Halflander Chronicles

Chapter 1 – Over and a Half

Alex was laid out on the hard stone, his eyes wide open and staring out into the dark abyss of the Underland. Sitting next to him in an upright position was a bat with beautiful chocolate brown fur.

Alex made a click noise and an almost immediate awareness of his surroundings hit him. He was lying with his sleeping bond, Hera, in a tunnel far from the human city of Regalia.

A tapping noise reached his ears and his attention turned towards the direction of the sound.

"Hera," he said softly. The bat opened her eyes and looked on through the darkness at her bond. Her black eyes would practically be invisible to him if he weren't skilled with echolocation.

"Yes?"

"Someone is coming this way," he said. Hera prepared herself, but in a tunnel so narrow, she wouldn't be able to do much. Alex stepped toward the direction of the noise and picked up his sword, still sheathed in the scabbard.

A voice called out from the direction Alex faced. The voice sounded high, clearly feminine, and completely nervous. "Hello? Is anyone around here?" Alex eased up and followed the sound of her voice with Hera following close behind.

A young girl standing alone in the dim light shining from above her was what he saw. She was different from him. Her skin was tan, he hair was dark brown and her eyes were a light chestnut color. An Overlander.

"Excuse me, miss, but did you happen to fall down here?" Alex said stepping forward into the dim light. She stared at him for a moment, her face showing her fear and confusion as clear as glass.

"Um, yeah, that's right. I was just doing the laundry when I heard a noise coming from the grate. I went to find out what it was and I ended up falling." She looked up at the long pit she fell through. "Ah man, my dad's going to get worried if I'm gone too long."

Hera answered from the darkness; "We can return you to your home if you'd like." The girl looked into the darkness, squinting her eyes to see if she can see who spoke.

"Who said that?"

"That was my friend, Hera. I shall properly introduce you to her, but first you must promise that you will remain calm. Her appearance, to an Overlander like you, may come as a shock," Alex warned. She nodded her head in agreement and Hera approached the two.

"A b-bat!?"

"Down here, we refer to them as Flyers," Alex corrected calmly. "Don't worry about Hera. She won't harm you. Now, if you wish to return to the Overland, you must climb onto her back." The girl reluctantly paced towards the brown ten-foot high bat.

Another tapping noise broke through and Alex immediately pulled out his sword and turned toward the direction of the sound. "Hera, get the Overlander safely up to the Overland. A group of Cutters are approaching."

"Hurry, Overlander," Hera purred. The girl jumped at hearing Hera speak, but climbed awkwardly onto the bat's back. Hera spread her wings and shot up through the hole the line was shining through, leaving Alex alone with the Cutters as they got closer to him.

"Cutters, what is your business in this area?" Alex demanded. A series of clicks shot through the darkness. That information won't be of use to you when you die here, Killer!

Alex narrowed his eyes and leaped into the darkness and swung his sword down at the nearest Cutter, who was too slow to react. A limb dropped to the stone floor and Alex quickly moved onto the next opponent, dispatching his enemies as swiftly as he was able.

A few of the Cutters managed to land a few attacks, causing wounds on his legs and lower torso. He tapped his foot and, along with all other noises, was able to tell that there were still a large number of enemies left. He may be skilled, but he couldn't fight forever.
Alex began to slowly pace backwards. The Cutters would exhaust him soon enough at this rate.

"Alex, jump!"

Upon command, Alex leaped into the air and spread his legs as Hera flew under him and soared out of the tunnel and up the hole in the ceiling. Thankfully, the tunnel he was fighting in was much bigger than the tunnel that he and Hera were resting in.

"Why are we soaring up to the Overland, Hera?"

"The Cutters will just follow us and not all the tunnels are large enough for me to fly through," she answered, "They could easily catch up to us."

The light shining through the upward tunnel started getting brighter as they shot up through it and it was starting to hurt Alex's eyes. Eventually, Hera stopped her ascent and the girl from before leaned over the hole, looking down at the two of them.

"Don't worry, there's nobody in the room. You can come up," she said. Hera obliged her and finished her ascent and climbed fully into the room, allowing Alex to climb off her back.

It took Alex a while to adjust to the light. Being in a land as dark as the Underland and then coming to a place as bright as the Overland was blinding. After he finally managed to adjust to the light, he managed to fully open his eyes. He observed the room with his slanted violet eyes.

