Orange Sky, page 11
part #1 of Manasty Series
“Are you sure?” Fancy Boots asked. I heard a slap on the body, and Ist jerked. “If that is so, then you have brought good news to us!”
“Have you seen it?” the third man asked. The way his voice longed for it could only mean the precious relic Zirc was carrying. “What is it?”
“Hush, brother, we should plan,” Fancy Boots said. “This is our chance to rid ourselves of the Elders.”
“Yes, yes, I have,” Ist answered them.
Fancy Boots laughed softly. “Ah, you must have seen other parts of Zirc as well. With the way your cheeks darken.”
Ist tried to move away from Fancy Boots but he held onto him.
“What is it?” the third man insisted.
“It glowed like amber. Like your eyes. I haven’t seen Zirc use it though.”
Fancy Boots snorted. “I’m sure, given the chance, he will try to use it before he brings it to the Elders. This is a good chance to get rid of him and take the relic.” He strode away but Ist stayed where he was. Near me.
“If this young boy is as you say, we will use him to lure the Silver Beast. Bring him to the ship. We will give him a very nice send-off.”
“But you don’t understand—”
“Hush, Ist. I heard you the first time. My beast is also tingling. If it’s the Silver Beast, why are you afraid of him? Do you not remember who I am? You have seen me fight. And many have seen my Beast. The Silver Beast is a youngling. He has not yet mastered his beast to fight.”
There was silence for a moment.
Ist was suddenly in my face. I was too shocked to close my eyes. He looked hard at me. Suddenly, I got what he meant.
As soon as I closed my eyes, he carried me, and all my blood rushed to my head. I felt dizzy. My stomach, good thing I wasn’t too full, was wedged over his shoulder. I considered myself heavy, and Ist was on the slender side. Still, he carried me as if I weighed nothing. I tried to relax.
With my eyes closed, I could barely hear them walking. Maybe this was a special trait for their kind or they were trained that way. After all, these are the villains, right?
“We’ll dump her here,” Fancy Boots said after some time.
I felt Ist’s body stiffened. So did mine.
When Ist refused to move, Fancy Boots taunted, “Yes, this will make the Silver Beast mad. His beast will know it as well. The better to kill him when all he can see is her.”
Finally, Ist moved and he had to feel it when I stiffened. Whatever Fancy Boots said sounded ominous. He placed his hand behind my left calf and petted it up and down as if it would calm me. The thought felt reassuring, but my body was tense and wanted to flee from here. Or whatever here meant.
Ist laid me on a hard stone on my left side. I couldn’t help it. I opened my eyes and saw Ist’s belt. I wanted to reach out to one of the mean-looking daggers he had but my body was too stiff now to move.
I faced the wall, my back to the others. Ist tried to rearrange my stiff body. I refrained from jerking my leg and kicking myself out of this mess.
He seemed to know it. He paused. Next thing I knew, he was shoving something in my hand without the bandage. I closed my hand and felt the sharp edges of one of the daggers from his belt.
What the—?
Was this all a charade? Was he double-crossing these people?
I relaxed my grip at the same time Ist moved away from the platform I was on.
And I waited, waited. Like a damned damsel in distress. Waiting for a knight in shining armor. I needed to get my act together because I had this strong sense that a tragedy was about to happen and this could be my last night on this planet. I was not the type to wait for somebody else to rescue me. So I channeled my inner strength and…came up blank.
Huh?
I tried again to think and meditate. What are my options? What are—?
Not good. My mind had literally gone blank. I clenched my fist. Surprisingly, I felt the bite of the dagger. And it kept me focused.
It seemed like this slab of stone sapped away a person’s strength of another person.
I heard a ping. “Good,” Fancy Boots chuckled. “They lured that Purple Captain away from us. I wonder who tipped him off?”
The third guy harrumphed. “You know he’s got the hots for your tail.”
