Planet: Eteran

First Insurgency War

MERYN

Sirens. Artillery. Ships painted an unfamiliar, unmarked black.

What's happening?

Another screeching barrage rumbled his bones as he ran as fast, as far as he could from the source of the noise. It chased him with relentless fervor. Ash and grime splattered across his clothes — cornered between a wall of forest smoke and a tide of crumbling buildings and no longer familiar roads.

What is happening? What did we do?

Fire and smoke nipped at his heels, and he tripped on himself as he ran through the forest. Embers fell around him, but wood caved in from the flames. His heart pounded with the ferocity of a jackhammer. It took everything to run through the smoke, keeping his sleeve to his mouth as he tried to find his path to freedom, to life. He choked on a wad of mucus, and lowered himself to the ground to breath, avoiding the worst of the layered smoke.

Tears ran down his face as he glanced back, and the wall of fire swallowed Eastpoint. It crawled through the line between forest and civilization. Every wave of artillery spread and threw it further into the smoke-filled night. It was all he could do. Run. Run, or else he'd die. He straightened himself out with another stinging breath, where the ground trembled and yawned. He raised his hands to his ears to block the excess noise.

Luck. Celestial given luck.

Brimstone raged around him as he escaped the edge of Eastpoint, shuddering at the screams of sirens and people both. He sank to his knees among the curling forest bark, sending his fist into the ground. Water flowed down his cheeks to mingle with the speckled ash.

Death awaited behind him.

At-at least Mom went to see Aelius before he left... A horrible laugh escaped his lips, and he hated the sound his throat made. I-I need to think. I can't let... I can't stay here. I need to breathe, like Aelius taught me.

Count to ten.

Ten.

Ash swirled into his nose and broke the numbers. He kept low to the ground, where waves of heat rose off the burning grass. He tapped his compearl, where the screen froze and spit out his messages of hope. One more step out of the attack, trapped among the noise.

I have to find James. He'll be there. He'll know what to do. He has to. Panic crushed his spine while the wall of fire spluttered in the sky. Clouds around Eastpoint had turned into bloody smoke. Heat crawled through his back while the trees he wandered burnt to nothing but chips in the bark. Back on his feet, he ran before the flames consumed him. His legs wobbled. His knees screamed in pain from the amount of times he hit the ground, but he refused to give up again.

"James!" he screamed through the fury.

He needed to reach his friend, to not be alone.

A-And then we'll go straight to the Falae property — the safehouse. Rayan and Ava will be there. Everyone will be okay. We'll be alright.

"James!" he called over the wall of fire, and tried not to choke on the ashen fog which flaked across the leafy canopy. "James! Answer me!" He ran closer to their meeting point. "James!"

Fire spread through the neck of the woods, a blazing cage. Meryn choked on air, and shook with the deep rumble of ships and the cannons aimed at his home. Teeth against his tongue, he lost his bearings. Artillery smashed into the town he left behind, and tore through the edges of the forest.

Meryn swallowed a sob and ran. Embers hung in the air and coiled with the smoke which coiled around him. This isn't happening. It isn't. I'm asleep. I'm having a nightmare.

A tree cracked and moaned behind him, and he gasped when it fell across the path he took mere seconds ago. It spread further embers and flames at his feet.

"James!" he called over the dissonant noise. "James..." Fire washed down his back, but he forced himself forward and refused to cower in someone else's shadow.

He reached the limit, where the smoke had yet to swallow the area, and coughed.

"Meryn!" a distant voice called while the world screamed to silence them.

He peeked through the ash fog.

Familiar, dirty-blonde hair, ashen from running through the cloud, James broke through the cage. His chest heaved as he latched onto Meryn. "Thank the celestials you're alright!" he exclaimed, where grime and dirt splattered against his face. Meryn blinked at him, then frowned when he coughed and lowered himself to the ground. He heaved, then choked with his tongue sticking out. He wiped his oozed hand on the ground. "Look—I've been running through this entire forest hoping to run into you. I thought—" James coughed violently, and Meryn joined him on the ground. "Come on, I need to see if my family got out—"

"Are you nuts?" Meryn exclaimed. "We have to get to the Falae mansion! All of them might be there already!"

"Ava was!" James argued. "My mom and Janie weren't though. They were home when I left. I can't leave them behind!"

Meryn refused to let him go when James squirmed.

We're not dreaming, are we?

"No! We have to find someplace safe and get help," Meryn snapped through his tears. "James, don't go back! Don't! I would've gotten caught up in it if I hadn't left as it happened! I might've been dead!" He sobbed, but refused to let go of his friend. James wrenched out of his grip, and he screamed, "James, listen to me!"

