Savros found himself standing in a dust cloud and was instantly aware of the heat. He'd forgotten how hot it was here. A moment later, Polly and Jaen appeared next to him, coughing as they tried to breathe. He waited while they caught their breath and adapted to the sudden and drastic change in temperature.

  "Well," he said, "here it is, a hot, dusty summer. There's a small inn over here. I used to play at the counter while my dad made deliveries and talked to the townspeople."

  He walked from the gate toward the center of the town. All the main buildings in the town faced the large tree growing in the middle of the square. Savros walked to the second building on his left as Polly and Jaen followed. Savros laughed to himself, thinking how the three of them must look to anyone watching them. He pushed the door open and stepped into the Inn.

  "Hi, welcome to the Bardsyarn Inn and Pub. Can I get you a drink?" Savros recognized her. It was the same woman who'd always run the Inn. Her name was Sophie, a middle-aged woman, a little taller than himself. At least, she used to be a little taller, standing there looking at her from across the room. He would guess he was a little taller than her now. He made his way toward her, with Polly and Jaen in tow.

  "That sounds great. I'd also like a room for one tonight if you have any open." He said, sitting at the bar and facing Sophie directly. She had her back to them and had only glanced over her shoulder when they entered. Her dark hair was in a braid that reached to the back of her knees. The frazzled braid lifted into the air as Sophie spun to face them. She froze in place when her eyes landed on Savros.

  "S-Sa-Savros?" Sophie was wide-eyed and barely able to get his name out.

  He smiled awkwardly and rubbed his head. "Hi, Sophie, how have things been?"

  Without speaking, she ran around the bar, grabbed him from the stool, and hugged him tightly. Finally releasing him, she looked at Polly and Jaen and then back at Savros.

  "Oh, sorry. Sophie, this is Polly," he said, gesturing towards Polly before indicating Jaen as he said, "and this is Jaen. They saved my life and we've been helping each other ever since. Jaen, Polly, this is Sophie, she's been running the Inn as long as I can remember."

  "Hi," the two of them said at once.

  "It's great to meet you." She said. And looking back at Savros, "No one knew what happened to you. It warms my heart that you are safe." She put her hand to her chest, and her lip quivered slightly as she spoke. "Your mother was very dear to me and many others, and your father was a vital part of the community ecosystem. Nothing has been the same around here. Then after the accidents started, many people moved away, thinking it was something in the town. It wasn't until weeks later that we got word it was happening everywhere. By then it was like a ghost town around here." Sophie walked back around the bar as she spoke.

  "If everyone's gone, why are you still here?" Polly asked her, taking a sip from the mug Sophia sat in front of her.

  "There's still a few of the older townspeople around, and I couldn't leave them out here alone. I also don't have anywhere to go, anyway. So I'm gonna ride it out with the old timers." She sat a mug in front of Jaen and Savros.

  "Have you seen my uncle?" Savros asked as casually as he could before taking a drink of the cold beverage she'd given him.

  She stopped in her tracks again but quickly regained her composure, "Not for several months now." She hung her head sadly. "He came to visit me for the first month after…" she didn't finish but instead moved on, "the last time I saw him he said he was going to the river south of town to investigate a lead." She paused again, her head down, "I don't know if he ever spoke of me, but I loved him dearly. I was so excited to see him, but he was agitated and kind of frantic the last time I saw him. Worried he was getting obsessed and putting himself in danger, I tried to get him to stay here, but he said he had to go. The was the last time I ever saw him." She leaned against the counter on the opposite side of the bar, tears falling on the counter in front of her.

  "Was he staying here?" he asked.

  "No," she said, shaking her head. "He was staying in the old 'servants' quarters' at your house. Said he didn't like being in the house but wanted to stay close in case someone came back."

  It was hard on Savros to imagine his uncle suffering alone all this time, but it was even harder to think he'd perished out there. He'd also hoped to avoid the house altogether, but it looked like that wasn't going to be possible.

  "I came to find him. I was hoping he'd be here, or at least around. Can I have a room for a few nights, please?" he asked.

  "Of course, Savros, it's on the house, as long as you need. Just promise me you'll be careful." She said, looking him right in the eyes.

  "Thank you, Sophie, I will." He finished his mug.

