Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Shades of Justice: A Space Opera Short Story

 SHADES OF JUSTICE

Henry N. Silva


NOTE: The following story is technically a sequel to my book Sunrise Order. That said, I did my best to structure this story in a way where it can be read without needing to also read the book that precedes it.


Dean faces the blue sunset…

In times of stress, the sun of his home-world usually manages to put him at ease. He cherishes that blue sun, against the reddish-gray sky, the two colors meshing perfectly together, across the world of Deltax…

But everyone knows that Dean doesn’t just admire the sun for its beauty. He needs that sun, more than any ordinary human ever could…

He remembers hearing the bedtime stories from his parents, over and over, when he was just a little boy. Night after night, they told him of the time, centuries ago, when humanity first came to Deltax, and how some of those very first settlers became blessed by the blue sun. These chosen few soon found themselves with heightened strength and intelligence. They were humans no more…

They and their descendants became known as the Sunchildren, and together, they formed the everlasting Sunrise Order.

And you’re a Sunchild too! Dean remembers his mother first saying to him, so long ago…

Standing in front of his own airship, Dean now takes his eyes off the sun, focusing instead on the small town ahead of him, surrounded by vast desert, common for the western region of the planet… As he makes his way into town on foot, he finds himself greeted by a fellow Sunchild, Fodir. The two of them bare black Sunchild armor, accentuated by patches of purple, the color of The West…

A warm smile sweeps across Fodir’s face, “You picked up the distress call too, I see!”

“Why did our radars pick this one up, though?” Dean asks, as he looks around, “Isn’t this Northwest territory?”

“Actually, this community is technically right on the border between West and Northwest,” Fodir explains.

“Oh,” Dean refocuses his attention on a small house, just behind his peer, “So what happened here?”

“Some kinda domestic dispute, it looks like. A few Northwesterners got here right before me, though.”

“Should we go take a look anyways?”

Fodir nods, “Might as well.”

They step indoors, only to find a small girl, curled up on the floor and crying, just beside the entrance…

Dean kneels down, meeting her at her level, “Hey, kid. Can you tell us what happened here?”

The girl does her best to speak between sobs, “Mommy killed daddy… Mommy killed daddy!”

Dean stands back up, looking over just as the mother is being taken from the kitchen to the outside, a Northwestern Sunchild grabbing her by each arm. They too bare black armor, only theirs is accentuated by a lighter shade of purple, more magenta than anything else… Dean manages to get a good look at the mother as she passes him. He can see the pure, unfiltered insanity in her eyes. She snarls as she sees him, making no acknowledgement of her daughter whatsoever. No remorse…

Another Northwestern Sunchilddd then steps out from the kitchen, one whom Dean already happens to know, a man by the name of Rakk.

“So what’s gonna happen to her?” Dean asks him, “The mother, I mean.”

Rakk merely shrugs, “You know how it goes. We’ll decide if we should send her to The North or not. If we keep her here, then we’ll decide her fate ourselves. If we send her north, then it’ll be up to the government.”

Fodir grits his teeth, “You mean the same government that was recently exposed as corrupt?”

“Corrupt or not, it’s the global government,” Rakk snaps back at him, “and rules are rules.”

Dean eyes him critically, “Your rules. Not ours.”

Rakk remains unfazed, “Even so, we got here before you guys did. That woman is under our jurisdiction now.” With that, he leaves…

The pair of Western Sunchildren say nothing more, returning their attention to the helpless child on the floor…


MONTHS LATER


Dean steps into a bar, deep in thought… Even now, he cannot stop thinking about the ‘domestic dispute’ from several months prior. There was a time where he only cared about himself, but that time was over for him now…

Soon enough, he recognizes Rakk, sitting alone atop a barstool, and decides to join him.

Rakk looks to his left, “Ah, look who it is!”

“A bit far from home, no?”

The Northwesterner takes another sip of his drink, “Maybe I just like it here.”

Dean gets to the point, “I heard all the charges were dropped for that woman… Why?”

As per usual, Rakk shrugs, “I wasn’t part of the decision to send her north, nor was I part of the court’s ruling up there.”

