With the new comers in bed, Krewing went down to a private room he had sealed off from anyone, but himself.
He pulled a black key from his pocket and unlocked the door, stepped inside and locked the door back behind himself.
The room was lit by a few bulbs along the walls, but only a single item occupied the space.
He went over to a black orb that hovered in the center of the room.
"Something is occurring." A gravely voice emanated from it, "the power source held within our containment field responded to your visitors. The pulse it released was not part of its regular pattern."
"You think they may cause trouble?" Krewing asked it.
"It is possible. The search you have sent them on, what are your plans?"
"Simple." Krewing paced around the orb, "have my dozen kill them once they reach the mountain."
"All of them?" The voice sounded unsure.
"Yes. The kid has been a thorn in my side. With him out of the way, we can set up our rule. Simply frame the group for their deaths, and then claim the group was killed therefore."
"Then it is done. We shall shadow them, ensuring the deed is carried out."
"Very well, my lords." He bowed to the orb.
"Let us be adjourned."
He went over and let himself out of the room.
Locking the door back behind himself, he smiled as went to his bedchamber.
Soon he would be rid of the child, the so called rightful heir.
Then he could start his own life a new, the sole ruler of a land with unlimited power. The planet would be the first he would completely rule, then he would stretch his reach as far as he could, using the never ending energy to fuel his armies further than ever before, ruling all things within his grasp.
He smiled to himself. "And it all begins tomorrow."
Kaet had a terrible dream.
It was her father, back on Austrorth, his mask removed, grinning over a burned skeleton.
Slowly, the dream shifted, a bright light filling the picture in her mind.
"Come, release me from these bonds." The voice held power, and was smooth, almost blissful.
The sound of it relaxed her.
"Kasm," she absently spoke in her dreams.
"I'm here."
She leapt upright in bed, startled.
His voice; it sounded so real.
So close by.
How couldn't it not be?
She laid her head back on her pillow, a solitary tear dropping next to her.
Hopefully her father was rotting away in some prison cell. To her, he deserved much worse.
She had started to embrace the fact that Kasm had been killed, almost sure if it when a fluctuating power source turned out to be the cause of the signal.
But now, a small flicker of hope began to burn in her heart.
She awoke that morning to a knock at her door. Mrax had come to wake her, and some guards dropped by with fresh clothes.
They weren't fancy, made of dark, finely spun cloth, and covered them well. It would be enough that they could blend in on the streets.
They went to the dining hall and ate before being loaded down with packs.
"These don't hold but a few days rations," Krewing explained, seeing the group eye the contents, "but the wilds are filled with creatures that can easily be taken for food. Isn't that right, Clavis?"
"Oh yes." Clavis assured them, shouldering a pack of his own.
"My first adventure! Cmon let's go!" Gathen was giddy with excitement.
"Gathen," Krewing knelt down and looked him in the eye, "be safe out there. Listen to Koldar and Clavis. Should you run into trouble, follow exactly as you are told. Understand?"
"Yes, uncle K." The boy calmed down a bit, but it was still evident his excitement was barely contained.
A dozen people entered and joined them, packs slung upon their backs as well.
"These are the enforcers I promised you. They may not look like much, but they are some of the best fighters and hunters around." Krewing said.
"My name is Koldar." The lead one stood in front of the group.
He was purple skinned, and appeared to be young. A curved sword could be seen hanging in a sheath at his back. Strapped to his belt was also a revolver.
He had knee pads and shoulder pads on, both made of black metal inlaid with purple gems in the centers.
His hair spiked straight up from the top of his head.
He stood, placing his weight on his right leg, arms crossed. "If you all listen to me and obey what I say, we should be able to make this trip smoothly, and quickly."
"Great." Kaet gave him a quick smile.
"Ahem." One of the others coughed.
Koldar rolled his eyes.
"And these lovely fellas are Q'ten, Wo'ten, Fenyr, Nasri, Heblek, Jerza, Breknaf, Griddel, Dave, Sumav, and Rachlax."