  "Do you want us to go with you to the house?" Jaen asked Savros after finishing her drink.

  "That would be great. I feel pretty good about everything, except going into the house. But if he's been staying in the spare quarters, we shouldn't need to go in the house, anyway." He was happy to have them accompany him either way. "Thank you, Sophie. We're gonna go have a look, real quick, be back soon." The three of them stood up together.

  "Thank you so much for your kindness and hospitality. I hope we can visit you again soon." Polly sat the empty mug down on the bar as the three of them headed for the door.

  Before stepping out into the heat, they turned back to her, and together the three of them said, "Bye, Sophie."

  Jaen added, "It was a pleasure meeting you." They were back out the door and, walking quickly to avoid the heat, were on the way to the Shin and the KaiStar.

  Halfway there, he heard Polly say, "We're coming back Shin, can you pick us up, please."

  "Sure thing." Was Shin's response as the three of them popped onto the bridge before he even finished saying it.

  "We want to swing by the house where Savros grew up and see if there's any sign of his uncle." Jaen said, taking her seat.

  "It should be just south of here, a little ways past the old river bed." Said Savros.

  "I see a small settlement south of here on the scan, heading that direction."

  Savros had Shin pull up above the servants' quarters located just off the main house. He teleported down to it, alongside Polly and Jaen. It was obvious from the state of the small building that no one had been by here in months. Savros pushed the door open to the two-room living space. There was really nothing much to see. The room was empty. He walked to the desk in the corner next to the bed. A single item lay on top, covered in a fine layer of dust. An envelope with one word written on the front of it, "Savros."

  Sitting at the desk, Polly behind him to his right and Jaen to his left, he wiped the dust off the paper. He opened the flap and removed the folded paper inside. Unfolding it, he read the note.

  "Savros, I hope you are safe. If you find this, then I am afraid I may have gotten myself into trouble. I'm going to the river bed, I found evidence that the assassins are using a cave there as a base of operations. I've taken what precautions I can, but I have no idea what I will find there. The images are burned into my mind and every night I relive the events of that day."

  "I take solace in the fact that even should the worst happen to me, at least you made it out. I love you, Lad. Take care of yourself, Uncle Sav." A postscript at the bottom read, "Please tell Sophie- I'm sorry."

  He sat in the chair, staring at the note for a long time. So his uncle had been staying here and apparently hadn't come back since he sat out to investigate the river. Savrotores had never talked about Sophie, but he'd never really talked about anything he was doing when he wasn't around. He'd always been so focused on teaching him things and explaining the world to him. It warmed his heart to think his uncle had shared love with someone and hadn't been suffering alone.

  "Well," he said after a long while, "There's no doubt about it now. He went to the river bed several months ago and hasn't been back since." A hard knot formed in his stomach, and dread swirled through his mind. He could only come up with one reason why his uncle wouldn't have, at the very least, returned to Sophie after he went to investigate.

  Polly and Jaen had a hand on either of his shoulders. He slowly closed the note and returned it to the envelope as Polly squeezed his shoulder and said, "Come on, let me show you how to pilot the pod. It's too hot to be walking around out here and I know you aren't gonna sit around and wait until we get back. I wouldn't either."

  By the time he stood up, Shin had teleported them back up to the bridge. Polly examined the local terrain on the screen and decided on a location to teach him how to operate the pod.

  "Shinzo, would you please take us up here, to the road leading into the town. We're gonna drop the pod for Savros while we're gone." Polly turned to Savros, "It's actually really easy to maneuver once you get the hang of it."

  "Dropping pod," Shin announced before they even realized they were there.

  "Great, thank you." Polly said.

  "We'll meet you guys at the gate." Jaen said, giving Savros a smile.

  On the ground with the pod, Polly handed him a new pair of goggles, saying, "The hard part about driving the pod is turning and steering. You have to throttle the engine to make course adjustments. If you try to turn without giving it some power, you'll just drift straight ahead." She climbed into the seat right behind him but sat on her knees, facing forward.

  Savros climbed into the pilot's seat as Polly pointed out the different controls. The stick in the center controlled direction, and the pedal on the floor in front of him controlled power. There were other knobs and buttons, but Polly said that he wouldn't need to use any of them for this terrain.

