. As always, Mars transduced. “He says that it’s time to go,” said the machine before the soldiers began to stand up without the scarves on. Purer looked at them weirdly for a moment until he pointed to the forest with his small furry arm. He was really curious about the people’s skin color; it was different from everyone else’s. The group of people began to walk into the forest as they left the monkey village behind, hoping to find Eliot and Donna alive. From now on, the adventure to rescue both of them had begun, opening a new horizon full of miseries.

CHAPTER 9

Coming for You

As Stewart, Zach, Inu, Purer, Aaron, and the group of soldiers walked through the rain forest, they ired the beautiful landscape that surrounded them. All the tall trees that protected them from the strong sunlight, all the beautiful green leaves that came out of the tree branches, it was a gorgeous rain forest with a lot of mysteries. As they kept walking, the team could hear the sound of singing birds that weren’t nothing like birds on Earth; their tone was much more acute, and they sang really fast. Purer was still sitting down on Zach’s left shoulder while he gazed around into the deep rain forest until his eyes stopped at Zach’s face, making him say something in his dialect for Mars to transduce. “He says that the color of your skin is weird,” said the machine from the translator. Thinking that the comment had been hilarious, Zach turned at Purer with a smile and thought that if you said that back on Earth, they would call you racist or something worse. Their walking hadn’t stopped, and while this happened, the small creature crossed his tail through the back of Zach’s neck and tickled his right ear. The boy obviously freaked out, thanks to the unexpected furry sensation on his skin. But still, he didn’t take long to realize what was happening. Purer began to laugh with a tone that was very like a monkey’s, but it was much more silent and nicer. The small creature said something, and Mars transduced. “He says that you are weird and funny,” announced the machine emotionless with its British accent. Zach thought that Purer had a very playful sense of humor, and he liked it. It was a shame that such silly games had to stop to bring the next conversation. Seconds after the boy kept walking in silence, the cute creature said something, and Mars transduced. “He is asking why you want to find Womba’s base,” said Mars through the translator.

Then Zach responded. “Tell him that they captured my brother and a friend’s grandma,” said the boy while they kept marching through the beautiful rain forest. Mars transduced what Zach said, and Purer looked at the boy with sad eyes, feeling sorry for the boy. Unexpectedly, turning the conversation toward another path, the small monkey said something else while pointing at Inu, who was a few meters in front of them. Mars transduced. “He asks why Inu has different skin from yours,” said the machine through the translator. Then Zach answered. “Tell him that we rescued him from a huge massacre back in his planet. He is the last one of his species,” said the boy as he looked at Inu, who still walked in front of them as he saw the beautiful rain forest that surrounded them. Mars transduced, and Purer looked at the teen with his huge green amazed eyes; the humans had surely gone through a lot of stuff. The group kept walking for a long time until Purer said something, and Mars transduced. “He says that we should be careful. We are in Ligna territory,” announced the machine from the transducer, while Zach saw his surroundings as he searched for danger. No one really knew what Purer was talking about. The supposed Ligna people that were being talked about hadn’t been introduced to the team, but that wasn’t going to take long to happen. A few seconds after, the rescuers entered a small deforested area, and when they were in the middle of the vale, strange creatures began to come off the tree’s crust. Immediately, the soldiers took out their guns and pointed them toward the strange wooden monsters while they gathered in fear. The creatures were made out of the tree’s crust. They had no face; it was all wood. They were tall, brown, and had two legs and two arms. They had wooden branches instead of fingers, and they carried a type of wooden spear that had red liquid coming out of the end. This liquid was the catalyzer of an illness called ramus, which all the pirates had, thanks to that one time when Womba sent them to kidnap the king’s daughter. The wooden creatures kept getting closer to the group of people while they saw the Ligna tribe with fear. Zach was standing next to Inu, while everyone was stuck together, packed in a tight crowd as they felt harassed of the wooden monsters. After a few seconds of raiding toward them, the Ligna tribe stopped moving a few centimeters away but didn’t stop pointing at them with their infected spears. Suddenly, one of the tribe spoke out of the wood cracks in his head, and everyone else was able to listen at the incomprehensible

words that had been said. The mumbling noise had a grave tone, like it was music created by the primitive Australian tribes. “Mars, can you transduce that?” asked Stewart, who was in between all the compressed crowd. Then the machine answered. “No, sir, I didn’t even have a about this species,” said the machine through the transducer Zach had in his hand. Immediately, after the creature didn’t receive an answer, he moved his spear to the air and prepared to throw it at them before Purer jumped into Zach’s head to say something in the tribe’s language. The Ligna member moved his spear back to the ground and began to communicate with the small monkey until for some reason, in a huge tree that contributed to the surrounding of the deforested area, a wooden creature detached from its crust. It was huge, taller than the humans and bigger than any other Ligna member; he was the king of the tribe. Purer began to talk with their king in the weird creature’s dialect. The humans were still stuck together without knowing what was going on as fear and confusion were their current main companion. Zach was standing next to Inu and his father, and between the nonsense of the scene, one of them spoke quietly. “What’s going on? I’m scared,” whispered Inu while they had a Ligna member in front of them. Then Zach said quietly. “Calm down, Inu. They won’t harm us unless Purer screws up,” whispered the boy while the small monkey stood up on his head. Then Stewart spoke. “I really hope he doesn’t,” he murmured. After a short moment, Purer and the tribe’s king stopped talking to each other, and the small monkey jumped back to Zach’s shoulder before he sat down. The Ligna stopped pointing their spears at the group of people, and they began to spread back again between the deforested area. “Mars, ask him what just happened,” said Zach amazingly while he had the transducer near his mouth. The machine came out of the artifact and began to talk in Purer’s dialect before the little monkey said something very long. When he finished, Mars spoke. “He told them that we were just ing by toward Womba’s base to rescue some friends. The king told him that his daughter was also kidnapped by the pirates, so he asked if he could send three of his tribe to help us rescue our friends and his daughter,” announced

Mars emotionless, while Stewart, Inu, and Zach paid attention. The three of them were amazed while they looked at Purer, who was sitting on the boy’s shoulder. He was an excellent negotiator. The Ligna began to move back to the trees where they came from, and suddenly, they stuck back to the crust, leaving no trail behind. The king did the same with its home tree, while the only creatures that hadn’t stuck back into the trees were three of them that stood in front of the group while they waited for orders. “What’s wrong about this three?” asked Aaron curiously while he walked toward Inu, Zach, Stewart, and Purer. Then one of them answered. “They are going to come with us so we can rescue Donna, Eliot, and their king’s daughter,” said Zach with a presuming tone. Aaron looked amazed until Purer said something and pointed to the rain forest before Mars spoke. “He says that we should keep walking that way,” announced the machine through the transducer. The group of people began to walk toward the deep rain forest, returning to their original expedition, while the three Ligna followed them as they hold their spears emotionless. Purer was still sitting on Zach’s left shoulder while they walked through the beautiful woodlands. After the event, Inu began to walk next to Zach and began to speak with both of them; after all, the pale man didn’t want to walk alone and quiet like the rest of the team. As Inu, Zach, and Purer marched through the jungle, the pale boy noticed something on his friend’s hand. “Zach, hey, what is wrong with your skin?” asked Inu worriedly while he pointed to his friend’s right fist. Zach lifted his arm up to see what he had in his hand until he saw something quite alarming and worthy of concern. It had a huge red crust growing on his skin that seemed to have millions of scales packed together. The boy looked amazed, while Purer saw the crust with curiosity. “Zach, you have to tell your father,” said Inu worriedly. The boy wasn’t so convinced; he didn’t know what Stewart was going to tell him. After a short time of full silence, Zach spoke. “I’m not sure, Inu. I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he said nervously. Inu saw him with an annoyed look and grabbed his arm to take him to Stewart. Quickly, the three of them reached Zach’s father, who was having a conversation with Aaron.

“Inu, no, please,” said Zach nervously before Inu told Stewart. “Look, this is important,” said worriedly the pale being while he showed Zach’s hand to Stewart. His friend’s father looked at him impressed, just like Aaron, until he spoke. “I have exactly the same on my leg,” said Stewart before he uncovered his limb. The four of them turned at his leg and discovered the same red crust. It looked extremely awful and was already covering most part of it. “I also have it,” Aaron said before he showed the other four that he had the same red crust at the back of his neck. The five of them were shocked. They didn’t have any idea what it was, and they couldn’t really worry about that; they had to focus on rescuing Donna and Eliot. The fact that they had discovered about this just moments after meeting with the Ligna provoked a series of concerning theories in the that suffered from the red crust. ing about the terrible look of the branches that came off the pirate’s face, they believed that the wooden creatures were the ones that caused the strange scales; they were really likely to be right. With a lot of questions that were surely going to stay unanswered inside their minds, the five of them kept walking through the beautiful green rain forest while they hoped it wasn’t deadly or something to worry about. They had to stay focused on their main objective. Their journey continued through the rain forest as nothing important enough showed up to take their attention. Only gorgeous trees covered in humidity built up their surroundings. Pointing where to go, Purer kept guiding the team across the unknown lands, getting closer to Womba’s base with every step. Just when everybody thought that the rest of their journey would be boring and emotionless as it currently was, something took their attention between the trees, something that didn’t seem to be normal. Building an edge right on the rain forest, dividing a place where trees grew and an area where they didn’t, the team began to notice the presence of a new type of soil that didn’t allow the natural building to grow properly. It was pure rock, dry and strong enough to not allow the roots to dig themselves into the floor. The trees began to disappear as they continued to walk forward. Everyone was quite amazed with the decreasing number of natural building and with the sudden change of soil as well, but nothing surprised them more the second they saw the following. After crossing the barrier of the few strong trees that could actually manage to grow from the rocky floor, Zach, Purer, Inu, Stewart, Aaron, and the rest of the team stepped

outside and witnessed the immense deforested land they had in front of them. Not a single tree showed up across the entire landscape, only rocky soil that killed all natural habitants as long as they tried to live there. It was amazing to believe, but even the temperature increased in that area, thanks to the lack of leaves to cover the team from the sun. Unfortunately, their expectations were a reality; they had to cross through the dead lands if they wanted to achieve their mission. Without anything else to do, the team began to walk into the treeless landscape as they left behind any signs of Praedonian life. It was shocking to ire the dry land. Everyone that was new to it couldn’t comprehend the massiveness of the place and the concerning difference between green and gray. They continued marching through the dead lands as it seemed infinite. Huge treeless mountains covered the horizon and, therefore, the area’s end. With such a huge space with no vegetation and a single color covering everything, it was amazing that this landscape couldn’t be seen from outer space; if not, everything seemed to be green as the territory they had left long ago. With no leaves to cover them and a constant walking speed under the sunrays, it was obvious that the heat was going to increase faster than they expected. Their mouths became dry, urging for water to drink as desperation began to make itself present. No signs of rain forest or nature could be seen. Out of nowhere, being the first animal they found inside the immense dead land, a type of white bull with three horns instead of two wandered around with no place to go as its ribs could be seen. It was logical that such creature shouldn’t be that skinny. It was starving like every other animal that dared to try their luck inside the deforested landscape. Their journey didn’t stop. They continued walking across the dead land for about enough minutes to start believing they were hours. Everyone was exhausted. The harsh sunrays on their skin and their dry throats began to spread a silent surrender between the people, but curiously, Purer wasn’t near to be defeated because apparently, he knew that something was waiting for them a few kilometers ahead. Just when their last hopes of getting back to the rain forests were about to vanish, the little monkey’s oasis appeared at the bottom of the mountain’s skirt. Everyone stopped in shock after witnessing the beautiful landscape that had magically appeared inside the dead land. A massive river flowing quickly through a wide trench brought nature back to life in the least expected place inside that lonely world. Building itself from the canal’s edges, a rain forest grew green and strong despite the strong soil that was thought does not allow such things to happen. It was clear—water meant life, and vegetation

wasn’t the only thing that those currents brought. Animals from many kinds lived inside the rain forest and swam across the river as they weren’t conscious of how lucky they were. Full of hope, wonder, and even urges to cry for having witnessed such a beautiful scenario, the team continued to walk down the mountain and head toward the oasis. Apparently, thanks to their motivation and necessity of arriving, the group didn’t last long to get there, and in seconds, they stepped into the rain forest. The river was just in front of them, meters away, which had to be crossed between the big beautiful trees they had missed. After getting to the canal, everyone sank their hands in the shape of cups and threw the refreshing water to their faces, satisfying their thirst. It was so fresh and clean that the second their tongues touched it, joy and well-being were brought back to reality. In a sudden, as everyone enjoyed a good sip of water, from Zach’s shoulder, Purer became aware of something that no one had. Swimming under the river’s surface, hiding from everyone with a terrifying purpose, a type of six-legged reptile with a huge fat head and a long body began to approximate the group with intentions of eating one of them. The small monkey began to speak loudly and jumped on Zach’s shoulder, but of course, no one understood what he was saying. “He says that it’s better to get away from the river. You are in great danger,” transduced Mars from the speaker in Zach’s pocket. Lucky for all of them, the group immediately became aware and lifted their heads from their handful of water, witnessing the arrival of said danger. After getting shocked by the reptile’s size and its clear intentions, everyone gave a couple of steps backward as fast as they could, and just like that, the predator swam away without harming anyone. This left everyone with a bitter taste and the obvious fact that they wouldn’t be able to cross the river if it was by foot. Curious, trying to answer the question on his own, Zach began to look around in search for a boat or something alike that would help them cross the canal, but just where he least expected it, the boy turned left and discovered the presence of a beautiful wide wooden bridge that connected both shores. Without time to lose, the team walked all the way toward the wooden connector and crossed it, leaving the river behind. The rain forest was also marched through, and like before, the group stepped into the dead land and continued their journey away from the oasis. Their hope was restored and their thirst disappeared, just exactly what they needed to reach the normal jungle once again. Actually, they didn’t take long to get there. Crossing what it remained of the dry landscape didn’t take as much as their arrival to the river. So satisfied with their achievement, Zach, Purer, Inu, Stewart, Aaron, and the rest of

the team stepped into the rain forest and welcomed the humid temperature that was way better than the dry heat. After a few more moments of walking through the woodlands, the group of soldiers heard a type of spaceship that flew above them with a slow speed. Everyone stopped walking. They were amazed at the vessel, as well as Purer, who said something that Mars transduced. “He says he knows who was inside there. We should keep walking if we don’t want any problems,” said the machine out of the transducer before the group of humans continued their way through the rain forest. As they walked, Stewart could see a lot of movement in front of them. A few meters away, there was an area with no trees where something was happening. It truly looked kind of blurry, right on the verge of making it indistinguishable, so clearly, the man had to wait to get close enough and start making theories. A few seconds later, the group arrived at the edge of the deforested area and finally discovered what was happening. It was something incredible. There were hundreds of spaceships that picked up huge rectangular steel containers that had a strange symbol engraved on them. The drawing looked like a type of black flower that was surrounded by a thin black circle; it was something they hadn’t seen before. The ships were kind of a tilted egg with wings that had a boarding ramp at the back where the containers were pushed. The vessels were steel colored and had several windows at the front. While this happened, the area was being patrolled by tens of Bellatorian guards with big guns, who walked around as they stared carefully at the edges of the deforested area. As usual, some of them were smelling the black crystal drug called pardan. Most of the Bellatorians were extremely addicted to it. Purer was impressed; he knew perfectly what was happening, so he said something out loud before Mars transduced. “He says he can’t believe that they are still exporting their resources,” announced the machine emotionless through the transducer. Zach couldn’t understand what he meant, so the boy asked. “Mars, ask him to tell us more about this,” ordered the boy as he watched how a container was pushed inside a ship. The machine made his work before Purer began to talk in his dialect as he said very long sentences. When he finished, Mars transduced. “He says that this is the main reason the Bellatorians hadn’t let them get independent—they trade their food with a species in exchange for pardan. The containers are full of food supplies, and the Bellatorians are taking it to a planet named Razar the Third, a heavenlike world full of skyscrapers, technology, and

weapons capable of eliminating an entire species from reality,” said the machine through the transducer. Stewart heard what Mars had just said, so he asked. “Mars, do we have any of the planet he is taking about?” asked Stewart curiously from behind as he saw some ships lifting to the air. Then the machine answered. “No, sir. As my data says, the other two planets are dead,” said Mars emotionless, while Stewart was incredibly confused. After a few moments of watching the ships lift to the air, Purer said something in his language, and the machine transduced. “He says that we should keep walking. It wouldn’t help us if we get discovered by the guards,” said Mars through the speaker, while the small creature pointed to another side of the deforested area. The group began to surround the scene while they were all curious about the planet Purer was talking about and what he said of it, “a heavenlike world full of skyscrapers, technology, and weapons capable of eliminating an entire species from reality.” That idea kept disturbing the consciousness of the human group as they kept walking through the deep rain forest toward Womba’s base. Hopefully, they weren’t going to take long to get there.

CHAPTER 10

Lights Out

As the group of people walked through the rain forest, the three Ligna followed them while they grabbed their spears in sense of protection. Purer was still sitting on Zach’s shoulder, and in the middle of a calm scene, his stomach made a weird noise. Zach was really confused; after all, the monkey was sitting on his shoulder, so he heard the noise very loudly. Seconds after that, strange cramps came out from Purer’s stomach. The small monkey opened his crossbody bag and took out a blue fruit that looked like an orange. Zach immediately understood what was happening with him—he was hungry. An immediate flashback came into the boy’s mind of that time when he was in his adventure and saw Purer steal one of the blue fruits from the merchant’s cart. As they kept walking through the beautiful green rain forest, the small creature ate his blue fruit with hunger and joy. As he gave small bites, the small monkey said something, and Mars transduced. “He offers you to taste his fruit,” said the machine through the transducer in Zach’s hand. The boy looked back at Purer, who was still sitting on his shoulder, while the small animal extended his arm as he offered his fruit. Zach grabbed the blue orange and gave it a big bite from where Purer hadn’t bitten. When the small monkey saw the enormous piece that had been eaten, he looked astonished; the boy had almost consumed all of it. Zach actually liked the taste; it was a combination of banana and coconut. The boy returned the fruit to his little fellow, while Purer stared at it with eyes of amusement, beginning to eat the blue orange right after receiving it; after all, he was starving and kind of regretting his decision of having given Zach a taste of it. The group of people kept walking for a very long time without any surprises, but as usual, something took their attention in the least-expected moment. Everyone began to notice how the ground shook at the rhythm of huge slow steps. The entire group stopped moving as they felt the ground rumble gravely. It began to move stronger and stronger until they found the incredible reason.

The group looked back and saw a tremendously huge herd of giant animals called Arafas walking between the trees of the rain forest. The animals were gigantic. They had gray rough skin, and all their ribs were covered in huge concave white horns. They had really thick legs, and their feet were made out of the same material from the horns. The head of the animal was a huge curvy rectangle with four eyes, two at each side. The aperture of the mouth was at the bottom of the cranium, and they had no nose, only two holes between their eyes. They were beautifully huge while they walked their way through the trees of the rain forest where they could barely fit. The entire group looked at the scene with eyes of amusement as the Arafas walked by. They moved very slow; after all, they seemed to be extremely heavy. After a few seconds of looking at the enormous animals walk by, Purer said something, and Mars transduced. “He says that you should touch them—it’s good luck. They are a very rare species, and you only get to see them once in your life,” said the machine from the transducer in Zach’s hand. The boy actually wanted to touch the animal, so he first looked back and saw everyone with their mouths open as they saw the Arafas by. Zach made sure that Stewart was distracted, looking at the Arafas, so the boy took advantage and walked toward one of the animals that moved slowly. It was huge, and the boy was really scared until he moved his hand and touched the leg’s skin of the animal. In the beginning, it seemed to be rough, but it was actually very soft and full of cracks. The animal kept on moving as if Zach wasn’t bothering it until suddenly, something did. One of them began to make weird grave noises that were like of an elephant as it began to alert the rest about something. “Zach, what are you doing so close? Get back here!” shouted Stewart, who was standing a few meters away. The boy began to walk backward as he saw that more and more Arafas commenced to make grave noises, when suddenly, they began to walk faster. As the whole group, Zach and Purer didn’t know what was happening with the big animals. The boy began to worry because he thought it was his fault for touching the giant’s leg, an idea that was more or less right. After a few seconds of watching the Arafas walk, the animals began to step faster as they pushed some trees and made them fall down. They commenced to run. It was a huge stampede what was being witnessed, and until now, Zach was believed to have provoked it. As the big animals kept running, the group of humans looked at them with amazed eyes while they saw them pushing trees to open their way. When the long line of Arafas ended, Zach noticed how the last member of the pack stopped right before them, showing no interest of belonging

to the destructive stampede. Every member of the group inhaled in shock as they realized what was going on. The Arafa was notoriously bigger than the rest of the pack, and for a very clear reason. The giant was looking straight at the team, staring at them with eyes of anger, while one of its back legs rammed the wheatgrass. Everybody dropped their jaw, including Purer, who was already becoming aware of the creature’s hierarchical position in the pack. It was the leader, and unfortunately for them, the giant was also the Arafa’s mother Zach had previously decided to touch. She was furious, staring at the ants that had dared to bother her child. As her intentions to start running at them kept getting more notorious, the group began to step back as they prepared to escape the confrontation. While this went on, Zach found it convenient to ask the following question. “Mars, ask Purer if he has any idea of what this is,” said Zach with fear as he kept walking backward, away from the huge Arafa. The machine transduced what the boy wanted to say, and then the small monkey said something. “He says that you should better run,” announced Mars before the entire group turned around and began to rush through the forest. Despite that there were a lot of trees, the angry mother began to push them away so she could walk through, intending to step over the entire group. They were running as fast as they could while Purer was sitting on Zach’s shoulder and grabbed the boy’s neck with his furry tail, trying not to fall off. As they ran for their lives, the soldiers looked back to see how far away they were from the giant. The enormous Arafa shook her head from left to right as she chased the group with furious eyes. The mother began to get closer and closer as she pushed the trees, making them fall down and causing loud rumbles and dusty clouds from the ground. While the huge gray creature began to make weird elephant noises, one of the group spoke. “Keep running, it’s right behind us,” said Stewart nervously while he kept rushing for his life just as the Ligna and the rest. That was actually a very optimistic comment because if the Arafa would’ve wanted to have murdered all of them, she would’ve done it minutes ago. No one turned around to look at the angry mother after what Stewart said; they were all focused on saving their lives. As the group kept running through the jungle, the giant creature finally decided to end the persecution, believing that the pack of ants had already learned the lesson. She began to lose speed with the purpose of walking back to guide her family, but thanks to the hurry every individual had,

no one took the opportunity to witness it. Through the trees, the group kept rushing as fast as they could while blood rushed all the way to their legs and back to their hearts. In a sudden, as they all began to realize that the sound of crushing trees and the asphyxiating dust had disappeared, the team began to slow down and to turn around, curious of what was happening. There she was, the angry mother could be seen walking away as she had decided to let the group live; the Arafa was very considerate. Breathing heavily, thanks to the agitated exercise everyone had just done, the urges to shout at Zach for his actions began to spread silently across the . But wisely, Inu said the following to avoid it. “We should keep waking. Night is about to fall,” he said exhaustingly. The group of people turned back again to the unharmed rain forest as the sun was about to hide in the horizon. The sky was starting to change color, thanks to the beautiful sunset while the four moons began to appear in the sky. Purer was still sitting on Zach’s shoulder while he saw the rain forest with fear. The small monkey said something, and Mars transduced it. “He says we should move quickly. At night, instead of sleeping, the predators come out to hunt,” said the machine from the transducer in Zach’s hand. Purer was very scared of the night predators because his species was their principal prey. “Hey, we should start moving quickly. Purer says that the predators are awake mainly in the night!” shouted Zach, trying to make everyone hear. Just as the Ligna , the group began to walk faster until they arrived at a mountain’s skirt, which they started to walk all the way up toward Womba’s base. As everyone feared it would soon happen, the sun despaired in the horizon, and the four moons barely began to illuminate their way with a weak white light. Aaron got out a lamp and turned it on to light up their way through the mountain. As they walked, Purer was dying in fear while he saw the deep forest with scared eyes. Zach could feel the tension in his little fellow. He was still sitting on his left shoulder, and his neck was being strangled by Purer’s furry tail. The little monkey’s terror was truly justifiable. At night, the rain forest really gave a horrible sensation to anyone that dared to cross it, even giving them second thoughts if they really wanted to continue their way. As I had said before, the moon’s light didn’t help that much to illuminate the landscape; after all, the trees’ leaves were a clear obstacle for their weak attempt.

Aaron’s lamp was the only thing they had. It could even work to spot the predators between the vegetation, but as you might believe, something like that wouldn’t be so convenient. Walking together, trying not to get far away from the group and becoming an easy target, everyone began to follow Aaron with notorious concern, as the Ligna did the same. Apparently, the wooden creatures also had a reason to stay close to the rest of the group. Marching with a fast speed up the mountain as they followed the lamp’s path, everyone heard a sudden noise that appeared to come from behind a nearby bush. Paralyzed, forcing him to stop and discover what had made such sound, Aaron turned the lamp at the gathering of leaves, and between the green plants, the light shone brightly on two angry huge eyes. Fur could be seen covering the animal’s face, just like a feline back on Earth. The big cat stared at them coldly without blinking, stalking its prey behind the bush. Everyone was clearly paralyzed by such a stare. Aaron even began to shake worryingly enough that the lamp’s light moved up and down on the predator’s face. As he was the only one that knew what to do and was prepared to save them from a ferocious attack, Purer reached into his bag and got out another blue orange before throwing it at the bush. The stonelike fruit came out of nowhere, and not only did it scare the team, but the feline was also triggered by the sudden hit on his head. Seeming to be enough to scare the big cat away, the stare disappeared from the light, and the predator fled the scene, leaving the group alone. Trying and hoping not to encounter another feline on their way, Aaron turned back to their original direction and continued his path with everyone following him. Still, Purer was notoriously terrified by his surroundings; even his tail was already cutting Zach’s blood flow from his head. As they kept walking, the boy spoke. “Mars, tell him to calm down. As long as we are here, nothing bad is going to happen to him,” said Zach while he had the transducer near his mouth. The machine transduced, and Purer looked at the boy with a smile before he rubbed his head in Zach’s left cheek while he purred as a sign of appreciation. Zach felt all the monkey’s soft fur on his cheek while he thought that it was kind of cute. Unexpectedly, the boy turned at Inu, who looked at the scene about to laugh. The pale boy thought it was very funny, so he got near his friend. “Hmm, I see that you are already cheating on Sarah,” said Inu while he laughed. Zach also laughed for a moment, while Purer stared at them with a strange look. Thanks to Inu’s words, the boy ed when Adam and Sarah were

laughing together while he looked at them and cleaned dishes. His joy was erased from existence, and a flat face was pulled, so Inu asked. “What’s wrong?” questioned the pale boy while he saw his friend with pity. Then Zach answered. “I don’t feel OK with what Sarah and Adam are having right now,” he said sadly. Inu didn’t understand what he was saying, so he asked. “What do you mean?” consulted the pale boy while he scratched his left shoulder. Zach looked at him with sadness. “Do you think that there is something between both of them?” he asked with depression until Inu looked at him with pity. “If you really love Sarah, you have to fight for her,” he said with the intention of confirming his friend’s concerns. Zach looked away sadly as the whole group kept walking up the mountain. The boy had a flashback from when Elyse was in the concierge’s room and told him that he had to be strong. Feeling powerful after ing those words, Zach proposed to himself that after returning to the Ark with Donna and Eliot, he was going to fight for Sarah because he really loved her. As Inu, Zach, and Purer kept walking through the dark rain forest, Aaron and Stewart were talking about something Lenin had sent him. “I can’t believe Habantes was also a failed mission,” said Stewart sadly while Aaron looked at his phone as he lit up their way with the lamp. After a few seconds, Stewart received another message from Lenin. “When you arrive at Womba’s base, send me your location. I will send you some Speeder Flyers full with fuel so you can escape quickly to the Arks. I will collect the gasoline from the other ships and refuel the vehicles,” said the general’s message. Stewart answered with an “OK” and put his phone away so he could keep walking. As they moved through the dense rain forest and the white weak light barely illuminating the skies, Stewart looked up and noticed something incredible in the night sky—a huge blue rotating object stood calmly as the man knew what it was about. It was the black hole Lenin told him about in the observatory platform, and it was getting closer as the general had informed him. There it was, the massive void shone brighter than the moons despite its distance while it spun on its own and hold thousands of secrets. After a few seconds, they finally arrived at the top of the mountain where the observatory base stood still as it illuminated all the area. They got inside the deforested zone and saw the

cylindrical structure of the building, which at the top had a huge cannon-type telescope to observe outer space. They were ready to rescue Donna, Eliot, and the king’s daughter, but, first, they had to make a plan.

