'NO!' Aldric leapt forward and nearly toppled out of the side of the ship. He would have done if Evie hadn't have slammed the door shut. It didn't matter anyway. Raiden had disappeared through the clouds.
'I'm not having anyone else throwing themselves out,' Evie yelled, standing over Aldric who had crumpled against the door. K made a sobbing hiccup noise. Her hands quivered as she stared at the envelope.
'Floyd-Rainard Strelazia,' she said after a moment of silence.
'What?' said Aldric as he got to his feet and prised the envelope from her fingers. He looked down at it and noticed that he too was shaking. Floyd-Rainard Strelazia was the name scrawled across the envelope. A letter that Aldric assumed Raiden had wanted them to deliver.
'LendoZiya,' he said plainly. 'We'll do what he wanted us to do.'
He sat back down, face in hands, and hoped that there was something of use in their new mission.
Two days rolled by, but to the inhabitants of The Flower Child, it felt like so much longer. Things were quieter without Raiden. Aldric remembered that he had often wanted him to shut up but now, he just wanted to hear that voice again. Nobody knew what to say. Evie spent most of her time trying to keep the place clean and habitable. Meanwhile, K kept an eye on the controls. By the time they were nearing the end of their journey, she had turned into a wide eyed, black eyed trembling wreck.
'Do you have to do that?' she groaned, clutching her head. Aldric had been doing star jumps.
'I need to move,' he told her, continuing. Evie, who was sitting close by, shoved him aside.
'Stop,' she said, standing up to face him. 'I think what K means is that if you must exercise, can't you do something a bit quieter?' She placed a hand on his shoulder and the two of them started dancing. Aldric had never danced before and it was obvious. Evie laughed at him when he banged his knees into the arm of the chair but then she looked down as if she was laughing at something she shouldn't. Silence fell once more.
***
The descent began.
'It's not Atarikka,' said K, levelling out. 'So it should be okay.' Her usage of the word should did not inspire them with great confidence.
Aldric felt a little queasy as he was bounced up and down in his seat, the metal buckle digging into his stomach, creating its stamp in his skin. They slowed. The Flower Child was abiding by its instructions perfectly and so they hovered downwards before landing with a soft scuff. At least she could land better than Raiden ever could, thought Aldric.
They all unbuckled and went to ponder by the door, none of them daring to be the first to investigate what was on the other side.
'What do you reckon is out there?' wondered Evie.
Strangely excited, Aldric pulled the latch and let the door float open.
'A port,' said K as the world was revealed to them. She jumped out onto the dry pale ground. Wooden steps led up to a raised walkway that spread across an entire field of ships. Most of them were trade ships with the odd unmarked vehicle left to the side to go rusty. Aldric breathed in the air gladly as it welcomed itself inside his aching lungs. Evie rushed by and leapt out of the ship, welcoming the feel of land beneath her feet. He followed on warily and turned to examine The Flower Child with his own eyes. Their work had been first-class. He had not expected it to do so well and was relieved that they had not fallen out of space due to poor handiwork.
'I need a decent meal,' he yawned.
'We have no money,' K reminded him.
'But we're running out of rations,' he replied, stomach rumbling. 'We're going to have to find somewhere to go.'
'Like a refuge,' said Evie. 'Somewhere like December's Place?'
'I doubt you'll ever find a place like that here,' he replied. 'You couldn't find a place like that even if you searched the whole galaxy.'
K leant towards him. 'There's an odd looking bloke snooping around the ship,' she whispered. He turned to see a short turquoise haired man sticking his head around the door. Aldric cleared his throat but the man did not look ashamed. Instead he turned to look at them as if they were the ones who had been rude.
'I need to check your permit,' he said in a high pitched croak. He had a pointed black beard that almost touched the floor, wore a baggy crimson uniform with large black boots, and held a notebook scrawled with digits, dots and initials.
'Well?' He looked to each of them impatiently.
'It's under the control desk,' said K.
The man clambered inside and came out seconds later, carrying in his hand, an envelope.
'I got the number down,' he said. 'But I don't understand. What is it you are trading? Is this all?' He held up the letter. 'You could have sent this by a postal ship.'
Aldric looked to K. She always knew what to say.
'We didn't think that was appropriate,' she half-lied.
The man looked as if he didn't know what to do with them. He shook his head and made a strange high pitched sighing sound that made Evie jump.
'Lock up tightly,' he said hurriedly. 'Sign your names here.' He handed them the notebook. 'Wait in the persons-bay whilst we confirm your identity.'
