Terrineia

by Brian Whiting

  Alex looked at the old man who no longer appeared confident.

  “I will pass and visit friendly with the king.” Alex fumbled the translation.

  Alex reached forward and lightly squeezed the lobe of the juntard, moving forward as did those behind him and Alesti.

  Deetur tossed a small bag at the feet of the old man, several small rods of silver spilled out. “Our entrance fee, we are not criminals after all.” Deetur said as he too entered the city.

  “Why do you have to pay them. Don’t you work for the king?” Alesti asked as they watched Alex ride confidently into the city.

  “The king charges everyone who comes and goes a fee. How does your land aquire wealth?” Deetur responded.

  “Taxes, of course.” Alesti replied.

  “We have no taxes, just this fee.”

  The streets quickly drained of citizens as they continued at a slow pace deeper into the city.

  “What is happening?” Alex asked Deetur, who was now riding to his left as Alesti was to his right.

  “The horn of attack was blown, they think we are invaders.”

  “That doesn’t sound very good.” Alex responded

  “I know the commanders of the guard, it will be fine… I hope.”

  Alex looked down at both of his weapons. One indicated the number four the other was oddly blinking red. For the first time unafraid of those watching him he took a close look at the firearm. There were subtle switches on the weapon and he must have inadvertently hit one next to the indicator screen.

  There was a stenciled language on the firearm but Alex couldn’t read Humani. The light blinked longer than usual for reload and he feared it was broken. They managed to travel to the inner wall when it finally stopped blinking with a bold red number one now in its place.

  Very cool, Alex said to himself as he made an assumption, noticing there was another inner gate, Alex re-covered himself with the wool.

  The inner wall was tall and the gate was closed. A large group of armed soldiers blocked the way. Death singers were visible on many of the rooftops and upper parts of the wall. The sun was high, paths and walkways were deserted.

  “Who attacks the sanctity of this city?” Someone yelled from high above.

  “Fesetti is that you, you cheat!”

  “Deetur?” Yelled the man high up on the wall.

  “Yeah, the permitters made a terrible mistake today, I assure you.”

  “Huvalla. Ast …. Mokow.” Alex barely heard the man say and couldn’t really make it out.

  “Open the gates!” the mans voice carried well over those assembled and the soldiers stood to the side as Deeters group advanced.

  The gates opened slowly. Inside, citizens hiding inside doorways and peeking through windows were seen in every building, most turned away uninterested upon seeing Deeter and his men. After a short time they entered a very large courtyard that appeared to surround the main compound. It didn’t exactly resemble a castle. More like a collection of ever shorteneing expansions or extensions all snug in a confined area. The compound itself seemed different than the other buildings as well, the metal was more refined and smooth, like sheet metal. It was out of place against everything Alex had seen up to this point.

  It appeared about a hundred or so soldiers were leaving the courtyard, apparently no longer needed. Along the outer edge of the courtyard were rows of stables and wooden buildings which seemed out of place. Like a contrast of advanced and primitive. Still covered in the cloak, Alex dismounted but was able to see through a small opening he allowed himself, Alesti stood right at his side.

  “See that my juntard is well cared for and my belongings kept safe.” Alex asked Deeter as he approached the central building.

  “Letrick, see to it.” Deetur said as he walked with Alex and Alesti towards the small iron door of the compound.

  “In order for you to be permitted entrance I must relieve you of your weapons, both of them.” Deetur said with a certain tone. Alex wasn’t sure if it was a tone of respect or deference. Those subtleties still often escaped him. Alesti remained quiet as she eyed the still cloaked Alex. More then ever Alex wished he kept the second weapon concealed. Several moments passed before Alex eventually responded.

  “I will not part with my weapons. If that means I have wasted your time then I shall leave.”

  Alex stood still and waited for a response. Alex watched Deetur hold out both arms to his side and shifted his gaze to behind Alex. The hairs on his neck extended and he began to feel uncomfortable. He removed the cloak and tossed it to the ground a few feet away, hands holding both weapons.

  Deetur stood still merely five or six feet away. Alex glanced behind him, some of Deeturs men were also holding weapons ten to twenty feet away and spread out, while the others were leading their groups of Juntards to the stables nearby.

  “You dishonor us by not trusting us, we who have fought for you.” Deetur said.

  “I have also fought for you and I had less reason to.” Alex replied.

  They both stared at each other unmoving for a few more awkward moments.

  “As you wish, I will speak to the King.” Deetur turned and approached the iron door alone, it opened for him before he reached it and it shut the moment he passed through.

  “How long will we stand here?” Alex asked Alesti.

  “I know nothing of this place, only that my people have never seen inside these walls and lived to tell of it.”

  With nothing much else to do Alex began to observe the immediate surroundings. The ground was smooth stone with intricate etchings. He couldn’t make out what they were etchings of as they appeared chaotic.

  “Sym.” Alex said in shorthand.

  “Alex.” Symboli responded

  “Thoughts.” Alex asked in English.

  “You should secure permission to investigate the locations to any crashed ships in the realm. All other concerns are secondary in nature. Failure in that, you should locate and obtain rights to locations with metal ore.”

