The Sands of Time

Here is the fourth character, only two more to introduce after this one. Originally her name was Isabel, but I had to change it because, just like the Elijah name, it was too human for an alien character. I think I do a little too much telling rather than showing in this chapter, but it is a rather depressing one anyway. I hope you enjoy.

Janess: Chapter 1

The warm waters lapped at her shins as she walked out into the lake. The once clear liquid was now a light brown from years of pollution and dirt that filled the small watering hole. The bright yellow-white sands of the desert glared into her eyes as she stopped. Her feet gripped the muddy ground, letting the mush seep between her toes. She liked that feeling, as the warm sludge spread and covered her feet. Far off she could hear the muffled sound of the market place. The heat from the sun continued to beat down, warming her healthy dark skin.

Janess had gone down to the lake to fill a small bucket with water for her family. They were not her real family, though. They were related to her, yes, but they were not her father and mother. She lived with her aunt and uncle, in a village many miles away from the place she was born. In fact, her name was not even Janess. Janess was a name she had given herself after she left her mother to live with her aunt and uncle. That was a year ago, however, during her childhood. She had reached the age of womanhood now, but still had one more year until she was acknowledged as an adult of marriageable age by her society.

She helped her aunt and uncle care for the small crops they were able to grow in the harsh desert sands. This is what she needed the water for. It had been particularly hot these past few days, and the sun was drying out their plants. She had been going out to the lake three to five times a day recently.

Concentrating on her task at hand, she took her wooden bucket and bent down allowing the murky waters to rush in. Her black hair fell down alongside her face. She could see a few of the silver streaks that ran among the rest of her coal colored hair. The bucket was heavy as she lifted it out of the water and stood up. With a slight brush of her hand she moved her hair out of her face behind her ear. The bottom of her dress was wet and gathered sand as she walked out on the shore, but she did not mind. She liked the feel of the cool fabric against her skin, and in a matter of minutes the water would evaporate anyway. The skin on her arms and face had a slight shine of sweat caused by the intense heat of her hostile world.

She approached her village, and walked down the dusty roads, her feet barely feeling the heat of the ground due to the hard calluses that had formed on her soles. She was heading towards the small home that her family lived in. Her aunt and uncle had no children of their own, though they had tried. They were one of the many couples of the world that had fallen victim to the sterilization caused by the remaining effects of the great wars. It was unbelievable that anyone had survived the great conflict. They left the planet devastated, with no governments or major cities remaining in power. That old world, of prosperity and lush fields with ripe harvests, was now nothing more than a memory among the people. A memory that had been passed down from generation to generation to remind everyone of their past greatness.

The Priests and Priestess now held the explicit information of the past, but did not share it with others. Last time their people had advanced technology, they nearly wiped out all life on their planet. Janess hoped to one day become a Priestess and lead her people into a new light and way of life. But for now, the crops had to be watered, so they could survive another year in the deserts of her world.

She entered her home and walked through the small rooms out towards the back. There, their crops were planted, reaching towards the sky, though they were burdened by drooping dry leaves. She poured the water out of the bucket around the plants, turning the light brown dirt into a dark mud.

“Janess, are you almost done with the watering?” her aunt called from within the house. Their house consisted of three rooms, a room for her aunt and uncle, a room for herself and a room for cooking, eating, and living. The walls of the house were made from metallic scraps left over from the ancient buildings that used to be common in this area, as well as several tarps and blankets to keep the sun out on extremely hot days.

“Yes, Krisha,” Janess called back as she poured out the last of the water.

“I could use your help preparing dinner,” Krisha called to her niece as she moved about the common room getting ready for the evening meal.

“I will be right there,” Janess said as she turned and began to walk back to their dusty house, and placed the bucket down just outside the back door. She then walked into their small kitchen and began to pull out the different cooking utensils that would be needed for the meal.

“I need you to run to the market for me,” Krisha said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out some money. “We need a little more bread for the meal. If you could get either some baked bread or wheat to make it.”

Janess took the money from her aunt. Though her aunt was her mother’s sister, she did not look like Janess at all. Her face was much wider than hers, with a smaller pushed up nose, and ears that were almost flat against her head. She was thin like Janess, but that was because of the lack of food that had ravaged the planet for many years. Janess had a leaner face, and skin that was pulled tight across her body. She could not remember a time when she had not been hungry, but there was nothing that could be done about that. Many of her people feared that their end and doom was near, either by slow starvation, or endless droughts, or the many battles that occurred between villages and among villagers. There had been rumors of a new government forming in the eastern city of Torraghma. A group of people from across their old country were trying to pull together and reestablish a central government, and restore peace to the land. But it was most likely no more than a myth. Janess had never seen Torraghma nor spoken with anyone who claimed to have been there.

“I will be back as soon as I can,” Janess promised, and as she left their home she passed her uncle on the way out. He was returning home after trying to make some money in whatever way he could. Janess lowered her head and eyes to the ground as she walked by. It was the custom of her people not to speak to the men in control unless spoken too. Her uncle did not have a particular likening to her, so he rarely spoke to Janess. She went by him, without him offering the slightest acknowledgment of her presence. People rarely did, except for Krisha.

Most people did not want to associate themselves with Janess because she was a woman, and also because of her unclean past. It was another reason why she wanted to join the Priesthood. If she became a priestess, then her past would be wiped clean, and she would be given a new name. However, she could never forget her true heritage.

She walked into the market place and began to look for bread and wheat. The market consisted of one main road lined on either side by temporary huts where merchants from all over would come and set up their shop for either a day, week, month, or year. Most huts were made only of wooden tables and large sheets of cloth overhead to cover and provide some light protection from the relentless heat. There were other smaller streets that branched off of the main road, formed by the placement of the trader huts. Those smaller roads would change on a daily basis depending on how many vendors came to the village.

Janess never liked going to the market. As she walked through the streets, fearful thoughts always occupied her mind, and she feared she would get cheated out of money, robbed or worse. She came up to a vender who was selling loaves of bread for three volki each. It was a good price, compared to last time she went to the market; she bought a bundle of wheat for near twenty volki, which made only four loves of bread. Granted though, the loaves of bread that this vender was selling were smaller than most other ones she had seen. But the price could not be beat. She used the money Krisha had given her and bought six loaves of bread. She placed them in a small woven basket and began to leave the market.

