Star struggled to drew in a breath of air. Everything was fuzzy on the edges. She clutched at her stomach but was unable to catch her breath. Darkness blurred her vision even as she heard Jazin’s roar of rage, Madas horrified cry, and Dakar’s shout of denial.
I’m so sorry, Star thought, I love you so much.
Time slowed down until she could swear she could see the smallest dust mote as it drifted through the air. She saw Jazin twirling in rage at the men who had rushed her. The man who had kicked her fell to his knees under the force of the blows from Jazin’s sword. His head fell away from his body as he toppled over. Madas rose up, balancing on one leg and her tail swinging the double-sided battle ax. Dakar killed one guard before another thrust his sword into his side. She heard his cry before he turned and struck the man down. Out of a dark passage, a man appeared. He was tall, muscular and had the most beautiful glowing eyes she had ever seen. He moved through the few guards that remained striking with a deadly precision. As the last man fell, all three turned to look at where Star laid unmoving. Her eyes slowly closed as Jazin’s lithe form moved through the maze of dead bodies.
She tried to open her eyes but it was too difficult. “You are safe now,” Jazin whispered as he gently lifted her small body up.
Star gave in to the darkness as it surrounded her. Her arms falling limply as she was lifted with impossible care. The burning light calling her home.
*.*.*
“Where am I?” Star asked as she looked around her in wonder and confusion.
The world where she was standing looked like it came out of a Van Gogh painting. Small thatched roofs where barely visible in the distance. The sky was a deep purple. A stark contrast to the fields of gold. A few trees dotted the landscape of rolling hills leading to the edge of distance mountains. Huge birds soared high in the sky, their large red, yellow, and green feathers standing out. White clouds dotted the sky like a child’s first finger painting.
Star turned in a circle in the golden grass. It was almost as tall as her. The sounds of birds taking flight had her shading her eyes to see what had startled them. Her eyes widened as huge space ships broke through the atmosphere. She watched in horror as the ships fired on the thatched roofs of the village. She couldn’t see anything due to the smoke that filled the bright beautiful sky but she could hear the screams. She turned as the painting she was in seemed to melt around her, the colors twisting, blurring, blending together until a night sky filled with millions of brilliant points of light were the only light to see by. The night sky was not black but a rich, dark blue. It reminded Star of River’s eyes. Swirls of a lighter blue danced through the painted night, flowing like a river through the universe. She could almost swear she could see movement in the heavenly stream.
Star’s breath caught as the stars began to fall around her like a light rain. They seemed so real she actual lifted her hands up to cup them as they fell around her. The sky lightened as more and more stars fell until she was surrounded by the glowing embers. She reached down and picked up one glowing ember and gazed into it. Inside she could see a battle. A man that looked like Jazin was leading a group of warriors against an alien race unlike anything she had ever seen. The twisted bodies were huge and resembled the praying mantas back home. The light flickered and died. The skies around her turned to red and she shivered. The color of blood surrounded her. Jazin was standing on a hill that was now blackened and dry. His face reflected such a deep grief it tore at her. But, there was also a determination to survive, to fight on that she could only admire. Star turned to see what he was looking at. In the distance, small fighters were coming out of the sky like the stars she had just imagined. They attacked the alien species advancing on Jazin and his warriors. The fight was fierce but it was short as Jazin and his warriors rode into the fury of battle with a loud war cry.
The red dissolved until the ground shown with the lighted crystals. All around her were the glittering stones. New life grew around her as the crystals absorbed into the ground, growing and spreading. She turned as Jazin walked out from a lone tree that still stood tall and proud on the side of the hill. A fierce storm raged in the dark purple skies, lightning arced as if in a grand display of fireworks. One of the fighters that had fought the alien creatures landed a short distance away. Jazin didn’t move. He was a huge, bear of a man. Muscles tensed and flexed as he kept one hand firmly on the sword clutched in it. His eyes were a piercing black. Star turned toward the fighter again, fascinated.
The dark, hooded top slid back and a figure rose out from it. The body was small, almost child-like in size. Star couldn’t see what the creature looked like because of the helmet and uniform but she could tell it was humanoid in appearance. Her eyes followed the figure as it advanced to within just a few steps of Jazin.