The trio obeyed and made their way to the bay, a small shack-like building with round decorative windows filled with so many colours that it was impossible to see through them. It was some sort of waiting room, dark and candle lit, with a wooden archway linking two bare rooms.
'Please stand in front of the archway,' a neutral voice bellowed from above them. Aldric glanced up but nothing and nobody was there, just the ceiling. K moved forward and stood behind the arch. He went to follow her but the voice boomed again, 'one at a time, please.'
A panel in the chequered floor opened with a loud clack, making them all jump. A pillar rose through the floor, pushed up from beneath, stopping at the height of K's waist. She took a dubious look at it. 'Place your hand on top,' the voice echoed. K carefully laid her hand over the square-top stone pillar.
'Like this?' she asked.
'Remain still,' the voice insisted as K let out a yelp of surprise. She looked down at her hand to examine the pinprick that had been left in the centre of it.
'It's not that bad,' she reassured the other two. Her pillar was pushed back into the floor with another one simultaneously rising up next to it. Aldric reluctantly went next but refrained from making a sound when the pin jabbed through his flesh. He felt his skin pop as the pin was pulled out and took his hand back the first moment he was freed from it. Once Evie had also been through the process, they all went through the barrier together and took seats, the ones closest to the exit.
'Your identities have been verified,' said the voice before they had the chance to get comfortable. 'You are free to go. Enjoy your stay in Zace Ella.'
'That was quick,' said K lightly as they all scrambled to their feet.
They headed towards to the doors with anticipation and welcomed the sight that beheld them. Aldric gazed up and the gleaming buildings, each with domed roofs covered in engravings, white pillars stood proudly outside of every entrance to every building and a flock of birds flew through the city as low as they could go. One of them perched on a nearby signpost and Aldric noticed that it wasn't a bird. He did not know what it was. Its tiny snub nose twitched before it flew off. Aldric read the signpost that it had been perched on but he did not understand the language.
They wandered through the golden city. Choir-like music filled the air around them but it was soft in comparison to the burble of the bustling crowds. Aldric was barged into many times but nobody was apologising for it. Maybe it was so normal that nobody ever took offence towards it.
'Erm, hello,' said Evie for the seventh time. 'Do you know where we can find Floyd-Rainard Strelazia?' The question was answered with raised eyebrows and shaking heads every time. Raiden had said that the Isahiel community was a close-knit one, so why didn't anyone know who Floyd was? Aldric didn't quite follow. He let his concerns out to K.
'Not everyone we talk to will be Isahiels,' she replied. 'The LendoZiyan population is much larger proportion and it's not like you can tell the difference anyway.'
'Look for someone wearing a pendant,' suggested Evie as they reached a busy and sparkling golden market place.
'But they wouldn't need to wear them here,' said K, though it was the best idea they had. Aldric wanted to split up so they could cover more ground but K was worried that they would get lost.
'Not if we have a meeting place,' he protested.
'What if we can't find this meet up place,' she argued. 'Please try to remember that none of us have ever been here before.'
'Look,' said Evie. 'That woman. She has a pendant.' She pointed towards a gift stall, specifically at the glum looking woman slumped behind it. As Aldric tried to approach the stall he was battered by harried people who walked as if on their own individual missions. Together, linking hands, the three of them dived and ducked between the shoppers and made it to the front of the stall where the woman glanced up at them inquisitively.
'Oh, sorry,' she said. 'You haven't been there long have you?'
'Not at all,' replied Evie, unlinking her hand from K's. 'Do you know a Floyd-Rainard Strelazia?'
'Course I do,' she said. 'He's my brother,' she studied them. 'Who are you?' 'Friends of Raiden,' Evie answered. The sandy haired woman looked concerned when they mentioned his name
'Do you know where he is?' she blurted out. 'Tell me where he is!'
'He's not with us anymore,' said Evie, 'but it is important you tell us where to find this Floyd person.'
The woman looked incredibly puzzled and a little hurt, but she relinquished.
'He lives on the cliffs,' she said. 'The crooked old house at the end. You can't miss it.'
Just as the woman had said, the house was easy to spot. It was the one built slightly separately from the others. It looked older, more worn. The bricks looked like musty bones and had a tall crooked chimney sticking out from them that spiralled away from the roof and balcony as if it were determined to pull it over.
They walked past the other houses. They were similar in style, but newer and sleeker. Their chimneys were tall and straight and their bricks shiny like marble. The doors were polished and luscious plants dangled tantalisingly over the doorways and windows. Aldric wished they were heading to one of those houses instead.
