Origins of Hope

by Anastasia Drapievsky

  Origins of Hope

  Book One of The Cataclysm Series

  Anastasia Drapievsky

  Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Drapievsky

  All rights reserved.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Cover design by: Fiona Jayde

  Logo design by: Brittany Curtin

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2020910374

  Printed in the United States of America

  To my copyreaders, Mom and Brittany:

  Thank you for your brutal honesty, excited encouragement, and never-ending love.

  To Alex:

  Thank you for helping me create key parts of the lore, and without your support, I would not be able to finish this book.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Glossary

  Prologue

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Epilogue

  About The Author

  Glossary

  AET-Ability Enhancing Tech; neural implants and devices that amplify various psychic abilities in combat.

  Akaiedal-Iaiedal word for ‘scry’; literally means ‘Watcher of the People’.

  EmTel-Emotive Telepathy; projection of emotions and occasionally images/experiences onto another person.

  GSE and GST-Galactic Standard Era and Galactic Standard Time.

  Hsa-Bane- Kath’laka word for ‘Protector’; Aorírdal Krians who are trained in psionic combat and act as security guards.

  Krian- Rym word for ‘Master’; middle rank of Aorírdal. Most Aorírdal members are of Krian rank once graduating from Apprenticeship and choosing a specialty.

  Lelich-Aorírdal council members who act as representatives for Aorírdal; they are under the Prior and Sacrist.

  Melyn- Lyre Selyn word for children, literally meaning ‘seed’; the youngest students in Aorírdal before they become Apprentices by adolescence.

  PEDs-Psychic Enhancing Devices; technology used for telepathy and non-combat psychic abilities.

  PDTs-Psychic Dampening Tech; devices that create forcefields that decreases or neutralizes psychic abilities.

  Runal- Rym word for ‘the Lost’; documented individuals who are powerful enough to join Aorírdal but are not recruited.

  Varôk- Levan word for ‘infection fighter/cure’; XIK combatants with spliced alien DNA trained by Raxdrýn.

  Prologue

  I

  The campsite of the tribe had been torn apart. The tents and trappings had been ripped and trampled, the carved wood of crafted furniture smashed. Smoldering fires blazed on the ground, the light casting lengthy shadows on the mossy terrain and strewn corpses in the copse. The smoke enveloped the campsite in a deep haze, making it hard to see, but guttural hissing and wheezing permeated the smoke. A silhouette of a large creature lumbered towards the edge of the camp, pausing for a moment, before it stalked deeper into the smoky remains. From its careful and skittish movements, it knew it was being watched.

  Perched on an outcrop of rock several hundred meters away, a lone human crouched lower to the ground. Armor plating adorned his body, and only the smallest crunch of dirt signaled his movement. A holographic display around his eyes zoomed in on the creature at his mental command. He had been given very little intel on the situation. Various reports confirmed a XIK had attacked a traditional Lyre Selyn tribe on one of their colony worlds. It appeared the XIK had slaughtered everyone in the camp and a fire broke out amidst the attack. While terrible, it meant that the virus would not spread from the burnt corpses. Ayzize let out a low huff from his nose. Small comfort it is to them, though.

  He studied the XIK, which shuffled with heavy steps and grunted in guttural tones, and Ayzize believed it to be a former Levan. His eyes swept to the horizon. The red tinted-sun made its way to the west, the bottom edge slipping under the horizon. Gritting his teeth, he muttered a curse. The Levan species, even before the virus changed them, had excellent night vision while Ayzize remained—mostly—human. Even with the assistance of his holo display, the XIK would have an advantage if the fight lasted into the night.

  As Ayzize contemplated waiting to hunt the XIK the next morning, his holo display signaled noise half a kilometer away. The pit of his stomach dropping, he turned and refocused his holo display to concentrate on long range noise. To the east, he honed in on frantic running and voices calling out what sounded like the Yengi word for ‘fire’. A neighboring group of Lyre Selyn must have spotted the smoke from the copse and came to put it out.

