Chariots of Heaven
“No!!!” Kira sat up, panting and sweating. She blinked, looking around her room with bleary eyes, her heart pounding in her ears. It was just a dream, she realized as she lay back down. It had felt so real, watching the ship explode like that. Glancing toward the window, she saw that it wasn’t quite dawn, but she could tell from the orange glow that the first of Tython’s suns would be rising soon.
Sitting up again, she hopped out of her bed and made her way towards the bathroom. Splashing cool water on her face seemed to drive the residual anxiety from the dream away. After drying off, she stared at herself in the mirror for a few minutes, trying to remember the details of the dream, but they slipped away. Shrugging, she made her way out of the bathroom and headed towards the kitchen to find some food. She would need to eat something if she was going to survive her training that morning.
She wondered what it would be like. No one gave her any details about these royal vestments or why they required training. And why was Thanatos going to train her? Wasn’t he some sort of general or something? Was this some kind of military training? The thought was actually more pleasing than some of the others she’d come up with the night before. Learning to fight was something she could actually have fun doing.
Grabbing a plate of fruit, Kira made her way out onto the veranda to watch the suns rise. The city of Ishkur was glorious in the morning, the way the orange light gleamed on the shiny, tall buildings and the people on the streets below started to bustle and move.
Hearing soft footsteps approaching, Kira smiled and held out her plate. “Good morning, did you sleep well?” she asked as Kaya sleepily walked up to her and grabbed a piece of fruit from the plate.
“Better than you, probably. Were you dreaming again?” she asked, flopping into the chair next to Kira.
“Yeah, it was a weird dream about a building blowing up and then a spaceship exploding,” Kira shuddered at the jarring memory.
“That does sound weird, but then again you always were the weird one,” Kaya jeered with a sleepy smile. Kira snorted but didn’t reply.
Changing the subject, Kaya asked, “What do you think this training is supposed to be?”
“I have no idea, honestly. Are you going to come with and see?” Kira asked hopefully.
“What, and miss out on Master Yu-On teaching me math? I don’t know if I could pry myself away from that,” Kaya replied sarcastically.
“That’s what I figured,” Kira laughed, playing along.
To their surprise, the familiar chime of the door rang out behind them. Confused, Kira wondered aloud, “Thanatos isn’t supposed to be here for another hour; I wonder who it could be?” but the question was answered before she could even stand up.
Thanatos came strutting in, but when he saw the girls on the veranda he gave them a disappointed look. Walking out onto the veranda he said, “I was hoping to come and rudely awaken you, the way they did when I was given my vestments, but I see you are already up.”
Kira shook her head and teased, “Well how nice of you to stop by so early!”
“Naturally. I trust you’ve had enough breakfast, so let’s be on our way!” He grinned and took the plate of fruit from her hands as he pulled her to her feet.
Aghast, Kira protested, “But I haven’t even dressed yet!”
“No need, you’ll be given clothes shortly,” he responded archly. “Kaya, you can stay here and get ready if you want. We’ll be down in the armory; I trust you know where that is?”
“Muh-huh,” Kaya replied with her mouth full.
“Good. We will see you there shortly,” he called back as he and Kira made their way out of the apartment.
Several minutes later he and Kira arrived at the armory and made their way into an open courtyard filled with dirt. “So what’s this training about, anyway?” Kira asked.
“You see this armor I’m always wearing?” Thanatos pointed to his breastplate and Kira nodded. “Well, you are getting yours today!”
“Really? You mean I get my own?” Kira exclaimed, suddenly much more enthusiastic about the training.
“Yes, well sort of. You will get different armor than I have,” he clarified.
“Different? How so?” Kira didn’t understand.
“Well, to put it simply, your armor will be much more powerful than mine,” he continued.
Giving him an inquisitive look, Kira repeated, “More powerful?”
Thanatos sighed in exasperation. “I suppose you wouldn’t understand, would you? This armor is unlike any technology you had on Earth. It does more than just protect my body; it also allows me to… bend physics.”
“Bend physics?”
“Perhaps a demonstration will help.” He turned towards the courtyard and with a motion of his hands the ground began to move. Several yards away a large piece of stone rose up and formed a jagged boulder.
Kira gaped at him, “You mean… you can make the ground move?”
Thanatos grinned and said, “Oh, I can do much more than that, but you are getting the idea. This armor allows me to manipulate the magnetics of my surroundings as well as other things. I can also do this.” Again with a peculiar motion, Thanatos waved his arms in a circle and then shot them forward. When he did so a visible shockwave shot out from his hands and flew towards the newly created boulder. With a loud bang the boulder disintegrated, sending rocks and dirt flying through the courtyard.
Kira’s jaw dropped as she stared at the heap of dirt that had just been a boulder. “What was that?”
“What I just did was amass energy that acts like a shock wave from an explosion. It can be used to blow apart hard materials like that boulder, or can be used to knock an opponent back,” he explained.
Kira couldn’t believe her eyes. Was she really going to learn how to do this? She was so excited she could barely contain herself. “So when do I get the armor?”
