Page 34 of Selected By the Dragon Alien
Ara’s head looked up from the journal and nodded. “Go ahead.”
“Long have I served the Axis, carrying out their orders without question,” Turi read aloud, her voice echoing softly in the chamber. “But I have learned how to operate the fortress at its full capabilities. I came across ancestry logs in one of the auxiliary memory banks. I have brothers. Five brothers, all dispersed in the Axis’ evil system. My only goal now is to restore this fortress to its true form as a starship and leave this planet. Iwillfind them.” Turi looked up. “He has five brothers? Did you know this?”
“No,” Ara replied. “He didn’t share that with me. It seems that was knowledge he wanted to keep secret. I can’t blame him.”
Turi looked at the files remaining on the datapad. “It wasn’t long after this that the entries end.”
“The Axis discerned what he was doing.” Ara placed the journal down. “And took it all away.”
“Here’s a question,” Turi mused, tapping her chin. “Why did the Axis let Ellion keep the fortress? They must have known it was a ship.”
“Not necessarily,” said Ara. “We know the fortress was here before the Axis created Penal Colony 5-11B. My peoples’ accounts of the Zaruxians and the Axis are a bit unreliable—they just weren’t interested in what was going on over the mountain, but it’s been widely said that there were Zaruxians in that fortress. There was a battle, the Zaruxians lost and were abducted by the Axis. It stayed abandoned for several hundred years before the Axis returned, took over vast swaths to make their penal colony, and installed Ellion as the overseer.”
Turi’s jaw dropped. “They never searched or scanned it? The Axis would be more thorough than that.”
“Maybe they did and found rooms like the library—full of moldering books—and a defunct control room buried so deep in the fortress, it looked harmless. They wouldn’t be able to activateanything. It needs a Zaruxian present to power up. I tried, once, after Ellion’s second memory wipe. It stayed dark.”
Turi’s mind raced as she considered their options. “The fortress is out of the question,” she said, her voice heavy with disappointment. “We can’t operate it, and even if we could, we have nowhere to go.”
Ara nodded, her shadowy form shifting slightly. “The Skrac lands are hidden and protected, but they are not a sanctuary for those who are not of our kind. And we cannot take on the Axis alone.”
Turi’s gaze fell on the datapad and the ancient journal, the weight of their history pressing down on her. “The Riests can read,” she mused, a spark of an idea flickering to life. “They are the ones who maintain the records and enforce the Axis’ laws. If they read the beginning of the first journal, which documents our peoples’ arrival, they’d know the truth about our past. They’d learn the Axis’ deception and could tell the rest of the people.”
Ara’s edges blurred, her form shivering with unease. “The Riests are deeply entrenched in the Axis’ doctrine. They may not believe what they read, even if it comes from Ellion’s own hand.”
“But it’s a chance we have to take,” Turi insisted, her determination growing with each passing moment. “If we can show them the evidence of the Axis’ lies, we might be able to sway them to our side. They have influence over the Terians, and if they start questioning the Axis, it could lead to a widespread uprising.”
Ara considered this, her gaze thoughtful. “It’s a risky plan, Turi. If the Riests refuse to listen, or worse, if they consider you a threat to the Axis…”
“I know,” Turi replied, her voice steady despite remembering the Terian whose eyes were taken out by Riests because the male had secretly learned to read. “But we have to try. Ellion isfacing the Axis alone, and we can’t let his sacrifice be in vain. We need to show the Terians that there’s a different path—one that doesn’t lead to subjugation and fear.”
Ara nodded, her form solidifying into that of a Terian once more. “Then we will go to the settlement. We will bring the journal and show it to the Riests. We’ll force them to read it, if we must, and hope their minds are open to the truth.”
Turi’s heart pounded with a mix of excitement and apprehension as she stood. She tucked the journal back in the pouch. “Let’s go,” she said, her voice filled with a newfound courage and resolve. “We have a fight to win.”
Ara’s shadowy hands reached out, resting gently on Turi’s shoulders. “If your people turn on you, I won’t be able to fight them all off on my own. May the strength of your ancestors guide you, Turi.”
“The Riests will listen.”They had to.Turi’s grip on the pouch tightened.
Turi and Ara left the hidden chamber deep within the Rakid lands and ascended to the surface. The weight of their task settled heavily on Turi’s shoulders. The path ahead was fraught with danger and uncertainty, but she knew that the time for action had come. For her and Ellion. For her five friends who had been abducted.
The tunnel beneath the mountain was narrow and claustrophobic, its walls pressing in on Turi as she and Ara made their way through the darkness. The air was cool and damp, the only sound the soft shuffle of their footsteps echoing through the silence. Turi clutched the pouch containing the journal tightly against her chest, her heart pounding with a mix of determination and fear.
After what felt like an eternity, they emerged from the tunnel into the quiet stillness of the settlement. The predawn hour was dark. The sky above lay cloaked with the swirling vortex of theAxis’ communications array. It cast a dim, ominous glow over the landscape. The settlement was quiet, the fields of dormantsogfrutplants stretching out like a silent, eerie expanse under the faint moonlight.
“Stay close to me,” Turi whispered. “The Riests’ hut is this way.”
“I know where they are,” Ara hissed. Her shadowy form shifted, melting down to a blob from her Terian shape. “I don’t like this, Turi.”
“Me either,” Turi said as she led the way through the deserted streets. The Riests’ hut was the nicest building in the settlement, its walls made of sturdy wood and its roof thatched with dried leaves. Inside, three Riests slept on simple beds, their forms silhouetted against the dim light filtering through the small windows.
Turi approached the nearest Riest. Her heart beat like a hammer. She’d never been inside the Riests’ residence. It was off limits, of course. But now she straightened her back to take on a more intimidating appearance. “Onis,” she said, addressing the Riest by name.
The Riest’s eyes snapped open, widening in terror as he took in Turi and the shadowy figure looming over him. A strangled cry escaped his lips, waking the other two Riests.
“What…what is this?” Onis stammered, scrambling back against the wall, his eyes wide with fear.
“Silence,” Ara commanded, her voice low and authoritative as her form rose to a Terian-like shape, but taller and more imposing in appearance. “You will stay where you are and listen. We have something to show you.” She raised an arm and pointed at them. “Do not anger me.”