It was her fault he was dead.
Trelaina crashed to her knees and shoved rubble off her father's body. Grit caked her nails and hands, and she shut her eyes and covered a cough as dust whooshed into her face. The clogged air made breathing so hard she thought she might never take another clean breath. Shaddai, help me! The prayer tore from her soul in a wordless cry.
The ruins of what used to be the capitol building lay in piles of crumbled crystal and toppled marble. It used to be beautiful—a monument to what Telezart as a planet represented. Halls and finely furnished rooms housed people from all corners of Telezart and represented every scientific discipline imaginable.
Not anymore.
Remnants of the dark matter storm her anger had unleashed moments ago swirled around her, prickled her skin, called to her to embrace it and free her anger again.
Her father's dirt-crusted face offered no comfort. His eyes glazed in death; dust-gray lips parted to utter the words he had failed to eke out before a laser cannon bolt tore out his life.
Trelaina brushed a dirty lock of hair from his face as hot tears melted dirt from her cheeks and dripped onto the ruined floor. "I'm sorry, Papa…" she sobbed. "The Cometines came here because of me—because of my power. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have died. No one would have." She wept into grit-covered hands. "They'll send more soldiers to take me now, and then more people will die."
The silver band on Trelaina's left hand thrummed with energy, and its single emerald pulsed.
"No!" she growled at the ring. "They're all dead because of me. I'll not desecrate this place again." She took careful stock of the demolished building. "I've killed them…" she whispered. "Everyone in the building—Telzarti and Cometine alike." Her legs quaked as she rose and approached a woman splayed unnaturally across a marble chunk the size of a horse. Trelaina knew her. She used to arrange accommodations for visiting emissaries from all over the galaxy.
Not anymore.
All around the former entrance hall lay others, missing limbs, crushed beyond recognition, or torn in two. A few remained intact, but even they bore signs of violence—violence she had inflicted on them with the burst of dark matter energy she'd forced upon the world in her flash of rage at the Cometines.
No. Not just at them—at all Telezart for this idiotic civil war. A war in which she had been the vaunted prize. A war that had drawn the Cometines all the way from their home world to Telezart so they might pillage what remained once the fighting ceased.
Trelaina returned to her father's corpse and cleared more rubble until she could pull him from the debris. His head in her lap, she whispered, "You were the only one who understood." Trelaina hugged him close, heedless of how his cooling skin left gray and red smears on her once white dress.
She sat in the rubble as dusk approached, but instead of fading into shades of gold and orange, the sky turned sickly green.
No one came to investigate the storm she'd triggered.
Not even scavenger birds circled.
There was only silence broken by an occasional breeze.
Trelaina couldn't carry her father far, but she didn't want to leave him in this shrine of horrors where Cometines might loot his corpse, so just before the sun set, she hauled him off the ruined floor, tucked her arms under his shoulders and around his chest, and mustered enough strength to drag him from the collapsed building and into a courtyard.
Pristine paths of glowing white stone used to wind around the building in intricate designs.
Not anymore.
Cracks longer than Trelaina was tall marred the paths and made walking hazardous. More than once she tripped on an uneven edge, but each time she adjusted her grip on her father and kept going until she reached a triangular gap between two intersecting paths.
Grass and vibrant purple flowers used to grow here. Now, only naked ground remained.
She laid her father reverently atop a slab of intact white stone and pulled a snapped metal strut from the rubble. Using it to dig, she toiled into the night.
Her long sleeves shielded her from the cold as a stout wind raked the stripped ground. She clenched her eyes against sand and dirt kicked up by the gusts.
Still, no one came to investigate—or find out if their coveted trophy still lived.
Why had no one come?
She concentrated on digging.
Stars peered from the heavens, unobscured by city lights.
Her storm must have knocked out the power grid. The main hub for the city was near the capitol building. Her outburst must have reached farther than she'd thought.
With only the light of the moon and stars to guide her, Trelaina finished digging her father's grave and carefully laid him to rest. She replaced the earth scoop by scoop, watering the ground with her tears.
Before the sun rose, Trelaina laid a hand atop her father's finished grave. "Goodbye, Papa." She held in a sob. "I'm sorry." The words, begun as a whisper, ended in a wail, and she clenched handfuls of earth in both fists. The marble grit from the collapsed building wedged further under her nails and made her want to scrape them clean.
She fumbled for something small enough to dig out the irritant. Finding nothing, she dug one thumbnail under the opposite index finger.