Machines were pushed up against the walls in rows and off at the far end of the room was a doorway that led to a flight of stairs leading upward. He looked at the girl and thanked her. It was only then that the girl managed to get a good look at Alex.

He was 5'6" with slanted violet eyes, short black hair and pale skin. (However, not 'Underland Pale') He had a fairly muscular build and his face was angular and his clothes looked plain.

"So, your name is Alex, yeah?" she asked. He nodded his head and turned to Hera. She must have told her their names. "What's with your eyes and your skin is so pale. How long have you been down there?"

"My eye color is natural amongst the Humans of the Underland and while my skin is pale, it is not quite as pale as that of the Humans that live down there. As for how long I have lived in the Underland, I must say that I have lived there my entire life," he explained. "However, I am only a Halflander. My mother, as I have been told, came from this place."

"Wow, really? Well, my name is Rachel. Thanks for getting me home." Alex simply nodded his head in return and approached the grate.

"Hera, let's go. The Cutters must have left by now and we don't want to scare any Overlanders that may walk in. Fly you high, Rachel." Alex climbed onto her back and Hera dropped down back into the Underland. He could hear Rachel calling out to him, but her words were a stretch to understand. He managed to make out the words "be back," but he doubted he would see her again.

As predicted, the Cutters had moved on. Killing one Human was a waste of time, apparently. He climbed off Hera's back and walked back into the darkness. "Hera, what day do you suppose it is?"

"It's the exact day that you think it is," she purred softly.

He huffed and continued walking. "Then I suppose we might as well pay her a visit."

It took an hour to free themselves of the winding tunnels. To Alex, it was only natural, but to Hera, it was torture having to trot through the tunnels and sidle through the especially narrow ones. However, once free of them, Alex mounted on top of her back and she took off into the air, flying the rest of the way towards their destination.

A city appeared in the distance, lit up for the sake of the Humans residing there. Hera flew directly over the tallest structure in the city. She landed inside what was called the High Hall through the top, where there was no roof.

As soon as Alex climbed off of Hera, an old man approached. He smiled sweetly at the two of them and said, "Persephone is in the nursery."

Alex smiled at the old man and moved to exit the High Hall. "Thank you, Vikus."

The quiet noise of his bare feet against the cold stone floor hit his ears every half second as he made his way to the nursery. Persephone was a young Halflander girl who was turning twelve today. Every now and then, Alex would visit the Human city, Regalia. He usually did it to see old friends, but now wasn't the case. On his last visit, Persephone told him her birthday was approaching and he promised her he'd come to the city for it.

The moment he and Hera reached the nursery, a weight hit him and he almost fell over. "You've come!" A young girl had ran, full speed, at him and nearly tackled him.

"Be careful, Persephone, you could have knocked me over," Alex said, patting her head. She was a girl of about three and a half feet high and had pale skin and violet eyes, just like the Underlanders, but her hair was brown.

An older girl came over and gently pulled Persephone away from Alex. She, too, had pale skin, but her eyes were brown. Her hair, however, was silver, just like the Underlanders.
"I'm sorry Alex," she muttered sheepishly. "She's just excited." The woman that pulled Persephone away was the young girl's older sister, Jillian. A young woman of the age of twenty, just like Alex. She was often shy and typically avoided speaking with others. Alex was one of the exceptions.

"It is quite all right, Jillian, I'm well aware of how excitable she is," Alex replied with a smile. He kneeled down to Persephone and pulled the pack off his back and reached into it. He pulled out a dagger with a cold steel blade and a stone handle. "Happy Birthday, Persephone."

She took the dagger from his hands and Jillian and Alex had to advise her six times to be careful and not run with it. "Remember to see Mareth. You must learn to use it properly. And remember, this is for self-defense. I do not wish to come to Regalia later on and find out that you've been antagonizing others."

She nodded her head and ran off with the dagger, encased in its scabbard.

A woman and man far older than Persephone and Jillian entered the nursery and approached Alex.

The woman was clearly an Underlander, with silver hair, deep lavender eyes, and pale skin. On her head was a gold circlet and her mouth was in the form of a half smile.

The man was an Overlander with calm brown eyes, short brown hair, and skin that must have needed much light. He, too, had a gold circlet on his head, but rather than the woman's somewhat smug expression, he had a carefree expression and a much more casual smile on his lips.

"Alex, I see that the you have decided to arrive and celebrate our daughter's birthday," the woman said. Alex nodded his head and allowed a small smile to spread on his face.

