Star Rising: Heartless

Chapter 3

Hello. Feel free to point out any grammar mistakes you see.

In this chapter we meet Amlaidh, which is the red skinned guy with his back to us in the cover.

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A dark figure moved over the barren land. His boots thumping softly, contrary to his heart, which was beating ever quicker. He wore a sleeveless tunic, exposing a muscular arm on his left side, and a metal arm on his right. He perked his pointed ears, straining to hear anything out of the norm. There shouldn't be anyone here, but one could never be too careful. Scavengers weren't known to be picky about who they attacked.

Fumes of smoke rose ten feet into the air from the many vents scattered across the red plains of Planet K'lech. Amlaidh moved aside, sidestepping yet another gush of hot air. He wiped the sweat from his brow. His hand came to a stop over the small piece of bone that protruded on the side of his forehead. He had two such pieces of bones. They were a testament of his mixed birth to a human female and a Zander male.

Far in the distance, he made out the hazy black mountains. Amlaidh mumbled a curse under his breath as he swatted another flea aside. K'lech's stuffy heat and its proliferation of hungry fleas, arid land, and volcanoes made it one of the least populated planets in the galaxy. Which made it the perfect place to hold the secret meeting he was headed to. Nonetheless, Amlaidh couldn't help but feel a wave of anger at being summoned here. Hadn't he always followed his orders to the letter? Hadn't he proved he was capable after all these years?

Yet, he'd been summoned here like a child. As if a simple message would have been too much for him to comprehend.

"Get lost!" yelled Amlaidh. He brought up his metal hand. It glowed a bright purple as he powered it up. A second later, a violet mass of plasma shot out from the hand cannon. He could have changed the shape of the energy into many forms, but he stuck with the classic jet of power. The thick mass of energy slammed into the dark flea, incinerating it in a blink of an eye. "That will teach you!"

He gritted his teeth as three fleas, even larger than the first one, took the place of their fallen comrade. Breathing heavily, he lumbered on, ignoring the pests.

Not until he reached the entrance to the cave did the fleas finally scatter. Amlaidh was not surprised. Even the basest creations of nature knew to fear the cold dread emanating from deep within the cave. It was a fear he had felt many times in his nineteen star-cycles; it was a dread that he hoped one day to imitate.

His steps echoed off the walls as he descended deeper into the humid cave. Hundreds of different sized stalactites hung above him. Amlaidh made it a point to walk around each time he was directly below a large one. He was probably being a bit paranoid, but he kept on imagining one of them falling and impaling him to the rocky ground. He wondered what the man he was about to meet would say if he saw him now. He'd probably get a speech about how dishonorable it was to cower before a mere piece of rock.

He shook his head. Focus. Amlaidh straightened and narrowed his eyes. He was nearing the end of the cave, which meant he would have to be at his absolute best in order to not disappoint his contact.

The domed room of the cave wasn't terribly large. It was barely large enough to hold the vertical pipe standing against the back wall. Nonetheless, when he spoke, his voice echoed as if they were in a large interior.

"I have come as requested," said Amlaidh, bowing slightly.

"It is good to see you again," greeted a deep voice. Amlaidh fought the urge to gag at the stench coming from the end of the cave. He knew that the man wasn't well. In fact, he was not even a man, at least not in the traditional sense. The being before him had lost most of what made him a Zander long ago. He'd had to resort to living inside a hazy tube that kept him alive by pumping foul-smelling plasma through his veins. He could leave the tube only once every few cycles, and even then he was barely strong enough to do anything beyond walk. "I was afraid that you would not show yourself, Amlaidh. Few would venture to such a planet as this."