As she walked through the crowds, she continued to look over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her. Behind her she saw a rather large, dark-skinned, man who had a few small streaks of silver in his hair. She forced herself to look forward again, and continued walking, trying to ignore the man. Casually, she glanced back once again as she neared the exit of the market. The man was still behind her, but he pretended to be looking at some food being sold by one of the venders.

Janess quickly ducked down an alleyway when she thought he was not looking, and moved between the tightly built shacks, taking as many turns as she could. She looked back behind her shoulder every chance she got to see if the man was pursuing her. The alleyways were empty, but she could hear his footsteps approaching, echoing off the dilapidated walls.

She continued to move as fast as she could through the small sandy streets, as the sun continued to heat the land even though it was low in the western sky. She took several turns until she found herself outside of the village limits. She had moved far west, out into the entrance of one of the many wastelands. The sun was shining in her eyes as she looked across the bright white sand. She noticed something glistening in the distance. It was small and far off.

Janess looked over her shoulder one last time. She listened and did not hear anyone coming. One foot stepped out into the desert, and the other soon followed. She walked out into the endless hot sands, with her basket of bread still on her arm. The sun was setting, the lower part of it almost touching the horizon. Janess could still see in the distance something reflecting the light of the setting sun.

She squinted her eyes to fight the light and see what this shimmering object was. She was closer now, coming nearer with every step. The desert winds began to kick up around her as the sun lowered, as they did every night. Janess reached her left hand up to her neck and clasped the necklace that warped tight around her throat. She closed her eyes and prayed for protection from the winds.

When she opened her eyes, she could barely see the shinning object. She looked back over her shoulder and saw the sands kicking up and dancing around the village, obscuring her view. She walked forward some more, and now was very close to the source of the reflection. She looked down at the sand, trying to find it. The winds continued to move the sands all around, making it harder for her to keep her eyes open for too long.

She fell onto her knees and began to feel through the soft sand. Her basket of bread was beginning to fill with sand as well. Krisha would not be pleased with Janess when she returned with sandy bread. But her curiosity was too great to ignore, so she continued her search.

“Katlinya.” The dark voice carried over the wind as Janess continued to search in the sands. She stopped and looked around to try and see the source of the voice. No one was insight, and the sands were getting worse. She clasped her necklace again and prayed another prayer.

It was growing dark quickly with the setting of the sun, and the start of the sand storm. She opened her eyes a little to try and see what she was doing, and suddenly saw something glowing yellow underneath the gathering sands. Her hands instinctively went for the object, dusting it off, and running her fingers along the smooth surface.

She pulled the object out, and saw that it was a perfect spherical stone. In the center of the stone was a writing of some kind, but she did not recognize the language. “Katlinya,” the voice said again as Janess’ world began to fade from around her. The sands disappeared, and a bright yellow light took her.

When she opened her eyes she was not in the desert wasteland she had been in before. All around her was a yellow fog, obscuring her vision. “Where am I?” she called into the mist. There had been rumors of technology that could move a person from one point to another instantly, but that was all said to have been destroyed during the great wars. Though it might have been possible that someone used a device of that sort to take her from her village to this strange new place, she conceded.

She saw a form approach her in the fog. It was a tall figure; a large cloak with a deep hood obscured its features. When the figure was standing right next to her she could still not see the face of the man or woman.

“Are you the next to hold the Sands of Time?” the deep voice asked Janess.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Janess said looking around to see if there was anyone else he could have been talking too. “What are the ‘Sands of Time’?”

His head tilted as he looked at her from behind his dark hood, his invisible eyes viewing her life. It felt as if he could see everything, what she has done, what she will do, and what her present is. “Yes, you are,” he said after looking her over. “I am Dokmal, the guardian of the Sands of Time.”

“What do you mean?” Janess was at a loss for words.

“You are the next holder of the stone of the Sands of Time, the first being the great and wise Bokal,” he said in a voice that made her tremble. “That, however, was thousands of years ago. The time is coming when the stones will be reunited. The second binding of the stones, and the deliverance of Maghora shall soon come.”

Janess tried to understand what he was saying. “I’ve never heard of Maghora, or Bokal. I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. Now if you don’t mind, would you please return me to my home.” An uncomfortable feeling swelled inside her, and she tried to protect herself by crossing her arms over her stomach.

The black hooded figure was silent as he gazed at her again. At last he spoke, “No, I am not mistaken, Katlinya. You are the next holder of the Sands of Time. You will accept your fate. Sooner or later, you will see what you have to do.”

“I don’t know who you think I am, but my name is not Katlinya. It is Janess. Now, please return me to where I was.” Janess had enough of whatever was happening to her. She almost regretted going into the desert and finding this stone.

“Very well,” Dokmal said. “When you return, await instruction from the holder of the Waters of Wisdom. He will know where to go and what to do.”

The yellow fog began to break away, and Janess found herself back in the desert with the violent winds and sand storms surrounding her. What was that? The stone in her hands was no longer glowing as it had been before. It seemed almost dead and dull compared to when she first found it. She turned around and began walking east through the harsh winds. She pulled up the hood of the cloak that she was wearing to protect her face from the winds and biting sand.

She still held the stone in her hand, though she did not know why she kept it. The thought of dropping the stone and leaving it in the desert did not settle right with her, she reasoned. As she neared the alleyways, the dilapidated walls of the outer buildings could now be seen slightly through the thick swirls of sand. She entered the small alleyway she had left from only a few moments before.

Within the alleyway there was a slight relief from the raging winds, but not much. She continued to move south towards the lake and her home. As she made her way through the maze of old buildings, she was suddenly, violently grabbed from behind. A hand came over her mouth, and she was pushed back against one of the weak walls. She could see her attacker. It was the man that had followed her out of the market place.

“If you scream, I’ll kill you,” he said with a smirk. “Good thing for me you decided to get lost in these alleyways.”

Janess squirmed under the man’s strong grip. The silver streaks in his hair began to run white with electricity as he held her. The current passed into Janess’ body, causing her to begin to generate electricity as well.

The sands danced around them, as the man continued to force himself upon her. One of his hands ripped off her cloak, and tore open her dress cleaving a slit from her shoulder to her waist leaving her breast uncovered. The man’s free hand began to grope at them with pleasure.