“Ha, as if that’s it. No, he always wanted to get rid of Kilo and his gang. We are just an enterprising lot.”
The third guy snorted.
“This means he is following someone. Not us. Could be Kilo is near. Or he is tasked to follow Zirc. Those Elders are nothing if not thorough. But the Purple Guard and the Elders... Something about it is not right. He will not act without the Purple King’s commands.”
“The prize is the people,” Ist said. “Without the Elders, the people will be free.”
“We will get there. The Elders have suppressed the people for thousands of years. Even the Tribal Leaders can’t directly defy them. Our numbers are dwindling. Something must be done.”
“Do you really believe the one they called the Oracle?”
“The Elders seem to believe in this Oracle. Other galaxies believe in the Oracle as well. I have seen her.”
“You’ve seen the Oracle?” Ist had awe in his voice.
“She is beautiful, yes. But there is something about her eyes that is ancient. Whatever it was, I was dressed up as an attendant at that time, and the Elders got scared. Then I saw excitement and greed in their eyes.”
“You never told me what the Oracle said,” Ist said in dismay. As if he was ranked higher and should know.
“My dear, Ist. Ah, your parents will be so proud you participated in this quest. This is monumental. The relic that you saw? The amber-colored one. Strange that the color is amber, a very common crystal color. Maybe it was designed that way. Ah, I’m sorry I’m rambling. I can see from both of you that you are eager to know what it is.”
I heard a movement, butI also strained to hear this story.
“The Oracle said the relic holds the key to our salvation. It holds the power to bring back our females.”
I heard gasps. Females? What does he mean to bring back the females? Are they all dead? Enslaved? By these Elders?
“Is that true?” I heard the sense of incredulity in Ist’s voice.
“So true, Ist. This is why we must stop the Elders from taking what is rightfully ours. For the people. Imagine having a child of your own. We have to rely on incubators to have children. And this tale about true mates. Who gave the Elders the right to say only true mates had the right to a female egg? We knew. We saw. There was a time when people did not need to have true mates. The Elders burned or trashed our history. We saw that Before, true mates were just one man and one female. Why do they need to suppress giving out female eggs for us to breed if the eggs they harvested during the plague were enough to last for millennia?”
“Have you seen what it can do?” the third man kept insisting about the relic. As if he didn’t care about their cause.
I shivered uncontrollably. Then, I heard a loud roar from outside and movement behind me.
Lots and lots of growling, swishing of a sword, and a gun being fired multiple times.
“Make way, Ist.”
“We can’t fight him!” Ist said hysterically.
I shimmied and made my way toward the end of the slab. As I was about to dangle my legs off the end, my back to the chaos behind me, something collided with the cave wall opposite me. It was something huge. With lots and lots of metallic silver and black fur.
Mangled fur.
The sight was so grotesque, the hair coarse like a street rat. And I thought I smelled sewage, but it could be that my mind was playing tricks on me.
I only saw the lower half of the so-called Silver Beast.
His legs reminded me of a werewolf. Which is a strange anomaly on a planet full of felines!
“Don’t move,” I heard someone hissed behind me. Ist.
A loud roar echoed around the cave. I felt it through my bones. My ears tingled toward the end. This was probably what it felt like in the vicinity of a nuclear bomb. I couldn’t hear a thing, nothing.
What happened next felt like moving in a syrup. Time slowed down but it would be forever embedded in my memory.
Something hit my back. I turned and saw the back of Ist. Two large holes went through his body, so large I saw the faces of two men. One man grimaced, while the one holding his gun had a shocked look on his face.
Ist must have realized... Those bullets would have obliterated my chest. I remember the last time he talked, Ist was near my head.
Ist?
Why would he—
I was too shocked.
I barely felt the large claws that scooped me up from the stone. Tears ran down my face. I caught sight of the stone slab. Ist was lying on it as rocks fell from the cave ceiling. And the other two men ran away by creating a huge hole in the cave wall.
