Star Rising: Heartless (8 page)

Chapter 6

When Xalen awoke the next day, he had to open and close his eyes a few times, then pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t still sleeping. If his dream was to be believed, he had been recruited by an Alioth, one of the most legendary Alioths to be exact, and been taken to Zizor Dojo, one of the many Alioth academies spread across the galaxy. Here, he was to train and become an Alioth warrior himself.

Yup. Definitely a dream.
He applied more force to his pinch. The skin on his right arm became a purplish red. The pain travelled down his arm and to his hand.
Ouch.
He let go.
Not a dream, then.

His eyes took in his surroundings. He was in a rather large room. Despite the size of the room, however, there wasn’t much that adorned it. There was the thin, double-layered quilts where he had slept in the far right hand corner. At the center of the room was a stubby, four-legged table with a green tea pot on it. On each of the four walls hung a painting depicting natural sceneries. A crooked tree resisting the harsh winds. A crashing waterfall dropping over three hundred feet. A family of trees rising from a pristine purple lake. A gray spaceship with the word
Driftwood
drifting in front of a blue planet.

That’s right!
The memories of the previous night flooded back at once. After their talk, Sensei Kayos had led him to the dormitories, a series of rectangular buildings situated at the bottom left end of the dojo. She had told him to wake up early to join the other students for breakfast. Which judging from his growling stomach, didn’t sound like a bad idea.

Crack! Crack!

The two strong bursts that rocked the small wooden door put him on his toes. The female voice that followed it was even stronger.

“Open the d’or.”

A cold chill ran down Xalen’s spine. If he didn’t know any better, he would venture a guess that the voice coming from the other side of the door belonged to the lady that had put Reave on edge the day before: Junia.

The voice thundered once more. “I said open the d’or!”

There was no mistake. The voice definitely belonged to the female Feehan. But what did she want with him?

Despite his apprehension, he found himself stumbling as he rushed to the door. He might not know what the woman wanted, but he knew enough to know he didn’t want to get on her bad side.

“Coming,” he called out. He reached for the handle, but before he could open it, the door was flung open. Xalen was sent sprawling to the floor. His rear was the first to hit the hard, wooden floor, followed by his back and then his head.

The stern woman looked down at him, her frown showing nothing but extreme disappointment.

“Get up,” she barked. “We h’ve much area to cover, and l’tle time do so.”

“Where are we going,” asked Xalen, confused.

Junia’s eyes turned a light orange, which judging by the deep exhale she had just let out, could only mean she was frustrated. “I’ll let you know on the way.”

Opting not to anger the woman any more than he already had, Xalen got to his feet and scrambled behind her.

The sun had just risen, and a soft breeze caressed his hair. Dozens of students headed noisily in uneven lines into a domed red building. It was shaped like the top of a helmet, except much, much larger. Judging from the salted scent of meat emanating from it, Xalen was certain it had to be the cafeteria.

“Keep m’ving,” said the Feehan without stopping or turning.

“Y…yes, Ms. Junia.”

Junia stopped and did a quick turn of her head, so that she was face to face with Xalen. “I am a sensei of this dojo,” she said irritably. “You will refer to me as sensei or Sensei Barteau.

“Yes. Of course.”

She turned and continued her quick pace. Xalen fell behind her, matching her pace. Besides the soft brush of their boots, the rest of the walk was a quiet one. They moved out of Zizor’s large gates and into the surrounding forest. Dozens of trees and plants he’d never seen before dotted the land. There were long, skinny trees with intertwining branches that rose beside shorter, much stubbier trees whose branches hung to the ground, making nearly impossible to pass through.

Xalen wasn’t too keen on passing beside the plants either. Many of them were purple or red, and they moved from side to side as if they were alive, waiting for their next meal to pass.

“Keep your distance from the Maul,” said Junia, pointing at a particularly long-stemmed plant that had a red snout at the tip. Its jaw-like end opened and closed in uneven intervals. “It’s a carnivorous plant that will d’vour y’ur arm if you stray too close to it.”

