As the hovercar hovered along the dirt road cutting through the woods, Ash leaned forward in her seat, her leg rocking up and down while her eyes remained locked on the windshield. She knew every turn of this road and she knew they were near.

Her face lit up as the lights coming from inside the cabin came into view. When she spotted the hovercar—her father’s hovercar—parked in front, her breath caught.

“He’s there!” Ash bounced up and down in her seat, her voice shaking. “He’s there, he’s there, he’s there!”

Her heart ached with anticipation. She couldn’t wait any longer. She just had to get out of that car, to hug him, to feel his arms wrap around her and shield her from everything.

Beside her, Kira smiled, a rare, genuine expression of joy, that Ash hadn’t seen before. She parked behind her father’s car, and before she could cut the engine, Ash was already opening her door.

But as she leaped out of the car, Ash knew something was off. An unnatural silence hung in the air, broken only by the whisper of the wind.

“Ash!” Kira hissed behind her.

Ash turned. Kira’s expression was completely different now—her jaw snapped shut, eyes sharp. She held her rifle  as she stepped out of the car, crouching.

She pointed, and Ash’s gaze followed.

Near the cabin, a black hoverbike stood, crookedly parked in the shadows. Ash’s blood froze. She recognized it instantly.

“Dad,” she whispered.

Ignoring Kira’s warning, Ash sprinted to the door, her sneakers thudding on the wooden porch.

“Ash!” Kira hissed again, but Ash didn’t stop.

The door was slightly ajar, creaking in the windy night. With no hesitation, she pushed it open and stepped inside.

The cabin smelled of old wood and the faint aroma of her father’s roasted coffee—a scent Ash always associated with safety. But the overturned chair and half-open door to the kitchen made her heart race. It was home, yet it wasn’t. Something felt wrong.

She approached the kitchen slowly, her sneakers squeaking softly. Leaning forward, she peered through the doorframe.

Then her world froze.

Her father sat slumped by the table, his old coffee cup beside him. But his face was pale, drained of color, his breath shallow, his hands trembling as they clutched his stomach. Her breath caught in her throat. Beneath him, strands of blood trickled down the chair legs, pooling red on the floor.

Before she could move, their eyes met, rooting her in place. It was like he’d seen a ghost. It wasn’t relief or joy in his gaze—it was pure dread. His wide eyes seemed to plead: Turn back. Run. Leave me behind.

Then she saw him.

Through the reflection on the oven door, the silhouette of a man came into view, crouched behind the counter. A pistol, steady in his hand, had a silencer attached to the barrel. His posture was tense, like a spider poised to strike.

The fear that surged inside her quickly twisted, turning into something darker. Ash’s vision reddened. The world narrowed to that man. She didn’t think.

With a burst of energy, she shoved the kitchen door open, slamming it against the wall. Her arm shot up, Kira’s blaster already in her hand. She squeezed the trigger again and again.

Her shots tore through the counter, splinters of wood flying as glass shattered  across the room. Blood sprayed from the man’s shoulder. His weapon banged on the floor as he stumbled backward, clutching his arm.

Ash screamed through gritted teeth, her finger glued to the trigger. She couldn’t see anything else—just the man, the rage, the need to make him pay. Furniture exploded into pieces as the man threw himself at the back door. With a loud bang, it burst open as he staggered into the night.

Ash’s finger was still on the trigger when she saw Kira moving outside.

Kira tackled the man, sending them both tumbling into the grass. He writhed beneath her as Kira sat firmly on his back, her rifle raised high. She slammed the stock on his head, sprawling him out on the ground, barely conscious.

Ash’s breath was ragged as she looked at him, a disgusting grimace on his face. As Kira took off her own belt, looping around the man’s wrists, Ash walked toward them. Her knuckles whitened, the weight of the weapon anchoring her fury.

“He tried to kill dad,” Ash growled through gritted teeth, “I should end him!”

Kira turned to her. “No!” Her face hardened, locking eyes with Ash. “He deserves it, Ash, but you don’t.”

The blaster trembled in Ash’s hand, anger surging. All she wanted was to cause him pain, to make him suffer, to hear him scream.

“I’ve got this, Ash,” Kira’s voice broke through the haze. “Go to your dad. Now!”

