There’s no turning back now.
Milo was the only one among them smiling.
He was thinking of all the different ways in which his life would change over the next few years. He was actually going to study at Theus Academy! Where his grandfather, Laramon, and his uncle, Emmanuel, and all the other magicians and sorcerers of legend had gone to hone their craft. It was a dizzying thought.
Emmanuel’s glasses shone like twin moons above the landscape of the hologram. “I know you all have questions, but for now we must get going. Everyone find a seat against the wall and buckle yourselves in for liftoff.”
The hologram switched off, leaving the inside of the shuttle dark. Tiny bulbs turned on above the rows of bucket seats in the back.
The orphans buckled themselves in. Andres snapped his buckles together after a few tries and smiled at his son, but Oscar didn’t notice. The boy stared ahead, taking deep, nervous breaths.
Milo sat to Emma’s left and helped her accommodate her wings. She had to spread them out, which meant that Milo and Lily, the latter of whom sat to Emma’s right, would have feathers brushing against them the entire time.
Sevarin sat next to Barrel and wouldn’t shut up about learning the art of war. He asked Barrel one question after another about the Dreadnought program, which was where Sargonauts trained to become fearsome warriors. Barrel kept rolling his eyes and saying, “I don’t know, Sev! I’ve never been there, remember?”
Owen and Gunner took their seats behind Milo. They sat hunched over an action figure they had found somewhere in the vault. It was a toy mecha, complete with red armor, a spiked helmet, and a mechanical-looking sword hanging off its belt. There was a laser rifle strapped across its back.
“Milo, check it out,” Owen said, showing it to him. “They have a school at Theus Academy called the Metalsmith Institute of Mechanized Warcraft, and only Humankin can attend…”
“Yeah, yeah!” Gunner said, “and we get to link up to giant fighting suits like this”—he held up the toy—“and fight practice battles in the mountains!”
“And they say the school is inside one of the mountains!” Owen said.
“Nice,” Milo said. “Kind of makes you want to be Humankin.”
“No doubt,” Owen said. He and Gunner high-fived and went back to worshipping the action figure.
The shuttle rumbled. Their bottoms vibrated against the metal benches. A pleasant chill gathered in Milo’s stomach, as if he were on the world’s most exciting rollercoaster, about to take off.
Through the windshield he saw a metal door slide open at the opposite end of the garage, exposing a rocky tunnel that stretched into infinity. There were yellow lights strung along the ceiling that made it look like a mineshaft.
Emmanuel sat at the controls. They blinked to life as soon as he touched them.
“Get ready for takeoff.”
The shuttle lifted, and Milo felt a dropping sensation in his belly. The flight was smooth and steady. When they entered the tunnel, the inside of the shuttle blinked from the passing lights above them. Milo noticed Emma’s wide-eyed expression of anxiety and took her hand and gripped it. She gave him a worried look and inhaled deeply.
“This feels like a rollercoaster,” she said, exhaling. “I hate rollercoasters.”
“We’ll be fine. Just hold on.”
The shuttle picked up speed with an audible hum. Soon they were traveling so fast that the overhead lights were no more than blurs. The shuttle’s constant tilting and turning as it navigated the tunnel did funny things to Milo’s stomach. Then, finally, a massive door opened up ahead, revealing a dark-blue circle of color.
It was a wall of water, like one side of a glass aquarium. Beyond it was pure ocean. Milo braced himself for impact.
The shuttle shook as it slammed through the invisible barrier. The orphans were pushed forward a little in their seats. They were in the ocean now, a hundred feet below the surface. The overhead lights went off, leaving the cabin filled with watery blue light.
Milo looked out the windshield and saw enormous dark shapes in the sunlit depths. They were like whales but bigger, with long, finned tails that swished from side to side, propelling their bodies forward. Schools of colorful fish flashed across the windshield like flower petals beings yanked by invisible strings. The orphans let out gasps of delight as glowing, toothy creatures resembling sharks, but with webbed hands and feet, darted into view and then swam away.
Milo took in a lungful of processed air. His uncle’s voice filled the shuttle.
“We’ll be traveling underwater most of the way to avoid the emperor’s patrols. It’s a long journey, about fifteen hours to be exact. So feel free to take off your seat belts and make yourselves comfortable.”
He swiveled in his seat to face them.
