Chapter 5

Heksis had never gotten the opportunity to socialize with other children of his age, he was too young, and Kelvi knew he was too clingy for her to be able to drop him off at a daycare. He was going to soon though, once he'd grown more. She'd had told him that he wasn't old enough to be on his own, but she said that in a few more months he'd be able to go. If he proved he was responsible enough, but that was before. This is now.

When he finally woke up, all he could see was stone, illuminated slightly by the spectral blue glow of his eyes. He felt himself begin to pant gentle, panicked puffs of humid air that lingered in front of him for a few seconds before fading. A wall of cracked stone was in front of him, multiple cracks between it running down to his feet. He followed the cracks up to the top, seeing how the stone was covered near the top by another stone. He lowered his head and followed the cracks down the wall of this crevice that he'd become stuck in, but shadowy forms prevented him from seeing all the way to the bottom. It took him a few seconds to realize that the stone had fallen on him. He curled his mandibles slightly in confusion, ordered his left leg to move up, but it only moved a little bit before a bolt of pain shot up his leg, trickled down his thigh and stabbed into his vertebrae. The boy hadn't ever felt anything like this before, he'd never experienced jagged pain like this, or much pain at all for that matter.

His eyes shined on the rocks slightly, and he couldn't help but squint his eyes slightly from the small yet striking reflection. Pain from the dripping tears and slices gnawed from below his knee. Tears gathered until he blinked, forcing them to slide down his face. He shut his mandibles tightly, pressing them against each other as a few drops ran down them to his throat, before a current of tears poured out and he let out a weak howl in pain. He couldn't hold it, he couldn't hold in a feeling like this, and he soon added onto the howling as he squawked out as hard as his lungs would allow, but there was no response aside from his own echo.

He still felt the pain in his leg, but howling seemed to vibrate his very being, tapping the small crack he felt at the very core of his lower leg. He alternated panting for air and yelping for help as the tears ran down to his mandibles and continued to streak down to his throat. The pain was paralyzing, crippling, and he felt like his body would give out from it all. He'd die, the black emptiness he'd felt every night in his crib creeping in, the quiet sleeping void that no consciousness could exit once submersed. He'd only dipped himself in it, peaceful sleep was something did enjoy greatly. But he didn't want to sleep forever, never to wake. He could hear a steady scraping sound above him, sounds of tearing and slashing that only reminded him of the noises Kelvi's knife made as she sliced up his meat for him into tiny easier to chew bits. A loud scream burst through the rocks above him, far too high pitched to come from anyone he knew. The horrible sound frightened him, far more than the squishy slashes that reminded him of cut meat made for him. He felt a cold shiver run through his neck, and his neck began to twitch, puffing the fur in his neck out. He shivered, and the vibration brought back the painful sensation in his leg. But he only let out a whimper, too weak to howl as loud as before and too scared to make any loud noises. He'd never felt this kind of emotion, never felt it's consistent grip: Fear. Not from what had happened, not from where he'd been trapped, but from the strange screams that pierced through the stone above him.

A scream can only come from a mouth. These couldn't have come from an eliksni like him. Hek's shoulder tightened against his body, with his upper left arm slowly being brought up to his mandibles and getting pushed into his mandibles, holding them there to keep them from opening and letting out even the smallest of noises. Only whimpers helped appease the pain in his leg, a loud howl or a pained squawk would only attract the attention of...whatever was above him. The urge to live surpassed any physical pain he could ever feel. It covered up the pain, smothering over it to prevent it from transforming into sound. He must survive. He must live. If the thing above him hears him, he won't live. So he had to be quiet, even when his leg seemed to scream at him, with the pain from the broken limb clawing at him to do the same. All he could do was sit there, fidgeting slightly and letting out a hushed whimper as he let the tears simply flow down his face down to his throat. The shaking felt uncontrollable. But his will to stay silent kept it from vibrating the rock fragments around him too much. He heard another scream from above, and he felt the vibration of another biped approach, feeling the faint vibrations as feet stepped through stone, and the rapid crunch of snow as it was carelessly trod upon. Two feet. He recognized the sound. He'd been able to feel the vibrations coming from his mother when she walked into the room. And yet...this was different. The creature above him walked on two feet, just like an adult would. Except the vibrations...the amount of snow he could faintly hear being crushed under their feet as the chilly winds howled in the background, as if the wind itself wished to silent the creature's approach. The two legged creature was lighter than an adult was, he could tell from the vibrations. They didn't weigh as much. No adult eliksni would weigh so little. Another scream pierced the calming mountain wind, ending with a lower pitch then before, as if communicating. He brought both of his upper arms up to his head, wrapping them around himself in a shivery self hug as another scream pierced into his shelter.

