Chapter 1 , pg.2

 About five years ago she figured. Just a stray when she found him. A stray like she was now. She was walking down a alley one rainy day when she heard Please help I'm hungry I'm cold I'm alone. She looked left and right startled. She heard the same phrase again and again. Then she looked down at her feet. A small shivering little ball of fur. She immediately knelt down and cradled him in her arms. That was when she had first been able to communicate with animals. No one had believed her except Dad, but he was gone now. She wipes a tear away at the memory as she walked towards the grazing horse. She had felt so alone but at least Rook had been there for her since. He wasn't just a cat he was family.

She walks around the horse. It whinnies to her as she puts her hand on its mane "There there" Athera speaks gently. Her father's horse had come back on her own one day without its rider. Wildfire had always been loyal and dutiful since she came back to Athera but never spoke to her. Something had broken inside her. Just like Athera missed her father. Wildfire missed her former owner dearly.

"Makkara, Makkara, Makkara " chants Rook as he ran in circles around Wildfire. "Hey! Watch it you dumb beast" Wildfire makes a few more half-hearted kicks at the rascally feline. Athera places her book in its waterproof satchel tied to the saddle. Athera turns to Rook and says in a scolding tone "Be nice to her she's had a hard life." Athera pulls out the small pouch from the saddle bag and undoes the draw string. Rook looks up with a grin on his face. His eyes fixed on the small sausage Athera pulls from the pouch. Rook almost drools.

"Please Athera hurry up I am so hungry" Rook pleads
"You are such a liar. You just ate I can smell your rat breath from here" Athera says as she waves her hand in front of her face.
"Please I might die soon" Rook says as he rolls around. He quickly jumps into the air as Athera tosses the makkara towards him. One bite is all it takes. Rook licks his lips. He looks over at Athera with a smug face.
"There you little scamp now tell me what you found" Athera asks her patience wearing thin.
"I've found a way into the spire Athera! It is a tight fit but I think even a huge thing like you can fit in there!" Rook says. The look on his furry face very satisfied.

  Athera's eyes light up. Even the mysterious pattern of spots on her face light up. Seemingly reactive to her emotions. She grabs her strange bow that she had found in the depths off its hook. "We go now while the sun is still in the sky" Athera says. The pouch lies on the ground forgotten as she gathers her things. She lets Wildfire graze she knows to stay near Athera pats the horses head one last time. She turns around to call for Rook. She quickly spots him his face is buried inside the pouch. She crouches down and yanks him by the tail forcefully out of it.
"Yeawwwoch! I swear I was just looking no need to pull so hard' Rook winces as he gains his footing. He looks up at Athera a steely gaze on her face. She places the pouch back into the saddlebag. He sighs wistfully. At least he had ate at least two of them before she found out. He is getting faster or she was getting slower he smiles inwardly. Athera crosses her arms and looks at him expectantly.

"Ok! Ok! Follow me!" Rook shouts. He starts to pick a path through the golden hued buildings towards the spire. It was quite a climb to their destination. Athera follows after excitedly. The answers she had been seeking seemed so close now.

Chapter 1 , pg. 1

 Athera sits upon a ruined building deep within the Fool's Teeth. Her pen swiftly makes notes in her leather bound journal. What were these citadels for?What was their purpose? As she jots down more questions as she thinks back. About three years ago they had descended to the surface powered by an unknown force. The bottoms were covered in beautiful shining multifaceted crystal. Athera had methodically and meticulously catalogued all of them. She travelled across the known world. She felt like she had no home now. Athera sighed. After her father had disappeared she had never given up hope that she might find him. She had been searching for so long. So long in fact she felt like she didn't belong anywhere these days. She shakes her head she mutters to herself "Back to work"

 These citadels are curious things. Large castle walls contain magnificent golden hued cities, but completely empty of life. The buildings contain nothing. People had flocked to them in droves when the earth started shaking. The citadels were surprisingly stable something to do with the crystals perhaps? Each city was exactly the same with the same arrangement  of buildings roads and parks. In the center was a strange twin spire. The buildings weaved together to a singular point with no obvious entrance or exit . I have traveled to ten of these such citadels and the same spire is completely sealed. 

 She brushes aside a strand of strikingly blue hair. One by one her companions and friends had stayed behind in these citadels. They  had met someone or they just really liked it there. They wanted to settle down. She had heard it all. Each was a loss and a sad goodbye. Only Rook had stayed with her. She smiles to herself. His curiosity and sense for adventure rivaled hers. She again looks down at her book again. Why had this one failed? It has crashed into a mountain side. She glances up from her book. From her camp she can see the buildings and debris that littered the valley. Again she looks down to write "Athera" She hears a shout she ignores it and starts to write.
"Atheraaaaaaaa" again and again
 As she writes furiously a small black and quite furry head violently knocks her pen aside it travels into a long line across the page and off the book..
"Hey HEY stop" Athera exclaims in a frustrated tone.
"Why are you ignoring me??" The black cat asks
"And why do you keep making scratches in that thing. I can help if you need." He reveals his paw and his sharp claws. Athera pushes it away.
"Hey I like scratching to!" He says. " Nicademus had a scratching post do you remember that?? We both scratched it like crazy all night. You were so mad " He smiles and laughs revealing his teeth two of them were slightly longer then the rest.

