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Prologue
Kate
The stars blurred into streaks of light as my ship, the Nova Wing, tore through the fabric of space at maximum velocity. I gripped the controls tightly, knuckles white, a single bead of sweat trickling down my temple as I stared intensely at the hypnotic shifting patterns of the cosmos beyond the viewport. This was supposed to have been a routine survey mission, charting the unexplored sectors on the very fringes of known space. Routine, that is, until a dense meteor shower suddenly transformed the starry expanse into a deadly cosmic minefield.
The first impact rattled my teeth, a fist-sized chunk of rock glancing off the hull with a resounding metallic clang. Warning lights immediately sprang to life, dancing in a chaotic rhythm across the console as alarms began wailing their shrill protests. I jerked the controls back and forth, pushing the straining engines well past their recommended limits in a desperate attempt to dodge the hailstorm of deadly projectiles. But out here, lightyears from anywhere, luck and skill can only take you so far when pitted against the raw, unpredictable chaos of the universe itself.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted an enormous, flaming meteor, larger than all the rest, barreling directly toward me - a silent titan wrapped in a mantle of fire. There was no time left to evade its collision course. It slammed into the Nova Wing with the force of a small nuclear explosion, an apocalyptic impact that punched the very air from my lungs and sent the ship spiraling out of control.
“Mayday, mayday!” I shouted desperately into the communicator, though I knew it was useless.
Critical systems began failing in rapid succession – navigation, communications, life support – all flickering on the brink of complete shutdown. My fingers flew frantically over the console as I struggled in vain to stabilize her, but the Nova Wing was too gravely wounded now to be saved, far beyond my capacity to repair her as I tried to fly.
The nearby planet Surlon began looming large ahead, a vast canvas of muted browns, greens and grays. True panic clawed at my throat as I angled the crippled ship into a barely controlled descent through its atmosphere, the shields flaring bright against the searing heat of re-entry. Soon tongues of plasma flame were licking at the viewport, painting the world in vivid hues of orange and red as I plummeted toward an unforgiving desert landscape below.
The ground raced up to meet me – a sea of endless prairie and dust land rising and falling like waves frozen in time. With mere seconds left before impact, I yanked desperately at the manual eject lever with every ounce of strength left in my body. Nothing happened; it was clearly jammed or broken, yet another casualty of the meteor’s devastating impact.
Collision was now unavoidable and imminent.
An explosive shockwave tore through every fiber of my being as the ship’s metal infrastructure screamed and violently crumpled around me. A raging dust storm howled in deafening fury, instantly swallowing the wreckage of my doomed vessel. White-hot pain exploded through every nerve ending before darkness finally, mercifully closed in, bringing sweet oblivion.
Chapter 1
Kian
The sun bore down, relentless in its heat, as the echo of a distant crash reverberated through the canyon walls. My sirocco, sensing the disturbance, reared up, nearly unseating me. I calmed her with a touch, our psychic bond steady as the ancient rocks beneath our feet.
“Did you hear that?” I called to the rest of my party. The hunters, atop their own siroccos, nodded. Something unnatural had invaded the quietude of Surlon.
We rode toward the sound, the rhythmic pounding of hooves kicking up a haze of dust that painted the horizon a burnt orange. As we crested a hill, we saw it—a craft unlike any Surlon had ever forged, half-buried in the dirt. Its metal carcass still hissed and popped from the fury of its descent.
I dismounted, motioning for my men to spread out. We approached with caution, such things were not to be trusted. Legends spoke of sky demons that fell to earth on tails of fire, bringing doom in their wake.
“Be ready for anything,” I instructed.
We reached the wreckage and fanned out. The air smelled of scorched metal and something acrid I couldn’t place. I surveyed the scene; parts of the craft lay strewn about like the bones of some great beast scattered by scavengers.
Then I saw her—a figure slumped against the ship’s torn hull. A woman, her clothing foreign and her skin pale against the dark metal. My heart clenched. She was still.
I crouched beside her, checking for signs of life. Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths; she was alive but just barely. Gently, I lifted her from the wreckage.
“Water,” I called out without looking up.
One of my men tossed a skin to me. I wetted her lips with a few drops before carefully pouring more into her mouth. Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing eyes as blue as our rarest skies after rain.
“Where...?” Her voice was a raspy whisper.
“You’re safe,” I assured her.
She attempted to sit up but winced in pain.
“Don’t move,” I said firmly. “You’re injured. What’s your name?”
“Kate.” Her gaze flickered over me and my men before settling on the sky above us where our twin suns began their descent towards nightfall.
“What is this place?” she asked, confusion lacing her tone.
“Surlon,” I answered simply.