  An inquisitive grunt came from the west. Ayzize switched back to long range vision to focus on the XIK, and the creature’s silhouette stopped. For two moments it stayed frozen, then it scuttled through the haze in the group’s direction. The XIK had heard the group.

  Slapping the knuckle guards on his mag-belt, the twin devices hooked around his palm and knuckles. Ayzize pushed himself up and jumped down from the outcrop, dropping to the ground and rolling to mitigate the impact. The second he got to his feet, he activated the displays on his suit as he ran for the copse, the lining of his armor glowing red and blinking. Functioning not only as a visual indicator that his Ability Enhancing Tech—or AETs—powered on, the lights called the attention of certain types of XIKs, including Levan XIKs. Nanotrites raced from his suit, up across his face to encase his head for extra protection.

  In the distance, a guttural roar echoed beyond the copse and the dull shuffles changed direction. Ayzize narrowed his eyes; his gambit worked, for now. Mentally sending a jab at the creature, he felt like he had slammed against a wall. This was indeed a Levan type of XIK, and he mentally tuned his AETs to go back to half strength. L-XIKs did not require the full use of his AETs, as they were immune to psychic penetration abilities.

  The stomps in his direction halted. When Ayzize felt a stab of worry that the L-XIK had changed direction towards the Lyre Selyn, a tree nearby swayed dangerously to the side. Ayzize leaped and rolled out of the way as the L-XIK fell from the tree onto the ground on all fours, bellowing in rage. Its former plated reptilian body had been further hardened, pieces of already dense and thick bone cracking through the blackened skin rippled in corded muscle. Rags hung from its wide body, remnants of a former life. Its large black eyes stared back at Ayzize in primal fury, its cracked skull revealing craggy bone and sinewy muscle. The teal colored blood caking both the rags and skin denoted a newly turned L-XIK. While easier to kill, it didn’t mean Ayzize could get away unharmed.

  Letting out a snarl, the L-XIK jumped for Ayzize. He rolled away on instinct, mentally wrapping a force around the L-XIK and slamming it into a tree. The L-XIK shrieked in pain as it splintered the thick trunk, gnashing its sharp teeth, and Ayzize raised his hand and jerked downward, and the L-XIK crashed onto the ground. The creature held itself up with shaking limbs, resisting against Ayzize’s gravitokinesis. Its eyes met his, narrowing into a look of hatred as it roared, venomous spittle hanging from jagged teeth. Ayzize’s long range hearing picked up gasps and cries of s
urprise; the Lyre Selyn group reached close enough to either see the campsite or hear them fighting.

  Almost too late, Ayzize saw the L-XIK crouch and lunge for him. Ayzize again rolled out of the way, but the L-XIK anticipated him this time, twisting its body to change its trajectory, and raked a bony claw against Ayzize’s arm.

  Pain seared across his bicep and while cursing about getting distracted, Ayzize sent a wave of projected gravity towards the creature, which jumped back with a snarl that eerily sounded like a cackle. With no time to check if the claws managed to tear through his armor, Ayzize threw gravity wave after gravity wave at the L-XIK, moving it further away from the group. The L-XIK seemed too occupied to notice the nearing Lyre Selyn, dodging the gravitokinesis that erupted every time Ayzize made a hand motion. If I can get it further away, I can take it down without the others getting exposed—

  The group’s noise grew loud enough to hear without his neural device. Ayzize and the L-XIK froze for half a second, but long enough for the L-XIK to take in the sight of twelve nomadic Lyre Selyn emerging from the forest several dozen meters away. A plant-like humanoid species, the group of Lyre Selyn stopped in their tracks, staring between the L-XIK and the human Ayzize.