They each made some movement or wave to match names with faces.
Q'ten and Wo'ten didn't wear any armor, and looked exactly alike. They had dark green skin, with bushy brown hair braided down their backs, multicolored beads and bands holding it all together.
They were big, standing near seven feet and musclebound from head to toe.
"Twins." They said as one, noticing Kaet staring at them.
Fenyr was gray skinned, roughly Kaets height and looked like he could scare nightmares. His eyes were blood red, and his lower incisors stood out slightly from his jaws.
He had scars covering the bulk of his face, and what hair he had, was pulled back into five braids.
His ears were large and came to a point, pierced in several places with various rings.
A couple knives hung on his belt, and a small pistol could be seen tucked in a holster at his back. He was currently using one knife to pick at a fingernail.
Nasri was slightly taller than Kaet, with hair down to her waist, a deep purple in color.
She had white skin with purple tattoos showing out from beneath the spare bits of armor she wore. She kept the lower part of her face covered, but Kaet could see a pair of yellow eyes staring at her.
A large rifle was strapped across her back.
Heblek was Mrax' height and blue skinned, with six arms. He smiled proudly, patting a large club in one set of hands.
Sheathed at his hip was also a hatchet and mace.
Jerza picked at Breknaf. She was about six feet tall, and most of her skin appeared to be till green, with patches of tan skin visible at the center of her face, under her arms, and the insides of her legs.
She wore leather armor, a large headdress, and had a dagger strapped to her right hip, a belt of patches on the left.
Breknaf was a mountain of a man, standing nearly eight-feet tall. He had deep blue eyes, which smiled out with his kind expression. He had long, white hair and a beard to match, his hair pulled back into a single ponytail.
Blue tattoos crisscrossed his arms and body. He wore a silver breast-plate and shoulder piece, a sheath strung on his black belonging to the large warhammer he held in front of him. The head of it was on the ground, his hands, in leather gloves, rested on the top of the pommel.
Griddel and Rachlax were also brothers, with Griddel being the eldest.
Griddel wore a full set of armor, covered head to toe, his helmet resembling a large gas mask.
He carried about twice the normal sized pack of anyone else and instead of carrying a weapon, he wore a set of gold gloves, ending in large, curved fingers.
Rachlax was dark skinned and of average height and build, but didn't have natural arms. Instead, he had cybernetic limbs, almost smooth and curved natural like normal.
Sumav was large, more bulk than muscle, though Kaet felt sure he could pack a punch if needed.
He was taller than Kaet, and wore a battle axe sheathed to his back. Hanging from his belt was a set of black gauntlets, spiked at the knuckles.
Black tattoos traced his head and ran along his jawline.
When he saw Kaet watching him, he gave her a quick smile, revealing rows of metal teeth.
Then there was Dave. He wore a long coat, fastened at the waist by a leather belt. Leather gloves and boots covered his hands and feet. Daggers hung loosely from his belt, and a couple tools could be seen protruding from his pockets.
His white hair was messy, and he wore a set of silver goggles that made his eyes appear enlarged.
"There good souls," Koldar leaned in to whisper to Kaet, "though it's really Dave who ya gotta watch out for. He's genuinely half crazy."
She glanced over at Dave, noticing he had a real bad lazy eye.
She quickly averted her attention.
"I don't like how this fits." Elm said under his breath, tugging at various areas of his outfit.
"My apologies," Krewing saw how he pulled at the dark brown clothing, "we weren't exactly sure of your measurements, so we tried to make do."
"We'll work on it," Mrax told Elm, "we'll adjust your outfit later." He cut a look of 'be quiet' toward him.
"When you return, we'll have your ship here, ready for repairs."
"Good, now let's go."
The enforcers led the way back through the streets as the group followed, with Clavis and Gathen between them.
Kaet kept her eyes scanning over the crowd, and slipped a hand into Vells to help lead the way in case she got side tracked.
