Take Back the Light

Prologue

Palida Cavern was asleep.

Its residents were enjoying their safety in their mushroom-treehouses. The slugs were all drifting to sleep in whatever bush or cover they found. All was silent, except for one couple in the easternmost part of the forest.

The two were in the largest room of a four-section treehouse. The house's lights were all off. The only source of light came from a small orange and yellow slug sitting on a table in the middle of the room. A small flame burned on top of his head, and he hopped around as directed by the couple to provide them visibility.

The two were observing a map of the Western realm. A red X was on a few of the caverns. After marking one more cavern, directly to the left of Palida, the tallest of the two sighed as she capped the marker.

"That's it. These are all the caverns he's been spotted in. They're also the same caverns that have given be reports of an increase in stolen slugs," Evanlyn Caelum said quietly. "I wish I had tracked him down when I first saw him in Veleris. At the time, I thought finding the lost cartographers was more important, but if I had known he'd been causing so much trouble, I would have made them wait."

Evanlyn's husband, Nathanael, rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself. There's no way you could have known what he was up to," he said. "What's important now is deciding what the best course of action is. If he was in Foxfire Grove yesterday, then he could be coming here next."

With a sigh, Evanlyn picked up a large bag off the floor. It hadn't been unpacked yet from her trip to Veleris, and now she was heading out again.

"If that's a possibility, then I need to go now. There's only two reasons to come here, and no matter what he wants in this cavern, I can't let him have it," she said determinedly. Nathanael began to respond, but was cut off when the two heard quiet footsteps.

Evanlyn immediately reached down and grabbed her blaster out of its holster, ready to go to defend herself and her husband if necessary. But when the Infurnus chirped happily from the table, she relaxed, figuring out what the noise was.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, a light flickered on as a little girl stumbled sleepily into the room. She had a blanket wrapped around her, and her short hair was tangled and sticking up in some spots.

"I know it's bedtime," Alana yawned as she walked over to her parents. "I wanted to say hi to Mom, though. How was your trip?"

Evanlyn smiled and picked up Alana, hugging her daughter tightly.

"It was great, sweetie. Did you have fun with Dad?" Evanlyn asked, nudging her bag away with her foot, trying to keep Alana from finding out she was leaving again so soon.

"Mhm. I tried to drive Ranger. I almost hit a tree," Alana giggled. Evanlyn laughed and looked over at her husband.

"Oh really?"

Nathanael's face flushed and he shrugged with a small laugh.

"What are you guys doing?" Alana asked, pointing at the map. "I wanna help."

Evanlyn sighed and shook her head.

"Sorry, little slinger, but you're not quite old enough to go out with me. Or to be driving Mechas like Ranger," she added, looking pointedly at Nathanael. "I have a little more work to do tonight, but I'll see you in the morning." She glanced at her husband. "You too, Nate. I'm going out- just for a bit- and then I'll be back for bed."

Evanlyn handed Alana off to Nathanael, who carried her back out the door and across the short bridge leading to the small mushroom-tree canopy that held up Alana's room.

Once the door shut behind the two, Evanlyn sighed and turned back to the map. She felt sick, and Evanlyn Caelum never felt sick. She always met challenges head-on, without hesitation. She never worried about putting herself in danger to get the job done. But if this person was who he looked like, and he was coming to Palida, then there were many people other than her involved. Whether it was only her family or an entire other realm that was in the way of harm, she had to keep moving forward and get rid of the threat.

"Come on, Ash," she said. The Infurnus hopped up on her shoulder as she walked over to the doorway and grabbed her goggles from a hook next to the door. "Let's go on a quick security run before bed."

Evanlyn strapped on her goggles, designed for slingers traveling the insanely different cavern climates that ranged from oceans to deserts (and in her case, just the dark). She flipped up her hood and left the house, quietly shutting the door behind her.

"I want to make sure our defenses are ready for whatever's coming our way."

~~~~~~~~

Woooow. So this was, like, two years overdue. But I'm finally publishing Take Back the Light! Thanks so much to everyone who's reading this!

The prologue is pretty short, but don't worry, actual chapters are like. Over twice as long.

And, yeah, you know the drill- votes and comments are always appreciated. Shoutout to the folks to leave inline comments as they read, it's fun to see reactions as you read so I can laugh evilly- I mean see what you guys think as you read ;)

Cyan out!