  The L-XIK barreled past Ayzize so fast that it clipped his shoulder, roaring at the Lyre Selyn, who all seemed rooted in shock. Letting out his own yell of frustration, Ayzize whipped around and leaped for the L-XIK, manipulating telekinesis to lengthen his jump. On descent, he used his entire mass and psychic ability to fall onto the creature. Upon impact, the spine and ribs in the L-XIK cracked like twigs under Ayzize’s force as it landed in the dirt. The L-XIK howled in rage, scaring the Lyre Selyn out of their stupor, and they ran screaming back into the forest.

  As the L-XIK’s writhed underneath him, Ayzize powered up the AETs and punched the back of its neck over and over, his own strength shattering the spinal cord faster than the L-XIK could repair itself. It was akin to punching sharp rocks, as Levan already had hard skin, and becoming a XIK only enhanced it. The shrieks of anguish and pain that spewed from the creature’s maw would make almost anyone feel sorry for it, but for Ayzize, he held no mercy for the loathsome creature. He could feel his own knuckles begin to bloody in his gloves as the L-XIKs dark teal blood splattered against his armored body and the ground. With one final blow with all his strength, Ayzize punched the back of the creature’s head. The already split skull fractured, and the creature’s final howl cut off with a gurgle.

  Panting, Ayzize immediately moved away from the body. The holo display around his eyes showed no signs of life, but he had battled XIKs that had appeared to be dead and yet were in fact very much alive. Grabbing a nearby piece of wood engulfed in flames, he turned back to the hollow well he had created when punching down the L-XIK and tossed the wood onto the body. The flames consumed the creature that lay in its own grave, the stench of burning flesh almost a welcome smell.

  Relieved that the L-XIK indeed was dead, Ayzize stayed with the burning body until nothing but ash remained. He sighed, his chest heaving in effort. It had grown into early evening, with the last of the sun’s rays peeking over the horizon. Had the fight lasted into the night, the outcome would have been different.

  Flicking his hands over his face, the holo projector around his eyes scanned the area. No other sentients besides him, and the Lyre Selyn huddled in the forest within a kilometer radius. Stepping away from the ashen grave to check his wound, Ayzize saw that the creature’s claws had not breached his armor. Moreover, and even better, there were no signs of infection according to the holo display. He only earned a deep bruise this fight.

  As he walked the perimeter around the camp, making sure the fire didn’t spread further than needed, he wondered how the L-XIK even got to this planet. Located towards the outer edge of the Milky Way, this minor colony held nothing of real importance. Ayzize knew the virus was intentionally spread in certain areas, but not here. This was uncontrolled... and unforeseen.

  Neither prospect didn’t comfort Ayzize, and as he watched the flames lower into dull embers, his stomach twisted in worry.

  II

  Through the cracked steel door, a ten-year-old girl peered into the living room where her father and two aliens sat on the threadbare couch. The aliens, a Kath’laka and a Rym, dressed much differently than her father. The girl had been surprised when she had opened the front door to greet the Prior and a Master of Aorírdal, dressed more simply than what she had thought the most powerful psychics of the galaxy would wear. Still, their pattern-less but clean robes stood against her father’s tattered and oily shift, as he hadn’t bothered to clean himself up yet. She supposed she should give him credit that he didn’t reek of alcohol.

  The Rym Krian, a humanoid species sporting cerulean and violet skin tones with glowing white eyes set on a ridged and bald skull, spoke quietly to her father, who had remained slumped in his chair for the entirety of the visit. The Kath’laka, on the other hand, with four arms, a body reminiscent of a bear, and covered in auburn fur with ears like a fox, looked around the room with curious, round gold eyes.

  “Celes, what’s the hold up?” a young voice piped up behind her, and she looked back. A young boy of five had three bags crammed on both of their beds, his short black hair sticking to his sweaty tanned forehead. “I thought you said you’d help! You only packed me one of these!”

