Kholvaria (The Color of Water and Sky Book 2)

by Andrew Gates

The two Georgopolis girls walked unattended. Sometimes Grey or Iris carried them, but right now they let them be. Iris’s pregnancy made her tired and Grey had to help his wife. Meanwhile Dan took the lead in front by himself. He did not want to have any distractions.

  It had probably been about 10 minutes since they abandoned the Megastructure. The sun was starting to disappear behind the trees. Jallah liked looking at the sunset when he could see it, but it was hard to see much of anything in the forest. At this time of day, the world was covered in shadows. Long tree-shaped globs of black decorated the forest like ghosts. It did not help calm Jallah’s nerves. If anything, it made him more afraid.

  His stomach rumbled. He held onto his belly and pressed in, hoping that his touch would distract him from the emptiness. All he had to eat were water and a pile of berries. He could not remember the last time he felt this hungry.

  But there was no time to stop for food. No time to stop for anything. We have to go fast. Fast and quiet.

  Suddenly the sound he feared the most echoed through the forest. Birds flew away and squirrels scampered up the trees as roaring footsteps boomed across the land. Jallah’s heart beat so hard it felt like it would burst through his chest. He nearly lost his footing. His breathing picked up.

  Everyone in the group stopped for a moment, practically petrified as the booming steps grew closer and closer. Pale faces surrounded him.

  No, no, no, he thought. We’re dead, dead!

  Dan was still in the front. Not wasting a second, he waved the group on and bolted forward. Jallah and Margery were not far behind him. They both sped ahead like lighting. It was instinctual at this point. Grey, Selena, Kaitlyn and Misha were right behind the two of them. Iris and Ophelia picked up the rear.

  There was no time to look back anymore. Jallah moved his legs as fast as possible through the underbrush. He didn’t even worry if he stepped on something. He just planted his feet and pushed off wherever he could.

  Margery was by his right side, keeping pace. She was always good at staying with him. Jallah felt a bit more at ease knowing that she was there, though it did little to calm him down.

  The stomps grew louder. A tree cracked behind them and smashed onto the ground. It sounded close. They’re right behind me, I know it! He expected a claw to grab him at any second.

  Despite his better judgment, Jallah peered back as he ran. He could not see the mantises anywhere, but he saw Iris and Ophelia far behind the rest of the group. Iris held onto her stomach as she ran. It looked as if she were in pain. Ophelia stayed with her, matching Iris’s pace.

  They need to hurry up, Jallah thought. What are they doing?

  Iris had been slower ever since her pregnancy, but this was a matter of life and death. Jallah could not believe she would lag behind like this.

  The boy faced forward again and continued running. He heard another tree crack and smash to the ground behind him. This time Jallah could feel the land tremble beneath his feet as it collided. They’re getting closer.

  Roar!

  A deafening shout reverberated through the forest. Jallah covered his ears with his hands.

  “Go, go, go!” someone in the group screamed.

  As if I needed to be told.

  His breath was running thin. He was practically suffocating now. I can’t run anymore. I can’t do it!

  More stomping. It sounded so close now. He heard a scream from someone in the group and turned around.

  To his horror, two mantises were now in sight, following the group at full speed. Jallah did not know what came over him, but he felt the strange urge to stop and watch. Despite all logic and instinct that told him to do otherwise, he immediately slowed down and grabbed onto a tree. His eyes opened wide. He was petrified. He leaned into the trunk, catching his breath.

  “What are you doing?” Margery screamed.

  Jallah simply remained quiet and pointed. The girl turned around and watched as well. She gasped at the sight.

  One of the mantises was close enough now that it could practically extend its arm and touch Iris or Ophelia. Jallah’s heart raced as he watched the creature steadily close in on them.

  It reached out its left claw for Ophelia. Jallah held his breath as its sharp grip wrapped around her small body. But before the creature could pluck her right off the ground, Iris grabbed onto Ophelia and pulled her from the monster’s grasp.