Janess struggled under his firm grip, her legs kicking uselessly. If he felt her attack he paid it no mind. She began to wish desperately that somehow she could be spared this humiliation. She was hoping for anything: for Krisha to come, for her Uncle, for anyone to see what was happening and actually care for her enough to try and stop it. She even hoped that nature itself would end this act. That somehow the sands could have enough force to impede the man.

That was when something strange happened. The sands around her became more violent without the help of the wind. They began to force themselves against the man, moving into his face and under his clothes. They did not, however, harm Janess in any way.

Noticing the strange activity as well, but unable to stop the sands, the man was pushed off Janess. As soon as he was off her, she pulled the torn cloth back up and over her nakedness. The man tried to run but the sand of the street came all around him and began to cover him. He began to scream a hideous unnatural scream as he tried to get away from the pursuing sands.

Janess was horrified. Her breath stopped as she stared on, and her heart began beating like mad. She was glad that he was off of her, but she did not understand what was happening. The sand began to fill the man’s mouth cutting off his voice and frantic screams. She looked down and saw the stone that she had been carrying. She had dropped it when the man tried to rape her. It was glowing brighter now; a bright yellow almost like the sun. She remembered the name of the stone: The Sands of Time.

Instead of seeking answers, she picked up the stone and her cloak and ran from the scene. She could not bear to look back and see him suffering. Tears began to stream down her face as she ran. What is this thing? She did not want to keep it, but she could not risk someone else finding it. What is it capable of? The streets were dark, but she knew the town well enough to make her way back to her home.

As she approached her door, she placed the stone in a pocket in her dress. She did not want her aunt and uncle to see it. She entered the house with tears still in her eyes. “Where have you been Janess?” Krisha asked her voice ripe with anger. It had been nearly an hour since she sent her niece out to get bread, a task that should have taken less than twenty minutes.

When she saw Janess with tears falling down her face, her anger quickly melted. “What happened?” she asked. Janess had hidden the rip in her dress by drawing her cloak tightly around herself.

Janess did not speak, but handed her aunt the basket of bread and then left the kitchen. She went into a small room that was made for her. She lied on her bed, which was nothing more than a piece of metal with some blankets over it, and a bundle of cloths for a pillow.

As she was weeping she could hear her aunt and uncle speaking in the kitchen. “No, Roku, don’t. You can tell she did not mean for it to take so long,” Krisha pleaded to her uncle Roku.

“Don’t try to defend her or I will beat you as well,” Roku threatened, his voice loud and clear through the walls. Janess knew what would soon come. She would be punished for her absence, for not returning home soon enough. “She did not even have the nerve to tell us what happened, why she was late. I will not let such a great act of disrespect go unpunished.”

Janess could hear her uncle’s footsteps thundering down the hall. He entered her room, holding a thin piece of wood in his right hand. “Get up,” he commanded.

She knew that she had to obey, even though she knew what would come next. If she did not stand, she would be beaten for longer. She stood up, tears staining the skin below her dark eyes. Her chin was quivering as she looked into the eyes of her uncle. He was much taller than she was, with a shaved head and sharply defined cheekbones. His nose was flat and wide and sat between the two pools of darkness that were his eyes. He stared back at her unfeelingly.

He raised the piece of wood and brought it down in a quick blow to her side. It knocked the breath out of her, and caused her to curl in pain. Another blow was delivered on the other side. Another blow on her back. Another blow on her legs. She fell to her knees.

She wanted to tell them what had happened, but she could not. If they knew a man had violated her, she would be disowned. No man would want to marry a spoiled woman. She would also have to explain how she got away, and the stone that she carried. Roku would then demand that she hand it over to him, and he would use it. He would use it to gain power in the village, and to conquer other villages. She could not let it happen.

Another blow was delivered across her left cheek. I will not cry out in pain she promised herself. That was the last blow, knocking her finally to the ground. The pain was so great. She wanted to die. She hated her life, her home. More tears began to fall as she wept on the floor of her room. Her tears mixed with the dirt and blood below her.

Roku walked out of her room, leaving her alone in darkness. She was not visited by Krisha that night, her uncle would not allow it. She was not given any food either. She had little food that day, but she was used to not having any. She had adapted to sleeping with a pain in her stomach. This night, however, the pain was too great to find any comfort in sleep.

She ached everywhere, especially in her heart. She did not know where she belonged. Her real mother had rejected her; her uncle had no love for her; her aunt could not show her love or else they would both be beaten. If she tried to run, she would be taken by another man, and used or killed.

That night she could think of only one thing that might be better than her life or death. It was the priesthood. They would accept her, but she would have to prove herself worthy. If she could gain compassion from one of the members, tell them the story of her life, then maybe they would take her in. She was one of the few members of her community that could read, after all, one of the requirements of being a priest or priestess.

She could wait no longer. She had to get away. She could not live like this anymore. She made up her mind. The next morning she would seek out one of the members of the priesthood, and try to join them. It would take several months until she became a member, but with the hope of being a priestess and gaining a fresh start, she knew she could withstand the wait. If they did not accept her, then there was just one last thing for her to do. She would kill herself if they did not accept her. She would end her useless existence. Maybe then she would at last be at peace.

Mother

So this is a new character, who used to be called Elihim, and before that was Elijah, but now I've decided to change it yet again to Elaikim. The reason for the first name change was that Elijah was far too human a name for a character who is the most alien of all of them. And the recent change is because after naming him Elihim, I realized that it is very similar to the Hebrew word for God, and I didn't want people to make some sort of connection between him and God, so I changed it. I think I'm still having a hard time figuring out how to portray him in the book, since he is so different than the other humanoid characters, but maybe over time I'll figure it out.

Elaikim: Chapter 1

He swam through the swampy waters, looking for his next meal. The extra lids over his eyes allowed him to see underwater clearly. The only thing that obscured his vision was the mud that floated by in brown clouds. He could see quick movements of silver through some of the murk. He had not eaten fish in a long time, and was looking forward to sinking his teeth into the cold flesh. For nearly the past six nights he had consumed nothing but fruits, leaves and bugs from the various plants in the forest. A craving for fish had grown in him, and was now so great it was all he thought about. He had to catch two tonight, one for himself, and one for his daughter, Shria.

