Star Nemesis

In the hollow corridors of a broken building, the slow drip of rain echoed through cracked concrete and shattered metal as a storm had just passed, leaving the world soaked in silence. Water streamed through broken walls and fractured ceilings, pooling into a small crater on the floor. That silence shattered with a splash. Barely more than a blur an Oh’ni girl charged through the ruin, boots striking the water without pause. She sprinted, weaving between overturned furniture and collapsed support beams, lungs burning from the run, this time the fear was real. Too close way to close. Lexi ran. She darted down hallways, ducked under fallen piping, leapt over broken walls. Behind her, she could feel it, an unnatural presence closing in with the air buzzed with tension. Her heart pounded like thunder in her chest. She made a snap decision and dove through a jagged hole in the wall, barely big enough to squeeze through. Wedged between rubble, she grabbed her knife and clamped her other hand over her mouth, forcing herself still. She could feel it now, just on the other side of the wall, hunting and searching. Its aura radiated through the stone, heavy and suffocating. She heard the clicking of a monster, echoing like bone tapping against bone. Please don't sense me, not again! She begged to no one in particular. There were still many that believed in the Old gods but not her, to much life experience to rely on something that may or may not help you. She continued to still her body, listening while keeping her blade close to her chest. Then… silence. The presence shifted, something distracted it. It moved bolting off across the city. Lexi stayed frozen, listening to the fading footsteps. Then she risked a glance through a crack in the wall, just in time to see the creature’s dark, hunched form vanish behind a distant structure. She finally exhaled, she hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath. Leaning back in her cramped hiding place, she looked upward. The clouds had broken just enough to reveal Tovari, their surviving sun… being stretched and warped. Pulled toward a darkened void lingering too close to it that was once known as Knovis. Lexi gave a short, exhausted chuckle. It's been decades before she was born that Knovis went dark, this was all she knew and yet the only thing that came to her mind was a pastry she had a few times in the past; small, spiral-shaped with honey in the middle that actually glows, a Glowcake, why she suddenly thought of that was beyond her. “What a strange universe we live in…” A few seconds passed before another high-pitched, distant screech rang out and then the crack of rapid gunfire. Lexi’s smile vanished, that has nothing to do with me, time to go. She grabbed her satchel and made her way out of the ruins, slipping through alleyways into what passed for shelter these days, a half-standing tenement where multiple families had taken refuge. She moved quietly down the dim hallway until she reached a familiar door. She pushed it open. Creeping across the room, careful not to make a sound, she was almost in when; “Lexi…”She froze. “It’s dark outside.” She turned slowly. Her mother stood in the only doorway in shelter, arms folded, eyes cold and tired. “The trade ran longer than expected,” Lexi offered, too quickly. Her mother’s silence said it all. Lexi sighed. “I went to the Renni District.” Her mother’s expression fell; shock first, then fury, then something deeper like disappointment. “Lexi… that’s a hostile zone. The Ra’hul overran it weeks ago. The military declared it a lost cause. Why would you...” “Because the Glu faction won’t trade anywhere else!” Lexi shot back. “The Trade Guild's breathing down their necks and Glu don’t want to split their share cut. And I’m the only one that speaks their dialect.” Her mother closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her voice was soft. “Lexi, I know you can handle yourself out there… but supplies aren’t worth your life. You’re thirteen.”A beat pass. “Next time, if that choice comes again you will consult me first. Understood?” “Yes, mother.” Lexi meant it…..sort of. She glanced over at her little brother, Zeca, sitting cross-legged in the corner, fiddling with some gadget, pretending not to listen. She sighed again. “Alright,” her mother said, voice lighter now. “Let’s see what you brought back.” Lexi dropped her bag on their scuffed old table, the one they'd salvaged weeks ago. “Thirteen battery packs, two thermal heaters… and a full bottle of vitamins.” As she gave a proud little grin. Her mother raised an eyebrow. “They traded that for ration packs?” “Yes,” Lexi answered a bit too fast. Her mother’s gaze sharpened instantly. “Lexi… want to try that again?” Vail…. She considered lying. But her mother would see through it. Lexi sighed. “The trade was going fine until we got interrupted by… another party. So I grabbed what I could during the chaos and ran.” Her mother’s jaw tightened, then softened. She exhaled slowly… then hugged Lexi tight. “By the Heaven light, I’m just glad you’re safe.” Then, quieter: “How much trouble are we in with the Glu faction?” “Probably not much,” Lexi said. “They were more focused on the interruption.” “Rival faction?” Lexi hesitated. “…No. a few Nasqu.” The hug became a death grip. Lexi squirmed for air as her mother paled green skin almost ash-grey. “It’s okay,” she said quickly. “I outran them.....again. They’ve never been able to catch me.” Her mother didn't answer at first. She slowly placed her hands on Lexi’s arms, brought their foreheads together, and just held her. They stood like that for a long time. This was the world Lexi and Zeca had been born into, a world slowly dying under Ra’hul fire. Running for your life, trading with outlaws, dodging nightmares creatures Maybe Seybruk would be different.