Once upon an orbit of planet Fait, a playful young girl and her flustered yet resourceful single father must endure sickness, encounter exotic creatures, escape a predatory government, and outwit a wicked wizard to survive just one more day. Having...
From one of the shadows of their hovel in the nook of the South Tower factory where they had been staying, Nariah and Rene tumbled out in a roll. Rene hugged his daughter with all his strength.
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"I was so worried about you, Daddy."
"You see? I'm safe. The sylvas protected me. But you should have stayed put, Nariah. You broke your promise. That's a serious thing, my love."
"I should have represented my word, Daddy. Like the Precept says."
"Yes, you should have. People always should, not just shinseons. What I tell you I tell you so that you'll stay safe and won't get hurt, because some hurts are so big you can't heal them, you can't bounce back. Do you understand? I know you'll do better next time, right?"
"Yes, Daddy, I promise. I will. I'm sorry."
"What's important is we're both okay."
"Do you forgive me?"
"Of course I forgive you, Nariah. But now, for what comes next, you're going to have to listen and follow directions even better than best. Especially doing what we have to do next."
Even from their tiny spot on the platform of the South Factory's ledge, they could hear the sound of all the Sirens' blasting from so many thousand berus below, in the Neath. Nariah sniffed. She could already smell the smoke that was rising up.
"What are we going to do next, Daddy?"
Her father was hurriedly packing their few belongings and their two canisters of water into Nariah's backpack. "We're going to keep our promise to the shinseon and repay our shinwha."
"We're going to Mount Veda." Rene pointed to the horizon, to the volcano that stuck tall, that lay dormant in the day, as now, but would be shooting up its blue lava again that night. "Ophiuchus told me we have to find Redemptor in the shadow of Mount Veda. Redemptor is a great hero, a great warrior. We saw him in the dream, remember? He can save Tetrapolis. He can save everyone. That is our job we have to do."
"Our job," she nodded diligently. "We will do our job. But how, Daddy? We've tried so many times all the weak spots, all the walls, all the crannies, all four towers. Tetrapolis is sealed super-shut, all tight, one big trap of badness, remember? And plus,"—she whispered urgently—"remember about because the big giant evil spider?"
Rene coughed. "Arachnor is just a sculpture. Just an artwork. Big black glass. To scare people."
Shivering, Nariah shook her head. "But we can't escape Tetrapolis. No one can. No one ever yesterday, no one forever in the future."
"Have faith, my dulcet daughter. We never had this before." Rene flourished the feathery black cloak over Nariah's head, blasting her hair all into her face with the gust Shadowslider made passing over her. She laughed, pulling her long hair out of her mouth. "You see? With Shadowslider's help, we can escape. We'll be the first two, ever."
"But Daddy, no one sneaks out."
"You are correct. No one sneaks out, no. But we are not going to sneak out." Her father held out the backpack to her. What little they had fit in there, and it was not too heavy for her small shoulders to carry.
"So, what, then?" she asked, slipping on the backpack.
Rene took a deep breath and pointed off. "We are going to fly out. Right through the Front Gate."
