Galactic Date 00:09:120 5028
The shuttles from Tanis Colony to Draenica took days. I was used to sleeping aboard the Wingless Angel in the utmost of comfort. In the cheap cotts of these small ships, it felt like I was sleeping on a rock most of the way. Anxiety poked and prodded at my mind, anyway. I hadn't been back since I'd escaped my slavery. Every time I closed my eyes I got flashes of the life I'd left behind.
The battle between William and I weighed on me most. The woman I'd killed, his face so filled with anger and hatred for me. I was still that person now, a killer fueled by an unjust vengeance against a galaxy that wronged her. It only seemed right to send William the information I'd collected on Nashu. It wouldn't fix all the wrong I had done, but I could only hope that it would be a start.
Unconsciously the closer we got, the more my hands would stray toward my shoulders, feeling at the remnants of my wings. I could only wish that I could feel them there again. Yet I knew that this was the whole reason I had to come back. There was no way I could truly redeem myself, but I could make sure no one else ended up how I had.
And so when the shuttle began to pull into Draenica's atmosphere, I rose to my feet, one of only a few people stuffed into the cramped ship. Through the windows, I watched as clouds passed us by, making way to the volcanic blackness of my homeworld. I can't say I missed it.
Gold tinted buildings rose from the planet's capitol, Hope, as we descended toward it. I braced myself mentally as I gripped the railing at the ship's ceiling, waiting as we pulled into port. The doors slid open, making my way to the hot, sulphurous air. I breathed in my first breaths of my old home.
Already, before I could leave, I could see the contact Khurad has informed me of before I left. They were going to get me into the Resistance. To think I'd left one war only to throw myself into another. At least this time I hoped I was on the right side. Our eyes met, and they waved at me, beckoning me to them. I smiled for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.
I tookmy first steps off that ship, leaving my old name, my old life, everything thatI was behind me. In that moment, I took my first steps onto Draenica and intomy new life.
YOU ARE READING
5028
Science FictionIn the Galactic Year of 5028, gods wage a war over the Milky Way, using its inhabitants as pawns. William Ortell, a starship scrapper living on the hostile planet, Draenica, finds himself embroiled in this war after a mysterious sword grants him mag...
