Lanna's War

31

Martin's team dispersed ahead of the mission. Lanna retired to a narrow townhouse near the centre of Last Fjord. The elderly couple who owned it always had a bed for her. They showed her to their attic loft, which was the only free space in the cramped home.

She sat near the small attic window overlooking the city and the grand fjord under the gas giant. She wished she could rest, but Bryce weighed on her. What a moron, she thought.

She regretted mentioning the Langs to him. She gambled that he might be ready to defy them but worried her failure might have cost her team their lives. She may have turned the creekbank into a graveyard.

She was about to step away from the window when something caught her eye. She returned her gaze to the landscape as a mountain peak to the left of the gas giant vanished, then reappeared. She watched the peak for a moment longer, but also assumed she was seeing things. But, as she turned away, it happened again. A tower a few blocks away bent out of shape and then bent back.

Lanna grabbed her rifle and headed down the stairs. She treaded carefully to not wake the old couple, but couldn't help her impatience. She leapt through the front door and to the street.

Drunken soldiers stumbled in pairs and groups, but none seemed to notice Lanna staring at the sky.

"What the fuck is that?" She asked herself.

She weaved between the soldiers and eventually found the building that warped out of shape. It stood stall, at least seven stories high, and was made of a light coloured stone partially lit by the street lights below. Lanna watched it until the cool, spring air seeped into her uniform.

After some time she turned away, disappointed she wasted more time. But as she did an unnatural breeze seeped into her skin. It blew through her and down the street, collecting leaves as it travelled. At a row of buildings it suddenly calmed.

She stood in the square for ten more minutes, but saw no further evidence of the strange anomaly. Feeling cold, she paced back to the townhouse. An hour later, the time had come to pack up and join her team for the invasion of Tegan's land.