A Strand of Reality

Chapter 1

As the heavy beat thumped rhythmically, the moon shook in unison. Raelei knew the tremors were from the mines. The mines that where gouging into the very pith of her home, Iolanthae, the moon for the Tri-Quadrant. Within its heart lay a dark and fearful secret, one that should never be found in the light of day - one that should never be revealed. She tried to remember how or even what this ominous knowledge was, but the tremors grew in intensity, distracting her. The thumping was rising in volume - she could feel it shuddering her very core.
Searching out the source of the reverberating sound, her gaze was drawn to the ground, and her violet eyes widened in shock. The earth beneath her feet was splitting in two as easily as a cotton cloth being ripped apart. A silent shriek issued from her, the inner cry fading into the monotonous pulsing that was tearing her and her home asunder. Fear overcame as Raelei hesitantly looked around her. The sky had turned from its comforting pearly gray to a horrific shade of blood red that reflected off the snowy waste lands – merging land and sky into a pool of red light.

Sweat poured off her as she strained forward, trying to run away. Her mind screamed for escape, but her feet wouldn’t move. Glancing down to see what was holding her back, she dimly heard her own agonized scream fill the air. Ghost white skeleton fingers where grasping her ankles with an iron vice grip, pulling her down into the yawning chasm between her feet. This time her cry echoed through the air and beyond. A flood of tears ran streaming down her face as she tried in vain to free herself. Unnamed dread filled her; she couldn’t get free - she wouldn’t get free.

‘Aaaiiiyyyahhhh!’ Raelei cried, bolt upright in her bed. Fear squeezed her chest so she couldn't breath. Sweat poured off her, turning her chestnut hair black, then ran down, settling on her soaking bedclothes. Salt tears from her violet eyes mingled with the saltier blood that flow from her lip. Her hand shook as she wiped away the blood and drew up her knees. Clasping her legs, she laid her cheek on them, shaking as she tried to erase the nightmare that had been haunting her every night since her nineteenth birthday - one month ago. No matter what she tried, she could never get rid of the terror. As her gasping sobs broke the silence, Raelei lay back down on her bed, curled up as if that could protect her from the horror that she felt seeping through her.

Try as she might, she couldn’t stop herself from trembling, nor could she get back to sleep. The dream stubbornly lingered in her mind, keeping her trapped in a terrified alertness. But despite her strongest desire to stay away from her troubled sleep, Raelei’s tired eyes fluttered closed as dawn broke and she fell asleep. The mask of fear on her graceful features, which even sleep could not erase, etched only the surface of her sufferings that night.


‘THUMP THUMP!’ Raelei muttered incoherently in response to the thudding on her front door. Slowly the persistent noise shattered her peaceful slumber. Blinking, Raelei crawled out of her spacious bed, and slipped on her magenta kimono. Skirting around the maze of books in her tiny, three-roomed apartment, she reached the door, where the persistent knocking was still raging. ‘Okay - okay! I’m coming!’

Cautiously, she turned the handle, ‘Hello?’ Raelei peered through the crack, then gasped. ‘No.’ She croaked, stumbling back into her lounge room. Two burly men charged in, creating a shadowy wall in her cozy apartment. Shrouded in black from head to toe the creatures where frighteningly devoid of spirit. ‘You have to come with us.’ The taller one uttered in monotone. ‘Do not make a sound or you will be-’ He didn’t finish his menacing sentence - but Raelei knew all to clearly what would happen if she tried to resist. ‘Get dressed.’ Raelei mutely stalked into her room, longing to run. They had come for her. She turned to shut out the guard that had followed her - but he pushed his way in silently.

Raelei gasped, her eyes, the only signal of her emotions, turning into a deep, dark shade of velvety black. There was no way she was going to get changed with that - that THING in her room! Fuming silently, she slipped off her kimono, but remained in her simple white nightgown. Hastily, she pulled her favorite lavender dress over the top of her nightwear. Tying a golden chord around her waist, she grabbed a matching thong from her dressing table. Grabbing her waist-length chestnut hair in one hand, with the other she swiftly wrapped the tie around the bunch.

Taking one last glance around her lovely bedroom, with all its traditional laces and frills, her hand stole up to her neck, and grasped the pendant she always wore. The comforting shape of the silver, diamond shaped, filigree work filled a small section of her palm. The violet-red stones interlaced on it pressed into her flesh as she squeezed the pendant tightly. Stifling a gasping sob, Raelei turned swiftly from her room, her shoulders straight and squared as she went to face her unknown future.

