- MaxRealflugel
- |
- Elder Mythic Member
"Mum! Dad!"
I'd been shouting for hours, and even now as my home burned itself into cinders and blue fire fell from the sky, I still held hope for their return.
They left early, I think. While I slept with my toys in the comfort of my warm bed. But they were gone when I woke. Nothing unusual in that. I often woke up to an empty house as they walked the gardens and meditated to ancient ways of "peace and tranquility" as they called it.
My friends at school called them "Hippies". A long dead term for those who want love and happiness to rule supreme. But life here, on Arcadia, has never been simple. We're very far from anyone else, so my time at school is short and my chores in "life" are long.
I went to fetch my usual breakfast when I reached the kitchen. An oatmeal slop of milk and honey, instead of some "Crispy Crocs" or "Breakfast Bombs".
I poured my rabbit food into a bowl and ate.
The night sky outside was unusual, simply because it was still night. But there were no stars and no pairing of moons. Just a slow twisting--a billowing of cloud. No. Not cloud...smoke. A wall of black smoke, beyond the hill, towards Pirth.
Mum and Dad always avoided Pirth. They said it was a city of decay. I know it's untidy sometimes but I don't think it looks anything like the rotten carcass that dad always described.
I went outside and stared at the sky. It was a writhing tower of black smoke. But there was more. A darker mass at the centre. It was large and high above the city. Blue light streaked from the object, raining down beyond the hill. I then realised what I was seeing. It was the aliens. The Covenant.
I ran inside and quickly dressed myself in my school uniform - it was all I could find - and put on a sturdy pair of boots. I had always liked them, but mum said they looked too much like army boots and had tried to throw them away a couple of times. But I always fished them out of the garbage.
I screamed for them again. I was staring to panic. I didn't like being alone, so far from everything. But I would have to find help. And I would have to walk to reach it.
I sat and waited.
I gathered some supplies from the house and reached the gate at the far end of the yard when something streaked down from the sky. It was a ship, shimmering blue and purple. Then it fired at the house.
I saw my bedroom instantly turn to fire. The Pom Pom bear on my window was thrown through the thin glass with the explosion and onto the red dirt outside. It smouldered and smoked away.
Now I was stood here, screaming for my mum and dad. The ship that had burned my home moved closer. A light shone on the ground and a single tall alien descended onto the ground.
It looked angry.
It had a strange mouth. Four lips, all with teeth. And it was looking at me.
Blue fire crackled around its clawed hand, forming a long, double blade. Then it walked towards me.
I screamed for my absent parents.
There was a loud crack and then a distant bang.
I looked at the alien. It was lying on the ground, smoke rising from its large head, or what was left of it.
The alien ship quickly moved away, but it didn't get far. Two planes came in, firing their guns. The alien ship exploded in a shower of sparks and fury.
Then a voice, calm and warm. "Are you okay? Are you injured?"
I turned to see a tall figure in armour and a mirror-like helmet. I could see my own face. Streaks of dirt where I had been crying were etched over my cheeks.
"I'm okay."
It knelt down, nearly level with me. "I'm Doug. I'm here to help you."
Behind it strode two other giants in armour.
"What's your name, son? And where are your parents?"
I swallowed nevously, gathering myself. "Li. My name's Li. And my parents left me here."