"I hate it when I've got something caught under my nails." A girl several years younger than Trelaina stepped over a broken path stone and stood over the fresh grave. Her long, white-gold hair hung in a braid down to her waist—the way Trelaina used to wear hers. The girl wore a simple, long-sleeved emerald green dress that fell to her knees and dark green shoes that covered her toes but didn't rise above her ankles. "I'm sorry for your loss."
"W-who are you?" Trelaina leaned over the mound as if to protect it from the stranger.
The girl held out an open hand in greeting. "I'm Ellie."
"Do you live nearby? Is your family all right?" Trelaina dried her tears on the least sullied patch of sleeve she could find and wiped one hand clean before taking the girl's. Her ring thrummed. "I'm… sorry about the dirt."
Ellie smiled. "First of all, yes, I live nearby. Or I used to. I don't have any family. Not anymore. And, please, don't fret over a bit of dirt. It's to be expected after laying your father to rest yourself." Ellie nodded to the mound of earth.
"H-how did you know this is my father?" Trelaina let go of the girl's hand.
Ellie sat in the dirt, legs tucked beneath her. "Had a feeling." She laid an open palm atop the mound.
Trelaina expected Ellie's gesture to make her uncomfortable. But it didn't. "He was always good to me. He took me in when no one else would." She smoothed the warming earth. "He—" She sucked in another sob. "He was all I had."
"Was he?" Ellie's words, though gentle, sparked Trelaina's anger.
"Would I have spent all night digging a grave alone if he wasn't?"
Ellie laid her hand over Trelaina's.
Trelaina jerked away from her touch. "You should go home now. They'll have the power grid up soon, and disaster teams will be out looking for people who need help."
Ellie didn't budge. "That ring is lovely." She nodded to the silver and emerald band.
"Papa made it for me." He had called it the Shard of Will. He was going to teach her how to use it. But he couldn't now. Trelaina hid the ring under her other hand and kept her eyes off Ellie, hoping the girl would realize she needed to leave, since outright dismissal hadn't worked.
"Looks like part of a set."
Trelaina fingered the notches on either side of the band. "I only have this one."
"I would love to see all three of them together. They must be beautiful."
"I'm sure they are." Trelaina got up. She didn't want to leave, but if it was the only way to get rid of this girl, she had to try it. She could come back to her father's grave later. It wasn't as if it would move. The rescue teams should be here soon, anyway, and before he died, her father had told her to go to the safe house he'd built for her in the wilderness should a day like this come.
"Where are we going?" Ellie followed Trelaina past the ruined capitol building.
"I'm going… away. You shouldn't follow me."
"It's all right. I can keep up."
Trelaina walked faster, hoping the younger girl would tire and fall behind. She didn't.
They climbed a rise outside the city that overlooked most of the area.
Below, nothing moved.
In the center of the ruined capitol, invisible except from a vantage like this, was a perfectly round blast pattern, centered on the place Trelaina had stood when she created the dark matter storm. The blast markings radiated outward and cut through buildings as if they were paper. Beyond the nearest ruined government structures, houses lay in sad piles of twisted metal struts and crumbled walls. A disaster aid station sat silent not far from her father's grave, and from one end of the horizon to the other there wasn't a single scrap of green.
Horror, deep and dark as a pit, pulled her in.
This was all wrong.
"Careful of the ledge." Ellie tugged Trelaina back an instant before she would have tumbled down the steep incline. "We should keep going. Doesn't do any good to stand here."
Trelaina nodded numbly.
They crested the rise, now little more than a sand dune sloshed atop a steep hill. Trelaina was glad she wore boots so sand couldn't seep in. An intolerable amount of sand already filled Ellie's shoes, but the girl didn't seem to notice.
A dead animal's hoof peaked from a dune, but the wind would soon cover it, erasing every trace of its insignificant life.
They trudged onward until midday when they reached the rocky base of a mountain. They still hadn't seen anyone or anything alive.
Trelaina was glad for relief from the sun as she and Ellie took shelter under a rock outcropping. They sat against the cool stone, waiting until the sun's heat faded past an insufferable boil. Her empty stomach complained, but the thought of eating made her sick. She did wish they had water.
"You never told me where we're headed." Ellie traced a pattern of swirling circles in the dirt.
"Why don't you dump that out?" Trelaina pointed to the sand still filling Ellie's shoes.