"Indeed, Queen Luxa, King Gregor. I promised her I would."
"Thanks for making good on your word, too, Alex," Gregor added. "We appreciate it."

"Not at all, King Gregor. I'm always a man of my word."

"Stop calling me that. Just call me by my name. Me being the warrior didn't stop you before," Gregor said with a laugh. Alex, in turn, laughed as well. Luxa, while the two were laughing, looked over at Persephone and saw the dagger in her hands.

"So you refuse to fight with our army, but you will hand a dagger over to a young child?" she questioned with a raised brow. Alex narrowed his eyes at her.

"It is merely for self defense. I have told her this and advised her against starting fights. If she does, I will relieve her of the weapon." Luxa nodded her head, but her gaze seemed condescending. Alex always hated it when she did this.

Hera was playing with the other children and letting them ride on her back while she hopped across the nursery. Normally she'd fly, but there was no hole in the ceiling like in the High Hall. "Begging your pardon, Queen Luxa," she said after the kids climbed off her back, "But my bond's father, Adrian, helped you with an important matter that you alone couldn't have handled. I may be crossing a line, but I believe it is not your right to pester my bond about what he does after all his family has done for you."

Luxa narrowed her eyes at Hera with an irritated glare, but resisted the urge to speak further. "If you continue your futile attempts to persuade us into your army and your war, then we will leave and never come back," the Flyer continued. Alex nodded in confirmation.

Jillian and Persephone seemed bothered by it and turned to their mother. Fearing that she would never hear the end of it from them, she finally huffed and replied, "Very well. Go about your business however you see fit."

"Thank you, Luxa, we will," Alex replied, a smile returning to his face. Gregor looked at Luxa and Alex and smiled nervously.
"Hey Alex, come with me," Gregor said. Alex trusted Gregor far more than he trusted Luxa, so he followed the Overlander out of the nursery, leaving Luxa and Hera behind. Jillian, however, followed them at a distance.

Gregor and Alex entered Regalia's arena, where three canons were being brought in and Underlanders young and old were preparing for a special sort of training exercise. "What is it you wished to bring me here for?" Alex asked.

"I know that you're determined to stay out of our armies, but I kind of want to see how good you are with a sword. Would you mind taking the Blood Balls exercise?"

Alex wanted to decline, but unlike Luxa, Gregor respected his decisions and he felt he should repay him by at least taking part in the exercise. "Very well, I shall do it, but only because YOU asked me. If your wife had asked it of me, I would have declined in a heartbeat."
Gregor chuckled as Alex headed out and stood in center. The canons began firing the fifteen blood balls at Alex and he swung his sword at them until the exercise was over. He looked among the blood balls he had cut into and fourteen broken blood balls and one untouched blood ball lay on the floor of the arena.

Gregor, the trainees, and Jillian, who had just arrived looked at him, impressed.

"Is that all?"

Author's Note:

Thank you all for reading this. As most of you don't know, this fanfiction right here is the third version. The first version featured Alex as a thirteen-year-old Overlander who was visiting the Underland for the first time and being wrapped up in a prophecy. That version was scrapped, as I didn't want Alex to be too similar to Gregor.

The second version featured him as a fully-grown adult Halflander living outside Regalia with Hera, his bond, and a Nibbler named Melcred when he's apprehended by Regalian soldiers after a confrontation with Jillian, who, in that version, was more like her mother Luxa.

This final version, as you've read, takes a little from both previous versions. Alex is younger, but not necessarily a child either. He's a Halflander that's already bonded with a Flyer and he mostly lives outside of Regalia. Not to mention, Jillian is back to her original concept as being a shy girl that follows Alex around like a puppy when she's able.

As for the story, it shall remain roughly the same. There won't be a prophecy for this fiction, but the main conflict shows that the Underland in general is at war with the Cutters who wish to tear down all warm-blooded creatures.

The past two versions of the story were discontinued due to the fact that I hadn't fully thought the story through.

In spite of this, the first version had had eight chapters uploaded before being discontinued, whereas the second version only had one. I'm afraid that if you want to read the first two versions of the story, you won't be able to, as I'm no longer in possession of the files. I apologize, but if I manage to dig them up (And I might be able to) from the laptops trash, I may be able to reupload the two version for your enjoyment.

Anyways, thanks for reading.

Reploid7,

Signing off!