My vision blurred. I was too shocked to care about what was happening.
15
BRYNN
Iwiped away the tears in my eyes. Still, my vision was blurred.
No, it can’t be! I can’t hear a thing and I can’t see.
Huge black claws held my waist. They were so huge. This beast was probably 14 feet or more; its head reached the cave’s ceiling.
I tried to shove my hands at the claws around me. Of course, they wouldn’t budge.
I realized my vision was not blurred. We were moving too fast. I saw the outlines of things here and there. When the beast turned, I felt the wind. Was it, or was he shielding me?
Is this beast Zirc?
Maybe all of them turned into beasts when enraged.
Ugh.
Then my body was jarred rather violently. I caught a glimpse of a waterfall. Then my vision blurred yet again. I felt the familiar butterflies in my stomach when a roller coaster drops from the highest point. I put both hands in front of my mouth because it made me nauseous.
It felt like forever but I just held on.
A thud. Then, a rush of wind. This beast was running too fast. Running away from our pursuer.
When the ride smoothed out, I started nodding off. Even though they said this was the Silver Beast, my subconscious mind told me—my nose told me.
This was Zirc.
Even though he looked grotesque, his body was too tall, he didn’t look anything like his former self, he smelled like him.
And with Zirc, I felt that inner peace again. That everything was going to be all right with this world. Since he was with me. There would be no nightmares. No seeing too many dead bodies… Ist….
I could not believe Ist had betrayed his tribe to these gangs. Then again, that is the purpose of a betrayal. You never knew when it would happen. He seemed like a kind guy. I had known him for less than 48 hours, but it felt like forever.
How can you forget someone who’d saved your life?
I had so many questions about this world that I tried not to dwell on. Who were those people? Why did Ist join them? Maybe he had no choice? They had his brother. Who were the good and bad people in this world? But like Earth, no one was entirely good or bad.
What would happen to me now? What did they say about me and the Silver Beast?
I had fallen asleep after all. When I opened my eyes, the suns, the suns, were warm on my skin. I straightened up and knew my face would be red if anyone saw me. I had drool on my arm. Was I that exhausted? I hastily tried to wipe it away and wipe some tears that had fallen on Zirc’s claws.
Claws. When did that become normal to me?
I wondered if I would develop skin cancer on this planet? I had no protection whatsoever. My only consolation is that the air is not humid. The air on this planet, though humid, smelled fresh. Maybe because they don’t use fuel. Or any coal or carbon.
Zirc left me a crystal in my bag. I wonder what this crystal can do? How much is it worth?
I was suddenly thirsty. Judging by the location of the suns, it’s almost mid-afternoon. And I realized Zirc’s pace had slowed down. I could make out our surroundings.
I saw trees, still orange, and some hills. There were mountains beyond those hills.
I shivered.
The air still smelled fresh but was cold. Maybe because we are at a higher than before.
I could only describe this place as peaceful. Like what autumn in Japan must be like.
Maybe this was all a dream and I’d wake up in Japan after all? Maybe I will see my friend around the corner.
Swoosh! A flock of winged creatures flew from the trees. They behaved like birds on Earth. But they are bigger and might not be friendly. I hadn’t seen other species or creatures on this planet. They had advanced technology, but weirdly, they practiced simple living. Except for the Blue Tribe leaders. No, they were alphas. Their house was extravagant!
He stopped.
I got nervous.
A tingling sensation came from Zirc. Then he shuddered.
I felt that falling sensation again, braced myself, and breathed a huge sigh of relief when my feet touched the ground.
His claws retracted. I used my arms to balance myself and walked a few feet away from him.
Then he growled, sending shivers along my spine. It was a low growl, like a small threat. Nothing like his huge roar from last night.
Slowly, I turned around.
Then I took a step back. What—
He growled again. His silver eyes glinted against the suns.
He turned into a huge lion. A huge midnight black lion.