He could feel the gentle but steady grip of unconsciousness grasp his mind, but the boy was too frightened by whatever was above him to give into its embrace willingly. Both sets of arms were free, but they wouldn't be able to do much in this situation. Not right now. Both felt cramped, since there hadn't been much space for them. A small opening in the stone above him came into view, which was just a small little opening that the slab hadn't covered up when it fell down onto the hole. Another rock had fallen over it from what Heksis could see, and he soon began to hear the noises above him. Several loud panicked shouts and howls were coming from the distance, but Heksis could only barely hear them. From one place was the sound of someone landing down on the snow, sounding like they'd jumped down from a large rock or a small hill. The boy then began to hear several lightweight but rapid footsteps nearby, with the sound of snow crunching beneath feet being a heard on his ears for a few seconds before the snow had gotten crunched too much, and had flattened out. But that didn't scare him. Loud, mindless screams and high pitched cries barraged his ears, flooding in through the gaps between the stones above him. He felt his chest tighten as he felt something he'd never felt before. Fear.

The boy had passed out after a few minutes.

"I found them!" The voice muttered a word he'd never heard before. "We have a child over here!" The voice called out as he felt a light shine in his face brightly. He couldn't see anything. He felt the rock fragment holding his leg up lift. The suppressed tears ran freely.

"Mommy? I didn't move! Where are you?" he asked as the light was shined in his face, using his hands as shields.

"It's alright...Your mommy is okay." The voice soothed as he felt someone grab under his shoulders and lift him up. He couldn't do anything. No no no! Mommy said not to move! What if she came back and didn't find him? She'd be alone.

"No wait! My mommy said to stay there for when she comes back! I don't...I-I can't..." He muttered loudly as his arms went limp, his hands no longer protecting his face and the whole world being white. He felt reality begin slipping away...

That's when he heard his mommy's voice again. "Heksis. My light," was all he heard. And then everything faded to black, voices distant.

"He's going critical! Get him on the ship! He's the only one left! Now! Move it now!" The voice said. A scurry of movement and hurried footsteps. "Hurry! Hurry! He's the only one…"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

At first, it was all black. Featureless void that encompassed everything around him. Heksis felt weightless, free even. From what he wasn't sure, but it was relieving nonetheless. Down the back of his neck he felt a soft hand gently stroke his fur. 'Mother,' he thought, but then the strokes stopped. Panic seized him, and his eyes flew open to reveal a similar blackness but this time with white dots shining against the limitless horizon. Then a stranger's face, silver with age along with deep green eyes, interrupted his view. Concern was the only thing Heksis could see on her face, much like that of his mother when he overstepped his own abilities.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright," she said with a sigh of relief. "You gave us quite the scare there Heksis."

He strained to look left and right. "H-how do you know my name?" he rasped. "W-where am I? Wh…" A finger covered his mouth.

"Shhhh," the stranger cooed. "I know you have a lot of questions, but please take it easy. We can't have you hurting yourself even more." Heksis looked down at his leg. The pain was practically nonexistent, but there was a strange looking covering on his leg. The inside felt smooth against his fur, but the outside looked rather rough.

"My leg...it doesn't hurt," he observed aloud.

The stranger chuckled. "I would hope not little one. We gave you some special medicine while you were asleep to make it not hurt while it gets better."

"W-while I was asleep?" he asked. He tore his eyes away from the strange thing on his leg and saw several cords protruding from his arms. The sight of them scared him, but as he moved to take them out of his left arms, the stranger lightly restricted the rights from moving anywhere past his chest.

"I wouldn't touch those," she warned. "Those are what will make you better."

"Oh," he responded. His eyes followed the cables into strange machines around him that beeped and buzzed. The stranger followed his gaze and said, "Yep. Those too." She shifted in her seat and adjusted the white cloak she wore around her. "Can I get you anything to drink or eat?"

"I want my mommy," he stated plainly.

An uncomfortable look flashed across her face. "I'm not sure where she is darling. Sorry, but you have me. I'm Dasia."