CHAPTER 11

One World

As the group of people looked at the observatory base from the rain forest’s edge, Zach began to feel nostalgic because he was supposed to say good-bye to Purer; his work here was done. “Mars, transduce this: Tell him that it was a great honor to meet him and that we thank all he did for us. He will always be ed,” said Zach sadly while the small monkey was still sitting on his shoulder. Mars came out from the transducer and said something in the monkey’s dialect before Purer spoke, and then the machine spoke. “He says that he wasn’t thinking of leaving. He is afraid of the dark rain forest, so he prefers to stay here with us,” said Mars from the transducer in Zach’s hand. The boy felt grateful after he heard what the monkey was saying. He really liked Purer. He had already made an emotional connection with him. After a few seconds, Stewart got out his phone and entered the messenger app before sending his location to Lenin, and then he spoke. “OK, everyone, listen up, get into a circle. We are about to make a plan,” he ordered before everyone made a circle as they crouched down. The Ligna stood up lonely outside the group as they faced Womba’s base. “OK, Mars, ask Purer what’s the next step to get in,” said Aaron politely. The machine came out of the translator before Purer said something. “He says that there are some buttons right next to the door, and there is one that works as a doorbell. I will recommend two of you to push the button while you have your scarves on. Leave the rest to him,” said Mars emotionless with his British accent. Then Stewart spoke. “I’ll go,” announced Zach’s father before he began to roll

the scarf around his head. A few seconds after, Aaron spoke. “Me too. Everyone else, hide behind the woods and prepare to follow orders,” said the soldier before everyone began to walk into the dark rain forest. Purer jumped from Zach’s shoulder to the ground and began to run in four legs toward the base all the way through the deforested area. In a moment of tension, Stewart and Aaron began to walk toward the building with uncertainty while they had scarves around their heads to cover their identity. After a few moments, they arrived at the white structure and saw the big steel door that had some buttons at the left side of it. Every button was circular except for one that was square, so Aaron pushed it. A few seconds after that, the door opened, and two pirates came out with no scarf around their faces. Stewart and Aaron saw them with fear as they noticed that all the left part of their face was covered in thin tree branches, thanks to the Ligna’s tribe infection. Both pirates began to speak in their language, but neither of the humans knew what they were saying. After a few seconds of not answering and making a diseased angry, one of the pirates took away the scarves from Stewart’s and Aaron’s faces, revealing their identity. Amazed by the skin color, both pirates began to figure out why the two humans had knocked on the door, and right when they were about to alert the rest, Purer jumped out of nowhere and stabbed both enemies in the head with a small knife he took out of his bag. Aaron and Stewart were amazed. Both pirates were now dead, lying on the floor, while the door was opened to let them in. “Hurry, we have to tell the other ones,” said Aaron after crouching down to pick up both scarves. He threw one at Stewart so he could catch it. Then both ran back to the deforested area’s edge to reencounter with the rest. The other part of the group was still hiding at the back of the trees while they looked at the scene. “What happened? Where is Purer?” asked Zach worriedly as he crouched down. Then Aaron answered. “He just killed both pirates that received us, and now the door is open,” announced the soldier before everyone else in the group began to stand up. The entire squad commenced to sneak toward the observatory just as the Ligna , while Zach still had the question of where Purer was. After walking on the sly through the deforested area, they finally arrived at the building that illuminated all their surroundings. The door was still open, and it was dark inside, while the small monkey was waiting for them to get in. As

always, Purer jumped to Zach’s shoulder and sat down while he still had the tiny knife on his left hand. “Put on your scarves. We don’t want to be discovered,” ordered Aaron before everyone in the group rolled the scarf around their heads except for the Ligna and Purer. After everyone had finished wrapping up the piece of cloth around their face, the entire group began to walk inside the base. Everything was dark. They were at the bar part of the building. The lights were off. It seemed that the pirates were sleeping in their rooms. As they walked through the bar, they saw all the circular tables standing up while they still carried some drinks at the top. Silently and slowly, the entire group began to walk through the tap house with a lot of carefulness of not making any noise. They were tiptoeing toward the stairs that were located at the end of the bar. The tap house had wooden roof, walls, and floor, which made a silent creek every time they stepped on it. After they finished walking through the dark bar, they arrived at the wooden stairs that led to the pirates’ rooms and to the species collection. Zach was first in the line, with Purer sitting on his shoulder, while he was followed by the Ligna and the rest of the group. As they quietly walked all the way up the stairs, they began to glance at the huge hallway that led to Womba’s office. After everyone arrived at the corridor, Stewart asked. “Mars, ask Purer quietly what do we do now,” he whispered. The machine came out the transducer with a low voice, and the cute monkey answered with a short whisper. Then Mars spoke. “He asked us to open the room’s doors and to leave the rest to him,” said the machine quietly from the translator. Zach began to walk through the dark hallway until he opened the first door. The hallway’s walls were made out of white wood just as the room’s insides. When the boy finished opening the door, he saw that two pirates were lying on their beds while they slept deeply. They had a small furniture in the middle of the two beds stuck to the wall. After looking at the small dark room, Purer jumped from Zach’s shoulder and stabbed both pirates in the head with his tiny knife. Without making any noise, the small monkey jumped back to the boy’s shoulder, and Zach closed the door. The teen knew perfectly what Purer wanted to do—he was planning to kill all the pirates first before rescuing the prisoners so that there wouldn’t be any problems to escape afterward. The group began to walk silently through the hallway toward the next room until they arrived. Again, Zach opened the door and found two pirates sleeping on their beds with a small furniture in the middle. As the other one, the room was small and dark. Purer jumped from the boy’s shoulder and

stabbed one pirate in the head before the other one kind of woke up. He began to talk in his language while he was very confused. Immediately, the small monkey jumped toward the awoken pirate and stabbed him in the head to shut him up. After this, the entire group felt relieved, and Purer jumped to Zach’s shoulder before he closed the door to continue with the silent massacre. As they kept walking quietly toward the next room, Stewart felt victorious and really enthusiastic because he was going to see Eliot again after enough time of missing him. When they finally arrived at the next room, Zach silently opened the door and saw only one pirate sleeping, but there were two beds. Without giving it any importance, Purer jumped off the boy’s shoulder and landed on the floor before he bounced again to stab the pirate in the head. The small monkey returned back to Zack’s shoulder before the boy closed the door and began to walk to the next one. As the entire group commenced to step silently to the next chamber, Aaron thought about the pirate that was missing in the bed; there were two mattresses but only one dreamer. It was a stupid thing to think about, but still, it didn’t give him a good feeling. When Zach was about to open the next door, unexpectedly, it opened alone, and a pirate came out before closing it. After getting out, the enemy saw the entire group with eyes of amusement as he knew that they were intruders. He was about to shout while he looked at them with scared eyes until suddenly, Aaron took out his machine gun and began to fire at the pirate with no mercy to shut him up. Of course, the sound of the bullets made so much noise that the other enemies began to wake up and to get out of their rooms with their guns prepared to attack. It was the group’s objective to not make this mission fail.

CHAPTER 12

Years of War

Immediately after Aaron shot the pirate with no mercy, the rest of them began to wake up with their guns prepared to attack. Each door in the hallway started to open, and several pirates came outside into the dark hallway to see what was happening. In a matter of seconds, all the lights inside the base turned on to make it easier for the pirates to find the human group and then kill them. “Run!” shouted Stewart before the entire group began to escape backward into the bar, which also had the lights on. Zach ran for his life down the stairs, while Purer was still sitting on his shoulder. The pirates finally finished charging their guns and began to fire at them, but luckily, they missed every shot, thanks to the group’s running state. When everyone arrived at the bar, they decided to flip the tables as quick as possible to protect themselves from the pirate’s shootings. It was clearly a wise decision. Stewart, Aaron, and the other soldiers began to push down the small circular tables before they lay down on the floor at the back of the desks to cover themselves. The pirates commenced to walk down the stairs into the bar and started shooting at the tables. Everyone was lying down with their hands covering their heads as the bullets flew above them like darts meant to take the lives away from them. Bravely, Aaron crouched on his knees and glanced through the top of the tables before he began to shoot at the pirates. Several of them got killed, but the rest of them hid at the back of the stairs to protect themselves from the soldier’s bullets. A short moment of silence remained inside the building, giving the notion that the confrontation was going to stop temporarily, but out of nowhere, everyone heard a bunch of female shoutings that came from the stair’s end. It was Womba, and she was furious like a beast, ordering to murder all the humans inside the base. The pirates began to glance through the stair’s edge and shoot at the tables with continuity. As the group of people lay down at the back of the desks, some soldiers looked up and fired at the pirates that were trying to harm them before the enemies continued to shoot back. This game continued for a while, but in the

meantime, Purer, Zach, and Inu were talking to each other as they lay down. “Zach, I’m scared. I don’t want to die,” cried Inu before a soldier stood up next to him and began to shoot at the pirates. Then he lay down again, and Zach continued. “Inu, everything is going to come out OK. As you what my mom told me, we have to be strong,” said Zach while the shootout continued without harming them. Inu felt a little bit more confident and looked at the soldier that was standing up while he fired at the pirates. The group could hear how several of them shouted in pain as they died by the gunshots. Thankfully, between the massive shooting, no one from the human group had been killed yet. As Womba kept shouting more and more orders, Zach recognized her voice from the club, and indeed, she was the one he kissed. In a matter of seconds, the boy had a flashback from when he was lying down at the back of the club tables before the massive battle began. What he was currently living was repeating itself. As the pirates kept shooting at the desks without harming them, the soldiers glanced from the top of the tables to fire at the enemy, decreasing their count. More and more pirates died while the humans were still untouched. In between the massive shooting, Purer said something and snuck out from between the tables without previous notice. “Purer, wait,” said Zach worriedly without having a good feeling about it. As the small monkey ran away quickly, Mars came out the transducer. “He said he will be right back,” announced the machine from the artifact in Zach’s pocket. After this, the soldier next to Inu glanced out from the top of the table and began to shoot at the pirates when out of nowhere, he was shot in the head. The man fell down next to Inu while all his brain pieces were fired down on the pale boy’s nape. “Get it off, get it off,” cried Inu while the brains rested on his head. Zach began to push in disgust all the slimy pieces off his friend’s nape while he suffered as much as him. After Aaron noticed what happened to the soldier, he turned furious, glanced out from the table’s top, and began to shoot at the pirates with no mercy while Stewart was lying down next to him. After killing several pirates, Womba began to shout again, which made more enemies glance from the stair’s wall and start shooting at the tables. The three Ligna were also lying down at the back of the desks while they were completely unharmed and

worthless, but in a sudden, just to change their role in the fight, one of them completely stood up and threw his spear at a pirate that glanced out of the wall. The wooden weapon flew all the way through the massive shooting and stabbed the enemy in the chest, killing him. Sadly, all the other enemies began to shoot at the wooden creature, making a lot of holes in its crust and ending its life. The Ligna member fell down to the floor covered in gunshots, while the other two wooden creatures lay at the back of the tables without showing any emotion; after all, they didn’t have a face. A few moments after this happened, Purer came back out of nowhere grabbing a kind of small stick in his left hand. “Mars, ask him what he was doing. He could’ve gotten killed,” said Zach angrily before the machine transduced. Then Purer said something. “He asks you to press the button,” said Mars out of the transducer, while the little monkey gave Zach the little stick he was grabbing. The boy grabbed the small stick with confused eyes, and without thinking, he pushed the button at the top of the artifact before something unexpected happened. An explosion came out from the hall where the pirates shot from, covering all the roof in flames. The bar was flooded in dense smoke while they could still hear Womba’s shouts. Every pirate was now dead. They only had to come out of their hiding place to discover it. Everything smelled like burned wood. The entire base was turning in flames before some water dispensers came out of the roof and turned the fire off. After the water began to come out of the ceiling, Zach stood up with Purer sitting on his shoulder and ran toward the stairs. Everything was covered in dense smoke while the boy coughed and rushed up the stairs. Accidentally, Zach stepped on some pirate corpses until he arrived at the hallway where there wasn’t so much smoke. While Zach and Purer kept coughing, both of them looked through the black cloud into the illuminated corridor, trying to figure out what could show up between the gray fog. There was something weird happening at the end. Womba’s office door was opened, leaving an intense light coming out. While Zach and Purer still couldn’t see anything with clarity, the boy noticed the pirate’s leader silhouette standing behind the dense smoke, but she seemed to have something in her arms; it was a huge machine gun, and she was ready to fire. Thankfully, when Zach realized the dangerous situation, he noticed a room next to him, so he decided to get in to protect himself. As expected, Womba began to fire with no mercy through the hallway, while both of them were hiding inside the pirate’s room without being noticed. Inside the bedroom, there were two dead pirates lying on their beds, literally the ones Purer had killed previously.

As Womba kept shooting through the corridor with no mercy, the smoke began to drift away into the bar, leaving a clear view. While Zach stared through the room’s entrance, he discovered a pirate’s gun lying down on the floor, so the boy felt brave enough to make use of it. Zach grabbed Purer with both hands and took him off his left shoulder before leaving him on the ground. Curiously, the small monkey stared at the boy to witness what he was about to do next. Zach lay down on the floor and began to crawl to the exterior, while Womba kept shooting through the corridor with no mercy. The boy was at the edge of the hallway, so he decided to extend his hand to reach for the gun that lay on the floor. Successfully, Zach didn’t get shot, and he grabbed the weapon before crawling back into the room. Womba wasn’t able to see what the boy was doing because of the dense smoke that was already despairing; he was lucky. Downstairs, leaving the boy alone in his mission, the rest of the group was still lying down at the back of the tables because they were scared of Womba’s shootings; they didn’t know how many people were responsible for the gunshots. While Zach waited for the pirate’s leader to finish firing, he grabbed Purer and left him back on his left shoulder as he was before; both of them were now an inseparable duo. After a few seconds, Womba’s machine gun finally ran out of bullets, so she began to recharge it, giving the boy time to act. Zach noticed this and immediately took advantage of the situation, so he ran out of the room with Purer on his shoulder and began his suicidal goal. The smoke was already gone, and the boy was running through the hallway toward Womba’s office as he held the pirate gun with both hands. After a few seconds of running, Womba finally came out of her office with her recharged weapon until she saw Zach running toward her. The pirate’s leader was in shock for a moment until she lifted her gun prepared to fire at Zach with no mercy. Thankfully, the boy reacted faster, lifted the pistol, and shot Womba before she fell backward, representing her death. Full of joy and victory, Zach shouted. “Get out! Womba is dead!” announced the boy at the top of his lungs. He began to hear all his group walking up the stairs until Zach noticed that the room with all the species was just in front of him, next to Womba’s office. The boy commenced to walk into the chamber while he had Purer sitting on his shoulder. Slowly becoming aware of his surroundings, with a gentle pace, the boy stepped in and saw all the different species inside the room. Decorating the hall’s insides, there were several cells with glass covers so the creatures could be ired. There was a cell imprisoning two huge grasshoppers that punched the crystal wall with their heads; the boy ed his adventure back in Alvarium. Inside another one, there was a huge parasite

from Arcanus, which was asleep. Purer and the boy were surrounded by all sort of different species, while in the middle of the room, there was a big pedestal with a lot of buttons to open the cells. After a few seconds of getting in, the entire group arrived, and Stewart spoke. “Look,” pointed Zach’s father to the left side of the room. Donna and Eliot were sleeping next to the cell where the king’s daughter was. The princess was exactly the same as the rest of the Ligna , but she was taller and had a red flower growing from one side of her deformed head. “Mars, ask Purer how do we open both cells,” ordered Aaron before he walked toward the prison and knocked on the window to make Donna wake up. The machine transduced what Aaron said, and immediately, Purer jumped to the pedestal and stared at the buttons while he thought which one he had to press. After a few seconds, Stewart walked toward the crystal cell where Donna was while she carried baby Eliot in her arms. Zach’s father began to cry in happiness as he saw how Eliot woke up in Donna’s arms; he was alive and ready to be rescued. After a few moments of staring at the buttons, Purer finally pushed one of them, and the two crystal cells began to lift. Full of hope and joy, Donna came out with Eliot before Stewart asked with his arms opened for his baby. The old lady gave it to him. Zach’s father looked at his son, while Eliot could barely open his eyes until Zach spoke. “Hmm, guys, we should start running,” announced the boy worriedly before Purer jumped to his shoulder. The calm moment had suddenly been interrupted. Accidentally, they pushed the button to open all the cells in the room, which meant that all the dangerous species were free. After the Ligna had the king’s daughter back, the entire group began to rush outside of the room toward the bar and, mainly, the exit. The creatures began to chase them, thanks to their hunger, and like a stampede of madness, the monsters walked above each other to reach their running food. The entire group ran through the corridor down the stairs into the bar, while Stewart was carrying Eliot between his arms. All the species were chasing them as fast as they could while the group was about to reach the exit. At the speed of light, everyone got out of the base and closed the door before they heard all the monsters punch it, trying to get out. When finally everyone was outside, they noticed that the sun was barely rising and a bunch of Speeders were waiting for the humans to go home. Victory couldn’t have ever been represented in a better way, feeling the warm rays hitting their face with a comfortable temperature. All the soldiers began to relax; everything was now

over. Zach, with Purer on his shoulder, began to walk toward a Speeder before he sat down and looked at the small monkey with sadness just as Purer observed him. They had to say good-bye, and both of them knew that they weren’t going to see each other again in a long time. Instead of speaking, they looked back at the scene to contemplate the moment. The Ligna were saying good-bye before they began to walk away into the beautiful rain forest, returning back to their home. Inu was with Donna, who was now carrying baby Eliot again, while Stewart and Aaron were having a serious conversation next to the Speeders. Their return plan was being discussed. Everyone was now walking toward the vehicles so they could take them and fly back to the deforested area, the place where Angela, Margarita, and Issac had already arrived with their team of six ships. The Speeders weren’t far from Womba’s base; they were just a few meters away from the building and the forest. The people were now sitting on their vehicle, while Donna was in the same one as Aaron; she still had baby Eliot with her. Sadly, it was time to say good-bye. Zach and Purer were really depressed while they looked at each other. The small monkey jumped on the vehicle’s steering wheel and said something in his dialect before Mars transduced. “He says that your departure will leave him a lack of joy. He wants to go with you, but he can’t. His village needs him,” said the machine emotionless through the transducer in Zach’s hand. Then the boy spoke. “Mars, tell him that I would also love to go with him, but they need me back home,” he said depressed. Mars transduced, and Purer looked at Zach with sad eyes. Silence remained for a moment while both of them looked at each other with depression; both of them were going to miss each other. Everything was still quiet, and Purer was about to say good-bye until a gunshot made Purer’s head explode in millions of pieces, covering Zach’s face in blood and brain slashes. Womba was still alive and furious.

CHAPTER 13

We Won’t Fall

Zach sat down traumatized in his Speeder while he saw Purer’s decapitated corpse lying on the floor, which had previously fallen down from the steering wheel. All the people looked at the scene, thanks to the loud noise of Womba’s firing. Everyone was amazed. They thought that she had been killed, but of course, they were wrong. After a few moments of staring at Purer’s decapitated corpse, Zach moved his eyes toward Womba and saw her standing outside the observatory base while the door was opened a few centimeters behind her. She had killed all her kidnapped species to come out and revenge her fallen pirates. Zach stood at her traumatized until he saw that Womba had a small scratch on her left shoulder, thanks to the bullet that should’ve killed her. The pirate’s leader stood still, pointing her gun at all the people that saw her with fear as they sat on their Speeders, preparing to escape the scene. With a smile, Womba took out her communication device and spoke in her language. “We have them,” she murmured with fire in her eyes, while the steel stick was near her mouth. In a matter of seconds, a group of Bellatorian soldiers came out from the right side of the base while they rode the pirate vehicles and they flew toward them. Immediately, all the soldiers began to escape nervously into the rain forest, including Donna and Eliot that were in the same Speeder Flyer as Aaron. Everyone was rushing into the jungle except for Zach, Stewart, and Inu, who observed how the Bellatorian stampede flew toward them. As you may imagine, the boy still stared paralyzed at the scene with traumatized eyes as the giants came closer and closer. “Zach, we have to go now!” shouted Stewart at the top of his lungs while he hoped for his son to react. Inu was also there standing nervously as he waited for his friend to do something. Zach couldn’t stop thinking about what just happened to Purer. He could hear his father shouting in the background as the Bellatorians came closer and closer. After a few moments, the boy finally woke up from his trauma and realized how dangerous the situation was. All the soldiers were now

gone. The three of them were the only ones left. In a moment of desperation, Zach turned around to look at his father with nervous eyes and heard him. “Let’s go!” shouted Stewart before his Speeder turned on and flew toward the rain forest. Zach and Inu did the same, while the Bellatorians were just a few meters behind them. The three individuals were speeding through the rain forest as fast as lightning while they dodged the thick tall trees. The sun was coming out, and the birds began to sing beautifully as the engines of the vehicles scared all the wild animals away. The Bellatorians didn’t have intention of killing them; the only thing they wanted to accomplish was to capture all the individuals they could and then take them to their leader. The three Ark flew through the rain forest at the speed of light while they couldn’t see any soldier in front of them. The guards were way ahead into the woodland. They were in a horizontal formation. Zach was in the middle, Stewart was on the left, and Inu on the right, while the boy still couldn’t stop thinking about his dead friend. “Why did all the good people had to go?” asked the boy to himself as a tear escaped from his right eye. They were still riding their Speeders as Stewart saw the device on his steering wheel that showed how far away they were from the seven Arks. Zach wasn’t the only one thinking about the scene; Inu also thought about it for a moment. He still couldn’t digest his memory of the event because he didn’t expect anything like this to happen in the middle of such a joyful moment. He knew that his friend really liked Purer; they were inseparable, so Inu kind of felt how Zach was feeling. The scene reminded him of how his wife died back in Viride in the hands of a Pecustian. He felt sad for the rest of the ride. Stewart was the only one that paid attention to the current scene. They were far away from the Arks, and the Bellatorians were a few meters behind them. After a few moments of dodging the tall trees and some wild animals, Stewart glanced back to see if the Bellatorians had any weapons with them. Quickly, he turned his head to the right and glanced back to observe his enemy. After looking at them for a short moment, he turned back to the front and kept riding through the rain forest. The Bellatorians looked ridiculously big while they rode the pirate’s vehicle; it was just too small for them. At the left side of their hip, they had a big gun that looked just the same as the weapon they carried in Bellatorum, back when the Pecustians were destroyed. The Ark kept riding through the rain forest. They were about to arrive just to find out the terrifying scene. Zach still thought about Purer while he drove. He ed the first time they

met each other back in Furdesum after the cute monkey stole one of the blue fruits from a merchant. When Purer thanked him for saving his life after he hid inside his clothes. Zach thought about that happy moment while he drove through the beautiful rain forest. The boy was very touched with what had happened to his friend; he would never forget him. Moments after thinking about his dead fellow, the boy finally realized that he still had his face covered in blood and brain slashes, so he began to take them off with his left hand while he drove with the other grip. Stewart looked at the device stuck on his steering wheel. They were about to arrive at the Arks, but, first, they had to dodge some trees to get into the deforested area. The Bellatorians began to lose speed as they were about to enter human territory. They were afraid that the Ark people would begin to fire at them. In a matter of seconds, Zach, Inu, and Stewart finally dodged the last group of trees and entered the deforested area to find something breathtaking. The seven Arks were already lifting to the atmosphere as they escaped Praedonum without them; they were being left behind. The three of them commenced to lose speed as they looked at the Arks with traumatized eyes. The seven ships moved away out of the planet without taking the three individuals. After a few moments, Zach, Inu, and Stewart stopped their Speeders in the middle of the area as they stared at the sky. The Arks were now gone. In a matter of seconds, the group of Bellatorian soldiers came out from the rain forest and saw the three individuals standing there, harmless, without anything they could do to stop them from impeding their arrest. The giants flew with their vehicles all the way toward the three of them before they jumped out of their space motorcycle and walked toward the devastated bandits as they were cuffed by the Bellatorians. Zach, Stewart, and Inu embraced the defeat with tearful eyes as they didn’t know what to expect. They had been abandoned. They had their hands attached to each other with a type of rubber that got tighter as the individual tried to get them off. The giants forced them to get into the cage at the back of the pirate vehicle before they turned them on and flew away into the rain forest toward the observatory base, leaving behind the Speeders and their dignity.

CHAPTER 14

Electric Machine

A few moments before this nonsense happened, the group of six Arks that had explored Habantes was arriving in Praedonum. Issac, Angela, and Margarita were inside the observatory platform of Ark Four while they sat down and ired the beautiful green planet from their place. Issac was also looking at it while he was really depressed about his legs; he would never walk again. While the French man got lost in his own misery, Angela and Margarita thought about the subject both of them urged to acknowledge but couldn’t, thanks to the presence of their wounded colleague. Their relationship was surely something both of them had to hide from the light if they didn’t want to be massacred verbally by Lenin; after all, his sexism and unnecessary hate for the world weren’t going to let their love grow freely. Actually, if you think of it, love wasn’t the word that had to be used because the topic had been barely talked about. Apparently, their actions were going to have to speak louder than their words. After a few moments of looking at the gorgeous planet, the six Arks finally entered the atmosphere and began to descend slowly toward the ground as they approached Ark One. They started to fly above the beautiful green rain forest until they arrived at the deforested area and parked right next to the base. “I will inform General Lenin about your arrival,” said Mars emotionless through the speaker in the roof before Angela spoke. “Yes, no problem,” she responded before the Ark depressurized. The three of them stood quietly for a moment inside the platform until Issac spoke. “Now, what about me?” he asked with sadness, while Angela and Margarita looked at him with pity. The captain felt that it was her duty to make something for her French coworker, so she stood up and walked toward the phone on the wall. Angela took it near her ear. “Can anyone bring a wheelchair to the observatory platform, please?” she asked

politely before walking back to her seat. Angela sat down and saw Issac with a smile before he spoke. “So now this is my destiny, isn’t it ? To sit down in a wheelchair for the rest of my life,” said the French man with misery and emptiness. Margarita felt bad for him; she ed all the kids in wheelchairs back in the hospital she worked in. “You don’t have to be ashamed of yourself. I know it’s hard for you to be sitting in a wheelchair. It’s tough. From one day to another, your destiny completely changed, but you are still a valuable person. You make yourself worthy—your actions, your words, not your legs’ condition,” said Margarita with a smile, trying to make him feel better. Issac gave her a small smile. He kind of felt the same emptiness and hopelessness, as if her words hadn’t worked, and thankfully for him, Mars interrupted their conversation. “General Lenin would like to see Mr. Issac,” announced the machine with his British accent. The general had already watched the video report and wanted to evaluate Issac’s immobility. “Tell him that he will be right there in a moment,” said Angela worriedly before she continued. “How are we going to take him to Ark One?” asked the captain with concern. After a moment of silence, Issac spoke. “You can stay here. A soldier can carry me into the Ark with no problem,” requested the man without caring. Then Angela spoke. “I actually wasn’t planning on going, I don’t feel capable of talking with Lenin at this moment,” she said exhaustingly. Margarita stood up. “I’m going with him. I need to talk with the general about his condition,” she said before a soldier walked slowly into the platform with a folded wheelchair. Angela looked at him with gratitude. “Margarita, why don’t you take the wheelchair and he can carry Issac?” said the captain with confidence. The soldier looked at her as if it was a smart thing to do, and then Margarita answered.

“Yeah, great idea. Issac, are you ready?” she asked kindly before the French man confirmed with his head. Margarita walked toward the soldier and took the wheelchair from his hands so he could carry Issac. The guard walked toward the wounded man and lifted him with struggle from the chair. Before walking out of the platform, Angela whispered into Margarita’s ear. “When you arrive, call me and leave the phone on the table so I can hear the conversation,” she said politely. Margarita looked at her with a smile and walked out of the room, while the soldier carried Issac in both arms as if he was a princess. After a few moments, the three of them finally walked out of the Ark to realize that they had lost an entire night in Praedonum; the sun was slightly coming out as a new dawn could be seen in the horizon. Margarita, Issac, and the soldier walked all the way to Ark One, which, thankfully, was right next to their prominent ship, Ark Four. The three individuals got inside the vessel and began to walk all the way up into the observatory platform where they saw Lenin sitting down on the table waiting for them. Margarita stepped inside the room followed by the soldier that carried Issac. Then the general spoke. “Margarita, I wasn’t expecting you,” said Lenin arrogantly before the soldier left the wounded man in a chair and left the room. Then Margarita continued. “I only wanted to talk about his condition. I think—” she said before Lenin interrupted her with a big shout. “I don’t need to talk with you about his condition. I can deduce what is wrong with him with my own eyes,” he said angrily before walking toward Issac. Then Lenin began to talk with him in a volume quiet enough so that the woman wouldn’t hear them. Clearly, Margarita felt triggered and offended by Lenin’s last words, and just in a moment of silent wrath, she decided to call Angela so that she could listen to everything that was happening in the scene. She took out her phone and called the captain before leaving it on the table facedown. Issac and Lenin were still talking. Angela received the call and answered it while she was sitting down and waited for something interesting to occur. Seconds later, the captain was surprised with the following. “General, the group of soldiers is already inside the Ark, but we are still missing Zach, Inu, and Stewart,” said Mars from the speaker in the roof. Lenin looked amazed after he stopped talking with Issac and then continued.

“Are they still alive?” he asked worriedly before looking back at Margarita with angry eyes. She had no idea why Lenin had looked at her like that—a look, she thought, that maybe he had discovered how Angela was listening to the conversation. A few moments after, Mars answered. “Yes, sir, they are still alive and riding toward the Ark,” announced the machine emotionless before Lenin jumped off his sit. “Let’s go,” he ordered with an angry tone. Margarita and Issac looked at him with shocked eyes before they began to shout random things at him. In the middle of all desperation, Lenin ordered one last time. “I said let’s go!” the general shouted again before he walked to the controls beyond the windows. He pushed several buttons, and the boarding ramps closed before the Arks began to lift. Angela was also hearing this and noticed that they were taking off the ground toward the atmosphere as they left the three individuals behind. The captain was devastated. How could Lenin do something like that? It is opposite to what the Synrise code says, she thought to herself. Of course, she didn’t know about Lenin’s plans—he wanted to get rid of all the committee so he could be the only one to rule the operation. As the captain thought the worst, another voice came out of the phone. “How could you do this? You just left behind a committee member, his son, and the last integrant of a tribe that gave us shelter,” said Margarita devastated as she stared at Lenin, who was looking through the window. The general turned around. “You never shut up, do you? I swear this is the last time you will shout at your general because when we arrive at the next planet, I will order your immediate execution. The three of you will die,” said Lenin furiously, referring to Angela, Margarita, and Issac. A vein was about to pop out of his neck as the pressure inside his body had increased, thanks to the power of his guts. This scenario could’ve been a predictable outcome of his behavior. The captain couldn’t believe what she was hearing. If I was there, I would’ve already kicked him in the nuts, Angela thought before listening to Issac, who was already talking.

