《Starfall Initiative: Dying Shadows》 Prologue Angelic wisps seeped from the hot foam, guarded by a beige mug. Nimble fingers clasped firmly onto said ceramic at an instant to lift and bring it closer. The figure pushed their nose close to the liquid to a point of comfort, the heat grounding instead of burning and the aroma flooding their senses. There was no more lingering to be had as the smooth liquid was brought to their darkened lips just a moment later. And the mixture was gone in a blink. The mug was gently placed back onto a coaster on the oak table, guided gently by the candlelight as the figure relaxed back into their chair. All they could do was give a long sigh. ¡°How have I gone for so long without one?¡± A voice dared to utter, before another sentence was spoken. ¡°DEUS, turn on the lights.¡± And without hesitation, the room was cast ablaze in light. The figure had been unveiled; a male with ash brown skin and short black hair. But there was something odd about his appearance. His ears were pointed, facing upward and placed slightly higher on his head than what would be considered ''normal'' for a human. His nose was extensive - a mini snout placed at the end of such a peculiar facial feature. And as his eyes opened, accustoming to the light, his pupils were more oval than circular. Viridescent orbs, tinged with a hint of amber, concealed all emotions, staring blankly at the room in which he sat. He found himself rocking slightly, a back and forth motion so tender and gentle that he could drift back to sleep with ease. Yet the taste lingered on his tastebuds, a familiar taste that left little to imagine yet so many memories. He found himself basking in the elixir of his past life. The sweet countryside as the twitter of birds filled his ears. Long days of summer hardship before the cold nights of winter, where he sat by the warmth of a fire. Even the very harvesting of what he knew to be in the drink that he had demolished. His eyes gazed upon the mug once more with a small, genuine smile creeping up. His fangs finally appeared as his gaze softened. Yet all it would take was the voice of DEUS to break him out of his trance. "Levi, you seemed distracted and you were unresponsive; are you alright?" The reality seeped back into his mind. "Thank you DEUS, I''m okay." His voice sounding more chipper and his increased alertness gave DEUS all the answers. There was almost an anger regardless, and DEUS had picked up on that too, but they did not know the cause. More memories floated into Levi''s mind with a grimace, as DEUS was silenced with a hand before they could ask. Levi instead found his gaze diverting to other parts of the room he sat in on his comfy velvet chair. His eyes gazed firstly upon his bunk, a bland velvet cover hanging off the side and a velvet pillowcase. It was small, built into the wall and required careful movements to even get in. As his gaze drifted, he found himself next staring at the dining table, a grey plastic that was the same colour as the bland walls around him. His next stop was at a picture, which furthered his frown. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He had almost forgotten DEUS was there, as the unit spoke up again. "Is that what''s bothering you?" Levi rose to his absurd height, waltzing with speed over to the frame. His nimble fingers caressed the frame once more, only to look down upon the image on the mantlepiece. A silence followed Levi wherever he went, even when DEUS spoke louder. "Is there any reason why you can''t put both up?" Levi sighed, finally having the courage to speak as he turned his head to face the hologram, lowering his arm from the frame on the wall. "Regulations. Besides, I wont be here for long." "However, this clearly matters to you is my point." Levi let out a sigh, giving himself one more glance at the picture frame on the wall before he found his gaze on the floor. "Can I talk with Sam?" It was a suddenly blurted question that DEUS would nonetheless agree to, letting Levi grab his Personal Digital Assistant, sit down and give them the order. Silence had seeped between him and DEUS once again, but it would not be long until someone answered the call. "Josephine?" Was the only thing Levi could say. ¡°You¡¯re after Sam, aren¡¯t you?¡± Josephine¡¯s silver eyes narrowed, staring nonchalantly at Levi, who ran a hand through his black hair. ¡±Yes, how is he?¡± And the answer came instantly. ¡±You don¡¯t deserve to know, after all the things you did to this family.¡± Her eyebrows fastened and her mouth zipped shut. Levi stared back intensely. ¡°Look, I saved you from hurt, from being in a loveless marriage, and you still won¡¯t let me see my son.¡± ¡±And you know full well I could make your life far worse, demon!¡± Teeth were barred now, as Levi stared into the silver orbs of Josephine. ¡°You dare call me demon? Josephine, I was nothing but loyal to you! I made a mistake sure, but I didn¡¯t know at the time I was gay!¡± He shuttered his mouth, fearing if he were to say anything else, things would become nasty. He felt tears well up in his eyes. But Josephine seemed to snap out of her rage, and an instantaneous remorse seemed to fill her eyes. But after a monumental silence, where the world seemed to stop, Levi could only muster one thing. ¡±Give Sam my regards and I¡¯ll see you both soon.¡± The call ended just like that.
