The Adventures of Evin Heartwrite

Chapter 7

         Ever since the dawn of civilization, mankind has had an uncanny ability to adapt to uncertain environments that allowed them to survive as long as they could on their home planet. Deserts, Tundras, Tropical, or wastelands humankind clung to life with all their might and ingenuity, where other physically dominate species have gone extinct. With the gift of Magic, however, mankind eliminated much of the natural barriers that stood in their way of survival and turned their attention to space, hoping to dominate space the same way they dominated earth.

         However, as with anything there’s a price to pay. Without the protections that mother earth provided them, space faring has been disastrous for early pioneers despite their gifts. With random asteroids, solar radiation, hostile alien life, uninhabitable planets and space time misalignments, sailing through space proved nearly an impossible endeavor which millions of lives were lost or missing. Nevertheless, they’ve been able to colonize their own solar system and contact other alien races with the same gift of magic and ambitions of their own. Despite their accomplishments, none of their efforts wouldn’t’ve been possible without the gift of magic and as such became dependent on them, creating social groups that’s no longer dictated by riches, but magic scores where the superior lived in affluent and opulent cities and the lower score users lived in the slums.

         One such slum named the ninth ward is where the low score users dwelled on the space colony ship. Located in the outermost ring, the city seemed somewhat archaic resembling the common cities of the world before the discovery of magic. Shopping districts, and apartment buildings frequent its streets with a few retro recreational centers. To more prominent magic users, the ninth ward was always avoided due to social reasons, but this was General Dana’s refuge. When military duties would be too much, she would dress in a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt and jog through the streets to clear her mind. She wipes the sweat from her face as her feet beat the hard metal sidewalk as she cruises past various shops with signs above them. It was the wards night cycle, so all of the main lights through the area have been shut off with only the streetlights lighting roads and sidewalks. Speakers throughout the facility tune into nightly noises of hooting owls and crickets to give off the ambient nightly atmosphere that made Dana feel at ease. She stops at a local ramen shop and enters through a half-length curtain and sits at a stool. Several other patrons sat at the bar sipping on their bowls of ramen, some with noodles dangling from their mouths.

         Stomach grumbling from her run she taps the bell twice and removes her grey hoodie and smooths her hair back with her hand.

         “Coming,” A joyful sounding man steps from behind a curtain wearing a white cook’s suit and hat. Japanese, he eagerly tosses a towel over his shoulder before approaching the General.

         “Ahh, Dana-san, its good to see you today,”

         “Its good to see you too, Ichiro,” Dana rests her elbows on the countertop. “You still serving your ramen special?”

         The old oriental man smiles teeth white and clean.

         “Of course I will have it out shortly.”

         Pots and pans clank about as another cook scrubs a pot clean and places it on a rack nearby. Despite his age the chef prepares ramen with all the vigor of young man. He chops onions on a cutting board and pours his broth into a small pot sitting on a gas flame. He then prepares to make his signature pulled noodles as he pours flower onto a flat wooden surface and adds just enough water to get it to the right consistency.

         Dana rests her chin on her cheeks as she’s always mesmerized by how the meal was prepared. Growing up in a world of magic where everything was created with a wave of a wand, Dana would marvel at how people managed to live without it when most crafts were done by hand. It was like peering into the past watching ordinary people do what they can with the little they had.

         The chef beats the dough with is bare hands before skillfully flattening it with a roller. Afterwards he cuts the flattened dough into individual noodle pieces and tosses them into a large pot of boiling water. Dana sits upright in her chair as the man finishes making her a large bowl of ramen before planting it in front of Dana.

         The woman gazes into the bowl with noodles, boiled egg and beef slices drown under chicken broth while the man plants a pair of chop sticks right beside the plate.

         “Enjoy,” the man winks at Dana before returning to take other patrons orders.