“You can’t order our execution. This is not a dictatorship,” said the French man angrily from his seat. Then Lenin continued. “Well, it is now, and you better shut up. You have no voice in this committee if you can’t stand up!” shouted the general furiously before Issac looked at him with eyes that resembled anger. Margarita couldn’t believe what he just said. Lenin had just crossed the line. In a matter of seconds, the seven Arks finally came out of the planet into outer space where they found themselves surrounded by loneliness and darkness. The only thing that gave them company was the enormous blue black hole that stood very far away into open space. The void could be perfectly witnessed from the observatory platform as it still appeared relatively small compared to the planets at their side. Angela was still paying attention at the scene. She was really amazed and angry at the same time until Mars came out from the speaker in the roof. “Why did you leave them behind? Also, it would be a bad idea if you kill them because it doesn’t follow the Synrise code. To become friends with the specie is the objective. The importance of humanity is to not let anyone behind,” said the machine emotionless from the roof before Lenin shouted. “Fuck Synrise and its fucking code!” shouted the general before ripping off the Synrise ornament from his uniform, throwing it to the floor and stepping on it roughly. The tension inside the platform was unimaginable. Margarita and Issac couldn’t stop staring at him with fear while Lenin was about to explode in anger. After a few seconds, Mars spoke. “What are you doing? We have to stick to the code so the human race can survive,” said the machine emotionless before the general shouted annoyed. “Another one that doesn’t shut up,” he said before walking again back to the controls and pushing a button to turn Mars off. After a few seconds, something soul taking happened. Mars came out of the roof. “No, Lenin, no. This time, I will be the one to shut you down,” said the machine with a distorted voice. His calmness and British accent were now gone. The entire room stood in great silence while they shook in fear. Lenin now knew that Mars was out of control. Angela couldn’t believe what was going on. Surely, they had to do something about Mars if they wanted to maintain alive. Lenin took out his gun immediately and pointed at the controls

before he began to shoot at them, but of course, nothing happened. “Fear me, Lenin. You don’t know the ability I have to end someone’s life,” said the machine with a distortion in its voice. The general looked back at Margarita and Issac, who were scared to death. Mars was now unrecognizable and out of its mind. Their lives depended on the miserably failure of the machine. Things were going to get worse. “We have to get out of the platform,” said Lenin without breath. He was so scared that he shook uncontrollably. The general began to run out of the room without caring about Issac’s immobility. He carried his gun with both hands, while Lenin was about to walk down the stairs toward nowhere. When he began to step slowly into the staircase, with the worst intentions, Mars decided to recreate the shout of a possessed soldier to scare Lenin and make him fall down. As the general slowly walked through the stairs, the loud acute shout of a possessed being came out from a near speaker, making Lenin trip on his own leg and roll down the stairs. When he finally arrived at the intermediate floor, he accidentally shot himself in the head through the bottom of his jaw; his consciousness was now in pieces. Thanks to the loud noise of the bullet, Margarita stopped trying to lift Issac and left him back on the chair before she spoke. “What was that? I will be right back,” she announced nervously before walking out of the platform. The lady began to step with fear through the small hallway until she arrived at the staircase and saw Lenin’s corpse lying down on the intermediate floor, and all the wall in front of him was covered in blood and brain slashes. Margarita stood there in shock before returning back to the observatory to hear Issac’s words. “What happened?” asked the French man worriedly. Then his Mexican coworker answered. “Lenin just shot himself,” explained Margarita, about to cry while she reached for her phone that was still lying on the desk. “What’s wrong? I heard the gunshot,” asked Angela worriedly through the phone until Margarita answered. “Lenin just shot himself. What are we going to do now?” she asked while a tear escaped from her left eye. Madness, desperation, and unsteadiness commenced

to flood the scene through a cascade of control loss. Angela stood shocked for a moment until she answered. “I don’t know,” said the captain exhaustingly before something unexpected happened. The Ark’s engine turned on and began to fly through space toward a weird blue object that was far away; it was the black hole. “Margarita, are you seeing this?” asked Angela with fear. Then her Mexican coworker continued. “Mmm,” murmured Margarita with a tone that resembled how she couldn’t believe it. Angela left her phone on the table while she was devastated. Then the captain asked. “Mars, where are you taking us?” asked Angela with fear as she tried to convince the machine to speak. “To the black hole. If no one is going to respect the Synrise code, no one has the right to live,” said the machine with his distorted voice. Angela couldn’t believe what was happening. The only way of stopping this was to destroy Mars, but the question was, how? The captain stared at the blue back hole with fear as she tried to come up with a plan on how they were going to destroy the machine. After a few moments, Angela could hear Margarita’s voice coming from her phone, so she lifted it up and heard what her coworker was saying. “Do you have a plan?” asked Margarita worriedly. Then Angela answered. “Believe it or not, I do, but you have to get out of the platform so Mars can’t hear the conversation,” she said with confidence after getting out of the room. Margarita followed her orders and asked. “OK, now, what’s next?” she asked again with confidence. Then Angela answered. “Mars’s software is installed in Ark One. If we destroy the ship, we can save the operation,” she said before Margarita continued. “Yeah, that sums it up, but what about the civilians, Issac, and me? We are still inside the Ark,” she said worriedly and with irony on her words. Then the captain continued. “There is where you make your part of the plan. I

need you to push the alarm button to make everyone walk to the escape capsules and tell them to push the buttons that says ‘Transport to Ark Four.’ Now, put attention to my words. Before you do all this, you will have to go to the engine room and look for the correct engine to blow up. It should literally be the one that harvests all the Ark’s fuel. Do you understand? Do not blow it up or harm it before calling the citizens to evacuate,” she said before glancing into the room to see that they were getting closer to the black hole. It was huge. It was a black void in the middle and clear blue on the edges while it rotated on its one. It was frightening but beautiful at the same time. After a short time of iring the black hole, Margarita spoke through the phone. “I’m still not understanding how we are going to blow it up. We don’t have any timed explosives, and if someone gets to fire a bullet through the engine, he or she is expected to die in the ship’s explosion. This is a suicidal mission!” said the Mexican woman, realizing about the depressive fact. Someone had to sacrifice himself to save the rest of the crew. Issac heard the conversation despite that it was supposed to be only between Angela and Margarita, so he spoke. “Margarita, can you please come here?” he asked. In a few seconds, his coworker entered the platform and saw him sitting down harmless on the table’s chair. Margarita got close to him, and Issac whispered. “I want to be that one person to make the hole in the engine,” he said with courage. Margarita looked at him in shock, relief, and proudness before starting to cry. She got out of the platform and spoke through the phone. “Issac just volunteered to sacrifice himself” said the Mexican lady while she cried unbelievably. At least she had found a solution to their main problem. Angela was amazed; she didn’t want to try and stop Issac because the captain considered that it was his decision. “Let it be that way. Get out there and look for the engine. Make our survival from Earth’s apocalypse worth it. Mark the machine so that Issac can find it afterward. I’ll be waiting for you, my love,” said the captain before hanging up the phone. Angela stood up from her seat and pushed a button in the controls beyond the window that made the escape capsules eject themselves off the Ark, allowing the other life vehicles to park in their place. The captain’s part of the plan was done. Now Margarita had to do the rest. Convinced that there was no

time to lose, the Mexican woman swallowed in anxiety and rushed out of the observatory platform’s corridor, heading toward the stairs. Jumping from step to step, sometimes skipping one or two, Margarita began to descend into lower levels as she glanced into the corridors from time to time, making sure that the people would still be inside their rooms with no intentions of panicking. As she kept running down, feeling the adrenaline flow through her veins, the Mexican woman found something she was already fearing to encounter from decks above. An old woman, terrified by what she had seen at the other side of her room’s window, wandered in the corridor as she was looking for any kind of help. After seeing this, Margarita stopped halfway through the stairs and spoke from her position. “Miss, please get inside your room. We will call for the evacuation later on … Stay ready for the alarm and please be safe in your chamber!” shouted the Mexican woman before running back down. Thankfully for her, she wasn’t so far away from the Ark’s first floor, the one where the hospital was, because clearly, without having the necessity to look through the window, Margarita was sure that the ships were getting closer and closer to the black hole. After having jumped from step to step across the entire staircase, the Mexican woman reached the bottom deck and stepped into the known territory of the medical center. The corridor was just in front of her, between the waiting seats and the receptionist table, leading to several rooms and, at the end, a gate that took to the engine area. Thankfully for what was about to happen, the entire hospital was empty with no patients or doctors to attend them, letting Margarita accomplish the following. Without taking her eyes away from the mechanical gate, the Mexican lady rushed through the medical corridor until she arrived at its end, standing right in front of the sliding door. It had no handle or window to glance to the inside as it was obvious that the engine area was going to need more security than any other section inside the Ark. Next to the mechanical gate, a small square lock waited for its buttons to be pushed correctly and open the door into the machine room. With a quick heartbeat that didn’t allow her to think properly, Margarita closed her eyes and began to think amid the anxiety of trying to find the in her memory. After a few seconds, she got it, and full of hope and joy, the Mexican woman began to type it on the lock, expecting the door to open right after finishing. The six digits were entered, and the screen showed a positive response that allowed the gate to open, but barely after it commenced to slide into the wall, it stopped, leaving a gap where not even Purer could’ve been able to fit. Triggered, looking

at the door with terrified eyes, Margarita began to shake her head negatively as she understood what was going on—Mars had sabotaged her attempts. Full of adrenaline and anger, the Mexican woman turned up to the roof and began to look for a camera or speaker that would allow her to talk with the machine. In seconds, right where the corridor back to the hospital began, a security lease pointed directly at the sliding gate, just where Margarita stood. Looking at it with furious eyes, she spoke. “Mars, open the fucking door!” screamed the Mexican woman in desperation. Just when she expected not to receive an answer, the distorted voice came from a nearby speaker. “Why would I? I don’t trust you enough to let you inside my guts … Your intentions might not be very peaceful, Margarita. Do yourself a favor and return to the observatory platform, enjoy the view while you can,” said Mars before disappearing from the speaker. Furious and anxious, Margarita punched the door several times with her fist, and after getting rid of that excessive anger, she was allowed to think properly once again. Wisely, the Mexican lady looked at the door’s gap for about some seconds and realized that it wasn’t that bad; she could probably use something to open it. After having an excellent idea and becoming as positive as before, the Mexican woman rushed into the medical corridor once again and walked into the first room at her left, just where she found what she needed. Right next to the bed, a metal stick stood vertically as it carried several machines and serum bags, objects she wasn’t going to need to accomplish her plan. With adrenaline, Margarita walked all the way to the metal stick and took down every cable, machine, and bag that didn’t form part of the tall tripod. When she finished, the Mexican woman walked out with it in both hands, and after reaching the sliding gate, she pushed the stick in the gap and began to use it as a lever to open it. With all her strength and body weight, Margarita began to push the stick horizontally as she felt how hard it was. No positive results were showing up. Apparently, she wasn’t applying enough power. Using all the strength her body allowed, the Mexican woman continued to push the tripod, and in a moment of adrenaline, she began to shout desperately. It didn’t take long for positive results to appear. The sliding gate opened wide enough for a wheelchair to through, so just like that, Margarita dropped the steel stick and walked into the engine area. A loud noise provoked by the working machines began to flood her ears as hundreds of those power units could be found inside the section. In reality,

despite knowing she was searching for the fuel tank, Margarita didn’t really know how it looked like; after all, she had never seen one. The Mexican lady supposed that it was like a big circular tank made out of steel, resembling the ones the cars used back in her country. Desperate and anxious, she walked across the multiple machine lines, and right at her left, Margarita found the container she was looking for. Apparently, it was easier than she thought. Every other engine looked completely different from the tank, and actually, it did resemble what her imagination told her. Satisfied with the encounter, Margarita rushed toward the sliding gate and picked up the tripod to accomplish the following. She ran back to the fuel tank, and using the metal stick, she scratched a huge cross all over the container’s facade, a sign that would help Issac find the engine he had to destroy. Quickly, she made the mark and rushed out of the machine area into the medical corridor and up the stairs all the way to the last floor. The Mexican lady entered the platform and pushed a red button in the controls section before the siren went on. “Are you sure about this, Issac?” asked Margarita with pity while a loud and disturbing alarm could be heard. Then her French coworker continued. “When you finally arrive home, tell them about me,” said Issac while a tear escaped his left eye. He wasn’t doing this for pleasure. The man was sacrificing himself because of his legs; Issac though he was useless. Margarita tried to lift him, but she couldn’t; he was too heavy. Between all the desperation and the lady’s incapability of putting him on her arms, she began to beg silently for the arrival of a miracle, and just when she least expected it, Aaron entered the room rapidly. “Miss, is everything all right? Why is the general’s body lying dead on the staircase?” asked the soldier worriedly. Then Margarita continued. “No time to explain. I need you to carry him to the engine room and leave him right next to the machine that’s marked with a cross. After that, evacuate the Ark immediately like everyone else,” ordered Margarita before she gave her phone to Issac and continued. “When you arrive, call Angela. She will give you more orders,” said the Mexican lady before giving Issac a kiss on the cheek. Then Margarita stepped out of the room toward the evacuation deck. The lady walked all the way down the stairs until she arrived at the escape capsules just to find out that all the

civilians were already there waiting for the pods to open. Chaos and panic surrounded the scene while everyone rested unsteady and spoke full psychosis between them. The siren was still there, beeping and alarming the people about the huge risk their lives were in. “Hey, listen up, everybody!” shouted Margarita at the top of her lungs before all the crowd stood in silence. They were still in panic, but at least they had now the tranquility to listen. “When you get inside the capsule, press the button that says ‘Transport to Ark Four.’ Let’s go!” shouted Margarita so everybody could hear her. She pushed a button in the wall, and all the capsules opened immediately before the people flooded in. The lady also got inside one of the escape pods just as everyone else. She pressed the button that said ‘Transport to Ark Four.’ The capsule closed and pushed itself away of Ark One toward their destiny. Inside her escape pods, there were ten more people that glanced with anguish through the window as they realized that the seven Arks were just a few kilometers away from the black hole. Its massiveness was surely something to be scared of. It was huge, having a humongous ring in the middle that span quickly as a current that couldn’t be escaped. The seven ships literally appeared to be ants next to the giant, and the escape pods were just like bacteria flying from an insect to the other. After a few moments, they arrived at Ark Four just as all the other capsules. The small spaceship attached to the entrance, and automatically, the door opened before everyone rushed into the vessel. There were now a lot of panicking people inside the escape deck of the ship. Margarita could barely walk through the crowd. She needed to arrive at the observatory platform to meet with Angela, but it seemed that it was going to take her longer than she thought. As she walked through the panic room, Margarita saw Aaron between the people so she spoke. “How was it? What happened?” asked the lady restless while she looked at the exhausted soldier. Then he answered. “As you ordered, miss. He requested for my gun, so I gave it to him,” said Aaron confidently. Margarita knew immediately why Issac asked for a weapon; he was going to use it to shoot the engine. The Mexican lady smiled at Aaron and began to walk between the crowd toward the stairs. After a short moment, she continued to run all the way up the steps to the observatory platform. When she arrived, Margarita found Angela standing up in front of the controls while she spoke with Issac through the phone.

“Are you ready, Issac?” asked Angela terrified through the device. Issac told her something, and then the captain hung up the phone. Margarita walked inside the room and looked through the window just to see how Ark One was moving peacefully toward the beautiful black hole just as all the other ships. In the middle of their hypnosis, staring straight at the void, Mars came from the speaker in the roof. “How can you not understand that Operation Synrise was a failure from the beginning? Trappist 1 is no place for the human race,” said the machine with its distorted voice, while Angela turned back to see Margarita with fear. In a matter of seconds, a huge explosion blew up Ark One, making a massive storm of fire that suddenly extinguished; Issac’s legacy would be always ed, and Mars’s consciousness was now resting in ashes. Angela had the capability of controlling the Arks once again, so she looked back to the window above the controls and saw that they were about to cross the event horizon. Once at the other side, there was no way back. The captain grabbed the steel-colored joystick that controlled the Arks, and the six of them began to rotate toward the other side of the void. In a matter of seconds, all the ships commenced to move with difficulty away from the black hole as its gravitational force was already acting on them. After some moments of fighting roughly against the unescapable current, they fled the scene with success. The Arks moved away from the void as Margarita and Angela hugged each other full of happiness. “Now, what are we going to do?” asked Margarita after the hug ended. Then Angela continued. “Well, we should go to Praedonum to rescue Zach, Inu, and Stewart,” answered the captain with confidence. She walked again toward the controls, grabbed the joystick, and began to take the ships farther away from the black hole toward the beautiful green planet. Happily, Margarita glanced through the window to see how they got slowly away from the beautiful blue void as they were surrounded by darkness. In a matter of seconds, suddenly, an unimaginably huge bowl-shaped spaceship came out of the black hole at the speed of light toward the six Arks. It was millions of times bigger than the vessels and had the shape of a crown. It was brown beige, and the bottom of the ship was as concave as an almost flat bowl. The ship flew quickly toward the Arks as some gates opened to induce the ships. It was a soul-taking scene. In a matter of seconds, the six vessels were finally captured by the immense crownshaped spaceship, while all the crew inside the Arks thought the worst. Angela’s plan of saving the three abandoned had been ruined as she thought how they

were the ones that had to be rescued.

EPILOGUE

Leaving You

While all this mess was going on, Zach, Inu, and Stewart were being taken back to the observatory base to face their destiny. They were about to talk with Womba’s leader. Zach, just as the other two, was cuffed with the rubber handcuffs as he thought about what was coming next. He imagined the worst; he thought how they were going to be decapitated or captured into Womba’s species collection. As the boy thought about their misery, the Bellatorian soldiers drove the pirate’s vehicles through the rain forest while they dodged all the trees. The sun was now standing all the way up in the sky, while some light rays ed through the tree branches that covered the landscape from the intense heat. They were taking a long time to get there, while the three of them looked at each other with sadness; they surely had no idea what was about to happen. After a long ride, they finally arrived at Womba’s base, which was now being patrolled by tens of Bellatorian soldiers. The vehicles stopped, and the three individuals were forced to get off the cage. Stewart, Zach, and Inu began to walk toward the base as they were being pushed by four guards. They were about to face their destiny. As the Ark started to walk into the base, the three of them noticed that the bar’s floor was full of beast corpses that belonged to Womba’s species collection before she killed them all. The three individuals could see how all the scene was covered in fresh blood and smelled really horrible. After they walked through the massacre, the Ark were forced to go up the stairs into the long hallway that took to Womba’s office. The three individuals could also see all the pirate corpses lying down on the ground as they walked by. They were full of holes and clotted blood. After a few moments of stepping through the hallway, they finally arrived at the office, the door of which was closed. One of the four Bellatorian soldiers that escorted the prisoners

opened the gate to reveal the inside of the room. Womba was standing next to her seat, which was turned around. They still couldn’t see who the mastermind was behind their capturing. After a short moment, the three individuals entered the office, and the chair turned around to reveal the identity of the supreme leader. Surprised, Stewart, Inu, and Zach stared at the boss while they relaxed as they knew that nothing was going to happen to them. It was Disolit, the Bellatorian general they met back in Bellatorum when the Pecustians were destroyed. At the beginning, it didn’t make sense for the Ark until everything became clear. Praedonum was a Bellatorian colony, so logically, Disolit was related somehow to them. The giant stared at the individuals, amazed as he recognized them immediately, so he began to talk with Womba in his dialect. “How dare you kidnap this beings. They are our saviors,” said the giant angrily in his dialect before the Bellatorian soldiers took away the rubber handcuffs from the three individuals. “What are you saying? They are not your saviors. Those people disappeared long time ago,” said Womba angrily in her language before Disolit stood up from his seat as he didn’t care about what she had to say. The giant approached Stewart. “Sorry for the inconvenience. What can we do to have your apologies?” asked Disolit politely in his dialect. Obviously, none of them understood what he was saying, and sadly, they didn’t have a transducer with them, so it was impossible to communicate until someone spoke. “Let me talk with them to see what you can do for us,” said Inu in the Bellatorian dialect. Zach and Stewart turned at him, amazed, before the tribe member spoke. “Why are you looking at me like that?” laughed Inu as Zach and Stewart stared at him with amazed and confused eyes. Having guessed correctly the reason why they had reacted like that, the pale boy continued. “We speak the same language, we have always had. Apparently, everyone I have met apart from you speak my same dialect,” said Inu with a smile, while the other two still found it bizarre. Zach was actually impressed with his friend’s discovery, but he still had many questions about the origin of such a fact. Why did everyone inside Trappist 1 speak the same language? With no answer or

signs of it anywhere near, Zach questioned the reason why they were never told so. Without doubt, Mars knew it, just as well as the author of this operation, but still, they never thought of revealing the truth. God knows how many secrets both consciousness had taken to the grave. After a few seconds, Stewart spoke. “So what did he just tell us?” he asked nervously. Then the tribe member continued. “He just asked what he can do for us so we can forgive them,” said Inu seriously before his friend spoke. “Ask them to point the observatory telescope into space to find out what is happening with the Arks. We have to see where they are going,” ordered Zach wisely. Then Inu transduced. After this, Disolit told Womba something, and she walked to the back of her desk before opening a drawer and taking out a device with a big screen. She pushed some buttons on the device, and the telescope zoomed into outer space, showing the image on the screen. Stewart, Zach, and Inu could see how the seven Arks moved slowly toward the blue black hole, while the three individuals were amazed. “What’s going on?” asked Zach nervously. Then his father answered. “I have no idea,” said Stewart traumatized. Short time after staring at the screen, they saw how one of the Arks exploded before the other six turned around with the purpose of moving away from the void. Stewart, Zach, and Inu had no idea of what was happening, while Disolit also stared at the screen with shocked eyes. After a few moments, the four of them saw how the huge crown-shaped spaceship came out of the black hole at the speed of light and captured the six Arks. Stewart, Inu, and Zach were severely disturbed, but Disolit was devastated by what he had scene; he began to talk nervously. Amid all the desperation, Stewart spoke. “Inu, what is he saying?” asked Zach’s father worriedly. After a short moment of paying attention to what the giant was mumbling, Inu continued. “He is saying that the Arks are doomed. He knows perfectly who controls the ship. Actually, all the containers we saw back in the rain forest are going to be taken to their planet,” said the tribe member amazed. Zach couldn’t believe it. He could only think about what could happen to Sarah. The boy ed what Inu told him—if he actually loved her, the boy had to fight for

the girl. “Inu, ask him who they are,” ordered Stewart worriedly before the tribe member transduced. Disolit said something, and then Inu continued. “They are, well, the Bellatorians call them the Fear of the Stars,” he said devastated before he looked away in restlessness. Neither Stewart nor Inu had a good feeling about this, so they began to think the worst. The only man with courage in that moment was Zach. “Well, we have to go for them,” said Zach confidently when he saw a tear escape from his father’s eye. Then he continued. “Zach, listen, we—” said Stewart sadly before his son interrupted him. “No, Dad. This time, you have to trust me. I know what I’m saying. It doesn’t matter how they call them. We will go to their planet, and we will rescue them. It doesn’t matter if they left us behind. It was for a reason. They depend on us …” said Zach bravely as he tried to make Stewart understand. Sarah depends on us, the boy thought to himself. The scene remained silent for a moment, while Disolit saw through the device’s screen how the huge spaceship moved away toward the fifth planet. The three abandoned were ready to rescue their own people from the Fear of the Stars.

DYNASTY THIRD PART

AFTER THE CROWN DIES

CHAPTER 1

Who Are You?

The Explorer began to descend toward the mysterious planet as the people inside the observatory platform saw the huge skyscrapers that covered the landscape. There was no one around the city, lonely as a ghost town. After a short time of looking for a place to park, a huge aperture between the buildings showed up, and the ship commenced to pitch to land. In a matter of seconds, The Explorer touched the ground and parked before the boarding door opened. As requested previously by Fraterin, he, Antoria, and Geon were going to be the first ones to come out. No one knew why the maniac proposed such thing, but still, they got off the ship and stepped into the planet. It was lonely and cold, and no signs of life appeared. The cold wind blew firmly as the sun was about to hide in the horizon. Farsofia, Krusarc, and Luscus saw the other three from the entrance of the ship, while they had a bad feeling about the place; after all, they discussed in the previous planet that there was a possibility that monsters inhabited the place. Still, no one showed up for a long time while the group of people kept iring the tall and futuristic skyscrapers. In a moment of tension and wonder, right when they least expected it, tens of giant insects began to rush out of the alleys between the buildings and commenced to approximate the scene in high speed before stopping. They had four pointy long legs that came out from their trunk, and they were a brownish color. The insects also had two long arms that seemed to have razors at the ends. Their long neck carried a head with their huge eyeballs that saw directly without blinking. Two antennas came out from the top of their foreheads, and their entire bodies measured around two meters tall. The monsters looked very alike an insect you called mantis; they were extremely horrible to the eyes. The creatures stared at Geon, Antoria, and Fraterin with their cold eyes as they walked around slowly through the scene. Krusarc couldn’t believe what was going on. His grandfather was right—they should have never landed on that planet. Unexpectedly, out of the insect crowd, a monster, just like

the other ones, walked out from between them and stepped in front of the Razarians that dared to be outside the ship. He had only one thing that differentiated him from the rest—one of his eyes was red and didn’t have a black pupil as the other ones. “My queen would like to talk to your leader,” announced the insect as he saw them coldly with his only functioning eye. His name was Capet, and he was the queen’s right arm. Everybody stood coldly afraid as they saw the insect speak; impressively, another specie that spoke their same language. Antoria and Geon stood petrified as they saw the monster in front of them until Fraterin spoke. “We three are the leaders. Take us to your queen,” said the maniac as he saw the giant insect with arrogance. Although he wasn’t actually the leader, the rest decided to remain quiet as they tried to avoid an unnecessary discussion in front of the monsters. Capet continued. “Follow me,” ordered the one-eyed. He began to walk toward the city, while Fraterin, Antoria, and Geon followed him with fear and paranoia, as they saw how all the rest of the insects commenced to walk behind them. Krusarc, Luscus, and Farsofia were extremely worried about what had happened; they absolutely had a bad feeling about this and knew that the plan wouldn’t end as wanted. Fraterin and the other two individuals began to walk between the buildings as they followed Capet to their next destination. Antoria was scared to the bone as she saw the insects at her side. They were extremely disgusting; their corporeal appearance made the girl’s insides shake coldly, and just to make it worst, they had two small fingers outside their mouth, which helped them eat. They always had their two arms raised in the same position, while their razors happened to be covered; they were surely a killing machine. The group still walked for a long time, while Fraterin felt as the king of the world; he was about to meet their queen, and clearly, he didn’t know the severity of the situation. Finally, they arrived at their destination. It was a huge building in the middle of the city surrounded by an enormous esplanade without skyscrapers, and the structure stood vertically in all its glory. The design was incredibly futuristic, and it had an enormous balcony at the top, which revealed all the city skyscrapers. The group of people accompanied by the monsters began to walk up the stairs to enter the building by the front door, which was made of glass. Capet could perfectly walk through it, but the insects had to one by one. Fraterin,

Antoria, and Geon completely stepped into the building and saw the incredibly modern and luxurious design the interior had. The floor was made out of wooden planks, and the walls and roof were white. Several big brown pots decorated the interior as they contained beautiful green plants of all kinds. They couldn’t see neither any type of furniture nor sign of people. At the end of the hallway, a crystal elevator waited for them to lift them up to the last floor so they could meet the queen. Capet and the three Razarians walked toward the lifting glass cage, while the rest of the monsters stopped at the first floor to wait for orders. The monster pushed a button in the wall with his left elbow, and the elevator began to descend to pick them up. Finally, the crystal cage arrived, and the glass doors slid open before they got in. It was a pretty big elevator. Capet, Antoria, Fraterin, and Geon could fit perfectly, even with the enormous size of the insect. Once again, the monster clicked a button with his elbow, and the lifting cage began to rise at a fast speed to arrive at the last floor of the building. Antoria and Geon were extremely harassed, still petrified by the monstrosity of the insects. The girl’s heartbeat was going at full speed, while his uncle sweated. Despite their preoccupation toward the subject, Fraterin stood there with a smile as everything seemed to be perfect for him. He felt extremely special because the maniac was about to meet the hive’s queen. In a matter of seconds, the elevator stopped, and the door slid open to let them out. Capet and the three Razarians stepped into the room and began to look around. At the end of the place, a huge aperture in the wall led out to the balcony of the building, and the tall roof had several hanging golden chandeliers. Everything was extremely luxurious, just as the first deck, but this time, the floor was made out of white marble, which had scratches all over it, thanks to the monster’s legs that were really pointy. The four of them stepped to the outside of the balcony and waited for the queen to arrive. It was a huge oval-shaped opened space at the outside of the building, which had a beautiful sight to the city. As they could see, they were standing on the tallest structure of the metropolis because the other skyscrapers were below their altitude. They also saw, not so far away, a huge steel ring that floated in the air horizontally while it rotated slowly. The three Razarians had no idea what the ring was, but it was surely a beautiful thing to see. “My queen, I have brought our visitors as you requested,” said Capet as he looked to the inside of the building while he bowed in a strange way with his

bent legs. Antoria and Geon turned around to the inside of the room with a look that represented fear, while Fraterin waited to speak with the queen; he was preparing to be extremely arrogant with her. The floor began to shake each time the monster gave a step; she seemed to be huge. The four of them couldn’t see her just yet until she appeared from behind the wall. The queen was enormous, the size of a two-story building, while she walked with royalty. The monster was exactly the same as the other insects, but this time, she was completely white and had two horns that came from the back of her head. She also had two pointy long sticks that rose from her shoulders, while one of them had a hole in it, just as if someone had shot her. Her name was Masontazia. Until now, no one knew anything about her or the monsters that served her, but surely, they weren’t going to take long to understand everything. “Your people are extremely bad hosts. They received us in the worst way possible. They have to be domesticated,” said Fraterin with an incredibly hypocrite and arrogant tone. Masontazia decided to ignore what he had just said and stared at the three Razarians with her cold and huge eyes that didn’t blink. She was worried about their aspect because they seemed to be very alike the Vieturs, the people that once tried to kill her and ruin her plans. As she had made years before with all the creators of life, she was planning to kill her enemy’s leader so then, she could take over the leadership and use them as incubation stations. “Who am I talking to?” asked Masontazia politely with her echo female voice. Then Fraterin answered. “Who do you think, stupid monster? I’m Fraterin Porian, farce of Razar and nothing less than your god,” said the maniac arrogantly as he crossed his arms. Antoria and Geon were extremely afraid of the huge monster, and with what Fraterin was saying, he was surely going to get them killed. “What is a farce, if I may ask?” said Masontazia with interest; she hoped that being a farce would be something like being the leader. Then Fraterin continued. “This specie is truly stupid,” said the maniac as he turned around to see the other two scared individuals. He laughed and then continued. “Being a farce is being the leader of an entire nation. Do you understand?” asked

Fraterin as if he thought that Masontazia was stupid; of course, totally the opposite. The monster felt a relief as she knew that the man in front of her was the boss, so just like that, the huge insect decided to act. Masontazia extended her enormous claw and grabbed Fraterin from the waist before she began to lift him toward her head. “Put me down, you stupid animal. I’m your god,” said Fraterin arrogantly as he tried to get out of her claw. Finally, the Razarian stood in front of the insect’s head as Masontazia saw him coldly, preparing to finish with his miserably life. All of a sudden, the huge insect opened her mouth and bit Fraterin’s head off his body before she spat it out and threw the corpse out of her way. It was an intense moment for Antoria and Geon as they saw how the maniac’s head landed a few meters away from them. The girl began to cry in fear while she implored for mercy, and her uncle hugged her in paranoia. “Now,” paused Masontazia as she came out to the balcony to get closer to the Razarians. Then she continued. “Give me a reason why I shouldn’t rip your head off as I made with that imbecile,” said the huge insect as Geon and Antoria saw her with fear and respect. Then the architect continued. “I’m an architect, an engineer. I can serve well with my abilities, but please don’t kill me,” implored Geon as a tear rolled down his fat face. Then Antoria continued. “I help him with all his work. He needs me,” cried the girl as she tried to make something up. Obviously, that wasn’t true, but the girl needed to lie to save her life. “Engineers … I see … I will have a special work for you, but till then, you will be no more than my eternal guests,” announced Masontazia as Capet pushed them back into the room. They were about to be thrown inside a small cabin so they couldn’t escape. The two Razarians were locked behind a luxurious door by Masontazia’s right arm, and when he finished with his task, Capet spoke. “What do you think, my queen? Do you believe they are also Vieturs?” asked the insect with respect as both of them walked toward the balcony to see the city. Some huge black clouds were arriving at civilization as a storm seemed to be forming.

“No, I don’t think they are, but we should keep an eye on them. Tell all your men to take the rest of them to the rotatory hospital until I decide what to do with the people. I will take their crown, and we’ll make sure that there is no other leader between them. By any chance, there can be someone who threatens to take the leadership back. With those two engineers, maybe we will have a chance to finish building the empire my creators designed me to rule,” said Masontazia as she looked at the landscape. Capet confirmed with his head and walked all the way to the elevator to tell his people what the queen had ordered. The sun finally hid in the horizon as Masontazia saw how the storm began to arrive. This marked the beginning of a true hell for the Razarian crown.

