Authors: Mia McKimmy
Leaving Sivadia
NOTE: This book is a work of fiction. The
names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s
imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.
Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or
organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Mia
McKimmey
Table
of Contents
There are many ways a home can be destroyed.
Some are even destroyed by those who live within.
“Cygan, get over here,” Vind yelled. “I’ve found more
tracks leading into this cave.”
Cy pulled his sword from its sheath and ran toward his
brother. The Nyrubi, they’d been tracking was one of Sivadia’s most vicious
predators. They weighed around twelve hundred pounds and walked on all fours.
If their razor sharp claws or six inch fangs didn’t rip you to shreds, they
could always spear you through with their large rack of antlers.
And why am I running toward one trapped inside a
cave? Oh, yeah, because my psycho brother told me to.
Nyrubies lived in Sivadia’s Great Sewol Mountains and
only came down to the villages during winter, when deep snows drove their prey
so deep underground, the Nyrubies were starving. The snows had only started
melting, and this predator was probably very, very, hungry.
Great!
Killing Nyrubies was left to the experienced big game
hunters. But Vind convinced Cy that killing one would prove to Father they were
becoming adults, and he would be proud. More than anything, Cy wanted that, but
they were only fourteen, a long way from adulthood. Deep down he knew Father
would be mad for them being so reckless.
Every year since they were ten, Father and Oz had
brought them to the mountains, teaching them to track, hunt, and live off the
land. Skills Father said every boy needed. With them being the king’s sons,
servants usually waited to appease their every whim. Cy looked forward to these
trips, to act like a regular person. He didn’t want to do anything foolish and
mess it up.
I better let Father know where we are.
Cy stopped and pulled out his communication link. As he
clicked the on button, he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. He shoved
it back inside his jacket; if Vind knew he was calling Father, he would berate
him for the rest of the trip.
“What took you so long?” His brother’s eyes were wide
and his face red. “Come on, before the Nyrubi gets away.”
Cy followed him up the incline to the cave’s entrance.
They both pulled headlamps from their backpacks, and then loaded their hunting
bows with an arrow.
“You take the right side of the cave and I’ll take the
left.” As always, Vind spouted the order at him, trying to control every
situation.
As they moved inside the cave’s opening, Cy stopped. The
place reeked of death; bones and rocks covered the dirt floor, making the
ability to remain upright next to impossible. Uneasiness grew in the pit of
Cy’s stomach. With one hand, he braced against the uneven walls and eased
toward the back of the cave. Bones crunched beneath their feet, echoing through
the silent cave. The sound betrayed their every move to the monster lying in
wait for his dinner. The two boys converged at the back of that room where two
corridors led to the next opening. As the animal emitted a loud roar, Cy tensed
and chills ran up his back.
“I’ll continue around the left corridor far enough to
get behind it and scare it out,” Vind said. “When it heads your way, be ready
to shoot. Aim for its neck or left side near the heart.”
“Why am I the one who has to get in front of that
thing?”
“Cy, just get your bow ready. Are you too incompetent to
even do that?”
“I’m not incompetent, Vind! Just get the thing out of
that room, and I’ll kill it.” Cy had always scored higher in archery
competitions than his twin.
He gripped his bow tighter, and headed down his
designated hallway. The closer he got, the harder his heart pounded. A loud
growl echoed throughout the cave, a beastly warning for them to back off.
Vind’s headlamp faintly glowed behind the Nyrubi. A
moment later, a torch lit and the long, bushy hair on the tip of the beast’s
tail flamed to match it.
Vind has set the thing’s tail on fire!
A high-pitched scream vibrated through the cave as the
Nyrubi rose on two legs. Cy pulled the arrow back and aimed for its neck, using
his chin as the anchor point to steady his hand. His breath ceased as the beast
landed on all fours and sped toward him. At the moment of release, the beast
darted to one side, and the arrow glanced off its fur. As he pulled another
arrow from the quiver, a hot pain seared through his shoulder and pinned him
against the cave wall. His bow flew from his hands, out of his reach.