They reached the black gate of the home belonging to Floyd-Rainard Strelazia. Its jagged grey path led through an abandoned garden. Dark green grass, weeds and various red fruits stretched up like an army reaching claws towards the house. They reached the rotten front door. A rusty wind-chime dangled hopelessly and silently in the archway.
Aldric knocked on the door. No-one answered. He knocked again, and again. He was going to knock for a final time when the door flew open revealing a shaken looking man. His eyes were wide, his hair spiked up in all different places. He had stubbly sideburns and an uncouth look about him that suggested he had fallen. From where, no-one knew, but his shadowed eyes and dark hair suggested that he was just as mysterious as Raiden had been.
'What d'ya want?' Floyd said, leaning against the doorframe as if his skinny bones were not sufficient enough to support him.
'We're very sorry,' Aldric began, looking to Evie and K for support. 'We need to tell you something.'
'You might want to sit down,' added Evie. 'Could we come in?'
'No,' Floyd stated abruptly. 'You think I'm letting any kids run a riot in my house?'
'Raiden is dead,' said Aldric quietly, fumbling through his jacket pockets. 'He gave us a letter to give to you.' He pulled it out, almost as if it were explosive, and offered the crinkled envelope to Floyd who grabbed it wild-eyed, tearing open the thin paper with a loud swish.
Floyd stared at the inky words scrawled across the page and after he had taken them all in, he looked down at Aldric, a strange look on his face that none of them could read.
'Come in,' he said.
He showed them into a large room. A long sofa was situated in the centre, on top of a large woven rug, next to a half rotting away table. Statues were everywhere, blocking walkways, cluttering up the entire building. Floyd knew the ways to walk perfectly but Aldric nearly knocked many of them over. The three of them sat down but Floyd remained on his feet, pacing, running his hands through his hair almost as if to pull it from its roots.
'I'm so sorry for your loss,' Evie said, eyes welling up, her voice barely above the level of a whisper. 'Were you close?'
Floyd slumped down into an armchair.
'How to explain this?' he muttered before rising to his feet again. Aldric came to the quick conclusion that Floyd was a very odd man.
'Are you sure you're okay?' he asked.
'Yes, yes, fine,' he pulled Aldric up by the collar of his jacket and stared at him eagerly. 'Let me get a good look at you.' His eyes shot down to Aldric's pendant and he smiled triumphantly. 'It is you. Winori will be pleased.'
Aldric pulled away. Floyd looked hurt.
'What is it?' he said, his wild eyes seeming to sink into darkness. 'Aren't you happy to see your family? I know it's been a very long time but-'
'She abandoned us,' Aldric clenched his fists. 'I was two years old.'
'It was for your own protection.'
'All I was ever told was that she wanted to live over here,' Aldric mumbled, 'because she couldn't fit in and that she wanted her life back.'
'That's not like her at all,' Floyd shook his head. 'You've got it wrong. If she'd stayed, Agathea would have killed you all.'
'Agathea?'
'Your grandmother,' Floyd explained. 'She was one messed up woman.'
'What happened? Tell me.'
Floyd hesitated before standing up. It was as if he wanted to say more but couldn't think of the right words. As he swept from the room, the three of them followed. Their footsteps clattered down the rocky steps, through the orchard and back into the town, through the streets they had walked before. Floyd stopped. His boots clicked on the cobbled path as he spun around. They froze.
'Will you cooperate when we get there?' said Floyd. 'I don't want to have to turn all the way back.' He was off again. They had to run after him.
'I don't know what you're talking about,' Aldric protested, his feet aching.
'Could we slow down a bit please,' Evie added.
Floyd put a hand to his head and paced to and fro in front of them.
'How to put this?' he muttered. 'Raiden shouldn't have asked me to do this. He knows I'm no good with words,'
'Just tell us where we're going?' said Aldric.
'To the Eve-Crystalline Cave,' replied Floyd abruptly. 'You know, The Cave of Crystals, home of The Crystal Guardian, hollow of the departed...'
'The what?'
Floyd sighed, exasperated by Aldric's lack of knowledge.
'You have a pendant right?'
'Yeah.'
'The Evepyra energy recognises the death of the wearer and in turn their life force is pulled through space at an incontrovertible speed to the place where it originates, which happens to be in the Eve-Crystalline Cave where all the crystals for this area are... harvested, if you like.'
Aldric nodded despite the fact that he was still lost. Floyd recognised his blank expression.