* * * * *

‘PULL! Get your lazy fric'orphs working!’ Alaric grimaced as the harsh voice bellowed over the cavern. Up on his platform, in the center of the Great Hall, the overseer saw everything, and had his way with everything. ‘Move THAT rock!’ The voice roared again. ‘I don’t want to see it any longer!’ Alaric grunted as he wrestled, along with five other men, to move the steely gray rock that had temporarily halted all mining work. Standing taller than the men and wider than their outstretched arms, the chunk had come crashing down from the ceiling after the latest explosives had been set off. Wiping back his spiky black hair that was constantly in his golden eyes, Alaric added more grime and dust to the layers already masking his face. Sweat trickled off him in rivulets as he strained to moved the giant boulder.

Muscles bulging, the men gave one last heave, and much to everyone’s relief, the monstrous rock moved on to the tray of the transportation flat. Swiftly Alaric jumped into the driver’s seat - revving the engine, he zoomed away as soon as the rock had been air suctioned down. Taking it to the deposit site, he dumped the rock, and then rested for a minute. He knew all to well that he’d get chewed out when he returned - but Alaric didn’t care.

‘That stupid Fisjo will get what’s coming to him soon,’ thought Alaric darkly, a scowl etched on his rugged features, ‘and I’ll be the one to dish it out to him.’ Clenching his fists angrily, Alaric winced as a shaft of pain spread through his palms. Staring down at his hands, wrapped up from his lowest knuckles halfway to his elbows in grimy bandages, he noticed that blood was seeping through the cloth again. Just another reminder of the Fisjo’s cruelty. The overseer had slashed Alaric’s palms and wrists when he hadn’t promptly obeyed his commands. The burning pain he was suffering from those cuts as he mined made Alaric wish with his every fiber that he could get his hands around Fisjo’s Tiejed neck right away - or even a whole lot of them. The sight of the Tiejed’s strangely human like, yet alien forms; along with their olive toned scales contrasting to their milky white eyes made Alaric sick to his stomach. ‘Death would mean nothing if I could just kill some of those monsters.’ He thought with grim determination.

A bellow of rage interrupted his dark thoughts of revenge. ‘ALARIC!’ Even out by the deposit site, Alaric could still hear the annoyed roar of the overseer. Fisjo g’ Marsem was one of the cruelest Tiejed operating the mines, but there wasn’t much to choose between them all. With a grunt of anger, Alaric crunched the gears of the flat.

The ‘Great Hall’, as the miners knew it, was the hub of all activity. Roughly carved out of steely gray rock, the dome shaped cave had snaking passages radiating out from it that wriggled deeper into the pulsing heart of the planet. This dark, subterranean network of tunnels became a lacy artery, and as Alaric moved through them, he zipped past all the activity that pumped the precious cargo of violet-red stones to the surface, and made the people richer.

Parking in the flat the Hall, he blandly wondered just what was ahead for him. The thunderous look on Fisjo’s scaly face only showed a glimpse of the brooding maelstrom within. As soon as Alaric nonchalantly jumped out of the flat two hulking Tiejed d'clan, the equivalent of human guards, grabbed his arms. With a smirk Alaric went as limp as a soggy piece of bread, forcing the brown and olive spotted guards to hoist his six-foot, eighty-kilo frame across the dusty steel gray terrain.

When the guards had reached the foot of the overseer’s platform, they tried to make Alaric stand by himself, but he slouched worse then ever, lolling against the grimy steel frame work of the six stories high pavilion. ‘Get him up here!’ Bellowed the angry voice from above. Passing through the security system that encircled the entire base of the tower, Alaric and his guards finally made it up to the only level in the whole building. The one at the very top.

As wide as half a football field, the floor was fenced, roofless and completely spherical. A smooth, angular blue control room dominated the open space. But there was only one thing that Alaric had eyes for - the single way out of this blood and sweat drenched mine. The narrow catwalk stretched from the top of the pavilion to the mines small entrance, which was closed up with thick steel doors. Alaric intently studied the sole escape path he had to take. This was only the second time he had ever seen it this close. Once when he had been brought in as child of ten, and today. Huge crystal pillars sat at the ends of the path, on either side. Security lasers crisscrossed the entrances, cutting off the black catwalk so completely it may as well not even be there. Unless he could get to the control room.

But even as Alaric contemplated all this, Fisjo had stormed over to them and yelled for the guards to release him. Slouching against the dusty black fence, Alaric shut his ears impassively as Fisjo let lose a fiery tirade. Bits and pieces of Fisjo’s lecture floated around in the caves below - Alaric just went on mentally snoozing. It took a crashing commotion at the entrance to finally snag his drifting attention. A heavy block of guards where clanking across the metal walk. Lifting the security gates for a flicker, the group in black sashes came through and separated, standing in a horseshoe curve encircling a slim figure in lavender.