He turned his head from side to side, desperately
searching for Vind. His twin stood a few feet away with his bow at his side and
a wicked smile on his face.
Had this been his plan all along, or had the
situation just presented itself?
As if the animal
wouldn’t attack on its own, he had injured it, just to make sure it finished
him off. The smile on Vind’s face made one thing perfectly clear; he would
enjoy watching the animal kill Cy.
The Nyrubi moved back, pulling its horn from Cy’s
shoulder. The pain was excruciating. His head spun and he grasped his sword as
he fell forward. He pulled the sword from its sheath, but a large paw with four
inch claws came at him with lightning speed, and knocked it from his hand.
Fresh gashes on his forearm poured blood.
“Boys!” His father’s voice bounced off the cavernous
walls.
Vind’s head jerked toward the cave entrance, anger flashing
across his face. He slowly raised his bow and aimed it at the Nyrubi, but
didn’t shoot. He waited until the sound of footsteps drew closer before
releasing the arrow. The animal was poised to launch on top of Cy for the kill,
as the arrow entered its side. It staggered to the side but remained upright.
Oz and his father stopped just inside the room, taking
in the scene.
“Vind,” Father shouted. “Finish him off!”
A thought flicked through Cy’s addled mind.
Was Vind going to pretend to miss the animal and
finish him off, instead?
Cy held his breath as Vind released an arrow into the
Nyrubi’s heart, and the animal dropped to the ground.
He let his breath out in a whoosh, and stared at his
brother. Since last year, when Father announced that Cy was first born and
would one day rule in his stead, Vind’s attitude had steadily become worse.
Although he had never been close to his brother, today’s events made one thing
perfectly clear. Vind intended to end his life, in order to become the Sivadian
King.
“What the hell are you two doing, trying to get
yourselves killed?” The king’s voice was so loud, Cy expected the walls to
crumble around them. He must have lost enough blood to be delirious, because
now wasn’t the time to laugh. But as his headlamp lit his father’s face, the
hard muscular tick in his jaws reminded him of someone trying to chew through
nails.
He picked Cy up and transported them back to camp. Once
they materialized, his Father laid him on a cot before removing his shirt to
inspect the wound.
“Turn on your side, son.”
Cy did as he was asked. “It went all the way through. I
heard the horn scrape against the rock wall behind me.”
Father wiped the blood away and applied some
anti-coagulant powder to both sides of his shoulder. Then he cleaned the gashes
on his arm and did the same. “It’s time to go home. You need to rest and
replenish your fluids. We have enough nourishment to last the rest of the week,
but you’ll need extra blood to replace what you’ve lost.”
Oz’s telecom sounded and he stepped away to answer.
Cy swallowed hard as anger flashed in his father’s
deep-set, blue eyes. His gaze bounced between him and Vind. “You boys want to
explain how you ended up in a cave with a Nyrubi. Both of you know how
dangerous those things are.”
Neither of them said anything for a moment, but Cy knew
not giving their father an answer would only make matters worse. He ruled an
entire planet, and would not put up with unanswered questions or foolish
actions…especially from his sons.
Cy looked at Vind to back him up, but his twin remained
silent…his gaze glued to the ground.
“We’re sorry, Father. We only wanted to make you proud,”
Cy finally said.
“How can you make me proud if you both end up dead?”
As Oz strode toward them, their father pinned them with
one last glare. “This is not over. We’ll continue this conversation at home.”
The king glanced at Oz. “I can tell by the look on your
face, that wasn’t good news.”
Oz released a heavy sigh. “It was headquarters. A large,
Haagon mothership has stopped just outside our airspace. I told them to launch
a surveillance pod and place our forces on high alert. We must go home
immediately.”
“I guess our worst fear has finally arrived. We’ve known
this was coming for over a century. Even though we have prepared, I’m not ready
to lose our planet.”
“None of us are, Cieran,” Oz said. “Let’s leave our
supplies here and send someone to get them later.”