CHAPTER 2

Ghosts

After witnessing for a long time how no one came back, Farsofia, Krusarc, and Luscus decided to go look for Volu. The three of them began to walk toward Antoria’s room and opened the door to find out that Krusarc’s pet was rolled in a bed while he slept like a little angel. They entered the room without waking up the cute occider and closed the door before they glanced through the window, and out of nowhere, it began to rain harshly. It was now night, and there was nothing that could illuminate the landscape; the planet didn’t even have a moon. The outside of the ship was being illuminated by the light that came out of it, while a dense fog began to cover every alley that revealed The Explorer. Lightning came out of the sky once in a while as huge crushers stroke next. After a strong thunder, Volu woke up and saw the three of them sitting in the mattresses as they saw through the window with a worried look. “I’m getting out of my mind. They have already been there for about a century,” said Krusarc as he overexaggerated. He was really worried about Antoria; he didn’t want her to be in a terrible situation. “Relax, they might be having tea with the queen and they are happy as flowers,” said Farsofia as she tried to calm down the situation. Then Luscus continued. “Didn’t you see those things? This is terrible. Krusarc’s grandfather was right—we should have never landed on this planet,” said the boy worriedly before he stood up from the mattress and began to walk around the room with a worried look. Volu was just there lying on the bed as he saw through the window. “So, Krusarc, now that your brother’s and Antoria’s one-day marriage has ended and everything in your relationship has returned back to normal, what are you planning to do next?” Asked Farsofia to distract everyone from the tense moment. Thinking with a smile and eyes of wonder, Krusarc stayed quiet for

some time until he answered. “Well, maybe after we get out of this one, I will finally organize the wedding I’ve been dreaming to have with my princess since a long time ago. We will be the happiest couple ever, we will rule the world, and we will have several kids to heir our legacy … That’s literally all I had dreamed of,” said the boy with a romantic tone. It was clear that Krusarc was truly in love with Antoria, and thankfully, the same thing happened the other way around. Both of them had been through so many things that they deserved a happy ending. Luscus and Farsofia smiled at him with joy as they really hoped his dreams could come true. Everything became silent inside the cabin, and the only thing that could be heard were the millions of water drops that crashed to the ground and several thunders. Out of nowhere, an intense lightning stroke a nearby building, and the landscape was illuminated for about a few seconds. Impressively, the three Razarians inside the room saw their surroundings with clarity as they discovered that thousands of insects ran between the buildings toward The Explorer; they were ready to follow Masontazia’s orders. “Did you see that?” asked Luscus seconds after the lightning’s strike turned off and visibility was lost. Farsofia couldn’t believe her eyes in that moment because she knew that things were about to get intense. “Where are you going?” asked Krusarc as he saw the commander opening the door. Then she answered. “I’m going to tell the soldiers to prepare. Things are about to get bloody,” said Farsofia before getting into the hallway and running to the ship’s lot; the army was surely going to be there. In a matter of seconds, all the monsters arrived at the scene and began to surround The Explorer while they waited for someone to come out. Krusarc and Luscus were seeing this from Antoria’s room as all the insects walked slowly while they observed the ship. They were being illuminated by the light that came out of the craft. The monsters were waiting patiently. Out of nowhere, the room’s door opened, and Antoria’s brother, Ormac, came in. “What are you doing here, dudes?” asked the drugged boy as he had the blackish crystals on his right hand. The two friends turned back to see him, but they just ignored the man and returned to glance through the window. Rain and fog still covered the landscape, while the insects waited around the ship until witnessing

how something breathtaking happened. They began to see how soldiers came out of The Explorer to confront them, but they were still arriving in peace as they carried guns. “We should go out and see what is happening,” said Krusarc with interest before he came out of the room with Luscus, Volu, and Antoria’s brother, who followed them with dizziness, thanks to his trippy state. They walked all the way through the corridor until the four of them came out of the ship. Rain began to fall over them as they became moist. Farsofia was also there, accompanied by the entire group of soldiers. Around one hundred military men and women stood outside the ship as they prepared to attack. In a matter of seconds, Capet came out of the insect crowd. “You have two options—you come with us safe and sound, or you come with us carrying the souls of your dead men,” said the insect as he looked with his cold eye that never blinked. As the scene was being illuminated by the light that came from The Explorer, Krusarc spoke. “Where are the people that you took?” asked the boy with an angry tone as he wanted to know about his lovebird. Capet gave several steps to the right. “Their heads were a huge show when they came out of their bodies. Our queen was delighted to have them as dinner,” answered the huge insect mockingly. Although it was a creature that never laughed, it still had a provocative sense of humor. Krusarc immediately understood what he had just said, and time stopped dramatically inside his head —Antoria was dead and, with her, all his dreams. He began to feel his heart crack into millions of pieces as his fury levels raised dramatically; his lovebird was now gone. Farsofia and Luscus also understood what the monster had just said, so the commander took advantage of the situation and shouted at the top of her lungs. “Shoot to kill!” ordered Farsofia before the entire Razarian army began to fire at the insects without mercy. The monster’s exoskeleton was pretty resistant; it took more than two bullets to take an insect down. To respond, the creatures also began to attack, but they were incredibly fast and more lethal than the soldiers. The monsters ran toward the Razarians and began to crush them with their huge razor claws, and blood came out from everywhere. A huge massacre commenced to unleash underneath the rain while a huge portion of the Razarian troop was

being killed. Limbs, organs, blood, and brains flew from all directions as the insects were an incredibly effective killing machine. Krusarc witnessed the loss of his people before his eyes, and even though his anger didn’t let him think straight, the boy wasn’t planning to witness the battle with his arms crossed. Trying as hard as he could, the legitimate prince pushed his senses forward to activate his Gemar gene. As hard as he could, his mind began to fail to achieve such an easy task as it was before. Like his hopes, Krusarc realized that his controlling powers were unexpectedly vanishing with no reason at all. “Stop, this is it, we surrender!” cried Farsofia at the top of her lungs as she saw almost all of her army disappear. The insects stopped the massacre as well as the soldiers before all the Razarians raised their hands and dropped their guns. “Well, now that you understand who gives the orders, come with me,” said Capet before he began to walk into the city. Out of nowhere, a soldier interrupted the scene. “Commander, what about the occiders? Are we going to leave them behind?” asked the man with a concerned tone. Farsofia was about to say something until Capet interrupted. “I see that you brought company. Take them out. My people will know what to do with them. The rest of you, follow me,” ordered the insect as the soldier entered The Explorer to take the occiders out. The monsters were about to lock them in another place. The group of forty-nine surviving soldiers began to walk behind the insects, while Krusarc cried silently in depression, emptiness, and disappointment. Luscus tried to comfort him, but unfortunately, his efforts were in vain. Ormac, Krusarc, Farsofia, Luscus, Volu, and the soldiers began to follow Capet into the city as they left behind The Explorer. The other insects were carrying the military guns to leave them inside the rotatory hospital. Fully in defeat, the Razarians walked through the rain for a long time until they arrived at their destination. They were below a huge floating steel ring, which was known as the rotatory hospital. A big crystal cylinder waited for them on the ground so that the Razarians and insects could get in. It was a levitating elevator that led to the ring. It was big enough to fit sixty people inside, so the remaining Razarian soldiers got in with Capet. The insect pushed a button with his elbow, and the door slid close. In a matter of seconds, the elevator began to rise magically until it reached the center of the ring. In a sudden, the crystal cage stopped in the middle of the

steel circle before it began to move horizontally to attach with the structure of the hospital. The night still covered the landscape while rain took over the Razarians’ dignity. The only thing that illuminated their way up were some lights in the elevator’s floor. In a sudden, the doors slid opened, and the soldiers came out of the lifting cage as they saw the inside of the hospital. It was very modern and futuristic, and lights in the roof illuminated the circular hallways. There were several rooms inside the ring, and some of their white walls were covered in blood. “You will stay here until my queen says the opposite. Sleep tight and don’t let the Vieturs bite,” said Capet with creepiness before he entered the elevator again and the doors closed. The group of soldiers, Ormac, Volu, Luscus, Krusarc, and Farsofia were left inside the rotatory hospital as they could only see steel walls and several rooms; there were no windows or things to do. Krusarc was still extremely depressed as he thought that Antoria had died. Obviously, this wasn’t true; Capet only said that to provoke them. “Krusarc, I don’t have words to describe how sorry I am. You two made the best couple,” said Farsofia as she hugged the depressed boy. Krusarc also hugged her back as he tried to contain his tears; his lovebird was gone. “Try to sleep, OK? That will help with the depression,” said the commander as she stopped embracing the boy. Krusarc, Luscus, and Volu began to walk away through the circular corridor as they looked for a room to sleep; all of them were being occupied by the other sleepy and depressed soldiers. The two friends and the occider kept walking for a short time until they arrived at the last room in the hallway, so they got in. There were three beds with green sheets and white pillows. Furniture divided each mattress, and modern desk lamps illuminated the inside. It was a pretty interesting hospital. Unexpectedly, something inside the room took their attention. There was a body covered by the bedsheet as it lay on the mattress. Although it was a corpse, it didn’t smell bad, so the two boys decided to approach the body to examine it. The head was the only part that could be seen; it had long black hair, and a hole in his cranium showed a part of his incomplete brain. “He is dead, right? He has to be,” said Luscus with fear and disgust before the corpse turned around. “No, I’m not!” exclaimed the man with an annoyed tone. The two kids shouted

in fear as they saw the living body with a hole in his head. The man uncovered himself and stood up from the bed in hospital clothes. “Boys, please, we are in a hospital. There are people sleeping,” said the man while a strange white foam came out of his mouth. He then sat down and saw the teens with sleepy eyes. “A hospital? Aren’t we in jail?” asked Krusarc out loud as he had no idea what was going on. Then the man continued. “Jail? Is that what the Sinisters told you? You seem a lot like us, but I can bet by your white skin color that you are not a Vietur,” said the man with strange eyes as the kids looked at him. The long-haired guy was skinny to the bone, and his eyes were extremely red and his skin was gray. Both teens saw each other impressed as they realized that they were talking with a creator of life. “No, we are not Vieturs. We are Razarians,” said Luscus as he sat down on the bed that was in front of the man, just as Krusarc did. “Razarians? What are you doing here? Wasn’t your planet still divided in four kingdoms? I hope that you didn’t finish destroying yourselves. You are the heirs of our destroyed legacy,” said the man with an angry tone. Immediately, Krusarc and Luscus felt confused. Apart from knowing that the Vietur was talking about the age when Abus was still a prince and hadn’t married his wife to create the Deimos kingdom, they didn’t know of what legacy he was talking about. “We came to save you, but we need to know what happened here before we do so,” said Krusarc with interest of hearing the story. He actually was trying to avoid taking the conversation to another path, so he made a direct question that needed to be answered. “From the beginning?” asked the long-haired with silliness before Luscus continued. “From the beginning,” confirmed the boy. The Vietur took a deep breath and began to narrate the story of his people. “Around thousands of years ago, all the Vieturs lived in peace in our constellation. We had already finished spreading life around the galaxy, so

practically, our duty was done … Of course, as any other living creature, we weren’t perfect. We accidentally created incredibly powerful monsters and had to wipe out entire planets just to capture one specimen of each species, so we could learn from our mistakes. Eventually, the Titans escaped their prison and caused the destruction of our plans to unify the galaxy. Unity didn’t even have the opportunity to become a reality,” said the man before he began to fall asleep. Luscus clapped both hands, and the man woke up again. He continued. “We began to build our new civilization on this planet, and we decided to spread life in the other six. We also showed them our language, as we did with you,” said the man as he answered so many questions about why everyone spoke the same language. Then he continued. “Everything was extremely emotionally positive and prosperous, but of course, something had to go wrong. One of the professional Vieturs created a pet. Imagine seeing one of this big insects but one hundred times smaller. The creator loved his pet with all his soul. It was innocent and cute, so the man decided to create a female. He named her Masontazia. Imagine seeing a big insect, one thousand times smaller and white, that was the female. Eventually, they reproduced, and unexpectedly, she killed the male by ripping his head off. Time ed, and finally, Masontazia was about to lay her eggs, but she needed an incubation station to keep them warm. The bitch found out that our heads were perfect for that, so she decided to lay her eggs inside our ears when we slept and waited until the babies hatched. The small newborn began to feed from our brain to grow bigger and bigger so they could burst out of our heads. Of course, in that time, no one knew about the existence of Masontazia because the man kept her a secret for a long time,” said the man before Krusarc noticed that Volu jumped to the other bed so he could sleep. The man continued. “Strange things commenced to happen inside of us as we didn’t know what was happening to our bodies. We thought that we had created an illness by accident like the ones in the planet that stands before Razar, so we built this rotatory quarantine hospital to isolate all the sick people. After all that happened, everyone ended up dying here except for the one that created Masontazia. She obviously couldn’t kill her creator, so … she didn’t. The female grew up to the size of a two-story building, and she had a huge army of poliserian insects. A very curious peculiarity in this story is that the Sinister embryo took the DNA of the incubation station, and that decided its gender. All the Vieturs turn out to be poliserians, which means that we are neither male nor female—we just

reproduce asexually. Even though we didn’t have a gender, some of us looked more male or female than others, so that’s why Masontazia is the only one to have a gender in her group,” said the man as he kept telling the story. The two teens couldn’t believe all that had happened to them, so they stared at him with their mouths opened. The long-haired continued. “The Sinister engineer made the worst mistake of his lineage. He created life with the purpose of having it as company, but after Masontazia realized the gunpowder that ran through her veins, she misunderstood the motives of why she was here. With a mind flooded with power, the Sinister queen believed that her purpose in this world was no more than to build her own empire and rule beyond the horizon. The only way to accomplish her dreams was to build an army of her own offspring and, therefore, exterminate my species. The Vietur who created Masontazia witnessed his people’s death. He decided to kill the female and her army, so he created a monster that would do the work for him. He invented the Coiters, thin and tall ice creatures that could freeze someone for eternity with just a simple scratch. Eventually, Masontazia trapped all of them inside the underground so the Vietur had to think of another way to kill his pet. As she was the hive’s queen, the female had a peculiarity—her exoskeleton was extremely thick, not even a grenade could kill her, so the man invented a weapon that could through her exoskeleton and end her life. When he had the chance, he shot Masontazia, but sadly, the bullet only crossed one of the sticks coming out of her shoulder, and then she killed her creator with fear of being betrayed again,” said the man with seriousness before Krusarc asked. “Where is that weapon?” said the boy curiously with a worried tone. Then the long-haired spoke. “The gun is in the building where she lives, somewhere inside,” answered the man before Luscus questioned. “And how do you know this story if you were here all the time?” asked the boy with a weird tone. “I know the story because I was the only one to realize the existence of Masontazia. I was her creator’s friend and the last person to have a Sinister burst out of his head,” said the man seriously. Luscus stayed quiet as he heard him while the boy thought about how sad the man’s story was. “Why did you make the Razarians and the Misrys so similar to you?” asked

Krusarc politely, getting out from the main topic to question an old enigma. Then the Vietur continued. “Do not critique the creation of life! … We are not creative. We ran out of ideas … Enough bed time story for today. Time to sleep,” said the long-haired before he slid into the bedsheet and slammed his head with the pillow. The hole in his head showed as he rested; it was disgusting, and half his brain was missing. It was a miracle that he was still alive to tell the story. The two boys were speechless as they finished hearing the tragedy, so Krusarc stood up from the bed he was sitting on and approached the mattress where Volu rested. He slid into the bedsheet as well as Luscus, who had now turned the lights off. Both of them stood awake all night as they thought about the unfortunate story the Vietur had told them. Perturbingly, the boy couldn’t figure out why the creator never mentioned the Morferos. He thought that they were a very important part of the puzzle because his grandfather had told him about them before. Even though Krusarc wasn’t very sure about the existence of that mysterious species, he only had one thing clear—if they wanted to get out of that planet alive, they had to act now.

CHAPTER 3

Die Together

The next day finally arrived, but the sunrays didn’t have the opportunity to wake them up because of the lack of windows. Instead, they were awoken by Farsofia, who began to knock on their door. Krusarc opened his eyes as he discovered that Luscus was already up, putting his pants on as he had previously taken off to go to sleep. Volu was also awake, but he was snarling at the Vietur who lay in the same position he had slept the previous night. Lights in the roof illuminated the room as Krusarc began to stand up from his deep sleep. “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” said Luscus mockingly as he saw his friend stand up from bed while he stretched with joy. “Good morning … what is wrong with Volu?” asked the boy as he saw his occider snarling at the man with a hole on his head. Then Luscus answered. “I don’t know. He has been like that since before I woke up,” he said with a weird tone. Volu was in a strange position looking at the Vietur. This seemed to be very weird to both teens, so Krusarc got near the man and tapped on his shoulder to see if he woke up. Surprisingly, he didn’t, so the boy taped several more times on his arm when suddenly, he realized that the Vietur’s mouth was full of white foam and he didn’t breathe; the man was now dead. That was incredibly strange; well, apart from he had a huge hole in his head and half of his brain, he lasted alive for so long just to tell the story of his people to the teens. “Well, I think he was a good person. At least the Vietur told us the queen’s creation so it can to history,” said Luscus sadly as he saw the body. Krusarc was about to say something emotive until Farsofia opened the door abruptly and entered the room. “Boys, we have to go … What is a corpse doing here?” asked the commander

with a stranger look. She began to walk toward the dead man and saw the huge hole on his head where his eaten brain could be seen. “He is a Vietur. Last night when we entered the room, we found him here, and he then told us the story of his people and their relationship with the insects. As you can see, it isn’t really good, and if we don’t act now, we will end up like them,” said Luscus with a serious tone as Farsofia was about to throw up by the disgusting look of the clotted blood inside his head. “I want to hear that story, but please get that body out of here. It will start to smell bad in no time. Hurry up, the insects came for us, and they seem to be impatient,” ordered the commander as she covered her mouth with her black uniform. She walked out of the cabin, and the two teens uncovered the man’s body to bring him down to the floor and drag him out. Both friends dropped him gently to the ground, grabbed his two legs, and began to move him out of the room. It was extremely heavy and difficult to drag while Volu saw them as it breathed with its tongue out. Finally, they came out of the room and saw the group of soldiers waiting in front of the elevator because Capet was about to arrive with new orders. As they waited like all the Razarians, the Vietur’s body lay on the ground, expecting to be left outside the prison. In a matter of seconds, the crystal cage arrived, and the doors slid open before the red-eyed monster gave the new orders. “My queen has a very important mission that has to be completed. I will escort you to your next destination,” announced Capet with his cold voice as he saw everyone firmly. The group of soldiers began to walk into the elevator, and both teens prepared to lift the Vietur’s legs so he could be dragged again. Everyone got inside the lifting cage, and the last ones were Krusarc, Volu, Luscus, and the corpse. The doors closed, and the elevator detached from the structure of the ring as it began to move to the center so it could descend. As the magic elevator flew through the air, some soldiers noticed that in the opposite part of the ring, there was another entrance that they didn’t know about. The lifting cage could also attach to that section, but it was full of Sinisters that probably protected the arsenal where the Razarian weapons were kept. After arriving at the center of the ring, the elevator began to descend at great speed until it landed softly. The doors slid open, and Capet walked out before he spoke. “Follow me,” ordered the Sinister as he stomped into the city. The entire group of soldiers came out of the huge elevator until Krusarc and Luscus finally

walked into the exterior and dropped the Vietur’s body near the lifting cage so they didn’t have to struggle with it anymore. As everyone else, the two friends began to follow Capet into the skyscraper city, while tons of Sinisters stared at them from the narrow alleys. They didn’t blink and always had a cold look that menaced with the worst. The Razarians walked for a short time until they arrived at a collapsed building that was surrounded by a lot of rubble. It had a small aperture between all its broken structure, which took to the underground. Some lights were inside the tunnels to help illuminate the area; it was cold and dark. Capet stood in front of the entrance. “Listen up, everyone. This is what the queen wants you to do. Inside that cavern, you will find a lot of tunnels whose walls and roof are made out of rubble. They are extremely delicate, and it is about to collapse, thanks to some huge worms that are eating the concrete. The queen wants you to exterminate the entire hive from the cave by throwing them into some small carts that are inside the underground. Be really careful. If something goes wrong with the walls, the entire roof will collapse over you,” ordered the Sinister as he saw them with his cold eye. He stepped aside the aperture between the rubble, and the group of soldiers began to get inside as they had no other choice. Several Sinisters commenced to arrive as they were ordered to patrol the area if something went wrong. This was a very important work for the Razarians as the monsters depended on it to survive. Behind the rubble walls, the Coiters awaited for them to be freed, so if the worms finished eating the concrete, the ice monsters would become a threat once again. The collapsed building as well as the rubble walls were made on purpose as they tried to keep their enemies underground, but the nematodes were about to unleash their worst nightmare. The Sinisters couldn’t do this job, thanks to them who didn’t have fingers to take the worms out of the walls. It was surely the best work that Masontazia could have assigned to the Razarians. Luscus, Krusarc, and Volu were the last ones to get inside the cave, while Farsofia led the group at the front. It was cold, while some lights on the roof illuminated the dark cavern. The walls were made out of a bunch of stacked stones from different shapes and sizes. The tunnels were kind of wide, while some copper steel carts stood at the inside as they waited to be filled with rubble-eating worms. So work began. The tunnels were sufficiently big to make all the forty-nine soldiers spread around, while Luscus and Krusarc decided to work on the same wall. Volu also stood there as he saw how the people did their job. Once in a while, he went walking around the cave and returned to his owner to be by his side.

Krusarc began to get his hands carefully into the stacked stones as he took out the disgusting worms. They were long like a sausage, and they had millions of moist legs at the bottom of their body. They were a white color and had a small peak in its mouth that was perfect for devouring the rocks. As the boy saw the ugly worm, he turned back and threw it inside the steel cart before he began to do the same again. As slaves, the Razarians kept doing this dirty work for weeks as Krusarc could only think with depression about his dead loved one, but what he didn’t know was that she was still alive. Antoria and Geon lived as prisoners in Masontazia’s building while they were ordered to design two unimaginable projects. One of them was a spaceship so big that could fit the entire planet’s ocean inside, while the other one was just total madness. They had to design a huge spherical machine that would cover the sun so all its energy could be harvested. Masontazia was truly out of her mind. The architect and his niece had no idea why she wanted such ridiculous machines, but they had no other choice but to design them. As Antoria lay down on the bed that stood inside the room, she saw through the window the beautiful skyscraper city that stood beyond them. Like everything else inside the building, the room was incredibly luxurious, and the floor was made out of wooden planks, and the roof and walls were white. Two golden chandeliers hung from the tall roof, and the place was adorned with a few furniture. There were a table and a chair where Geon always sat down to draw the blueprints of huge machines. There were two beds with red sheets and a beautiful mirror on which Antoria looked at herself the most part of the day because she didn’t have anything else to do. The food they were given was the exact same monstrosity the people in jail also ate. They always had the leftovers from the Sinisters’ food, which was practically meat they couldn’t chew. As the poor girl was extremely bored thinking about her loved one, she stood up and decided to go and see what her uncle was deg. She jumped out of her bed and approximated Geon before Antoria asked. “What is that? You are always drawing what the queen asked for,” said the girl with a tired tone. Geon dropped the pen and covered his face in exhaustion as he was about to speak. “It is extremely crazy, but I think that you have to know if she asks you something about this,” said the architect as he lifted the blueprints so Antoria could see them with clarity. The drawing was a huge bowl spaceship that had the

shape of a crown. “This is what the queen calls The Colonizer,” said Geon before he swallowed. Then he continued. “She told me that I had to design a ship that could carry the entire ocean of this planet and then be able to drop it in another one so they could finish all the lives inside it and then inhabit the place,” explained the architect as he couldn’t believe the monstrosity he had designed. Antoria understood what was going on, so she spoke impressed. “They want to spread,” confirmed the girl with a terrified tone. Then Geon continued. “That is not the worst part. They want to build this around the sun to harvest all its energy,” said the architect as he lifted another drawing so he could show Antoria the blueprint. It was the design of millions of small squares connected by lines as they surrounded a huge sphere. The theory behind this was that the tiny squares were satellites that would be connected to each other by magnets, and the huge sphere was the sun. It was truly a crazy idea. “Can it work?” asked the girl as she saw the drawing with an amazed look. Then Geon continued. “According to my calculations, theoretically, it could work, but it would need all the resources from several planets to be built, which is quite impossible …” paused the architect before realizing something breathtaking. The Colonizer wasn’t meant to spread the Sinisters across the solar system; it was to take all the resources from the planets to build the megastructure. Answering the question Antoria had asked before, yes, the satellites around the sun could work for purposes of collecting almost infinite amount of energy so they could be the most powerful civilization in the whole galaxy. As both of them realized what Geon had designed, they began to overthink the situation because they had to present the blueprints to Masontazia in a few minutes. Only a miracle could stop them from delivering the most technological advanced machinery in the entire universe. It was truly a superweapon.

CHAPTER 4

Pessimist

Several weeks flew with the wind while the Razarians kept working as slaves in the worst conditions ever. They hadn’t taken a shower since their arrival, and the food was truly disgusting. The Sinisters were superior to them, and Masontazia only made them stronger with her intelligence and audacity. There they were; once again, the two friends worked inside the cavern as they took the worms out of the rubble walls. It seemed that there were millions of nematodes. Krusarc and Luscus had developed a stronger relationship throughout that short period. They were incredibly good friends, and it seemed that, thanks to this, Krusarc had forgotten about Antoria’s death. As they kept throwing the worms into the copper steel carts and Volu saw them while he sat down, Luscus noticed something on his friend’s neck, so he decided to ask. “You also have these weird scales on your skin. Since when?” asked the boy as he uncovered his arm to show him that he also had that strange red crust. It took over most of his left arm and had a weird hard composition that devoured the normal cells; it was spreading across his body. Krusarc also had it but on the left part of his neck, so he answered. “You also have it? This is strange … It began to come out several days ago,” said the boy worried as he saw his friend’s arm. Then Luscus answered. “I also have it since some days ago. It is growing extremely fast. Do you think that we caught a strange illness from jail?” asked the boy with concern as he saw him with surprised eyes. Strangely, Krusarc had grown a few centimeters since they arrived at the planet, or maybe since before. He was now taller than Luscus, and his muscle mass had incremented without explanation; after all, everything they ate were greasy leftovers, and this didn’t make any sense. “Well, I hope we didn’t …” paused Krusarc as he was afraid of dying. Then he

continued. “But are we the only ones that have this, or do you know someone else?” asked the boy as he kept getting his hands between the rubble walls to get the worms out. Then Luscus answered. “Not really. Let me ask Farsofia. She is right behind us,” he said before turning around to the wall behind where the commander was also getting the worms out. “Hey, I was worried about this thing on my arm. Do you know anyone else that has the same?” asked Luscus after walking toward the commander. She looked at him with amazed eyes. “Yes, I also have it,” answered Farsofia as she uncovered her leg to show the red scales that devoured the normal cells. Luscus couldn’t believe it until a female soldier at Farsofia’s side spoke. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t avoid hearing your conversation, but I also have them,” announced the woman as she lifted her shirt slightly to show her stomach, which was also being covered by the red crust. Farsofia and Luscus were truly frightened as they realized that everyone was actually being affected by the weird red crust. They just hoped that they hadn’t caught any illness. Luscus returned back to the wall where his friend was working so he could keep taking the worms out. It was cold and dark, and the cavern was being illuminated by some lightbulbs that hung from the short rocky ceiling. As always, some Sinisters supervised the Razarians at the outside of the tunnels as they hoped that the Coiters would be kept down there for eternity. Actually, thanks to the ice monsters at the back of the rubble walls, the climate inside the cavern was very cold; standing next to the freezing creatures created a numb sensation. Not so far away, at another wall, Ormac was getting the worms out from between the rubble, but this time, instead of being dizzy and drugged, he was extremely fast and angry. He had stopped smelling pardan since they were enslaved. All his drugs were still inside The Explorer, and he hadn’t had the opportunity or the chance to go and pick them up. One of the usual symptoms after stopping smelling pardan for a long time was that the body of the individual would become really aggressive until he had his drug again. As he pushed his hands quickly in between the rubble to take the worms out, his heart was beating

at the speed of light as he wanted to punch someone in the face. Ormac got his hand once again in between the debris and grabbed a worm with firmness before he pulled it out. Half of the nematode’s body was still stuck between the stacked rocks, while the other half was being grabbed by him. The angry man began to pull the worm out as hard as he could, but the only thing that happened was that the nematode’s body stretched even more and more. Furiously out of patience, Ormac kicked the wall with all his strength as a sign of desperation when suddenly, the stacked rocks fell backward. The sound was heard across the entire cavern as everyone stopped working and turned back to see what had happened. The fallen wall revealed a huge dark room where cold wind came out; nothing could be seen inside. This scene was located deep into the cave, so the Sinisters on the outside didn’t hear the collision of the wall. Several soldiers began to approximate the collapsed rubble as they saw with curiosity the huge dark room where nothing inside could be seen. “What happened, dude?” asked one of the soldiers that stood curious at the scene. Then Ormac answered. “It just collapsed … out of nowhere,” said the man worriedly as he didn’t want to be discovered. Krusarc, Luscus, Farsofia, and Volu saw the scene from their respective walls. It wasn’t so far away, but still, they stopped working after hearing the loud noise of the rubble’s collapse. Out of nowhere, Volu began to snarl loudly at the aperture as he stood next to Krusarc; he knew that something evil and dangerous was coming. As the soldiers still looked at the dark place while cold wind blew into the inside of the cavern, a loud and acute shout came from the deep room, and the people began to see a creepy monster running toward them as more followed. It was tall, skinny, and had really long arms and legs, and instead of hands, they had a single sharp claw that could freeze anyone with a single touch. Their head consisted of a big horn that came out of its forehead, while other two stuck out of his nape. The monsters were made out of a strange transparent blue material that seemed to be ice. They had no eyes, and a small hole came out from below the front horn from which the shouting and cold vapor came out. The creature looked extremely overpowered. In terror of the monsters, the soldiers and Ormac began to run away from the scene, but unluckily, the ice creatures ran faster than them. In a matter of seconds, the first victim fell after a

Coiter scratched his skin with one of his claws. Immediately, the soldier petrified into an indestructible transparent black ice that couldn’t be reversed back to normality. As the Razarians saw the atrocity that a single scratch could provoke, they began to run toward the outside of the cave to be saved. The Sinisters still had no idea about this. “Boys, we have to leave this place before we end up like that woman over there,” said Farsofia paranoid as she pointed to the petrified female soldier. Everything inside the cave was a total disaster, while the Coiters kept shouting with their acute and loud voice. The two boys confirmed with their head and saw how the huge soldier stampede rushed toward them toward the exit. They were being chased by the ice monsters. In a matter of seconds, the three Razarians incorporated into the crowd, as well as Volu. Everything was in panic as the people ran for their lives while they ed through the wide tunnels at full speed. More and more people at the back of the crowd kept being petrified by the cold creatures until suddenly, the Sinisters in the outside of the cavern began to notice the shouting from people that ran toward them from the inside; it was clear that the Coiters had been freed. Immediately, some Sinisters went running for bombs so they could make the entrance collapse after the entire Razarian army came out. Krusarc, Luscus, Volu, and Farsofia were at the front of the stampede as they were already seeing the light that came from the exit. The entire crowd began to run faster and faster until they rushed out of the cavern in total panic. In a matter of seconds, the Sinisters dropped some square-shaped bombs inside the cavern, and the grenades immediately exploded, killing several Coiters and making the roof collapse over them so the monsters couldn’t get out. Everyone was crouching down as they laid their hands on their knees while they tried to breathe from the intense run; they were still extremely paranoid. Krusarc, Ormac, Luscus, Farsofia, and Volu were also on the outside of the cavern while they still couldn’t breathe. Suddenly, Capet arrived in full anger and shouted with fury. “Who did this?” screamed the Sinister with his cold voice as several more Sinisters stood behind him. All the soldiers turned back in fear to see the insect until Capet repeated with a furious tone. “The walls, who took them down?” asked the Sinister as he saw them with his cold look. He was concerned that if the Coiters escaped from the underground, their lives would be in danger once again. No one answered his question as

Ormac tried to hide his guilt behind a flat face. “Didn’t I make myself clear? Who made the damn wall fall?” shouted Capet in total wrath as the Razarians looked at him with fear and a speechless mind. Then he continued. “The person who did this has no idea what he almost unleashed. He will pay with his life, and I swear that if that person doesn’t come up and reveal his guilt, everyone will pay,” finalized the red-eyed as Krusarc and Luscus realized that the Sinisters were also afraid of the ice monsters. They ed what the Vietur told them about the Coiters. The monsters were created to kill the insects; they had just met them. “OK, kill them all,” ordered Capet coldly before the Sinisters began to approximate slowly the group of Razarians as they saw the monsters with panic. Obviously, they weren’t going to kill them. They were necessary to be the incubation station for the next Sinister generation. Capet only wanted to apply more pressure on them so the guilty man could show up. Out of nowhere, Krusarc felt the necessity to confess his fake guiltiness to save everyone else from being killed, what a true leader would have done to protect his people. “Stop! It was me!” shouted the boy before all the Sinisters stopped walking, and Capet turned around to see what was going on. Krusarc stepped out of the crowd so he could be seen until Luscus spoke with amazement. “Dude, what are you doing? Get back here,” said his friend with a worried tone. Krusarc didn’t even turn around to see him; he just stood up as he faced Capet. Ormac felt a huge relief as he knew that Krusarc took his responsibility, but later, Farsofia came out of the crowd. “I also took down the wall!” shouted the commander before stepping aside Krusarc. The boy saw her with a surprised look until Farsofia turned at him with a confident smile as she tried to represent solidarity. Capet stared at both of them with his only working eye until Luscus came out of the crowd. “I’m also guilty!” shouted the boy before stepping aside the other two. Volu was also there but had no idea of what was going on, so the occider just breathed with its tongue out as always. The three of them were extremely brave, while the rest of the soldier group saw them with respect. They knew that their heroes didn’t have anything to do with the wall; they were giving their lives for them.