He moved his arms and fins gently through the water, remaining in one place as he watched for a clear shot at his prey. He breathed in a calm, steady manner as he waited. In an instant, he moved like a blue-green streak of lightning through the waters. He clasped a fish in one of his claws, and reached for another with his other hand. The other fish escaped, but the first one was caught, it’s blood spilling out as clouds into the brown waters.

He surfaced and saw his daughter sitting on the edge of the marsh waiting. She stood up when she saw her father’s head pop out of the water. “Did you catch one?” she asked in her high pitched childish voice.

“Yes,” her father said as he raised one of his claws to show off his victim. It was still flopping back and forth, its silver skin shining in the sun light.

He lived with just his daughter. He had other children before, nearly a hundred now, and had several mates who bore them to him, but they were not like him and his daughter. The rest of his family lived their lives based on their animal instincts. They could not speak, or reason, or live in a complex community. He would live with his mate as the children grew and developed, and protect them. Then he would move on. Every year he was drawn to a different mate to procreate with them. He never felt very attached to them, and would never mate with the same person twice. He often thought about what it would be like to find and mate with a female that could think and reason. Would it be any different? Shria was the only child of his who showed the same ability to speak and think as Elaikim. He took her under his wing, cared for her, and helped her grow and learn the things he knew; like what his mother had done for him.

“Here, Shria, you can have this one, I’ll find another one.”

He swam to the shore and handed her the fish, which, by then, had stopped struggling in his hand. She took the fish, and bit into it with her sharp teeth. Shria was not yet fully grown, and was about half the height of her father. Her underdeveloped arm fins prevented her from swimming as well as her father and the other full-grown members of her people. However, her legs and arms were almost as good as Elaikim’s for walking and climbing in the forest. She had a much smaller build than her father, like most of the females of her species. There was no hair on her body, and the gills on her neck were closed, since they had not yet fully grown.

Elaikim swam back out into the marsh and dove underneath the water, still breathing through his gills, as he searched for more fish. He saw another school far off, and began to approach them slowly. They were feeding on the little organisms that float in the water, as well as small pieces of the plant life that grew in the swamp. The water was much clearer in this area, so he could examine all of the fish from afar, and see which one was the fattest.

He saw a large fish in the center of a school, its silver skin spotted with red. It was feeding as others swam around it. The very sight of the massive fish made Elaikim’s stomach grumble and long for it. He glided closer to the school cautious to make no sudden motions.

Soon he was at the point where the closest fish to him was just out of reach. He was still eyeing his prize, though, willing to settle for nothing less. He waited and waited for the fish to get closer to him. When the time was right, he darted forward in a blue-green blur and snatched it in both hands. It took all of his strength to keep it from breaking free and swimming away. He dug his claws into its flesh as far as they would go, drawing out the red blood of the fish. He swam to the surface holding the fish out of water so it would soon suffocate.

He placed the animal in his mouth as he swam back to the shore where his daughter had been. When he climbed out of the marsh, however, he did not see her anywhere. “Shria?” he called into the forests after pulling the fish out of his mouth. “Shria where are you?” His heart was beginning to race as he feared the worst. He took some steps out towards the forest dropped his barely touched dinner on the ground and began to search and call franticly. The green and red leaves of the trees hung over head, and the small shrubs blocked his path as he proceeded deeper into the woods.

Her fish was nowhere to be seen, but she could have eaten it all while she was waiting for him to return from hunting. He began to move off into the woods leaving his fish flopping lazily on the ground.

“Shria!” He was frantic now. Where did she go? Did another animal take her? It was very possible. Though they were high up in the food chain, their species was not at the top. There were still a few other animals in the woods that would feed on them. He had lost children to animals like those before, but they had never been intelligent children. They had been animalistic. Shria was not like them. She was different, she had the potential to know and see more than her father had ever experienced. Elaikim could take loosing children that acted like animals to predators, because that was the way of nature, but he could not even stand the thought of loosing Shria to a predator. He would never forgive himself if something happened to her, if he lost her.

He was straining his eyes as far as they could see as he moved among the tall trees and shrubs of the forest floor. The plants were starting to bloom with the beginnings of spring; blue flowers hung from low branches, and pink and red blossoms from some of the smaller shrubs. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he called her name, seeing in his mind his daughter killed or eaten, and lying mutilated amid these very flowers.

“Yes?” he heard her soft voice ask as he moved quickly though the woods.

“Shria!” he said as he let out a sigh of relief. “Where are you?”

“Over here,” she said. He heard the direction of her voice and turned towards it. He could see a little blue head a ways off, hiding in some shrubs. Around the head were light pink flowers of spring and leaves nearly as large as himself.

“Shria, what are you doing all the way out here?” Elaikim asked as he walked towards her.

She lifted her hand to her face and took another bite out of her half eaten fish. “I just wanted to see the pretty flowers,” she said as she picked one of the pink orchids and put it behind her large flat ear. She smiled at her father and gave a little laugh. She came out of the bushes and approached him.

“You should never do that again,” Elaikim said in a stern voice, one that struck the smile from his daughters face. “You had me thinking that you had been killed.”

Tears began to well in his daughter’s eyes as she looked at her angered father. “I-I didn’t mean to,” she said after a length of time, staring at him with her bright tear-filled yellow eyes.

He was not mad at her. How could he be? He bent down and scooped her up in his arms. “Don’t cry,” he said softly to her as he held her. “I’m not angry with you. You just scared me.”

“I’m sorry,” she said as a few of her tears began to fall onto her father’s shoulders.

“Come on,” he said as he began to walk back to the marsh where he had been fishing. “We will finish our meal, and then look for a safe place to rest for tonight.” He made his way back holding his daughter tight. He did not want to let her go.

When they reached the shore of the marsh, Elaikim’s fish was missing. He sighed as he set his daughter down. “Where is your fish?” Shria asked.

“I don’t know,” he said as he pawed through the leaves where his fish had been. It was a lie. He had a good idea where the fish went: another animal most likely came by and saw the free meal he had dropped.

“Are you going to get another one?” she asked. “I won’t go anywhere, I promise.”

“No, I think I will just find some other food,” he said looking on the ground for some large insects he could eat.

“Do you want some of mine?” she asked as she held up her half eaten fish to her father.

“No, you eat yours. You need it more than me. You want to grow up big and strong, so you need to eat it,” he said with a smile as he looked down at his daughter.

