{"id":276,"date":"2012-08-19T23:08:59","date_gmt":"2012-08-20T03:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/?page_id=276"},"modified":"2013-02-15T15:30:44","modified_gmt":"2013-02-15T20:30:44","slug":"orphaned","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/index.php\/j-m-brink\/orphaned\/","title":{"rendered":"Orphaned"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The little family sat beside the river trying to catch fish.\u00a0 The two young girls\u2019 laughter and squeals of delight rang out often as the catches jumped and splashed while they were drawn in.<\/p>\n

This rest was a blessing, and all around them others were taking advantage of it to relieve stress, have fun, or simply relax.\u00a0 They hadn\u2019t seen a single Dichidian for four days, no sign of any for three.\u00a0 The scouts had reported back that the hunters that had been tracking them for the past twelve days had fallen for their little trick and veered off to the east.\u00a0 They were all safely inside a small valley in a northern mountain chain.\u00a0 No one had any clue where, exactly, they were other than safe.\u00a0 Some wondered if the valley had a name, few cared.\u00a0 A few debated which mountains these were, but only to pass the time.\u00a0 This was an island continent.\u00a0 They hadn\u2019t crossed a sea, so they were where they\u2019d always been:\u00a0 Shalid.<\/p>\n

Josette and Carjel, occasionally, wondered at the wisdom of that long ago day they\u2019d told the Queensman who\u2019d come to evacuate them that he could go tell it to Kalidh, but that had been their home, everything they\u2019d ever had and all they\u2019d worked for.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t have Jasmine yet.\u00a0 By the time she was born their home was gone, but it\u2019d cost six Dichidians their lives, and those who\u2019d taken the home were given a house warming present \u2013 a thermal grenade \u2013 which sent twenty more to their wicked gods.\u00a0 Besides, it was too late for regrets.\u00a0 The Dichidians had quickly pushed the military forces off Shalid; there was nowhere to turn but the jungles.\u00a0 Their home, now, was Shalid.\u00a0 Their home had unwelcome visitors, and the people of Shalid were going to eject these reptilian interlopers or die trying.<\/p>\n

Still, Jasmine was happy, strong, bright, and blessedly unaware that not all children\u2019s homes were jungle canopy, hollow trees, caves, and deserts.\u00a0 That it wasn\u2019t normal for a five year old to know how to fire a blaster with enough accuracy to kill a Dichidian (and what\u2019s more to have proven it), that baths weren\u2019t the occasional hot spring and numerous cool pools or cascading waterfalls.\u00a0 One day she would.\u00a0 One day she would grow up and realise she was part of a bloody, horrible, desperate war.\u00a0 Not today.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, Jazz, honey?\u201d Carjel asked noticing Jasmine staring thoughtfully at the sky.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaw a funny bird.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked up, scanning the sky wondering what kind of bird could stump his little girl.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh!\u00a0 There\u2019s two!\u201d Jasmine said excitedly before her face fell.\u00a0 \u201cUh-oh,\u201d she said at the same time her father said \u201cVasha save us!\u201d in shock.<\/p>\n

Jasmine had realised those weren\u2019t birds at the same time her father had managed to finally spot the elusive fliers.\u00a0 Raider shuttles coming down fast and right at them, probably aiming for the clearing only a few delgrha north of the camp.\u00a0 Somehow<\/em> they\u2019d been found.\u00a0 \u201cDichidians!\u00a0 Raider shuttles!\u201d he shouted at the same moment all the sentries began sounding warning.<\/p>\n

Josette picked up Jasmine at the same time Carjel took Kamile\u2019s hand.\u00a0 The pair had their blasters out and were looking around for a safe place to run to.\u00a0 They quickly discovered the shuttles weren\u2019t the only problem as a mix of hunters and soldiers came from the south, east, and west.\u00a0 Apparently, too, given the soldiers, the Dichidians were rather upset about the damage done to their ships during the group\u2019s little raid on that landing field.<\/p>\n

They\u2019d have been away free, too, if those two mechanics hadn\u2019t snuck off to have a few surreptitious drinks.\u00a0 They sounded the alarm and it went downhill from there.\u00a0 Fewer Dichidians died when the charges went off, for starters.<\/p>\n

