Star Guild: Episodes 1 - 3 (Star Guild Saga)

by Brandon Ellis

through it, she saw a very large deck consisting of a huge stone being used as a deck and it had symbols etched into it. But then she jerked back, gasping, when she saw the stone deck merging into the side of what was a massive canyon, one much wider and longer than any man made canyon in the biosphere. Trees of various size and shape were growing at the top of the canyon and the sky above was mixed with pinks, purples, and gold. She saw two moons, one large yellow one with silvery rings, and the other one small and red, just above the horizon. She could tell that wherever she was, it looked as if night was on its way.

  The deck doors before her suddenly slid open. A gush of wind and cool mist hit her and then died as quickly as it came. Between the mist and the roar of rushing water, she knew that a river or probably a waterfall had to be very near.

  Looking left and right, wondering who had opened the doors, she cautiously placed a foot on the stone decking, and felt the coolness of it vibrate up her leg and throughout her spine. She shook at the intensity of it and smiled. That felt good.

  She paused, crinkling her brow. The stone had done something to her. Her body now felt alive and awake and her grogginess had disappeared. She walked to the middle of the huge stone, enjoying the nature all around her.

  Above the canyon wall, rainbow colored birds lifted out of trees and flew into the air, their calls loud and exotic. Some of them veered off from the flock and dove down into the canyon, disappearing under the stone deck, out of Eden's view. They reminded her of her pilots and their formations, and of her commands. In a way, she was like one of the birds and used their techniques with her teams. Her heart dropped at the thought. Are they alive? Did Star Guild make it?

  Her shoulders slumped forward. Her only family, Star Guild, may be gone. She wanted to cry, something she had only done as a child. She put her hands to her face and swallowed hard, holding back her tears. But, after a few moments, she converted her fearfulness and concern into anger—behavior learned as an adult.

  Then she looked around, eyes piercing the land like a sword thrusting. She wanted to scream. She couldn't bear the thought that her family, Admiral Byrd, Captain Stripe, Brigger, and all of the others might be dead.

  A zap went up her feet, giving her a euphoric feeling, instantly changing her mood. She looked down. Once again, it had come from the massive stone. She bent down and touched it, feeling cool energy sloughing from it, but nothing more. She shook her head, baffled.

  Standing up, she calmly realized that thinking about Star Guild and getting angry about it wasn't going to bring them back to life, if in fact they were all dead. And she noticed that this was a shift in her thinking, which wasn’t like her. Reasonable thoughts like these didn’t usually come this easily and weren't this calming back at Star Guild.

  She shrugged and eyed the surrounding area. She had just walked out of a building that was dome shaped and transparent like crystal. Looking to the other side of her, she saw another domed building. Both domes had stone decks that edged up to the canyon. She wanted to go over to the other dome to investigate and to see who lived there, and ask why she was here and how had she arrived, but her stone deck was calling to her. She had to peek over the edge of it, to see what was underneath and down at the bottom of the canyon.

  When she got close enough to the edge, she got down on her knees and crawled. Even though she was a pilot, she had a strange fear of heights.

  Her old fears were consuming her like none other, her heart pounded, and the palms of her hands and forehead broke into a cold sweat. But, she looked over the stone edge anyway. Her eyes settled, along with her body, when she saw a rushing river below. It was flowing through the base of the canyon.

  Then, looking directly beneath the stone deck, she was amazed. The deck was actually a huge stone protruding from the canyon wall with an underground river of some sort spilling out of the same canyon wall just under her stone deck, creating a waterfall, with tons of water plummeting to the bottom of the canyon floor far below. The loud source of water she’d been hearing all along had been right under her the entire time. The scene was spectacular, and explained the ever present mist in the air.

  She backed away from the edge and stood up, feeling the fear of falling take hold of her. Turning toward the doors, she walked back into the room, stopping dead in her tracks. She yelped.

  A strange figure wearing a robe with a billowy hood covering its face was sitting by her bed in the corner of the room. Eden quickly concluded that the mysterious figure had probably been watching Eden's movements on the deck, or worse yet, had been hovering over her while she slept. She froze, not knowing what to do. Was this person part of the group that had attacked Star Guild? Was this person sent to kill her? Was she going to be a prisoner?

  She looked around for something heavy that she could use—any kind of a weapon.

  “Welcome,” said the figure, the tenor of his voice strong and healthy. He stood up and presented a respectful nod of his head, his hood still concealing his features. He gestured at each corner of the room. Eden moved into a defensive position as more robed and hooded people came from the shadows, three in all, making four strangers total.

  “Who are you?” she demanded, backing up a step.

  He lowered his hood, revealing a handsome face wearing a beautiful smile. He was young, his eyes blue as the Lumus sky, and chestnut brown hair. He was the picture of pure health in its prime. “I'm Thomas Berard.” He held out his hands to his hooded friends, as if introducing them. “We’re members of the Knights Templar.”

  About the Author

  Brandon Ellis grew up on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon in a small community known as Gladstone, where he graduated from high school and moved on to college.

  After being declared an All State Baseball and All League Basketball player, he obtained his state and federal Therapeutic Massage License, and is a successful Sports Massage Therapist & Instructor. Father of three, he is also a successful author.

  After his family, Brandon has three great loves in his life - writing, teaching, and sports.