The crystallized face looked down at her and she could see a smile form as he gently wrapped his oddly warm fingers around hers.
As they walked, she spied Beacon standing outside the outpost, no longer in armor, but in a simple blue tunic and brown pants. Around his wrist, she spotted a familiar sight. It was a band just like man from the crowd had worn.
Suddenly, she felt someone tug her arm, and saw it was the old man. Was he psychic? Could he have known she just thought of him?
"By the break of Dawn." He whispered and then receded back in the crowd.
She blinked. The hell was this old codger talking about? And why to her?
They continued until the worn roads and synthetically illuminated terrain, began turning into small trails leading into dense, glowing foliage.
"This way." Koldar instructed them as they took a side trail.
"The trails were rutted by small expeditions into the forests. Mostly hunters and trackers, but occasionally we'll have to send a squad of soldiers in to take out something. I assure you guys though, you're perfectly safe with us."
Gathen dropped back a bit, talking with Mrax, telling him some of the plants he recognized.
Clavis slowed till he was next to Kaet, who still held Vells hand.
"Beautiful isn't it?" He raised an arm to indicate the plant life around them.
"That it is. Like nothing I've seen before."
"Most outsiders say as much." He looked around as they walked.
A swarm of butterflies flew up in front of the group, snapping them to attention. The butterflies changed colors as they flew, starting a light green and gradually fading into orange, then purple.
Kaet marveled at them, and turned to see the swarm land on Vell, much to Elms disappointment.
The big guy seemed to like having the butterflies on him, even going as far as to cradle one in his hands, until Elm shooed them away.
"The many inhabitants of this world, animal and not, have adapted as to live as they are." Clavis told her, "I've read of planets where they have a light source, and it's rumored that ours once did. Even without it, as you can tell, life still found ways to keep going."
"Clavis," Gathen asked him, "do you think we'll get to see more animals along the way?"
"You'll see plenty kid," Rachlax answered him., "just pray we don't run into anything too extreme." At this sentiment he rubbed his cybernetic limbs and a pained expression crossed his face.
"Don't mind him." Griddel told them, muffled slightly from his mask. "He faced one of the wildest creatures this place can offer. Lost both arms to it. That's why I wear all this." He motioned to his get up, "in this armor, I can go toe to toe with a Bakragin any day."
"Bakragin?" Mrax asked Kaet.
She shrugged and looked to Clavis.
"I believe what most people know as a monkey can be used for reference. Think of a red monkey," he said, making an exaggerated motion to indicate the size, "except huge, and feral as can be, with a howl heard for miles."
"They have claws about half the size of my arm, full grown." Nasri said, trotting alongside Mrax.
"Sharp as a double-edged sword." Rachlax told them.
"Gathen, do you recall what you read on the Bakragin?" Clavis asked him.
The boy thought for a moment. "While their howls are heard for miles, they are usually silent until they are upon their prey. It makes for a rather shocking display, giving it plenty of time to eviscerate whatever it's after."
"Uncle K once showed one fighting in the pits. Took on a dozen men, not as heavily armed as we are, but it still didn't go down till it succumbed to blood loss from many wounds."
"That he did." Clavis was gloomy at the thought. Thinking that any animal was forced to fight for entertainment depressed him.
"That's not the only thing that makes them lethal. They're great at hiding." Griddel told them, "they don't give off a luminous glow like most of the other life here. Instead, they nest in the dense trees, using the light of other plants to find its prey."
"Hope we're never on the receiving end." Mrax said.
"Shouldn't have to worry about anything like those for at least the next day." Griddel informed them, "the trees here aren't tall enough. The ones you'll find them in are the massive, two to three hundred-foot ones."
Mrax and Vell exchanged a glance.
At least they knew that the group they were with was prepared for the many perils this planet possessed.
Several miles in, they finally found a clear enough area next to a creek bed. It was quickly decided that they would make camp, and resume in a few hours.