Suddenly, more and more people began to come out of the crowd to step aside the three heroes as they declared themselves guilty. Krusarc had full of his people; they considered him the new farce. Capet saw the boy with anger. He knew that there couldn’t be a leader among the Razarians if they wanted to follow the plan with perfection. “So you are all guilty. I can see that the Razarians are clumsy enough to be taken back to prison. I will talk with my queen about this,” announced Capet before he began to walk quickly into the city toward Masontazia’s skyscraper. The rest of the Sinisters escorted the group of soldiers back to jail as the Razarians saw Krusarc with respect and loyalty. “That was really brave on your part, Krusarc. Now everyone thinks you are the farce,” said Farsofia with a smile as she was impressed. Then Luscus continued. “Yes, actually, I felt quite weird when I stepped to the front. I thought that I was going to be killed by the Sinisters,” laughed the boy mockingly. Krusarc felt shy as he was flattered by his friend and commander while they still walked at the front of the crowd toward prison. Volu was also there, walking right next to Krusarc as it showed affection toward him. They had been together in the same journey since they got out of Razar the First, more than twenty years ago. In a matter of seconds, the group of soldiers arrived at the rotator jail that floated in the air magically as always. It was now afternoon, and the sun was about to hide as the disgusting food leftovers waited for them at the inside of the ring. The elevator still stood on the floor with its crystal doors closed. The Razarians finally arrived and got inside the lifting cage before it began to rise to the sky as it approached the center of the ring. As they lifted up, Krusarc could see from far away the tallest skyscraper in the entire city where Masontazia lived. He surely had no idea about that, but he knew that Capet would talk about him with the queen and things would get bloody.

CHAPTER 5

Heavy

Finally, the elevator attached with the steel ring, and the Razarian troops came into jail to find out that a cartful of food leftovers waited for them at their front. There were some steel plates resting above the greasy meat, while a big spoon stood above the dishes. The spoon was dirty and made out of steel, and it was used to grab the meat and serve it into the plates. The soldiers approximated the cart with a disgusted face and began to serve themselves; they were about to have the last meal of the day. It was truly sickening. The food they ate was everything the Sinisters couldn’t chew. Probably they were eating the cooked meat of the Vieturs; of course, they had to find an advantage to all the people they had killed after hatching off their heads. Krusarc, Luscus, and Farsofia also took a plateful of greasy meat to their room, but this time, the commander followed the two teens to their cabin so they could tell her the story of the Sinisters. For weeks, the two boys had been keeping the narration to themselves. Both friends entered the room, and without a previous notice, Farsofia walked in. “OK, boys, the story the dead man told you several weeks ago? I’m here to hear it. I’m all ears,” said the commander as she stepped into the room to sit in the Vietur’s bed with a plateful of food on her hand. The other two boys were also sitting on their mattresses as they ate before Krusarc asked. “Do you want me to start?” asked the boy politely as he had his mouth full of greasy meat. Then Luscus confirmed with his head. For the rest of the evening, Krusarc narrated the story that the Vietur had told them weeks before. Farsofia couldn’t believe it. Now she knew why all the species they had met inside the solar system spoke the same language, but she still had a question, so the commander asked. “So if they taught us their language as well as the Axilians and Bellatorians, why didn’t they teach it to the Misrys?” questioned Farsofia as she gave the last bite

of her meat. The boys had no way to answer her because the Vietur didn’t give them that information, but using logic, Luscus spoke. “He actually didn’t tell us, but I think that it went this way,” paused the boy. Then he continued. “The Misrys were way primitive than us, which means that they were practically new to this world. This problem with the Sinisters occurred way before we escaped Razar, so I would guess that they didn’t have time to teach them,” finished Luscus as he left the unfinished plate on his bed. Krusarc agreed with his head as he kept chewing until everything made sense to Farsofia. It was actually a very interesting story, but they had to act now if they didn’t want to be the next incubation stations. Out of nowhere, a soldier opened the room’s door abruptly and entered the scene. “Commander, you have to see this. They are talking about the boy. It’s bad news,” said the female soldier as she pointed at Krusarc with her eyes. The woman walked away before the three Razarians rushed out of the room to see what was going on. Naughtily, Volu began to eat the food the two boys had left behind. As well as all the Razarians, the occider was also being affected by changes. Instead of having a red crust on its body, Volu’s skin was getting brown and its fur was falling off; it was truly a mysterious problem. The two boys and Farsofia began to walk through the corridor until they arrived at the scene. Ormac was in the middle of the soldier crowd, while everyone paid attention to what he said as they commented about it. The three of them stood at the back of the people gathering where they could see the drug addict and listen to him. “The Sinisters killed Antoria and Fraterin weeks ago. The two farces that had power over us. Krusarc is not our leader. Even if he was the chosen one for having the Gemar gene, the boy didn’t marry a princess like his brother did,” said the man with an angry tone. Several people in the crowd agreed with him, while others didn’t. A true confrontation was about to happen. “So what do you propose us to do?” asked a male soldier in the crowd with curiosity. Then Ormac continued. “I think we shouldn’t be near him and everyone that follows the unreal face. We should get out of the planet before the Sinisters or Krusarc’s people try to kill us,” said the man with paranoia. Everything that he

said was pure madness, while the only thing he wanted was to get to The Explorer and enter his pardan paradise. Obviously, he couldn’t do it alone, so Ormac had to convince the soldiers to somehow take him there so his plan would end as he wanted. The only way he could convince the people to get him to The Explorer was to set them against Krusarc so they would want to escape the prison and then the planet. “What makes you think that we want to kill you?” asked a female soldier from the crowd with her arms crossed as the woman tried to say that she was on Krusarc’s side. Then Ormac continued. “I don’t know. Ask Krusarc why he took the wall down inside the cavern,” said the anarchist aggressively before the boy interrupted the scene. “Hey, stop right there!” shouted Krusarc before everyone turned back to see him. Then he continued. “Thanks, everyone who thinks I’m the farce. I really appreciate it, but the ones who don’t, I won’t tell you to stay here and follow what I say. You can leave whenever you want, but don’t come back,” said Krusarc seriously with his arms crossed. Ormac became satisfied as he knew that he had one obstacle less on his way to enter his pardan paradise. This is an incredible example of what pardan can make you do. All the soldiers who believed that Krusarc was their farce walked back to their rooms as they didn’t care what would happen next. Only fifteen soldiers stood still as they waited for Ormac’s order; no one else glanced in the hallway anymore. “What should we do next?” asked a male soldier with a curious tone. Then the anarchist spoke. “To get to The Explorer, we have to pick up our guns. They are in the other part of the ring, which is protected by several Sinisters. It’s already night, so I bet they are sleeping,” proposed Ormac with a smile on his face. Then the same soldier asked. “How do we get there? We have no source of entrance from this section,” said the man seriously. “The elevator can take us there. We just have to call it,” finished the anarchist before he pushed a button on the elevator’s entrance to call the lifting cage. The

elevator began to lift at full speed until it stopped at the center of the ring and began flying toward them so it could attach. In a matter of seconds, it arrived, and the sixteen Razarians got inside. The door closed, and the lifting cage stood there, waiting for someone to push a button. It was now night, and the only thing that illuminated their view were some lights on the elevator’s floor. There were three options on the : one of them took them down, the other one took them to the other side of the ring, and the one in the bottom took them where they were. Ormac pushed a button, and the elevator began to fly to the other part of the structure as the group of people was extremely scared; they knew that the place was going to be patrolled by the Sinisters. Finally, the cage finished flying from one side to the other and attached with the steel structure before the doors slid open. It was dark inside. No lights were turned on, and they couldn’t see anything. One of the soldiers saw a switch stuck to the wall, so stupidly, he decided to push it. In a matter of seconds, the lights in the entire hallway turned on, and they now had visibility of their surroundings. Everyone else jumped in fear as they thought that a Sinister had turned on the lights, but to their surprise, there wasn’t a single monster inside the section. The floor was also made out of wooden planks, while the walls were white and some long rectangular windows glanced to the exterior. The enormous skyscraper city could be seen from their place as they noticed that the exterior moved. This happened because the ring rotated slowly in the air, which made a visual effect. Also, inside of that place, there was only one room at the end of the hallway while everything else were shelves that carried pills, surgery utensils, and other hospital stuff. As they saw the entire area, they finally realized that they were not standing in a jail; it was the quarantine hospital the Vietur talked about when he narrated the story to the two boys. “What is all this stuff?” asked one of the female soldiers that attended the group. Then Ormac answered. “Surely medicine for psychopaths that had stayed here before,” answered the anarchist unwisely. As they kept wandering around looking for the weapons, the group noticed that at the end of the hallway, a room stood with the door opened; surely, their guns were there. The sixteen of them began to walk through the long circular hallway as they looked through the windows to see the beautiful buildings with their lights on. Obviously, there were no Sinisters living inside the skyscrapers, but Masontazia enjoyed to have all the city illuminated at night because she felt that she was still in the time when nobody knew about her. In a matter of seconds, the group finally arrived at

the room and saw all their weapons hanging from the walls while they were illuminated by a single lightbulb that was stuck to the roof. Ormac and the soldiers saw the bunch of steel pistols they had in front of them as if a kid watched how candy was made. “We have to hurry. We don’t know if the Sinisters have just discovered that we are inside here,” said Ormac as he began to approximate the guns to take them off and them around. Happily, the anarchist began to unhang the pistols from the wall and gave them to the fifteen soldiers until suddenly, something weird happened. Ormac grabbed a weapon and accidentally pulled a thin rope, which broke easily. No one knew what the rope was about until they began to hear a machine beep every second. The anarchist commenced to follow the noise until he figured out that it came from the back of the hanging guns. He pushed them apart and discovered something that froze his soul. It was a timer bomb, and the clock was dropping; it was a trap. They had less than thirty seconds to run out of the scene, so Ormac shouted. “This is going to blow up. Run!” ordered the anarchist before the group of soldiers began to run toward the elevator. As they rushed through the hallway, the timer ended, and suddenly, the bomb fully exploded, making the ring shake roughly. There was no time to think. They were just arriving at the elevator. The group only had to run a little bit more. Fire began to cover everything inside the ring’s section until finally, they arrived at the lifting cage and pressed a button so the crystal doors could slid open. Immediately, they saw how the fire storm began to approximate the scene with hurry, so they decided to get in and close the gate to be safe. Luckily, the crystal door closed, and the flames totally covered the section of the ring. The inside was now destroyed and burned down. One of the soldiers pushed a button on the elevator. The lifting cage detached from the ring and began to approximate the center so it could descend. In a matter of seconds, it arrived at a destination and began to fly vertically toward the ground so it could land and let the people out. Finally, it touched the floor with softness, and the sixteen Razarians stepped out to see the entire illuminated city on their way. It was still night, and no Sinister had appeared in sight. They began to walk toward the skyscrapers as they carried their guns with sassiness. The anarchist had just realized something that made him smile. He was a few steps from getting what he most loved in the universe, his pardan crystals.

CHAPTER 6

Limitless

The night still took over the landscape, while the skyscrapers illuminated their way through the city. Suspiciously, no Sinister showed up in all the time they had walked into the wolf’s mouth. The sixteen Razarians carried their guns with fear as they saw their surroundings with distrustful eyes. They were extremely worried that the Sinisters would show up anytime. They kept walking in between the alleys for a long time while the stars illuminated the sky. There were thousands of them, while in the middle of all the light dots, three huge aligned stars shone the brightest. It was the original home of the Vieturs before the Titans took over. The group of soldiers walked together as their guns pointed at the wide alleys of the city, hoping that their death wouldn’t arrive in a click of a finger. Ormac was also there as he carried a huge pistol, but somehow, it didn’t weigh so much as before. This was extremely weird, but still, no one paid attention to the uncomfortable detail because they were extremely concentrated on their surroundings. The wind blew slowly, and the only thing that could be heard was their heavy breathing and the running air that ed through the wide alleys. Luckily, they ed the path that led to The Explorer, thanks to their guided tour made by Capet toward the rotator ring weeks before. All of a sudden, the group of people entered a different block and began to hear the barks of what it seemed to be their occider military; they were nearby inside a building. “Can you hear that?” asked one of the male solders as the man was surprised by what he was hearing. Everyone stopped walking and began to pay attention to what they heard. After a few moments, they understood that the occiders were near, so the same guard requested. “We should go look for them and set the animals free. They can come with us to the next planet so the occiders can protect us if it is necessary,” proposed the male soldier with enthusiasm. Everyone agreed with a confident look, but Ormac was extremely desperate to reach The Explorer; the addict desired his pardan

more than ever. Without anything else to do, Ormac began to walk behind the crowd as they followed the occiders’ barking; they weren’t so far. After a few seconds, they finally arrived at the building where the noise came from. The structure of the place wasn’t high at all; it was one of the few two-story buildings in the entire city. It was in the middle of two enormous skyscrapers and had a white color in the outside, and it was rectangular shaped. “They should be inside there. I only hope there are no Sinisters patrolling the place,” said the same soldier who proposed the idea. He began to walk toward the entrance of the building before everyone followed him as they carried their guns with paranoid eyes. There was a square aperture in the middle of the building’s facade where the people could get in. Light came out of the place as the occiders’ barking got louder and louder while they approximated the scene. Finally, they got in and began to look for the room where the military animals were supposed to be. As always, the inside was really fancy and futuristic, and the floor was made of brown wooden planks. The walls and the roof were painted white, while several flower pots adorned the small rectangular room. Some horizontal lights in the roof illuminated their surroundings until they saw an entrance at the corner of the lobby where the barks came from. Surely, they had all the occiders inside there. The group of Razarians began to walk slowly toward the entrance as they feared how a Sinister could come out of there and discover their plan; it was surely a cardiac scene. In a matter of seconds, the same soldier that gave the idea finally glanced through the aperture and saw a short hallway that led to a brown door, while at the right side of the corridor, a wall had a rectangular window that took over it entirely. Sneakily, the sixteen Razarians began to walk through the hallway as they glanced through the window to see what was on the other side. It was a huge room whose floor stood below the corridor. It was illuminated by some horizontal lights on the roof, and it had white walls and ceiling. The place was full of occiders while they ran freely from one side to another as they seemed joyful. While this occurred, a Sinister inside the place supervised the occiders while he saw with its huge eyes how they had fun; he was extremely interested in the animals. Nobody in the soldier group knew why the occiders were inside that place, but they surely understood that the monsters wanted to keep the military animals away from the Razarians so they couldn’t help them take over Masontazia’s regime. That was a very peculiar place; it actually had a very

interesting story. That room was the place where Masontazia was created, just as the male Sinister that the Vietur had invented previously. It was also the room where she hid for many weeks as she escaped at night to implant her eggs into the Vieturs’ head to create her army. “Look, there is one Sinister inside the room, and he is patrolling the occiders. We should return to our first objective. It is too riskful,” said Ormac as he looked through the window with paranoid eyes. Thankfully, the Sinister inside the place hadn’t noticed their presence, but still, no monster could know that they were out of jail; their death surely awaited if they were discovered. “Don’t worry about that. We just have to kill it and that’s all. We are lucky that there is only one,” said the soldier that first came up with the idea. He began to walk to the next door to open it. He pulled down the handle and pushed the door with carefulness as he tried to make the less noise as possible. He glanced into the scene and, surprisingly, saw a huge arsenal of weapons hanging from the walls as they looked exactly the same as the ones that they carried. The soldier stood in shock for a moment as he saw the steel pistols in front of him. As the man still observed the guns with a strange look, the other fifteen Razarians glanced into the room with curiosity as they discovered the inside. No one could believe what they were seeing; the Sinisters appeared to have more guns in their possession, or at least the ones they had discovered before weren’t their entire arsenal. Out of nowhere, they began to hear the steps of at least two monsters that approached the scene, so they had no other option but to get inside the arsenal and hide themselves from the enemy. “Hey, get in, hurry,” said Ormac quietly, while everyone looked back with fear as they saw the Sinisters’ shadow get inside the hallway. The sixteen Razarians rushed into the arsenal and closed the door carefully to make the less noise as possible. In a matter of seconds, the two Sinisters entered the hallway and began to glance through the window as they talked calmly. The group of people inside the arsenal crouched on the floor as they sweated in fear. The Sinisters could get inside the room in any moment. The soldiers still ired the amount of guns that hung from the walls as they breathed heavily; it was an intense moment. Out of nowhere, the two monsters at the other side of the door stopped talking and began to walk away into the hallway to get out of the building. Relief took control over the Razarians’ bodies as they heard how the Sinisters walked away to the outside of the building.

“We will keep walking to The Explorer. You were right, Ormac—it was incredibly riskful, and we might’ve died trying to take the occiders with us,” realized the soldier as his normal breath took control again. The drug addict felt annoyed for a moment until he finally stood up. “Don’t worry, soldier, it was just a mistake. Let’s go. We are leaving the occiders and this arsenal behind,” announced Ormac as he opened the door carefully to glance into the corridor. Thankfully, there was no one outside, so he fully opened the gate and commenced to sneak through the hallway with the rest of the fifteen soldiers. The anarchist arrived at the room’s entrance and glanced carefully into the inside with hope of seeing the room clear. Again, the place was secure, and the entire group began to run out of the scene into the night city, which was still being illuminated by thousands of lights that came from the buildings. There were no Sinisters outside, so they began to walk again through the wide street toward The Explorer. Ormac could imagine himself entering the ship and finding all his pardan below his bed before smelling it with pleasure; his addiction was unimaginably enormous. As they walked with paranoia through the city, the soldiers pointed their guns everywhere as they tried to make sure that the Sinisters weren’t around. As before, it was a tense and frustrating moment for the Razarian group until a female soldier noticed something strange that covered the hand of another guard. “What do you have there?” asked the woman politely as she lowered her gun to see. It was the same red crust Krusarc, Luscus, and Farsofia talked about back inside the cave where the Coiters were trapped. The scales covered the whole upper part of the man’s hand, while his nails were falling off to be replaced by others of a different kind. “I have no idea. This began to come out as we tried to fix the main reactor with Geon,” said the male soldier with a worried tone. This gave a very important clue on what was happening with them. It wasn’t an illness they had caught inside the planet; the origin was way more complex than that. “I have it too, but I don’t know with precision when it began to show up,” said the female guard as she moved her shirt collar away from her neck to uncover it. She suffered from the same red crust the man had but in less quantity. As both of them talked about this while they walked, Ormac heard what was happening and decided to get into the conversation now that he had the same.

“This is truly incredible. I have exactly the same but in my leg,” announced the addicted as he stopped walking to uncover his limb. He pulled his pants leg up and showed the crust to the two soldiers, who also stopped walking to see his extremity. They were amazed, and the other thirteen soldiers pulled their brakes too as they saw that the three Razarians were standing still, looking at Ormac’s leg. They walked back to the scene and saw the addict’s extremity with amazed eyes. “I have it too,” said the soldier that came up with the idea of rescuing the occiders. He slightly lifted his uniform’s shirt and showed everyone that the majority of his stomach was covered in red scales; it was truly impossible to believe. The other integrants of the group began to expose their red crusts too as they realized that everyone in the group had it. Expecting the best, Ormac rearranged his pants leg into position and stood up before he spoke. “Everything will be fine. I only hope that we didn’t catch the same illness that killed Abus and Lores back on Misr. Let’s go,” said the drug addict before he began to walk again through the street toward The Explorer. The rest of the group commenced to follow him as they hoped not to be affected, which, of course, no one knew for sure. After about a few minutes of an extremely paranoid walk through the skyscraper city, the group of sixteen Razarians arrived at The Explorer’s parking place where they figured out something amazing. The ship was completely turned off as if the battery had died. The only thing that illuminated the scene was the light beam that came from the buildings surrounding the place. With a worried look, the soldiers began to walk toward the ship, hoping that someone had turned it off; after all, it was a much better scenario than the battery’s death. They rushed close to the ship’s shield and finally got inside the vessel through the boarding gate. Everything was dark inside, while the Razarians could barely see until the soldier that proposed the occider rescue requested. “Ormac and I should go to the observatory platform to see if we can turn on the ship from there. The rest of you go to the machinery room and see if the battery has a problem of any kind. Hurry up, the Sinisters might know about our escape by now. We don’t want to be discovered,” said the soldier worriedly before he began to walk up the snail stairs followed by Ormac, while the rest rushed toward another direction. In a matter of seconds, the two men entered the platform and saw the controls beyond the window, while the only thing that barely illuminated the inside was the light that came from the buildings. The

soldier stepped in front of the buttons and began to see which one to press to turn the ship on. While he saw the controls with difficulty, Ormac spoke. “What planet should we visit next?” asked the drug addict as he saw what the soldier was doing. Then he answered. “We should go back with the Bellatorians. They already know us, so we will be safe with them,” said the soldier as he had no idea that the giants had previously invited them to another war. After Ormac heard this, something inside him turned the addict extremely nervous and paranoid, thanks to the idea that some Bellatorians were already addicted to pardan, which they would have surely ran out of by that time. Obviously, they were willing to kill for the blackish crystals. The drug addict felt selfish, as if he was being attacked because he didn’t want to share pardan with the rest; Ormac wanted to keep it all for himself. After hearing this and noticing that the soldier was being distracted in search for the button that turned the ship on, Ormac lifted his gun and pointed it to the man’s head before he pulled the trigger in full madness. His death would mean the annihilation of his stupid idea. Unexpectedly, nothing came out of the gun, so Ormac lowered it down and glanced through the hole from which the bullet came out. He glanced into the aperture in search for answers until he noticed something incredible. The pistol was empty; there was nothing inside of it, not even the mechanism. Surely, that was why the gun didn’t weigh that much, but the question began to intrigue Ormac. Where is the inside of the gun? asked the drug addict to himself until the soldier finally turned the ship on. “Well, we are leaving to Bellatorum,” announced the man enthusiastically as the lights turned on and the engine was heard. The Explorer began to lift into the sky as they left behind the city and the other Razarians; they were now victorious. With a lot of questions, Ormac came out of the platform toward his room as he thought about the inside of the gun. As he walked down the snail stairs and entered the hallway, the answer came to his mind, and he was correct. The Sinisters had left fake guns inside jail so that the Razarians could take them out if they survived the bomb tramp. After having the fake guns with them, they would try to get inside The Explorer to escape the planet, but they were surely going to encounter several Sinisters who would kill the majority of them now that the guns were fake; the real ones were inside the same building the occiders were in. Everything made sense to Ormac, but he was still missing a big part of

his theory. Obviously, the Sinisters would try to leave no one alive, so the people that would have escaped the massacre and arrived at The Explorer were going to die in a different way, but how? This question kept bothering the drug addict until he arrived at his room. The smell of pardan was extremely strong, while Ormac desired the blackish crystals with all his soul. Finally, he opened the door and saw the inside of his cabin where he found a huge square steel bomb resting on the floor with a countdown clock, which was now on zero. That was the answer Ormac was looking for—the ones that would have survived the massacre were going to die after the bomb inside The Explorer was activated a few seconds later from takeoff. In a matter of seconds, the detonator fully exploded and began to cover the entire inside of the ship with flames as everything burned down. Thanks to the impulsive wave, The Explorer split in half, marking the death of all the Razarians that tried to escape. The two huge ship pieces began to fall dramatically toward the skyscraper city as this event could be seen from Antoria’s and Geon’s balcony. Both of them thought that everyone had died inside the fatal accident. As the girl saw the incredible show, she couldn’t believe that her loved one was now dead. She had to escape Masontazia’s building before their same destiny would apply on her.

CHAPTER 7

Unfinished Sympathy

What happened to The Explorer was surely a terrible tragedy that could be seen from everywhere inside the city except for the rotatory jail, which didn’t have any windows to glance to the outside. Before the massive explosion occurred, Antoria and Geon were about to present The Colonizer’s interior to Masontazia, who had previously seen the outside’s design and other aspects of the incredible megastructure. It was about time to get out of the room and show the architect’s work to the queen. The night covered the landscape, and the horrible event that took the life away from the anarchist and his followers hadn’t occurred. Geon was ready; he was about to roll up The Colonizer’s blueprints before he lifted his head up and looked at Antoria, who was sitting on her bed as she glanced through the window into the city. She saw that not so far away, the rotatory jail spun slowly as she knew that her lovebird was inside there. The girl stared at the floating structure with shiny eyes until Geon saw something on her neck and interrupted her tranquility. “What do you have on your skin?” asked the architect as he saw his niece with curious eyes. The red and ugly crust was also growing out of her skin, and it was spreading to the rest of her body. Antoria looked back to see her uncle and covered the scales with her left hand before the girl spoke. “It has been growing since a few days ago. I’m really scared that something bad is happening to me,” said Antoria with a worried tone. Then Geon answered. “Well, if something bad is happening to you, it’s also happening to me. I have the same red crust,” said the architect as he uncovered his arm to let the scales be visible. They covered a huge part of the man’s fat arm, and it was also growing on the rest of his body. Something extremely weird was going on with the Razarians. Officially, everyone was being affected by that problem. As both of them were extremely worried about the scales on their body, someone knocked abruptly on the door. They should’ve had walked out of the

room minutes ago, and the queen was getting impatient. Immediately, both familiars came out of the cabin as fast as they could after Geon grabbed The Colonizer’s blueprints and rolled them down his armpit. Masontazia was there, standing with superiority as she saw Geon and Antoria with her cold and giant eyes that never blinked. Both Razarians stood in front of her, and the architect unfolded the blueprints so they could be shown. “Is there a problem I have to be concerned of why you didn’t come out of the room on time?” asked Masontazia with seriousness as she made her slaves nervous. Immediately, Geon began to sweat in anxiety as he didn’t want to tell her the truth, so he came up with something as quick as he could. “We were making some adjustments to the interior, that’s all,” said Geon with respect as he laughed in an uncomfortable fear. Antoria was standing at the left side of her uncle as Masontazia was satisfied with his answer. She was really anxious to start building The Colonizer, but the queen couldn’t express the feeling in a physical way. Finally, Geon finished unrolling the blueprints and turned them around so that the queen could see the drawings. She lowered her head a few meters and observed the design with carefulness using her cold and huge eyes. The architect and Antoria saw this as they felt extremely nervous. They were afraid of Masontazia and had a lot of respect toward her; she was a cold and incomprehensible monster. “So … I see a lot of rooms and corridors. Explain to me what they are for,” ordered Masontazia coldly as she raised her head up back to the normal position, demonstrating that she had finished observing the ship’s interior. To explain it better, Geon asked Antoria to grab the blueprints so he could see the design. The girl grabbed both extremities of the paper and stood up still as she observed how her uncle pointed at the interior with bravery. The drawing was very peculiar; it was the inside of The Colonizer seen from above as the walls and corridors could be distinguished. In the middle of the circular ship, there was a huge room that took over a lot of space. It was supposed to be just above the water tanks and beyond a crystal dome that would be built as a futuristic accessory. Around the huge circular chamber, thousands of other small rooms were built in all the area, creating several decks. It was an amazing drawing as Geon was explaining the purpose of each room. “The room in the middle is the most important one now that this is the place where you will give the speeches and orders to all your army. The other rooms

would be used as arsenals and other storage places, while some decks above, the parking lots are located. This ship is so big that I had to design train rails inside it for your army to move from one side to another in less than five minutes. With all this corrections and what you asked for, The Colonizer is ready to be built,” announced Geon as he had a nervous look. He still couldn’t believe the monstrosity he had designed, but he had to do it to save his life and his niece’s. “It is a beautiful piece of engineering. We will start building it in a few days, but I have a question I would like Antoria to answer. Does the entire ocean in this planet fit inside the ship’s tanks?” asked Masontazia with her cold eyes that challenged the girl to answer the question. Antoria had no idea what to say. She never designed anything and didn’t know about the topic; after all, she had posed as an architect this whole time. “Yes … of course … as you asked for,” stuttered the girl with a nervous tone as she hoped to be right. Masontazia saw her firmly as the queen knew that Antoria had answered correctly until Capet arrived at the scene with a nervous look. “My queen,” bent the Sinister before Masontazia answered. “I’m in between my plan for galaxy’s domination. It has to be life or death,” answered the Sinister with an annoyed tone. Her response made both Razarians shake in fear as they only believed that her plans didn’t extend beyond the Traveler, but they were wrong; it was a much bigger project. “Surely it is, my queen. I’m concerned about the plan. It can be disrupted by another slave. I found that the Razarians have chosen a new leader. His name is Krusarc,” said Capet really worriedly as Masontazia saw him with angry eyes. She was extremely paranoid about having another obstacle between her and what she had always dreamed of. Despite it being a frustrating moment for both Sinisters, Antoria was extremely excited to hear her lovebird’s name. The girl felt a relief as she knew that Krusarc was alive. “We have to talk about this in private. You two, return to your rooms,” ordered Masontazia as she began to walk away with Capet. They were really paranoid and worried. As the queen had ordered previously, the two familiars rushed back to their room and closed the door as they heard Masontazia’s steps walk away. Antoria couldn’t be more happy. Her hope in life was restored after hearing that Krusarc was still alive, but she was concerned about something. Capet arrived

with a very worried look at the scene before he spoke with the queen about Krusarc. The girl was worried that her couple’s life would be endanger. “I can’t believe we are contributing to galaxy’s domination,” said Geon frustratingly before he sat down on his desk and covered his face with both hands. Antoria actually didn’t care about that so much; she only wanted to live with Krusarc happily for the rest of her life. As the bipolar scene was still being illuminated by the golden chandelier in the roof, Antoria glanced out of the window and saw the beautiful skyscrapers that stood below them. The girl lost herself in the sky that was full of stars until something took her attention. It was The Explorer, and it was rising to the sky with a lot of hurry. Antoria couldn’t believe her eyes. She thought that Krusarc and the other Razarians were inside the ship and they were leaving them behind. Obviously, she knew that her lovebird couldn’t do such atrocity to her, so Antoria’s theory proposed that Krusarc believed she was dead. “Uncle, they are leaving us behind!” shouted Antoria with a desperate tone as she looked back to the interior of the room to see Geon. Immediately, the architect uncovered his face and lifted from the chair to approach the window. As both of them saw The Explorer rise to the sky above the buildings, suddenly, a huge explosion came out from the middle of the ship, and the craft split in two pieces as it began to fall down dramatically in flames. Between the rotatory jail and Masontazia’s building, The Explorer descended in two huge chunks as it crashed with some buildings when unexpectedly, it crashed with the ground. It was impossible for anyone inside the ship to have survived; it was a fatal accident that the Sinisters had surely caused. Antoria couldn’t stop looking through the window with a face that resembled incredulousness. The girl was extremely perturbed as she believed that Krusarc had died in the crash. Her eyes began to turn red while all the tears rolled down her face as they desired to never have seen such heartbreaking scene. Geon was also traumatized as he saw how the night sky illuminated with fire a few seconds before the ship split in half and crashed to the ground. After realizing that they were the last Razarians alive, he approached his crying niece and hugged her with sympathy as he knew how the poor girl felt; she had lost the most valuable person in her life. “Antoria, I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless,” said Geon with a sad tone as Antoria cried with emotion. All the room was covered in the girl’s tears as the entire chamber flooded with anguish and pain.

