Star Wars: The Great Awakening (Book I)

Chapter 2 - Chasing Syqrels

"Jolis! Get up! I'm not gonna tell you again!"

The voice of his mother echoed through the stone walls of their home. Squinting his eyes as they opened, the light of a new day shone through the window near Jolis' bed.

He hadn't been able to sleep last night. Not very well, at least. Between the unusual amount of wereryk screams and his mind wandering away with bewilderment at what he was planning to accomplish today, the night had been a sleepless one.

Even as he slid out of bed, Jolis could hear the numerous footsteps coming from outside of his family's home signifying that the day had already started. The people in his village would be hard at work in preparation for the coming cold.

There was a lot to be done. Between needing sufficient fuel for the various machinery and heavy industrial equipment—which meant mining and extracting the dangerous and oftentimes volatile substance known as Rhydonium—to making sure the stored power supplies were working correctly, to supporting the hunting parties who were tasked with finding enough food to support the entire village along with various other tasks and responsibilities, each person had their work cut out for them. Although there were contingencies in place, having one villager not pull their weight often put things behind schedule.

"Jolis! Up! Now!"

"I'm up! I'm up!" said Jolis as he grabbed a work shirt and headed towards the sound of his mother, Tamryn.

His hand brushed up against the cold stone walls of his house as he walked down the narrow hallway. Jolis could already tell that the air in the house was getting cooler. The cold season would soon be upon them.

The house—which had been there for generations—was designed to withstand both time and weather. Hand-cut from the stone of a nearby mountain using primitive tools, there were numerous homes of similar design all throughout the village. They were among some of the first structures built by their ancestors. Although newer homes and various other buildings had since been designed using different materials including wood and even mined durasteel, families who lived in the stone homes were given initial priority to receive a newer home if they chose to.

Every family declined. Wanting to raise their families in the same homes their entire family lineage had been raised in, having a stone home had since become a seniority status symbol throughout the village.

As he walked into the large room where his mother was waiting, she pointed to a spot on the ground and said one word.

"Stop."

Jolis knew the drill and did as he was told, coming to a stop at the spot his mother was pointing at.

"You were out near the edge of the forest again last night, weren't you? Near the Low World? How many times have your father and I told you not to go out there after dark?"

"But Ma, it's fine. There's nothing out there and..."

"Nothing out there?" echoed Tamryn. "Are you somehow not hearing those dreadful wereryk screams?"

Jolis sighed. "Ma, nobody's ever been attacked by one of those things."

She snorted. "Nobody we know of. And that doesn't mean you should tempt fate."

Jolis knew he needed to reason with his mother if he was going to get out of this. He lowered his voice and did his best little boy impression which always seemed to work on her.

"I just like to look up at the stars. You can't do that during the day and they're so beautiful at night."

His mother approached and knelt down in front of him. Intrigued, she lowered her voice and asked, "What do you see out there? There must be something amazing to keep a brilliant mind like yours wanting to go out there every night."