Shattered Destiny: A Galactic Adventure, Episode One by Odette C. Bell

any leaf or
branch or twig that dared get in my way. It was a surprise flame
didn’t spurt out from my boots.
    Time seemed to slow down, even though I
powered towards that point in the distance with all the combined
speed of my desperation and my armor.
    Every moment felt sluggishly slow, every
movement a true trial.
    Until finally I reached it.
    Suddenly the path in front of me cut off.
It happened so suddenly, I almost stumbled over the edge. Instinct
alone saved me from falling down what looked like a 500 meter
ravine. It was so completely obscured by jungle vines and creepers
it was like a death trap.
    Sure enough, as the prince came powering
through the jungle towards me, he didn’t see it.
    I had to thrust a hand out, collect his
arm, and pull him to the side.
    On paper, there was no way my armor was
stronger than his. Yet, somehow, I managed to pull him to the side
just in time.
    He skidded and fell, dragging me on top of
him.
    I slammed into his chest plating, metal on
metal.
    Even though I couldn’t see his body beneath
the plating, I could tell every single muscle stiffened.
    That was nothing compared to my own
reaction. I felt like my muscles seized so much they
calcified.
    Suddenly he thrust forward, shoved me off,
and loomed above me. “What in Farick’s name—” he began.
    He stopped.
    His head jerked to the side with so much speed it looked as if someone had
attached a rope to his helmet and yanked it.
    As the words died in his throat, fear rose
in mine.
    I jolted to my feet, careful to take
several steps back so I didn’t tumble over the
precipice.
    It took me a while to realize what the
prince was looking at, but I ticked my head around and stared
across a sizeable 20 meter gap.
    There were ruins on the other side. Not
the sparse, broken ruins we’d come across – just a handful of
stones in the jungle.
    Proper ruins. A building.
    “My god,” the prince said. His armor could
not electronically obscure the surprise filtering through his tone.
It shook so badly, for a second he didn’t sound like the pompous,
arrogant fool he was.
    “… What are they?” I managed
through a dry throat. The longer I stared at them, the more I was
beset by that feeling.
    It no longer simply felt as if a single
hand rested on my shoulder – it felt like a body was pressed into
mine, like someone had wrapped their arms around my neck, not in a
move of violence, but guidance.
    A second later, my head tugged to the
side.
    I saw something further down the precipice
on our side.
    I moved to follow.
    I didn’t get the opportunity.
    The prince jerked out a hand and grabbed
my arm, the superior strength of his armor locking me in place.
Hell, with the right codes, he could probably stop my armor from
moving altogether, turning it into nothing more than a frozen
puppet.
    I twisted my helmet to stare at him.
“There’s something further along the path,” I managed, disappointed
that I couldn’t hide how breathy my voice had become.
    He didn’t move, at least not for a few
seconds. He just stood there, helmet angled my way, stiff armored
fingers pressing into my wrist.
    Finally he dropped it and nodded. “Show
me,” he ordered.
    I swallowed the bile that always rose
whenever he ordered me about, and shifted my attention forward.
    I pressed through the jungle, moving about
20 meters until I stopped. Dead. The ethereal hands around my neck
suddenly locked onto the back of my head and thrust it forward. I
practically fell onto my knees as my hands jerked forward and I
began to dig through the dirt.
    It didn’t take long – just a few mad pats of
my hands – to uncover something.
    It was a metal disk, about two inches
thick, and half an inch wide. In the center it was hollowed out,
several lines, almost like hairline fractures, travelling out to
the edges of the circle.
    I reached a hand towards it.
    The prince threw himself at me, locked an
arm around my middle, and pulled me back with all the force of an
attack.
    He