Razing Pel (3 page)

"We got worried you were lost,"
the male Daj said to Kaj.  "Come, we were just heading home."
 The two Daj approached Kaj, each grabbing his arm.  They
all walked towards their home together, with Kaj being smothered in
the middle.

Kaj struggled to get free of their
grasp, but couldn't.  He wiggled and squirmed, dragging his
feet on the ground to slow them down.

"Ahh, here we are," the male Daj
said as they both stopped in front of a small cottage.  With a
straw roof and thick bark for the walls, they proceeded to go
inside.  "Wait a second champ.  You stay out here.
 We'll be right back."  The two Daj released Kaj as they
headed inside the cottage.

"What's going on?" Kaj asked
himself.  He then found it strange as his voice didn't sound
like his own.  "What the ..."  Kaj ran over to a puddle
of water.  Expecting to see his normal teenage self, he saw a
very young version of himself.  He moved his hands around,
touching his face to make sure that it was him he was staring at in
the puddle of water.  "I don't understand."

Kaj looked around.  The area
he was in seemed very familiar to him, he just didn't remember why.
 He walked around the cottage, inspecting the
outside.

"Why does this seem so
familiar?"

As he walked around back to the
front of the cottage, the beautiful blue sky that stood above him
started to turn red, like blood.  The tall green trees
suddenly shrunk down and browned, the leaves shriveling up.  A
gust of wind blew past Kaj, messing his hair.  Kaj swooped his
hair down fixing it.

"Are you ok son," two voices
simultaneously said.  Kaj lifted his head back up, facing two
skeletal versions of the Daj he just met.  "We love you Kaj,"
they both said again, reaching their arms out at Kaj.

As frightened as Kaj was, he awoke
from the nightmare.  He looked around to see that everybody
was sound asleep.  After witnessing his nightmare, Kaj didn't
want to go back to sleep.

Maj woke up from her slumber a few
minutes after Kaj did.  She slowly moved closer to Kaj,
without him noticing.  "You ok Kaj?" she asked.  Kaj was
reading some strange book that he secretly snagged from his uncle's
shelf before he left.  He quickly put it in his
sac.

He looked up at her and noticed
she was closer than before.  "Yeah," he responded.  "I've
just been thinking.  Like ... what's going to happen after we
get on the ship and leave?  Where are we going to go?
 It's just so much to take in.  We are leaving our home
and venturing off to another world, completely strange to us.
 Don't you think that's scary?"

Maj interrupted Kaj by kissing him
on the mouth.  She put her hand on top of his hand that was
resting on the bench.  "I like you Kaj," Maj whispered to him,
trying not to disturb the others.

Kaj looked at her in shock.
 He quickly took in what had just happened.  He leaned
forward and hugged her.

As the two were hugging, something
went wrong.  A long screeching sound could be heard from
outside the shuttle.  The two, still hugging, looked out the
window only to see the sand still in the air.  A loud bang
came from the top of the shuttle.  Then, the cone of the
shuttle containing the pilot’s room quickly detached from the rest
of the shuttle.  The part of the shuttle the Daj were in
quickly stopped moving.  It started to flip up.  The
force of the shuttle being tossed about sent Kaj out the window and
on to the sandy floor.  He tumbled around on the ground, but
quickly looked back up to see where the shuttle went.  The end
part of the shuttle flipped up and landed onto the cone of the
shuttle.  Kaj watching as fire and parts of the shuttle flew
off.  He covered his ears as the sound of the explosion was
excruciatingly loud.

"Nooooo!” Kaj yelled as he started
running away from the explosion site.  The wind picked up even
more.  Parts of the shuttle fell all around him.  As he
was running, he somehow tripped.  Laying there on the floor,
one of the wings to the shuttle landed right in front of
him.

The loud screeching was heard
again.  Kaj looked up.  He couldn't believe what he saw.
 Two large creatures were moving through the sand.  Kaj
couldn't make out much.  He did however notice six white,
glowing eyes on each creature.  They must've stood at least
sixty feet tall.  Kaj watched in shock and amazement as the
creatures walked around the wrecked ship.