He braced himself when another artillery lazer tore through the forest ahead. James stumbled forward, but Meryn lunged to grab his arm. "No, James. No. We have to get to the Falae property."

"I... I don't know what's happening," James rasped.

Meryn froze at the tears streaming down James' cheeks, leaving trails in the dust. James, who faced down opponents every Starcross season with a smile on his face. Fear threatened to root him in place, but never again. "Let's get our bearings on the hill," Meryn said, swallowing on his last sob. "We can see from up there. We have to get out of this smoke and get a chance to breathe." He grabbed James' forearm, and switched his focus not on the wall of hellfire, but on helping James.

If we both stop and lose ourselves... we're going to die.

He wanted his brother while trapped in a horrid nightmare.

He led James onto a scuffed path and to another hilly outcrop which pointed to Eastpoint. James rushed forward, but he continued to hold onto him. "James, please don't leave me behind," he snapped. "We can't stay here, so let's take a look, see if there's a route to Rayan's, and then head there, okay?"

I want this to be a nightmare.

James gave him a weak nod. Fright filled the hazel. Meryn kept the pace against the flames, and they hauled themselves up the slope through the grey fog. Over the wall of flames, Meryn breathed deep of what little clear air remained. He peeked around, but Eastpoint disappeared in the blaze. In the distance, Camp Shennen, another safe point, but too long a walk, and blocked from the forest blaze, and he frowned at James, who swayed on his knees.

He won't make it that far, will he?

James sniffed and coughed. "I think I see a path," he said, hoarse with a weak point. "But—"

"No buts. We go to Ray's." Meryn checked his directions, then nodded. "We have to get out of here. Okay? We'll meet up with Rayan and Ava and..."

And hope.

Another coughing fit overtook James as mucus dripped past his lips and he scowled. Meryn stepped closer. "James."

"Okay," he replied. "Let's go."

Meryn swore James held his breath as they ran through the forest, dodging fire, falling branches, dying leaves and barrages of artillery to come out the other side. Onto the concrete road leading to the Falae property, a clear shot ahead, with few smaller trees blocking half of the road. Meryn broke into a sprint, but slid to a stop at James' lacking pace. His friend held his mouth and nose with a soundless groan as he shambled along the road.

Meryn returned to help him, and they broke through the open gate. Onto the lawn, where the sounds continued to fall around them, they came to a stop at the open door.

James pushed past him to crawl up the steps, and rush into the house. "Rayan! Ava!" he called, then choked and placed his hand over his throat. He waved air in front of his face, and Meryn looked around while James tossed his camera bag onto the floor.

"Ray! Ava?" Meryn took the mantle, but the manor never responded back. "Ray! Ray!"

It fell silent save for the crinkled embers.

James blinked, then stepped back outside to investigate the side garage. Mrs. Falae's car remained, but the hoverbike was gone. Meryn stopped at his side, and frowned at the disappearance. He rested his hand on James' back when he coughed, then sniffed. "They're not here," he rasped. "Meryn... I know Ava wouldn't just leave. I know she was here."

"What... are you getting at? If she's not here with Ray, where... would either of them be?"

James blinked, then widened his eyes. Energy tore through his friend as he whipped back around and off the property. Meryn tore after him. "James! James, wait! We—" Meryn scowled and tried to stop him, but James' second wind came with the force of the maelstrom.

Fires intensified as they tore themselves back into the forest, cutting a path straight to the dirt road which led them to the Ranier house. They stumbled out of the undergrowth, and they both turned while the fireballs bounced.

"No..." James rushed forward, and Meryn gaped at the blaze which overtook James' house. Meryn ran after him. Time ticked on. His feet dug into the dirt and dust. So close to the Ranier house as James reached out, so far away from safety. As they raced past the flaming gutter, a scream turned the world white.

The tail-end of an artillery lazer tore through the forest, and sent dirt and debris into his face. He gasped when the shockwave rushed them. Meryn tumbled to the ground, almost down the gutter as it tossed James past him from the force, and everything swirled.

Everything hurts.

Trees creaked and fell across the path, where the Ranier house became nothing more than a pile of wooden bones. Meryn groaned and lifted himself onto his elbows, but his back screamed at the movement. His ears thrummed with nothing but silence as he shook out the confusion.

Starlight fell from the ash clouds and trees weighed down by embers. Another one fell to block the road. He coughed, soundless as he tried to find James.

James laid underneath a tree, unmoving with his eyes closed.

A crack crawled through the tree and shuddered the canopy.