  “What do you mean by secondary.”

  “Those objectives are only set to get off this planet or improve your quality of life while you’re on the planet. “

  “Right…”

  Moments turned into minutes, and minutes turned into nearly an hour before the door reopened once again.

  “The King has granted your audience, follow me.” Deetur yelled from the door.

  Alex and Alesti walked through the tiny metal door leaving Deeturs men in the courtyard. They wandered a small maze of corridors and rooms. Finally reaching a room with two guards stationed by the front door. Both with short swords and wearing an odd kind of chainmail armor with overlapping chain links of rectangles. The guards didn’t move as Deeter stood to the side and pointed the way.

  “He waits for you.” Deetur said.

  Alex and Alesti stepped forward.

  “No not you, you must wait here in this room with me. What the King has to say is not for your ears.”

  Alesti looked to Alex. He was about to tell her to wait there but Symboli interrupted him.

  “Demand she goes with you.” Symboli said.

  “Why?” Alex said in English. Deetur gave him an odd look.

  “Too long to explain, trust me.”

  “This woman has given a life vow to me. One she takes very seriously. So either she goes with me or we depart.”

  “Must you be so difficult?” Deetur asked but Alex didn’t responded. “You can wait in this room until you rot, the King only wishes to see you.”

  “Let’s go.” Alex turned away and took a step towards the exit.

  “Wait.” Deetur said in a low rumble and disappeared into the room with the king.

  “How did you know I was going to let her wait?” Alex asked in English.

  “I know you pretty well by now, don’t you think?” Symboli responded and Alex cracked a smile.

  Deetur reentered the room and eyed the weapons snug inside Alex’s belt. “He ex
pects you both.”

  As they passed Deetur, they slowly entered the wide expansive room with a lower than usual ceiling, perhaps only seven feet tall. The room was of a goldish dirt color. There were various mechanical oddities scattered around and adorned on the walls of the room. They stepped deeper into the room and Alex noted the guards kept the door open. There were various sized pieces of furniture, a large desk, benches, and an item that looked like an attempt at a couch, Alex guessed. Not one, but two different sized beds, with adequate cushioning. A small table filled with various portions of food with something akin to grapes caught Alex’s eye.

  “My name is Hu`va Ali hem. It is a best pleasure to meet you. I was going to test you to see if you were truly alien, but I see there is no need.”

  Alex turned to see a man dressed with only a pair of cloth shorts. His chest contained no nipples, no hair, only four large ragged scars with another on the mans neck. No hair on his head, and the bone crest was of pronounced colors of orange and grey.

  “You must be Alex, our newest resident Alien.” The King raised a hand as if to give a high five.

  Alex extended his hand as if to shake. “My name is Alex Prager, pleased to meet you.”

  “The King is wiser than most, do not underestimate him.” Symboli said quickly.

  The king stumbled a moment and mimicked Alex’s movement with his hand. Alex closed the distance and grabbed onto the kings hand shaking it gently.

  “What an interesting way to greet someone!” The King said and then looked at Alesti.

  “My people no longer make those kinds of vows, or if they do it’s not taken seriously. I hear in your land this is still a rigid responsibility.”

  “It is.” She responded.

  “I am sure you have an epic tale to tell.” The King turned away and took a few steps towards one of the many tables in the room.

  “What is the name of the star you come from?” The King asked.

  “Sol,” Alex responded.

  “Ask him what star he’s from.” Symboli said. Alex frowned and considered the question.

  “How about you, what star are you from?”

  “Wise, but of course I would expect one from the stars to be very wise indeed. Our race comes from Seily. A planet named Merth.”

  “How long have your people been here?” Alex asked as the king turned to face him.

  “Eleven generations ago we crashed on this plant, my people named it after the mud. I think they had a sense of humor… Tell me, what on this table seems more interesting to you.”

  Alex stepped forward and approached the table. Five various objects were on the table. A pure silver blade with a ruby jewel in the handle. A piece of debris could have been from any bulkhead. A pipe that appeared to be made out of copper but broken on both ends. A piece of clear glass, very thick and smeared with grease and many fingerprints. A piece that appeared to be complex circuitry with two small wires dangling from it.

  Alex grabbed the circuit.

  “Do you know what it does?” the King asked.

  “No, do you?”

  “It is recorded the first’s said it was for water, but I do not see how. That knowledge of understanding has been lost over time.”

  Alex looked around and saw many things, most of which appeared mundane like the debris but some items looked very intriguing.

  “Tell me, Alex, did your ship have something that held power within it?”

  “Yes.”

  The king stopped moving and looked at Alex directly. “Did this survive the crash?”

  “I do not believe there are any surviving great sources of power.” Alex said knowing there was likely some still on the ship.

  “Do you see any sources of power in this room?”

  “Alex, I believe this is the reason you’re here, he obviously is looking for a power source.” Symboli said in his ear.

  “I’ll look around… Tell me about the history of your people after you crashed.” Alex began to wander slowly amongst the tables pretending to search diligently.

  “Our ship, the Hu Valla, crashed very near here. There were thousands of survivors in the crash. Now history tells me the, a segment of us were having a hard time adjusting and set off from the ship to seek something of value. For a time our crashed ship Huvalla provided for the people, with power, food and other curiosities.”