“But I am not hungry anymore. You can have it.” She looked up at him with her bright, shining, yellow eyes, still holding up the silver and red fish. “It was too big for me.”

Elaikim took the rest of his daughter’s dinner. It was only the tail and part of the body that was left, but a little bit was better than none. “Thank you, Shria,” he said, and then took a bite. There was not much left to fill him, but he ate it gladly. He finished it in three bites and thanked his daughter again.

“We should find a place to stay for the night, it is getting dark,” Elaikim said as he took Shria by the hand and began to look for a suitable resting spot for the night.

As they walked, his daughter asked him a question. “Where is mother?” She inquired, “How come I never get to see her anymore?”

It was a question Elaikim had hoped she would never ask, because he did not know how to explain it to her at such a young age. “I don’t know,” he said. It was not a lie; he had not seen her mother since they parted ways at the end of the last mating season.

“Will I ever get to see her?” Shria looked up at Elaikim again as they walked through the forest.

“You might,” Elaikim said looking down at his daughter.

“Do I have any brothers or sisters?”

“Now what makes you ask that?” Elaikim asked.

“Well I have seen other animals with lots of babies. I found a nest one time and in it were lots of little birdies,” Shria explained. “As I was eating them, I began to wonder if there were any babies like me. Where are the others like us?”

There was no way to avoid answering her. He knew he had to tell her the truth no matter how hard it would be. He could remember when his mother first told him the truth. It was tough on him, and he knew it would be far from easy for Shria to accept reality. He stopped walking, and knelt down to look his daughter in the eyes.

“Shria, there is something I have to explain to you.” He waited as he tried to piece together his words. His daughter looked up at him with longing eyes waiting to hear what he had to say next. “Your mother and brothers and sisters are not like us. They act like the wild animals you see around the forests. They move and do actions based on their instincts.”

Her yellow eyes were filled with confusion. “What do you mean? I want to talk to my mother.”

“Shria, you will never be able to speak with your mother,” Elaikim tried to explain. “She won’t understand you. She never will. Neither will your brothers or sisters. I am not sure why life is like this, it just is. However, there are others like us. We meet every year, when winter changes to spring. Last time we met, you were still at an age when you could stay with your mother. I went to the meeting then came back and took you under my care.”

Shria did not know what to say. All of this was too shocking and confusing for her young mind to make sense of it. “I know it will take time to understand,” Elaikim said looking at his daughter. “But I will never leave you. You will always have me to talk with, and maybe one day you will have a child of your own who will be able to speak and reason.”

Her eyes glistened with tears, and she said, “But I want to talk with my mother. I want to see her! Where is she?” Her question began to grow into a demand. “Where is mother? I want to talk to her! Show me where mother is!”

The commands she threw at her father were hard for him to hear. What was he to do? How could he show his daughter her mother if he did not know where she was?

An Idea came to him.

“If you want to see your mother and family, come with me.” His voice and face were stern and unmoving as he led his daughter back through the woods.

The sun was getting low in the sky, and Elaikim knew that the nocturnal animals would soon be out in force. Night was an unsafe time on his world; there were many dangers seen and unseen in the forests at night. The sun was barely visible through the trees in the east as they came upon a clearing in the woods. This was the place where Elaikim knew that some of his people, the animalistic ones, would come to sleep in pacts.

There were about twenty of them there that evening. Shria saw them as she came closer. “This is your family,” Elaikim said to his daughter. The truth was that he had no idea if they were related to her or not. Some of them could be family; cousins, siblings, maybe even her mother, but most likely they were just other members of their species.

Shria walked out into the clearing and began to approach the blue-green animals. “Mother?” she called out into the group as she approached in a cautious manner. None of the animals responded. Why would they? They could not understand her calls. “Mother, where are you?” she called again.

She neared one of the animals that was laying down, its head on its hands, and its legs tucked underneath its body. It looked up at her and hissed, showing its sharp, yellow-brown teeth. Shria gasped and jumped back in fear. “Why did you do that?” she asked the creature as it began to lie its head back down.

“It is no use,” Elaikim said as he began to walk into the clearing grabbing his daughter’s shoulder. “He can’t understand you. I told you, they live off of their instincts. If you approach him again, he will most likely attack you. Come on, Shria, we’re not wanted here.”

“No, I want to find mother!” she cried breaking free and running further into the mass of creatures. The animals gave cries of protest as Shria ran by them, stepping on some, kicking dirt and leaves accidentally onto others.

“Shria! Come back here!” Elaikim called.

His daughter ignored him and kept searching futilely for her mother. The pack of creatures began to stir awake with groans and hissing as Shira made her way through them. One of the larger members of this pack stood up and placed himself directly in Shria’s path. She ran into him and looked up at it. “Where’s my mother?” she screamed at the creature.

It growled at her, and struck her across the face with his large claw. Instantly, Elaikim was by his daughter’s side, his claws at the other creatures throat. He was about the same size as the creature, so it was almost a fair fight, but Elaikim still held an upper hand.

The creature was making a rasping sound as it tried to breath and struggled to get out of Elaikim’s firm grip. Shria was crying beside him, but he was too focused on harming this beast to notice. Blood welled up beneath Elaikim’s claws as he dug deeper into the animal’s flesh.

“Stop!” she screamed.

The word caused Elaikim to relax his grip just long enough for the beast to break free and run away. “I want to go,” she said softly, still crying. Elaikim looked down at her, saw her tears mixing with the blue blood from the scratch across her face. The other animals all around him were looking at him, either scared of him, or preparing to attack, he could not tell. I shouldn’t have done that, he realized.

“Let’s go,” he said taking her hand and leading her out of the clearing. She followed without protest.

The sun was gone, but some of the light remained. They came upon a small cave in the bottom of a little hill beside a shallow creek. “This will be good for tonight,” Elaikim said. The cave was too small to be comfortable, but they did not have much choice. Darkness was approaching fast, and soon they would risk running into a nocturnal predator.

“Let’s clean you off a little before sleep,” Elaikim said guiding her to the creek. They sat down beside the icy waters, and Elaikim moistened his hands and began rubbing off some of the dried blood on her cheeks. Tears were still falling from her eyes, but she wasn’t making a sound.

“I am sorry,” he said in a soft voice to his daughter.

She didn’t respond. Why’d I react that way? What sort of monster does she think I am? he wondered as he continued to clean her wounds.

