Before Chapter 1
Prologue
Long ago...
The blast doors were halfway open when the corridor behind them exploded.
The doors groaned toward each other, then one jumped its track and jammed, leaving a gap wide enough for more fire to flash through.
Thin violet lines marked the systems still alive, flickering through smoke that smelled of burned insulation and hot metal.
A panel burned behind one bank of controls, and alarms rang over the blasts outside.
Beyond it, Rhalis was burning.
Hold the entrance.
Selan took cover where she could see the entrance, Orvek, and the launcher without moving.
One lock left.
How long?
Longer than we have.
Fuck.
A shot hit the wall above Orvek and showered him with hot fragments. He flinched, wiped blood from the side of his face, and went straight back into the console.
The room shook hard enough to knock loose pieces of the ceiling down between them. Half the lights died. The console went black under Orvek's hands, then the violet pathways crawled back to life. At the doors, a shot crossed the gap and hit the defender. He dropped and did not get back up.
Come on.
Come on.
He pulled a connection and spliced it into a new path. Nothing. He tried another, stopped, then shoved both hands deeper into the machine.
Orvek froze for half a second. Then his hands moved again, faster.
I have it.
I have it.
Cipher!
The console glowed to life.
A shot hit him in the head.
Orvek was dead before he reached the floor.
No.
The last defender fired again. A shot struck him and folded him across the control bank. More fire tore through the room behind him.
The console was still alive.
Selan looked once at Orvek, then at ARMED.
She said nothing.
The chamber jolted.
She stayed upright long enough to watch the violet cluster clear the tower. Then her hand slipped from the console. Selan collapsed beside Orvek and did not move again.
By the time the launcher vanished behind smoke and fire, no one in the control room was alive.
The giant dog kept to the edge of the herd without driving it, slowing whenever the animals behind him slowed and drifting outward when one wandered too far from the others.
He stopped before anyone else looked up.
A low warning rolled out of his chest.
One of the people heard it and turned just as the first burning line crossed the stars.
The herd broke. Animals scattered across the frosted ground. Larger bodies drove downhill while smaller ones crowded into whatever space they could find. One young animal ran the wrong direction, straight toward the open center of the valley.
The smaller animal veered away. He stayed with it until it turned back toward the others, then cut across the rear of the herd and drove the loose edge uphill.
The people above had stopped moving. One pointed toward the burning streaks. Another stepped farther out from the trees.
One person tried to move downhill around him. He moved too, taking the path away.
The person stumbled backward. The dog pushed forward until they gave ground.
One person fell behind. The dog circled back, crowded close until the straggler started moving again, then turned with the group toward higher ground.
The sky flashed violet.
The last animals were coming. So were the last people. Only then did he turn toward the valley.
The crystals dropped out of sight at the valley's far end.
For one heartbeat, the valley was quiet.
The ground rose beneath them. The impact came through the earth first, a deep violent roll that threw animals sideways and drove the people against the rock. A moment later the sound arrived, large enough to flatten every other noise in the valley.
When the ground stopped moving, the herd started to spread again. He turned from the distant glow and moved along them, pushing the loose animals back together.
Only when everyone behind him had settled into a tight, nervous cluster did he look toward the far end of the valley again.
A violet glow was rising there.
The herd remained together. The people had stayed near the rock.
Behind him, the lives he had moved off the valley floor waited in the dark.
He stood between them and the glow and watched.
Before winter ended, snow would cover the scar. In time, the people who had seen the fire would be gone, then their stories, and eventually even the shape of the valley would change.
The crystals would remain.
Before Chapter 1 · 1 of 2
End of the Prologue
Before Chapter 1
Prologue
Long ago...
The blast doors were halfway open when the corridor behind them exploded.
The doors groaned toward each other, then one jumped its track and jammed, leaving a gap wide enough for more fire to flash through.
Thin violet lines marked the systems still alive, flickering through smoke that smelled of burned insulation and hot metal.
A panel burned behind one bank of controls, and alarms rang over the blasts outside.
Beyond it, Rhalis was burning.
Hold the entrance.
Selan took cover where she could see the entrance, Orvek, and the launcher without moving.
One lock left.
How long?
Longer than we have.
Fuck.
A shot hit the wall above Orvek and showered him with hot fragments. He flinched, wiped blood from the side of his face, and went straight back into the console.
The room shook hard enough to knock loose pieces of the ceiling down between them. Half the lights died. The console went black under Orvek's hands, then the violet pathways crawled back to life. At the doors, a shot crossed the gap and hit the defender. He dropped and did not get back up.
He pulled a connection and spliced it into a new path. Nothing. He tried another, stopped, then shoved both hands deeper into the machine.
Come on.
Come on.
Orvek froze for half a second. Then his hands moved again, faster.
I have it.
I have it.
Cipher!
The console glowed to life.
A shot hit him in the head.
Orvek was dead before he reached the floor.
No.
The last defender fired again. A shot struck him and folded him across the control bank. More fire tore through the room behind him.
The console was still alive.
Selan looked once at Orvek, then at ARMED.
She said nothing.
The chamber jolted.
She stayed upright long enough to watch the violet cluster clear the tower. Then her hand slipped from the console. Selan collapsed beside Orvek and did not move again.
By the time the launcher vanished behind smoke and fire, no one in the control room was alive.
The giant dog kept to the edge of the herd without driving it, slowing whenever the animals behind him slowed and drifting outward when one wandered too far from the others.
He stopped before anyone else looked up.
A low warning rolled out of his chest.
One of the people heard it and turned just as the first burning line crossed the stars.
The herd broke. Animals scattered across the frosted ground. Larger bodies drove downhill while smaller ones crowded into whatever space they could find. One young animal ran the wrong direction, straight toward the open center of the valley.
The smaller animal veered away. He stayed with it until it turned back toward the others, then cut across the rear of the herd and drove the loose edge uphill.
The people above had stopped moving. One pointed toward the burning streaks. Another stepped farther out from the trees.
One person tried to move downhill around him. He moved too, taking the path away.
The person stumbled backward. The dog pushed forward until they gave ground.
One person fell behind. The dog circled back, crowded close until the straggler started moving again, then turned with the group toward higher ground.
The sky flashed violet.
The last animals were coming. So were the last people. Only then did he turn toward the valley.
The crystals dropped out of sight at the valley's far end.
For one heartbeat, the valley was quiet.
The ground rose beneath them. The impact came through the earth first, a deep violent roll that threw animals sideways and drove the people against the rock. A moment later the sound arrived, large enough to flatten every other noise in the valley.
When the ground stopped moving, the herd started to spread again. He turned from the distant glow and moved along them, pushing the loose animals back together.
Only when everyone behind him had settled into a tight, nervous cluster did he look toward the far end of the valley again.
A violet glow was rising there.
The herd remained together. The people had stayed near the rock.
Behind him, the lives he had moved off the valley floor waited in the dark.
He stood between them and the glow and watched.
Before winter ended, snow would cover the scar. In time, the people who had seen the fire would be gone, then their stories, and eventually even the shape of the valley would change.
The crystals would remain.
Before Chapter 1 · 1 of 2
End of the Prologue