by Ashley West
Table of Contents
Title Page
Bonus Book
Prequel One: History
Prequel Two: Removed
Chapter One: The Lingering Storm
Chapter Two: The Daily Grind
Chapter Three: The Warmth of Home
Chapter Four: The Wild Unknown
Chapter Five: The Ones who Persist
Chapter Six: The Start of a Plan
Chapter Seven: The Start of a New Plan
Chapter Eight: The Way It Works
Chapter Nine: The Detour
Chapter Ten: The Way He Feels About You
Chapter Eleven: The Spark
Chapter Twelve: The Realization You’re In Deep
Chapter Thirteen: The Lull
Chapter Fourteen: The Last Ditch Effort
Chapter Fifteen: The Way You Look
Chapter Sixteen: The Compromise
About the Author
Publisher’s Notes
Kallel
Defender of Earth
Ashley West
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Prequel One: History
In the Rondrack Quadrant, far from Earth, there are two suns. They rise, one after the other, every morning, shining their light on the seven planets that orbit them. Dorn, is the second closest, and it receives plenty of light, making the days long and hot. By contrast, Horu, the furthest planet away from the twin suns, is a cold, nearly barren land, where the people spend their time bundled up, rising as soon as the suns peek over the horizon to start their workdays, burning through the daylight hours and working into the night in order to get everything done.
The surface of the planet is covered with a thin layer of frost most of the time, and the mountains are capped with ice. The water is always icy cold, and in the months when the planet is furthest from the suns, it takes two men with sharp tools to break through the ice that sheets over the lakes and ponds.
Homes are built out of thick stones, the insides lined with furs and multiple layers of wall hangings to insulate from the cold. The people wear clothes just as thick when they have to go out, faces and fingers hidden from the chill winds.
The Hakkan, as they are called, are miners by trade, tunneling deep into the earth of their planet to find precious stones that they trade with other planets in order to get food and other things that they need to survive. It's said that gems from the mines of Horu are the purest, brightest, and most expensive to be found anywhere, their clarity unmatched, especially when cut and shined by one of the experts. This of course, makes them valuable, which in turn makes people eager to steal them.
As such, the Hakkan have a tribe of warriors, raised from a young age for the defense of the people. They fight with spears and guns, fending off any that would come to take what doesn't belong to them.
For the most part, they were adept at defending themselves, but there is always a threat that's too hard to manage, and for the Hakkan of Horu, this was the Alva.
The Alva came from another planet in their Quadrant, ugly and scaled with sharp teeth and claws. Their own planet was just as barren as Horu, but instead of making something to trade or working out a deal with another planet, the Alva turned to murdering and pillaging to get by.
They would find a planet that they viewed as weak and easy to prey upon. They would arrive on their warships, armed to the teeth and ready to destroy everything in sight.
For the Hakkan, this was a problem. Their warriors were well trained, but there weren't that many of them. Mining was more important than fighting, since if they were to continue to have food to eat and cloth and technology, they needed gems to trade. The warrior force did what they could to fend off the Alva, but the creatures proved too numerous and too strong.
And so the Hakkan called for help.
The Randoran of planet Dorn had been fighting the Alva for centuries. They were almost natural enemies of each other, never ceasing in their power struggle. The Alva would attack the Randoran, and the Randoran warriors would send them fleeing back to their ships after wiping out a good number of their forces.
They were strong, noble, and cunning, led by their General and their Champion to victory after victory in the never ending fight.
When the Hakkan called for help, the Randoran answered, realizing that they would fight the Alva even if they weren't the ones being threatened by them.
It was a sight to behold when the Randoran came to Horu. They arrived in a fleet, at the head, a diplomatic vessel, bearing the current Champion and his squad, the rest following behind in smaller ships, prepped for battle.
Horu's Queen came down to meet them, gratitude clear on her face. She had watched too many of her people die and wasn't eager to see more of them lose their lives. The Alva weren't just attacking the warriors. They had killed women, children, and workers. Anyone who stood in their way.
"We need this chaos to cease," she'd said, head held high, her bright red hair like flashing fire in the brisk wind.
And the Champion of the Randoran had nodded and saluted her, making his promise that they would do what they could. The Champion looked every inch like a mighty warrior, nearly a full foot taller than the Queen, muscular, armed. He stood with power in his stance, like he was ready for battle. Like he’d be ready for battle in his sleep, even. And everyone else matched him in that regard. They all formed their ranks, strong, proud lines, ready to wipe through the Alva.
It was a wonder to watch.
They were all in perfect formation, swords not made from metal or gem, but from pure energy, flaring out from the hilts as they took them from their hips and leveled them at their enemies. Men and women fought side by side, teamwork evident in their movements. Someone would go high, another would duck low. They compensated for the Alva's superior size and strength and went for their bellies when they got them down.
In short, they saved the Hakkan, doing more than anyone had expected of them.