"I don't want Dasia," he refused as tears began to well up in his eyes. "I want my mommy."

Dasia quickly tried to push the tears out of his eyes, but they were immediately replaced by more, an unending flood as it dawned on Heksis that something wasn't right with the world. An emptiness began to fill him from the inside, and he didn't like it. "Please, please don't cry little one." She continued to try and stem the tears, but they only moved faster. She eventually stopped and began to stroke his fur as he cried himself back to sleep.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

BANG! Heksis jumped from his dreamless sleep to discover himself alone in a room different from the one he'd been in earlier. This one was all white with still the same machines, but the lack of environment outside was suffocating. The lights blinded Heksis as he opened his eyes. As his hearing woke up, he heard heavy footsteps and loud voices encroaching the large metal door. Quietly, Heksis waited, listening to the voices and trying to understand what was going on.

"Nurse, I strongly suggest you get out of my way," an angry, gruff voice ordered from beyond the door.

Then came the voice of Dasia. "With all due respect Captain, I can't let you. He's still in bad shape. Stressing him out will only make the situation worse. He was scared when I was in there with him a few hours ago, and I can't imagine someone like you would do any better." There was a loud crash against the door and a sharp yelp. Dasia's voice sounded a lot more strained. "I'd rather die than let you harm him."

"Would you now?" the gruff voice mused. There was a silence followed by a gasp. "That certainly can be arranged. After all, I am the Captain, and you are easily replaced."

"Please, Captain Giln, you can't do this. He's only a child. Barely out of infancy. What you do can scar him for life! Give me three days. I'll accelerate his meds, keep him asleep, just let him be." Dasia's voice sounded stressed and urgent.

"Ha! He'll learn one day how the world really works. Who says it can't be today. Now step aside before I make you!" There was an unpleasant scrape of metal against metal that forced Heksis to cover his ears in pain. "You're going to regret doing that," the rough voice muttered. Suddenly, Dasia screamed for but a moment, followed by a solid and wet thud against the floor. "Hmph," the voice growled. "Haul the body away, but leave the head."

Heksis didn't know what was to come, but he didn't like the sound of it. He quickly threw the white sheets over his head despite the small pricks of pain the cables in his arm sent. The door hissed open and then shut quickly after, accompanied by a faint dragging sound that was fairly noticeable only during the short window when the door was ajar. "Spineless fools," the figure Heksis assumed was Giln muttered. "Ought to kill every single of them on this ship." His voice picked up in volume. "Kid, let it be said that nobody has ever succeeded through inaction. If you want something to happen, you have to work for it. You want everyone to listen to what you, make a few examples of those who don't listen." Something heavy landed on the bed, and a dark wetness began gathering at his blanketed feet. A shadow covered where Heksis lay and suddenly, the weight shifted towards the end of the bed opposite of the wet weight. The wetness began to leak through the blanket and touch his uncasted leg.

"I'm not asking when I say you need to come out of that blanket, or I'll tear it to shreds myself." He was far from soothing and still sounded angry, but Heksis couldn't bring himself to do it. "Let me try that again," Giln said. "Come out or I'll rebreak that leg of yours and all of your other appendages." Heksis didn't know what an appendage was, but he certainly did not want to have his leg broken again. Slowly yet fearfully, he peered out from beneath the blanket and saw a broad, muscular Eliksni in gold and white clothing that was different from anything he'd seen before. It looked hard and covered almost every part of him except for his head. On his back was an odd strip of tough-looking material and a large black object that was blocky on one side and much thinner on the other. He had no clue what it was, but it frightened him almost as much as what the wetness was. On the right side of the bed was a head with dull green eyes, silver with age, Dasia. A reddish-purple liquid Heksis recognized as blood soaked the blanket and sheets from its place atop the bed, spreading closer to where he had retreated the foot that had touched it. Fear once again gripped him as he could not tear his eyes away from the severed head.

"Was that so hard?" Heksis continued to stare. Giln followed his stare to the head. "Quit staring at it kid, or the cowardice will rub off on you. She was soft, and in war, you can't afford to relent to anything. Feelings cloud judgement, and when everything goes wrong, you need to be able to pull yourself out of a bad situation without any hesitation, or you'll all end up dead."