         Dana takes the chopsticks and dips it into the bowl filled with broth, pulls up some smoking hot noodles, blows it several times before placing it into her mouth. The chicken flavor blends well with the hot noodles lifting the stress from her mind. She continues into her bowl taking several sips directly from the bowl relishing the delicious taste. Planting the bowl onto the counter she takes a deep breath and releases it before removing the sealed diary from her sweater pocket and planting it on the countertop.

         Noodles dangling from her chopsticks, she taps the diary with her finger activating a black glyph at its center as black sparks quietly flicker around the leather booklet. Dana plants her elbow back on the countertop and stares at the diary as she eats the noodles dangling from her chopsticks.

         “What did you put in here.” Dana mumbles. She places her finger onto the black glyphs as vibrations rattle her finger like a cellphone.

         “What ya got there?” a brown-haired man with a shadow shave and spectacles speaks. He holds a bowl of ramen near his face with chopsticks in his hand gazing at her through the corner of his eye. Dana is taken aback at his curiosity, however she never needed to hide the diary as the counsel doesn’t know what it looked like or who it belonged to.

         “A family member of mine passed away and left this behind.” She removes the diary and shoves it into her pocket.

         “She had it sealed, and I can’t seem to open it.”

         The man places his bowl and chop sticks on the counter and turns his stool towards Dana.

         “Mind if I take a look?” he kindly asks holding out his hand.

         Dana hesitates as she taps her finger on the counter, looking at the chefs wiping the walls with sponges.

         “Sure,” she sighs reaching into her sweater pocket, “Why not,”

         She hands the man the dairy and gazes at it silently for a few moments. He plants the dairy onto the table, reaches into his suit pocket for his towel, wipes his spectacles before shoving them back into his blazer. He taps the leather book, and the black glyph appears same as before and he raises and eyebrow in amusement.

         “This is a personal seal,” He turns the dairy around to observe the leather back. “Haven’t seen one of these in a while.”

         “A personal seal?” Dana’s face twists in confusion.

         “Back in the earlier years of special expansion, there were worries of information leaks from other races simply by warping their belongings out of their possession. So, to combat this, they used personal seals to keep their identity and culture secret from other races. Here,” He points to the opening in the glyph at its center, “This is where you place your key in order for the seal to break.”

         “What kind of key would one need?” Dana curiously asks.

         “Well, it couldn’t just be any key,” he mildly chuckles “It had to be an object of some significance to the person making the seal. You say she was your family?” He hands the book back to Dana.

         “Yeah,” her eyes shift left trying to recall what that object might be. “Hey. I’m an officer in the Marines and I’ve never heard of personal seals.”

         “Well, the council only limited their use to those with classified information. Did she serve in the Marines like you are?”

         “Yeah” she nods, bewildered about the news. “We were close.” She places the diary inside of her sweater shirt.

         “Thank you…umm..”

         “Dannie Vinn,” the man reaches out to shake Dana’s hand. “I’m an historian. I travel across the galaxy to document the effects humans had in space.” He reaches into his jacket pocket and hands her a small card. “Being that you’re an officer in the Marines, I was wondering if you can tell me about your adventures if you don’t mind.”

         “Umm..” Dana awkwardly nods. “Yeah, though I haven’t led a fleet yet and I’ve been assigned to this colony so I probably won’t be leaving for a while.” she hands the card back to him.

         “Oh no ma’am I insist that you keep it.” He waves away the card.

         “Why,”

         The man pushes the spectacles to his face and smiles.

         “Call it a gut feeling but, I think you’re about to make history.”

         And with that, he gets up from his seat and leaves the ramen stand.

         Dana didn’t know what he meant, as she was more focused on finding out what personal key Nadine kept on her that would give her access to the dairy. She knew that keeping the dairy a secret from the council would be considered treason punishable by death, but something made her keep it. Maybe it was Nadines last words that rung loudly in her mind. “Do the right thing.” Ever since she heard those words it made her worry.

         “What did she meant when she said do the right thing?” Dana thinks. “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing all along?”

         Major Till to General Dana. A intercom beeps on her collar.

