The Twilights: The Basics of Secrets

Prologue

Jay

The whole face of the canyon caved in on itself as the fighter planes launched another missile into the temple. I covered my head as rocks sprayed down and I dodged the craters in the ground. The bag on my back weighed a ton and the heat of the day made this run even harder. Planes landed at the top of the canyon and the men were scaling the walls down below and filtering into the city.

The armored men started in the city before the bombing came. The soldiers set the market on fire and arrested the men, tearing children from their mother's arms. I was buying food for the temple when they came. Alina said they may come one day, but I didn't want to believe it. But I saw the ships overhead; saw the first bomb drop. I dropped all the food I had bought and ran for the temple. Another bomb was dropped on the city, right on the building next to me. The force knocked me on my side, hitting my head on debris. The world was disjointed and everything was muffled. I wiped the dirt from my eyes and saw blood all around. A man had his legs blown off and was howling in pain. Bodies laid across the streets. But I was still alive. I had to get up.

It was easy to get to the entrance of the temple from the city. A quick jog across a barren valley and I was there. I looked above and saw another bomb ready to fall. I shut my eyes and raised my arm towards the temple. The rocky door shook and rose into the air to let me in.

Already, just in the entrance way, there was carnage. There were several dead bodies lying across the foyer floor. I heard screams from above and a large hole was blown through the roof. I jumped out of the way as more people fell to the ground. I couldn't stand to see my friends' corpses raining from the sky. I went down the stairs off to the left.

Turning the corner, somebody grabbed me by the neck and pinned me to the wall. Rocks floated in the air above the assailant. There was anger in his eyes before they turned into recognition.

"Jay," Aziz said, dropping me. I coughed for breath in the smoky room. "Get downstairs with the others."

He pushed me a long but I turned to face him. "What about you?"

"I'm going to hold them off for as long as I can. Go!"

I couldn't disobey an order from an Elite. I went deeper into the canyon.

Opening another door, I came into a large meeting hall where a few other Zario were hiding. They were mostly Knights and Novices with a few Nobles here and there. Once I fully stepped in, Alina came to me.

"Thank the stars you're alright," she said quickly hugging me.

"What are we going to do?" I asked my teacher. She smiled and closed her brown eyes.

"I am going to fight, you are going to leave."

I couldn't believe my ears. "What do you mean? I can't leave you here. You don't have enough fighters to take on the Zarions." I reasoned.

"I know, I know, and that's exactly why you must leave. We are a dying race, and many more of us are about to fall. You have to keep going."

I was going to argue with her again, but an explosion collapsed the ceiling on us. Alina pulled me out of the way and the two of us tumbled down, falling into a deeper hole. Rocks fell on top of us, suffocating me. I couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. I scrambled and tried to get control, but each time I tried to sit up, I sunk even further. It was dark, scary; I couldn't compose myself.

Alina's light red skin was all I could see as her hand grabbed around my wrist. Suddenly, the load of rocks lifted off of us and was thrown to the side. I could see my teacher standing tall and using her mind to lift the rubble off our bodies. I could see the light again.

We had fallen into the cavern below the temple. Other teachers and their students tried to get out of the fallen rocks. Cries of pain and loss rang out in the dark.

That's when I saw them. The Zarion troopers dropped down into the pit with us. Alina pulled me to my feet and together we silently agreed and worked together to manipulate the rocks around us. We focused on the places where the soldiers were walking, raised them into the air and sent them through the opening in the hole above us. Alina was better at manipulating the wind as I flew the rocks into the air. We worked together like a well-oiled machine, so when Alina stopped, so did I.

"We have no time to argue, you must go," she told me.

Behind her a man taller than me, but shorter than Alina pulled out a long staff; the glow of red rectangles on the poles stuck out in the dark. I shoved Alina out of the way and took out my own staff and deflected the man's blow. The staffs look harmless to the average eye, but they hurt a bunch. The metal staffs rang out, surges of electricity striking one another. He wasn't an old man, but rather young, maybe only a few years older than I. But he was strong and skilled.

I made several moves with my staff and he defended against each of them. Out of thin air, the man protruded fire from his hand and blasted it at me. I raised my arm in defense and felt the hot burn against my elbow. I lost my footing and landed on the ground due to the burning pain.

Out of the shadows, Alina came and caused a great gush of wind to blow the man back. He glided in the air before falling on his rear on the rocks. Alina turned to me and got me on my feet. She stood, however, as she did, a loud bang, like cannon fire, sang out. Alina lurched forward, clutching her stomach. A big hole surged through her. Our opponent had transformed his staff into a small hand canon that he used to shoot Alina in the back. He was struggling to sit up on the ground, but he had hit his target. I was speechless at the sight. I don't know what happened next. I just remember a roaring scream come out of my throat and me sending our foe back with an even bigger blow of wind. Aline fell to her knees and with her grip still on my hand, I tumbled with her.

I couldn't see again, but this time it was water in my eyes. I placed my hand on the wound in her abdomen and felt the warm blood on my palm. Her hand quickly snatched my hand away and she forced my eyes to look hers. We could always talk to each other without saying a word and even as she was moments from death, I could still hear her voice ring out. I helped her back to her feet like she wanted, and she got out her own staff. She pressed a small button on the handle and within seconds, the staff turned into a gleaming sword. I could tell it hurt to move, but Alina kept a well enough balance.

"Run, Jay, please." She whispered. "This is my end, but it's your beginning. And I think you're going to do great things."

One step, two step. I turned away from her. Three step, four step. My fellow fighters tried to beat back the enemy. Five, six. The young man who had killed my master challenged me again. I didn't bother with a duel. I casted sharp rocks at his face, one in particular cutting deep into his right cheek. He backed down from the fight. Seven, eight, nine. I turned my staff into a circular shield as I jumped out of the hell hole. I made my way out into the bright sunlight. Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen. I took so many steps and left the town and temple behind. It wasn't until I climbed out of the canyon that I looked back. Up above was clear and flat ground, but below was smoke and fire and ash and screams and terror. I heard more ships on the horizon. I had to leave now. I had to run and never look back.