Realising they were surrounded, Josette put Jasmine down, and Carjel let go Kami\u2019s hand.\u00a0 They stood with the girls between them, their only child and their adopted daughter.\u00a0 Kamile\u2019s mother had asked the couple, her closest friends, to care for her daughter as she lay dying from Sarl Fever, a deadly but curable disease, given the right medicine \u2013 something they\u2019d had precious little of.\u00a0 Darnise had refused so much as a drop of it to ensure there\u2019d be plenty for Kamile, who was also sick, and a little boy, Allice.\u00a0 Kami\u2019s father had never even lived to see the girl born, but it\u2019d taken three Dichidians to see to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cJessi!\u201d Kamile cried out.\u00a0 \u201cA cave!\u201d<\/p>\n

A short way off was, indeed, a riverside cave they hadn\u2019t noticed before.\u00a0 Very small, and possibly no more than a dip in the bank caused by tree roots \u2026 but then again, given the terrain \u2026 They made their way to it.\u00a0 \u201cKami, Jazz, get in there and stay down and back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two girls ran into the damp, pebble strewn cave.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s deep, Mommy,\u201d Jasmine called out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt lets out somewhere,\u201d Carjel said firing then ducking a return shot as they were now in range of the Dichidian\u2019s weapons.\u00a0 \u201cI can feel a breeze coming out<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple readied to make a stand at the cave entrance, ready to flee into the unknown dark if they must, but preferring not to risk being trapped or lost and not wanting to abandon the others, all of them friends, and a very, very few of them family.<\/p>\n

The battle went on for several long, desperate sor.\u00a0 The Dichidians had clearly done more harm than they\u2019d taken.\u00a0 The Humans\u2019 weapons were too few, at times too poorly charged, and the people holding them were not as well rested as they might have been.\u00a0 The fight was turning badly, and a band of the scaled monsters was moving in on the little family.<\/p>\n

\u201cGirls, hide in the cave, GO!<\/em>\u201d Carjel said, backing toward the entrance and trying to cover Josette as she knelt to crawl into the child-sized cave opening.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, Mommy, Daddy.\u00a0 It\u2019s lots bigger back here and pretty <\/em>too!\u201d\u00a0 Jasmine\u2019s voice drifted toward them, distance distorted by the odd echoes of stone, earth, and root.<\/p>\n

Josette\u2019s feet were just past the threshold of the cave, and Carjel started to crouch down himself hoping he might take the tunnel backward so to pick off any that might try to follow, though it was unlikely they would.\u00a0 Even the smallest soldier would never get through the opening naked, let alone in that armour these were wearing.\u00a0 The hunters were rarely much smaller, though a few were lean enough they might find a way to squirm through.\u00a0 It was all academic anyhow; as he got to his knees a stunner shot hit the ground between he and Josette.\u00a0 Of all the neurostunners and neuroblasters being fired around the place this one had to be one of the soldier lances, a large and deadly monstrosity of a \u2018stunner.\u00a0 The strange energies don\u2019t always have to connect to harm.\u00a0 Not having touched flesh, there wasn\u2019t the horrible agony and death that it was meant to cause, but it was enough.\u00a0 Without special treatment their legs would be forever useless.<\/p>\n

\u201cMommy?\u201d\u00a0 Jasmine crept back when she\u2019d heard them scream.\u00a0 \u201cDaddy?\u201d\u00a0 She pulled on her mother\u2019s hands as Kamile came running back.<\/p>\n

\u201cJazz, no.\u00a0 Come \u2026 oh Vasha, Jessi are \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Josette thrust her blaster into the eight year old\u2019s hands.\u00a0 \u201cTake, Jazz and this and RUN!\u00a0 Don\u2019t come back, don\u2019t look back, just RUN<\/em> fast as you can far as you can.\u00a0 We love you.\u00a0 Now GO!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Jasmine screamed as Kami started pulling the little girl away, but the flash of a violet light caught her eye.\u00a0 Her eyes widened in fear at what was held in her father\u2019s hand, then when she looked at her mother\u2019s hand and saw one of the little spheres lighting up there too; she needed no more prompting.\u00a0 She ran as fast as her legs would carry her and didn\u2019t stop until she heard the distant explosion and felt the ground shake.\u00a0 Then she fell to her knees and cried until Kami urged her on, afraid the river might flood the cave in the tides.<\/p>\n

They found another camp fourteen days after entering the cave, twelve after leaving it.\u00a0 Thanks to their destroying the cave entrance, Carjel and Josette assured Kamile and Jasmine\u2019s survival; the only two from that camp so lucky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The little family sat beside the river trying to catch fish.\u00a0 The two young girls\u2019 laughter and squeals of delight rang out often as the catches jumped and splashed while they were drawn in. This rest was a blessing, and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":6,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-276","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P1Y5CS-4s","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":382,"href":"https:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/276\/revisions\/382"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/universal-nexus.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}