He looked calm enough, even peaceful. Where was the beast from before? Is this Zric?
His eyes are Zirc. His mane of hair is Zirc—long, black with stripes of silver mixed in. This was probably one of his forms. Or his beast?
I wondered why he didn’t change to his more human side so I could talk to him?
“Zirc?”
His tail just twitched.
I snorted and placed my hands in front of my face to stop the laughing. I always go crazy during stressful times. How I found humor in my predicament, I didn’t know.
I saw the glint in his eyes as if he knew I found something funny in his beast.
Ah, but he looked cute that way. His head and body looked ferocious. All coiled muscles. He looked heavy and the strength of power in his bones was magnificent!
But his tail. Oh, his tail looked so cute. My eyes were drawn to his long and fluffy tail. The fur looked soft, and at the end, a huge ball of fur made me itch to touch it and see if it was as soft as it looked.
He flipped his tail as if irritated. But he stopped and swished it behind his back.
I looked up, and yes, there was the same glint in his eyes as if he didn’t find it funny. His, what I would call human eyes, were back. I hadn’t seen a glimpse of the beast’s eyes since last night.
“You’re not going to change?” Maybe in this form, he could understand me. But no, he still didn’t.
I heard a loud bang and dropped to a squat while covering my head with my arms.
When nothing happened, I looked up and saw Zirc smirking at me. That beast!
I straightened up. It was our horse-like creature. He looked big and magnificent.
The horse stepped on something metallic, a big black circle on the ground. There were some markings on it, like a sewer cover from home.
Lion-Zirc went to it. He was taller than the horse and the size of about 10 times that of a normal lion.
I stepped back again, a reflex to something big and scary.
The horse wasn’t spooked at all. So, the horse recognized him even in this form.
Lion-Zirc used his mighty jaws and big teeth to clamp on the metal. And using his powerful neck, threw it like a frisbee. I saw clear water from my position. Clearer than anything I’d ever seen.
I was very, very thirsty.
I hurried to it at the same time as the horse. Lion-Zirc growled a warning. The horse and I both stopped and looked at Zirc.
He found another metal disc and threw it. He grumbled and the horse went there and started drinking.
Oh, that makes sense.
Not caring about any danger, I dashed to the water well. Using my hands, I dipped and drank from the clear water.
Pure, clear ambrosia.
The water was so unlike the water from Zirc’s flask. Or from the Blue Tribe. It tasted like pure, fresh water. The temperature was also just about right.
What is this place? If I hadn’t known better, I’d think it was pure mineral water from Earth.
I heard slurping from the other well. I stole a glance. Lion-Zirc and the horse were drinking from the water well.
So they could drink this water also. I was thankful they had clear water like this.
After I had my fill, I stared deep into the bottom of the clear water. There was no moss or algae that I could find. I was wary that I might find alien-like forms at the bottom of the well. But I was surprised to find clear crystals at the bottom. Thousands of them twinkled against the suns. I wondered if I could get one to take on our trip to mix with their salty water.
A strong breeze blew my tunic. The white cloth on my hand was gone, but the wound on my hand was healed. Strange since I was wounded last night.
I stood and took inventory. Yes, there were so many gashes on my body. Wounds that had surprisingly healed, though some still had dried blood on them.
Lion-Zirc was seated on his hind legs. I had no doubt that he’d catch me without any effort should I try to run.
It was strange to look at a midnight black lion. Like he was something drawn from charcoal and splashed with oil to make him shiny against the suns’ rays.
He was looking at me intently. Probably thinking I wanted to escape.
I ignored him and looked around. Up ahead, I was a structure. Intrigued, I walked toward it. Even though I couldn’t hear anything, I’m pretty sure lion-Zirc was following me.
There were rocks, like gravel, on the road. And small grass and wild plants the colors of autumn. I wondered why I only saw those colors. The sky was not blue but a burnish orange with some light spattering of golden yellow on the horizon.
