Chapter 39 The Lost Diary “If you could do it on Earth, you can do it anywhere.” He answers a bit too loud for our leader’s liking. “Is there anything you’d like to add, Izumrud?” Yasen’s eyes are fixed on my newly found friend. “N-no, sir…” Stutters Zumi. I could add about my ability to track people just to distract angry Yasen from annihilating Zumi on the spot. I remove my hands from Zumi’s tentacle-tight grip, put the...

Chapter 38 Moro and Zumi I dream of being back in Deikeren, and riding fast through the woods and fields until I arrive to a city of Kaure in the nearby province of Orontein. There I get into a fight on the street with Iris (the logic of our dreams!). He attacks me, but then some woman pulls out a big sword and defends me. She takes me to her home, full of strange things she said she invented. A lot of events happen, unti...

Chapter 37 The Secrets of Black Stones The green domes of buildings are dimly lit with amber-yellow light. More and more kribers fly out and land around us. “How did you guys end up here?” Asmadis is so shocked, his eyes turn silvery-white. I’m beginning to receive a lot of information. “The ten Kom kribers were thrown in the cave with the entrance sealed by a huge rock. The Blisps that did it, left and subsequently died...

Chapter 36 Unseen Dangers What are we looking for? Where would they be? I touch the rock sticking out of the side of the pit. The compound of the rock comes back to me as silicone-based plus tons of further unnecessary information. As I admire the crystals of quartz, sparkling in the purple light I’m overwhelmed by the voice in my head: “Brush up on those skills, Domiarn. Part of your programming is searching for metals a...

Chapter 35 A Needle in a Haystack “We have installed a re-transmitting device. It’s on Komkaran, but it still works. It actually sends images both ways. That’s how I knew that Kallitris arrived to Ashtarma. Then I directed Leot there to capture him and bring him to me.” Oh my, here is the explanation about the weird object feared by the Koms. Bingo. Or whatever they play here. “I need you to go to Earth now.” Yasen says....

Chapter 34 The Sign of the Rose “I have the information that will stop the war on Ashtarma. Don’t you have any mercy?” I turn to Yasen. His eyes grow big and he enters my mind, hurting me in the process again. No, they don’t care about the bloodbath on Astharma! They think if Kallitris did it to them, the least they can do is let his people suffer. Nice going. “This woman is over 35% sian. She is the first successful cros...

Chapter 33 A Message To Decode “Why?” I ask, perplexed. “We’re almost out of the planet. It will be allright!” This is where I hear a loud thud, and we all fall on the floor. I hit my head on a wall, and get up slowly. Immaul is the only one who did not fall, as he was hanging in the air. He is looking at the screen. I get up and look at it to. We’re no longer moving. We hit something in the sky, and it stopped us dead. W...

Chapter 32 The Wall Unseen “What do we do now? Where are the slabs with answers?” Iris is looking around, feeling lost without Eva’s strong support. There is no sun, but the landscape is saturated by a soft light of unknown origin. The ocean from here looks hostile and icy cold. At least now I know it’s water. But the earthly environment is not going to help. Eva was right – we were followed. And we failed to shake off th...

Chapter 31 Crumbling Rose We go downstairs and I open the entrance door. My ship, Arileot 14, if at all possible to call it that without Ari in it, is right below us. Its surface looks strange in the pale light of the purple moon. But I don’t have time to admire it. I jump down and the side door slides open. The hall is lit up with soft bluish light. Eva transpires through the wall and greets me with a smile. “You realize...

Chapter 30 The Elusive Truth “He is not a hostage. I’m talking about the Koms that were taken by the Blisps. This is why the war started again. You knew it. But instead of attempting to free them, you just bombed the whole country. Why? We’re going to Komkaran now to tell everything to Kallitris. See how he will like you destroying his motherland when the situation could have been resolved peacefully!” “I don’t think it m...

Chapter 29 The Night of Decisions I don’t believe him. I don’t want to believe him. There is no figure in the mist. I received another explanation. But before I can think about it, the flyer enters my mind and tells me of the alarming wind speed. It’s dashboard gets hot under the palm of my hand. “Let’s go” Says Asmadis. We lift off and we’re immediately picked up by a gust of wind that nearly slams us into one of the hil...

The soft pitter-patter of rain sounded on the roof. Water leaked everywhere soaking everything. A poorly repaired roof, filled with holes and I calculated every location of each to fix. The constant dripping annoyed me, breaking my concentration every time a drop hit me. The dog lay beside me, its head on my lap. I stroked the soft fur and waited for Ronan to uphold his promise. I barely felt the ache in my limbs now. Mov...

Chapter 28 The Secrets of the Abandoned House “It’s a cursed place, I warn you. Plus the weather is going to get worse. My flyer is not meant to be operated during high winds.” Asmadis lands his craft among the hills that look just like the ones we left behind, except these are much, much smaller. Some are barely twice my height. We get out to an eerie silence. The hills at the city were alive with sounds and motion, thes...

Chapter 27 Against All Odds “Why do you keep coming back to save us?” Asmadis releases me from the grasp of his not-so-strong hands but stays on top of me, just the way we fell on the ground. “I don’t know.” I shake my head. If I could get a coin for every time they said “you’ve come back”. Well, forget the coin. So many questions. I need at least one answer. “Frankly,” Asmadis runs his hand on my cheek. “I’ve always love...

Chapter 26 In the Light of Lilac-Purple Moon Now, granted the circumstances, you need to stay where you were lost, so your party can come get you when they get a chance. But that does not apply to Domiarn Gidealis, flustered by a shadow, claiming to know the future fate of his dear friend! So I follow that shadow into the hole. Does it look like I’m delirious after inhaling too much hydrogen? Or is it a cunning trap? What...