Xalen made it a point to bring his arms a bit closer to his body and to stay directly behind his Feehan guide.

Junia moved under the shade of a long tree and onto a thin path that seemed to cut directly into the heart of the forest. He wanted to ask, once more, where they were headed. What business could they possibly have in the forest? But despite his curiosity, he refrained from uttering a word. He knew the woman wouldn’t entertain his inquiries. So why bother?

Stray rays of sunlight made their way through the openings created by the trees above, tanning his skin to a soft brown. He noticed that Junia’s skin remained as snowy white as ever.

Sensei Barteau’s gait intensified four hours into their walk as they entered a dense section of the forest. Gone were the streaks of light, or the warm touch of the sun. It had been replaced by a cold, almost menacing darkness. The deeper they descended down the path, the more jagged the leafless tree branches became, to the point that they now resembled long, skeletal hands reaching out for him, threatening to envelop him in their icy grip.

Xalen inhaled deeply, allowing his breathing to settle back to normal.

“They’re only trees,” said Junia, no doubt noticing his apprehension. “They can’t h’rm you.”

Xalen gritted his teeth, not too confident in the Feehan’s words. The forest had carnivorous plants, after all. Perhaps it had carnivorous trees as well.

Junia whispered under her breath. Xalen didn’t catch everything she said, but he did make out, “I don’t know why Reave brings these c’wards.” The rest of the words were muffled by the eerie whimpers coming from somewhere within the dense forest.

Xalen’s heart stopped for a second as the precarious situation he was in dawned on him. He was alone in a forest with a trained warrior who had very openly made her disdain for Reave known. What if hurting Xalen was her way of getting back at Reave for whatever he’d done to her? What if she planned to have him disappear here, within the forest, where no one would ever come looking for him? Suddenly he felt like the biggest idiot in the galaxy. Why did he agree to come with this woman without knowing her intention? Why didn’t he at least check with Sensei Kayos first?

The whimpers grew stronger and louder, as did Xalen’s heartbeats.

A hand landed on his shoulder. He jumped, barely suppressing a scream.

“C’lm d’wn. I don’t need no one passing out on me.” Her neutral brown eyes, stared into his and he had to look away. “If you can’t get through a s’mple hike, how do you hope to b’come an Alioth?”

Xalen scratched at his neck. “No.” He inhaled deeply. Some of his nervousness left him. “I can handle this.”

Junia frowned. “I hope so.”

She let go of him and continued down the dark path. The humid air did not seem to bother her in the slightest. Xalen couldn’t say the same about himself. He was sweating from every pore on his body. The ever-louder whimpers were only adding to his nervousness. Though they now sounded more like a machine, instead of a human.

A moment later, Junia ducked under a number of low-hanging branches and muscled through a curtain of leaves. Xalen mimicked her. He waved the green leaves aside, and was instantly welcomed by a scent of burnt oil, a scent unlike any he’d ever smelled before. It travelled into his lungs, sending him into a fit of loud coughs.

His chest felt like it was on fire. He tried to exhale, but the scent made its way down his throat nonetheless.

Despite his struggle to breathe, his eyesight remained unaffected. He took in the large clearing that had been made by cutting down dozens of trees. (The countless tree stumps still protruded from the dirt). A metal cabin that was out of place in the otherwise woodsy surroundings rose from the center of the clearing. It consisted of thick metal sheets clumsily fastened together by thin bolts. It had no windows, though it did have oval openings where smog was pouring out. Within it, the whine-whimper emerged louder than ever. Then, quite suddenly, it stopped. A moment later, a creaky door that was barely hanging by its hinges swung open with tremendous force.

In the opening stood a short human man wearing an apron that was perhaps white eons ago, though it was now stained with so much brown and black that it was hard to tell for certain. He had a long mustache that curled into an unnatural swirl at both ends. He was completely bald, though he did have a few lingering strands of hair coming from the side of his head. His left eyebrow had been completely burnt off, the right, however, was still intact.