         “Go ahead Major,” Dana says expecting urgent news.

         There’s been an incident in the communication tower. Someone’s been injured.

         “Damn,” Dana spats in frustration as she jumps from her stool and exits the ramen stand. “I’m on my way.”

###

         Doors hiss open and Dana walks into a medical room where two nurses dressed in white hoover their palms over Trixie enveloping a healing green light from their palms. Trixie sits with her head burrowed onto her palm to ease the headache with her hat resting beside her.

         “Can ya gals hurry up; my head feels like it’s been split by an axe.” Dana rests her elbow on her leg, shaking her head.

         “Please be quiet ma’am we’re working as fast as we can.”

         Dana grabs a pamphlet from the small shelf nearby and opens the folder to read the report while she waits for the healers to do their jobs. Her eyes peers over the information turning pages getting all the background information needed to question the person.

         “Ok I think that’ll do for now,” one nurse says closing the magic from her palms. “Your injury isn’t that serious, but your headache will linger for a while as you’ve been struck by lightning.

         “Great,” Trixie sighs as she grabs her hat and plants it firmly on her head.

         The two nurses leave the room nodding at the General to proceed with her investigation. Dana walks up to Trixie until her shadow overtakes her. Trixie looks up and sees the rank on Dana’s uniform collar.

         “Sup General,” Trixie says in an exhausted voice. “What’s a big rank lady like you coming to little ol me?”

         “I have some questions regarding your encounter with your assailant.” Dana opens her palm causing a chair to slide to her hand and she sits crossing her legs and clasping her hands together.

         “Yeah,” Trixie laughs. “Did ya know that there’s a living Dragon here on the space colony? Not too many of them should be flying around.”

         “We’re aware of the dragon onboard the ship and I would greatly appreciate your silence on the subject moving forward,” Dana leans in close to Trixie in a seemingly threatening manner. “Are we on the same page?”

         Trixie nods her head and with her index and thumb pressed together, swipes them across her lips.

         “Good,” Dana leans back in her chair wiggling her foot. “Says here you’re a bounty hunter. Did you know what you were hunting?”

         “I was sent to capture Evin Heartwright. They didn’t tell me he was a dragon. Wish they had. I would’ve been properly equipped to deal with it.”

         “You think you can take down a dragon?” Dana raises a suspicious eyebrow.

         “Well…yeah.” Trixie says motioning with her hand “Aren’t they extinct or somethin. They can’t be that tough to deal with.”

         “Trixie,” Dana sighs shaking her head. “My predecessor had a magic score of five million and she died trying to tame it. Your score’s barely enough to trim its nails let alone capture it.”

         Trixie freezes in shock over what she just heard with eyes darting around in worrisome thought.

         “Who hired you for the job?” Dana taps her finger on her lap. “I get the feeling that they know more about Evin than I do.”

         “Secret organization.” Trixie sighs waving away the question. “You know how those types are.”

         “I don’t believe you Trixie,” Dana shakes her head. “You show up without notifying us of your intentions and nearly cause a cataclysmic disaster endangering everyone onboard my space station. On top of that you violated 13 protocols in regard to bounty hunter safety and ship docking procedures which gives me the right to throw you in the brig. So, if you don’t want to be sucking lunch from a straw in a box locked behind a death wall barrier, I suggest you start talking.”

         “Now hold on a second there general.” Trixie pleads with a hand held out. “I read that the target only has a score of just seven. So, I figured I’d be an easy job, just grab and go. I wasn’t countin on all this to happen.”

         “Then tell me who hired you for the job.” Dana calmly wiggles her feet.

         “I..I…” Trixie hesitantly stammers. “I don’t’ know. He was… wearing this blue hoodie…looked like he was a part of some cult. That’s all I know.”

         “Why did you accept a job from such a mysterious figure.” Dana gazes intently into Trixie’s eyes. “You should’ve known what you were getting yourself into. Seems irresponsible if you ask me.”