“When we arrive in Theus, the Archon will want to meet you. Word of your battle against Iolus and his troops has already spread throughout the five continents, which may or may not be a good thing. I hope you kids can deal with being famous because where we’re going, you might as well be the next generation of Champions.”
Milo unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up. “Will you be staying with us?”
Emmanuel became a silhouette as he stood up and walked toward the wall of glass at the front of the shuttle.
“Come closer, kids,” he said, motioning with one hand.
The orphans unbuckled their seatbelts in a chorus of loud clatters and went up to the glass. Emmanuel joined his hands behind his back and stood as rigid as a pillar.
“I won’t be staying in Theus for long,” he said. “I have to find the other Champions and convince them to join us, which won’t be easy. But I’ll be there long enough to make sure you get accommodated. I trust all of you will work hard toward completing your studies when I’m not there.”
Milo approached the glass and watched a long, dragonlike creature swim up from the depths and execute a series of curling dances in the water. It was joined by another, similar creature that wrapped itself around the first and began to dance with it.
“You’ll be safe,” Emmanuel said. “I promise.”
Emma was the one who spoke. “We know. We trust you.”
Her uncle looked down at her and smiled, and it was a sad smile.
Milo spoke, but mostly to himself. “We’re not children anymore.”
A cool hand slipped into his. Lily stood next to him, looking at him with her head slightly tilted, her face a cool blue from the deep ocean’s light. In her other hand was the short staff Milo had given her. The luminether crystal glowed faintly.
“I’m glad you and Emma found us,” Lily said, leaning in so only he could hear.
“Me too.”
The other orphans didn’t seem to notice Milo and Lily standing so close to each other and holding hands. Or they were pretending not to. He didn’t care which.
Suddenly his hand felt warm and he looked down to see blue light glowing where their palms met. He channeled his own energy into the light, intensifying it and making it pulse.
The light blinked off. Lily yanked her hand away.
Emma had appeared at their side.
“Hi, sis,” Milo said. “We were, um…”
“Get a room, you two,” Emma said with a wicked grin before darting away.
Lily looked up at Milo and gave him a shy smile. Without hesitation, Milo held out his hand so she could take it again.
“Stay with me,” he said. “Through all of this. Fight them with me.”
She seemed to consider this for a moment, then took his hand in acceptance. “You know, at the academy they teach that a sorcerer should always be paired up with a magician. That way the sorcerer can cast offensive spells while the magician defends.”
“Does that mean you’ll pair up with me?” Milo said.
She have him a little squint and a smile, as if unsure whether to grant his request. Then she lifted the short staff and tapped the crystal against his chest.
“You’ll need someone to watch your back.”
Milo wanted to laugh but contained himself. It would have been such a childish thing to do, and he no longer felt like the child he had once been. And yet something about Lily still made him feel so inexperienced.
They went back to looking out at the ocean depths. It was exciting, like standing at the edge of an enormous cavern.
Milo looked to his left and saw Emma gaping at the sight of all that water. She looked at him, and they shared a smile. Then Milo, having remembered something important, reached into his pocket and took out the beacon crystal. He held it up so Emma could see it, and then he tossed it to her. Emma caught it, slipped it into her pocket, and tipped her head at Milo in gratitude.
A family of silky, tissue-like creatures swam ahead of the shuttle, lights flashing in their bellies. The orphans studied them in rapt silence. They stood that way, shoulder to shoulder, looking out at the ocean depths and thinking of all that lay beyond, and the massive city toward which they were headed.
“Do you think they’ll accept us?” Lily said.
“I don’t know,” Milo said, putting his palm on the cool glass. “But at least we all have each other.”
The shuttle swam across the depths toward Theus, city of Savants.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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Book 2 of The Luminether Series
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After majoring in English in college, Richard Denoncourt entered an MFA program in hopes of becoming the next great American literary novelist. He crafted a series of moody, narcissistic and melodramatic short stories before realizing that the most entertaining part of life is entertaining others. So he turned to the science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels that he has enjoyed all his life and wrote those instead. He is also the author of Trainland and Ascendant.
Connect with Me Online!
Website: http://www.rdenoncourt.com
Blog: http://selfland.wordpress.com
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Table of Contents
Copyright
ALSO BY RICHARD DENONCOURT
PART I A LITTLE TOWN CALLED EARTH
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
PART II ASTROS, OVERWORLD
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
PART III IOLUS
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
PART IV WINTER
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
PART V A NEW BEGINNING
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
ABOUT THE AUTHOR