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CHAPTER ONE

Visla

Something wasn’t right about the smell of the breeze wafting toward me.

I rose, shifting my attention to my bucket of colorful stones to the plumes of smoke billowing up towards the sky. Oddly, the smoke seemed to come straight from the capitol—the center of our settlement. The other laborers noticed it too and they began whispering among themselves and pointing at the site.

“What’s happening?” I whispered.

They blew no warning horns, which was odd. Whenever the citizens needed to be warned about something, a guard would use the horns. Depending on the number of times the horn was blown and the length of each sound-off, this alerted the people of settlement as to what was going on. Smoke of this magnitude coming from the capitol would warrant a warning to all soldiers to act in the case of infiltration. But there were no sounds…just the smoke.

“Visla! I have to go,” Lexanne tugged on my arm and rushed in the opposite direction.

“What’s going on?” another woman asked, partially shielding her eyes with her hands from the crimson sun. “It looks like something’s happening in the capitol.”

“The watcher hasn’t sounded the horns. And I see smoke coming from the main tower. Hmmm…perhaps King Magdul has made someone very, very angry.” This troubling statement came from a native Aurrakian of our planet Xalxa 5. Like me, she was also a jeweler. Although our small human settlement of Dretis comprised mostly humans, a significant number of full-blooded Aurrakians still occupied the lands by birthright and also by choice.

Dretis was one of a handful of other human settlements on Xalxa 5. I was born here. This alien planet of Xalxa 5 is all I know. Whatever exists outside my world, I’ve only learned about through stories and old wives’ tales. According to those who came before me, humans migrated here from Earth after the disaster that rendered their planet a wasteland and have been here for dozens of years.

I frowned, staring up at the tower. “Whatever this is…I’m sure it’s being handled,” I said, but knowing what I knew, even I was apprehensive. I gnawed my bottom lip and wiped my muddy hands on my apron.

I’d soon find out what was the matter. After all, I lived in the capitol. I worked for Magdul—the human king of Dretis. My mother—before she fell ill and passed—tailored all of his clothes. She taught me well enough to be granted the privilege of keeping the job as a tailor to a king, but it was never in my heart. Still, I wanted to honor her and kept up the work anyway. I had my own room at the capitol and was left alone for the most part, except when King Magdul needed a new tunic for his important intra-planet meetings, which were numerous.

“I have to go now,” Lexanne urged. “My sister is there, and I think something’s wrong. We can come back tomorrow, and you can finish showing me how to process stones. I’m so sorry, Visla, but I have to get back to my sister.”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. We’ll finish the training tomorrow like you said.” I tied the soiled ends of my tunic at my ankles, rubbed my muddy palms on my apron, and then grabbed my bucket. “I should be getting back too.”

As Lexanne and I ran up the hills to get back to the capitol, a cloud of anxiety altered my perception. By the way she took long strides towards the village, I figured that she must have been consumed by the same foreboding feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

At this hour, it was common to pass by at least a dozen residents while going from quad to quad, but the walkways were desolate.

Where was everyone?

Barely any humans or Aurrakians were in sight. But if anyone was expected to be out when the crimson sun beamed its brightest, it would’ve been a full-blood—a native Aurrakian. Their thicker skin in various shades of blue, silver, and gray, and translucent scales were more suited to handling the scorching temperatures on this side of Xalxa. Their eyes were used to the unyielding brightness of two twin suns. The Aurrakians thrived off solar energy. Full-bloods needed the sun to survive. But at high noon, where were all the Aurrakians?

As we turned the corner leading up to the main road, I spotted a blue alien race into his home and slam the door shut. Only one thing could explain such swift behavior. Either the settlement of Dretis was in lockdown or an unknown entity had arrived.

If something was the matter at the capitol, it was too late now. Lexanne and I were walking right to it. Lexanne had reason to—she was the sole caretaker of a younger sister. Even with a sense of danger alerting me to stop and turn back, my curiosity won. And besides, if help was needed, I’d never been one to deny someone that.

“Girls! Where are you going?” someone shouted after us. The woman ran up to us. “Stay away from the capitol. The Tirizar Hordesmen have arrived.”

“Hordesmen?” I exclaimed, pressing my palm to my chest. Why had I heard the name before? Tirizar. It seemed to ring many bells. As someone working alongside many of the King’s aide, I was privy to certain information, and on numerous occasions, I’d heard things I was not supposed to have known. It was easy keeping secrets. I had no one to tell them too. I lost my best friend when I lost my mom.

“Yes.” The woman nodded. “They are now in the capitol.”

“But what for?” Lexanne demanded.

“I don’t know. A lot of people have been taken by the hordesmen. They’re being rounded up like cattle. Please, girls, you can’t go near the capitol. It has been taken!” She pointed at the tower.

It was easy for her to say that we couldn’t go there, but the capitol was my home. I had nowhere to hide. If the capitol had been taken that meant I had no home.

A lump the size of a large rock caught in my throat. I had no reason to not trust the woman. She seemed sincere and we all had proof that something wasn’t right.

“I’m a servant of Magdul,” I croaked, lifting my sleeve and showing her my forearm band. “I have nowhere to go.”

The woman’s expression turned sour. For a moment, I thought she’d turn her back, but she said, “You both can come with me. Until this all blows over. We’ve had invaders in the past. I’m sure King Magdul will handle this.”

“No!” Lexanne exclaimed. “I have to find my sister. She’s there at the capitol. I can’t let them take her. I’ll die before I let them hurt her.” She ran off.