The Book of Ominiue: Starborn (50 page)

Standing in the grasslands was eerie with the forest before them. Kíe’arathrone cautiously got out after the others; he looked terrified and did not try to hide it. The general and the air-vice marshal also came out to bid them farewell. The SB soldiers set about unloading the weapons and backpacks, while Shayne, Rae and the two Special Force officers listened to a second briefing.

‘Remember, the map shows the area distribution for both crash sites,’ the general called out, his voice raised slightly over the engines. ‘There’s a chance that they could be in the plains, though the
Oxford
hasn’t found anything. Look anyway. Only go into the forest as a last resort.’

‘Yes Sir.’ The commanding Special Force Officer Captain Javier saluted.

‘Record and send as much data as you possibly can. We’ll monitor you until it cuts out.’

The air vice-marshal turned to Shayne with a cunning smile, ‘This is your time to shine, Starborn — or die, you know, whichever comes first.’ They then backed off.

The party grabbed their packs and began to head towards the forest.

Kíe’arathorne broke from the star officers and ran after the party, ‘Please, Afra’hama, you cannot go that way,’ Kíe’arathorne pleaded. He grabbed Shayne by the arm and forced the human to look at him. Fear and concern imprinted on his face. ‘Please, Afra’hama, please I beg you.’ Shayne gently placed his hand upon the journeyman’s and lifted it from his arm. Kíe’arathorne looked down at his feet; tears welled up in his eyes. Shayne was not sure how to comfort the creature so he placed his hand upon his shoulder in friendship. The scholar sobbed as the human let go and started walking. The young lionman then fell to his knees in anguish.

The air vice-marshal came over to him and gently grabbed his shoulder, ‘Come now, we have to go.’ Kíe’arathorne looked up at the retreating figures, his face grew serious and a determination set upon him. He stood up and cried out to them.

‘I will wait for you, Afra’hama. I will await your return.’ He then turned to the hoverplane, where Williams gently encouraged him into the craft. As they departed Kíe’arathorne watched their fading figures, a deep fear and anxiety grew within him and he could not help but grieve. There he sang the song of Markees, though his helmet communicator was off and his voice was drowned out by the whirling raw of the engines for anyone else to hear.

Woe to the Children of the World,

for tonight they lost a mighty lord.

Markees the fairest of all,

tonight and forever we will mourn.

Great was the king of all.

Great Markees of what was once a bright world,

to you animals will forever mourn.

Ta’Orian will always remember your law.

Fa’Orian will forever call you Lord.

Great was the King of all.

To this world sadness comes,

and to the Kéaran you have gone.

With golden wings you will roam,

still the lord of what we call home.

Great is the King of All;

mighty Markees of the World.

They walked onwards in single file with Captain Javier leading the team. The Starborns walked behind them with their rifles in hand while the other four carried various instruments including tracking devices. Shayne had his
wristcom
open, it was connected to the
Oxford
and they relayed the data from all the hand held devices directly to the Astronauts. The grass plains were calm, but occasionally the wind would rise and whip around them as if it was trying to ward them off before settling back down.

‘It’s so quiet,’ Rae commented as she looked around the open ground.

‘What is this place?’ the other officer, Lieutenant Jameson asked in an almost whisper.

‘The Magor-Missabain,’ Shayne answered. He then looked up at them from his device and translated the name into English, ‘the fields of sorrow.’

‘I don’t like it.’ Rae shivered. ‘The sooner we’re in Endaran the better.’

‘Except for the whole “you’ll die” thing,’ Javier joked with a faint Spanish accent.

When they were a few kilometres from the forest border their instruments started malfunctioning, surprising the captain. They were well past the point where they predicted the fluctuations to begin. He was sceptical from the start and he had become increasingly confident that it was all coincidence until then. All of their instruments ranged wildly as they continued on. When they stopped moving the fluctuations slowed but the readings were never true. Jameson maintained radio contact despite the communications became increasingly difficult to understand.

Standing stones became visible as the forest border drew near. The monoliths were stretched out along the perimeter, made up of various sizes and many leaning in strange angles as the years took their toll. A few hundred metres from the border, right near one of the stones their instruments failed. The closest monolith was an ominous thing, leaning slightly to the side; it had been carved with an angry demonic face, warning any wanderer of the forest beyond. They studied it with mild amusement, but Shayne could not help but feel a creeping sensation along his spine.

‘Well I guess that’s that. Time to see how everyone’s basic mapping skills have held up,’ Javier said with a smile as he waved a plastic map around.

‘I doubt there’s any crash site in the open,’ Jameson said as he looked about the open and untouched regions around them. Shayne meanwhile shifted his gaze from the stone to the forest. The darkness loomed, reminding him of parts of the Wayel-Éaa, only this time there was a constant feeling of dread, he tried to dismiss it but it was always there like it was watching them.

Javier happily walked on. ‘We’re heading straight down the guts from here, so we may-as-well keep going.’

Shayne glanced back into the field one last time before entering that dark holy land. Once inside the forest seemed pleasant enough. It was bright and the canopy blocked the worst of the summer’s heat. It was also the first time they saw and heard sounds of life; with small brightly coloured birds leaping and flying around, and the songs of different varieties echoing high in the tree tops.

‘Remember,’ Shayne said as he unbuckled his holster and took a primitive propulsion gun out, ‘there are potential hostiles here. Do not shoot unless they attack first.’ The Starborns automatically came to full alert holding their rifles ready, Jameson also grasped his assault rifle. Rae had a pistol but she left it in the holster, and Javier was concentrating on the map with his gun hanging over his shoulder and backpack.