  The pod fired up when he pushed the ignition button. He pressed the pedal harder than he'd intended to, and the pod shot forward, sending Polly tumbling backward into the back seat. The force pushed him back, causing him to pull back on the stick, which applied reverse thrust to the engines, sending Savros hurtling over the front of the pod and Polly flying back into the seat in front of her.

  Polly climbed up and looked over the front of the pod as Savros was getting to his feet and dusting himself off. She laughed, "Are you okay? I promise it's easy when you get the hang of it."

  He chuckled a little, "Yeah, I think I'm okay." He coughed, shaking the dust from his hair and climbing back into the pod. "Okay, hang on, I'm gonna try again."

  "Gently," Polly urged.

  The little pod pulled away at a much more reasonable pace as he gently pressed the pedal. He experimented with drifting side to side and testing the turns. She was right; it wasn't that hard. He just had to remember to give it some power in the turns and not jerking back on the stick like that. The little pod zoomed down the road until he saw the town gate come into view through the dust. Decreasing the power as they approached, Savros pulled the pod right up to the gate.

  Jaen appeared a few paces away, smiling, and Polly hopped out of the pod and said, "You did really well! It took me longer than that to get used to driving it. Just keep being careful, it's got a lot of power and can easily get away from you."

  Jaen walked up to them and gave Savros a hug, "Be safe and be careful, Savros, we'll be back as soon as we can."

  Jaen let go of him, and it was Polly's turn. She gave him a hug and said, "We'll see you soon, take care of yourself out here."

  "I will," he said, "Thank you guys, and you be careful out there. I'm gonna be worried about you guys until you get back. Hopefully, they take your testimony and you can come back right away. I want to find my uncle and get out of here as fast as I can."

  "That would be nice. We'll be back as soon as we can." Jaen said.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "See you soon, Savy." Polly waved and disappeared, teleported back to the KaiStar.

  Jaen smiled and waved, "a few days at most." She said before joining Polly on KaiStar, leaving him standing in the blowing dust next to the pod.

  "Savros, I don't like leaving you here. Please be careful. Try not to worry about us and stay focused on what you're doing. I'll get us back as quickly as possible."

  "Thank you Shin, I'll be careful, I promise, and I'll be ready to go when you get back." Savros climbed into the pod. He looked up at KaiStar and gave one last wave before pulling up next to the Bardsyarn Inn.

  He walked in, just as Sophie was stuffing something into a treksac and rounding the corner coming around the bar. "Oh great, you're back already," she said, "I have your room ready, second door at the top of the stairs." She handed him a key. "I have to run over and check on my friends. I just got word that no one has seen them for a couple of weeks, and I'm worried something's happened to them."

  "Do you want me to take you in the pod?" he asked, concerned.

  "Oh no, that's okay. It's just across town. I'll probably be gone for a while, though. Make yourself at home. I usually don't bother, but you can lock the door while I'm gone, if you like. I doubt anyone will show up today. There's only a handful of us left and everyone's busy today." She headed for the door, pushing it open. "It's really good to see you again and know that you're safe. Okay, back soon." The door closed behind her.

  Savros climbed the stairs to the room she'd prepared for him but about halfway up realized it was barely hitting midday. There was no reason he couldn't go scout out the river bed today. The fear of finding his uncle's body was battling against the na?ve optimism that he could somehow still be alive. He knew that closure would provide a ceasefire in that battle.

  Still, at the halfway point, he turned and went back downstairs. He thought of leaving a note but decided the only ones to look for him would be Polly and Jaen, and they would already know where to look if he were missing upon the return. He left the Bardsyarn Inn and Pub. He hopped into the terrapod and shot past the gates, heading south out of town.

  It only took a minute to reach the little bridge over the shallow part of the river bed. He hit the throttle, making a hard turn, and launched off the bank into the dry riverbed. It snaked around in between his parents' house and the town before banking north around the town and eventually making it to Tuschanuchi.

  Not knowing exactly what he was looking for, he kept his speed to a minimum. The farther he followed it, the taller the banks of the river got. There was no longer any water to be found, but not long after he got into the river bed, the eroded dirt walls were too tall for him to even climb out. As the river bed started to wind more to the left, he spotted a hole in the wall to his right. He stopped behind a shrub between himself and the opening. It didn't hide the pod very well, but it was something.