“Well, looks like right now.” He nodded in the direction behind Kira. She turned to see Aithos beaming at her and approaching with a strange type of suitcase in his hand.
“I see you two are up and at it bright and early!” Aithos exclaimed, looking satisfied. “This is good; I have things to attend to and was worried I’d be delayed.”
“Is that my armor?” Kira blurted out, staring at the object in his hands.
“Yes, it is. I’m glad to see you’re so excited, but before I give this to you, I must warn you about it. This is not a toy, and can be very dangerous if you are not careful. I don’t want you wearing it around until you’ve completed your training with Thanatos, do you understand?” Kira nodded furiously, bouncing up and down anxiously. “You could very well blow up the entire palace if you aren’t careful!”
Kira stopped short and looked at Thanatos. “I thought you said I couldn’t blow things up?”
“No, I said I couldn’t. You’re armor is different and grants many abilities that mine doesn’t,” he replied with some impatience.
“He’s right; the royal vestments have significantly stronger abilities than the military armors. One day I’ll have to give you a lesson or two, myself, although I’m not nearly as good of a fighter as Aeria or Deimos are. If you really want to learn the ins and outs you should seek them out,” Aithos said thoughtfully as he lowered the case to the ground. Bending to a knee he opened it and pulled out a pair of metallic boots.
“That’s it? Boots?” Kira asked disappointedly.
Aithos and Thanatos both chuckled and Aithos said, “You’ll see when you put them on.” He handed them to her with a knowing smile. Kira shrugged and sat them on the ground, putting one foot in after the other.
At first nothing happened, but after a few seconds something about the boots seemed to change. They started to move, adhering to the contours of her feet. Kira giggled as the sensation tickled her toes. To her amazement, the boots started to morph and grow, creeping up her legs until they had gone past her knees. She was grateful she hadn’t changed out of her pajamas; if she’d been wearing a dress like
she usually did, this might not have gone so well.
Up and up the metallic material climbed, until it wrapped itself over her shoulders and started down her arms. After a few seconds she was entirely covered in armor,, from her feet up to her neck. “How did it do that?” she wondered, looking to Aithos for an explanation.
He smiled and said, “A master of his trade never reveals his secrets. Besides, I doubt you’d understand even if I did try to explain it.”
“It’s true, Kira. I asked him once, and the explanation went on for days, but I still don’t understand how it works.” Thanatos assured her.
“Try to walk around. Test it out a little; make sure it fits before I leave,” Aithos encouraged.
Kira shrugged and started to walk around. The armor contoured to her body perfectly, but wasn’t uncomfortable or restrictive. It wasn’t heavy either, not like she would have thought it would be. It was like the metal was made out of some sort of light elastic material, because as she moved her legs and arms around, the material bent and stretched with ease. She took a few more steps and found that as she moved, she even felt lighter, like she was in space. The sensation was unreal.
“Try and run, see how it feels,” Aithos suggested.
Kira smiled and started to jog around the courtyard. It was almost as if she wasn’t wearing anything at all, even though the metal armor clinked softly as she jogged.
“Not jog, I said run. See how fast you can go,” Aithos clarified.
Kira hastened her pace and found that as she did so, she started moving more quickly than she’d ever moved before. She kept running faster and faster until the entire courtyard was a blur and she was moving so quickly that even Thanatos and Aithos could no longer keep track of her. Laughing at the exhilarating speed, Kira decided to try something more. She stopped short and dashed across the courtyard. She moved so quickly that it almost appeared as though she teleported from one spot to the other. Tracking her movements at such a speed would be nearly impossible, were it not for the dust cloud she left in her wake.
“I think she’s getting the hang of it,” Thanatos said to Aithos, who nodded in agreement.
“Okay, one last thing before I go. Try to jump as high as you can,” Aithos instructed.
Grinning again, Kira bent her knees and leapt into the air. She shot off of the ground like a rocket, flying nearly a hundred feet into the air. She went so high that as she started to fall back towards the ground, she worried that she would break her legs on the landing. But as she hit the ground, it felt no different than if she had hopped out of bed.
“Whoa! That was amazing! How did you do that?” a familiar voice exclaimed. The three of them turned to see Kaya running out into the courtyard with a look of astonishment on her face.
Aithos smiled and laughed, saying, “I’m glad you’re impressed at my handiwork. Who knows, in a few years you might even have a set of armor yourself.” Kaya gasped with excitement. Still beaming Aithos continued, “Well on that note, I think I’ll take my leave. I have a lot of work to do back on Earth.”
Kira stopped him. “Before you go, there is a small village near where Aeria found us. That’s our home. Will you make sure that nothing bad happens to them?”
Aithos gave her an appraising look and with a smile said, “Ah, so that’s where you are from, is it? I’ve seen that village, and was planning on starting the colonization efforts there. I believe there is a human named Felmar that lives there, correct?”
“Felmar?! You’ve met him?” Kira was surprised.
Aithos laughed and said, “I wouldn’t say I’ve met him, as much as I’ve driven him off a few times. He’s sort of a nosy human, I’ve found.”