Dean presses on, “Your actions have allowed a guilty person to walk free. Had you just let us handle it, none of this would’ve happened.”

Rakk places some money on the counter, standing from his seat. For a moment, it seems he is about to say something new in rebuttal, but suddenly stops himself, instead leaving the bar in silence…

The Westerner continues to sit alone, wondering what Rakk had wanted to say to him. Did he want to admit defeat? Did he simply feel that Dean wasn’t worth arguing any further with?

Whatever the answer, it was beyond Dean, at least in that moment…


DAYS LATER


The Western Sunchild finds himself returning to the same bar, this time on business…

There to great him just outside is Fodir, his usual warm smile in tow, “Nice to see a familiar face!”

Dean waves to him, “At least we’re deep in western territory this time. No need to worry about Northwesterners getting in the way… So what happened?”

Fodir points to bar behind him, “Some guy had too much to drink in there, started going crazy.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard to handle, then.”

They step in, only to find the place empty and destroyed. An older man stands in the middle, visibly drunk, a broken glass bottle in his hand…

He points his makeshift weapon towards the pair of intruders, “Leave me alone!!”

Dean takes a deep breath, “Relax.”

“I said leave me alone!!”

Dean continues to remain calm, “We’re not gonna hurt you.”

Fodirrr steps up to drunkard, who raises the broken bottle in defense… And then Fodir snaps his neck.

Dean recoils in shock, “What the hell?!”

Fodir briefly looks down on the now-dead man on the floor, before turning his head towards Dean. The warm smile from his face long gone, his eyes now seeming ‘empty,’ and cold, “You didn’t see? He was gonna attack me.”

“You didn’t need to take it that far!”

Fodir sighs, “My parents were drunks. Just had a traumatic reaction, I guess.”

“That’s not a valid excuse! You basically just broke the law!”

Fodir walks up to him, his expression still blank, his eyes still cold, “We are the law.” He then makes his way back outdoors…

Dean remains there in the bar, alone with the body, overcome with shame, and acceptance…


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Saturday, May 4, 2024

Dark Magic Trial: A High-Fantasy Monologue

 DARK MAGIC TRIAL

A High-Fantasy Monologue

Henry N. Silva


Every prime witch and wizard must face “the dark magic trial,” once they reach a certain age…


What’s that, you ask? Well, the dark magic trial simply means being exposed to dark magic… The magic of our enemies…


One cannot defeat their enemy or keep them at bay until they understand their “side of the story,” after all… Those of us who face the trial usually come away from it one piece, but every now and then, someone succumbs to the darkness…


There are others of good who refuse to accept the dark magic trial. Runaway witches and wizards, we call them… Sometimes I think about becoming a runaway myself. My time to face the trial is soon approaching, and the more I am reminded of it, the more I fear it…


I don’t know any runaways, though. All my friends and family are primes. Interacting with the runaways is frowned upon… But like I said, my time to face the trial is soon approaching, and the more I am reminded of it, the more I fear it…


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Thursday, May 2, 2024

When Nightfall Comes: A Space Opera Short Story

 WHEN NIGHTFALL COMES

Henry N. Silva


NOTE: The following story is technically a sequel to my book Sunrise Order. That said, I did my best to structure this story in a way where it can be read without needing to also read the book that precedes it.


Arra faces the blue sunset…

In times of stress, the sun of her home-world usually manages to put her at ease. She cherishes that blue sun, against the reddish-gray sky, the two colors meshing perfectly together, across the world of Deltax…

But everyone knows that Arra doesn’t just admire the sun for its beauty. She needs that sun, more than any ordinary human ever could…

She remembers hearing the bedtime stories from her parents, over and over, when she was just a little girl. Night after night, they told her of the time, centuries ago, when humanity first came to Deltax, and how some of those very first settlers became blessed by the blue sun. These chosen few soon found themselves with heightened strength and intelligence. They were humans no more…

They and their descendants became known as the Sunchildren, and together, they formed the everlasting Sunrise Order.