Cy’s father picked him up to transport home. He’d been
able to transport on his own for over a year. No one had the ability until they
reached puberty. But if they become injured enough to lose blood,
transportation ceased to work.
The air around them shimmered as Sivadia’s
electromagnetism connected with their cells. Their bodies dematerialized and
shot through the air at rocket speed. It was the most freeing feeling in the
world.
They materialized inside the infirmary at the castle.
His father laid him on a gurney and motioned one of the doctors over. “I’ll
call your mother to come down here. I need to join Oz at the military command
center.” He answered the doctor’s questions and then left.
Doctor Regan went to work cleaning Cy’s wounds, while
the nurse hooked him to an IV of blood. Vind never showed, not that it was any
surprise. He would probably lay low for a while, not wanting to risk Father’s
wrath.
Once the doctor finished, Cy laid on the cot and thought
about everything that was going on. Once, when father and Oz hadn’t known he
was around, he’d overheard them talking about what the Haagons had been doing
for the last three centuries. They had gone from planet to planet, raping each
one of its precious resources. By the time they were done, everything and
everyone was destroyed. If the Haagons were here to take Sivadia, everything
was about to change.
A knot formed in Cy’s throat. They would have to leave
their beautiful castle, the only home he’d ever known. Father had said the
planet they were going to would be safe. But it could never be as beautiful as
Sivadia. Cy fought back tears. Nothing could be worse than this.
His mother hurried through the infirmary door. As soon
as she saw him, she burst into tears and put her arms around him. “Darling,
what were you thinking? It isn’t like you to be so reckless.” She pulled back
and looked into his eyes. “Did your brother talk you into this?”
As much as Cy wanted to tell her what Vind had done
inside the cave, she didn’t need to worry about him, especially with everything
else that was going on. “Tracking the Nyrubi was both of our ideas.”
Her brows drew together. “Well, you both knew better.”
She gently touched his bandaged shoulder. “I’m glad you weren’t hurt worse than
you are. But that doesn’t mean you’re not in trouble.”
Cy looked down and fumbled with the blanket. “Yes,
Mother.”
Moments later, the nurse came over, removed the empty
blood-bag and replaced it with a full one. “Are you feeling strong enough to
leave?”
“Yes, I feel much better.”
“Once this bag is empty, I’ll release you into the
capable hands of your mother.”
As soon as the blood finished, the nurse removed the IV
and monitors.
He dressed and followed his mother upstairs to their
living quarters. When they entered the living room, Vind was sitting on the
couch playing with a deck of cards. Once his mother’s back was turned, he
glared at Cy, giving him a silent warning that he’d better not open his mouth
about what happened in the cave. He wouldn’t tell their parents, not because of
Vind, or his threats. He wouldn’t tell because he didn’t want to add to their
worry. Nor did he want them to know how dangerous their son was…that they had
created a child capable of murdering his own brother.
Vind had been cruel for as long as Cy could remember.
Even when they were toddlers, Vind would take the toys he loved best and destroy
them, and then threaten to dismantle them all if Cy ever told their parents.
Vind was jealous of everything. When they were nine, Cy
had become friends with Tobias, the son of a council member. Once when Tobias
stayed the night, Vind stole an heirloom broach belonging to their mother, and
planted it in Tobias’ overnight bag. Vind told everyone he saw him take it.
Tobias had been labeled a thief ever since. Cy had never befriended anyone
again for fear Vind would destroy their life with lies.
Cy went to the kitchen to grab something to drink. As he
opened the cabinet for a glass, a loud explosion rattled the dishes and the
floor vibrated beneath him. He ran back into the living room, and the pale,
frightened expression on his mother’s face scared him worse than the explosion.
“What was that?”
“I’m not sure.” She grabbed the phone and started
punching numbers. “Cieran, are you all right? What was that explosion?”
Cy’s stomach tied in knots as he waited for her to
finish talking to his father. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “Your father said we have an
hour to pack. We must leave for the hidden facility in the Sewol Mountains.”
Cy backed against a chair and dropped into it.
Everything was happening so fast. They were about to lose everything.