Veiled faces behind hoods and a warm glow basking the congested herd which waded through the bridges and stairs which comprised the otherwise quiet darkness known as the Guardian’s Village. The smell of incense burned through the air, which permeated strongly enough that Aio had to cover his nose with his sleeve.

  Gravel, standing a head above the rest of the crew and the nearby crowd, scanned the area around them as List fiddled with a small, strange device in her hand.

  “Should we ask what’s going on?” List whispered to Calli, who, like Gravel, kept her eyes on the wave of people which slowly began to gather near a public square bordering a large, two-pronged structure at the first floor before them.

  List commented, “I’m surprised these bridges could hold so many people without breaking. Seems like all those claims about natural material being vastly inferior to Bastion metal are quite off. The wood from these trees must be pretty sturdy to hold us all up like this.”

  Aio looked up. He was surprised to notice the dark blue roots which perched itself on various rock formations which lined the cave walls around them. These trees, which nearly blended into the darkness around them, were not like anything Aio had remembered seeing before, but its shape didn’t seem too far from the aesthetic of some of the smaller plants he saw growing around the Little Miracle’s orphanage.

  As the group walked down the last set of staircases leading to the ground floor below, Aio noticed that the group that walked next to them weren’t the same as the people they were walking alongside earlier. The others had already been aware of this, noting the extremely intricate embroidery which lined the garments of the newly arrived benefactors.

  “This way,” one of them said, guiding the group towards the public square. It was large, but empty save for the vast number of people who stood at the edges near the homes surrounding the area, and the large bonfire which was burning atop a pile of stacked blackened wood in the center of the square.

  “Where are you taking us?” Calli demanded, getting ready to activate her pocket-space. As she did so, she fell to her feet. A violent spasm began to take her over, and Aio as well. List and Gravel looked on in shock, seemingly unaffected and began to draw their blades out.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “STOP!” Aio remarked, putting up a hand to indicate for them to halt. The hooded figures beside them appeared unfazed. Aio didn’t quite understand why he said that. His heart was pounding as he felt a cold vibration wash through him. He stood up and walked further into the square, staring at the pillars located at the head of the stone staircase before him.

  Calli didn’t understand what was happening and tried to follow him but couldn’t muster up any energy. But then she heard it.

  “Only the lost one, may venture forward.”

  “Lost one…” one of the priests next to Calli muttered.

  “Only him,” another female priest recited.

  “The blood of the past…”

  “The blood of the future…”

  “What are you saying?” Calli shouted through gritted teeth as she attempted to stand from the immense unseen pressure weighing down upon her. The spasm brought her to her knees, and she had to buckle by placing her palms against her ground, sweating as she did so.

  An older looking woman Aio was not familiar with pulled up beside them. Wrinkles dotting her face, braided silver hair streaked with white peeked out from beneath her veil.

  “Calli was it? Please let this child proceed to the altar for now. If your friend, Ms. Sable insisted that you come here, then that could only mean one thing,” the old woman said. Calli peeked up from where she lay pinned down.

  “And what’s that, shaman?” she said hoarsely.

  “That this child is one of the blood, just like Ms. Sable, a successor to the lost colony.”

  “Lost…what now?”

  The two-pronged structures centered in the square, which Aio now saw were large stone pillars, invited him in, and up a short flight of stone steps, at the top, rested an altar of worked in gold. It gleamed dimly, reflecting the vermillion hue of the fires which dotted the various torches of the villagers surrounding Aio. He didn’t notice it at first, but as he peered into the opening of the altar, he noticed a dark object - a black sphere reflecting no light which looked strangely familiar.

  Where have I seen this before? Aio thought.

  He walked up, past the onlookers who stared intently from a distance. Climbing the stairs, he inched closer to the altar, and an invisible force compelled him to reach out. Placing his hand on the sphere, he realized what it was.

  Enthipid core…but larger than any that I’ve seen before. This shouldn’t be possible, right?

  And suddenly, the same voice from earlier rang in his head.

  “I have been waiting for you, child of the lost ones. I am the former fleet captain of the Exodus, the last of the great colony ships who ventured out into the final frontier, leaving our beloved home planet of Onyx, all those centuries ago.”