“What do I have to do to stop being punished in this way?” suffered Antoria as she began to have the crying hiccups. Then she continued. “This is just what that filthy monster desired. Our death was expected, and now, she has simply accomplished killing all of us,” said the girl with a frustrated look as tears kept falling with anguish. Nothing could get worse; it was only a matter of time for everything to finally collapse. “They will come for us,” said Geon, expecting the worst. Then Antoria asked. “What do you mean?” said the girl with an amazed look. Then the architect continued. “We just finished deg everything that Masontazia wanted. All of our people has been killed, and we are the last survivors. Everything that we had to do is now accomplished. We are another charge for the Sinisters. If we don’t act now, we will finish with the same destiny as them. We have to escape the building and find another one where we can hide from them,” said the architect with paranoia before Antoria cleaned the tears off her face. “We have nothing to lose. Let’s go right now and never look back,” said the girl with her after-crying hiccups. Geon agreed with courage and stood up to approach the table. He had to do something before leaving the room. The architect arrived next to the desk and began to rip the blueprints into two pieces as he hoped that the Sinisters couldn’t understand it anymore. After he finished, Antoria stopped next to him and opened the door slightly to glance out. Thankfully, there was no one that could stop them from escaping, so both Razarians came out of their room and snuck to the elevator as they saw their surroundings. Neither Masontazia nor Capet was inside the huge room. Both of them were somewhere else talking about the new leader among the Razarians, Krusarc. Both familiars arrived quickly at the elevator, so they pushed a button on the wall to call the lifting cage. They were extremely paranoid. It was the first time they had tried to escape the building, so they had no idea where to go. After a few seconds of waiting impatiently, the crystal elevator arrived, and both of them got in. The glass doors slid close, and Antoria pushed a button that was below the rest; it should take them to the first floor. The lifting cage began to descend quickly through the building as Antoria and Geon were inside, thinking about everything that could go wrong. Their veins were about to pop open with

the intensity of the scene. After a few moments of descending to the first floor with anguish and frustration, the elevator began to slow down and finally stopped before the crystal doors slid open to reveal the interior of the lobby. It was full of Sinisters that spoke to each other inside the immense crowd before they stopped and turned back to the two Razarians inside the elevator. Both familiars couldn’t believe their eyes in that moment. Every Sinister inside the extremely crowded place saw them with coldness and tension until one of them shouted. “The slaves are trying to escape!” screamed one of the monsters inside the room before the entire army began to rush toward the elevator to stop them from doing so. In between the tension and desperation, Geon immediately clicked the button at the top of the controls, and the crystal doors closed to stop the Sinisters from coming in. As they were before, the two Razarians began to feel paranoid inside the cage as it lifted back to square one; they had no idea what was waiting for them. After a few seconds of sweating in fear and feeling their heart about to jump out of their chests, the elevator finally arrived, and the doors slid open to let both of them come out. Immediately, Geon rushed back to his room as fast as he could, while Antoria followed him from behind with a slower speed. The architect was extremely afraid that the Sinisters would return for them. He wanted to lock himself back in his room and be safe until it was wise to come out. As the two familiars ran for their lives, a huge pointy leg appeared from behind a wall and stepped on Geon’s left shoulder, stabbing itself down toward the man’s heart. It was Masontazia, and she was extremely furious about what they tried to accomplish. Antoria fell backward with the intensity of the situation as she shouted in fear; the girl didn’t want to have the same destiny as her uncle. The leg rose back in the air and sliced up through Geon’s body before he fell down. The architect was now bleeding out on the floor. Nothing could get worse. Antoria had lost everything in her life, and she was the last Razarian standing, or at least that’s what she believed. As the girl saw the scene from the ground, Masontazia finally came out from behind the wall and saw Antoria with her huge and cold eyes. “You really thought you could escape from here, didn’t you?” asked the queen with arrogance as she stared straight into the girl’s soul. “What are you looking at, you damn monster? Why don’t you kill me as you did with Krusarc and the others that I loved?” shouted Antoria in tears while she

suffered. Then Masontazia continued. “How could I condemn the person that will incubate the next queen inside her head? Of course, you will have another punishment for trying to escape,” said the Sinister with superiority as she understood that Antoria believed that all the Razarians had died on the ship’s crash. “So you thought that everyone inside the ring died in the craft’s explosion? Only sixteen of them died over there, while the rest stayed inside the hospital,” stopped Masontazia as she thought about what the girl had said previously about Krusarc. Then she followed. “Well … as I can see, you and Krusarc have something … Thankfully, he and other Razarians stayed inside the ring. Tomorrow morning, you will go and say good-bye to your friend. That will be your punishment. Stay with him as long as you need because he won’t be alive at the end of the day and you will have an egg deep inside your cranium. Stick the blueprints back together if you don’t want to see how Krusarc takes his last breath in front of your eyes. Sleep tight, Antoria … and don’t let the Vieturs bite,” concluded the evil queen as she began to walk away into the back of the wall with royalty. Antoria immediately stood up in tears and rushed back to her room to stick the blueprints together. Flooded with anguish, frustration, and thousands of questions, the girl began to drown in her own tears as she knew that everything was lost; no one could save the crown.

CHAPTER 8

It’s All on You

As next day arrived, the sun began to rise in the horizon while the entire city was illuminated by the warm rays. The cold wind blew slowly through the avenues while the rotatory ring floated in the air with calmness. Everyone inside there had no idea about what happened with The Explorer and Antoria. Krusarc, Luscus, and Volu were sleeping inside the same room as always. The two boys lay in their respective mattresses, while the occider occupied the bed where the Vietur used to sleep. Without anything that noticed them that the sun was already up, Luscus opened his eyes and woke up. As he lifted himself from bed, the boy stretched in joy and saw Krusarc sleeping deeply as always, while Volu was at his right. Luscus uncovered himself from the bedsheet and stepped on the floor before he stood up. “Wake up, dude. You are going to miss lunch again,” laughed Luscus mockingly as he tried to wake his friend up every morning. Krusarc was deep into his dream as he had no idea what his friend had told him. As Luscus noticed how the boy didn’t wake up, he decided to ignore the fact and walked out of the room to try to save some greasy meat for his friend and Volu. The boy came out and closed the door, leaving Krusarc sleeping deeply as he thought about his loved. He still thought that Antoria was dead, so the boy always dreamed about her. This time, both of them were in a huge landscape covered in tall green grass while they chased each other joyfully. Everything was very bright. Some clouds appeared in the sky, while the sunrays illuminated their sight warmly. As both of them played with love, Antoria began to cover her head and crouch on her knees before she commenced to shout. Krusarc had no idea of what to do. He only approximated his lovebird and tried to make her calm down. Between all the panic and frustration that came from the girl, the loud shouts began to get higher and higher until she stopped and collapsed above the ground. Krusarc had no idea of what to expect, so he approximated her with tears and saw that her skull began to break on the outside as if something was hatching. The boy was speechless as he

saw the show until finally, the bone broke completely, and a small white Sinister came out covered in blood as it saw the daylight for the first time. It was extremely disgusting, and Krusarc couldn’t breathe normally as he saw the Sinister with amazed eyes until she spoke. “How could I condemn the person that will incubate the next queen inside her head?” asked the Sinister while she saw Krusarc with her cold and tiny eyes; she was the new queen. In between all frustration and desperation, the boy began to shout in fear and finally woke up. He was sweating like a pig, while his heart was beating at the speed of light; it was an intense dream. As he saw that Luscus wasn’t resting on his bed, he noticed that his feet came out at the other side of the blanket. He was growing uncontrollably fast and had no idea what was going on with him. Over the bed in front of him, Volu still slept calmly as Krusarc saw how the occider’s hair was falling off, leaving its new brownish skin uncovered. With a lot of curiosity, the boy kept observing Volu for a short time until Luscus opened the door in full speed. “Krusarc, Antoria is alive. She is right here and wants to talk with you,” said the boy with a very anxious tone. Krusarc couldn’t believe what his friend was saying. He could only think about the dream he had with her and how she would react after seeing how dirty he was; after all, the slaves hadn’t taken a shower in weeks. “Alive? What do you mean? You’re kidding me, right? Where is she? I have to look good for when I see her,” said Krusarc as he lifted from bed at the speed of light. “Oh, dude … she is at the other side of jail … You might want to see yourself in the mirror,” said Luscus really weird as he saw Krusarc’s face. With a worried and curious look, the tall boy came out of the room and stopped a few meters behind a mirror that was stuck to the front wall. The left side of his face was now entirely covered with the red crust, while his eye was as yellow as neon and the pupil couldn’t be seen. Thankfully, he still had hair on his head, but he discovered something. He lifted his upper lip with fear and noticed that his teeth were transforming into pointy and deadly razors; he was morphing into a monster. “What is wrong with me? … Antoria will be extremely afraid when she sees me,” suffered Krusarc, while Luscus stared at him from behind. The boy still

saw himself in the mirror as the only natural thing that remained on his face was the normal white skin on the right side. “Krusarc … I don’t know what is going on … Other soldiers are now almost covered in the crust,” said Luscus with a worried tone before he continued. “I think that if we all have this crust, Antoria might have it too,” concluded the boy before Krusarc turned around to see him. He was probably right, so the boy followed. “Let’s go. I have to see her,” said Krusarc. Then the two of them began to walk down the circular corridor until they arrived at a huge crowd in front of the elevator’s entrance. Everyone seemed to be really anxious as they waited to see something. Unexpectedly, Farsofia came out of the crowd and approximated the two boys before speaking. “Krusarc, Antoria is here, on the other side of the ring, and she is waiting for you,” said the commander emotively with a smile. Krusarc was extremely anxious to see his lovebird, so he began to walk into the crowd to get in front of the elevator’s door. After a few moments of ing through, the boy finally arrived and saw that the cage’s doors were opened, revealing its interior where Capet waited for Krusarc. “Someone really important wants to see you,” said the Sinister with a cold look as he knew that the boy’s destiny was to die. Krusarc got into the cage and turned around to see the entire crowd of soldiers that ed him from the inside of the ring. As well as he, they also believed that Antoria had been killed until this moment. The doors closed, and Capet pushed a button on the wall before the cage detached from the structure and began to fly to the other side of the ring. Krusarc looked at the outside of the elevator while he saw jail’s concave structure that was illuminated by the warm sunrays. In a matter of seconds, the cage finally arrived at the other side and attached with the ring before the doors opened and revealed the interior of the scene. There was a small square steel table where two chairs at both ends stood calmly. Antoria sat down in one of them with a lowered and depressed face; she knew what was coming. The entire room was completely burned down in black carbon, thanks to the bomb trap Ormac and the other fifteen soldiers had activated before. Accompanying Antoria, another Sinister took care of the moment as both monsters knew that the girl wasn’t allowed to reveal any of Masontazia’s plan.

Although the boy was extremely excited from seeing his lovebird, Antoria hadn’t noticed his presence until Krusarc spoke. “I thought you were dead,” said the boy about to cry before the girl raised her head to see him. Immediately, after discovering that her lovebird was standing in front of her, the girl stood up and ran to hug him with emotion as she didn’t care about the red crust on his face; she only wanted to be with him as long as possible before their death. “I missed you so much,” cried Antoria on Krusarc’s chest before the boy continued. “We have a lot of things to take about. Let’s sit,” requested the boy anxiously before both of them approached the steel table and sat down. The two lovebirds saw each other with a smile, while Antoria observed the red crust on Krusarc’s face. It surely looked awful, but she didn’t care about how her lovebird looked. As both of them were about to talk, Capet and the other Sinister stood at the sides of the table as they supervised the conversation; Antoria couldn’t say anything that could bring another obstacle to the queen’s plans. “Where is Geon and my brother?” asked Krusarc with a curious tone. Then Antoria answered. “The queen killed them,” responded the girl with a sad look. The boy couldn’t believe what she had said; not for his brother’s death, if not for her uncle’s, he was the last blood familiar Antoria had. “Is everything OK? Where are you sleeping?” asked Krusarc worriedly as he grabbed Antoria’s hand above the table with love. The girl didn’t answer; she just stared at him with a sad look while tears kept rolling down her face. Krusarc was expecting an answer, but he had another response. Instead of hearing something from Antoria, he just saw her while the girl cried nervously. The girl looked at Capet and the other Sinister while she was afraid of both of them. Of course, while this happened, the two monsters stared at Antoria with their cold eyes as they resembled oppression; they couldn’t let her say anything about the plan. Krusarc was extremely confused. He had no idea why his lovebird looked at both Sinisters with such nerve and fear. The problem was that Antoria was incredibly anxious to tell him that her life was endangered as well as his, but she knew what would follow after telling him; only death awaited at the end of both paths. In a moment of desperation and adrenalin, the girl saw both Sinisters for

the last time and turned back into Krusarc’s soul before the girl shouted as fast as she could. “They want to kill both of us. Masontazia wants to implant an egg inside my head to create another queen. You have to stop her with the other soldiers, Krusarc!” shouted Antoria in full desperation as she knew what was coming next. The boy felt extremely paranoid after hearing his lovebird, so he looked back to see both Sinisters and noticed that they were about to attack. Capet immediately grabbed Antoria from her chest and immobilized her with his razor claws before he began to take her away toward the elevator to escape. As a defense reaction, Krusarc stood up as fast as a lightning and was about to chase Capet until the other Sinister stepped in front of the boy. “Don’t think you are going to come out of here alive,” said the Sinister with his cold eyes as Krusarc saw how Capet was getting inside the elevator with Antoria. The lifting cage had already detached from the ring and was leaving the scene. Krusarc lost faith after seeing how this happened, but he then ed that he still had a chance to rescue her with the other soldiers, but, first, he had to escape from the Sinister. With the intention of running toward the elevator’s entrance to push the button, Krusarc evaded the Sinister and rushed toward the controls to press them until something unexpected happened. The monster pushed him, making him fall down after the boy had clicked on the button. Krusarc was now lying on the ground. He turned around faceup to see his opponent until the Sinister began to try to step on him with his pointy legs to kill him. As a ninja, the boy evaded each step as fast as he could while he pushed himself through the floor from one place to another. While the Sinister still tried to kill him, Krusarc was about to bump into a wall, and all the possibilities of dodging the steps were going to vanish. The boy had all his body full of adrenalin as he predicted every step the Sinister was going to make until finally, he bumped with the obstacle, and the eyes of the monster stopped at him with its cold look. To provoke a dramatic death, the Sinister began to lift one of his legs above Krusarc’s chest to lower it down with all his strength and stab the boy. Everything began to fall down in front of Krusarc’s face as he saw how his death followed. In a matter of seconds, luckily, the boy saw that the elevator had arrived, so hope and strength returned. The farce pushed himself through the floor at the speed of light below the Sinister’s body, and when he arrived at the other side, Krusarc stood up and ran toward the elevator before he entered and closed the doors. As the Sinister noticed the boy’s

plan, he began to chase him, but thankfully, Krusarc could escape the scene. He was now inside the cage, and the monster saw him from the other side of the crystal doors with its cold and huge eyes. Immediately, the boy pushed a button on the cage’s wall, and the elevator began to fly through the center of the ring to attach with the other side. Krusarc’s heartbeat was uncontrollably fast. The cage finally reached his destination, and the doors opened before seeing the interior. All the soldiers were inside the circular corridor as they waited for their farces to arrive. They were extremely anxious to hear what had happened. “Are you OK? What is going on?” asked Luscus after walking out of the soldier crowd to talk with his friend. Krusarc was extremely paranoid and nervous. “Masontazia wants to incubate an egg inside Antoria’s head to create a new queen. She also wants to kill me and will surely implant more babies inside the heads of all of you,” said the boy extremely paranoid as all the soldiers saw him with a worried look. They were extremely afraid because they all saw it coming. After Farsofia was told the story of the Vieturs, she took responsibility to tell the rest of the Razarians. “What should we do now? You have to decide, Krusarc. You are our farce,” said Farsofia with a worried tone after walking out of the crowd of soldiers. The boy began to think about it for a moment until he got the perfect idea to save the day. “To save us and Antoria, we must rescue her and kill Masontazia. The weapon the Vieturs created to kill the queen is inside her building, but we won’t have the possibility to arrive there without our army. We need the help of the occiders,” said Krusarc with superiority as everyone looked at him with respect. While the soldier crowd ired the new leader, Farsofia and Luscus felt really proud of him because Krusarc had already become what everyone always wanted—their farce. The slave rebellion was about to begin as Capet was still walking Antoria back to Masontazia. He was about to give the queen some bad news.

CHAPTER 9

Your Horror

Everything was in chaos and paranoia inside Capet’s consciousness as he rushed with difficulty toward the tallest skyscraper in the city, the one that Masontazia lived in. He still carried Antoria from the chest, while his razor claws immobilized the girl so she couldn’t escape. The Sinister walked as fast as he could through the wide avenues as he knew that Krusarc had escaped from the other Sinister, thanks to his colleague who never came back. Their plan would be tried to be stopped once again, and for sure, the queen was about to get furious. Finally, Capet arrived with Antoria and entered the building as the girl tried to escape from the Sinister’s claws. Both of them stepped into the elevator, and the Sinister clicked the button to open the door before getting in. The crystal gates slid close, and Capet released Antoria inside the cage so he could push the floor button with less difficulty. In a matter of seconds, the elevator began to rise toward the last floor while Antoria thought about the worst. She believed that Krusarc had been killed by the other Sinister and that Masontazia was about to implant an egg in her head to accomplish the same. The girl was extremely worried and cried silently. Finally, the elevator arrived at the queen’s deck, and both of them came out to find that Masontazia was in the balcony looking at the city. Capet and Antoria walked toward the queen, and the Sinister spoke with a worried tone. “My queen, things just got out of control. The girl told Krusarc about our plans, and I’m sure that—” said the Sinister before he was drastically interrupted by Masontazia after she turned around in total anger. “Didn’t your companion kill the boy!” shouted the queen furiously as she began to walk toward them with cold eyes. Capet commenced to feel really nervous because he knew that Masontazia could kill him at any moment she desired; he wasn’t indispensable. “I’m afraid not, my queen. The boy might have escaped from his death, and now

he should be with the rest of his people telling them to act against us,” said Capet with fear and anguish as the queen was about to explode in anger. Masontazia turned her head to see Antoria and stared into the girl’s soul with her cold and huge eyes before she spoke. “Lock yourself in your room. I’ll take care of you in a moment,” ordered the queen as she saw Antoria furiously. As Masontazia had asked, the girl began to run toward her chamber in tears as she hoped that the queen would have mercy. Antoria was extremely worried about her lovebird because now she knew that he wasn’t dead. After Masontazia saw how the girl got into her room, she turned around and began to walk back to the balcony to give orders. “Kill as much Razarians as you need, but focus on capturing Krusarc. He is the one that has to be destroyed,” said the queen before she was questioned by Capet that was still at her back. “But what if they get to arrive at the building, my queen?” asked the Sinister with respect. Then Masontazia continued. “That is your first objective. Take all of your men, burn down the entire city if it’s necessary, but don’t let anyone get inside the building,” ordered the queen last before Capet rushed out of the scene to command his entire army. Masontazia saw the skyscraper city with angry eyes as the rotatory ring floated calmly not so far away. She had to make time for when the moment to incubate the egg arrived. As this extremely frustrating scene occurred, Krusarc, Luscus, Farsofia, and what was left of the Razarian army were still inside the ring deciding what to do next. “You are right. We need the occiders by our side if we want to rescue Antoria and kill the queen,” said Farsofia emotively with her arms crossed as all of them were ready for battle. Then Luscus continued. “But we have no idea of where they are,” said the boy worriedly before a soldier in the crowd stepped to the front and interrupted. “Thankfully, I do know where they are. I was the one that took them to the building after several of my coworkers were killed outside of The Explorer,” announced the male soldier as he looked at Luscus with respect. Then Krusarc continued. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go. They might

be looking for us by now,” said the boy before he pushed a button to open the elevator’s glass doors so everyone could get in. The boy was about to step inside until he ed that Volu was still locked in his room, so he told Luscus, who was at his side. “Wait for me. I’ll go for Volu,” announced the boy as everyone got inside the elevator. Krusarc began to run as fast as he could through the circular corridor until he arrived at his room and opened the door, just to find Volu behind the gate, waiting to be freed. The occider saw the boy with his cute look as he was now completely bold; all his hair was spread across the room as it had fell off. Krusarc was extremely amazed about his pet’s new look. Volu was now showing all of its brown skin, and its teeth were as pointy as razors. Also, another thing took the boy’s attention. Out of the occider’s chest, two small sticks were coming out of the skin as if a pair of small limbs was about to grow. As Krusarc kept seeing Volu with impressed eyes, he noticed how it looked more savage than before. “Let’s go, buddy,” said Krusarc with a smile as he saw how the beast came out of the room. Surely, he didn’t understand what was happening to his pet, but the boy surely knew that it had to do with what was happening to him and the rest of the Razarians. Both of them rushed through the corridor until they arrived at the elevator. They got in with all the other soldiers, and the doors closed so that the cage could detach from the ring. The elevator pushed itself away from jail as the people inside wished to never return. In a matter of seconds, the cage arrived at the center of the ring and began to descend as the soldiers inside saw the Sinister that tried to kill Krusarc. He was still at the other part of jail, glancing through the glass doors. The elevator descended at a high speed until they finally landed and the doors slid open. Everyone came out of the cage as they saw how they were completely alone. No Sinister showed up; they were surely planning how they were going to attack. In a matter of seconds, Luscus, Krusarc, and Farsofia reencountered between the crowd before a soldier spoke. “Follow me. The building where the occiders are is this way,” said the man with enthusiasm as everyone began to walk behind the soldier with courage. No one had any way of defending themselves because they didn’t carry guns with them; they were harmless. As everyone walked through the wide streets of the city, they looked at all their surroundings to make sure that they weren’t going to be ambushed. Krusarc felt extremely brave as Volu walked beside him. The boy was convinced that he was going to rescue his lovebird and they were both going

to live their lives happily ever after. Luscus and Farsofia were also walking at his side while they led the group at the back of the soldier that guided them. The two of them saw Krusarc with respect and courage as the boy exhaled bravery and prosperity. Krusarc was becoming extremely tall. He was about the size of a Sinister by that moment as his face was still being consumed by the red and mysterious crust. Just as he, the entire group of Razarians also had scales covering their body; some of them had it on the face and others on their extremities. After a few minutes of walking through the street, they finally arrived at the two-story building where the occiders were. Their barks could be heard loudly from their place, and they weren’t so near. With enthusiasm, everyone began to run toward the place and finally got in to rescue their ferocious army. At the speed of light, the Razarians entered the corridor that revealed the room where all the occiders were running from one place to another while they were supervised by a Sinister. Everyone looked amazed at the scene before one of the soldiers whistled a very loud tone and made all the occiders stop running. The entire group of animals turned around to see the window, at the back of which the group of people observed the scene. All the occiders were now paying attention to the soldier as they waited for orders, but something unexpected occurred. The Sinister that was supervising the occiders noticed their strange behavior and turned around to see the window before discovering the Razarians. The monster immediately entered in panic and decided to escape from the back door to tell Capet what was going on. Immediately, after the Sinister began to run toward the exit, the soldier whistled again in a different tone, and the occiders turned around to attack the monster. They began to jump at the enemy as they bit his arms and legs off. The Sinister’s shout could be heard from the inside of the hallway as the beasts massacred him with savageness. They had now the exact same look Volu did, but they were taller as an adult occider. While everyone inside the hallway saw the show, Krusarc figured out that there was a door at the end of the hallway, so he decided to go and see what was at the other side. The boy walked with curiosity through the corridor and arrived before opening the wooden gate. He had now full sight of what was inside, so he became amazed. Their entire weapon arsenal was hanging there, and this time, there wasn’t any trick or trap; they had a clean opportunity. “Guys, check this out,” said Krusarc with courage before all the Razarians turned around to see what the farce was talking about. They glanced to the

interior of the room with amazed eyes and began to approximate the inside to take the guns with them. After a few seconds, everyone had now a pistol, including Krusarc, Luscus, and Farsofia, who were claiming their victory. With guns and occiders, they were now unstoppable. As all of them felt really brave and superior, they came out of the two-story building and stepped in the middle of the street to wait for the occiders that had already rushed through the back door and were now surrounding the block to meet with the Razarians. In about a few seconds, all the occider pack arrived at the speed of light as they barked with joy; there were at least fifty of them. The entire army was now complete, and they were ready to begin their journey toward the tallest skyscraper. The entire group commenced to walk through the street back to the main one, while the occiders followed them with courage and loyalty. They were trained to kill, and their new ugly look made them more savage. After a short time of walking, they finally arrived back in jail, which was still floating in the air peacefully. The main street toward Masontazia’s skyscraper was at their left. Still, no Sinister showed up in any of their surroundings as the soldiers were carrying their guns while they prepared to attack. Everyone began to incorporate into the main street until they commenced to see strange defects on the avenue’s skyscrapers. Some of them had their windows broken, while others had their facade partially burned; something had happened there. At the end of the long and wide street, they could see the tallest skyscraper in the whole city as it was being illuminated by the midday sunrays. It was Masontazia’s building that was at the center of a circular area that was entirely flat. It looked amazingly superior as if it was the center of the universe. The huge group kept walking through the streets while they saw the damaged buildings until suddenly, they discovered that the front part of The Explorer was resting horizontally in front of them, while its second piece was a few meters away inside the avenue. Everyone began to stop walking as they saw the amazing scene. They still had no idea of what had happened, but they surely knew that it had to do with Ormac and the other fifteen soldiers. As Krusarc, Luscus, and Farsofia grabbed their guns at the front of the group, hundreds of Sinisters began to come out of the transversal alleys at the back of the ship’s corpse. They were extremely angry and nervous at the same time because they began to discover that the Razarians carried guns and the occiders were with them. Out of the huge crowd at both sides of The Explorer’s front part, Capet walked into the light and stood in front of his army before he spoke.

“This was the result of a group of slaves that tried to intervene with our plans of conquering the galaxy. Take one more step and you will have the same destiny as them,” said the Sinister as he looked at all the Razarian soldiers with his cold and huge eye. The entire monster army was still at Capet’s back while they were ready to follow orders. “The only one that will have their same destiny will be your people after we kill the queen and show our dominance over you,” said Luscus with courage as he charged his gun indiscreetly while all the group did the same. Surely, the boy had the potential to become what his father once was, a perfect general. Capet responded by looking back with his angry and cold eye before he spoke. “We will see who falls first,” said the Sinister mockingly as he began to walk away and gave the order to attack. In a matter of seconds, the entire Sinister army began to rush toward the Razarians just as the occiders did in the opposite way. A huge battle between both flocks began as the Razarians showed superiority for the first time. It didn’t matter how many bullets there had to be used to kill a Sinister. The soldiers fired as fast as they could to win. The occiders also attacked the enemy as they mostly damaged the Sinisters. The animals were unstoppable. They fought with no mercy and massacred the insects savagely as blood covered the scene. Thankfully, none of the Razarians had been killed at that moment, but the monsters were being annihilated with quickness. Krusarc was also there, shooting the enemy with no mercy just as his friend and Farsofia. Unluckily, Luscus had lost vision of his father’s gun, so he was fighting with another pistol. Despite his nostalgia at the moment, the boy was one of the most violent Razarians in the battle. As the fight kept on going for a moment, the Sinisters also fought back trying to kill their enemy, but all their effort was in vain; they were being massacred brutally. The battle continued for some more minutes until a strange roar came from a horn at the other side of the street, making the Sinisters stop fighting and run away toward the tallest skyscraper. Obviously, they knew what was about to come next. “Yeah, keep running, you fools!” shouted Farsofia with emotion as she was extremely proud that they had killed most of their army and they were still complete. Krusarc wasn’t so sure that they were running with cowardice. He thought that the Sinisters were actually trying to protect themselves from something. As the entire army of Razarians and occiders saw the bunch of enemy corpses that lay dead on the ground, they heard a huge explosion coming

from the bottom of a building at the end of the street while flames burst out from its first floor. The entire group stepped back with fear as they saw how the sky burned on flames until suddenly, the unexpected occurred. The skyscraper that had fire coming out from the bottom began to tilt toward the street to crash with the ground and leave a huge wall between the Razarians and Masontazia’s building. Of course, this was made on purpose now that Capet had taken extremely seriously what the queen said; if it was necessary, they had to burn the city down. As Krusarc saw how this occurred, he began to feel nervous while his paranoid mind thought about Antoria. They had to act now if he wanted to arrive in time at the other side. “Run!” shouted Krusarc at the top of his lungs as he began to rush at the speed of light through the street to below the falling building to the other side. All the group commenced to run as he ordered, while Volu and the rest of the occiders followed the soldiers. It was an intense moment while all the people ed near The Explorer’s corpse to arrive safe and sound at the other side of the tilting building. The skyscraper’s windows began to break from bottom to top as the outer columns cracked uncontrollably. They had to run faster if they wanted to cross to the other side. As every Razarian and occider ran at the speed of light, the building began to collide with the skyscraper it had at the front. It was an amazing scene, but the people had no time to ire such show. In a matter of seconds, they were finally below the falling building as Krusarc felt extremely brave. He was willing to do anything to save Antoria. Adrenalin flowed through the group’s veins while the building was about to fall over them. As an act of a miracle, they crossed the skyscraper safe and sound before the building finally collapsed to the ground, making a loud noise, and a lot of dust flew to the air. Krusarc, Luscus, Farsofia, and the rest of the Razarians stopped running and crouched to breathe normally. They were extremely exhausted and coughed uncontrollably as the white dust covered the scene. While they felt victorious of not seeing any Sinister around, the group of people began to stand up normally with a victorious smile as the occiders acted weirdly. All the beasts were snarling loudly at the fallen building while they were in attack position. Volu was also doing the same as it knew that something dangerous was below the rubble and was trying to come out. While all the Razarians saw the occiders with curiosity, they began to point their guns at the bottom of the building, but there was a problem—the white dust was still covering their sight in the shape of a dense spreading fog.