Alaric caustically raised an eyebrow. The girl was delicately beautiful - she moved with a total control and elegance indicating high status and thorough education. What would some highbrow personage be doing down here? Fisjo stepped forward as Alaric expected, yet instead of bowing low he stood imperiously before the ice still maiden. ‘So you got her - took long enough.’ The growled approval was addressed the surrounding guards. A flicker of surprise crossed Alaric’s masked features at this unusual procedure - what was going on? He cocked his head, his curiosity aroused as he watched closely.

‘Yes, we got her, but you’d better watch her. She tried to escape three times.’ The captain of the guards wisely omitted the fact that she had gotten away every time. It had taken a twenty-six d’clan squadron to finally get her in.

‘Well, she’ll be carefully guarded.’ Fisjo grinned, his stained, yellowing fangs embodying a hideous malevolence. Swiftly turning, Fisjo strode over to the apparently sleeping Alaric. ‘And I know just the person to be her caretaker.’ Fisjo lashed out at Alaric’s prone figure, even as Alaric agilely slipping out of reach. Snarling, Fisjo lurched forward, as if to go after him, but he knew all to well that it would take too much time to lay his hands on quicksilver Alaric.

Contenting himself instead with his future plans, Fisjo changed his direction abruptly. Grabbing the arm of the girl with a tenacious clench, Fisjo flung her to ground at Alaric’s feet. ‘If she gets away, you die, and if she dies - you die.’ He breathed murderously. Thick silence fell upon the pavilion as the cluster of Tiejed waited for Alaric’s reply. ‘Yes-’ Alaric paused, waiting long enough so that the compulsory title became a stinging insult. ‘sir.’

Fisjo’s face twisted into a hideous snarl - hatred cascaded from every pore. The desire to kill was mutual - the only thing the two men could agree on. Locked in an explosion of wills, Fisjo’s fiery, volcanic disgust clashed with Alaric’s calm, lethal, but just as passionate, loathing. The tension rose to a tumult of flaming resentment, as smoldering golden eyes met with rock-hard white ones. Fisjo spun around, breaking the battle of wills as he heard a shout of alarm from a guard below. Swiftly he marched back into his control room to deal with the problem.

Alaric’s piercing gold eyes lit up in triumph as he watched the slinky figure stomp away. Then, with a sneer, he looked down at girl huddled at his feet. ‘She doesn’t look like she could hurt a flea - let alone escape!’ He mocked coldly. To his surprise he saw her violet eyes flash stormily, and her lithe body stiffened. Then something fluttered over her face, changing her features so that she looked pathetically weak - a change that Alaric recognized instantly. She had done what he did so often, drawing a veil over her true thoughts, cloaking her real potential. ‘This,’ he thought with a brief flicker of amusement, ‘could be interesting.’

‘Take them away!’ Came the bellowing order, but it was soon drowned out in the piercing shriek of the end-of-work siren. The shrill wail accompanied the d’clan, Alaric and the silent young lady down to the floor of the Great Hall. Stepping out, Alaric turned, ‘I’ll show you the barracks.’ He drawled, striding away through the endless stream of jaded humanity. Moving swiftly through the weary people Alaric made his way to the living quarters. Pausing at the doorway, he scanned the crowd, fully expecting to see the girl struggling her way towards him. Everyone in the mines always complained because he walked too fast, so Alaric wasn’t shocked when he couldn’t see her. With a shrug he turned to go in and was mildly surprised to see her right behind him, melting into the wall like a ghostly shadow. Cocking an eyebrow, he lazily dismissed it - after all, just because she had kept up with him didn’t mean anything. The pampered brat would get what’s coming to her.

At that thought, glimmer a sympathy seeped through him, but he brushed it away crossly as he lead the way down the darkened tunnels to their sleeping barracks. Why should he feel sorry for her? She had a fine life it seemed, out on the surface. He hadn't been outside for eleven years. But that was all going to change before another year was through, he solemnly vowed - and when it does... ‘I’m coming for you Magnuson!’ A dark scowl shaded his face and his soul at the mere thought of that betrayer. Still pulsing black anger he turned to the silent girl. ‘This is where we sleep.’

Alaric watched as the girl stopped dead and stared. Funny how he'd never noticed it all before - the open rooms seething with sleeping, yelling, gambling, fighting people. Men and women crammed in every available spot. He smirked. That'll be the least of her troubles. Eerie silence fell over the entire room. Like one, the mass of broken bodies stood up and came milling towards them. Fearfully the slim figure pressed back. Alaric yawned, stretching and lent against one of the ancient bunk-frames. With a flick of his head, he stared the hostile crowds down. At that, zombie-like crowd dispersed and everything was back to normal.