Several hours passed as they navigated the thick forest, the only change was the occasional demon-faced stones warding them off, moss had since laid claim to the stones, but the menacing stares still remained. They ate while they walked not knowing what the actual time was and eventually they came across the Athúal River. No one knew what to expect, aerial pictures showed the river swelled in areas, the spring and summer heat had thawed the mountains earlier so most of the raging water had already passed. Standing upon the banks they could see it would not be easy to cross. It was calm, but it was also wide.

‘We can’t go south,’ Shayne replied while correcting his pack. ‘The Aniskin city is that way.’ Javier subconsciously looked at his compass and cursed as it pointed somewhere that was clearly not north. He thought about throwing the damn thing in the river but refrained and put it back in his pocket.

‘We’ll walk north,’ he said not looking impressed. ‘Until we can find some shallows.’

‘Why not cross here?’ Rae asked. ‘We all can swim.’

‘The guns aren’t water issue,’ Jameson cursed. ‘If they get wet they need time to dry, gorram ancient tech!’

They made their way along the banks. Javier carefully marked each possible bend and recorded their distances. Often he stopped and propped himself against something flat so he could measure and mark things; trying to keep their position true. Shayne helped with his mathematical mind and memory providing useful analysis. After an hour they found a small and rather frightening rope-bridge. When they saw it they moved away from the banks, into the safety of the trees. They slowly made their way to it as quietly as possible. Both sides of the bridge had primitive guard towers built up high in the trees. Shayne pulled out the binoculars that hung from his pack and looked around.

‘Do you see anything?’ Javier whispered. He now held his rifle and looked through its scope.

‘No,’ Shayne replied. ‘I don’t see anyone.’

‘Why would they abandon a post?’

‘Could it be an ambush?’ Rae looked nervously over the water to the other side, her hand on the grip of her gun.

‘There’s only one way to find out,’ Shayne replied.

‘We could see if there’s another crossing,’ Jameson argued.

‘If we did that we’d probably make our way to the abandoned city. That would be a worse crime than being right here.’

‘And I don’t think the river would get any narrower, not for a long while anyway,’ Javier commented. ‘Ok, two at a time: Rae you can cross with me. Forrester you go first with another SB.’ Shayne hooked his binoculars back onto his pack and pointed to a soldier who silently obeyed. They stepped into the open and made their way up the tree ladder where the rope bridge was tethered. It could hardly be called a bridge; it consisted of two ropes to grip and two to stand on, where small bits of wood were tied together that barely made the width of a foot. There was also rope which criss-crossed from the footing to the hand; supporting the structure. There was no possible way for them to cross while holding their guns so Shayne put his back in his holster and the soldier swung the rifle over her shoulder allowing it to hang freely. The SB soldier stood upon the bridge first, easing across as she held onto the rope. When she was halfway across Shayne stepped out, shuffling along. It was hard to balance in the middle where the ropes were at their slackest point. Shayne found that when he lost his balance the ropes would move and twist enough to make him uncomfortable. Once he passed the middle he had little trouble as it became more stable again.

He ordered the soldier to guard while he helped the next group cross; the woman crouched with her rifle pointed to the forest before them. Two Starborns were next and they both followed each other without a break, and as a result found themselves hesitating as the bridge began to sway and twist. Shayne pulled on one of the guide ropes to try and make it taut, which helped only marginally. One soldier was forced to wait in the middle while the other slowly came over. After them they all made it to the other side without too much trouble. Rae glided across with a grace and skill that made it look as easy as walking on the ground. 

They left the river, moving a few hundred metres deeper into the forest before they curved back down south-west to get themselves back in line with the crash zone. This side of the river was more difficult to move through; it was almost impossible to travel in a straight line, and the terrain seemed to be taking them up more than down as they steadily approached the mountains that made up the heart of Endaran. Once they were in the general vicinity they had to keep careful track on the map, constantly correcting themselves so that they would not drift to the wrong hill peaks. The vegetation was much thicker on this side of the river, with many species of ferns covering the ground and moss upon the trees reaching out high above them. There were also standing stones here but many had been carved into natural stones that emerged from the Earth, some were carved with great detail and care while others were quick and simple portrayals; crafted more recently by those who braved the wilds of the forests.  These stones appeared more frightening, their expressions moved from an angry warning to horror and rage, and the spaces that were not taken over by lichen and moss showed faded red paint.

‘Look over there?’ Rae pointed after half-an-hour of walking. They all looked across but only Shayne saw what she was pointing at.

‘What is it?’ Lieutenant Jameson asked, bobbing his head to see.

‘There’s a clearing in the trees,’ Javier spotted it and he signalled a command to that direction. Slowly and cautiously they moved across until it came apparent they had found one of the crafts. The crash site was burnt out with wreckage flung over a wide area. Rae picked up a twisted piece of metal from their path.

‘Ok, let’s set to work. First priority survivors and keep an eye out for hostiles.’ They walked along the ruins. Their spirits sank at finding things such as torn seats and mangled and charred engine pieces. Shayne carefully gazed around him as he helped Javier shift through torn scraps of metal and reinforced ultralight materials. 

‘I don’t see any bodies at all.’ Rae returned to them after shifting around.

‘This is beyond strange,’ Javier looked at the debris, while the others came to discuss the situation.

‘Not to alarm anyone, but remain as you are,’ Shayne warned with his soft voice. Some of them automatically stiffened, but their professional training kicked in and they returned to their previous cautious manner.

‘What is it?’ Jameson calmly said while looking out to the wrecked path and broken trees the plane had crashed through.