The Twilights: The Basics of Secrets

Chapter 12

Jay

The Glory was parked on one of the ridges of the mountain; easily out of sight from any passing by Zarion trooper. Once we started running from Hallon, there was no stopping. Azura trudged a little bit while walking up the steep slope to the ship, but she never stopped or complained in the slightest.

On the rock mountain, I was in my element. Rock was the first element I made a connection to and could control. I'm my strongest and most confident when using stone. I could sense the danger of the troopers around us still, but it lessened the further we left town. Perhaps they were preparing for an air strike or some form of surprise attack. They wouldn't let two Zario slip away so easily.

Now on board, I took the pilot's seat and started up the ship. Unlike our main vessel, The Glory was a much smaller and sleeker ship. Speedy, strong and reliable, I've preferred it to the clunky freighter, The Spirit. But that's Brie's pride and most beloved ship. She had no qualms about me taking the Glory to go back for Azura. She wanted to take the Spirit and come along with me, but whatever was happening on Hegaro, needed her and the rest of the crew's attention first. Tor gladly went to his home world, but he wasn't thrilled with me leaving. Azura needed help and I was the one who brought her into space in the first place; I couldn't leave her behind. And now I know my actions had been right.

I didn't distinguish that the Zaria fighting Azura was anyone I had met in the past. I've concealed my Zario powers for so long, it's been a while since I had any head-on conflict with the Zaria. I've seen them around; running errands for their higher ups. The Zaria order has become more exclusive and if you aren't as strong as the Zaria need you to be, you're cut out. This has spread the amount of Zaria thinner throughout the galaxy, but their aurora has never been fully gone. They'll guard important transports or assist any other army legion needed.

But this particular Zaria, I haven't seen since I left the temple fifteen years ago. We were both preteens back then. I hadn't been the strongest in combat fighting; I had only been three years into my proper training with a master even though I had been studying at the temple from the age of four. The Zaria Alina and I had faced was skilled in fighting for his young age. Strong enough to take down my master. Now he was grown, but so was I. Granted, my ability to fight a Zaria is far from secure, but I was good enough to get Azura and I out of there. Our opponent has had years to train since the invasion, I wonder how truly powerful he has become.

Azura was standing behind the pilot's chair as we took off. Dust and sand blew over the windshield as the thruster roared awake. The city of Hallon passed beneath the hull of The Glory. A slim, black ship took off from the docks and chased after us. The wings were wide and the nose of the ship came out to a sharp point. Behind it, three smaller versions of the ship, which I classified as being a S-180, also came after us.

The ships were firing bolts of orange laser fire at us. The orange color told me that they weren't looking to destroy our ship, simply stun and disable it enough for them to catch us and bring us back to the surface of the planet. I maneuvered around their blasts and broke through the atmosphere of Fesnua. I need to pass through jumpspace before I can prep for hyperspace flight to the Spora system. Tinkering with the control panel, the orange beams condensed into a collection of orange and yellow stars as we were now in jumpspace.

"As soon as we are out of jumpspace, I'll need time to get the ship ready for hyperspace. I need you to climb up to the top and work in the gunman position. The S flyers will still be on our tail unless we get out of this area." I turned to Azura. She glanced up at the gunman seat and controls, which were located in the roof of The Glory. A glass dome sat over the seat so that the gunman can rotate and see the ships firsthand.