"Good morning!"Lars jerked and his eyes snapped open. Vayu stood on the side of his bed, smiling cheerfully and carrying a tray of foods with delightful aroma. Lars rubbed his eyes and groaned groggily. Morning light from the window gleamed the star necklace on his bare skin."Hey," Lars said between his yawns. "When did you got here?""Just now," Vayu said. "Let's dig in while it's still warm, shall we? I got here as fast as I could for these."Lars shook his head as he smiled and he scooted over so they could have their breakfast in bed. One bite on a tuna sandwich from the platter was enough to send a distinct spark of joy for Lars. He could recognize the crisp deliciousness of it from anywhere."Is this from... Angel's Snack?"Vayu widely smiled. "Auntie Quinn said hi."Lars felt a gripping pressure in his heart and his eyes turned glassy. The name and the flavor brought him back to simpler times when he still had Len by his side. It felt like such a long time ago fo
The assembly had begun. The Scions had disclosed everything to the Alliance. From the discovery of Sovereigns, alien material, and up to the battle of Mt. Alnath. Some gasps and murmurs were heard as they learned of the treachery. By the end of it, after Rachelia summarized everything, the chaotic chatter from mythfolks, djinns, depthdwellers and magi couldn't be contained anymore."How absolutely despicable!" Sir Ragdorius' booming voice echoed. "How could the Scions do this? How did any of this get by us?"The audience erupted to louder blend of noises. Lars' heart went faster as he looked around, expecting there might be a riot soon. Rachelia took the matter at hand by snapping her fingers. A faint wave spread out and the entire place was silenced, regardless of whether the audience still moved their mouths to speak. Soon enough, they stopped trying."Now can we please continue the discussion in an orderly manner? Thank you." Rachelia snapped her fingers again, and the audienc
In the span of a week since his capture, Len had been subjected to many things that no man should ever experience, regardless of their innocence. As the result, Len had become nothing more than just a hollow husk of what he once was. On his calmer hours, he just stared on the wall, wishing for death that was even too luxurious.When not being cruelly toyed with, Len was kept in a dungeon deep underground. He had no idea where he ended up and where they put his mother away. He was left in a narrow space where the only way out was from a hole on the ceiling, essentially an oubliette.The oubliette was extremely narrow, leaving Len with only few inches to move around. He could try to sit, but the stench of his cellmate would be even unbearable. Len's only company in his moments of dark tranquility was a messy stack of human skeleton. Its muscles, skin and organs had long liquefied into dark mushy red on the floor.Sometimes Len talked to himself, but mostly he was busy staring at ev
Lars tried to make as little sound as possible climbing up old creaky stairs. He didn't want to alert the arguing parents that he heard from the inside of apartment. The stairs led to a rooftop where Lars was presented with breathtaking sight of Rukbat region that looked like spangled with thousand stars.The buildings looked come to life with their colorful signs and lamps, lighting up the nightfall. However, contrasting the bright starry city, the sky was bleak with thick clouds hovered above, once in a while beating with thunder.Lars gazed at the dark clouds that slowly pushed to east by unseen wind, and wondered whether it was an ill omen. He quickly shook it off and held his star necklace, praying that he could successfully do his part on that decisive day."You're ready?"Lars turned to Wilhelmina who just arrived from neighboring rooftop. He gave her his best smile that could convey confidence. The maid in blue smiled back and nodded. They had been assigned on a team to
"Um... who are you people?"The little boy stood before the three intruding Scions with his head tilted. Lars stammered to answer and he just looked at his teammates who were just as dumbfounded. They had expected something more malicious confronting them instead of an innocent looking boy.Lars turned to Wilhelmina nervously. "We're... uhh... the new cleaning service.""Really? You look at me and that's what you - oh what the hell, yes we are, sweetie."Edwin nodded a bit too much and too fast. "That's right. Your dad gave us his key and told us to look after you and the apartment while he's busy.""Oh... okay," the boy said.Edwin crouched and talked to the boy as Lars and Wilhelmina went to the bedroom and gone through Arjan's stuff. They checked the wardrobe, nightstand, drawers, everywhere that that could possibly hide something important."What the hell is up with that kid? I can't sense him," Lars whispered."I have no idea. That can't be Mr. Ramamurthy's son. As
Under the guise of cloudy night, a container truck went by on the interstate road towards Eschemali region. The road breached through the thick green canopy of the forest and passed a bridge over a large river. The rushing water flowed from a waterfall in the north, and the crags formation on its each sides resembled spreading wings of an angel.Tirana always smiled whenever she passed the Winged Waterfall. Though it was dark, she could always make out the wings from the shadows. She found it a highlight of her day whenever she had to go stock up her supplies in Eschemali."I heard the Earth Sculptor made that," Saracenia said."Really? Mell did it?" Tirana looked back on the waterfall. "I wouldn't guess he'd think of creating something that artistic."Saracenia chuckled for a bit. Her fingers lightly tapped on the steering wheel in the same rhythm with the mellow song from the radio. "The Scions shaped a lot of places in Mirepa, especially the earlier ones. The Earth Sculptor
The elevator reached the B89 floor, where it led Tirana and Claros - Vayu to an almost entirely different world altogether. They arrived on a blindingly bright hangar that was full of white or silver futuristic alien machines, manufacturing even more futuristic alien equipment left and right. Messy sounds of clanking, whirring and drilling were all over the place.Claros - Vayu twisted his nose at the strange, sterile smell. "The hell is all this?""It must be where they - oh my God."Tirana discreetly pointed to something big at the end of the massive hangar. It was an enormous, circular silver steel gate that was labeled VORTEX - 02. There were mountains of glimmering silver ores around it that Tirana absolutely certain was the same alien material that made the concealing brooches and containers. Upon closer look, Tirana also realized the entire wall and almost everything here was of the same origin."So that's why we can't sense what these slick bastards up to," Claros - Vay
With their consecutive victories on a single night over the Silver Sovereigns, the Scions and Tirana gathered again at Calendula Residence conference room. There were smiles and celebratory cheers, but not from Lars. He was still grappling at the idea that anything goes in their effort to achieve victory, including causing disasters and taking an innocent boy hostage."Let's get to it, shall we? Anybody wants to start what they found so far?" Rachelia said."Me first!" Mell shouted. "I have destroyed those fucking Sovereigns' factory. They're gone, down and dusted. Fuck yeah!""Yes, Mell. I am aware of that. Your earthquake made it to Channel 6's news this morning. Hopefully that's a suitable price to pay to slow down the Sovereigns. The Alchemist Guild's been riling me up about destroying their property.""They didn't know about Claros being a two - faced bastard?" Vayu asked."Not until I told them just earlier." Rachelia let out a tired sigh. "Anything else?"Tirana rais