Quest for Cydonia

“C…Cydonia?” Dom asked in disbelief. Matt was nearly too shocked to speak. The girl nodded slowly.

“We can never go back, either.”

“Well, we can,” Koda began grimly, “but only if we want to be imprisoned or killed.” Z rolled her eyes at this, but made no comment. She walked over to where Chris was resting, kneeling next to him and studying his injured left arm for a moment.

“Well, I don’t think it’s broken, but I’d suggest you not use it for a few days,” she said to him, though he seemed to be nearly asleep or unconscious. “I can put it in a brace if you want.”

“No…it’s fine,” he mumbled. “I just need to rest.” She nodded and backed away from him, approaching the small band of horses now standing near the entrance of the cave. She glanced outside for a moment, eyes searching the darkness for any sign of the Zan, but found only silence.

“Anything?” Koda asked her. She shook her head.

“What? That’s impossible!” Matt exclaimed. “There were so many of them! They can’t just be gone.”

“They’re not gone. They’ve retreated,” Koda corrected him. “Which is very strange, actually. They’re quite fierce fighters…unless-” He went silent suddenly, catching a furtive glance from his sister.

“Unless what?” Matt asked with a frown.

“No, that would never happen,” Koda assured himself. “Ever.”

“What wouldn’t happen?” Dom questioned.

“Well, the Zan can only be controlled by a select few people,” Z explained. “Specifically, the royals of Cydonia.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Matt with a frown. Koda sighed.

“Do you know nothing of Cydonian history?” he asked in exasperation. Matt’s face remained stoic. “Cydonia and Archos were once united, but they became separated after the scandal with Luna.”

“Archos’s people believed Cruor – Cydonia’s former king – made a mistake in trying to unite with Luna,” Z continued. “They stopped supporting Cydonia at a critical moment in the negotiations. An agreement was eventually reached, though, and as far as I’m aware there haven’t been any problems since then.”

“Perhaps one of the royals is nearby, then,” Matt offered quietly, holding no faith in his own statement. He was surprised when Koda began to laugh.

“That’s impossible,” the teen said with a smile. “They’d never get off their cloud long enough to bother with anything down here. There’s no reason for it. The ties between Archos and Cydonia were severed years ago-”

“Could they possibly be after you?” Dom cut in suddenly, speaking in a biting tone and accenting his final word. Neither of the siblings responded immediately.

“I suppose it’s possible…” Z said uneasily.

“But why? We left years ago,” Koda responded. His eyes suddenly narrowed. “Maybe they’re after you three.” His tone held no bitterness; he only seemed to be musing to himself about the possibility. Dom looked like he was about to say something, but refrained from speaking.

“Why are you headed to Cydonia, anyway?” Z questioned, breaking the uneasy silence. Matt debated telling these two about their mission. They seemed a little suspicious as far as he was concerned, but they had been helpful so far.

“They kidnapped our princess,” he said in a low tone, still eyeing them warily. “We’re rescuing her.” Koda’s face became dark, but he said nothing.

“We’ll figure out everything tomorrow,” Z said quickly. “In the meantime, I think all of us need to get some sleep.” She spoke while glancing at Chris, who had fallen asleep – or unconscious – in the midst of their conversation. Koda waved a hand toward the fire, and it immediately vanished in a puff of light blue air. A chill crept down Matt’s spine, but he ignored it, instead deciding to dismiss his mind’s ramblings for the time being. He stretched out on the ground, leaning back against his horse’s saddle for support, and let his eyelids droop closed.
-
A warm current of air slowly brought Chris out of his already fitful sleep. He attempted to move and immediately groaned in pain.

“…What happened?” he half-whispered to himself. Another weak blast of heated air hit him in the face, and he realized one of the horses was right in front of him. “Berry?” The horse whickered softly at the sound of his voice and lightly nudged his shoulder. Chris laughed softly and sat up, moving as slowly as he could.

“Don’t you know that some of us need more sleep than you, you silly horse?” he murmured quietly. “A mere three hours a night doesn’t work for everyone.”

Berry neighed loudly, and for a moment Chris feared someone else would wake up due to his antics, but he realized the tone wasn’t exactly right. The horse neighed a few more times, shorter, deeper tones conveying his worry. As Chris’s eyes adjusted to the lack of light in the cave, he realized Berry’s attention was firmly focused on the entrance of the cave, a lighter midnight blue-green than the darkness surrounding them.

For a moment he thought he saw a pair of smoldering purple orbs, floating and flickering in the silence of the night.