The Homecoming

Chapter 17

Letanians have officially landed on Earth.

After discovering that a strong military opposition was already waiting for their arrival, they decided to abandon their old ways of intrusion and slaughter, and set up their tents with composure. They did not disturb anyone, because they were afraid, but no one believed their short-living, calm exterior; they could attack at any moment, without a single warning.

Leah realized that they weren't so primitive after all, since they retreated as soon as they spotted the Hiatune's flags swaying high up in the air, and hundreds of guardians protecting the military bases. They were cold-blooded savages, but they were not ignorant in front of the equally as strong enemy.

Leah was standing on a hill, observing the Death Valley below – their terrifying battlefield.

With the hostile mountains surrounding the lifeless, shrivelled ground, the place was nowhere near welcoming or promising mercy. The Death Valley was closed off for a few months, because of the extremely high temperatures that could prove to be fatal for visitors. The hottest summer season was the perfect chance to establish the military bases there and lead a war, without people being aware of anything that went on behind the high and rocky mountain walls. And if Letanians don't kill some of the Hiatune's warriors, then the unforgiving heat certainly will.

Though the mere view of the battlefield, smothered in drought, fed Leah's fear of what was ahead, like throwing a piece of raw meat to a feral hellhound, living without purpose was far more terrifying.

Once again, she found herself thinking of the aliens who chose her for this mission. Aliens who trained her. Who raised her, after all. As much as she wanted to think of their abduction of human children as a tragedy and a crime – thousands of potentially happy and successful people were turned into warriors, some of whom were never going to see more of the Earth again besides the bloody ground, rocks and sand beneath their feet – she still could not help being anything but grateful.

Leah closed her eyes and thought of Eudepha.

He invested everything into helping a planet that would digest their species in a second if it had the chance to.

That's the sad truth. We would not do the same for them, Leah thought.

Eudepha was her teacher. Her respectful elder. Her father among the furthest stars.

Yes, there was no doubt that she was grateful. Grateful for the opportunity to be something more than herself, to be a part of something bigger – grateful for the opportunity to save the world. It was better to struggle, than to be helpless, vulnerable or indifferent while waiting for the merciless space threat to strike and wipe out the human race.

Once again, Leah closed her eyes and took a deep breath, until she could feel the oxygen burning in her lungs. She imagined Eudepha's kind eyes, as if they were telling her: You were born for this.

She smiled.

Even if her own blood ends up feeding this hungry soil, spreading in front of her in all of its glory and reign like the golden wings of a phoenix, she was going to fight for her home. Her family, her friends, and for Eudepha.

With all her will and might.

***

Andrew was a member of the different military operation from Leah, taking place in the wild forest kilometers away from the Death Valley. His hands were trembling as he pulled out his poisonous katana Rattlesnake, waiting for one of the Letanians to attack him.

He was expecting a group of them to jump out of the bushes, but he did not believe that only one of them was going to be terrifying enough, and taller than expected.

With his four eyes, which sat sunken in their sockets, and the two narrow slits in the place of a nose, the Letanian who started approaching Andrew was a walking nightmare. The open, wrinkled mouth revealed a pair of lower canine teeth, as sharp as the sword he was holding in his detrimental claws. He had other weapons too, hanging from the primitive belt around his wide waist, seemingly made out of the tree branches that weren't hurting the fat layers of his purple skin. There were harrowing flails and a heavy battle axe, but the Letanian was prepared to use a sword on Andrew, respecting the same weapon codex. Andrew's eyes landed on the small, almost indistinguishable horns on the Letanian's head, which seemed to be covered with more battle scars than hair.

Andrew took a deep breath and stepped towards him, making a promise to himself that he would stay alive, for Leah and their future together.