  He climbed out as quietly as he could. The palm-sized rocks, worn smooth from the ancient waters, shifted and grated against each other as his boots landed on them. He crept to the edge, as quietly as he could, where the eroded dirt had covered the stones, making it much easier to sneak up to the opening. He stood, back against the wall, just outside the hole. It wasn't much larger than a standard doorway. Whoever dug it out used the dirt and sand they removed to spread out in front of the opening and created a sandy landing in front of the entrance.

  A muffled clang of metal on metal came from the hole, and Savros' heart stopped, and his breath caught in his chest. Someone was in there! He inched closer to the edge of the hole and heard someone muttering to themselves. It sounded like their back was to him. He heard the clanging again and more muttering. He squatted down and quickly peeked around the corner. For the split second that he could see inside the cave, he couldn't see much. Not far in from the opening, the cave made a hard left.

  He sneaked into the opening and up against the other wall. From here, he could smell that whoever was in there was cooking food, and it smelled delicious. He stood there for a while, letting his eyes adjust to the limited light inside the cave.

  The muttering voice caught his attention, and he peeked around the corner into the main room of the cave. It was about the same size as his quarters on the KaiStar. A small fireplace, built into the wall, must have vented up through the ground to the top of the river bank. A skinny man stood hunched over the fire muttering to himself as he turned a piece of meat. Savros stared in disbelief, unaware that he had stepped out from behind the corner and was slowly moving forward toward the man.

  "Uncle Sav?" his voice weak and barely audible.

  Savrotores jumped and spun around, shrieking at the sight of his nephew. Savros watched as his uncle, his only blood relation and the single, living tie between him and his parents, trembled in the corner of the makeshift cave, whimpering in fear. Unsure of what was wrong with him, Savros took a few steps back to not startle the man anymore.

  "Uncle Sav, it's me Savros." He said, tears in his eyes.

  "No no no, I don't know where Savros is. I told you, please, I don't know." He had broken down into sobbing.

  Savros came closer again and squatted down in the middle of the room. "Uncle Sav." He shuddered violently at the name. Savros tried a different approach. "Look at me, Tores." He said firmly.

  Savrotores' eyes snapped up to meet his, and Savros saw a brief glimpse of the man he remembered. At first there was no recognition in Savrotores' eyes, he looked like himself again, but he still didn't recognize Savros. He looked away after a moment and began rocking in the corner, muttering to himself again. Savros watched his uncle and wondered what happened to him to make him stay out here for so long. Not once going into town, it didn't make sense.

  Savros stood and took a few steps closer to his uncle before squatting down again. Speaking softer this time, he said, "Uncle Tores, look at me. I need your help. Look at me."

  Savrotores looked up again, staring at Savros. The look of confusion slowly faded as the man studied Savros' face. He looked away for a moment, then looked back at him, blinking.

  Still looking his uncle in the eye, Savros said, "Uncle please help me, don't you recognize me?"

  "Recognize? Recognize." He muttered, looking into Savros' eyes and squinting, "Who are you? Do I know you?"

  Savros sat down and scooted on his butt a little closer. "Look at my face, who am I?"

  Savrotores looked at his eyes and his mouth, then he looked up at his hair and smiled. He kept smiling, but Savros could tell he didn't know why he was smiling. Savrotores reached out to touch Savros' hair. The smile faded from his face as his hand drew nearer to Savros, turning into a frown as Savrotores touched Savros' head and began crying. He suddenly grabbed Savros and pulled him close. Hugging him tightly and crying large tears, Savros could feel soaking through his hair and hitting his scalp.

  Savros wrapped his arms around his uncle and cried with him. After everything that had happened and all he'd been through, he'd finally found his uncle, somehow, alive.

  "Savros, oh my god, I thought I'd never see you again! What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here." Savrotores held him at arm's length, looking him over as he spoke.

  "I had to come find you. What are you doing out here? Sophie says you've been missing for months." He asked.

  "I've been here for months?" he asked incredulously.