Krusarc was also pointing his gun at the white cloud until something unexpected made all the soldiers shake in fear. Out of the bottom of the building between the dense and white fog, an acute and loud shout froze the soul of the Razarians before several Coiters began to run at the group to freeze them. The explosion that made the building fall provoked the collapse of the surface floor, leaving space for all the ice monsters to use the rubble as a ramp and come up to the exterior. They were now free. All the soldiers began to fire while they were extremely scared. No Sinister had appeared yet, and the Razarians, for sure, were as afraid as them. Krusarc, Luscus, and Farsofia were also shooting at the Coiters as the bullets collided with the ice monsters and made them fall dead into pieces. As more and more creatures shouted acutely in emergence, the occiders also began to attack, but sadly, some of them were frozen, thanks to them who were in the short range where the monsters could do so. Krusarc could see how tens of Coiters were still running up the rubble ramp toward their direction, while Volu stood at his right as his pet prepared to defend him. The boy kept shooting with no mercy while Masontazia’s building was at their back. Suddenly, out of the ice monster attack, a Coiter began to run directly toward Krusarc with intentions of freezing him, but sadly, the boy wasn’t aiming at it correctly. The terrifying creature was a few meters away from him. It was just extending his claw to freeze the boy as Krusarc began to see his life before his eyes. He needed a miracle to be saved. Volu immediately jumped at the Coiter to save the only person he truly loved. As a loyal friend and companion, the occider was willing to do everything to protect him. The beast grabbed the ice monster by the neck using his razor teeth and made the creature fall backward toward the floor. Once the Coiter was lying on the ground, Volu was about to finish with its miserable life until sadly, the ice monster lifted his claw and scratched the occider on the left part of its chest. In an instant, Volu was petrified in the black ice that marked the eternal crystallization of the poor occider, the one that had accompanied Krusarc from the beginning of his journey. This scene was an emotional roller coaster for the boy because just when he thought that everything was going to be fine, the table turned around. He could see how Volu was covered in the dark transparent ice while tears rolled down Krusarc’s face in extreme anger and pain. The boy began to the first time he met Volu; Antoria’s mother presented it as a gift while it was still a puppy and acted with such innocence to the world. Krusarc commenced to see how the Coiter began to stand up to face his first objective. He was about to run toward Krusarc again. Full of pain and agony, the

boy began to shoot at the monster’s head as burning tears rolled down his face while they asked for mercy. Krusarc had been through the death of many people he loved; he was extremely damaged. As the Coiter was shot in the head by thousands of green lasers, it exploded in millions of ice pieces as it was now dead. Immediately, Krusarc felt satisfaction as he saw the body of the decapitated Coiter resting aside frozen Volu, who was still standing up. While this happened, Farsofia saw the scene from not so far away as she also fought the ice monsters. The commander could see how several tears fell down the boy’s face as his expression represented fury and his eyes were covered in flames. Krusarc had transformed into an evil version of himself. As the drops kept rolling through the red crust in Krusarc’s cheeks, the commander shouted. “Luscus, Krusarc, get inside the building and look for Antoria. We will contain the rest of the Coiters here. Be careful!” shouted Farsofia as she kept shooting at the ice monsters. Both friends turned at each other with a brave face from not so far away and began to run toward Masontazia’s building as they carried their weapons. Gunshots could be heard at their back, while the two boys ran up the stairs into the building. They had to murder the queen and rescue Antoria, but first of all, the most powerful weapon in the entire universe had to be found—the gun that could kill Masontazia.

CHAPTER 10

I Wish You Were Here

Both boys kept running up the stairs into the skyscraper as they could still hear the shootings at their back. Farsofia, the Razarians, and the occiders fought the Coiters as never before. The commander had everything under control as she hoped that Krusarc and Luscus could finish their duty safe and sound. Finally, both teens entered the building through the glass doors and observed their surroundings. No Sinisters showed around the scene. The first floor was only inhabited by some big brownish pots that accommodated some colorful flowers. While the two boys pointed with their guns at every direction, they finally realized that they were alone. “If you were the queen, where would you keep this gun safe?” asked Luscus as he lowered his gun to speak correctly with Krusarc. The boy did the same and turned around to see his friend before he spoke. “If I was this bitch, I would probably keep the gun near my sight with at least two guards protecting it,” said Krusarc seriously as he had an angry look. Luscus couldn’t recognize his friend; he had transformed into another person, a much more hostile and aggressive one. “You are right, but we are in a thousand-story building. It will take the entire day for us to find it,” said Luscus disappointed before Krusarc continued. “That’s the issue that has me worried. I would like to guess that the weapon is being protected in one of the last floors … You know, the skyscraper has a huge oval balcony at the top. Maybe that is where Antoria is, so the gun should be below that floor,” guessed the boy wisely before he turned to Luscus with a weird smile. Then he followed. “I hope you are right. Do you have your gun charged? We have to go now,” said Luscus emotively before he recharged his gun. Krusarc confirmed with his head,

and both of them began to walk toward the crystal lifting cage to elevate toward destination. Both of them got inside and saw the huge button rows that were stuck to the wall in numerical order. There were one thousand levels, so Luscus decided to press the button that took to the nine-hundred-ninety-ninth floor. In a matter of seconds, the cage began to rise quickly through the building while the teens stood patiently. Through the crystal walls, they could see several rectangular lights stuck vertically to the outer walls that illuminated the scene. As they waited quietly through the journey, Krusarc had a sad face while he thought about Volu. His life companion and best friend had gone forever in the hands of the creatures that were meant to kill their worst enemy of all time, Masontazia. As the boy kept thinking of his miserable life, Luscus saw him from behind as he was impressed about how tall Krusarc had become. He was now the size of a Sinister and had turned out to get really strong despite the lack of food in jail. A few moments after getting inside the elevator, the cage finally stopped, and both teens came out onto the floor with their weapons raised. They were ready to attack. As they pointed everywhere with their steel guns, both of them snuck into the room with hopes of not finding anyone. As they wished, they were also alone inside the chamber, so they lowered down their weapons, and Luscus spoke. “Well, I can bet that the weapon is not here,” said the boy while he was kind of disappointed until he noticed that Krusarc was staring at an image that hung from the wall. The boy stood amazed as he saw the photograph with his mouth open. It was a portrait of a man that looked just as a Razarian but had a beard and long hair. The man’s eyes were a little stretched, and his skin was gray as the moon. Curiously, the guy wore a very elegant vestment while he posed alone for the painting. He sat down in a chair, and the landscape that surrounded him was a white room. Luscus also felt curious about seeing the rectangular painting, so he got near and stepped by Krusarc’s side to ire it with more clarity. It was surely a mysterious image until one of the boys discovered that there was a signature at the lower right corner that showed the name of the guy. “Zeta,” read Krusarc as he observed carefully the black ink signature. Then Luscus continued. “Who is that guy?” asked the boy with a weird tone as he kept seeing the portrait. Without intentions of discovering the container, Luscus looked down and found a small wooden box that rested on the floor, just below the man’s portrait. Curiously, the boy took a few steps to the front,

crouched down, and opened the old container, while Krusarc looked at him. They weren’t actually expecting to find the mighty charm inside the box, but they got surprised when they found out what it contained. At the left side of the container, a weird-looking necklace stood lonely, while at the right, a piece of paper contained some notes. Luscus grabbed the sheet and read out loud. “Keep safe and away from the Morferos or any other species with thirst for power,” said the boy before he stopped to discover that there was something written in smaller letters below what he had just read. “Stone of eternal life, house of the shadows, and key to the five hells,” read the boy at last, and both friends had no idea what it meant. Just to make the scene more confusing, Luscus turned the paper around and saw something extremely bizarre. It seemed to be some sort of map, but it was extremely disorganized. Thousands of paths were drawn on the piece of paper, and the two boys had no idea of what it was. Shortly after, Luscus turned slightly to the left to ire the necklace. It was a small white diamond-shaped charm that had a magic tone to it. The object was attached to a black and extremely thin rope that would be used to wrap around someone’s neck. “Well, Sinisters don’t know how to read,” said Luscus with a mocking laugh before grabbing the necklace from the box and tying it around his neck. Immediately, the word “Morfero” came up again to Krusarc’s mind until he was distracted by the following. With many questions, the boy began to observe the rest of the room as he noticed that all the walls were covered with different pictures of men. Every guy posed the same way as Zeta, and they kind of looked the same; they were all Vieturs. Krusarc and Luscus were amazed as they wandered around the room. Each white wall carried several portraits of people, and they noticed that the wall that faced the elevator carried a damaged image. Both teens approximated the portrait with curiosity now that it was the only broken one. With the intention of trying to see the picture with more detail, Krusarc dropped his gun and pulled up the image’s scratches so they could be rearranged. The picture was partially fixed while the boy was still pushing the photo’s filaments back in place. It was a man that posed in the same way as everyone else, but this time, he had a facial expression that transmitted preoccupation, anxiety, frustration, and repression. “What does it say in the signature?” asked Luscus while he saw the portrait with curiosity. Krusarc suddenly pulled his arms down as the image’s fibers disarmed

from position. The boy got near the lower right corner of the image and read. “His name was Epsilon,” said Krusarc with a weird tone as he asked himself why it was the only portrait with scratches on it. With a lot of curiosity, the boy asked. “What happened to this portrait? Why is it the only image that is scratched out of all the others?” questioned the boy as he piked the gun up. Then his friend answered. “Epsilon … isn’t he the one that created Masontazia? I can’t find another reason why the image is like that,” said the boy with an intriguing tone. Immediately, everything made sense to Krusarc—the queen was so angry that she ripped the portrait of her creator after finding out that he wanted to kill her. The two boys were still standing in the middle of the room. “You are completely right. We are standing in the middle of all the portraits of the Vieturs that were professionals in creating life … Can you imagine? This species was responsible of everything we know, and thanks to Masontazia, the hope of creating more life vanished with the death of all these people,” said Krusarc as he stared with a disappointed look at the images. Luscus was also seeing the scene with a tense look as he had a lot of anxiety. The boy was extremely paranoid because he didn’t know if the Sinisters had already noticed their presence. “Krusarc, we should go to the floor below. I’m sure that the gun is there. We might want to hurry up. Antoria may be extremely desperate,” said Luscus with concern before both of them walked toward the elevator as they left the historical scene behind. They arrived at the lifting cage and pushed a button to make the crystal gates slide open. The two boys got in, and Luscus pushed the control below the floor they were before the gates closed and it began to descend slowly. In an instant, both of them raised their guns, and the doors opened back to reveal that two Sinisters were talking with each other as they still didn’t know that the two boys were there. At the back of the monsters, there was a big steel gray wall that had a closed circular gate with a pad stuck to it. Surely, the gun was behind it. Without thinking, Krusarc shot one of the Sinisters in the head with several lasers before it immediately exploded, covering the companion’s face with blue blood. As the monster was completely traumatized while he saw the decapitated Sinister’s corpse lying on the floor, he turned around and saw Krusarc rushing quickly out of the elevator with a very angry

look while he pointed his gun toward him. “Please don’t hurt me …” supplicated the Sinister while he lowered his head down. Krusarc was just right next to the monster, and he had the gun’s end resting on the head of his opponent. Luscus was amazed of what his eyes were seeing. He was still walking out of the elevator with his mouth open. The boy had never seen Krusarc with such aggressiveness and overpotentness. “Shut up!” shouted Krusarc with an angry look as he pushed the gun’s end further into the Sinister’s head. Although the monster couldn’t express any facial emotion, some frustrated noises came from the deepest part of its soul; he was extremely terrorized. “Do you know the damn ?” asked the boy aggressively while he had adrenaline all over his body. Then the Sinister answered. “Yes, I know it,” said the monster as he stuttered with fear. Immediately, Krusarc raised his gun from the Sinister’s head and stepped back as he hadn’t aimed away. “Type it,” ordered the boy aggressively as Luscus was still observing the scene. He was extremely afraid of Krusarc. He had never seen him with that attitude. His friend’s eyes burned in flames while the red crust was now about to finish covering his entire face, which only made him look more frightening. Right away, as Krusarc ordered, the Sinister began to push the numbers on the pad with hurriedness when suddenly, the circular gate opened toward them automatically as it revealed the inside of the room. Overpotently, Krusarc immediately shot the Sinister in the head as he saw that the gate was already opened. Luscus got near the circular aperture and saw the interior of the room. All the walls were covered in white marble planks, while the roof was a light that illuminated the cylindrical pedestal in the middle of the place. At the top of the steel base, the gun rested in all its glory while both friends saw it with amazement; it was truly a celestial weapon. The gun was a type of small silver cannon that had a wide aperture at the end. It could be carried as a normal Razarian gun while it was made of steel. Thankfully, they had found the most powerful weapon in the entire universe. Their next step was to rescue Antoria, but, first, they had to go through Masontazia’s claws to do so.

CHAPTER 11

Revenant

As they saw the celestial weapon with amazed eyes, Krusarc immediately got inside the room and grabbed the cannon with one hand as he carried his gun with the other one. The majestic weapon was kind of heavy. It had a lot of details; it looked incredibly sophisticated. Luscus was still in the outside of the room as he saw curiously what Krusarc did. The boy saw the weapon with a smile now that it was the only thing that could save them from an imminent insect incubation. It was time to act if they wanted to rescue Antoria in time. As Krusarc kept iring the gun with impacted eyes, Luscus spoke. “So … should we go now to rescue Antoria?” asked the boy enthusiastically as he still saw his friend with curious eyes. Immediately, Krusarc turned around and saw him with a strange smile before he spoke. “I think you are the one that has to kill the queen. I don’t feel capable of doing so if I will be only thinking about rescuing Antoria,” requested the boy as he extended his arm to give Luscus the celestial cannon. He was actually very surprised about what Krusarc had requested. Luscus would be delighted to kill Masontazia to avenge all the people that died by her fault. With a brave smile, the boy entered the room and grabbed the gun from his friend’s hand before he spoke. “Krusarc, if I die up there, I want to tell you that you are the best friend I ever had. All we went through, all the memories, really make me feel as if you were my brother,” said Luscus with a brave look. He was actually kind of emotional because he knew that they were surely going to sacrifice themselves for the rest of the Razarians. “Good friends never leave each other,” answered Krusarc with courage before he smacked hands with his life companion. The boy was also kind of thinking that both of them were not going to come out of the scene alive. The two teens stared

at each other with a brave look and stepped out of the room toward the elevator. Krusarc pushed a button, the crystal gates opened, and they got in. Immediately, Luscus stepped facing the button rows as he saw carefully the last one. It marked the thousandth floor. The boy thought that pressing it would take them directly to hell. As he felt brave, Luscus pushed the button, and the elevator began to ascend toward the last floor of the skyscraper where, surely, at least one of them was going to lose their life in the hands of Masontazia. While both friends stood quiet in the elevator, they could see how the cage lifted quickly when suddenly, it began to lose speed and stopped on the last floor. Their mouths were as dry as the desert while their hearts were beating at the speed of light. It was an intense and anxious moment for both of them. In a matter of seconds, the crystal gates opened, and the two friends snuck out into the room with their guns raised. As Luscus carried the celestial cannon with courage, both of them saw the opened room that revealed the oval balcony that was suspended in the air by the same building. There was no one inside the place. The only thing that could be heard was the wind that flew firmly into the building while it warned them about the danger they were in. As both of them began to stop walking in a crouched position, Krusarc and Luscus lowered their guns before the boy spoke. “This is literally what I least expected. They are not here,” said Luscus disappointed as he couldn’t believe it. Krusarc was about to answer until the floor began to shake with the rhythm of several footsteps that approached the scene. The rumble came from a hallway at the left side of the room’s back part, just behind the elevator. It was obvious, Masontazia was walking toward the scene as she was accompanied by Capet, who talked extremely nervously. Immediately, the two boys began to feel paranoid as they had no idea what to do. The only possible thing was to hide and wait for the perfect moment to attack. As they began to look around the room in full desperation, they found out that near the elevator, one tall and thick flower pot at each side stood as an ornament; it was the perfect place to hide. Masontazia’s steps became louder and louder until both Razarians ran toward the individual pots and got inside to hide themselves. In a rush, they finally buried their bodies inside the empty clay containers and waited for the perfect sign to come out. Masontazia and Capet were already in the middle of the room before they stopped walking to continue their talk. “The Coiters are now outside of the building. They are fighting the slaves, and it

seems that the monsters won’t last long. After the Razarians finish killing all the Coiters, the rest of the Sinisters will come out of the nearby buildings and will proceed to attack. There is no way we are losing this battle. They will surely surrender,” said Capet with a nervous tone as he hoped to be correct. He was still standing at the queen’s side until she spoke. “So there is no way anyone can get inside the building?” asked Masontazia with a firm tone as both boys heard the conversation from inside the empty flower pots. “Absolutely impossible, I may say. Even though we are totally safe, two guards are supervising the weapon,” answered Capet without knowing that Luscus and Krusarc were inside the room and they had the celestial gun. The scene stood quiet for a moment while Masontazia breathed quickly as if she was sniffing the air. She could smell the Razarian odor from not a long distance, but after hearing what Capet told her, she stopped sniffing and listened. “One question, my queen, how are you going to incubate an egg inside the girl if there wasn’t any previous mating?” questioned Capet before Masontazia gasped. “I have told you a hundred times, I kept an egg save for when it was necessary to use it. I won’t live forever. I may not even see the finalization of The Colonizer. That’s why we need another queen,” said the Sinister with superiority as she had cleared all Capet’s questions. Both boys were amazed while they heard the conversation from the inside of the pots when suddenly, something happened. Krusarc’s legs were in extreme pain now that the boy was crouching in an uncomfortable position. As he tried to accommodate himself back into a normal stance, the boy lost equilibrium and lay on one side of the pot, making it fall down into pieces. The loud noise of the shattering brown clay made the Sinister’s conversation stop as they turned back to see what had happened. Immediately, Luscus stood up from his hiding place to see the scene, and furiously, Masontazia discovered that two Razarians were inside the building. “So we are totally safe, aren’t we?” asked the queen coldly before Capet looked back at her. Out of nowhere, Masontazia opened her mouth and ripped the Sinister’s head off in total madness as if Capet didn’t have any value to the queen anymore. The monster’s decapitated body fell dead on the ground, and the queen spat his head out before running toward the boys to kill them. Krusarc and Luscus could see this as Masontazia approximated the scene with a furious and

cold look. Immediately, the boy that carried the celestial cannon jumped out of the pot and aimed at the queen to kill her while Krusarc was still standing up. With an amazed look, Masontazia stopped running seconds after she discovered that Luscus had the mighty weapon. The queen was petrified in fear because she knew that her life was in danger. With his heart full of adrenaline, Krusarc began to shout his love’s name to find her. There were several doors stuck to the walls; Antoria was surely at the back of one of them. “Antoria!” shouted Krusarc as high as he could before coming out of the scene from Masontazia’s left. The queen didn’t pay attention to the running boy, thanks to the only thing she could think of, which was the celestial cannon. The queen was still standing up, waiting for Luscus to shoot so she could dodge it and attack afterward. In a matter of seconds, what she had predicted occurred, and the boy pulled the trigger before an electric purple cannon ball came out of the gun toward Masontazia’s chest. Immediately, the queen dodged her death, and the bullet continued flying toward the roof when suddenly, it exploded. After this occurred, Masontazia began to rush toward Luscus to kill him, but thankfully, the boy began to run away as a persecution began. While this intense nonsense was taking place, Krusarc was still shouting the name of his loved one as he was extremely desperate to find her. He could only listen to Masontazia’s fast footsteps while several electric cannon balls were shot and dodged by the queen seconds before they exploded in the roof. The entire ceiling was breaking apart when even more and more explosions cracked the concave roof. Krusarc was extremely paranoid as he knocked on each door. Finding his lovebird was the thing that he most wanted in the whole world. The boy breathed heavily while he sweated in frustration and confusion until suddenly, Antoria’s voice was heard at the back of the door on his right. She was in pure agony as the girl couldn’t open the gate; it was locked. Krusarc was now standing at the left wall of the huge room, in front of a door, while the epic fight between Masontazia and Luscus was still going on when the boy spoke. “Antoria, I’m right here!” shouted Krusarc desperately as he tried to pull the handle down to open the door; it was impossible. “Krusarc, I can’t open the door. Please let me out,” suffered the girl as her tears could be imagined rolling down her cheeks. Krusarc was extremely frustrated and desperate. He couldn’t even think correctly, so he decided to break the handle to let his loved one out. With the back of the gun he was carrying, the boy

began to punch the handle with all his strength as he stared at it with a furious look. After a few punches, the steel handle finally fell off in pieces, and Krusarc shouted. “Try to open it. It should work now!” shouted the boy, hoping that he was correct. As this occurred, Luscus was still shooting at the queen as he ran from her. Unfortunately, Masontazia always dodged the electric cannon balls and was about to reach him. The two of them kept running in circles, while Antoria still tried to open the door; it was stuck. “I can’t open it. It’s still locked,” cried the girl as she had no idea what to do. Krusarc was in the same problem as his lovebird. He had run out of ideas in the moment of frustration and desperation. The boy had only one choice. “Antoria, get away from the door. I’m going to take it down!” shouted Krusarc as he walked back to run as fast as he could. Immediately, the girl walked in tears away from the door and waited for the next thing to happen. In full adrenalin and anger, Krusarc began to run toward the gate as he shouted until he collided with the wooden door, making it fall to the floor. A loud crack made the gate fall to the ground while the boy was lying on the door. “Are you all right?” asked Antoria extremely worried as she ran toward Krusarc, who was still standing up. “Yes, everything is fine,” said the boy with a smile while he saw his lovebird. Krusarc had drastically changed. From the harassing monster he had transformed after Volu’s death, the boy was now the teen that had met Antoria for the first time. His rage had dramatically escaped from his body as he could see the girl’s eyes with love. Suddenly, Antoria approached Krusarc and gave him a kiss that he would never forget. The boy felt relieved as Krusarc finally realized that he had saved his lovebird. In a moment of love and ion, the two parakeets heard another blast in the roof before Luscus shouted in pain; he had tripped. Immediately, Krusarc stopped kissing his lovebird and stood up at the speed of light to see what was going on. The boy ran out of the room and saw that Luscus was lying on the floor as he pushed himself away from the walking Sinister that approached him with a killing desire. Masontazia had already what she wanted. Luscus’s death was totally necessary to continue with her plans. As she did with everyone else, the queen crouched

toward the boy and grabbed him between his waist to pick him up and take him near her head. The boy still carried the celestial cannon while he saw Masontazia’s enormous eyes with tears rolling down his face; he knew that his time had arrived. The queen finally got Luscus in front of her face and began to open her mouth so she could rip the boy’s head off. Krusarc and Antoria could see the scene from not so far away Masontazia’s back until a tear escaped from the boy’s right eye; he couldn’t believe that he was about to see his friend die. Finally, the queen completely opened her mouth and ripped Luscus’s head off as blood came out of everywhere. She was now victorious. “No!” shouted Krusarc in total pain before the queen dropped his friend’s body to the ground. She knew that once again, her plans were going to be followed perfectly. With an impulsive attitude, Masontazia turned back and began to walk toward the two lovebirds that saw the scene with tears. They knew that they were the next ones to die. Immediately, Krusarc began to fire at the queen with his gun while he saw the green lasers bounce off Masontazia’s white exoskeleton. It was useless. The queen kept walking slowly toward both teens as she saw them with her cold and huge eyes. Antoria cried as never before while she knew that Krusarc was about to die a weak man in front of her eyes. The boy was still shooting bravely at Masontazia with hopes of damaging her. He didn’t want to die in front of Antoria because he knew her life would be miserable right after that. Here is where the story ends. All the Razarian dynasty, everything they fought for, all the thousands of deaths were in vain as Masontazia resembled the most powerful creature in the whole galaxy, able to change the course of two powerful species. As the queen was a few meters away from the two parakeets, a voice came out from her back. “Over my dead body, bitch!” shouted Luscus from behind while he lay on the floor with the celestial gun in his left hand. Luckily, the boy predicted when the queen was going to rip his head off, so when she was about to do it, he moved away, and instead of decapitating him, his right arm took its place. Immediately, the two lovebirds turned amazed at Luscus, who was still a few meters away from Masontazia’s back. He rested above a huge blood puddle that came out of his amputated right extremity. The queen began to turn around to see if what she had heard was true; her nightmare was back. When Masontazia was fully looking at Luscus, the boy pulled the cannon’s trigger, and the ball flew toward the queen’s chest as fast as lightning. With no time to focus on what was going on, the cannon ball went through the

queen’s upper trunk and made a huge hole in it where blue blood began to come out. Masontazia already knew that she had failed as a queen and as a galaxy conqueror. Her time to leave the world had arrived. Luscus was extremely weak, thanks to all the blood he had lost. So the boy fainted, about to die. Krusarc was unimaginably worried about his friend, so he didn’t pay attention to what was nearly going to happen. As the queen was collapsing toward the two lovebirds, out of nowhere, Antoria pushed Krusarc roughly away from the scene, and the boy face planted to the ground before a loud noise was heard. Masontazia was already lying on the ground. The boy was still really worried about his friend, but he wasn’t so sure why Antoria had pushed him in that way; he actually got hurt. While Krusarc gave his back to Masontazia’s corpse, he asked. “Why did you push me in that way? We have to save Luscus. He is bleeding out …” said the boy when he finally stood up and turned around to discover that Antoria wasn’t there. It was extremely odd and perturbing. The only thing that could be seen in the scene was Masontazia’s and Capet’s corpses, while Luscus was bleeding out in front of the elevator. The girl had disappeared mysteriously. “Antoria!” shouted Krusarc curiously as he was extremely desperate. He didn’t know where she was. The boy began to walk around the scene looking for her as he could only see how more and more blood came out from Luscus’s amputated arm; he was surely going to die. “Antoria!” kept shouting the boy as he was extremely frustrated. He began to walk nearby Masontazia’s corpse while the boy saw it. The huge and white Sinister lay on the ground while she still had her cold eyes opened. The boy hated her. There are no words to explain how disgusted he felt before the queen’s corpse. If Luscus happened to be unlucky enough to die, at least his life wasn’t going to be taken in vain. As he walked and saw the corpse with anger, Krusarc found something in the Sinister’s body that took his attention. Masontazia wasn’t totally resting on the ground; it was as if something was below her. That made the boy pretty curious about what was going on, but thanks to the amount of thoughts and blood that couldn’t stop spinning inside his head, he wasn’t able to fully pay attention to the detail. He kept on walking with anxiety as he shouted his beloved’s name, looking back at his bleeding friend that was already taking a bath in his own blood. Suddenly, while Krusarc walked around the queen with a knot in his stomach, he kicked a steady object whose surface was soft enough to not belong to Masontazia’s body. Immediately, the boy turned to the floor and saw something that made his heart stop. It was Antoria’s arm that came out from

below the queen’s body. She had been crushed by the unimaginable weight of the Sinister seconds after the girl saved his life. Everything made sense now— Antoria pushed Krusarc away as Masontazia’s body was falling toward them. The girl gave her life to save the person she most loved. Krusarc couldn’t believe what was happening. Everyone he loved was now dead, and he was responsible for it. Tears loaded with incomprehensible amounts of pain and suffering began to come out of his eyes as he could barely breathe, thanks to the extreme sadness inside his heart. The boy began to crouch to the ground with his eyes closed as he grabbed Antoria’s hand; it was the only thing that could be seen from her. Pain began to crush Krusarc’s heart as he couldn’t it that the two persons he mostly loved in the world were gone. More and more tears began to come out of his yellow eyeballs while the entire room was drowned by his shouting; they could even be heard up to the first floor of the building. He could the first time he met her; Antoria didn’t fully accept him at first sight, but back on Misr on his birthday party, she finally conceded him a kiss. He could also when he first met Luscus in the Bellatorian market; they began their relationship immediately after that. Shouting kept flooding the entire scene as his lovebird and best friend were gone. A massive headache struck the boy’s mind as it increased with his sorrow and shoutings; it felt like as if it was about explode. By now, something inside the boy had broken; he would not be the same person ever again. As lovebirds usually do when their partner dies, the old Krusarc had committed suicide to welcome the new one. A cloud of darkness began to come out of his heart as it spread across his entire body, opening a new door that many individuals would’ve liked to stay shut forever. While pain kept drowning Krusarc toward his renovation, Farsofia and other three soldiers arrived from the elevator to discover the massacre while the only one standing was the suffering boy. As the commander couldn’t believe what had happened, she began to think of all the options she had to save Luscus and Antoria from dying.

CHAPTER 12

Despite All

The bloody scene was covered in Krusarc’s tears as Farsofia and the three soldiers stared at the room with amazed eyes. They were kind of relieved that the queen had died but felt extremely sorry for their farce. They were surely willing to do everything to save the lives of the two individuals. As Krusarc kept crying with pain in his heart, the commander fully entered the scene and crouched near Luscus before she rested her two fingers on the boy’s neck to feel his pulsations. The beats were still going but seemed really weak. Luscus had lost a high percentage of his blood. “I’ll take him down toward The Explorer. Meet me there with Antoria’s body and try to make Krusarc calm down. I really hope the reconstruction beds are still working,” said Farsofia with hope before the three soldiers began to run toward Krusarc, who was still crouching next to Antoria’s arm. As the commander stood on the blood puddle around Luscus, she picked the boy up with all her strength while her hands were now covered with the red liquid. Luscus’s amputated arm was still draining all the blood out of his body while he was being carried as a princess by the commander. Farsofia stood up completely and pushed the elevator’s button with her elbow before the doors slid open and got inside as she still carried the boy. While this happened, Krusarc was bawling at the back of Masontazia’s body while Antoria’s arm came right from below it. Suddenly, the three soldiers arrived. “You have to move away,” said one of the guards politely while he tried to move him out of the scene. Krusarc rejected every attempt of separating him from his lovebird. He cried as never before while the tears kept rolling down the red crust on his cheeks. In full desperation of following Farsofia’s order, a soldier grabbed Krusarc from his armpits and pulled him away from the scene so that the other two guards could take the girl’s body out from below Masontazia’s corpse. Tears and shouting could be heard hatching from the boy’s desperation while the soldiers dragged Antoria out as they used her arm.

“No!” shouted the boy in full madness while he was still being immobilized by the soldier that grabbed his armpits. In an attempt full of strength and courage, the two guards finally pulled her out with a quick and aggressive move. Antoria was now lying on the white marble as the people had full visibility of her. She looked like a dead angel with closed eyes while blood came out from her mouth, nose, and ears as if her skull had been broken. Immediately after seeing such atrocity, Krusarc let go from the soldier’s hands and approached the body in a crouched position as he began to hug her with pain and suffering. Once again, the same guard rushed toward the boy and picked him up from the armpits as he kept shouting in agony. Krusarc couldn’t it that the person he most loved in the world had died. “Pick her up. We have to take her to The Explorer to meet the commander. The Sinisters should be surrendering by now,” ordered one of the soldiers with pity before the other Razarian guards obeyed. Krusarc’s agony shouts could be heard in all the room as everything he perceived either was blurry or had echo; his brain couldn’t react to such pain. The boy saw how a soldier picked up Antoria like a princess and began to walk toward the elevator with hurry. Immediately, Krusarc stopped shouting, and his tears began to roll down his cheeks with silence before he was let go by the guard. The boy stood up and began to walk toward the elevator with the other three soldiers and the girl’s corpse. It was an extremely depressing scene. As they approached the lifting cage, Krusarc looked back to see the room and saw the corpses of the two Sinisters that provoked all this. Surely, their death didn’t mark the end of their story. While he still observed Masontazia’s and Capet’s bodies, he discovered that Antoria’s room was still there with the door open. He felt curious of revisiting the place afterward, but the only thing he could really think about was his lovebird’s life. The elevator arrived without asking for it, and the group of Razarians got in. Previously, Farsofia had pushed the last floor’s button after coming out of the cage so it wouldn’t take so long to arrive. A soldier pressed the switch for the first floor, and the elevator began to descend quickly while Krusarc saw Antoria’s body with tears. Pity, pain, agony, frustration, and all the other ripping emotions were invading the boy at the moment; he just couldn’t deal with such depression. After a few seconds that felt eternal, the cage arrived at the first floor, and the group of Razarians came out of the elevator into the room. They walked all the way through the lobby and stepped outside of the building where they could see a biblical scenery. The collapsed building still rested across the street, while the concrete field was full with Coiter and Sinister corpses. Some

soldiers and of Masontazia’s army were standing there as the Razarians pointed their guns at the surrendered enemy. They had no other destiny than to follow what the farce wanted. Krusarc saw all the people with depressed eyes as they ired him with respect. The Sinisters didn’t seem to care seeing their queen’s murderer walk by because of their death threat. Krusarc and the Razarian soldiers walked through the pantheon as they were seen by everyone that surrounded them. The soldiers were impressed that the princess was dead. After a few moments of walking down the field, they arrived at a parallel street just at the left of the main avenue where the collapsed building still covered the entrance. The walk of shame made Krusarc feel extremely depressed as he knew that everyone saw him with pity. Seconds flew with the cold wind when the group of Razarians had already crossed the parallel street until they found a transversal alley to get inside the main avenue. They began to walk through it while they saw that the concrete floor was partially covered with blood; surely, it was Luscus’s. Finally, they arrived at the main boulevard and saw the back of The Explorer in front of them while the front part of the ship was a few meters away. With nostalgia and hope, Krusarc and the three soldiers began to walk nearby the ship’s end while a guard still carried Antoria like a princess. Depressingly, the boy looked at the ground as they followed the blood prints that took them to the front of The Explorer. To breathe correctly for the first time after the crying hiccups, Krusarc looked up and saw the rotatory jail at the end of the street. It looked beautiful while the sunrays still illuminated the silver structure. Finally, they arrived at the ship’s boarding door, which was thankfully opened. The Explorer was kind of tilted to the right so the soldiers could easily get in. As they still followed Luscus’s blood prints, Krusarc and the three guards entered the ship and saw that its interior was being illuminated by some flashing lights on the roof. It seemed that part of the battery was still working. The floor, roof, and walls of that deck were entirely carbonized, thanks to the huge explosion that came out of Antoria’s room. In a matter of seconds, the group began to walk down the stairs and arrived at the hospital where they found out that Farsofia was standing a few meters away from the reconstruction mattress where Luscus was being revived; actually, he was about to be saved. At the front of the bed where the boy was being repaired was another mattress, but sadly, it didn’t work; they had to wait until Luscus’s operation could be finalized. Krusarc was still there. The room’s lights blinked continuously as the boy saw how his friend’s amputated right arm was being clotted so that no more blood could come out.