The man took one look at Xalen and flashed a wide, nearly toothless smile. “Still getting used to the fumes, I see. Don’t worry. Your body will grow accustomed to it in a few minutes.”

Xalen was about to protest, certain there was no way he could ever get accustomed to the fumes, when he realized that he could breathe without the burning sensation assaulting in his lungs. There was still a lingering warmth in his chest, but nowhere as bad as when he’d first arrived.

The short man hobbled toward the Feehan. He bowed his head. “Salutations, Junia. How are you today?”

“I’m well. Thank you for ask’ng, Febron,” said Junia as way of greeting. She motioned to Xalen. “This is Xalen. He’s a new recruit.”

“New recruit?” The slight raise in his voice made his surprise obvious. “I was unaware that Kayos would allow a student to join so late.”

Junia pursed her thin lips. “I t’ght so too. But when y’ur Reave’s special pet, I s’pose you can do as you please.”

Febron lifted his remaining bushy eyebrow. He took a few tentative steps toward Xalen, eyeing him from head to toe as if he were some kind of rare specimen. “Reave never brings recruits in himself. There must be something really special about this one.”

Xalen grimaced. Special? Freakish, maybe, but he certainly didn’t think there was anything special about him.

The man continued on a long-winded speech. As Febron spoke, Xalen held his breath, trying his best not to gag at the oily stench coming from the man’s mouth. What did he have for lunch? An engine turbine?

“Febron,” said Junia, holding her hand up. “I’m not here to play c’tch up. Sensei Kayos wants this…” She stared at the young man with a look that made it clear she didn’t think much of him. “This Alioth to be outfitted as q’kly as p’sible.”

The man nodded hastily. “Yes, yes. Of course. Follow me.”

The man led them into the metal cabin, which was filled with tables. Atop the tables were all kind of contraptions and tools, none of which Xalen had ever seen before. At the far end of the room was what Xalen could only describe as a wrinkled leather pouch. It had a long turbine attached to it that spun. Every three seconds or so, the pouch would fill with hot air and compress, releasing a loud whine along with a burst of searing white smoke. The turbine on other end was connected to a pot of what appeared to be lava, though Xalen was certain it was melted steel. The mystery of the man’s missing eyebrow was explained. Judging by all the hot fumes being blown around the room, Xalen was surprised that an eyebrow was all Febron had lost.

Febron’s small figure crouched, taking hold of a small handle sticking out of a hatch on the floor. He grunted mightily, his stubby muscles rippling as he swung it open. “After you,” he said, pointing at the set of stairs that descended underground.

“I got no b’sness d’wn there,” said Junia with a frown. “I’ll wait here. Make it quick.”

No one argued with her.

Febron’s gaze turned to the young man. “It’s just you and I, then. Follow me.”

Xalen sighed. He’d been doing a lot of following lately. Nonetheless, he followed the man down the dark stairs without complaint. As they descended, they left the musky heat behind, and instead welcomed a chilling breeze.

“So, you met Reave, huh?” asked Febron, breaking the long silence.

“Yes. He came for me on my home planet.”

“Where might that be?”

“Vintra.”

The man whistled a long, exaggerated note. “Vintra, huh? That’s located in the Gray Ring, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Thoughts of the textbook pictures he’d seen in a book came back to him. The galaxy was broken up into three large sections. The Noble Ring, Gray Ring, and Outer Ring. The Noble Ring was the most center of the universe, where the Bastion was located. It was here, also, that most of the politicians, families, and Alioths were located. Not surprisingly, the Noble Ring was, for the most part, a civilized place. Law, order, and stability were cherished above all else. The complete opposite could be said of the Outer Ring, which was the edge of the galaxy. There was very little law there. Pirates, slavers, and criminals of all sorts roamed that treacherous space. Centered between both the Noble and Outer Rings, was the Gray Ring. This section of space contained a little of both worlds. There were areas where some sort of civilization could be found, while others were the same, and sometimes worse, than the Outer Ring.