“All better,” he said when the dried blood was all gone. “We should go inside the cave before it gets too dark,” Elaikim told his daughter.

Shria climbed into the cave first, and Elaikim followed. Without a word she curled up into a small ball and waited. Her father climbed in behind her, with his arms around her. He held her close in darkness of the cave. Why wasn’t she able to just accept what he told her, like how he responded when his mother told him the truth. His mother might have known better how to handle that situation. I wish she were still here. His mother had died nearly a year before Shira was born. One of the nocturnal predators had attacked her in the night. Elaikim came across her remains a few days later after returning from one of his longer expeditions for food and shelter. The images still haunted him some nights.

Secrets

Here is the second point of view character, Ziona.

Ziona: Chapter 1

She piloted her ship gracefully through the asteroid belt, over one asteroid and in-between two others, with a final roll to get through a tight space. A smile appeared on her bright face as she moved with ease through the large chunks of rock and ice. Her intense blue eyes studied the three asteroids that were floating slowly towards each other. The gap between them was gradually becoming smaller. The woman sped her small one-person ship up to full speed to slide through the gap before it was gone. Her smile faded as she focused all her concentration on finding the right angle to get through.

They were closing in around her. She was pushing her ship as hard as she could, but still the asteroids were closing in faster than she anticipated. They crashed together behind her as she passed through with tremendous speed. She escaped the grips of death, temporarily, but the massive brown rocks had collided with the back of her ship.

Alarms were ringing in the cockpit alerting her to the severe damage caused by the impact. Her engines were out, and she knew that the chemicals that powered them were in danger of mixing, causing a fatal explosion. She tried to shut off the engines and fuel pumps but it was too late. No, no, no! It wasn’t supposed to happen this way! The cockpit shook violently, and the screen went black. The alarms stopped and the cockpit lowered and opened revealing a large circular room.

“Congratulations,” a man said sarcastically from behind some computer consoles across the room. “You’ve successfully succeeded in having a little bit of fun at the cost of your own life as well as priceless equipment. I’m very disappointed in you, Ziona.”

Ziona unbuckled herself from the simulation cockpit and climbed out into the large space beyond. There were many computer screens and consoles to record the activities of the simulator, and display the life-like images on the screen, but much of the space in the building was open, leaving room for many people to work.

“I should have gone around the asteroids, I know,” Ziona said addressing the man walking towards her. Her jet black hair had been pulled back in a bun and held tight to prevent it from getting in her way, though now a few strands, that had fallen free from the violent simulation, framed her face. She wore a green jumpsuit with trimmings of dark jade as well as markings to indicate her rank and division, ensign of the Alae Comets, a group of explorers in the Rutherian Space Fleet. “I was caught up in the moment, and I thought that since it was just a simulation I might as well try and see how far I could go.”

“Your actions were very childish,” her commanding officer said. “I might have let this type of activity pass during your first few years in the space program, but you are nineteen now, Ziona. This sort of behavior is well past your years.” He stood tall when he talked to her, holding his hands behind his back, and looking down at her. He wore a similar uniform, but his was more decorative indicating the command position he held. His light brown hair was slicked back, and his dark green eyes glared down at Ziona.

She looked down at her feet, avoiding his judging looks. “It will not happen again, captain, you have my word,” she said.

“It had better not,” Mikale warned. “If I hear any other reports of childlike behavior from you, I will be sure to assign the mission to another ensign. Maybe ensign Bevila?”

The very mention of her name made Ziona furious. She looked up into her commanding officer’s emerald eyes. “I will not disappoint you. There is no need for you to even think of offering it to Bevila. I will not let you down.”

“I should hope not,” Mikale glanced up at a clock on the wall across the room. “You should go. It’s getting late. You will need your rest for tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, sir,” she responded. “If I may, could I practice one more time in the simulator before I leave?”

“Very well, one more test flight.” Mikale turned back to the two engineers and four officers behind the computer consoles running the simulator. The officers wore uniforms like Mikale’s, but the engineers wore plain white uniforms that covered them from shoulder to foot. “Prepare the simulator for mission one-twenty-one,” he commanded as he walked towards them, leaving Ziona to prepare.

She was climbing into the cockpit when she heard the mission number. She had never been able to complete mission one-twenty-one. However, she was not about to ask for a different mission. She knew she could not show any sign of weakness. She was one of the top running contestants for a promotion and position on a deep space mission to a neighboring solar system with four other veteran astronauts. It was the first manned mission to another solar system. Her closest rival was Bevila. Bevila had always been right behind her in the standings, even when they had just started their careers as astronauts at the age of twelve.

She sat down and buckled herself into the seat. The simulator rose, and the screen activated, showing a blue green planet with two moons orbiting it.

“Ziona,” Mikale’s voice sounded through the headset Ziona wore. It covered one of her ears, and extended a small microphone down her jaw to her mouth. “Your mission is to make a full scan of the planet without damaging or engaging in communications with any life forms on the surface.”

Ziona took control of the ship, and started to move it towards the surface of the planet. She began to run scans on the surface, and soon detected an industrial civilization on the surface, though it was a society that had not yet mastered space travel. The detail of the scans she received was not the quality needed for the science academy. She had to get more precise scans, but the only way to get the scans would be by flying lower to the surface, risking exposure to the civilization, something she was ordered not to do.

Ziona flew her ship towards the dark side of the planet, and could see the lights of the civilization twinkling across the surface. Her heart was racing: she had done this countless times before, and every time she had failed in one way or another. More often than not the people living on the planet detected her.

Once, she succeeded in accidentally destroying a power generator on the planet while trying to block their scans. That had resulted in the deaths of nearly three hundred thousand people on the simulated world. She flew over a dark spot of ocean and began to descend into the atmosphere of the planet. All the while she was running scans waiting for the signal to be strong enough to give her a decent reading. There were many abnormalities in the atmosphere of the planet, which blocked some of her scans.

She reached an altitude low enough to pick up a strong signal, but she still had to make a complete orbit to get a full scan of the planet. The civilizations on the surface possessed radar technology, her scans showed, and would pick up her ship if she flew too close to a city, causing her to fail yet again. Ziona hovered over the dark waters of the sea as she thought about the best way take the scans.

She opened up a communication with Mikale, “This is ensign Ziona, calling the Rutherian space fleet.”