Heksis stared for a moment longer, gazing into the blank, unseeing eyes and seeing the horror forever frozen in them during that last moment. Tears began to well up once more, but he successfully held these back, trying to stay strong like he knew his mommy would want him to be. He'd heard of people like this in the stories his mother once read, called them 'bullies,' and this Giln seemed to fit the descriptions to the letter, but he didn't know how to react to such a person and doubted he could do much with his leg.

He tore his gaze from the head and fixated it on the long silver piece of metal the large Eliksni held in his hand. The same reddish-purple blood coated the top section of it. "Disgusting,' Giln murmured. "I can see the cowardice corroding my blade." Giln's eyes turned toward the blanket. "You don't mind if I clean my sword do you?" Before Heksis could piece together a thought, the Captain wrenched the blanket from the corner of the bed and wiped the blood off the sword with it. Satisfied with its sheen, he pointed it Heksis direction so that it was a sharp, thin line in the center of his vision. "Never fight your enemy with a dirty blade. A clean blade makes your intentions crystal clear: you're focused only on their demise." Giln tilted the blade so that Heksis could see his own face in the metal. His eyes glowed bright, but his face read of horror, shock, and wonder. Everything stayed silent and deathly still. Heksis' eyes darted between his reflection in the blade and the severed head sitting in the corner. He found it hard to believe that it was, moments ago, living and breathing and trying to prevent this powerful and intimidating figure from entering. However, he didn't know what to make of this situation. His voice was serious and his demeanor aggressive, but he hadn't done anything to upset Heksis other than the still-frightening head that he began to avert his gaze from.

Giln suddenly retracted the blade and sheathed it. "Lessons for when you're older," he said, his voice becoming less angry but still intense. "Alright kid, there are two ways we can do this. Tell me what I need to know here and now, and I'll see what I can do to find your mother. Don't, and I can't guarantee your survival one way or another."

Heksis wasn't too sure what that entailed, but it didn't sound much better than having his leg broken again. "Okay," Heksis whispered. "I'll do whatever you want, just take me back to her." Just the thought of her lost in the cold began to bring tears to his eyes. He sniffled.

"Shut the waterworks. Warriors don't cry," Giln barked, scaring Heksis more, but the tears began to dry before they leaked out. He seemed to immediately regret raising his voice. "Sorry kid," he sighed. "Look, I'm under a lot of pressure right now, and I need you to work with me."

While the tears were gone, his voice was still quiet and choked up. "Only if you find my mommy."

"Fine, whatever. We'll find your mom," he muttered. Giln sat up straighter on the bed. Heksis could see the grey-white irises despite the brightness of the room. In them, there was a sense of mystery, of longing. A look he'd seen in his mother shortly after his father had disappeared. "First things first, what the-" He cleared his throat. "What were you doing in that cave?"

"I-I...I fell...between the cracks," he said gently. "I was playing with mommy, and we heard this strange noise. Then, she picked me up and put me on some rocks that fell when she walked away. One landed on my leg, and I couldn't move, but then mommy never came back."

Another sigh and a long silence. "Kid, I don't know how to tell you this, but your mother's dead. You were the only living thing when my team got there."

Heksis' heart sunk, and the tears returned. "Y-y-you mean...you're not going to look for her?"

"There's nothing left to look for!" he shouted but then looked regretful again. "I would love to help you, but there's nothing we can do. Someone attacked your village and killed everyone there, everyone except you. I need you to tell me who, so we can deal with them. So tell me what you know."

"You're not going to help me! Y-you said you would." Tears began to slide down his face. "I did what you asked. I told you what happened!"

"You told me nothing boy!" he shouted, causing Heksis to retreat. "You saw nothing helpful if we are to take your word for it, and your crying certainly will not help your case in front of a council much more aggressive than I am. If you don't want to face them, I implore you to tell me everything you know right now." Heksis' tears made it nearly impossible to see, and even more difficult to speak. What came out was a jumble of unintelligible syllables that neither of them understood. "Pathetic," Giln spat. "The sole survivor of a whole village and this is what you have to show for yourself. Whether they knew it or not Heksis, the people of that village died for you. You have a moral duty to avenge their deaths and bring to justice those that harmed them or die trying. Death isn't something to be ashamed of. It is a means to bring about change." He got off the bed and moved towards the door but paused before exiting. "When you're done here runt, come find me." With that, the door opened, and Captain Giln left Heksis alone with his sadness and confusion.

(Authors note: A billion Quintillion thank you's to FerrousReadingFF for the help with this.)