Part 1

Sprinting at top speed, Kaladin leapt over a cliff and landed gracefully with a tight roll as he landed. At a height, Kal could see the Xerian border walls, which they slowly went around, staying at a distance.

His F.S.A.P. suit absorbed the impact and he kept running. At speeds far greater than the animals humans rode. Breaking onto an open plane, the ground became smoother and easier to traverse. Long distances of grasslands stretched far beyond the setting sun.

“Are we getting close?” Kal asked Felkuru.

The enormous Vog kept pace with him, lagging slightly behind him.

“We have a ways to go yet. I fear we will not make it in time.” Felkuru groaned. “My daughters have seen the fighting has already commenced. I can only see glimpses from my human partner, he is safe for now.”

“What of the Emarine with them? Did you get a good look at them?” Kal asked his friend.

“I am afraid not. Only that there are two. One female and one male. It is likely they are who you are searching for.” Fel sounded optimistic.

“Yvlana,” Kal whispered, his face within his helmet frowning.

“I am sorry, friend.” Fel said. “I cannot risk another forced connection with Erik. Another may very well kill him.”

“Erik?” Kal glanced back at the Vog. “That’s the human you bonded with?”

“Yes.” fell thought back to Kaladin. “He is a king on this planet, however, my intervention has caused him many problems for which I am regretful for doing so.”

“Why’s that?” Kal asked. “He caused your son’s death. Why would you regret protecting your daughters?”

“I see now the kind of man he truly is,” Fel replied.

As they raced across the hilly landscape, Kal glanced to his left. Ahead of them, a group of female Vog were on an intercept course with them. Felkuru had ordered most of his daughters to assemble to fight the Thrak and they were showing up in increments. This was the first group to join them.

“What kind of man is he?” Kal asked. “He is a human. How good can he be?”

“As good as you or I. Humans have surprised me in their capability to change.” Felkuru brooded.

“I doubt it. I still haven’t forgiven them for abandoning us.” Kal sneered, remembering the war with the Thrak. “They left us to die and ran away. They are all cowards.”

“The Thrak destroy everything in their path, the humans knew this. The Emarine knew this and we did too. The humans fought with you for many years and when you were defeated, they fled. As did many of your people too.”

Kaladin couldn’t argue with that, it made it difficult to blame the humans for all their problems when his own people fled and left him to die on Isulia. The human’s homeworld was destroyed in the process as were many colonies. The cost had been a hefty one, both races suffering greatly.

To this day, Kaladin didn’t know if his own homeworld was still fighting or not. It had been three thousand years which gave him little hope his people survived the invasions. Isulia itself was a small colony when the Thrak invaded, leaving them with nothing to defend themselves with.

In a desperate attempt, Kaladin set off a core bomb to destroy the Thrak below ground, crumbling the surface of the planet and collapsing any tunnels the Thrak had burrowed into the core. To survive the blast, Kaladin forced Yvlana and her brother to escape into their bunkers across Isulia and went into cryosleep. Their plan was to be woken after one hundred years but obviously, that outcome had not come to pass.

Kaladin himself was stranded in his bunker for over a year in an attempt to fix his broken cryopod. Only Fel and Pilgrim kept him company until he slept.

Their last contact with the other colonies and homeworld was a grim one, in which the odds of survival dimmed by the day. After so many years, Kaladin felt sick at the idea, hope for his people seemed like a doomed one.

“Your right. The Thrak are to blame. Not the humans.” Kal admitted. “I just hope Votis hasn’t fallen.”

“Votis is your homeworld?” Felkuru asked.

“Yes. It’s where I grew up and trained to be a soldier.” Kal explained. “Along with Yvlana and Lamir.”

“You must miss them dearly,” Fel said.

“Wouldn’t you?” Kal asked back. “Don’t you miss your homeworld? Tepra was it?”

“That is what the Emarine calls it,” Fel replied. “For us Vog it is simply home.”

“How long ago was that?” Kal asked. “When you left I mean.”

Felkuru hesitated for long enough to make Kal wonder if he would ever respond, “I was warped before you that day.” Fel said. “I have been on Isulia since then.”

“Right,” Kal said disbelievingly. “You were sent here by a magical being.” his suspicion rose. Fel was obviously hiding something.

“Why is it so hard to believe?” Fel asked innocently. “I do not lie.”

“Then why don’t you show me the memories then?” Kal asked. “I’d believe you then.”

“You do not believe in a higher power other than what you can see.” Fel shook his head. “Just like the humans. You do not believe what you cannot see.”

“If there was a God, as you say, then why isn’t he here now? Helping us to survive?” Kal asked. “If he is God then why did he create the Thrak?”

“I have lived for more than ten thousand years, yet I do not hold the answers you seek,” Fel replied calmly. “I know that he sent me to you. To save you. And he provided my race the means to start over on this planet.”

“I know.” Kal sighed. “I am sorry your planet is dead. It must have been hard for you to leave them behind. But that doesn’t prove there is a God that sent you here.”

“Then how did I appear before you?” Fel asked. “In your time of need. To save this planet?”

“Well I didn’t save the planet, now did I?” Kal growled. “The Thrak survived and have been breeding like rodents for thousands of years. We accomplished nothing.”

“You asked me why I wouldn’t show you the memories of the Angel.” Fel started. “It is because he asked me not to. Only that you were chosen for something.”

“Chosen for what exactly?” Kal asked skeptically.

“He did not reveal that to me,” Fel said. “But I know the being intends to help all those who oppose Him.”