         “Look, General.” Trixie points to herself. “I’m a bounty hunter I run into a lot of shady figures who’s willing to pay me for a hunt. And this guy was no different. This is what we bounty hunters do. I know this last hunt was a bit out of my league, but that’s the nature of the job. We get the job done without asking too many questions and we get paid.”

         Dana stops wiggling her feet as she stares intently at Trixie for a few minutes to gauge her honesty. Dana understood the nature of bounty hunters, but often than not, they would lie to protect their benefactors knowing more that they would let on. She never trusted a thing they said as she often had to deal with disputes between factions in regards to their use of bounty hunters. However, seeing Trixies almost pleading eyes was enough for the officer to relent.

         “Alright,” Dana sighs, “Is there anything else I should know before I send you on your way.”

         Trixie breathe a sigh of relief as her eyes dart about trying to remember facts.

         “Yeah, the high elves were after him as well.”

         Dana’s heart sinks upon hearing the high elve’s involvement. She sighs in frustration rubbing the top of her nose with her index and thumb.

         “Which family.” Dana asks fingers still at the top of her nose.

         “The Admonis family from what I reckon. Heard the head son also had a run in with Evin. But things went south for him as well.”

         Why the hell are they involved? What’s their steak in this?

         “There was also this woman that was with Evin. She had…platinum hair I think.”

         “Really?” Dana releases the tops of her nose to look intently at Trixie.

         “In fact, things took a turn for the worst when she showed up as she was able to turn him into a dragon. She also had that lightnin magic. It’s still giving me an headache.”

         So she wasn’t bluffing. Dana grips her chin with her index and thumb in pensive thought. If we’re going to handle this, we’re going to need to separate those two somehow.

         “Alright,” Dana slaps her legs and stands to her feet. “Thank for your cooperation. You are free to go.” She walks towards the hatch nearby but stops as the hatch hisses open. “Oh, a piece of advice.” Dana turns around to Trixie.

         “Stop taking shortcuts. It’ll save you a lot of trouble. Take it from me.”

         Trixie sitting on the bed nods silently before Dana exits the hatch and it closes behind her.

         Walking down the hall, Major stands by the wall and salutes the general. She salutes back before he walks besides her.

         “How things went General?” the pushes his spectacles onto his face.

         “Well,” Dana sighs as she turns the corner, passing a few pedestrians walking down the hall. “It seems there are other parties after Evin and have been causing problems without any of them telling me.”

         “Which parties, General?”

         “The high elves for one. And other mysterious ones as well. It doesn’t’ surprise me as he is a dragon. But it makes my job a lot harder trying to keep all of this out of the public’s eye. Where’s Evin right now?”

         “He vanished after the incident at the warehouse, but I’m sure he’ll turn up at the call center to contact a relative.” The officers cruise past a hatch leading to a glass walkway to another sector with people running to get to their respective destination. “I want full protection around him, no one goes near him until I say so. And eavesdrop on his call to his relative, I want every word recorded in that conversation you understand, Major.”

         “Yes, ma’am, by your leave,” the man resolutely states before stepping off to the side to carry out his orders.

         “Now to deal with these friggen elves,” Dana sighs as approaches an almost cylindrical door that opens up to her.

         She steps inside of a fully carpeted, circular room with a light blue glass floor at its center. The lights are dim giving a quiet atmosphere. Dana stands facing the glass floor and adjusts her uniform.

         “Computer, contact the head of the Admonis Family.”

         “Please state the purpose of your call” a feminine robotic voice fills the entire room. “A quick inquiry into today’s events.”

         “I am not at liberty to complete the contact as inquiries ought to be approved through council,”

         “Override,” Dana simply states.

         “Command authority recognized, contacting Idris Admonis of the high elves.”

         A brilliant light shines on the glass floor before an realistic image of an bearded elf with white and gold apparel signifying royalty. He stands calmly with his hand behind his back before turning around and greeting Dana.

