All rights reserved.
No part of this story may be reproduced in any
form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and
retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author.
Chapter Four: Family for a Lifetime
Dueson had his kill skinned and gutted, and already shared
his meat with the group. It wasn’t much, but it was better than the dry
survival bars they had for food. Brockumus showed his disdain for foreign meat,
and contributed his portion to Arius. Rie ate his share skeptically but gave
little complaint, while Jayvolni finished his without a word. The others
including Thorim were willing enough to let Dueson and his brother finish off
the rest.
“My fellows,” Thorim said. “We must search for higher ground
if we are to find our destination. I have located the west this morning which
means we must head eastward. I believe the island is small so navigation should
be simple.
“Where are we now?” Jayvolni asked, speaking his first words
that morning.
“If we’re anywhere near our landing coordinates then we
should be on the appropriate island,” replied Thorim. “But it is hard to say
whether the ship guided us to the appropriate location. We will have to hope
for the best.”
“Our contact is said to reside in a gray tower,” Dueson
said. “I don’t suppose a tower would be hard to find.”
“Once we get to higher ground, we will be able to gain the
lay of the land,” said Thorim. “We shall plan our course from there. For now, I
suggest we go over what we know.”
“What do we know?” Rie said with a laugh. “We’re stranded on
foreign rock hunting a myth. Am I the only one who doubts the mission?”
“The intelligence we received is reliable,” Thorim replied.
“As hard as it may seem, we are here to kill Archaies. More information will be
provided as soon as we find our contact.”
The name rang clear in all their heads as it was a name
passed down through their histories and stories. Archaies was a legend
speculated on by many. To some he was a hero, to others he was an enemy.
Archaies had won his place in history several centuries before, which made his
still being alive peculiar. How could one live so long, Arius wondered. As a
child he had grown up studying the histories and legends of Archaies, so to
find that he was still alive was unbelievable.
“We must be careful, for our circumstances are unknown,”
Thorim continued. “As we have heard it, the inhabitants of this world are at
war with a biological entity. The origin of which is unknown. Do not make
contact until we are more familiar with the situation.”
“Are we really planning to go on with this,” Grem asked, a
quick buddy to Rie. “We just crashed into the ocean, and for all we know
someone here is a traitor.”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Thorim said. “We’re not
going anywhere until our people send for us, so meanwhile we should plan on
proceeding.”
“If they send for us,” Ruekrow said. “We mustn’t forget that
this is an unauthorized mission. Even the Supreme Council doesn’t know about
this, and those who do are nothing more than stingy bureaucrats looking for
opportunity. Do we really expect them to send a ship for us?”
“There’s no good in worrying about it now,” replied Dueson.
“We’re either here for life, or a few months. Let’s focus on not leaving empty
handed if possible.”
“I know there’s not much going for us right now,” said
Thorim. “But we are all each other’s got. Stick together and we can make it
through this.”
Arius wondered how often the mercenaries had worked in a
team. Most of them were known for going solo, and it seemed that Thorim was
perhaps the only one who knew a bit about team play. He came from a prestigious
ranking within the galactic fleet back home, but everyone else had darker, less
glorious backgrounds.
“Let’s pack up,” Thorim said.
The group climbed to their feet and began to hide any trace
of their small camp. The air felt cool that morning, but Arius expected a warm
day as the sun climbed higher into the sky. Looking around at the others he
felt uncertain. These men were going to be perhaps his family for a lifetime,
and if not that long, then until they could find a way off of that world.
Thanks for reading chapter four, and come back next week for chapter five, "Desolation." In the meantime please leave a comment, or check out my book here.
0 comments:
Post a Comment