  "Tawkwa and his gang captured me and left me here. They tortured me and beat me, used magic on me to get me to expose you. They were planning on using me to get to you when all else failed. But one day, they just stopped coming back. I've been trapped on this island ever since. How did you even find me?"

  Savros was confused but beginning to piece it together. The one thing he didn't understand is how Savrotores could be this close to home and not recognize anything and, even crazier, think he was on an island.

  "Uncle Sav, you aren't on an island." His uncle looked confused, "You're in the old river bed between the house and town."

  "That's ridiculous Lad, this is an island surrounded by water with in sight of land anywhere else. Here look." He went to the entrance, and Savros followed him. "There you see, it's just water everywhere. Even if I tried to swim it, I don't know what direction to go." He pointed at the dry riverbed and dry, dusty surroundings. Obviously, something was messing with his uncle's perception.

  Savros took a few steps out of the cave and said, "there's no water here, Uncle Sav." Savros took a few more steps out. His uncle became visibly disturbed the farther he went out. Another step and his uncle panicked, racing out to save Savros.

  "The water's not safe!" he yelled as he ran and jumped, with perfect diving form, dove face-first into the dirt. The impact nearly knocked him out. His eyes were still rolling around when Savros helped him sit up.

  After a few moments, Savrotores had come around and was breathing heavily, still sitting in the dirt. He looked down at his hand, dry and covered in dirt, when it should be wet. Blood from his nose hit his hand as he sat there. Savros wiped the dirt from his dazed uncle's face. Savrotores looked around in awe at his surroundings that had suddenly transformed into a very familiar setting.

  "How?" was all his uncle could say.

  Savros helped him to his feet and brushed more dirt off his uncle's clothes. "I don't know, it could be magic of some kind, or tek." He looked back at the entrance to the cave.

  "Whatever it was, I say we get out of here. I have a room ready at the Inn. Sophie was nice enough to make it up for me." He helped his uncle limp to the pod. "My friends will be back in a few days, and we can get out of here."

  "I guess I'll never be able to avenge my sister's death. All I managed to accomplish was getting myself captured."

  "I don't know if it helps or not, but while on the KaiStar and with the help of my friends, we took out all the assassins except Tawkwa. The Galactic Service Captured and detained him. But he escaped a few months ago."

  "That's right I did!" came the shrill screech of Tawkwa's voice from behind them.

  They spun around to see Tawkwa, standing in front of the cave entrance, behind Sel'Pen and three other men.

  "And it looks like my timing is perfect! Now you both die! Vengeance on behalf of all living beings." Tawkwa reached back as if he were about to throw something.

  Savros felt the feeling of tryptic energy stirring in his stomach. He reacted on instinct, one hand pointed at his uncle as he released a shield surrounding him. In a smooth motion brought both hands up together as his rage at this insane little man engulfed him. This was the man responsible for his parent's death, for chasing him and putting his friends in danger, for releasing Gah'Raka and forcing their hand in the release of tryptic energy. Savros lost control, calling up as much energy as he could muster. He unleashed a blast on the three men at the front of the group.

  When the dust cleared, Tawkwa was standing to his feet, having been thrown back into the wall on the other side of the river bed. Savros didn't hesitate and sent another attack his way. Before it could impact, Tawkwa disappeared in a swirl of smoke.

  Savros turned back to check on Savrotores, who sat in the dirt staring wildly at the events that had transpired. He walked up to his uncle, waving the shield away and helping him to his feet. Savrotores looked at the massive hole where the men had stood. The blast was so big there was no sign of the cave anymore. All that remained was a crater in the river bed. His uncle looked at him and then back to the hole.

  "What was that?" he stammered.

  "It's a kind of long story, but the tryptic energy is back and we can all use it now. Just before you try it out, let me help you. The first time is dangerous, you can kill yourself and everyone around you."

  Still shaking, Savrotores threw his leg over the side as Savros helped him into the back seat of the pod. "Hold on," Savros said over his shoulder as he took the pilot's seat, "I just learned how to drive this thing today."

  Once again, he gave it too much power and jerked himself and his uncle back into the seats. This time he didn't over-correct, though, and they kept moving forward. In no time, he had it under control, and they were shooting up the river bed, back towards the little bridge. Savros used the lower and more sloped walls of the river bed to launch them back up onto the road. Giving it more power, Savros flew towards town, feeling a tremendous sense of relief and joy. He'd found his uncle alive, even when it seemed nearly impossible.