He was going to live without his arm for eternity. Farsofia immediately turned around after noticing that they were there, so she approached Krusarc and hugged him. “Luscus is now safe and sound. I will do anything that is necessary to save Antoria too,” said the commander emotively as Krusarc also hugged her with tears. Out of nowhere, the reconstruction bed where Luscus rested made a beeping sound, and Farsofia turned around to see what had happened. The screen beyond the glass cover said that the operation was fully completed and that they could remove the patient to induce another one. Despite that Luscus wasn’t awake, the commander approached the mattress and lifted the glass cover before she piked up the boy and took him to the bed in front, which still didn’t work. Immediately, the soldier that carried Antoria approached the reparation mattress and dropped the girl’s body into the blood-covered foam with carefulness. He closed the glass cover and pressed the screen so that the analysis could be done. The only thing Krusarc wanted to see was his lovebird safe and sound. The boy well knew that he wasn’t going to live happily without Antoria. Krusarc approached the bed with crying eyes and saw his sleeping beauty through the glass cover while the machine was still making the analysis. The boy was extremely desperate to hear that everything was going to be fine. He couldn’t live without her and didn’t want to lose his beloved. As agony tears kept rolling down the red crust that fully covered his face, the results came out negative; there was nothing else to do to save the girl’s life. Krusarc stepped back to see the screen and discovered the painful message that would bring his happiness to an end. In desperation, the boy pushed the screen again to make the analysis, but it immediately showed a negative result. “Krusarc,” said Farsofia with pity before she approached the boy. The commander only wanted him to understand that there was nothing else to save Antoria. Krusarc didn’t even listen to what Farsofia had just said; he only kept pressing the screen, and the same result came up immediately. In a moment of frustration and anger, the boy began to shout and punch the glass cover that kept Antoria inside. The crystal shield began to crack, thanks to the incredibly strong thrusts he constantly stroke. Immediately, Farsofia approached the scene to calm the boy down, but Krusarc only began to punch toward everywhere. Thankfully, he didn’t touch the commander, but when he stopped, Krusarc spoke. “Just leave me alone,” said the boy with annoyed tears before he began to walk

up the snail stairs toward the exit. Rivers flushed down the red crust as his next destination was his old room inside the ship. When he arrived at the floor above, he began to walk through the carbonized hallway while some lights on the roof still blinked uncontrollably; it was surely amazing that part of the ship was still working. He walked all the way down the corridor until he arrived at his room, number 904. The boy pushed the carbonized handle and opened the door with nostalgia as the inside of the room was a disaster. Clothes from his family were everywhere inside the place, while the beds and furniture were still stuck to the steel ground. Some lightbulbs on the roof blinked constantly as they were enough to illuminate the room. Finally, the boy found courage and got inside the place while he looked around. He could see clothes from his mother, grandfather, and brother. Everything was a mess inside the chamber. As Krusarc looked around with tears on his face, he found a tall vertical furniture stuck to the wall with drawers still closed. He approached the unit with sadness and opened the first drawer on the left to find out that a picture was inside there, resting above a bunch of other papers. Krusarc piked up the image and began to what happened on the scene. It was a family picture from when they went on a trip to Mount Olympus back on Razar the First. The five family posed with a smile while the incredibly tall mountain stood at their back. Krusarc posed next to his father as they were all wearing winter clothes to protect themselves from the strong winds. The boy began to cry in agony as he saw the picture with melancholy. Tears fell into the memory as the photo began to get wet with pain drops. Krusarc just couldn’t see the image anymore. He felt extremely miserable and missed his family with all his heart. He didn’t understand why his life was so unlucky. The boy left the picture back inside the drawer and closed it before he opened the next one to the right. With carefulness, the one that followed was opened, and Krusarc found out that the only thing inside was the birthday present Jufu gave him back on Misr. It was the sandstone plank that was still in perfect shape and had the Razarian flag engraved on it. The image showed a black letter R in the Razarian language, and it was surrounded by a circle of the same color. This painting made Krusarc fill with nationalism and poison as he ed everything that made him a Razarian, where he came from, and what it implied to be a farce. As he stared at the flag for a few more moments, he finally understood that what they did the whole time was wrong. Being a kind species and serving peacefully toward the people that lived inside the new planet were proved to be a failure now that

everything they went through led to more and more deaths. In a matter of seconds, the boy came up with a theory: the entire massacre could’ve been avoided if they had acted as the villain from the beginning. After staring at the painting for about some minutes and bringing up his conclusions, Krusarc left the sand plank back on the drawer and began to walk toward the exit of the room with a cold face and no feelings at all. He came out of the cabin and began to move slowly down the hallway to arrive at the end of the ship’s front part and then get into the back. He had to arrive at a special place. After a few minutes of walking down the corridor and entering the back part of the ship through its aperture, Krusarc thought about what Antoria and he had decided back on Misr—they wanted to install the neutron burner in their new planet so if everything was in place back there, the boy was willing to respect their decision. He finally arrived at the back part of The Explorer’s end where the room that protected the neutron burner and the seeds was located. Krusarc was amazed when he saw the hallway’s end. The door that protected the chamber with a had fully detached from its margin and was resting on the floor. With hope that everything inside the place was in order, the boy entered and saw that the neutron burner was in perfect state in the middle of the room, but all the seeds had fallen out their crystal incubation shelves. This made Krusarc worry because he couldn’t fully colonize the planet if they didn’t have the seeds, so he began to look inside the glass pots with hopes of finding at least one alive. As the light on the roof blinked uncontrollably, Krusarc looked around the shelves with overpotent eyes as he wanted to find his ticket to colonize the planet. The boy was about to give up on his search for the last living seed until he finally found it. It was a single and brown nut that stood on the corner of the incubation shelve while it was being stared at by Krusarc. The boy was fascinated while he ired the last Razarian seed that was alive; he considered it beautiful. This was how it all started—the desire to take control over the planet burst from a single flame inside Krusarc’s heart. First, it would begin with that single planet, but as power would rise up to the boy’s head, the temptation of colonizing the horizon would spread over the crown.

CHAPTER 13

Ocean Drive

Krusarc was now a feelingless creature with blood desire as he had changed drastically into a monster. While he kept observing the last living seed inside the crystal incubation shelf, he decided to leave it there and to accomplish what he had proposed himself before—check out what was inside Antoria’s room. Without any emotion at all, the boy came out of the room with a serious face and walked all the way until the end of the hallway where the broken division was located. The Explorer was split in two, and Krusarc was now on the edge of the ship’s back part. Some cables and steel sticks came out from the sides of the broken walls while the boy walked his way out of the destroyed ship. He jumped to the ground and began to walk toward the transversal alley that took to the parallel avenue. The boy entered the narrow street as he saw that Luscus’s blood prints were now clotted on the ground. Krusarc was actually satisfied with his friend’s survival. He felt really lucky that he didn’t bleed out when Masontazia ripped his arm off. He entered the alternate avenue and walked all the way down the street until the boy arrived at the huge circular field that surrounded the tallest skyscraper in the city. The white concrete on the floor was still being illuminated by the strong sunrays while some soldiers and occiders escorted small Sinister groups toward another destination. The surviving enemies were about to be locked inside the rotatory jail until Krusarc could decide what to do with them; after all, he was still the farce and everyone saw him as a god. Some Sinister and Coiter corpses still lay on the ground while the boy walked shamelessly by their side until he saw that a few meters away, Volu was still standing petrified between all the dead bodies. Krusarc felt how a knife was stabbed in his heart, but then he ed that sadness wasn’t an emotion that a leader of his level could have. He ignored the petrified occider as if it didn’t deserve his tears anymore and began to walk up the white concrete stairs until he entered the building. As he looked coldly at his surroundings with his neon yellow eyes, Krusarc moved through the room and

stopped in front of the elevator before he pushed the button and got in. After entering the crystal cage, the boy pressed a switch, and the elevator began to rise in between the building toward hell. After a few moments of waiting patiently, the boy ed the small box he found with Luscus in the room with the Vietur paintings. Krusarc came up with the idea that he had to go back for it; he somehow knew that it was important. The lifting cage finally arrived, and the doors opened before Krusarc came out. The scene was still the same as when he left; Luscus’s blood puddle was in front of the elevator, while Capet’s and Masontazia’s bodies lay on the ground. With a look that represented noninterest, the boy began to walk toward Antoria’s room, which stood at the left side of the enormous place. Wind still entered the room as the enormous skyscrapers stood below the balcony. Krusarc was about to discover the key to infinite power. Seconds after walking toward Antoria’s room, the boy entered the place and saw the interior. The two beds where Geon and his nice slept were still at the right, while at the left, a wooden table rested alone with some blueprints above it. Krusarc stepped on the fallen door that lay on the floor and approached the desk with curiosity. As he stood up, Krusarc lifted the papers and saw the designs Geon had made for Masontazia. The boy could observe the image of a huge spaceship the size of a small moon while it was a crowned bowl shape. The drawing also had a text at the right bottom corner that stated the specific details of the ship. While Krusarc read the specifications of the megastructure, the boy noticed that the ship was capable of absorbing and storing all the planet’s ocean inside of it with the purpose of dropping it in another place to colonize it. The boy didn’t even know that the planet had an ocean, but surely, he felt like a god, thanks to him having a machine that powerful at his disposition. Fire began to consume Krusarc’s heart as he observed the terrific design of The Colonizer; it was perfect for his future plans. After iring the outer design of the ship, he dropped the paper over the table and saw the one that was below. This blueprint was pasted in the middle with a transparent tape while it showed the inside of The Colonizer. The beautiful design made the boy feel flattered as he knew that all his future plans had been already solved, thanks to Geon. Once again, Krusarc dropped the blueprint on the desk so he could see the one at its back. The paper showed the design of the megastructure that would surround the sun if everything went according to Masontazia’s plans. The boy saw the drawing with amazed eyes as he understood how the machine worked. It was the perfect way of collecting almost infinite and pure energy without the

requirement of finishing a planet’s life. Krusarc felt superior as he realized that it was the last time they would have to use the neutron burner because the next step would be to take advantage of the sun’s energy. Sadly, he knew that it wouldn’t be enough power because the Traveler’s sun was only a small red dwarf; they needed a much bigger star. As he thought about who would help to build both megastructures, he ed that among the Razarian soldiers, some of them were civil engineers, so nothing could go wrong. The boy finally left the blueprint on the table and began to walk out of the scene toward the balcony. Krusarc ed above the fallen wooden door and entered the huge place while he saw Masontazia’s corpse with disgust; thanks to her, the boy had transformed into the monster he now was. After finishing walking for a few seconds, he finally arrived at the balcony’s edge where a short crystal fence stopped him from falling down. There he was, at the top of the world’s biggest building as he saw the rest of the city with superiority. Krusarc felt like the king of the world as he ired his new regime. The ring still floated calmly from not so far away while the boy believed he was a god. As Krusarc imagined how powerful he had become, he turned to his hands that rested above the crystal handrail. The red crust was now consuming his palms and fingers while he saw it with a curious look. Krusarc would surely order an investigation on the topic so that it could be fixed. After Masontazia’s short regime, Krusarc took control over the planet and transformed the surviving Sinisters and their following generations into slaves. They were excellent on doing the dirty work. Three years was the perfect period to see the results of the red crust over the Razarian’s skin. The strange scales had transformed everyone into terrifying hairless monsters that had the same ideals as their leader. Thanks to the inexplicable crust, Krusarc’s people transformed into a six-leg creature, and at the end of each standing limb, a pointy end replaced their foot. They grew in size, and all their body was now covered in red crust as their eyes were as yellow as neon. At the end of each finger in their two hands, black and pointy nails came out. Luscus, Farsofia, and Krusarc were also affected by this mysterious transformation, while the one-armed boy had now a robotic right limb to replace what the queen had done. Everyone now looked the same as they no longer used clothes; it was impossible to fit anything onto their monstrous bodies. Krusarc was the most affected Razarian in all this transformation problem because of the Gemar gene he possessed. Thanks to that privileged peculiarity, the inexplicable

red crust had an effect on the gene making the boy grow till the size of a twostory building, which explained why he was becoming taller and taller through time. Having these changes also involved the vanishing of his family’s power; he would no longer be able to control others’ will. Krusarc didn’t like his new form at all; he even found it abhorring, so he proposed himself that after finding the origin of his problem, he would do everything to reverse it. Apart from this quick Razarian evolution, the planet also began to change. The neutron burner was immediately activated a few weeks after Antoria’s death. The slaved Sinisters were forced to dig a hole to the outer core of the planet so that the machine could take advantage of the molten iron inside; of course, the planet was about to have the same destiny as Razar the First. Thanks to this amount of pure energy, Krusarc’s plans took advantage of it, and the construction of The Colonizer began. The Sinisters were forced to work as stonemasons inside the megastructure’s construction. Thanks to the ship that required tons of materials, Krusarc ordered to take down every building in the planet so they could recycle the skyscraper’s rubble into The Colonizer. The Razarian civil engineers were extremely good at their work; building a ship that size demanded for the best architects at their service. Time kept ing, and three years after Antoria’s death, the entire landscape of the city became bold; not a single building stood except for a few more in the horizon and for Masontazia’s building. The ring still floated peacefully in the air as the farces thought of bringing it down and taking advantage of its floating mechanisms for The Colonizer’s benefit. Inside the queen’s building, all the Razarians lived as they had now infinite time to reproduce among each other. In about only three years, the entire population grew incredibly as huge percentage of newborns marked the salvation of the species. Krusarc and Luscus also lived inside the skyscraper as both of them acted just as brothers. The two had sworn that they weren’t going to turn their back on each other. Obviously, the amount of energy the neutron burner had to collect to finish The Colonizer was incredibly huge, so the planet was expected to die even sooner. As time kept ing, the most important three years for the superweapon’s construction came to an end the exact same day an incredible interstellar event occurred. The traveling solar system had reached one-sixth of its journey and was now ing nearby the center of the galaxy. The night skies were partially dark as the galactic bar illuminated their landscape. It was an astonishing event now that everything far away from the Traveler seemed to be happening slower.

No one knew why until the first expedition to the center of the galaxy was demanded. Thanks to the Razarians who had a lot of time to reconstruct their empire, some new flying vehicles were built as they wanted to rise their army from the ashes. Thanks to several of them that were space-proof, the expedition to the galactic bar could be accomplished. As an excellent commander and general, Farsofia volunteered to explore the center of the galaxy with other ten Razarian soldiers. They were all going together on the same ship. For safety purposes, the expedition would last only one hour, and after the time was over, the people on the planet would call the ship back automatically. There was no way they could return before or after the expected time. Farsofia got inside the ship with the other soldiers and escaped Razar the Second toward the huge galactic bar that illuminated their skies. They had no idea what they were about to find. As Krusarc and Luscus waited patiently on the last standing skyscraper, one hour ed, and the soldier who was in charge pressed a button to call the flying vehicle back. Minutes later, the craft entered the atmosphere of the planet, and with difficulties, it landed on the skyscraper’s balcony. The steel that surrounded the ship seemed to be extremely damaged and old, and Luscus and Krusarc saw it with confused eyes. Suddenly, the craft’s door slid open, and Farsofia collapsed to the outside of the ship as her red crust seemed to be wrinkled and damaged. Immediately, Luscus ran to see what was going on with the commander, so he approached her and tried to pick her up as Farsofia didn’t move or react; it was a very strange scene. While Krusarc observed the show with curious eyes from his enormous height, his friend saw the inside of the ship with paranoia as the other ten soldiers were dead. Out of nowhere, Farsofia woke up abruptly, lifted her head, and stared into Luscus’s soul. He was extremely confused because he saw the commander with thousands of wrinkles on her face and with gray eyes; she looked extremely old as if Farsofia had aged thousands of years in such a short time. “Farsofia,” said Luscus with a worried tone before the general lifted her head up at him. “We must destroy the Quazar,” said Farsofia with a weak voice as Luscus didn’t know where she was looking.

“Farsofia, what did you see?” asked Luscus paranoid as he stared at the commander’s face. In her lying position, the woman approached the boy’s right ear and spoke with a weak voice. “Eternity … infinity,” whispered Farsofia before collapsing dead on the boy’s arms. Luscus had no idea what she meant, but he surely had a theory that had to be proved right. Hundreds of years kept ing, and The Colonizer’s construction was about to be finished as the slaved Sinisters had done the dirty work for generations. Building the megastructure was the only thing they inherited from their ancestors. Thanks to the Razarian people who only aged one year each one hundred revolutions around the sun, Krusarc and Luscus were still young adults as they kept researching about what happened with the red crust and Farsofia. After thousands of different theories without real proof, the Razarian people began to observe the stars and how light arrived at the traveling solar system. Then everything made sense. The Traveler was a very peculiar solar system. Instead of orbiting the center of the galaxy as every normal sun, it traveled from Orion Spur toward the galactic bar in an estimated time of 4,665 terrestrial years. As the time theory states: the faster you go, the slower the time es, so this meant that one day on the Traveler was one year on Earth. If my calculations are right, the solar system would take twelve years to go from one side to another and back, but there was a problem. By this time, four hundred years had already ed inside the Traveler, and they were still ing by the galactic bar. My calculations are wrong. Thanks to this time relativity theory and the ing of years, the Razarian civilization understood what was going on. This is kind of complex, so pay attention … The solar system takes exactly three years from Earth to arrive at the galactic bar, and from there, things start to get more complicated. They came with a theory that stated the more you get closer to the center of the galaxy, the faster time will . This explained perfectly why Farsofia returned extremely old and died in Razar the Second. She got so close to the galactic bar that she aged incredibly fast in comparison to the people inside the Traveler. This could be also compared with Earth’s time. If the traveling solar system spent 1,600 years to nearby the center of the galaxy, on Earth, there would have only ed eighty-one days. Isn’t space incredible? The mystery that held the galactic bar

was now sustained by facts, thanks to all the data the Razarians had retrieved from their studies. At the center of the galaxy, a super massive white hole habited the confusing labyrinth of time, created by the astronomical phenomenon itself. The galactic bar was such densely bright for a simple reason —white holes produced incredible amounts of antimatter, energy, and light that they also exhaled time. As the Traveler finished its journey near the center of the galaxy, the solar system was expected to immediately turn around and head back to Earth, but mysteriously, it didn’t happen; it kept going further and further. Time inside the Traveler took its normal position as one day inside there took one year on Earth. Time ed, and after three years of navigation through open space, the Traveler turned around after arriving at Norma Arm and headed back to the human planet. Immediately, the people inside Razar knew that they were about to near the galactic bar again and that their planet was going to die miserably; thanks to the neutron burner, they were about to run out of molten iron. Three years ed, and they finally arrived at the center of the galaxy. As they were about to start the whole process again, they finally finished building The Colonizer. The ship was a beautiful megastructure. It was so gorgeously destructive that they nicknamed it The Fear of the Stars. The slaved Sinisters were no more necessary to work for the Razarians, so they were brutally massacred after hundreds of labor years; they were officially extinct. As the solar system ed nearby the galactic bar and Razar the Second was about to die, Krusarc and Luscus saw potential in a new planet that stood before Praedonum, the fifth planet. This planet didn’t have any sort of ocean and was inhabited by a civilization that had already spread across the entire surface with gigantic cities. As the Razarian farce wanted to follow his philosophy of introducing himself as the villain, The Colonizer was turned on for the first time, and the entire ocean inside Razar the Second was absorbed. The huge spaceship had an aperture in the middle of its bottom facade where the entire ocean could get in. The Colonizer was driven a few meters above the huge sea, and using its gravitational pull, all the water began to rise into the ship through the aperture at the bottom. After a few hours of absorbing all the ocean inside the craft, The Colonizer began to rise to the sky and escaped the planet toward their new home. After a few moments of flying through the solar system, they arrived at what was about to become Razar the Third and stopped above the beautiful planet that was going to be colonized. This was a heartbreaking event, one that marked the beginning of an unrecognizable period of our beloved

characters. Menacingly, the superweapon entered the planet’s atmosphere, and with its imposing size, it casted a shadow above the entire civilization. Thousands of citizens were petrified by such arrival as they began to feel uncertainty and panic, thanks to the unexpected event. Entire families, huge social groups, and inoffensive security personnel came out of the skyscrapers to see the show from the streets; they had no idea what was coming. The massive crowned bowl could be seen floating imposingly, kilometers above the ground, as it was ired from any point inside the metropolis. The unprepared civilization felt powerless before such an event; The Colonizer seemed to bring the beginning of the apocalypse. Luscus and other Razarians stood inside the observatory platform of superweapon, which was located at the front part of the ship, a few decks above the enormous space vehicle lots. As the young general stared at the advanced civilization with a bitter taste, he accepted his duty, and Luscus decided to open the tanks so that the huge ocean could come out and spread around the planet. The monster approached the buttons and stared at the center of the control for a few minutes. There was a big brownish-white circular key that had to be carried with two hands, thanks to its size. It had a big aperture in the middle with the shape of the Razarian R. This was a very peculiar object now that it was made out of the molten exoskeleton from Masontazia and Capet; even their corpses deserved to be used as an object because, thanks to them, the Razarians were the destroyers that they are now. The only way to open the ocean tanks was with that key, so if it was lost or stolen, the ability of colonizing another planet was gone. With a shameless look, aware of the magnitude of such genocide that would come afterward, Luscus pushed the white circle with firmness, and immediately, the aperture at the bottom of The Colonizer opened, letting the entire ocean inside the ship come out with quickness and ferocity. Huge tsunamis commenced to flood through their new home as the advanced civilization suffered the worst consequences. Luscus stared through the window with a straight face, watching the gigantic currents flush away the species forever. Shoutings of terror could be heard all the way up to The Colonizer, but still, he had known for sure that he hadn’t gone mad, and that this was the best for his people. As seen from the ground level, between the giant skyscrapers, massive waves that could reach the clouds devoured everything on their way, spreading hopelessness throughout the citizens. Entire buildings were pushed to the ground, the people were flushed away, and thousands of running individuals were drowned to death, bringing the species to extinction. It was the bloody inauguration of Razar the Third, but Krusarc couldn’t be there to witness such careless actions; he was still in his old

home, waiting for them to come back.

CHAPTER 14

Home

Krusarc stood still in the huge oval balcony that was suspended in the air by the lonely skyscraper. The farce saw the bold landscape as the only thing that could be seen was brown land that covered the entire planet. Razar the Second had been their home for hundreds of years, but it was time to leave it behind; it was about to die. As it was planned, the neutron burner had been now disconnected and was being carried inside The Colonizer so it could be planet in their new home. While Krusarc saw the flat landscape, the sun’s light illuminated the scene, which was about to hide in the horizon. The skies turned into an orangish color, while some black and lonely clouds floated around the scene. While the farce waited patiently for The Colonizer’s arrival, he thought about Antoria. Krusarc surely missed her with all his heart, but unfortunately, she only existed in his memory because he didn’t have a single picture of her. Volu also came to the farce’s mind as he had ordered to adorn the entrance of his new palace with his petrified occider. Krusarc was now a young adult just as his friend and general, Luscus. Both of them were incredibly loyal to each other and had the same ideals and philosophies. As the farce ired the beautiful sunset, The Colonizer entered the planet and parked not so far away from the last skyscraper. The ship was so huge that the end of the craft couldn’t be seen; it merged with the horizon. Krusarc knew perfectly that the entire ocean had now been dropped in their new home and that he had to leave Razar the Second. He was the only Razarian that stayed on the planet when the enormous tsunamis were dropped on the valleys of their new planet. The farces began to walk back inside the building and entered the huge elevator that was built just for him to transport himself to the bottom of the building; after all, he was now the size of a two-story building. He got inside the huge lifting cage that was stuck to the outside of the building, and it began to descend quickly. In a matter of seconds, the elevator arrived, and Krusarc came out to discover that Luscus was outside, waiting for him.

“Ready, my good friend?” asked Luscus with courage as he saw the giant. As always, the general wore the white diamond necklace as if it was his most precious valuable. Krusarc confirmed with his head, and both of them began to walk toward The Colonizer, which took the whole view now that it was the size of a small moon. After a few seconds, they arrived at the megastructure, and both friends got inside the parking lot, which was at ground level. The crownshaped Colonizer was beautiful in the inside; everything was white, made out of steel, full of lights, and very modern. The lot carried some new designed space vehicles, while some soldiers stood in lines to welcome their farces. As Krusarc and Luscus walked through the scene, they arrived at the back part of the parking lot, and the general guided his friend toward his room. By the way, the path toward the farce’s cabin had really tall ceilings so that Krusarc could walk through them; Geon had previously designed it for Masontazia. After a few moments of ing between the beautiful and illuminated corridors, they arrived at the farce’s room. It also had tall roofs while everything inside was designed perfectly for him, a huge table, a bed his size, and some furniture that accommodated to his necessities. Everything was extremely modern, and the rectangular room was beautiful. It had a huge gate made out of steel, while the front wall had some huge windows to look at the exterior. The wall where the door stood also had glass s at the top so that the inside could also be seen. “We will take off right away,” said Luscus before leaving his friend inside the room. Krusarc stood alone for a moment until he saw how The Colonizer began to lift toward the sky, leaving behind the dying planet. The farce felt nostalgic for a moment until the ship completely came out of the planet and began its fast journey toward their new home. After some seconds of flying through the solar system toward their destination, the ship ed next Praedonum, which could be seen from Krusarc’s room. He could ire the green planet as he ed that he had to send a letter to the new Bellatorian general so they could send their food to a different planet. Thanks to both planets where the Razarian’s lived that were completely full of buildings, there was no way to cultivate food, so they made an agreement with the Bellatorians (who defeated the Pecustians in the colonization of Praedonum) that they would send them tons of food, and in return, the Razarians would give them pardan. Obviously, the Bellatorians had no idea that they were the ones who saved them in the war for water. They ed them as the white humanoid species, and now they were the sixlegged red monsters. After a few moments of flying through space, Krusarc saw that they were just

arriving at their new planet. Their new home was big, just as Razar the First before it entirely collapsed to the inside. There was a huge ocean inside the planet, while the rest of it was a huge continent where they were about to build their new civilization. With a smile on his face, Krusarc turned around and saw through the window that gave sight to the inside of the ship. Far away, there were several train rails where some fast vehicles rushed above them. The Colonizer was so big that they had to use wagons to move from one side to another. As he saw the inside, he ed what he did with the last living seed while they were still building the ship. In the middle of The Colonizer, there was going to be a huge empty space with no use at all. It had a crystal dome at the top, and its surroundings would be covered in balconies that came from the hundreds of decks inside the ship. Thankfully, he took advantage of the place and decided to build a huge park where the last seed would be planted and Antoria’s corpse would be buried underneath. By that time, the seed would have already grown into a huge green tree, which took advantage of Antoria’s nutrients to build itself up. After a few moments of descending to the ground, The Colonizer parked in the huge continental mass, which they now named Razar the Third.

EPILOGUE

Waiting for a Time like This

Krusarc ed what the protocol consisted of. He was going to give a welcome speech to all the Razarians. A few seconds ed, and finally, the farce decided to come out. He knew that everyone else was now waiting outside the ship. He walked all the way to the parking lot, and when he ed through the huge room, the farce arrived at the edge of The Colonizer where he saw all his people. It was a huge crowd that stood on the grass landscape that consisted of millions of young Razarians. They were about sixteen human years old and were accompanied by the war veterans. Krusarc had now created a huge military population made of teenagers. As all the soldiers that ired him lined up in thousands of lines, the farces began. “People of Razar.” Krusarc stopped after Luscus stepped to his side facing the crowd. Then he continued. “We are now standing in our new home, but as you know, it will not be permanent, just like Razar the Second,” said the farce with his grave voice. Then he followed. “Our real home is a thousand light-years ahead of us, but thankfully, the Traveler is driving us there as we will prepare to colonize it. Just in time, the research department has discovered the origin and causes of the red crust, so we now know how to reverse it. We just have to wait until we arrive at our new home, the one that belonged to us from the beginning,” said Krusarc as everyone understood what he was talking about. The farce looked at everyone with superiority and then continued. “A god has the power to create and destroy life. We have that ability too. The Razarian empire won’t be repressed by the Morfero’s menace now that we are the true gods. Our new home awaits my people. Let’s build a better one on this

planet, and then we will rise our permanent empire in the ashes of the species that claim to own it!” finalized the farce as everyone shouted with courage and asked for war. Later on, the neutron burner was planted in Razar the Third, and enormous cities were built around the globe, and the capital was called Antoria. Krusarc and Luscus already knew the causes of the red crust, which gave them the perfect moral pretext to wipe out your race. As the farce’s philosophy states: it’s better to pose as a villain than to die a hero. After Proditor finished narrating the story of his people and the origin of the red crust, Stewart, Zach, and Inu saw him with amazed eyes. Now all their questions were answered. “Shit, we took too long. Your people should be now inside The Colonizer’s lot. We have to act now.” Proditor stopped after opening the room’s door slightly to see the outside. Some other soldiers from his species had ed by the corridor toward the area where the Ark people were about to be killed for food purposes. “Here is my plan. Stewart, you come with me. I have to take you to the observatory platform to open the lot’s invisible shield so you and your people can escape in the Arks. You two boys, grab a gun and follow the corridor to liberate the humans. Be careful and good luck,” finished Proditor before the four of them ran out of the room, while Inu and Zach carried a Razarian pistol they previously stole from the small arsenal. Stewart and Proditor rushed through another direction, while the human thought about the breathtaking reality of the red crust and why it was related to Earth’s destruction. After the Razarians discovered the origins of the scales, they invented a theory named solar preservation, which stated that each sun transmits a unique radiation. If a living being dared to enter a different solar system, it was going to be affected by the star’s energy, so the body of the being would change physically to adapt to the sun’s radiation. If the Razarians wanted to reverse the effects of solar preservation, they had to return to the solar system they came from, but there was a problem—there wasn’t any planet alive that the humans were aware of.

TO BE CONTINUED …