Ash snapped out of her trance. Her father. Dropping the blaster, she spun around and ran toward the house, her father’s contorted face etched in her mind, her heart drumming like the echo of her footsteps.

She found him still slumped on the chair, his face twisted in pain, eyes closed. Ash knelt by his side, placing a trembling hand in his chest.

“Dad,” she called softly,  voice quivering.

“Starlight,” he rasped, his voice hoarse and weak. He cupped her cheek with a shaking hand, his touch cold in her skin. “Are you… are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she whispered as tears welled up. Her gaze dropped to his stomach, and her body tensed as dread crept inside her. A dark stain spread across his shirt, his hand pressed weakly over it, fingers slick with blood.

Footsteps rushed into the kitchen. Kira stopped abruptly in the doorway, her body stiff as her gaze darted from the pool of blood to Ash’s father’s colorless face. She stood still for a moment, pressing her jaw. Then she knelt beside Ash, her movements brisk. She rolled up his shirt. Her lips twitched as she saw the source of the bleeding, but she said nothing.

Terror seized Ash’s chest at the sight of the jagged wound and the raw, oozing flesh around it.

“How… how bad is it? Will he...” Ash couldn’t finish, her voice cracking.

Kira didn’t answer. She didn’t even look at her. With lips pressed tight, she took off her jacket, balled it up, and pressed it firmly against the wound. Ash’s father winced, his face contorting in pain.

“Hold this tight,” Kira said, pressing Ash’s hand against the jacket. “Talk to him. Keep him awake,” she instructed, rising to her feet and scanning the counters.

Ash turned to her father. “Hold on dad. We’ll get you out of this,” she said, holding his hand tightly.

Her father squeezed her hand, but his strength faltered. “Ashna… my sweet Starlight,” he murmured, his lips twitching into a faint smile. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

Ash smiled through watery eyes. “I’m here, dad. It’s going to be alright.”

Kira returned, kneeling beside them again, a bottle of her father’s whiskey in her hand. The label read Frontier Malt. She unscrewed the cap, the sharp, oaky scent cutting through the metallic tang of blood.

“Better than nothing…,” she sighed. “This is gonna sting.” Without waiting, she poured the amber liquid over a clean cloth and pressed it gently on the wound.

Ash’s father let out a guttural groan. His body twitched against the chair. Ash flinched at the sound, her tears spilling as she gripped his hand tighter. “It’s okay, Dad. Stay with me.”

Kira guided Ash’s hand to hold the cloth as she picked up a roll of duct tape. She tore off patches with her teeth, sticking them side by side at the table, her hands moving with urgency. “We’ll patch him up, put him in the car, and find help,” she said, though her eyes avoided Ash’s.

Ash’s stomach churned as she watched Kira’s sharp movements. Her companion’s breath was quick, teeth biting into her lip. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Kira was fighting to keep it together.

“Ashna,” her father rasped. “Listen… that man. He is… a Terran Wraith.”

Kira froze for a heartbeat, her face darkening. The muscles in her jaw twitched as she resumed working, her movements more forceful.

“Save your strength, Dad,” Ash pleaded.

“We found out… the First Citizen… it was them. We have proof,” he muttered, his eyelids fluttering. “That’s… why… they came.”

“Dad… Dad!” Ash’s voice rose, panic surging through her as his words grew fainter, each one a struggle.

He took a shaky, raspy breath, his voice barely a whisper. “Dad… loves you, Starlight… Be strong… Don’t… lose your spark.”

His eyes drifted shut, his chest stilled.

“DAD!”

Kira moved to his side, gripping his arm and pressing her thumb to his wrist. Her lips twitched, her face hardening as she pulled away.

Ash held her father’s face. “Dad! Don’t leave me here alone!” she sobbed, her words breaking.

Kira stood abruptly, fists clenched at her sides. Her shoulders heaved. She spun around and slammed her boot into a nearby bench. The sharp crack echoed through the suffocating stillness.

Ash leaned against her father’s chest, her gasping sobs muffled in his shirt. She clung to his arm, her fingers gripping desperately as though willing it to move, to hold her, to envelop her in the warmth of his embrace. But he didn’t move. He didn’t breathe.

It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t just… stop like this.

Her chest felt like it was collapsing, the pain suffocating, spreading through every fiber of her being. She’d never felt so alone. So helpless. What would she do now? Could she even go on?