Not a single Alva left Horu after that battle. They were all killed, sending a clear message to the Alvan leader that the Hakkan were now under Randoran protection.
"You have good warriors here," the Champion had said to the Queen. "But if you're going to have them, you need to train them better. They can't just be used to defend the miners. They have to defend your planet."
It was a big task. The Hakkan were used to thinking small, their focus narrowed down to their gems, the stones they mined to keep their lives afloat. Thinking larger would be an adjustment, and it was one they had gradually implemented since then.
Kallel remembered being a child then, young and wide eyed, watching as the Randoran came in and saved them all. He hadn't thought much about being a warrior before that. Mostly he wanted to be an explorer, getting off of Horu with its frozen wasteland atmosphere, and seeing what else was out there in the universe. He had a vision of himself finding rare treasures, fighting off monsters, bringing home glory for his people. Maybe there would be a maiden or two who wanted to marry him because of how wonderful he was.
He'd heard stories of the temptresses on Camelian, in the Ambriga Quadrant. It was said that once you kissed one of them, you were under her spell forever. At eleven, he was more than willing to think about testing the theory.
He was a bright boy, tall for his age, with a wild imagination. It was too big for Horu, and he burned too brightly for the dark, cold place he'd been born.
Th
e last thing he wanted was to spend his life going into dark tunnels with tools and coming back up with a cart full of glittering stones. Tunnels sounded boring, and gems had lost their shine to him since he saw them every day. There was so much life to be lived closer to the suns, in other quadrants, even, and he wanted to go explore more than anything.
His tutors always told him that he wasn't focusing on the right things. He needed to be thinking about his home, his people, making life better for them. Their lot in life was what it was, and while they had made the best of it, in Kal's opinion, life would be better for them if they got off this planet and saw what else was out there. It wasn't like the gems were going anywhere if there wasn't anyone around to mine them.
"You're too impatient, my son," his mother would tell him, smoothing back his fiery orange hair with a gentle hand and then tipping his face up so he'd look at her. She was the only one who could make him calm down most of the time, her soothing voice banking the fire he sometimes felt was burning inside of him. "You need to learn, to grow before you go rushing off to some distant land."
"You need to think about more than just yourself," his older brother Kellan would say. Kellan was a warrior, and he came home every day from the patrols and leaned his spear in the corner as he shed his layers of clothing, and their mother would smile with pride. "These are your people. You have a duty to them."
Kallel hadn't understood that until the Alva had arrived. Watching people die wasn't something he could ignore, and he remembered spending every night terrified that his brother wasn't going to come home.
He always did, though, with various injuries and grisly news from the battlefield about the death toll on their side. The elements killed more Alva than they did, apparently, and Kallel listened with his fingers curled tightly into fists each night while their mother saw to Kellan's wounds.
"Do you think we're going to die?" Ithra asked him one day at school. Even with Alva on their borders, there were still classes.
"Don't say that," Kal snapped, not even wanting to entertain the idea.
Ithra shrugged. She had a frank way about her, always saying something that shocked people around her, mostly just to get a response. "There's so many of them."
"There are a lot of them," another little girl pointed out, and she looked more afraid than anything. "What if there's nothing we can do?"
"I heard we're getting help," someone else chimed in.
"From who?"
"From the Randoran."
"Where'd you hear that?" Ithra asked, disbelief in her tone. Sometimes Kal had to wonder if she wanted something bad to happen.
"From my father. He's on the Queen's council."
It was hard to argue with that. If they were calling for help from the Randoran, then the Queen herself would have been the one to put out the call.
To Kallel and other kids his age, the Randoran were legends. Everyone knew how they fought, and when they had a chance to see it in action, no one was disappointed.
That changed something in Kallel. Being a warrior wouldn't be so bad if he could be good at it. If he could do more than just stand guard on the walls or at the mouth of a mine. If it meant that he could defend his people from more than just the shadow of an enemy.
The Champion of the Randoran had earned his title for valor in battle. For taking down foes and keeping his comrades safe. The Hakkan didn't have such titles, but Kal thought it'd be nice to earn one.
The change wasn't just in Kallel and others in his age group, either. The warriors that had survived the fighting found themselves training harder, taking notes from the Randoran and using them to make themselves better. Their teamwork improved, they got better weapons, and were learning how to use their gems to power swords that flared to life just like the ones the Randoran used. Spears gained extra boosts from gems set into the blades, ready to be powered with electric shocks that would down an opponent quick as a flash.
When Kallel turned eighteen, his brother retired from the forces, an injury making it hard for him to fight like he once had, and Kal took his place, stepping up and taking a part in defending his people.
Kellan was proud. He'd clapped his brother on the shoulder the first time he'd seen him in the sash that designated him as a Hakkan warrior. "I knew you'd make a good decision," he'd said, and Kal had smiled.
"I still want to be an explorer," he pointed out. "But this first."