 Athera stands up and brushes herself off. Her form is lithe and agile from the countless days on the road. A mess of blue hair falls across her back. A child of the moon would have either black or stark white hair that is except me she thinks. Her strange glowing eyes that had no pupils scan the horizon. She pointedly looks down at the feline cleaning himself. " Have you found anything of use yet?" Athera asks with a hint of frustration. Rook looks to the crumbling city. "Other then those bones over there that you keep bringing to me" She gestures to the pile rolling her eyes as she speaks. Rooks eyes light up "Aren't they wonderful??" He says as he jumps over to examine his treasures. "This one a bird dropped and this one I found under a strange rock that moved. Well it could have been a snail but still its amazing and"
"Rook" Athera interrupts.She puts her hands together in a pleading motion. Her ears flop down as her tail swishes between her legs "Please"
"Yes Yes I found something but you didn't seem interested at the time" Rook says as he puts his button nose in the air. "But I'm not telling you. I'm just going to stay here with my things they appreciate me at least" He curls into a little ball pouting the whole time.

Athera sighs. Squinting her eyes at the wind and tugging her dark vest covering a loose undershirt. The vest had been a gift from her father when she came of age. A beautiful painted butterfly adorned the back. Its wings a sparkling blue and gold at the ends. She wipes the dust off her black slacks. She smiles suddenly
"Not even for a makkara?" she asks. Rooks ears twitch and his tail starts to swish he is unable to contain his excitement.
"Ok well I guess I will just have to eat them all myself and give the rest to Wildfire" She starts to walk away. She is halfway to her horse when she hears "WAIT!" Rook screams as he bounds down the hill to her. Athera smiles to herself smugly. Too easy she chuckles. She looks off at the dim sun collecting her thoughts. She thinks back to when they met.

Prologue

 The world ship Bismark slowly floats in the endless void. At long last it has reached its destination. Where Angels had lost their way.

Initiating mass exodus protocol........

Activating caretaker AI........

Waking....

Waking...

Eshae...

Wake up....

Adrift, Adrift, Adrift......

From how many dreams have I awakened?

How many morrows have passed?

 Deep in the heart of the world ship in a chamber lies a crystal tube filled with a clear liquid. A vague female shape floats inside. The form is covered in cold steel with hundreds of tubes protruding and snaking around it. A living being once perhaps. Now almost wholly machine. Eshae opens her eyes or where she thinks they used to be.

  Sorrow flows through the once Child of the Sun. She despairs at the damage Pain has done. She weeps. Wait is she even weeping? She cannot remember the feeling as it had been eon's. So much emptiness inside of her. This great sacrifice she had made. Was she just a machine now?. She ponders had she lost her soul as well? She was the last engineer she had no choice. She did it willingly to save everyone. She scans the habitat again and again. The same response repeats...

0 children of the sun detected
0 children of the sun detected
0 children of the sun detected

 She cries. Nothing but a small murmur erupts from the machine form. She has failed her people. What had gone wrong? This wasn't supposed to happen.  So sorry So sorry she says. She furtively scans again  I am a failure , I wasn't strong enough .... The guidance AI Bismark speaks suddenly.

Destination reached...
Primal System..
Please Acknowledge..

Eshae nods Please scan for habitable worlds 

Scanning...
Scanning...
Scanning...

Five habitable moons found orbiting the mega-planet Terra Prime...
Shiv..
Efrit..
Muh...
Levi...
Maduin..

Scanning Terra Prime...Error...Error
Interference is too great. Some pockets are possibly habitable..danger..danger
Landing is not advised...

She gazes at the readouts processing the mass of information in seconds. Shae sighs. What was the point of eternal life if each day you don't have love?

Shiv - Frozen world. Only known habitable areas are near the equator

Efrit - Massive life readings near the poles in the dense jungles. Large deserts. Volcanic Activity off the charts

Muh - Rolling plains and grasslands cover most of the planet very little water. storms are frequent

Levi - mostly ocean with chains of islands snaking around it. A paradise with a hidden secret

Maduin - temperate , continental , most habitable

She looks over to a flashing panel she gasps at the grey storms that engulf Terra Prime.

Greater citadels Alpha, Delta, and Sigma have been destroyed no signs of life or even remains have been found...

Eshae sighs what a waste. All that culture and knowledge lost. What is the status of the twelve lesser citadels?

Acknowledged...
Processing..
Ten lesser citadels are accounted for and fully functional. Launch status ready...
Sagittarius citadel has collided with an unknown mountain range that wasn't on the charts...
Gemini's navigation system failed. It currently lies on the bottom of the ocean its status unknown repeated scans have been unable to return any useful information...

 Eshae thinks. No! She processes. She serves her purpose well. Millions of calculations flow through her matrix. Lights, bubbles and panels are running and processing. Ten arks, two for each moon. Her task had not only been to take care of the habitat but also to seed and colonize these worlds. She would not fail the survivors. No they had come to far. They had sacrificed so much. She would not give up. She would not go silently into the night. She furiously starts inputting commands faster then the normal mind could comprehend. Bismark can barely keep up.

Processing...
Coordinates accepted .. resuming route...
Launch patterns accepted...
Low power... Processing.. ...
Plotting course for a stable orbit around the mega-planet....
Trajectory found....
Engaging sub engines at your mark rerouting emergency power....

 Eshae sighs. The machine form vents a small bubble. The first part of her plan is in motion. She presses the singular button on the panel to her right flashing Engage engines. She scans the habitat once more. She looks down disapointed. She starts calculating the time it will all take. She hopes there is enough power left. Suddenly she hears a sharp beeping she turns her head swiftly

One child of the sun detected it is very faint and damaged...
Location Sagittarius.....

Another alarm sounds . Eshae winces at the loud and shrieking noise after her long slumber

Multiple threats detected in habitat section.......
Input defensive measures.......

The sirens wail

They are back...
Is there no end to them?