It went still in one stroke.

Meryn tried to find his voice to scream out James' name, but the whole world slowed while he tried to drag himself to his feet. Everything burned, and he fought for his life from the descending flames.

Embers danced and fell around his friend.

Trunks and branches creaked and echoed throughout the world. He reached his hand out to the smoke, and tried to force himself to stand.

Light blazed.

Time sped as the tree ground and tipped forward, looming over James.

It's going to crush him!

He screamed.

A pod flew over him, where ice encased and exploded outwards and smashed into the tree. In a single pulse of cold, the flames died, but the tree continued to fall. In one more phase of blue, a dragon formed out of the ashes.

Shields wrapped around their arms, and they took the brunt of the tree. It groaned from the clash of titans while the humanoid dragon stood over James, who hadn't made a noise or movement. In another quick moment, they pushed deeper into the tree while mist escaped through the faceless' masks striped blue airways. It flaked across the force when they redirected its fall with ease.

It fell over on the other side, and sent a wave of ash.

Meryn stumbled his way to their saviour as the masked figure hauled James into their arms to investigate him.

"Meryn Matthey?" the figure asked.

He froze and looked at the figure, but jolted when a Vita-mask pressed against his face. Sweet relief spread through his lungs when it hissed into his ears, and he stumbled back onto his hindquarters while it chased the smoke he inhaled. One strong hand kept him steady, but he came closer.

James' eyes were closed, and he sobbed when the mysterious figure pressed another Vita-mask over James' mouth and nose, which blocked his features and pained expression.

"Meryn, can you walk?"

Meryn nodded. "Who...?"

The draconic figure stared at him and scooped James off the ground and into their arms. "I need to get you both to the border relief camp. Are you sure you can walk?"

Wait... is that... Mrs. Falae?

"I-I can," he rasped.

Mrs. Falae handed him a shield, where its barrier spread and pushed the smoke away from them. He used his free hand to keep a hold on her back while she guided the way out.

The sirens.

The artillery.

Silent as the grave save for the flickering flames.

"Where's Rayan?" he asked. "Where's Ava? What happened?"

At the mention of his friends, Mrs. Falae twitched. "You need to focus on breathing, Mr Matthey," she said. "You and James both inhaled smoke." She twisted her attention to James, who lolled like a doll in her arms. "Him especially, he needs immediate attention. I'll get you two somewhere safe and guarded."

"D-Did anyone else make it?"

Mrs. Falae sighed out in response.

A dream. A nightmare. He wanted it to be. He took shelter in Mrs. Falae's shadow, and the noises dulled when they broke out of the shattered forest. Several shield poles raised out of the ground and rose around a small circle in a field of Medis Tents. Soldiers and doctors ran to and from tents.

"I've got two," Mrs. Falae called when her mask dropped through the barrier. "One needs immediate medical attention. Severe smoke inhalation and possible injury."

"James..." Meryn sobbed when Mrs. Falae lowered him onto a hover stretcher when a medic rushed it to her, then pulled his friend into one of the tents.

"Meryn," another voice called.

He burst into tears.

Aelius rushed to him and grabbed onto his shoulders. "Aeli." He sobbed and hugged his brother for support. "Aeli, James is..."

"I'll check on him." Aelius fiddled with the vita-mask attached to his face. "I need you to breathe."

Meryn sank into a chair provided for him while Aelius disappeared into the tent they took James in. He shuddered while another Medic checked him over with gentle, assuring hands.

I'm not dreaming.

It took too long for Aelius to leave.

Meryn prepared for the worst when Aelius returned to him then sat in front of him. "Okay, so..." Aelius tucked his hands together. "They're currently stabilizing James."

"Stabilizing..." Meryn frowned at Aelius' wording. "Are you saying there... might be a chance... that he won't...?"

Aelius said nothing, then sighed. 'I can't say, Meryn. Time will tell. They're working on it."

His head burned when Aelius rubbed his shoulder. "Now, I want to get you into a tent so they can take a look over you for smoke inhalation."

Meryn dragged his attention over to Mrs. Falae, who spoke in a whisper to a Medic, but it rocked through his world.

"Are they all you found?" the Medic asked. "We already lost the few we brought in..." Tears tore through their cheeks while some crimson dotted their scrubs. "And that young boy you just brought in within the second tent... It's bad, but he seems to be stabilizing... but that can change."

"I understand. I have Elites combing through — but with the amount of flames..."

I'm not dreaming.

I wish I was.

His world darkened, and his last sight of the world he knew tore through Aelius' expression of panic when he reached out, and he fell into the black hole.