He looked down at the confused girl. ‘What’s your name?’ He asked shortly. She jumped, and for an instant he stared into her deep violet eyes, then she looked down whispering, ‘Raelei Diosa Mendora K.’
‘Alaric.’ He spoke down to her bent head, then trust a grimy, bandaged wrapped hand at her. Hesitantly Raelei shook it slowly, glancing up at her guide.

‘Come.’ He spun on his heel and started to weave his way through the maze of people. ‘This is where you’ll be sleeping and living.’ Alaric told Raelei shortly. She studied the bed he had indicated to. Alaric narrowed his eyes – yes, it was the one on the top, and it was filthy, but it was situated in a little niche, with at least three walls for privacy. Let her say one word... He threatened silently. ‘Who will be sleeping beneath me?’ She asked quietly, gazing at the bottom bunk.

Alaric studied her intently, making her squirm. Tilting his head, he answered. ‘Me.’ Raelei whipped her head up, her eyes widening. ‘Is that necessary?’ She barely whispered the words, but Alaric heard her clearly. 'Yup. I’m your guard.’ He replied, a cocky half-smile flicking over his face. Turning away he left the shell-shocked girl frozen by the bed. ‘I’ll be back soon - go to bed now. There’s an early start tomorrow.’ He ordered, disappearing into the crowd, only to stop when out of sight and watch her closely.

Climbing up the rusty ladder, she didn’t bother to make any sleeping preparations - she didn’t even untie her hair. She knelt on the creaking bed, brushing the worst of the dirt and filth off in a trance. Dead to all the curious stares, she slipped her nightgown out from under her dress and laid it over the top of the threadbare mattress. Lying down, she curled up in a tight ball, turning her back to the masses.
Grunting, Alaric strode away. At least she obeyed orders.

* * * * *

‘Aaayyyuuuuhhh!’ The shriek filled the air, ripping through the peaceful, sleepy silence. Alaric bolted upright, instantly awake and ready for trouble. He peered into the enfolding gloom, trying to make out where the scream had resounded from - he could hear nothing but harsh breathing. Puzzled, he lay back down, preparing to resume his sleep. A ghost of a thought brushed across his mind as he drifted back to sleepy unconsciousness - had it been Raelei? ‘Sh'lac.’ He swore softly. He'd better make sure she was alright. He didn't want to get killed. Slipping off his bed he shinnied up the worn ladder in a flash. Alaric made out the dim shape of her sitting up - huddled in a trembling ball; her head buried deep in her knees.

‘Did something happen?’ He whispered. Raelei looked up, and in the gloom Alaric saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. ‘No.’ She choked out, ‘I’m sorry I woke you - I’m alright.’ Alaric cocked his head, ‘If you’re alright, I’m the Governor of the Tri-Quadrant.’ He replied. Raelei stared at him in the murky black light - bewilderment scribed on her face. After a moment she shook her head, her silky hair softy whispering with her movement. ‘I’m alright - go back to bed.’

Alaric raised his eyebrow - ‘If you wish, m'lady.’ The sarcasm escaped, and he didn't try to stop it. Sliding down the ladder and into his bed, he could hear her lie back down. Cussing softly Alaric reprimanded himself for trying to get involved. No matter who it was, in the end he was better off by hiself.

* * * * *

The persistent wail of the morning siren echoed through the barrack caves, prodding the sleeping workers to get up and come for their daily ration of food and water. Lining up in one of the numerous rooms off the Great Hall the scraggly people ranged from youngsters of ten to fossilized elders, each one with the same haggard, drooping face. Alaric watched Raelei gaze fearfully around around at the odd assortment. It wouldn't take long before she too become one of the ranks, joining in the mundane toil of hopelessness.

A shout distracted him. ‘Alaric! You so owe me another game of Cobble Pio!’ Alaric raised an eyebrow, ‘Get real Kai! I whip your butt every time we play!’ A flaxen haired young man shook his head vigorously as he walked past. ‘I’ll get my Yion back someday ya'know.’

'Sure.' Alaric dismissed the claim. He other things to worry about. Especially after they got their morning rations. Fisjo was up to something...

Inching forward slowly, the line moved on, until the person in front of Alaric finally moved away, and it was their turn. Snatching up the grubby piece of paper with a written order, Alaric swiftly scanned the faded lines, then blinked. Not another inch of emotion did escape, but inside he was quivering with rage. This order, he knew, was Fisjo's doing, his way of getting his own back on Alaric.

...~*~....

Author's Note.

Please tell me what you think, and leave any comments and critques you have.
Thankyou for reading A Strand of Reality.
:) Italics.

A Strand of Reality - Chap. 2  (13+) It's a struggle for life as the mine releases danger for Alaric and Raelei. #845087 by Italics