Cantral The Entra

Prologue

A hot wind scoured the land and burned my throat. I remember staring up at Haroc with large black eyes, far too big for my small face. Sand swirled, it infiltrated my nostrils and flew into my mouth. It pelted my skin and coloured my navy jumpsuit a patchy beige.

Back then, in fact even now, Haroc, he feels like a giant. Entra marched around us, their feet struck the ground in unison and the screams of people were swept away on the breeze. Intimidating Entra in black suits of metal. Broader, taller, newer, than Haroc but none matched his presence, his grandeur, his booming voice. None dared.

The atmosphere sucked the moisture from my mouth, so that when my lips parted and I asked, "Why?" the sound left as a timid croak.

"Why?" Haroc repeated with amusement. A laugh.

He looked from me to the people being pulled from their homes. We were stood on a road in Detrie, a sprawling desert city. Squat houses, battered by the elements, rose on either side. His hand snapped around a plump fly, that dared get too close, and he held it out between finger and thumb for me to see.

"This fly, Cantral, is what feeds the continent..." He stared at the mini beast.

I watched as the fly wriggled between his fingers, trying with all its might to free itself from his grip, but I knew how the encounter would end for this fly. Is it strange to say I felt compassion? Is it strange to say I knew how the fly felt?

"The fish feed on the flies," Haroc continued, his voice commanded my attention and everything else faded into oblivion, "the birds feed on the fish and the people eat the birds. A food chain, it's the natural order of life."

"But what does that have to do with us?" I continued to stare at the fly, it had stilled, resigned to its fate. Screams of people filled my ears and I begged myself not to look. "Why do we do... this?" I spread my arms out half-heartedly around me.

"Because these people are like flies to us," he spoke harshly, amusement vanished. No more was I a wilful child, but an entra challenging his beliefs. "We have the most advanced civilisation, and we are at the top of the food chain, it is our right to preside over the universe."

Fendan approached behind Haroc, through the haze of dust and sand. His blue hair billowed around him and as he stopped beside Haroc and I he smoothed his misbehaving locks back into a bun. Haroc flashed him a look of irritation and in turn Fendan stared at me. I knew that face well, it said, "Shut up." But I wasn't ready to concede.

"This..." I had started confidently but as Haroc looked at me my confidence faltered. "This is wrong, Fendan agrees too..." I glanced to Fendan, I'm not sure what I expected? Encouragement? No, I wasn't that foolish. But the look on his face was something else entirely. He looked like the ground had collapsed beneath him and he couldn't figure out why he was still standing. I tore my eyes from Fendan and looked to Haroc. "We don't have to be like this," I finished feebly.

Haroc's face contorted, and I took an involuntary step back. He'd never hurt me, he'd never touched me, but I had never travelled so far over the line.

"Now, Cantral," Fendan said softly, with the composure of someone not stood before Haroc, "that's not exactly true, is it? I said, I understand why you might think that..." He looked to Haroc apologetically. "I have been too lax with the girl. I apologise for disappointing you. I do not deserve another chance to uphold your honour but if you would grant me it, I promise I will not disappoint you again."

Anxiety swished in my stomach. The fly in Haroc's fingers did a half-hearted shuffle, a tiny buzz as its wings vibrated and then quieted once more, resigned to its imprisonment. The wind picked up its beat, strong currents of air pelted us with grit, and I shielded my face with my hands.