"It can't be," he whispered to
himself.

The creatures started searching
through the wreckage.  Parts once again flew through the air.
 Kaj crawled towards the end of the wing.  He peered
around.  A thick, long tail was visible.  He quickly
looked away.

"What … ugh .... am I going ...
ugh ... to do?" Kaj said as he struggled to catch his breath.
 He then peered around the corner again.  The creatures
were gone.  Kaj then scurried across the disaster zone, in the
opposite direction the creatures were going, and over to what was
left of the shuttle.

Flames snapped out around the
shuttle.  Kaj tried to look in to see if anyone was in there,
but he couldn't tell.  It was to badly wrecked.  The warm
flames were starting to irritate Kaj's skin.
 
Nobody could have survived
this
, Kaj thought.

The loud screeching filled his
ears again.  He looked around, trying to spot the terrifying
creatures.  Kaj had no better idea than to flee the wreckage
scene.  Darting across the disaster zone, sand beating at his
face, he went out into the vast wasteland.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE GUARDIAN

It seemed as though hours passed
by since Kaj left the wreckage scene.  Every so often he'd
look back to check to see if anyone from the scene was alive and
following him.  But to his disappointment, there wasn't.
 He was all alone.

In the distance, Kaj could hear a
faint buzzing sound that began to grow louder.  He looked
around to only see the sand flying around.  "What is that?"
Kaj whispered to himself.  A distant triangular-shaped object
was approaching him.  "Wait, I know what that is!"  The
object was getting closer.  Kaj backed out of the way a
little.  He started waving his arms around as if he were
trying to flag the object down.  "It is!  It's a shuttle!
 Hey, hey!"

The shuttle flew right by Kaj -
the speed it was going knocked him down, covering his body in sand.
 He spit out sand that found its way into his mouth.
 Getting up, he again waved his arms around as he yelled,
hoping they'd turn around and pick him up.  "Hey, hey!
 Come back!"  It was no use.  The shuttle was long
gone.

As he wandered through the
wasteland, Kaj's thoughts were soon getting to him.  He kept
thinking about how he would never get out of the desert, and just
keep circling around it.  He'd end up like every other Daj
that would try to be free but fail in the end.

The idea of suicide came to his
head a few times.  
It'd be
quick
, a voice in his head echoed every
time he thought of the subject.  Even though it sounded like
an easy way out, he knew he had to fulfill his duty and continue
the legacy of his people.  He knew that his uncle would be
disappointed in him if he just gave up halfway through, though the
thought of seeing his parents again made him second guess every
time.

An hour or so had passed by.
 Kaj's stomach growled.  He grabbed his stomach and felt
it grumble, trying to remember the last time he ate.  Kaj slid
off his backpack and unzipped it.  He pulled out a few pieces
of squished bread wrapped in brown paper.  Forcefully, he
devoured both pieces in seconds.

"Ah," Kaj sighed.  He dropped
onto the sandy floor, lying on his side.  The rest that Kaj
needed for his journey slipped off his schedule.  As his
eyelids grew closer together, Kaj spotted something.

"What the ..." Kaj said as he sat
up.  He slipped back on his backpack as he noticed that
whatever was out there was heading towards him.  As the
creature headed towards Kaj, he made a dash in the other direction.
 He raced across the terrain, faster than he ever thought he
could run.  One bad step he took sent everything from his
unzipped backpack flying out.  He took a look back, but still
kept running, ignoring what had just happened.

Up ahead Kaj could see a new
biome.  Tall, lively trees stood out in the distance.  A
large smile grew on Kaj's face.  He knew he must be close.
 Kaj glanced back again to see the creature still chasing
him.

The creature then let out a roar.
 Kaj jumped a little by the sound of the hungry beast, but
continued until he reached the biome.

Kaj was stunned by the sudden
forest that stood before him.  He ran into the forest,
crushing leaves and darting by trees.  Glancing over the area,
Kaj was in awe as he had never seen anything like it
before.