         “Good day, General Dana. Congratulations in being promoted to such a pristine position I’m sure your family is proud.”

         “Why is your son hunting a wanted fugitive onboard my space craft. Are you aware what he’s capable of?”

         “From what I’ve gathered,” He gazes calmly into Dana’s eyes seemingly unaffected by her rank which annoyed her even more. “There was no incident involving my son’s actions upon your vessel commander. And we are aware of his ability to turn into a Dragon. We execute our investigations with upmost care accounting for all the lives onboard your vessel.”

         “Why haven’t you told me you were after him? As Commander I must know everything that happens on this ship especially involving an entity that can spell the doom of everyone on this vessel.”

         “General,” The man turns around seemingly gazing at something in front of him. “As I stated before we are aware of the dangers of hunting that man and we will take responsibility should things turn awry. There was no incident involving him, so we are free to continue our investigation.”

         “Bull#%^&,” Dana spits in wrathful outrage. “I know what….”

         “Need I remind you, General, that this conversation alone is due to my willingness to cooperate with you regarding the lives of those onboard your ship. In truth, I am not obligated to share anything with you.” He turns and gazes condescendingly at Dana.

         Rage fills her blood as she balls her fist and glares narrowly at the High elf.

         “Look here, Elf, I don’t know what the hell you’re trying to pull, But this is my ship and I will do everything in my power to defend it, even from you. I can have your son arrested for interfering with our investigation.”

         “hmph,” the man scoffs, “Your power is only limited to that the council gives you and as it stands, you do not have the authority to detain any of us. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have more pressing matters to attend to. Good day, General.”

         And with that the image blinks out of existence leaving Dana seething in rage. She turns and marches towards the hatch and stops as her anger reaches a boiling point. She punches the wall in a loud gong as she had to accept a hard truth.

         “Friggin pricks!” she spats teeth clenched in rage. “Hiding behind the council.”

         High elves had a haughtiness to them that drove Dana to a rage every time she encountered them.
Dana takes a breath of relief adjusting her posture and uniform before she steps towards the door. It spins open and she exits the room.

###

         Space colony one was the first ship built with a united effort of the nine races that met during space exploration. Containing sectors with cultural relevance to each race no expense was spared to bring the vision of a combined building effort to life. Out of all the sectors, the sector for the elves was more elaborate as it focused on cultivating a natural environment as they preferred greener pastures than a metal box. Their sector was a large glass dome at the top of the rotating space station with a very large tree inside. Underneath was a advanced structure resembling an old castle but with a futuristic take with floating platforms hovering around gold, high reaching towers. At the highest part of the tower, peering out of the window with hands clasped behind his back Tingled Admonis takes a huge breath as he pondered what to do with the man standing behind him.

         Floor covered in fresh grass from their home planet, Elred stands quiet underneath a golden arch head lowered in shame as a video of his recent humiliation plays directly in front of him on repeat to deepen the wound of shame.

         “I’m waiting for an answer.” His father calmly but sternly states as he stares at the floating platform soaring past the window, seemingly distant from his son.

         Elred thought couldn’t answer though. All he remembered was the flash of light that blinded him and after that everything went blank. Next thing he woke up in a nursing ward where his brother patched his wounds. He couldn’t fathom defeat; it wasn’t on his mind, he trained night and day endured harsh weather, constant battles, hunted some of the strongest beasts in the galaxy only to fall at the hands of someone who’s score barely clean the floor they stood on.

         “For eons, we were the only race to sail across the cold and cruel galaxy like helpless knats in a infinite bowl of darkness. Many of us perished from the trip alone as unforeseen meteor showers, and gravitational distortions ripped our grand fleets apart piece by piece. It wasn’t until we discovered our gifts that we began to make our mark on the planet systems of Alpha Centauri and beyond. We were fearless, relentless, unwavering and most of all, strong.”

         Tinglet turns around and gazes sternly at his son with his lush blue eyes before walking towards him. Tell me Elred,” The father motions to the monitor floating in the air replaying his sone being blasted out of the window with Evin peering through. “What do you see here?”

