Crystal Guardian

28

'What do you mean?' said Floyd.

'The Etchagons,' he stammered. 'They want to gas the planet to kill the surviving Jagophites. I tried to stop them. We have minutes.'

The meaning of the words did not quite reach Aldric's ears. He was still standing, though his legs felt light as if they would give way.

Everyone was on the move. Aldric looked at the cocoons that would never hatch. Inside those tiny places, unborn children with no control over the circumstances of their creation slept. It wasn't their fault that Atarikka had fallen to Incursio. Why did they have to suffer? Aldric tore a cocoon from the wall before racing after the others.

'Hurry up,' he could hear his father shouting but Aldric could not see where he was for the chamber was filling with thick hazy blue fog. He held his breath but running so relentlessly without needing to gasp for air was impossible. Every time Aldric tried, the walls of his throat felt like they would cave in under the burning pressure carving its way through the droplets of foggy poison. His eyes stung as they dried up. He had to shut them but with no idea how to escape, Aldric hurried on hoping he was not heading in the opposite direction to everyone else. Their voices were becoming quieter and more distant.

Someone grabbed his shoulder and Aldric held onto their arm tightly and hoped that they knew the way out. He felt like he had been running for hours but eventually he collided into a large metal wall which turned out to be the side of the LendoZiyan ship. The arm pushed him up the short ramp and through the door. Aldric tumbled to the floor. K fell through too, followed by Raiden, hand over mouth as he slammed the door behind them with his now free arm.

'You made it,' said Winori. 'Where are the others?'

Aldric rubbed his eyes to try and get rid of the sting. 'We have to go back for them,' he croaked. He clambered up, surprised at how weak he felt and made for the door, willing to tear Raiden down if he did not move out of the way but Raiden just threw Aldric to the ground without a word and turned to squint through the window.

'Why are they doing this?' said K.

Winori helped her up and led her away from the door. Aldric stood and something rolled out from underneath his shirt. The cocoon cracked and Raiden spun around, face horrified.

'What were you thinking?' he said. Aldric opened his mouth but was cut off. 'Clearly you weren't.' Raiden stomped forward and raised his boot above the cocoon but Aldric pushed him away and his foot came down hard only inches away from it.

'Don't,' said Aldric. 'I didn't want all this to be for nothing. I thought if I could at least save one of them, all of this would have meant something.'

'So you saved a monster,' he snarled but he turned back to the window all the same.

'It might not grow up evil,' said Aldric. 'It's only a baby.' He looked to K and his mother who nodded sympathetically but he could not tell who they agreed with. Aldric picked the cocoon up gently and folded it inside his jacket before placing it under one of the seats. His mind was drawn back to the others. His father, Evie, Floyd, Haydon, Milo. He felt sick.

'Maybe they got on another ship,' he said weakly.

'If we had the right breathing gear,' whispered Winori, 'I'd go out myself. But, as it is, we'd not last long out there.'

'I'll go back,' said Raiden.

Winori stood up. 'Didn't you hear me?'.

'We've all survived so far haven't we?' he replied. 'A little longer out there won't hurt.' He pushed open the door but he, K and Winori all hurtled towards him to pull him back. The door slammed but more dense fog had seeped in and was polluting the little fresh air they had left.