And you are a Sunchild too! Arra remembers her mother first saying to her, so long ago…

The young woman continues to gaze at the sunset, feeling her mind clearing with each passing second. Back when she was a child, hearing the stories about her ancestors for the first time, she dreamt endlessly of the many ways she would use her “gifts” to bring peace to the people of Deltax. But now, as a young adult, she questions everything…

She looks around at the humble, wood-and-stone village around her, surrounded by forestry, common for the eastern region of the planet. An intense soreness makes its way through her body. Just the night before, she stopped a powerful terrorist by the name of Fang from destroying the entire region. Over and over again, she relives the moment when she grabbed hold of him, just a few feet away from the region-wide bomb he had created, and threw him into a rapid river, his red-cloaked body vanishing into the waterfall nearby…

Suddenly, a servant steps out from a cottage, making his way to Arra, “Your parents will see you now.”

She makes her way into the house from which the servant came. On her way in, she sees a patch of red from the corner of her eye, coming from the forest nearby. She looks over, but finds nothing of red.

You’re seeing things, she tells herself, as she makes her way indoors…

Within the structure she once called home, Arra finds an elderly couple she knows all too well, sitting at a table, tea in each of their hands. Both of them bare the same black armor as her, accentuated with orange, the color of The East…

Arra lowers her head in shame, “Forgive me.”

Her mother raises an eyebrow, “How can we? You broke the one and only rule of our kind.”

“What choice did I have?,” Arra looks back up, “The one they call Fang was on the verge of destroying our entire region!”

“Our purpose is to only advise, not intervene.” Her father responds, “We cannot alter the fates of others, only guide them.”

Arra sighs, “I understand, but my human instinct for survival overtook me in the moment. Surely an exception can be made, no? I will do what I can to never make the same mistake again.”

“You are still our daughter, but rules are rules,” her father answers again, seeming regretful.

“You must leave,” her mother adds, a tinge of regret also lingering in her voice.

Arra manages to hold back the tears, “Very well. Hopefully this is only goodbye-for-now.”

With that, she walks out, only to find a familiar, gray-cloaked figure standing there before her; Ranu, leader of the Moonchildren. A sect of Sunchildren who choose to use their physical strength, but only at night, using the reflected light of the moon as their guide…

The middle-aged man smiles, “You look like someone in need of somewhere to go.” He walks up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Don’t worry. We are your family now.”


SEVERAL DAYS LATER

Arra sits atop a gargantuan tree, deep within the forest, in the dead of night. Ranu and the handful of other Moonchildren are there with her…

She now wears the same gray robes as the rest of them, fully accepted into their culture. Together, they all look for signs of danger…

“Look!” One of the other Moonchildren suddenly points to a distress flare, lighting up the air. He then turns towards Arra, “Isn’t that right around where your village is?”


***

Arra makes her way to the town she once called home, sprinting as fast as she can…

“Wait!” Ranu shouts to her, he and the other Moonchildren running just behind her.

Soon enough, she makes her way to the mouth of the village, stopping dead in her tracks as she sees her parents, lying dead on the ground…

Between them stands a man cloaked in red, a knife in his hand. He pulls back his hood, revealing an aging face that Arra had hoped she would never see again… The other locals all cower in fear, clearly understanding that Fang too possesses Sunchild blood, coursing through his veins…

Whaling in anger, Arra charges straight to him, instantly grabbing the knife from his hand. Without a moment’s hesitation, she pierces it, right into his center…

Collapsing to the ground, Fang’s face curls into a brief smile, “See? Now what makes you any different from me?”

Arra watches, as he takes his dying breath, his final words ringing in her mind…


THE NEXT MORNING

Arra stands in the center of the village alone, the three bodies now taken away…

Carefully, Ranu approaches her, “Don’t feel regret for what you’ve done. You’re a Moonchild now. When nightfall comes, you have the authority to kill.”

Arra says nothing.

Ranu sighs, “If you want to break away from us, I understand.”

After a few more seconds of silence, she finally speaks, “No more killing.”

“What now?”

“I will stay with you,” she clarifies. “I will continue to intervene physically… But I must draw a line at murder. I will leave that to you and the others, going forward.”

The elder Moonchild nods in agreement, “Fair enough… What made you decide to stay?”

She turns to face him, “You had said it yourself… You are my family now.”


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