         “Father please let me..”

         His father slaps him with the back of his hand, with the disappointment from his father hurting more than the slap itself.

         “Answer my question.” The man calmy states as he claps his hands behind his back.

         Leaning to the side from the stinging slap Elred stands straight up and gazes at his humiliating display. Elred didn’t answer right away, but he looks directly at the video and a part of himself dies when he has to accept the truth.

         “Weakness, father,” Elred lowers his head in shame. “I see a weak man.”

         “And what happens to weak men, Elred.” The man peers directly into his eyes.

         Elred eyes divert away from the display trying to find a way to convince his father of all the faithful deeds he’s performed thus far.

         “Father please let me explain.” The man stammers fearfully at his father’s commanding and intimidating presence.

         “Is there anything to explain son?” the man takes several steps back to put some distance between the both of them. “Father, let me take care of it. Father this will be easy, I’ll be back in no time. Yet here you are, beaten, and empty handed with that idiotic look on your face while your abysmall failure is broadcasted on every single network bringing shame upon our entire clan. TELL ME, ELRED. WHAT IS THERE TO EXPLAIN!!” his voice booms through the entire room.

         The young prince doesn’t say anything as he simply lowers his head in shame. He never was scolded by his father before as his father always looked to him as the elf clan’s champion, now he’s being seen as its loser. Tingled turns around turning his head away in sheer spite before waving his hand causing the display to vanish. He walks towards the table where the gold clan crest is embedded into the polished wood. Plants his hand onto this table and sighs.

         “The ceremony will be postponed.” Tingled says picking up a jeweled embedded chalice and gobbles its contents until there’s none left and plants it onto the table.”

         The news alarms Elred as the coronation ceremony and marriage was everything he worked hard for.

         “Father no,” he calls out.

         “Its out of my hands.” Tingled waves the opposition away. “The other family withdrew their support of the ceremony once the caught a glimpse of your incompetence.”

         “But…isn’t there a chance to redeem myself.” He plants a pleading hand on his chest. “For years I’ve wrought victory after victory. Am I not allowed the error of failure just once?”

         “Son,” Tingled sighs as she shakes his head. “We are allowed some failures upon our quest for life. However, there are other failures that are just… inexcusable. It doesn’t matter what you’ve accomplished before; failure at critical times can ruin nations.”

         The man turns around and folds his arms.

         “Return to your quarter’s son. You are relieved of duty.”

         “Father please.” The man pleads as the punishment was too much to deal with. First his dignity and now his status as head of the family all taken away in less than a second. It tore him up.

         “I will not hear it, son.” The man jerks his head away in dismissive spite. “Return to your quarters at once. And any attempt to pursue the target will result in exile. Do I make myself clear?”

         Elred simply lowers his head in shame accepting his fate.

         “Yes father,” he says in a somber tone.

         “Leave,”

         Elred turns and walks out of the room leaving his father alone.

         Tingled walks back to the window and gazes out into the cosmos recalling certain memories of his exploring era.

         “That was quite harsh.” A feminine voice speaks.

         Tingled turns around to see a tree slightly taller than him with colorful crystalline leaves hanging from each branch.

         “Do you think it’s wise to hide how much you care for him? You were quite frantic when you found out he’s been injured.” The tree states.

         “Leave me be, Yddra” Tingled sighs. “I have enough worries plaguing me at the moment.”

         “Sending your son to capture a dragon doesn’t necessarily helps alleviate some of your worries, Tingie” the tree says in a playful manner.

         “I was just preparing him for what’s to come,” he plants his forearm on the glass and rests his forhead on it looking at the grass in sorrow, “With the arrival of a surviving dragon and a novarian, our time is nearly at an end and I want him far away from us as possible when that time comes.

         “The elves were the first ones to take the deal, weren’t they?” the tree states that causes Tinglet to somberly lowers his head.