'Oh come on,' he exclaimed. 'It's not that difficult to get your head round. Basically, we are on our way to resurrect Raiden who is, as we speak, in limbo between life and death.'
'Why did we have to come to you?'
Floyd shrugged. 'I suppose, maybe I'm the only person round these parts he could rely on. I don't know.'
Evie looked relatively happier.
'So he's not dead? We can save him!' she cried.
'We can,' Floyd nodded. 'Well, Aldric can.'
'Me?' His hands were drawn to his pendant, fingers tracing the delicate embellishments joining up with each other in a smooth, never-ending loop.
'A blood relative,' said Floyd. 'I'd do it myself except they don't allow people like me to have a pendant. Doesn't make a difference anyway since I'm banished to this world for the rest of my days.'
'I'm sorry?' K perked up.
'Err, yeah, I didn't mention that I was an ex-convict did I? But I didn't do it in case you were wondering.'
'I think she meant the 'blood relative' thing,' Aldric ran in front of Floyd. 'Are you saying I'm related to Raiden?'
'That would explain a lot,' said Evie quietly but Aldric didn't pay attention. Why hadn't Raiden told him? Is that how he knew so much about him?
Floyd's mouth had snapped shut for the first time. After an awkward silence, he cleared his throat.
'He's your uncle,' he said at last. Aldric thought he was joking until he looked at him directly in the eyes. They were wide and sincere. Nothing was hiding behind them. No lies, no deceit. Aldric felt a knot in his stomach tighten. They walked on much more slowly. He couldn't get his head around it. He couldn't help but feel angry, like he was on the centre stage of a giant conspiracy.
'Where do you come into this?' he asked.
'I'm Raiden's father.'
'But you look so young,' Evie exclaimed in an attempt to compliment him. 'Oh, it's the aging isn't it. K told me. So you must be thousands of years old.'
'Not quite,' Floyd looked offended and Evie went bright red. K sniggered.
'Could I see the letter?' Aldric asked. 'Please, not to be rude or anything. I'm just...'
'Curious,' Floyd finished his sentence for him. 'Go ahead.'
Aldric took the letter from Floyd's hand and unfolded it as gently as he could. He felt rude, asking for a letter that wasn't his and didn't want to be made to feel worse by something happening to the scruffy note. The first scrawled word confused him.
Floyd
'If Raiden is your son, why does he call you by your name?' Floyd did not answer and instead looked away, up into the sky as if straining to remember something that he had lost. Aldric turned his attention back to the letter.
Important!!!
Jagophites plague Atarikka. Ship we are on will not land due to auto-pilot. I can't overturn the controls or override the system so I will be throwing myself out, onto the world itself. I don't have time now but if you could explain everything to Aldric for me. Maybe he'll do the job. Just wake me up fast. I don't want to waste time.
Raiden.
Aldric handed the letter back to Floyd who crumpled it in his hand and stowed it away. He led them down a sloping and narrow walkway by the side of soft green hill. All went black for a minute as they passed under a low bridge linking the town to the hills. They emerged at the other end, light rebounding off of the cobbles in front of them making them look like oil on water. Aldric had never seen stones like that before. The path took them far from civilisation and after realising that it was a foolish idea to go out for a long walk without preparing for it first, Floyd apologised and attempted to go fishing in a nearby lake with a sharp stick he had found by the muddy banks. He was unsuccessful and everyone was getting hungry.
After ages of rumbling stomachs, undignified toilet stops and multiple blisters, the sun started to set. Not too far ahead, Aldric saw an illuminated cave.
A person would have to crawl through a tight hole to get inside, but light in all colours poured out as if being reflected outwards by hundreds of fragmented mirrors. It was a marvellous sight, especially against the backdrop of the LendoZiyan night sky. The stars truly did glisten with a million different colours, just like how Raiden had described. Aldric stared up at them in wonderment and felt the horrible twinge in his gut that you feel when you have missed out on something spectacular.
'Here we are,' said Floyd breathlessly as they reached the entrance.
'What do I do now?' Aldric wondered.
Through the corner of his eye, he noticed someone moving amongst the rocks. He thought it was Raiden, edging towards them but when the figure approached, Aldric could see that it wasn't him after all. This young man was shorter, his ears were more procumbent, nose bulbous, and his arms knobbly and sallow through his grey waistcoat. Aldric could almost see right through him as if he were just a picture on thin paper being held up to the sun. Was he a ghost? Surely those things didn't exist. Aldric had never believed so what was this thing, so human, standing before him?