“This is the Rutherian space fleet, what do you need?” Mikale answered through her headset.

“I am in the atmosphere of planet one-twenty-one, and need to report a change in my situation.”

“Please explain,” Mikale replied.

“According to our previous intelligence on this particular planet, we believed that they did not possess radar technology. My scans now show that to be incorrect. I do not believe I can successfully complete a pass of the planet without being detected by the indigenous population.”

“Can you complete the scan from a higher orbit?” Mikale asked.

“No, there is too much interference from the atmosphere. I believe it too great a risk to attempt.”

“Are you saying you cannot complete the mission?” he asked, his voice anything but comforting.

She had never tried to talk out her problem with her commanding officer during the mission. She always assumed that she was supposed to complete the mission no matter the cost. “Not without alerting the population to my presence,” she answered.

“So you admit failure?”

The words were a slap to her face, but what choice did she have? She swallowed a groan and said, “Yes. It is impossible.” Great, I’ve failed it yet again.

“Congratulations, Ziona,” Mikale said. “You pass.” The simulation shut off once he said those words, and the hatch opened. Ziona took off her headset and unbuckled herself from the seat. She climbed out of the simulator.

“I don’t understand,” she said walking towards the men at the computers. “I wasn’t able to complete the assigned mission.”

“That is the point,” Mikale said. “It was a no-pass mission. There is no way to successfully complete one-twenty-one. You have to accept that in real life you cannot always succeed. The point of this simulation is to train us to notice the times when it is appropriate to accept failure and abort instead of risking unnecessary complications.”

“I don’t think I fully understand, sir,” she confessed. Why would there be a mission I couldn’t pass?

“Someday you will understand,” he said with a smile. “Now go home and get some rest. You need to be back here in nine hours. I will see you then.”

“I will be here on time,” Ziona promised as she left her commanding officer and the simulator, and headed to the locker room. She changed out of her uniform, and was placing her clothes in a bag to take home when Bevila walked in.

“And I thought I was the only one who took these simulations seriously,” Bevila said as she opened her locker.

“Surprise, you are not the only person in the world, Bevila,” Ziona said sarcastically as she shut her locker and began to walk out.

“No, you’re right, there’s also Ekin. He let me know he existed today,” Bevila said with a smirk as she took off her uniform. She was a thin muscular woman, from all the rigorous training that space fleet demanded. Her light blonde hair was tied in a bun like Ziona’s, according to the training and missions’ regulations. Her eyes were a very light brown, with a darker shade of amber lining them. They seemed to glare at Ziona. She always felt a sort of contempt from Bevila whenever she talked with her.

“What is that suppose to mean?” Ziona asked, stopping in her tracks and turning to face Bevila.

“Let’s just say, I think he likes younger women.” She gave Ziona a dark smile as she slid her shirt over head. Bevila was a year younger than Ziona, though just as smart, making her Ziona’s toughest rival.

“He wouldn’t do something like that,” Ziona said as she let her bag slide down her arm and onto the ground. She wasn’t sure what he did, but from the way Bevila was talking, Ziona didn’t think it wasn’t good.

“Well he did. Why don’t you just ask him?” Bevila said placing her clothes in her locker. “Or better yet, read his mind.” She said the words slowly letting each one pierce Ziona deep in her core.

Ziona made no reaction to her comment, but a sensation of utter chaos began to build up inside her stomach from the verbal attack. She felt like she would soon vomit.

“Don’t think no one knows what you are, Tellie,” she said as she tied her shoes and put her clothes in her locker.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ziona managed to say as her heart raced inside her chest. It was her biggest secret. No one was supposed to know about her powers, what made her different from others. She had hidden her telepathy and telekinesis from the Rutherian Council at the age of five. She was not even sure how she was able to do hide them. No one else had been able to in the past. It was the greatest crime one could do, to hide their mental gifts from the Council. Ziona, however, had done just that. Those who were telepathic were instantly added to the Council, and if they showed signs of telekinesis, they would gain even more prestige among the council members. She could not imagine living her life as one of the Council members, no matter how much wealth, power, or honor it would bring to her house. She could never bring herself to order and rule other people, unless her ranking was well earned through hard work. It was a great privilege to be on the Council, and everything in Ziona’s society tried to tell her that it would be the best for her, but for some reason it never felt right to her. She knew she was meant for more than just sitting and telling people what to do.

“Don’t worry, Zi, I have no intention of telling your precious Mikale about what you really are.” Bevila stood up and approached Ziona, standing so close that their faces nearly touched. “I’d feel a lot better about myself if I was able to out do not only someone a year older than me, but also someone much more powerful.” She laughed a little to herself. “Oh, think of the stories I could tell my children, about how I placed higher than a Tellie in the space program.”

“Last I heard, I was still ahead of you in the standings, Bev,” Ziona said as Bevila began to walk away. “And I still don't know where you come up with your lies.”

“Lies?” Bevila asked, barking the word through a laugh, before she left the locker room. “I’m not the one who has been lying her entire life, am I?” She then left Ziona alone in the room lit by bright florescent lights.

Ziona stood a few minutes trying to gather her thoughts. At last she picked up her bag, and left the room. She walked to the metro station, and boarded one of the light rail trains. The ride to her neighborhood was short, but the entire time Ziona could not help but think about what Bevila had said. Would Ekin really tell her my secret? She needed to talk to him. She did not care how late at night it was; she had to talk to him. She stepped off the train and walked up the stairs to street level.

Her home city was moderately sized, not the biggest she had ever been to, but there definitely were smaller cities on her planet. The tall buildings rose up around her as she walked down the well-lit streets towards her home. As usual there were many people out late at night walking up and down the main roads. Ziona would always mind her own business as she walked down the sidewalk at night, never interacting with anyone she did not need to. She had heard enough stories about what can happen if the wrong person saw her or tried to take her. More often than not the crimes were directed towards people who were a part of the underworld of crime on Rutheria. Every now and then, however, it would be directed towards a seemingly innocent member of society.

She always felt safe, however, because she did have a degree of protection that most girls her age do not, her telepathy. If a man tried to take control of her, she could mess with his thoughts, stopping him from moving. She had never tested it though. She was always hesitant about her gifts. She did not know how much power she actually had, and never wanted to practice them because she did not want to risk being discovered for what she really was.

