Abeloth

Chapter 4 (The Cruelty Of Helplessness)

Location: A Zhell, mountain village.

Ten years later...

"Everyone knows that our whole planet is actually one giant dragon's egg, and every once in a while, the baby dragon inside blasts through the shell. THAT IS WHERE VOLCANOES COME FROM!" The boy said in an obvious condescending tone.

Eesla Torinn (Mistress Torinn, as known to her students) sighed and looked heavenward; pleading to some nonexistent deity to bestow upon her a sufficient supply of patience.

Two hundred years ago, Zhell society was on the cusp of greatness. The fields of medicine, science, and technology had made great leaps and bounds forward. In fact, the Zhell had been well on their way to becoming the undisputed dominant species of the planet. Then the mind drinkers came.

Meeting extraterrestrial life was shocking enough. Having those aliens turn out to be brain harvesting predators, dashed any hopes of further progress. Life had now become all about survival. In previous centuries, most Zhell children enjoyed attending illustrious schools, six days a week. Now, local children attended a large communal class held once a week, in a shrine, a community hall, or even outside.

As a result, the old ways had crept back. Superstitions had replaced Alchemy. Shrines had replaced universities. And now, apparently, apocryphal myths had replaced basic planetary geology. The future was bleak. It would've been bleaker, if not for tiny glimmers of hope in the form of a small handful of promising students. Students such as...

"Yes, Sahre'el?" Eesla inquired, while nodding her head at her most promising student, whose hand had been raised high."

The strikingly beautiful blonde girl beamed at being selected. "Actually, Lava flows, are the result of the shifting crust of the planet, and the movement of super heated rock from deep underground. When the pressure builds... the dragon sneezes." She said with crinkled nose and mischievous grin, aimed at the boy who had comment previously. Recognizing  her tone to be respectful yet playful, with no trace of ridicule, he responded the way everyone responded to Sahre'el: "Pure acceptance and adoration." It was no mystery why. She was kind hearted, hard working, and exceptionally bright. Her precious little smile lit up the souls of those around her. She was hope incarnate.

It was also obvious to her teacher, that she had a passion for study; a variety of subjects in general...volcanology in particular. Eesla had once asked her, why she was so fascinated by the subject. Her answer was intriguing if not a bit unsettling:

" Sometimes, Mistress Torrin, I... I've never told anyone this..." she had said, with a vulnerability that rang true. "... I wish I was a volcano... I wish I was powerful... I wish I could change the world... I wish I could destroy the... well... you know."
Eesla did know: The Anzati. It was perfectly normal for a Zhell to feel such hostility towards such a horrific species. Eesla herself harboured those feelings.

But such a vengeful sentiment seemed inconsistent with the Sahre'el everyone knew and loved. She had reconciled this inconsistency with the theory that even the most benevolent of souls, had their breaking point. Trauma and loss would yet bring out the worse in them all.
She only hoped that the Zhell could recapture their future. To her reckoning, If this upcoming generation included more than a few Sahre'els, then her people may just have a shot.

The rest of the class was uneventful: Geology lesson... Practice... Language Lesson... Practice... Mathmatics lesson...Practice.

After 8 hours, the school day was over. Children would be headed to the fields to help with the family farm, or would be joing their parents at family run shops in the village. As the students filed out of the community's shrine, at the sound of the bell, another sound could be heard: A siren!

The Anzati were back!

Running to the shrine's threshold, her attention was, at first, captured by the Herald, high up in the watchtower, winding the siren's crank as hard as he could. From there,  her eyes scanned the sky's above for the threat she knew was coming. And it had indeed come!

The Anzati vessel struck fear into the hearts of every who laid eyes on it; partly because of its appearance, but also because of its implication.

The ship invoked images of predation and danger. In some ways, the ship resembled an insect, with its three segmented body parts. In other ways, it looked like a falcon, with two large wings that were fixed in a permanent forward swoop.

As evil as the ship looked on the outside, it was the passengers inside the ship that caused pure mayhem in the streets below. People and livestock were running away. Away from the streets, away from the town...Away from a statistically random death preordained by the mysteries of the universe.

As soon as the ship landed and those doors opened... that would be it... the fight would be over before it began. There was no fighting off an Anzati attack. There was just "the black out" and then you woke up or you didn't.  Nobody knew for sure how it worked. No one had ever before been able to remain conscious during any attacks. It was generally assumed that, through use of "Great power", they were able to subdue and sedate hundreds of potential victims at a time.

Eesla knew, running and hiding was useless, so she didn't bother. She just collapsed to the floor in a heap as tears began streaming down her cheeks. She had lost family, friends, and students to the Anzati. Everytime the "black out" lifted, a little piece of her world had crumbled away.

She supposed she was Lucky. Every few months a fleet of Anzati ships would descend upon the planet, reaping their horrible harvest. For the most part,  Major cities were their primary targets, being rich in their preferred sustenance. Small mountain villages were thankfully visited less frequently; perhaps, once a year. Rural farms were spared all together. They were deemed too much effort for too little gain.

With a dull thud, that she had felt, more than heard, the ship touch down. As the ship's giant underbelly ramp began to descend to the surface, Eesla's vision began to fade. It felt like she was looking head-on into the sun. The centre of her vision featured a ball of light that soon engulfed her perspective completely... And then... Utter and complete darkness...
Nothingness...

When she had come to, she, like everyone else around her, spent the first few seconds of consciousness, just trying to reconcile her reality.
Yes! She was still alive. She had survived! A blessing and curse, to be sure. The Dead no longer had to know fear. The living would forever be doomed to...

... Wait...
Something was different! The usual sounds of wailing and tumult that  accompanied an Anzati attack, were distractingly absent. She then realized that she had instinctively sealed her eyes closed , in a futile effort to shield herself from the predictable aftermath. Upon opening them, what she saw did not make sense.  What had once been an interstellar vessel, had somehow been turned into a massive, half melted, burning hulk.  The smell of caustic fumes and thick smoke filled the air, along with the distinct odour of singed hair and flesh.

Slowly, crowds of people began moving about, search for loved ones and acquaintances, and to their  shock and disbelief, they found them... unharmed. No one, seemed to be missing, except for the Anzati.

Throughout the village, however, small piles of ash littered the streets, and walking paths. It was as if the horrible aliens had been incinerated, along with their ship. This simply couldn't be the case, however, since the ash piles were intermingled with the Zhell survivors, as if a great fire had swept through the town and caused selective destruction. Very selective destruction!There was no reasonable explanation for what had happened, just thankfulness. Thankfulness... And a bit of fear.

It seemed like a great battle had been waged all around them while they had been frozen in unconsciousness.  Only by the grace of "The Great Power", were they spared from a fate worse than the Anzati.

After shaking off her initial feelings of bewilderment, Eesla began to account for all the littles that had been in her care.
Over the course of about ten minutes, she was able to locate all the children who had just departed from the shrine. All... except for one.

The little blonde girl, who loved Volcanoes ...
Sahre'el, was nowhere to be found.