BANG!

A gun blast rang outside, jolting Ash from her sobbing. She turned around, searching for Kira. She wasn’t there.

BANG!

Another shot shattered the stillness. Ash sprang to her feet, her heart banging. “Kira!”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

She ran to the door, breathless, her vision blurring.

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

She halted at the door frame. The first light of dawn pierced through the foliage, casting sinister shades across the clearing. Kira stood still, her back rigid, breath heaving, smoking curling from her blaster.

Before her, the Wraith—what was left of him—laid sprawled on the ground, legs twisted unnaturally, blood sprayed over the grass.

Through the hovercar’s window, Ash caught a glimpse of Kira’s face. Her eyes were ablaze, anger and disgust twisting her features as she stared at the man.

But then, as Kira’s breath started to slow, her expression shifted. The fire in her gaze dimmed, replaced by grief. Her clenched jaw quivered, her shoulders slumping. The blaster slipped from her fingers, thudding on the ground.

Kira’s face crumpled, a painful, soundless sob wrenching free. She sank to her knees, her whole body trembling with silent pain.

Ash’s chest ached as if pierced by the sight. Kira’s grief mirrored her own—one fresh and raw, the other unhealed and festering. Tears streamed from Ash’s eyes as her feet moved on their own.

She knelt beside Kira, wrapping her arms around her, burying her face on her shoulder. Kira stiffened at first, her arms hanging limply. But then, slowly, she returned the embrace, until she was gripping Ash tightly, desperately.

They clung to each other, Ash’s desperate weeping breaking the silence of the still morning while Kira sobbed silently into her shoulder.

“It hurts too much, Kira,” Ash choked out between sobs. “I want it to stop. I can’t… I can’t go on. “

Kira pulled her back, her hands gripping Ash’s shoulders tightly, her face inches away. “You can. You will.”

Her reddened face and her bloodshot eyes burned with a fire that could raze the stars. “Do you know what my father said to me, just before they shot him?” her grip tightened. “Kira, this will hurt more than anything could. But you gotta be tough. You have to carry on. Because if you don’t … they win.”

Kira’s voice faltered, her gaze becoming distant. “It hurt like hell,” Kira continued, her eyes traveling away. “I couldn’t bear it. I wanted to rip my heart out to stop the pain.” She looked back at Ash, her eyes blazing again. “But those were the words that brought me back from the edge.”

Her nostrils flared, and her voice grew stronger. “As long as I’m still standing,  still breathing, I’ll carry on. Out of spite. I won’t let them win.”

Ash blinked through her tears, her father’s words replaying in her mind: Don’t lose your spark.

“I can’t do it, Kira,” she cried, her voice trembling. “Not without him. Not alone. 

Kira cupped Ash’s face in her hands, her gaze fierce yet tender. “I’m alone too. But from now on, we’ll be alone together.”

***

As the Skydancer lifted through the air, the buildings, the lakes and the fields grew smaller and smaller, shrinking into a patchwork of her fading world. Ash felt her chest being crushed, as though she were abandoning everything—her planet, her people—leaving them to their own fate. Yet, she couldn’t stay.  This place wasn’t the same anymore. It had changed. Forever. Not because of the war, but because her father wasn’t there. Without him, it would never feel like home again.

The ship pierced the hazy atmosphere, climbing higher. Above the clouds, the sky turned a brilliant blue, the sun shining fiercely. Then the blue dimmed, fading to black, and the stars appeared—brighter than Ash had ever seen. Her breath caught at the sight of the constellations, clusters, and nebulas stretching infinitely before her.

Her father’s smile flashed in her mind. Her heart ached at the memory, but the stars seemed to whisper back with his voice: Starlight. Maybe here, among them, she could find her spark again. Maybe.

She glanced to her side. Kira sat at the controls, her eyebrows drawn together, holding the yoke as if it were part of her. She looked so tough, so strong. It was hard to believe this was the same woman who had cried beside her in the clearing or the teenager who had lost everything. Despite her pain, Kira endured, her strength forged from her scars.

Ash’s gaze returned to the stars. If Kira could find the will to keep going, maybe she could too. Her pain still clung to her, sharp and deep, but alongside Kira, she felt that maybe she had a chance to carry on.

If for nothing else, out of spite.

No. She would not let them win.

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reading!

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