A Traitorous House on Traitorous Earth: Shattered Past Book 3

Flight of the Wolves

"Hmmm, a Kishari has risen yes?" An Eliksni croaked to himself. "Perhaps, perhaps," The vandal stood up from his position of mediation and faced the viewport from his room. Variks the Loyal was his name, loyal being an operative title. He stared out the window of the reef towards the star at the center of the Sol system. He reminisced about Ralterra, and it's twin stars, one of them old and the other new. Variks lived in perhaps one of the most unique star systems in the universe, one where both a red giant and a bright blue protostar shared the same place. Often times it appeared as if the small blue star was absorbing the large red one.

"Speak with Sidriks, that is what must come next." He declared. Variks was an elder Eliksni, his life span he could tell was getting to its final centuries. The Eliksni were a species granted with longevity; a healthy female could live nearly three thousand years. Variks was a rare case among males, he's lived for almost five thousand years. Variks is what his culture calls an overseer, an Eliksni who lived to see many important points in history. He has seen Kells rise and fall, cities get built, villages burn.

"Variks, is everything alright?" Petra asked walking into his chamber.

"Yes, Petra, all is well." He croaked in response glancing over to her.

"Well, the Queen has requested your presence in her chamber at once."

"Yes, yes, my dear. I will be right there with you." He replied grabbing his walking stick and his helmet. Variks and Petra had met only several years ago, the two grew to be very close to one another, borderline falling in love. Variks never had anybody in his life that gave him the same level of affection that Petra gave him, the only one who even compared was his own mother. It was jarring to many of the awoken in the reef that their commander of their army cared for a fallen pirate. She saw something in Variks that nobody else did, a man who had lost his way, and needed guidance. She would be the one to do it, with a tender, caring hand. She didn't know how Variks felt about her and this infatuation she had with him, a passion, that never seemed to go away.

The pair began walking through the chambers of the kingdom of the reef. Petra looked over to Variks for a moment. "Is there something bothering you? It seems like there is." She noted to her Eliksni friend. Variks pulled her to the side and looked her intently in the eyes.

"The Kishari has arisen, the true Kell of Kells walks among the living once more." He said to her.

"Variks, I thought that was just a myth."

"My dearest, I have lived for millennia, no legend. The Kishari was real, and is once more."

Petra gave him a concerned look. "What does that mean, I mean for us?"

"For you, perhaps nothing. For me, even less so. For my people, it could mean a brighter future, yes?"

"Alright, few people know, and the last person who preached about the Kell of Kells is dead. I don't want the same thing to happen to you Variks. I love you."

"And I you, my dearest." He replied. She quickly kissed him on his face plate then turned around to face the hallway to head back out with him. The pair continued venturing to the Queens chamber. Variks was a trusted advisor to both Queen Mara and the Vestian guard. His thousands of years of experience in both combat and in diplomatic relations between royalty and subjects being incredibly valuable.

The pair walked up to the throne and bowed before Mara. "You may rise." the Queen demanded.

"Why have you called me my kell?" Variks asked politely.

"I have called you here to-" She said with her voice trailing off. She looked out to the front and noticed a squadron of fallen soldiers walk into the throne room. "I am not seeking an audience with you. Please wait outsi-"

"WE ARE SUBJECTS TO YOU NO LONGER!" The captain at the front decreed, interrupting her.

"You dare defy your Kell captain?!" She asked rising from her throne.

"OUR TRUE KELL HAS RISEN AGAIN! YOU ARE A FARSE AND WE WILL TREAT YOU AS ONE!" He declared. A squadron of Vestian guards appeared from the shadows and drew their rifles. The Eliksni rushed forward, and the groups fought in the throne room of the Queen. It appeared as if the fallen would win this fight based on their numbers and sheer brutality. Bullets and blades began to fly as blood was spilled on reef soil once more. The vestians were being wiped off the map by the Eliksni until the Captain who lead them made a fatal mistake. Petra engaged the captain in a one on one fight while Variks was beating back multiple vandals at once with his staff. The captain who she was fighting lifted her up and slammed her against the wall then fired a shot from his shock pistol into her stomach. He released her and she landed on the ground.

"PETRA!" Variks yelled looking over to his friend. Variks began to get angry, something he hadn't been in hundreds of years. He took his staff in two of his hands and a sword off the ground from one of the fallen vandals. Most of the guards who were fighting were either dead or too injured to fight. It was just Variks and twelve fallen who sought the death of Queen Mara. This wasn't a situation he was unfamiliar with. The fallen rushed Variks and he began the fight.

"Pitiful they did not study the ways of old." He thought to himself as he sunk the sword into the torso of one of the dregs who tried to run past him. He pulled out his blade from the dreg and prepared to kill the others. Two vandals ran up to him, and he beat their helmets into their skulls with his gravity staff. The rage of Variks was not enough to be stopped by any being. More rushed him as he beat them down with blade and staff with the end of his staff being coated thickly with Eliksni blood.

Then it came down to just him, and the captain. "You are nothing more than an old fool Variks; the Kishari has risen, Skolas will return us to our former glory!"

"Skolas knows nothing of the glories of old!" Variks exclaimed to the captain as they began their duel. Variks slammed his sword against the blade of the captain. "A Kishari has risen, but it is not Skolas,"

"You defy our survival Variks!" He exclaimed as he spun around slashing Variks across the face. Variks took his sword and sunk it into the chest of the captain.

"You are a believer in a farse." He said coldly as he twisted his blade in the captain's chest. Life faded away from the captain's eyes and Variks relinquished his sword from his adversary's chest. The captain fell to the ground, and his blue blood began to stain the carpet from purple to blue. He ran over to Petras side as more Vestian guards poured into the throne room. "Petra, stay with me," He said to her holding her head in his hands. Medical personnel began to treat the wounded as more armed guards came in to keep the situation contained.

"Variks," Mara shouted to him commandingly.

"Yes, my Queen?" He asked turning around to face her.

"This cannot be allowed to stand. Where is Skolas now?" She demanded.

"I believe he is out in the wilds of Earth. He and what remained of a portion of the house of wolves are stationed there."

"Earth?" She questioned as one of the other guards ran up to her throne.

"My Queen, the remainder of the House of Wolves has fled towards Earth and the other planets in the system. What do you wish we do?"

Mara looked towards her people then to Variks. "We contact the Guardian who slew the Heart of the Black Garden. He has a debt he needs to pay."