  A pang of sadness stabbed her heart, but she hid it with a smile. “Oops, silly me.” She forced a self-deprecating tone, walking over to their dresser to fish out the remainder of his clothes. “You didn’t pack any of your underwear like I told you,” she said, frowning upon seeing the strewn clothes still in the drawer.

  “I need room for toys,” he scowled, smacking a bag on his bed. “You said to pack everything important.”

  Scooping up all his underwear, she motioned for him to unzip the thin duffle bag on her bed, shoving the underwear in as much as she could. She hoped that Aorírdal had more clothes in their station, since Zander had outgrown his clothes from last year already. And newer ones, she thought, glancing at her brother’s too-small shirt.

  She went through their small room, opening the dresser drawers and checking under the beds to make sure she had packed everything. Zander sat on his bed, opening his toy bag and mashing together two model dinosaurs, making Raptor and T-Rex noises. “Where’s Mr. Snuffles?” she asked, scooting out from underneath her bed.

  Zander dropped the raptor toy and fished into his toy bag, bringing up a squished stuffed dog and waving it at her. “I’m not leaving him, don’t worry,” he huffed, returning it to the bag and continuing his epic Raptor vs T-Rex battle.

  She felt her legs waver and went to the door, peering into the living room to see how much time she had. The Kath’laka now spoke to her father, who had actually lifted his head to listen to the Prior, his expression unreadable. Narrowing her eyes in suspicion in case her father decided to argue, she didn’t turn when her brother said, “So, what is this Ahroh-reer-dahl place again?”

  “Already told you,” she said, still watching their father.

  “It is a spaceship!”

  “Space station,” she corrected, turning away from the living room. She didn’t know what Aorírdal looked like, but she would have to pretend to make him find it appealing enough to go. “It’s a space station by a huge nebula called—”

  “Like the one you like to look at, Carina something?” Zander asked excitedly, still holding up his dinosaurs.

  She wasn’t sure what it looked like; she had found only a few pictures of the nebula surrounding Aorírdal. Something about security reasons. “Yes,” she guessed. “Might be different colors, but I think so.”

  “There going to be other kids?”

  “Yes.” She did know that; the Prior had said so in his net-mail. “And they have a park, older kids, a school—”

  “Bleh!!” He stuck out his tongue in disgust.

  “A school to teach you how to use pyrokinesis—” A
nother guess, but ever since Zander realized he had psionic abilities, he became obsessed with becoming a superhero that could breathe fire. As his violet eyes grew wider, she plowed on, “—and AR room—rooms! There’s more than one—all the food you can eat—”

  “Like donuts?”

  “Sure,” she nodded, having no idea if that was true, but he looked like he would start drooling. “But yeah, Aorírdal is a space station that teaches you how to use fire and lets you eat donuts.”

  That seemed to seal the deal for Zander, since he hopped off the bed and threw his dinosaurs into his bag and zipped it up. “OK, when do we leave?”

  She abruptly turned for the dresser again, gritting her teeth for a moment. “First, there’s something that you need.” She went into the top drawer—hers—and shuffled through her two shirts and one other pair of pants to find a small jewelry box. Opening it and retrieving a locket with a single tiny sapphire in the middle, she walked over to her brother and held it out to him. “Here. This is yours.”

  His eyes widened and he snatched it from her hands, attempting to pry it open. “What? Is that real? Where—” He opened the locket, and a small hologram shimmered in between the two windows: an image of a woman with matching black hair, smiling at Zander.

  He stopped talking, both of them staring at the hologram silently for a few moments.

  “Mom wanted you to have it when you were older,” she explained as he continued to stare at it. “I figured you were old enough.” When he didn’t reply, she snapped her fingers, and he looked up at her, tears brimming in his eyes. “Don’t lose it. Understand?”

  He nodded, throwing the chain over his neck and tucking the locket underneath his shirt. “Promise. Dad would probably yell at me again if I did…” he muttered, then looked scared, his eyes darting to the door before whispering, “He’s not coming, is he?”