  The mantis shrieked and doubled back, as if it did not expect Iris to save the girl. It turned its head and glared at the woman.

  Now free, Ophelia squirmed away and bolted off to the south. Neither mantis paid her any mind. They both seemed focused on Iris.

  Run, Iris, run!

  Grey and his family continued along as if nothing were happening. They passed Jallah and Margery and continued westward. It seemed they did not even realize what was going on.

  Iris was all alone now.

  The monsters surrounded her. One stood before her, the other behind. Iris stopped moving. There was nowhere to go from here.

  In an instant, all sound stopped. The world seemed motionless. It was as if time itself were frozen. Jallah could not look away. As much as he wanted to run, he found himself powerless to move.

  Another monstrous roar broke the silence, followed by the loudest heartbeat Jallah had ever heard. Birds squawked in the sea above and wind blew through the leaves.

  Iris seemed paralyzed. She held one hand to her stomach and the other outstretched before her, as if trying to reach some invisible person.

  “Trace,” she said. Even from far away, Jallah could hear her perfectly. “You were right.”

  The mantis behind Iris pulled its right arm back and then thrusted it forward, piercing through her stomach with its sharp claws. Her body suddenly seemed so fragile, so light. The monster lifted her up from the ground. Blood gushed out of the newly formed hole at the center of her body. Iris’s face was frozen, alive, but in shock.

  Jallah gasped and held his hands over his mouth. Drool and sweat covered his palms.

  “No!” Dan’s voice exploded from behind. “No!” His voice was chilling.

  The world had never seemed so dark and cold. Jallah blinked his eyes, hoping this was just another horrifying dream. But no matter how much he blinked, the image remained before him. This was real.

  “I… I… Iris,” he muttered, hardly getting the word out. He was too shocked to speak properly. He felt dizzy, weak, petrified. His hands twitched violently. It felt like he had lost all control of his muscles.

  Suddenly, when all hope seemed to be lost, a mantis ship flew overhead. It was another dropship, the same type that Ryan had shot down last night.

  The two mantises paused as they watched it come in. The ship hovered directly above the mantises and Iris. They all looked up.

  The bottom hatch of the ship opened. Three more mantises emerged and landed on the ground. The forest floor trembled as their pointy feet smashed against the Earth. These three mantises looked different. They wore thick armor like the ones who had attacked the station and they stood straighter, like soldiers at the ready.

  One of the new three started speaking to the other two in some sort of foreign language. It sounded like shouts and roars to Jallah, but the other two reacted to the words, so it must have meant something.

  The mantis holding Iris in its right claw seemed defensive. It waved its free arm around, expressively.

  The others started speaking louder now. It seemed there was an argument brewing between the new and old mantises.

  Jallah turned to face Margery. This was the first time he had moved since stopping by the tree. She seemed just as entranced as he was. He turned back to face the excitement again, not wanting to miss another second.

  The new mantises got close to the old ones now. The one with both free claws stepped in, blocking the other three from taking another step forward.

  The other mantis raised Iris’s body even higher until she was almost a meter off the ground. Then, without hes
itating, it used both claws to rip her body in half straight down the middle as if she were as fragile as a candy wrapper. The creature threw both bloody halves aside; the right collided against a tree, the left landed in a nearby bush.

  She was truly gone, the woman Jallah had known as a teacher, a mentor, a leader. His heart sank. He felt bile fill the back of his throat. Iris, this amazing, powerful woman, was now nothing more than another dead animal in the forest, discarded like a piece of worthless trash.

  No, no, no, no. Jallah could not believe what had seen. He blinked again, hoping that this was all a nightmare. It can’t be real. It can’t!

  Suddenly all hell broke loose. The new mantises roared in anger and raised their weapons. The old mantises roared back and lifted theirs. They started shooting at each other. Hot white plasma flashed back and forth, casting shadows this way and that. Trees caught fire all around them. In an instant, the forest was ablaze.

  The dropship above their heads flew away, trying to get clear of the battle.