"Oh. I forgot it was there." Ellie didn't move to empty her shoes.
"How can you forget?"
Ellie shrugged. "Just did. So, are we going to sit here until sundown?" She stood and dusted off her dress.
Trelaina stifled a groan as she got up. Her arms, legs, and back ached from wading through sand and loose earth for hours after a night of digging. She hadn't slept in two days, and though she wanted to be tired, all she could dredge up was a weariness that reached past her body and into her heart. If she slept now, her father's death-gray face and the gore-riddled hall would haunt her. "You should go."
"I won't slow you down. Promise." Ellie ducked under the lip of the overhang and stepped out into late afternoon. "It's not as hot now."
Around the mountain they hiked over rocks, bare ground, and corpses of birds, mountain goats, and other wild animals. No sign of plant life remained either.
"We're getting close." Ellie stayed beside Trelaina, but the girl's steps became energetic.
"How would you know?" Trelaina stopped and jerked Ellie around by her arm. "Someone sent you to watch me! Was it the Loyalists? Or did Undaunted hire you? Or the Cometines?" She spat the last foul word. Either government faction was bad enough but working for the Cometines was an unpardonable transgression.
Ellie smiled. "I just want to walk with you."
"That's ludicrous." Trelaina pulled the girl closer so she could stare into Ellie's innocent hazel eyes—the same color as hers. "It was Undaunted, wasn't it? Those rebels would use a child—without a second thought. What did they promise you? Good food and shelter for the rest of your life? Or was it something more ambitious, like a council seat?" Her fingers twisted in the fabric of the girl's sleeve. It was soft and cool, like Trelaina's dress.
Her ring thrummed.
"It'll be dark soon," said Ellie, still captive in Trelaina's grip, but seeming not to notice.
"Who are you?" Trelaina demanded. "Tell me. Now."
Ellie only smiled.
Small white lights flashed in the gathering dark.
Muted voices.
People.
Someone was alive here.
Trelaina almost let go of Ellie's arm, but thought better of it. Whoever this was could have tracked them here. They were likely Ellie's employers. Better to have a bargaining chip than be caught empty-handed. She dragged Ellie into a deep recess between two boulders and laid a hand over the girl's mouth.
Ellie didn't struggle or cry out. In fact, she gave no sign of wanting to attract attention.
Trelaina's ring warmed but didn't become so hot as to burn her.
Six men, all much taller than Trelaina, clomped through thick sand until their feet hit rock. Each had a light mounted on their weapon barrels. Twilight was fading, and the details of their faces blurred in the dark, but their skin tone was unmistakably drab green.
Cometines.
The men spoke among themselves in their own language. One gestured to the mountain and another toward the ruined city. A third pointed back the way they'd come. The other three swept weapon barrels around the group, probably to keep watch for movement.
Trelaina pulled Ellie farther into the recess. Surely the girl would have tried to call out by now if she worked for them.
The men decided to head for the capital, and they slogged off.
Trelaina kept hold of Ellie until she was sure they were gone. Before she released the girl, she whispered, "Not a word."
They crept out of the crevice.
Stars and a barely risen moon gave light.
Everything ached; each step was war, and all she wanted to do was surrender.
"Almost there," Ellie whispered and waved Trelaina on.
"I told you to stay quiet."
Ellie touched Trelaina's arm. "It's all right. No one will hear me."
Trelaina's ring warmed again, and the thrumming from before emanated through her hand. It wasn't like what happened before she unleashed the storm. This was… quieter.
Rough hands jerked Trelaina backward by a fistful of her loose, white-gold hair, and fire laced her scalp. She hit the ground so hard the impact emptied her lungs, and she sucked in four desperate breaths. Ellie had betrayed her.
"Get—off—me!" Trelaina gasped as a huge Cometine man pinned her in the dirt. Greedy, dark eyes took in her face.
"I've found you." He grinned. A scraggy, black beard surrounded wide, yellow teeth. His armor was dull, dirt-caked, and his grimy hands left stains on her shoulders. "The emperor will give me my own worldship for this."
Trelaina strained against his grip, but the man was too strong.
"Oh no, you're not going to wipe the planet clean again."
"I didn't do that." Trelaina's shoulder blades dug into the ground. Loose pebbles bit her back and gouged through her dress into her skin. "Someone will come. And when they do, you'll wish you'd never violated this planet."