"Our people first," Kellan agreed, nodding.
Aside from the attack by the Alva, there weren't large scale battles on Horu. Smugglers and thieves managed to get in sometimes, and Kallel was part of the force that pushed them back. He was quick with his weapons and on his feet, leaping from his post to attack anything that didn't belong.
It didn't take long for him to earn recognition. His father had been a warrior, killed in battle and the inspiration for Kellan joining training once he was old enough. People remembered their father and compared the brothers to him, saying the spirit of a warrior lingered in their blood.
Kallel met the Queen when he defended a trade caravan from attack and received honor from her for the task. People thanked him for his service, treating him to free drinks and food when they saw him enter their cantinas.
There were no shortage of women who showed their interest in him, and being a warrior had done plenty for him. He was taller now, muscled and strong. His hair was kept short, and his eyes were a pale silver that glinted in the weak sunlight. He had an easy laugh and a friendly way about him, but he was ruthless on the battlefield when he needed to be, and everyone knew it.
It was never hard to find a woman to be with when he wanted one, and his brother often teased him about it, saying that he was going to have to start keeping them away with his spear if it got too much worse.
Kallel didn't mind. It kept him from thinking about his old dream and how he'd wanted to see the universe and all it had to offer. His people came first, as he said over and over again, and it wasn't as if there weren't pleasures to be found on Horu. He had plenty to keep him occupied.
As the years passed, he only got better at his job, climbing the ranks from just a face in the line to being a leader. People trusted him to lead them and keep people safe, and it wasn't something he took lightly.
Of course, one of the problems with being so widely known as a great warrior was that petty thieves soon gave up on challenging him and the Hakkan as a whole. Trade blossomed even more than usual, and they spread their reach out beyond their quadrant, pulling in more imports as they exported more.
It was good for the people, there was no doubt about that, but with nothing to do to keep him focused, Kallel's mind began to wander again to traveling and doing great things elsewhere, and the restlessness that set in was harder to shake than it had been when he was a child.
What was a warrior without something to fight? What was his purpose if he was still stuck on Horu with nothing to do? Kal didn't want to think of it that way, but when he heard tales of the adventures other races had (the Randoran had even been as far as Earth), he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more out there that he was meant for.
Prequel Two: Removed
"Breaking news today from Valley Dale: following yesterday's strange sighting in the sky, reports continue to come in of creatures on the streets. The death toll is rising rapidly, and the list of missing persons has now passed one hundred. Traffic on the I-23 thoroughfare was backed up for several hours, following a mass evacuation from the city as people fled in fear. As of right now, there are still no confirmed theories about what's happening, and people seem to be just hoping that this doesn't spread beyond the city. We go now live to Karen Hilltop, on the streets of our own city. Karen?"
"Thanks, Mark. It's pandemonium down here at Chesley Park, with people preparing themselves almost as if this might be the end of the world. I've been speaking with people all day, getting their opinions on the chaos that has befallen Valley Dale. Excuse me, sir. What do you make of all this?"
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"It's aliens!" cried the man in a fishing cap. "What else comes down from the sky in big ships like that? I always knew they'd be coming back."
"Coming back? You mean you've seen aliens before?"
He nodded. "Back in eighty three. I was out hunting with some of my buddies and we saw the strangest lights in the sky. Didn't make any sense at the time, but they hovered, like they were checking things out. Making sure things would be ready for them, you know?"
"I see. And what if these creatures make their way from Valley Dale to Chesley? Any emergency plans?"
"You bet, ma'am. Got my cellar all full of water and food. I can survive down there for months until our hostile environment kills these bastards off."
"Thank you, sir. As you can see, people are frightened and confused about what's going on in Valley Dale, though they're making plans for what to do if this strange occurrence decides to spread. For now, we're waiting for news from government officials and keeping the people in Valley Dale in our thoughts. Our own Mayor Donovan has made it clear that people are more than welcome to seek shelter here in Chesley, and local hotels and motels have been turned into shelters for those who've been displaced by this chaos. Anyone seeking help is encouraged to call the number on the screen. Back to you, Mark."
"That's just terrible."
Haven walked into the house and made a face when she saw her mother was still in the same place she'd been when she'd left that morning. "Mom, seriously, why are you still watching that?" she asked, shaking her head. "It's not like it's going to change."
"How can you not be curious, Haven? Something strange is happening."
"Yeah, in Valley Dale. As long as they don't come after us next, I'm fine. It's bad enough it's all over every news channel, but now you've got these conspiracy theorist nutballs talking about how they've been predicting this would happen for years or whatever. Thanks for the heads up, guys. Great work."
Her mother frowned, turning around in her seat to look at her daughter. "You should feel sorry for them, Haven," she said, voice laden with disappointment. "People are dying. Families don't know where their loved ones are. It's complete chaos, and it could have happened here if these...things had chosen to come to Chesley."