Josephine sat at the dining table, sat on an uncomfortable, sturdy chair. The short, stout human woman placed her head in her hands, brushing her ginger hair out of the way. Her Personal Digital Assistant laid flat on the table, which she uncovered her eyes to see. Then, suddenly. ¡°Mummy?¡± She smiled, turning to face the young Samuel Troy. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Josephine still held together a perfect fa?ade. ¡°Mummy¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Why did daddy have to go?¡± Josephine froze. ¡°Mummy will tell you when you¡¯re older.¡± She felt horrible, but knew Sam wouldn¡¯t understand at such a young age. ¡°How was school?¡± She asked. ¡°Good. We learnt about Jesus and how he will come back someday.¡± Sam gave the biggest toothy grin to his mother. ¡°No fights?¡± Sam nodded, as Josephine smiled broader once again. ¡°Good to hear!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to my room. Call me down when dinner¡¯s ready?¡± Josephine nodded at her son. He pivoted, walking off as he opened a door and left her sight. A sigh escaped Josephine, her fa?ade crumbling to dust. The smile vanished for a frown and her down-turned eyes found themselves at the floor. ¡°Lord, what have I done to deserve this? Did I sin too much? Because I repented every time.¡± When she finally looked up, she was looking out the window to the wide world. So many mixed emotions plagued her mind, mostly hurt and upset by Levi Troy, but also pity. ¡°I just want what¡¯s best for Sam.¡± They would both say, but what really is the best for Sam? Chapter 1 I watched as the surface below grew larger, to where the corners of the world were no longer visible to me and instead it was a temperate rainforest¡¯s large canopies. All I knew about this place was my mission was here, the fact there was a Bastion, and that a civilisation had been formed. "It¡¯s beautiful, isn''t it?" My trance, as quick as I entered it, was interrupted by the voice from next to me. I turned to Aron, a man who looked to be in his mid-forties with silver streaks running through his onyx-coloured hair. He stretched his free arm and placed it around the back of his head. "Different, that¡¯s for sure." I said. Aron snorted, and I rolled my amber eyes. His own pair of pearlescent silver eyes dragged themselves down towards a book that quickly caught my attention. I proceeded to skim over the title. He craned his neck upwards so his glance could meet mine, all with curiosity emanating from him. This was just before we once again dually glanced back at the book. I found him waiting, so I decided to feed the beast. I opened my maw to speak. ¡°A history on medicine?¡± ¡°A history of medicine.¡± He quickly replied. It was this many days into my journey that I realized that the newbie was either interested in medicine or was a medic. I suspected it was the first. I decided to follow up on that thought process, despite how little we talked on the way over. ¡°Interested in such history?¡± I queried, my interest divulging to Aron. ¡°I work in it.¡± He grinned, almost as if he was proud to be teaching his ways as a pure human; not just part. It was about that moment when another voice rocked up to the scene, diverting our attention away from the book. ¡°This¡¯ll only be a temporary home away from home, so don¡¯t get too comfortable.¡± I turned to face our commanding officer, Corporal Idonius Zelzak. He was this menacingly tall, burly young spark with silvery blonde hair. He clasped his hands on his hips, while positioning his feet shoulder-width apart. His voice was incredibly loud, which was evident because we could hear him from ten rows back, yet he was speaking at a ¡®normal¡¯ volume to a brute-sized Valtyorx - at least in comparison to him. What quickly followed was a nod of agreement from the Valtyorx, before they turned away. Just as they were to vanish behind a curtain, I quickly realized that this one differed from what I¡¯d seen before. Normally, the species have golden skin primarily and black markings, but this one had none of the latter. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. While Corporal Zelzak was preparing something at the console next to the curtain, I subtly tried to point to the Valtyorx. This was all whilst attempting to make it obvious to the human sitting next to me. It went swimmingly; they noticed, turned to me and looked very confused. ¡°They¡¯re golden,¡± I whispered. ¡°Why are they golden?¡± Aron continued his gaze, and his voice was very soft when he spoke; so soft that I could¡¯ve mistaken his motive. ¡°That¡¯s a Valtyorx of Bound kin. They¡¯re way different from the common Cave kin all because they evolved in different environments. For example, they both have sight but Bound kin can see sound; they use echolocation. As a result, Bound kin make excellent guards.¡± This made me realize that the uniform they had - albeit hard to see with a cloak draped across the back - was that of a guard. Another thing I noted with a vision as sharp as a hawk is that their squad number matched mine, Zelzak¡¯s and Aron¡¯s. ¡°They¡¯re in our squadron¡­ maybe that¡¯s the new recruit to the fireteam Podaskus talked about?¡± Unfortunately, my speculation stopped there. Zelzak gathered the attention of all the personnel in the cabin. He faced center, his arms now down by his sides and he spoke, standing ever so still. ¡°We will be arriving within the next two hours, and I want you all to remember that our placement here is short. Don¡¯t get too comfortable. Understood?¡± Almost as soon as he finished, without a second of waiting, we were responding. ¡°Oorah!¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I like to hear!¡± A new presence became known with her husky voice; Sergeant Xalis Podaskus, wearing her brown hair in the usual bun. As fast as she had arrived though, she seemed to be leaving; after turning to face her superior, she whispered something at an incomprehensible volume to most, but not to me. Podaskus, unlike the officer she was stood with, could actually whisper. She seemed to be speaking in codewords unknown to me, despite my knowledge on human words and culture being supposedly better than most other Traveene; that¡¯s at least what I¡¯d been told in the past. But even with piqued interest, I turned my attention away and reminded myself of Corporal Zelzak¡¯s words. As a result, I found my eyes glancing up towards a grated piece of silver metal well above my head, held in a compartment that was supported by storm grey beams. These beams followed the cabin all the way down, and on one side the ceiling would rise, making sure people who were walking could fit in the cabin to take a seat. I made a mental note not to forget my black bag of belongings, which were on a minimalistic conveyor belt above my head just above the grated metal. After all, if I did not pick it up, I would not be getting it back. I looked back down at the seats ahead of me, with the sound of chatter having resumed once more filling the cabin. But even despite the noise, I found myself wanting to take a nap. After all, I would not be taking much of a break these following days. So, I pulled out a sleeping kit that I¡¯d been using and put on the eye mask and earplugs, hoping to drown out some of the noise. Turn around twice and I¡¯m waking up again.