The Cometine laughed. "It isn't me who's destroyed the world, girl. It's you." He gripped her left wrist, keeping her from flexing the hand bearing her ring. "The last thing our tanks sent us showed you and this little trinket blasting the life out of everything inside the atmosphere."
"That's not true!" Trelaina searched for Ellie but couldn't find her. "That girl you hired—she's alive. If she survived, others did too."
"We sent no girl." The man didn't even look around. "You're the only living person left on Telezart."
"He's right, you know." Ellie reappeared beside Trelaina and took the hand the Cometine held captive.
This time, the thrum coursed up Trelaina's arm and neck and lodged in the front of her skull, making her forehead tingle.
Ellie, unnoticed by the Cometine, continued. "But you won't let him take you away from here. That's not what you want."
Strength poured into Trelaina, and the will to remain free of the Cometines and whatever sordid destiny they wished to thrust upon her overcame her weariness. She would be no one's weapon, and certainly no one's pawn.
Not anymore.
Shaddai, help me, she prayed.
She kicked the man in the groin.
He ground his teeth and grunted, eyes watering, but he didn't let go. One knee immobilized the offending leg, and the second fumbled for her other leg.
She kept out of his reach and kicked him again, accompanying the blow with a fierce snarl before spitting in the man's eyes.
He lost his hold on her left hand.
Her ragged nails flashed across his face, leaving bloody scratches before she attacked his hand, the one holding down her other shoulder. She bit and scratched until he let go and rolled in the dirt, whimpering.
Free of him, Trelaina ran.
Ellie dashed behind her.
She tore around the mountain faster than was safe, but getting caught by the Cometines was more dangerous than tumbling into dry quicksand or a pit. She would rather die than be dragged away from her home.
The entrance to a cave loomed ahead, and without pause, she darted inside.
A long, dark tunnel led her deep into the mountain. Just when she thought she would lose all sense of where she was, the tunnel dead-ended at a wall covered in a swirling pattern. At her approach, a faint glow afforded enough light to keep Trelaina's sanity intact. She raised her ringed hand, the emerald facing the barrier.
After three long seconds, the wall opened for her and Ellie to pass through and closed just behind them.
The tunnel emptied into a cavern. Inside was a lake. Luminescent fungi glowed on the walls and lake shore, and more grew beneath the water's surface.
Trelaina collapsed on the shore and plunged her sun-burnt face into the water. Strands of her long hair fell into the water on either side of her face, creating a golden halo. She wanted to gulp the water in long draughts, but that would make her sick. Instead, she sipped slowly, and the burning in her throat eased, but it did nothing to stem the tide of guilt. In her heart, she knew what the Cometine had said was true. Telezart was dead. And it was her fault.
"This is nice." Ellie sat beside Trelaina on the shore and watched little fish flicker in the water.
"Papa said it was." Trelaina slipped both hands into the water and scrubbed away layers of sand and grime, even cleaning under her nails until they were blissfully free of irritants. But she couldn't wipe the blood of millions from her hands so easily. "Why couldn't that man see you?"
Ellie stood and dusted off her somehow spotless green dress. "Almost there." She trotted to a spot several steps away and pointed upward to the empty air above the lake.
Trelaina gathered shaking legs and followed Ellie.
The girl laid a hand on Trelaina's arm, and the emerald ring thrummed. "You want to go home. So, go." Ellie took Trelaina's bruised left wrist and supported her hand. She pointed the ring toward the vacant space above the lake.
Water, shaped like a stair step, rose from the lake's surface.
"Go on." Ellie let go of her hand and nudged her forward.
Trelaina raised one foot to take the step, bracing for the inevitable splash when it didn't hold her weight. But the watery stair held.
A second wide step formed above the first, but before she took it, Trelaina faced Ellie. "I have to know who you are."
Ellie giggled and said with a smile, "But you already do."
The ring flashed brilliant green, blinding Trelaina for half a second. When she could see again, Ellie was gone.
Trelaina stood on the stair of water in silence, but the ring on her finger, the Shard of Will, still glowed. She turned and took each step until she arrived at a door, invisible until she touched it. She stepped inside a little floating house. Here, no one would find her. No one would take her away. No one could claim her as the spoils of victory. She couldn't hurt anyone else here.
This was home now, and she would never leave it.
In the middle of the entryway, she fell to her knees, hands folded, face raised in prayer. Shaddai, help me.
Author's Note:
Written for the WA Transition Challenge on fanfiction.net