“Well whatever you do, don’t give him any authority in the colony! He can’t be trusted,” Kira warned.
“I see… well in that case I’ll make sure to keep an eye on him. Is there anyone else you’d like me to know about?”
“If it’s not too much trouble, will you let Druin and Yamara know that we are here and that we are okay? They’re probably pretty worried about us, and I don’t know when we will get to see them again…” Kira trailed off.
“For a member of the council, I think I can do that,” Aithos said with a smile and a slight bow. He turned to leave but Kaya also stopped him.
“And can you find out if our father is okay? Velion healed him before we left but we haven’t heard any news since then,” Kaya pleaded.
“I’ll do what I can, little one. But I really must be going now.” Moving to leave once again, he was thwarted one last time by Kaya attacking him with a hug. Clearly not expecting the affection, Aithos blushed as Kaya squeezed him. After a moment or two she released him and beamed up at him, as if he’d given her a great gift. He bowed graciously and finally made his way out of the courtyard.
“All right, that’s enough fun for today. Let the training begin!” Thanatos announced.
Despite her excitement, Kira made every effort she could to be an example student. She hung on every word that Thanatos spoke and followed every instruction as precisely as she could. Together they spent hours training, with Kira learning everything from how to generate the shock waves to bending the matter around her. She wasn’t nearly as formidable as Thanatos but she was learning quickly. By time they stopped to eat lunch she’d progressed from creating small puffs of dirt in the air, to molding a rather large mound of mud.
“Don’t worry; you’ll get the hang of it. You are learning much faster than I did. It took me nearly a week to get anything more than a cloud of dust, and I was the best in my class!” Thanatos encouraged her. “After we eat, we will spar and I’ll teach you how to mold your armor into shapes.”
“I can do that?” Kira exclaimed, examining her armor more closely.
“Yes, you can form basic shapes, so long as the continuity of the armor isn’t broken.”
“What do you mean?”
“You can’t make anything that isn’t continuous, like a detachable weapon you hold in your hand, but you can turn your arm into a weapon. Watch.” He held out his right arm, and after a moment the armor around his hand started to morph and change until it became a long, sharp blade. “See?”
“Wow! What else can you make?” Kira probed.
“Plenty of things, but let’s go eat first. I’m starving!” he pleaded, turning to leave the courtyard. The girls agreed and went to follow after him, but were stopped by the approach of Velion.
At the sight of him, Thanatos stood to attention and bowed politely, saying, “Lord Velion, it is good to see you.”
“There is no time for formality, Thanatos. Something has happened.” Velion looked grim, far more so than Kira had ever seen him look.
“What is it, my lord?” Thanatos asked in a worried tone.
“It’s Aeria and Deimos. There’s been an incident,” Velion continued, his grim look turning to anger. Seeming to just notice Kira, his face softened a bit. “The armor looks good on you, Kira, almost as if you were meant to wear it. I’m sorry to interrupt, but your training lessons will have to continue later. Right now I need you and Thanatos to come with me. Kaya, please go back to your room. I’ll have your sister back to you in a while.”
Kira didn’t know what to think, but looking over at her sister she nodded and indicated that Kaya should do as he told her. Velion turned and started to walk towards the council chamber, as Kira and Thanatos followed behind.
Once inside the council chamber Velion instructed Thanatos and Kira to sit in their usual spots, while he sat next to them. In a quiet voice he said, “There has been an incident on Gaius 5. A few hours ago the communications from the supply depot went down and the relay beacon from Aeria’s ship also disappeared. We’ve received confirmation that both Aeria and Deimos summoned their emergency pods and are currently making their way towards the nearest system.
“What do you want us to do, my lord?” Thanatos asked. It was exactly the question Kira was wondering herself. Why was s
he here, what could she do? She frowned, feeling like she was in way over her head.
“I need the two of you to go and find them. You can take a ship and intercept their pods much faster than it will take for them to get to safety.”
“Why me?” Kira asked, unable to suppress her curiosity any longer.
Velion grinned the way he always did when she spoke her mind. “It’s time for you to start learning what it means to be a council member, and handling delicate situations like this will be part of your responsibilities. Also, it’s time you learn how to pilot a ship.”
Kira gulped hard. I’m going to learn how to fly? The thought was both exciting and terrifying. Space was something that she’d always been called towards, but at the same time she was beginning to understand how dangerous it was.
“Forgive my doubt, my lord, but are you certain this is the appropriate time? Kira has barely learned how to use her armor, and if the situation on Gaius 5 is as bad as we think it is, then there might be trouble following after Aeria and Deimos,” Thanatos interjected.
“I appreciate your concern, but I believe Kira can handle herself, so long as she does as you tell her.” Velion gave Kira a stern look. She stared back at him, still reeling from the idea of learning to fly a ship. “There is a ship ready for your departure in the hangar. Please gather whatever you need and leave as soon as possible.”
“As you command,” Thanatos said as he stood and bowed again. Kira just gave Velion a halfhearted smile and followed after Thanatos as he left the council chamber.