He could hear behind him the
creature rushing across the forest floor.

As Kaj was running, he had one
idea pop into his head.  Up ahead he could see a tall, thick
tree.  When he made it up to the tree, he sharply turned
behind and started to climb.  His long fingers helped him grab
on around the trunk.  Looking down as he climbed up, Kaj saw
the creature race past his hiding spot.  He climbed up to a
long branch on the tree.

"Thank goodness," Kaj said,
panting heavily.  He sat on the branch, his feet dangling
down.  As he took a few minutes to rest, he looked around at
the beautiful scenery.  Large glowing ovals attached
themselves all around the bottom of the trees. Tall trees filled
the forest with green vines hanging down.  As he looked up
into the sky, the top of the forest was covered in a net of
leaves.

Kaj sat up in the tree for a
couple of minutes, gathering his thoughts.  Taking in what had
just happened.  The sudden withdrawal of his home, his uncle,
and the travelers was really getting to him.  He sat forward
with his hands cupped in front of him.  Kaj felt the need to
cry but held it back, knowing that he must stay positive if he
wanted to get off this planet.

"Ok, I must be getting close."
 Kaj stood up on the branch.  As he got up, his foot
slipped and he was sent down into a bush.  He fumbled around
until he could pop his head out.  When he did, another face
was staring directly at him.  The very creature that was
chasing him before was inches away.

The creature's wide eyes were
locked with Kaj's.  They both sat there, motionless.  The
creature’s short ears kept shifting directions, catching all the
sounds that were in the forest.  He noticed the bushy black
hairs that were at the tips of its ears, with the same type of fur
going from the back of its head and up to its tail.  The fur
was a beige color, almost the same color as Kaj's skin.

They both continued to stare each
other down, until Kaj made the daring decision to flee.  He
dashed into the deep forest again with the creature quickly
following after.  Kaj glanced behind him to check to see how
close the creature was.  When he did, his foot caught
underneath a root, sending him rolling out onto a flat, grassy
terrain.  He laid there on his stomach as he watched the
creature leap over him and then face him down when it landed.
 Kaj knew that he was caught … closing his eyes … knowing that
he couldn't do more.  As he waited for the creature to attack
him, something stopped it.

"Stop there," a voice whispered
out.  The voice was soothing to Kaj.  He gently opened
his eyes to see another Daj standing next to the creature.
 The Daj was wearing a long, white robe and holding a long
stick in his hand.  A long white beard covered his face.
 He gently patted the creature on the head and it sat down
near his feet.  "Are you ok young one?"  He extended out
his hand to Kaj.

"Yeah, I think I'm alright," Kaj
said as he grabbed the Daj's hand, pulling him back up to his feet.
 The pain that Kaj was feeling suddenly vanished once he made
contact with the Daj.  Kaj wiped the dirt off his knees.
 "Who are you anyway?"

"I am known as the Guardian of
Trees," he said as he turned to face a giant lake that was behind
him.  "I am nothing but a legend to the people on this planet,
and to most, I don't even exist.  But I hear of troubles for
this planet, am I right?"

"Yeah there are," Kaj said, taking
a step forward.  The creature then lifted its head and snarled
at Kaj, making him take back the step.

"Hush," the Guardian snapped.
 "Go on."

"Uh ... well, you see, these
creatures known as the ..."

"Oce," the Guardian burst out.
 "Yes, I know."  He turned back around to face Kaj.
 "The Oce … a vicious and violent species.  For hundreds
of years these vile creatures have traveled the universe, undoing
what they have created.  You see Kaj, the Oce weren't always
what they seem to be, they were once known as the Creators or
Crafters as they are responsible for the creation of everything.
 Coming from another realm, they decided to create a new
realm, one of which they would craft on their own.  The energy
required to create these immense worlds was beyond the amount we
have today.  As they began to expand beyond their own control,
they soon became addicted to the energy.  It started to rot
inside of them, before eventually becoming so consumed in it,
transforming them into the disgusting creatures today.  Now,
they plan on undoing their own worlds before returning back to
their realm."