Astral Legacy Book 1

4

Kale opened his eyes to a sound somewhere in the room, he was groggy at first when he reached for his phone expecting to see the dog had jumped up on the bed. The screen on his phone lit up as he touched it reading 3 am. There were a couple messages from Miranda he didn't bother to open instead turning on the flashlight and shining it around the room. Kershala was standing in front of the windows that looked over his bed. Kale was startled at first but in the light from his flashlight he could see that Kershala was just looking out into the moonlit yard wearing only the underwear he had on when he found him. Kershala stayed quiet as he sat up.

"Kershala what are you doing?" he asked the sleep still present in his voice. He could hear him take a deep breath when he turned around. Kale pointed the light down at the bed, so he wouldn't shine it in Kershala's eyes, but he could still see that he was distraught. "Are you... okay?" Kale spoke slowly not sure what else to say.

"I ... want you to ... see," Kershala's voice was shaking as he spoke, and Kale was starting to think there may be something seriously wrong. He got out of the bed throwing the blankets to the side and moved to stand next to Kershala. He sat the phone on the window sill the light still shining on the ground.

"What do you want me to see?" he asked. Kershala looked down and took Kale's hand in his and brought it up to the side of his face.

"Do not be scared."

"I'm not." Kale felt the wet skin as Kershala moved his hand back to the implant. Kershala's face strained slightly as Kale's fingers grazed over the implant before he placed his head firmly against his hand. There was a strange buzzing sensation that seemed to travel up his arm like the feeling of when your arm falls asleep. Kale watched as the markings on Kershala's body began to glow faintly starting at his legs and slowly traveling up the length of his body. Markings on his neck seemed to lead right into the implant but had not been visible before. As the glow reached the implant there was a sudden ringing in Kale's ears followed by discomfort and eventually a great pain in his head. There was a flash in the darkness and suddenly the discomfort was gone. Kale had closed his eyes under the strain and felt as though he was floating in a void. There was a sudden rush of fear come over him though he didn't quite understand why.

"Kershala... you ... hear me!" There was a voice Kale recognized as Kershala's Matriarch from the hologram.

"Karu... Can you... away... them." The voices were broken up and the sentences didn't seem to make sense although Kale could still get the overall picture from them. It was like listening to something from a bad radio signal.

"Son... match ... for them... kill you... watch ... children die." The voices seem to move closer and farther from him rapidly, making the broken sentences even harder to grasp. The fear intensified, and Kale could feel himself breathing heavily, he couldn't open his eyes or move himself. He likened the feeling to sleep paralysis something he hadn't felt in a long time. The darkness he had been floating in began to be replaced by actual surroundings, everything around him was blurry to the point he could barely make out where he was. He recognized it as Kershala's ship, he could see that they were in orbit of a planet and could almost make out several masses visible through the front window.

"Foolish..." This voice of a man, it seemed closer and Kales heart began racing at the sound of it. "Family... die too. Begged me for mercy... worthless bloodline!"

"Please," Kershala's voice came through clear and fully audible, "take me in their stead, are an old woman and a few children really a danger to you?" A feeling of hope rushed him pushing the anxiety aside. "Spare them and I will come willingly!"