  Jallah could not move. He was frozen against the tree. He had felt fear many times in his life, but he had never felt like this before. It was as if his feet were attached to the forest floor.

  Suddenly someone tapped his shoulder. He turned to find Margery standing behind him. Her face was flushed and sweaty. Margery had never looked so frightened in her life.

  “Come on, now’s our chance. We’ve got to get out of here!” she said.

  Jallah nodded. He knew she was right. Those words were enough to free him from his paralysis.

  The boy let go of the tree and followed Margery. Just put one foot before the other, he reminded himself. It’s not that hard. You can do it.

  Despite his motivational thinking, running proved to be almost impossible. Jallah felt dizzy. He could hardly keep a straight line. He felt his body fall down against the hard ground. He picked himself up only to fall down again.

  “Where am I going?” he heard himself say. Did I mean to say that?

  The world was spinning. He felt like he was running again, but he was not sure. Things were moving too fast around him. He did not even know if he was going the right way.

  Margery appeared out of nowhere once again and held onto both his hands.

  “Follow me!” she said, staggering a bit. She looked like she was not in good shape, but neither was he.

  “Okay!” he replied.

  Not letting go of her, he followed Margery through the woods. He nearly stumbled a few times, but never fell down.

  His stomach rumbled. His vision grew blurry. His head ached. His lungs gasped for air. His nose was filled with mucus.

  Five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. Jallah had no concept of time anymore. How long have we been running? He looked up to the sky. The sun was nearly out of sight. Soon the world would be nothing but darkness. It must’ve been a while, he realized.

  And suddenly they all stopped.

  Margery let go of Jallah’s hands and fell onto the ground. Water splashed up as she landed. Water, why is there water? Jallah studied the area. They were by a small creek. The boy quickly followed Margery’s lead and dropped to the ground by the water’s edge. He placed his head in it and gulped down as much water as he could.

  After a few seconds, he lifted his head up again and realized that the rest of the group was doing the same thing. It seemed he was not the only one dying of thirst.

  “Ooh,” Grey said with a sigh as he lifted his head and stood up from the creek. “Ooh, Lord Beyond Both Seas.” He hobbled next to a tree and used it to brace himself.

  “Has anyone seen Dan?” Selena asked, gasping.

  Dan, where is Dan? Jallah had been so dizzy and confused, he did not even notice what happened to him.

  Just as the group began to look around, Dan emerged from the forest, putting their worries to rest. By the ashen look on his face, he seemed visibly troubled. Nobody knew quite what to say.

  “How is everyone?” he asked.

  Nobody responded. Aside from Jallah and the two brothers, everyone continued drinking water.

  “How are you?” Grey asked instead.

  “Me?” Dan clarified.

  Grey nodded.

  Dan seemed hesitant to respond. He looked down to his boots and froze. A tear slowly formed on his face. He sniffled and raised his head again.

  “Fuck!” he screamed, instantly losing all composure. “Fuck!” He slapped his own face.

  Jallah wondered if Grey would step in and do something, but he simply let his brother be.

  “Goddammit! Fuck!” the man continued.

  Dan turned to the closest tree and kicked it with all his might. Bark tore off and fell to the ground. He slapped his face again and again. His cheeks were red now, bruised from his own strikes.

  Again, Grey remained silent and still.

  Dan pounded the ground, kicked trees, splashed the water. Then he stopped and lowered his head, as if coming to the realization that nothing he did would help.

  “It’s like…. it’s impossible, right?” Dan asked as he turned to face the others. He was stammering. “How the fuck can it be… real? I… I mean like, you know? I… goddammit!”

  “Calm down, Dan. Take your time,” Grey said, finally trying to help.

  “It’s just… oh, fuck, I feel… I feel angry! How can she die, Grey? How?” Dan pointed to his brother. His hand shook uncontrollably. “And here you are, you with your whole family, your sick wife who survived this whole time. How come my future is ripped away and… and… you get everything?”