  “Hu Valla provides.” Alesti murmured looking down at the ground.

  The king smiled, “And you are clever. Rare indeed in the times we live in. A fit match.” He said looking at the pair of them.

  “Their religion likely arose from the ship Hu valla providing for them and as the generations passed, the true meaning of the ships namesake passed into lore and story.” Symboli said.

  “Why are the people fractured into two realms?”

  “Two realms?” The king responded with an awkward glance at Alex.

  “Alex, there are four realms.” The king turned on his heel and walked towards the nearest wall. A map was drawn out, and it had a huge volcano like mountain in the center with four very large ridges spurring out in four different directions, and a smaller spur in a fifth direction. The smallest wedge was in the south labeled wastelands of death, pictures of Ming dotted this tiny wedge of land and the land south. The land to the east was the second largest and false settlers was crossed out and replaced with Jebney. The largest realm which occupied the northeast was labeled Forex, two realms of equal size occupied the northwest and west. Labeled New Merth and Valem.

  “Valem.” Alesti sounded, “How do my people not know of these two other realms?”

  “What do you know of the great war?” the King asked, seeming interested in her response.

  “Nothing.”

  “Poor.. I had hoped the truth would at least survive in the royal line. In the fifth generation, only one generation after the Huvalla no longer provided for the people. A man lead a group to reclaim the Huvalla. Unbiter’s long distant family as it turns out. There was a great war and the false setters failed to capture it and were ordered to be landlocked within your valley as punishment. Eventually it was said they destroyed themselves. But somehow some persisted and your numbers have returned. We keep a strong presence on the ridges to prevent your people from venturing out too far. That and the wastelands do a good job keeping your people at bay. After the war was over our leader gave his two commanders the lands known as New Merth and Valem.

  “The problem with Valem is its also too close to the wastelands and the cycle of heavy rains expands the ming hunting areas, which wreak havoc in the realm for half the cycle. Then as the land dries out, the people return and things continue as before.”

  “Valem, a land of terror.” Alesti said quietly as she seemed to deflate in the room.

  “Yes, see you did know of the other realm. Your people do have an odd way of remembering the old history.” He turned to face Alex. “Deetur tells me your ship that crashed is massive and can house an entire city of people. Shame it crashed in the middle of the ming, pretty much ensures it will never be so.”

  “Why are they false settlers?” Symboli asked and Alex repeated the question to the king.

  “Another fact lost in history, the only thing I know is they were determined to live a different kind of way.” The king paused for a moment. “Now that you’re here, what is it that you desire?”

  Alex thought while touching a piece of red metal. “Before my ship crashed I discovered an alien race so powerful they are easily conquering all the stars in the sky, eliminating all life as they do so. I have witnessed massive armies fall far too easily under their might. I was traveling far to reach my star to warn my people, but I was attacked by a scout far from the front lines and I crashed here.”

  “This alien race, you have seen them?” The king stepped forward

  “Yes.”

  “Will they come here?”

  Alex thought for a moment before answering. “Yes.”

  “When?”

&
nbsp; “Tell him one hundred and seventy-five years, give or take fifty.” Symboli said, and Alex relayed the information.

  “I see, so we are four generations from destruction…. Can you fight them?”

  “I have and can fight them, but their number is countless and I am only one.”

  “And not infallible or you would not have crashed.”

  “Exactly.” Alex looked around, Alesti was looking out a window.

  “What would you suggest I focus on to defend my lands, spearmen, swordman, death singers, bigger defenses?” the king asked.

  Alex lowered his head. “I understand your position, I too think of how to protect my people. I am sorry to tell you that none of what you have available will be enough to stop even one alien. They will destroy all your realms from above the sky and you will never see them.”

  “So the battle is to be won in space.” The king faced away from each of them.

  “Without our assistance they have no chance to survive.” Symboli said.

  “I think that is a galactic truth.” Alex whispered in English, the king turned to look at him.

  “Both of you come with me.” The king went to an adjacent locked iron door. When he opened it, Alex saw it was pitch black inside. The king used a piece of odd debris and lit something on the inside. A small fire started to spread around the edge of the room. It was a very large room almost the entire size of the compound, Alex imagined. In the center of the room was a large piece of ship debris.

  “Most of it is buried, until we built this structure over it. It sinks a couple inches every water cycle. It’s the Hu valla, come, follow me.”

  Alex waited for Alesti to recover as she was appropriately stunned at this revelation. They walked along a smooth stone path to a open hatch door shaped like those Alex recalled seeing on Earth naval vessels. As they entered, the king used the device again and lit a torch hanging near the entrance, he grabbed the torch and entered into a square room, the room was metallic, the floor seemed like one continuous piece, there were no seams. They entered a corridor, cables went every which direction. They traveled at a decline, after a few moments Alex considered they must be over a dozen feet below ground level by now. There were many doors both open and shut but the king ignored all of them and kept walking. Parts of the walls or ceiling were missing, sometimes they walked around large holes in the floor, which only exposed more wires and conduit. The king entered a room well before reaching the end of the corridor.