Good day. I thought I'd place a piece of very short fiction here in my posts for free today. this one isn't really a punk fiction subgenre, but it does fit into the Legacy Universe. In fact, it relates to the stimulus that gave people Talents (powers) back in Railroad City in 1877. I'm speaking of negatrite, that rare element. But where did it come from? Read below and find out. If you like it, hit the Like heart, and let me know what you think!
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THRUN
"Now!" SM'homu whispered to her troupe.
They moved only when the howl of the QH'shee died down. Its roar even outdid the abusive winds on TH'ay. Here, everything that moved, stalked. And the deep blue warrior women were no different. their world starved. All things were predators, with them, a people called TH'ayva, were the main prey. Fighting meant survival. the best form of fighting? Stealth.
SM'homu urged them on across the jade plain of zulnalewo, the 'flat forest', where calcified logs rocked to and fro in the sandstorm gale. The women wore scarred visors, their bodies sealed within two layers of beige bandages under orange cloaks. Only their blue pointed ears jutted out into the harsh day. The wind whipped particles into spirals, the Eternal form, a reminder to them while they traveled of what mattered most. The Universe spiraled into itself, as did Time, Place, biology, emotions, wisdom. Survival. Journeys.
At last they pushed into the salt outcroppings along the spyrilph basin. they thanked the Creator the Star did not shine this day. If so, the intensity of the reflections off millions of salt pillars would burn their eyes, even with the visors.
SM'homu pointed ahead. "There! See? Turquoise!"
They saw. In the distance, between two pillars, a noticeable spike of the fateful blue-green element. She looked right. Left. All clear. She felt the wind finally shift to push at her back, and with its guidance, she took off. Running.
A few minutes of power expended. then, she could collapse at the base of the giant form, exhausted. Her comrades fell into a crescent formation around her. All around them were shards. Small. Large. Great smooth, weather-beaten chunks of the turquoise.
"Thrun," SM'homu yelled against the wind. "Our power. One day, our way off of this dying sphere! Here." She pulled out a dagger. Bronze, spirals etched into its blade. "BH'thay, it is your time now."
The youngest in the troupe admired the dagger. No one could see the other's face. If they had, they would know how dark her blue cheeks turned.
"Yes, yes. See where a thin white line has formed in the structure? Just beneath it. Tap first, and slowly. Jab the tip into it all around. Careful! If you crack it, thrun will scream, as they say. And we will all be much changed."
The young warrior followed instruction well. A piece as long as her forearm broke free. SM'homu caught it in a thick cloth. The troupe admired it for some time. What would the Empress do with it. Perhaps one of them might be kissed by this element and become something more than dreams allowed.
Then, the roar.
Life spiraled back to the beginning.