  “I wouldn’t say I have everything, Dan. Come on, we’re in this together. Calm down, calm down,” Grey continued, trying to help him out. “You will make it through this, right Dan? You always make it through.”

  “I… I… don’t know,” he replied. There was a heaviness to his voice that Jallah had never heard before. “It’s uh, just a lot to take in right now.”

  Grey walked away from the tree and joined his brother. He held him and patted him on the back.

  “I know,” he said. “I know.”

  “I mean… I loved her,” Dan added. More tears came down now. “And in her last words, she spoke his name.”

  His name? What does that mean? Jallah could not remember what Iris’s last words were. He tried to replay the scene in his mind, but everything was already a blur.

  Grey pulled away and looked his brother in the eyes.

  “Don’t let that get you down. They were her final words. People are delusional in their last moments,” the brother explained.

  “Not Iris. She was focused in that moment. She saved Ophelia!” Dan argued.

  Ophelia. Where is she? Jallah looked around. She was not with the group.

  The others started lifting their heads from the creek now. Margery rolled onto her back and faced the darkening sky. The youngest girls crawled up by some bushes and sat down, crying. Selena simply stayed by the water, keeping her children in sight.

  Grey embraced his brother again.

  “Iris loved you,” he said, reassuringly. “I know she did.”

  Dan nodded his head in reply.

  “So did I,” he responded. He pulled away from his brother and reached into his pocket. “I didn’t tell anyone this. Not even Iris knew. But I had something planned. I wanted to do it before the baby was born,” Dan said. Jallah did not know where he was going with this. But then Dan pulled a small ring from his pocket and held it up. “I found it in the Megastructure. I think it was an old piece from the piping that came apart. But it looks like a ring. It’s the perfect size for her. I was going to give it to Iris.”

  “You were going to ask her to marry you,” Grey said in amazement.

  Dan simply nodded in silence. It seemed he could not even muster the power to reply through the tears.

  Grey embraced his brother again. This time they held it for what seemed like an eternity. All the while, nobody spoke, not even the others. There was really no way to express their feelings i
n words.

  The air grew cold and the sea above turned dark. Nighttime would soon be upon them.

  After a few minutes, Selena coughed, prompting the two brothers to break their embrace and turn to face her. She held her hand in the air, as if signaling that she had something to say.

  “I hate to interrupt. I know this is a hard moment for all of us. But I have to ask: are we sure the mantises are gone?” she wondered.

  Dan wiped some mucus from his nose and bobbed his head.

  “They’re fighting each other,” he answered. “They’re preoccupied. Plus, we ran far. The Megastructure must be 5,000 paces from here.”

  “Why are they fighting?” Margery wondered. “Why would they do that?”

  “The new ones did not seem happy that the others killed Iris. Perhaps some mantises are sympathetic to humans?” Grey proposed.

  Dan shook his head and threw his hands in the air.

  “I don’t know and I don’t care. We got away. That’s all that matters,” he replied. “I don’t think they’ll be following us.”

  “Well, what’s next for us?” Selena asked.

  “Food. We need food!” Jallah retorted. He was surprised nobody else had mentioned food until now.

  “He’s right,” Grey agreed. “We need to eat, badly.”

  “I’ll find food,” Dan said, wasting no time. “It’ll help me… distract.”

  “I think we could all use a distraction right now,” Grey noted.

  For a moment, nobody said anything. But then Dan nodded his head and slowly walked away.

  “I’ll be back,” he said.

  Jallah nodded in response, though he was not sure Dan even saw it.

  The boy closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. He welcomed this moment to rest. He had never felt so tired in his entire life.

  In the darkness, he tried to replay the events in his mind. He could see the mantis stab Iris and rip her apart, but so many of his memories were hazy. What if he remembered wrong? Did she actually escape? Did she get away? She must’ve gotten away, Jallah told himself. This is Iris. She saved us from the station.

  Jallah opened his eyes again. Iris would return any minute now. She had to. Iris was a hero. She just had to come back. She’ll walk right up to us with Ophelia safely by her side. We’ll all be together again like a family.