Levana Lore: Part 4
Link to Levana Lore — Part 1
Olympus Mons — Tharsis Montes Region, Mars
Nights on Mars are always cold, but the meteor shower warms Zahava.
Levana perches next to her on a rock on Olympus, the largest volcano on Mars. She and Zahava speak freely now, without words. They’ve agreed to start their journey to Levana’s planet as soon as the meteor shower ends and daylight breaks.
As they both gaze into the Martian sky, they watch the stars grow, burst into flames, and fall to the rocky landscape surrounding them. Some meteors strike close, but they are not frightened.
When the fiery rain ceases, Levana and Zahava stand together. It’s time.
Levana lowers the front of her body, allowing Zahava to climb onto her back. They have no rations or supplies to take with them.
Zahava settles onto the base of Levana’s neck. She is comfortable riding her now. Her body has grown accustomed to travel by dragon.
Levana pushes off the rock, and Zahava leans forward into the wind. The dragon’s wings beat the cold martian air, and the pair lift off. Although they’ve flown together countless times, this time is different. Levana instinctively knows she can fly in space, and Zahava trusts her. Today they will know for certain.
They fly higher and higher as Olympus becomes smaller below them. Levana’s wings disperse the clouds they pass, and the already thin martian air begins to dwindle. Zahava is prepared for this. She closes her eyes and slows her breathing. Levana and Zahava’s minds are joined.
Levana beats her wings to an unheard, mesmerizing tune as she accelerates into the exosphere. The air is gone. Zahava struggles to stay calm, but Levana’s immunity to the vacuum of space doesn’t extend to her. She fights to breathe, then passes out.
Levana’s bond with Zahava causes the dragon to drift in and out of consciousness. They tumble back towards the desert surface of Mars.
As they fall, Levana wraps Zahava within her wings, forming a protective barrier. The dragon struggles to stay conscious, although she feels gusts of wind intermittently flow around them, slowing their descent.
It’s not enough; they crash hard into the martian desert.
***
Salim searches the desert, scanning for charred meteors. The red landscape is littered with scorched black stains, marking where the meteors crashed into the sand. Daylight peers over the mountains, signaling that it’s time to return to Miklat, his home. The night’s meteor shower has ended, and he and his father have accumulated an impressive haul.
As Salim turns to join his father and the rangers that accompanied them, he witnesses a large purple object fall from the sky. It crashes into the desert near his father, shaking the earth and leaving a cloud of dust.
Salim watches in horror as dust envelopes his father and the rangers. Fearing for his father’s safety, he rushes to the crash site. Covering his face with his arm to navigate the dust plume, he pushes through the debris. Just ahead, he sees the silhouette of his father and a large boulder-sized beast lying amongst the desert rocks.
Salim freezes in shock as the dust settles. His father and the rangers stand between him and the enormous creature. As the rangers discuss, Salim notices the pile stir. He can see its face and the shape of its body, and he thinks he’s seen this creature before. If so, it has certainly grown since their first meeting. He’s struck by how much it resembles the hieroglyphics in the caves of Min’Aroth.
The creature shifts some more, uncovering an unconscious human girl under its arm. One ranger cautiously approaches and slightly pushes the creature to reveal the girl. She has dark hair and is wearing a red Martian Council cloak. The ranger raises his spear over his head and aims at the girl.
It’s at this moment that Salim recognizes her.
“No!” Instinctively, Salim dives in front of the girl, shielding her from the ranger’s spear. He pleads for her life. “Her fate is Immah’s decision, not yours.”
The ranger nods and lowers his spear.
***
Salim stares at the girl as she lies unconscious in the cart. They only had enough room to bring the girl along, so they decided to leave the beast in the desert. A team of rangers will return to the site and bring it back for Immah to assess.
As Salim travels beside the cart, he speculates on the origin of the creature with his father. He’s never told his father about his encounter with the strange purple creature in the Terran stable. He asks him if he thinks the creature resembles the hieroglyphics in the caves of Min’Aroth. His father shrugs.
Zahava wakes up in a cart filled with burnt rocks. Her arm is bandaged and a makeshift crutch has been placed by her side. The ride is bumpy, and her head aches. Out of habit, she looks up to the sky. Levana is nowhere in sight.
She feels a tightness in her chest. Panic sets in. Where is Levana?
A boy walking alongside the cart says something to her, but she can’t understand him. He looks familiar to her, but her vision blurs. She can’t slow her breathing.
Her vision turns black.
***
Immah, their leader and oracle, resides less than a day’s journey away from the crash site, and this is where they have taken the girl.
Zahava cautiously watches as they approach a Jayu domed cottage. She has never seen one in person before, but the architecture is unmistakable.
Her guide or captor, (she still isn’t quite sure which) escorts her into the single room construct. Zahava pauses at the entrance, as her companion pulls back a curtain, revealing a kind of laboratory, with the soft sound of a tea kettle whistling, the smell of lavender.
It strikes her odd, that the water boils but with no sign of a heating element. Her eyes travel across the room, as colored glowing bottles of a gaseous dust litter the walls of the small compound.
The woman turns to Zahava and beckons her to join her. There is something she must see, and it is buried deep in the caves of Min’Aroth.
Continue the story in the next installment of the Levana Lore Part 5
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