  "Sophie's gonna be gone most of the day. She went to check on friends, but she left it unlocked for me." He said over his shoulder.

  "Poor Sophie, she must have been so worried, and I was that close this whole time." Savrotores replied.

  The gates came into view, and Savros blew right past them, making a tight left and hard stop in front of the Inn. He helped Savrotores out of the pod, and they went inside. Savors went behind the bar and poured them both a drink before walking back around and sitting next to his uncle. He handed him a drink while he took a sip of his own.

  "Tawkwa got away again." Savros said, looking into his mug.

  "After what you did to his men, I bet we don't see him again." Savrotores trying to reassure his nephew.

  Savros looked up from his mug to meet his uncle's gaze and said, "I don't know. We've beaten him several times, killed all of his men, and he always comes back. The next time I see him will definitely be the last time. He won't escape again."

  Savrotores finished his mug and stood up. "I am gonna run up to the room and freshen up, maybe find some of my clothes, if Sophie hasn't thrown them out yet."

  "Okay, I'll be here." Savros said, going back around the bar for another drink. After his uncle disappeared up the stair, Savros sat down and took a deep breath. He smiled to himself as he took another drink. He'd run away in fear, unable to even take care of himself, but now he'd returned, found his uncle, and everything was as good as it could be. Savros still wished Polly and Jaen were here, but it was going to be nice to have a couple of days to catch up with his uncle. He had a lot of stories to tell him about the adventures they'd had.

  Savros found a few snacks behind the bar; dried meats and vegetables. Sophie wouldn't mind, hopefully. He took a few of each for his uncle and a couple for himself. Savros circled back around the bar and took a seat while he waited for his uncle. He was ready to blow his uncle's mind with the tales of his adventures since meeting Polly. He thought back, deciding he might as well start at the beginning; Abriva.

  A creaking step caught his attention, and he turned to see his uncle coming down the stairs, wearing clean clothes, drying the last of the water from his hair.

  "Well," he said, joining Savros at the bar, "I feel way better!" He took a sip from the mug, saw the dried meat, and picked it up, as well. Savrotores, turning his head to face Savros, got a serious look. "Thank you, Lad. Without you, I would have died in that hole, and no one would have ever known."

  "I wish I could have come sooner. I wanted to, but we were on the run for a while. When I got to Abriva, I met Polly and then Jaen and Shin. They took me on and accepted me as a part of the crew. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here either. We've become like a family since then. I can't wait for you to meet them. You'll love them." He was excited and started to talk faster.

  "It sounds like you ended up in the best place you could have. I'm grateful to your friends for protecting you. I'll be proud to meet the people that helped you when I couldn't. They forever have my gratitude." Savrotores took another bite.

  Savros looked at his uncle. He looked like his old self again. For a moment, in his mind, he was transported back to several years ago, when he and his father sat at this very bar, taking a break from the day deliveries. At least he still had Savrotores, he thought.

  A strange sound from outside caught their attention. At first, Savros couldn't place the sound at all, but as it grew louder, it suddenly clicked. The sounds were Tawkwa's voice standing outside the Inn. The next thing he knew, he saw the lighter items in the room lifting into the air. A strange stillness seemed to weigh him down while everything around him was lifting into the air. His eyes darted up to meet his uncles as flames erupted all around them, and time slowed to a crawl. Looking around, everything seemed to be exploding at once. The light and fire were everywhere. He stared into his uncle's eyes as the flames engulfed them. In the split moments of the very beginning of the explosion, Savros witnessed his uncle consumed by fire and being ripped apart as the explosion progressed.

  He could just feel the very first waves starting to impact his body. It felt like he was being violently shoved in every direction at once. As the explosion continued and engulfed him as well, his vision changed. He could feel the tryptic energy inside him, growing rapidly, even with time almost at a stop. The vortex of energy within him spun rapidly and wildly, far stronger than anything he'd felt before. The more the explosion progressed, the more powerful he could feel the tryptic energy inside him grow.

  As the energy exploded inside him, time resumed, and the world exploded around him.