As she walked through the crowded streets, she bumped into one man she did not see walking towards her. He was a tall man, with dark hair like hers, but darker skin. When she came in contact with him, his mind opened to her like a book. She could see everything about him for a short second. There was nothing to fear from him, but she still felt horrible for reading his thoughts.

“Sorry,” Ziona said as she repositioned her bag on her shoulder, and prayed a silent prayer that the man did not notice her powers.

“Sorry,” he echoed, in response not even turning to face her, as he kept walking. Ziona turned and continued back to her own home.

Her family lived on the second floor of an apartment building in a nice neighborhood. The only downside was that it was a little overpopulated. Their balcony had a good view of the ocean, and the southern portion of the city. When she entered her house, the hall light was on, and her mother was still up, clothed in a bathrobe, sitting in one of the chairs they had in the entry room.

“Ziona, do you know what time it is?” her mother asked from the chair as she gazed into the flames of the candles on the nightstand nearby.

“Yes mother, I know it’s late,” Ziona said shutting the door and taking off her shoes. “I had to spend a little more time in the simulator than I thought.”

“Could you at least call next time?” her mother asked as she stood up and walked towards her daughter. Ziona truly was a daughter of her mother. They looked so similar that at times people would confuse pictures of Ziona’s mother, Stadi, in her youth with pictures of Ziona. They had the same hair and eye color, except that Ziona had her father’s oval eye shape, and small ears, as well as her father’s height. Ziona stood a few inches over her mother. Stadi took her daughter’s bag of dirty clothes.

“I will,” Ziona promised as she handed her bag to her mother. “It’s just that the selection for the deep space mission will be finalized next week, and I want to make sure I am the one chosen.”

“Please don’t talk about the deep space mission, you know how I feel about it,” Stadi said, placing the clothes in the washer and starting the machine. “Every time you go up into orbit, or on a quick mission to the moon or Gria, I can’t sleep at night. My mind always wanders, thinking of all the things that could be happening to you at that moment, and how I wouldn’t know until some stranger from the Space Fleet shows up at my door.” She moved back to the entry room and sat down. Ziona followed. “I just wish you would reconsider. No, I wish the Council had never assigned you to the space program. I wish you could have just been a simple teacher, or politician. Something where you would be safe on the surface.”

“Mom, you know this has been my dream, even before the Council assigned me to the space program. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I want to do this. Don’t worry. I’ll be safe. I won’t do anything risky while I’m out there.”

“I just keep thinking of everything that could go wrong,” Stadi pulled out a small cloth and began to wipe the tears that were forming in her eyes. Ziona sat down next to her mother, and placed her arm around her.

“It’s only a two month mission, then I will be home for at least a year, probably even longer,” Ziona said to soothe her mother.

“I know,” Stadi said. “There’s nothing I can do to stop you. It is what was chosen for you, and you’re nearly an adult now. How many more months is it?”

“Seven,” Ziona answered.

“Seven,” Stadi echoed in reflection. “Seven more months, and you won’t be my little baby any more,” She said with a sad smile as she looked up at her grown daughter.

“But, I’ll still be your daughter,” Ziona said wiping a tear from her mother’s cheek. “I’ll just be older, and starting a life of my own.”

Stadi smiled at her beautiful daughter. “Well, I should get back to bed before your father begins to worry.”

“Okay,” Ziona said standing up with her mother. “I just have to call one person, and then I’ll head to bed.”

“Who do you have to call this late?” her mother asked turning back to face her daughter.

“A friend,” Ziona said as she walked to her room.

“Fine, be secretive,” her mother joked, while walking to her own room.

Ziona turned on the light to her room, and her large pet looked up from her bed. It was a large furry animal, nearly half her size, with shaggy black hair, that nearly made its face invisible. “Hi Kindos,” she said to the animal as she walked into her room.

The pet placed his head back down on the bed and let out a soft sigh, then closed his eyes to sleep. Ziona sat at her desk, and flipped up her videophone to call Ekin. She pulled her hair out of its bun, tossing it about to work out the static, and let the black curls fall to her mid-back as she waited for the phone to connect with Ekin’s.

He appeared on the screen, his eyes half open still fighting off sleep, and his light brown hair had been pushed every which way from lying on a pillow. “What is it Ziona?” he asked in a groggy voice.

“What did you and Bevila do today?” Ziona asked as she looked at the young man on the screen. He was a year older than Ziona, and lived down the street from her. They had become fast friends growing up.

“What? Nothing. What are you talking about?” he asked, the forward question causing his mind to awaken a little more.

“She said that you two had spent time together today, and then she began to act like she knew my secret,” Ziona said the last part in a low whisper so her parents would not hear.

“I saw her today downtown,” Ekin admitted. “But we did not talk about you or anything important. We talked for maybe ten minutes, then I had to keep going or else I would miss my train.”

“Do you have any idea how she could have found out the truth about me?” Ziona asked as she pondered this little mystery.

“I don’t know. Did you tell her she was right?” Ekin asked.

“No, of course not! Why would I tell her?” Ziona looked away from the screen as she tried to gather her thoughts.

“Maybe she just had a hunch, and was trying to trap you,” Ekin suggested. “She has been around you almost every day for the past seven years. She might just suspect something.”

“Maybe, but she seemed pretty sure of herself,” Ziona said worried about who else might know her secret.

“Who else have you told besides me?” Ekin asked.

“No one. Well my parents sort of. I think they hope if they ignore it, it will go away,” Ziona confessed as she turned her eyes back to the monitor. “I even had my doubts about telling you, but I knew you needed to know at some point.”

“Well, my advice would be to just ignore her, and any accusations she may throw at you. The last thing you need is to slip up and have the whole planet learn the truth about you. You know what the law says about those who hide their powers from the Council.”

“I know,” Ziona said recalling to memory the dreaded law. “Well, I should get some rest. I have to wake up in six hours if I want to get to the academy on time tomorrow.”

“Wow, early day,” Ekin said with a slight laugh.

“Yeah, tell me about it. I’ll be done with everything early evening. Do you want to get dinner afterwards?” Ziona asked as she looked at the beautiful man on the screen.

“Sure, I’d love to,” he said with a bright smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“I’ll stop by your place tomorrow after training. Good night,” Ziona said.

“Good night,” Ekin said. They terminated the phone call.