“Right.” Kal rolled his eyes. “There is a demon controlling everyone. Hell-bent on destroying the universe. How could I forget.”

“You will see,” Fel said softly. “Erik suspects this and is attempting to do something about it. As did Armin and he was killed for it. Armin and his wife were on the verge of revealing to the world that he truly existed in the shadows.”

“Really?” Kal looked back at his friend. “And what is Erik doing to help us?”

“He will reveal the truth to the humans. I do not know how. But he will expose Mulguran.” Felkuru said confidently. “He will show you too, my friend.”

“Well, I’m all for being told the truth,” Kal said. “All I know now is that the Thrak are a curse upon us all and will not stop at nothing until we are all extinct.”

“The Thrak are not what they seem,” Fel said, in a low voice. “Do not be so quick to judge. Especially those around you.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Kaladin admitted. “Though my hatred for the Thrak will not be abated.”

“I know how hard it is to see the good in people. My own son had to die to show me this.” emotions wafted over Kaladin as Fel’s memories resurfaced. “Not all humans are bad and not all Thrak are bad.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Kal mumbled. “Though I do not wish to downplay your son’s death. He had more strength than I to forgive them, even before he was born.”

“Forgiveness can be a powerful thing.” Fel said. “Enough of this.” he sensed Kaladin’s eagerness to drop the subject. “More of my daughters are joining us. We must hurry if we are to reach them in time.”

Kaladin’s heart leapt at the thought of seeing Yvlana again. After the bomb was detonated, Kal had lived in the bunker, trapped and alone with Fel for a year until he decided to go into cryosleep after fixing the pod. He forced himself to calm down at the thought of seeing Yvlana again. Their last encounter was… complicated at best. Perhaps she would not forgive him for what he had done but Kaladin didn’t regret it as it saved her life. Mentally preparing himself for her anger and resentment was a must for him as he knew her well enough to know she would have a dramatic response once they were together again.

“What was the angel’s name?” Kal asked randomly.

Fel seemed surprised by the question, “He said he went by many names but the one he gave me was Malik. Why do you ask?”

“Because… if Malik is real and he is helping us. I sure hope he shows up for the fight to come.” Kal admitted. “We’re going to need all the help we can get.”

Part 2

Reaching the border to Tykin, Kaladin and Felkuru, along with a thousand Vog behind them, raced through the foreign country. Bypassing their strongholds and any city or town. Alarming the humans was of little concern to them at the moment as they rushed toward Unari.

However, to get there they had to round the corner of the massive walls of Xer and into the kingdom of Tykin. Crossing over hostile territory wasn’t ideal but they did so without hesitation. Keeping to themselves, the Vog army kept a rapid pace, nearly pressing against the walls at times to avoid Tykin soldiers or citizens.

Oftentimes, they would see Xerian soldiers gawk at them from far above as they rushed past them. It was a sight to behold, Kal had to admit, especially for those who had never seen Emarine or Vog before.

After a day of intense speed, they reached Kligira and swept through the border without incident. The Kligirian’s, like the others, gawk at the army from their castles and cities, unsure what to do or say. Shouting often came from behind the walls but they were long gone before they could react to their presence.

The journey was an exhausting one but Kaladin’s F.S.A.P suit kept him going as it boosted his strength and endurance, regenerating his cells and giving him a small respite from the running. The suit allowed him to stay in a stasis mode which pushed him forward with little effort, even allowing him to dose off in small intervals before an alarm would wake him.

The suit would warn him it needed his conscious brain to perform certain feats, such as jumping, climbing or swimming. Running however was on autopilot, which allowed him to sleep.

Suddenly, Felkuru skidded to a halt behind Kal, his large body spraying up dust. “What is it?” Kal whipped his head around, sliding to a halt a second later.

“Look,” he said simply.

Kaladin glanced around in the direction he was staring, scanning the edges of the dusty landscape. Finally, after a moment of not seeing anything, Kal activated his helmet’s features, allowing him to zoom in at further distances.

“On the walls,” Fel commented.

Immediately, the scene came into focus and Kal breathed in deeply. “Well, we did expect a fight.” he joked.

Thrak were crawling over the walls like pyramids, climbing over each other like ladders. Using their own bodies to pile against the walls giving them access to the top where humans were fighting. Below, large female Thrak peppered the humans with their projectiles, which Kaladin immediately noticed were far more powerful than he remembered. Scanning the tops of the wall, Kaladin saw what he was looking for.

It was Yvlana, flowing like an angel in a deadly dance, cutting through dozens of Thrak as they reached the top. Her movements were precise and graceful and a strange feeling of both dread and joy washed over him. Each time the females released a volley she would pull her shield out and even protect the humans too, which surprised him as she hated humans. To his left the sun had almost set, leaving the surrounding area in a dim light, governed by shadows which gave them an advantage. The element of surprise.

“I see your woman,” Felkuru announced. “She is fighting well, but there are too many of them.”

“I don’t see Lamir.” Kaladin started to panic.

“He is there,” Fel replied, sending an image to his mind. “Come. We must hurry before it is too late.”

A wave of relief washed over him as he saw Lamir was alive and well but nearly overwhelmed by the Thrak horde.

Kaladin burst forward with all his strength ahead of the Vog, eager to get into the fight and save her. Leaving the Vog behind, Kal headed straight for the females, constantly firing up at the humans and Yvlana.

Pulling out his sword and a grenade, Kaladin plunged headfirst into the fray.