Reia- A Novella (COMPLETE)

Chapter 1

Morai stepped into the sunlight, squinting. It had been rather dark in the lab. Here, however, the bright sun reflected off of everything in the city, from the glittering cars to the soaring glass skyscrapers. Screens of news bulletins were flashing on every street corner, but Morai wasn't looking. He was running through lists in his head and thinking about the best route back to his apartment.

"Morai!" someone shouted from across the street. Morai could barely hear it above the bustle and noise, but he'd never ignore that voice. He looked over and grinned.

"Hazira!" he shouted back cheerfully. Without further hesitation he slipped across the road between the cars to greet her. "I didn't know you were coming," he said, hopping onto the sidewalk. He took her hand, expecting to walk with her, but she didn't move.

"Didn't you hear the news?" she gasped instead, clutching his fingers tightly. "I had to come... didn't you find out? The Glass Wing- they're only days away from the city!"

"Days?" Morai rolled his eyes. "Every paper in town has been saying the end is nigh for months."

"No, no, there's actual concern now," Hazira insisted, releasing his hand to point up at the bulletins. "Rezona sent a video to the news- he's in Yakra."

The Glass Wing was a rebel group that often could be found on the news terrorizing some small town in the middle of nowhere. Despite the government's many insistences that the operation would be disbanded soon, the Glass Wing never seemed to shrink. It was led by Silaro Rezona, a brutish looking man of trademark bushy eyebrows and a hulking, massive stature, and its ranks were mostly full of young people fleeing home for a "brighter future". What that future actually entailed or why it was worth fighting for was yet unknown in Reia, but somehow this theme was popular amongst thousands outside the capital city.

"The Glass Wing is in Yakra? That's just a few days south of here!" Morai gasped. The rebels had never been that close.

"That's – what- I'm- saying!" Hazira insisted with a nervous laugh, poking Morai with every word. "There's even talk of an evacuation."

"Evacuation? No," Morai said. Something occurred to him, and his eyes lit up in that familiar way Hazira loved. "No- they won't. The Glass Wing won't get anywhere near the city. Trust me!"

Morai laughed to himself and immediately ran back across the street, labcoat flapping helplessly in the wind.

"Should I follow you?" Hazira asked, yelling over the city noise.

"Absolutely!" Morai shouted, spinning around to face her. His lanky legs promptly tripped over the curb, and he bounced back up, barreling back into the laboratory.