Chapter 1 | Draft 2

“How do I know this will work?” the scrawny man with tattered clothing sneered.

Aela narrowed her turquoise eyes. “If you keep it on your person, your ailment should ease. Use it as directed. I make no guarantees for incompetence… pay for it with that blade of yours or move on, old man,” she said, jutting her chin toward the man’s pocket.

Pursing his lips, he muttered under his breath and limped away toward the next stand along the market road as he shielded his eyes against the glaring twin suns overhead. Aela repositioned the smoothed palm stone of lapis lazuli on her table next to her other wares with tanned fingers. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts as she watched him go and relaxed against one of the posts holding up the shade tent covering the stall she had rented in the Surya market. 

The old man hobbled down to the next stand, kicking up dust in his wake. Aela watched as he stopped at the next stall and flourished his knife from the threadbare rags that hung off his thin frame with a nimbleness that belied his appearance. Aela clicked her tongue behind her teeth. She could have used another knife. Her eyes scanned over her more discrete wares on her table before she adjusted the dust scarf over the lower half of her face. It had been a couple of years since the last time she was chased out of the market here.

Surya was the closest prominent town that Aela frequented which sat on the eastern side of the massive mountain range that bisected the planet of Prente. Over the next few days, the town would host a market, and various townspeople and others from neighboring villages gathered to play vendor. Across the dusty main road, a rotund man mopped at the sweat on his face to no avail. His stand sparked the curiosity of many passersby, with his wares glittering in the dual sunlight. Aela scoffed. Fakes. She thought to herself as she flicked her long, ashy braid over her shoulder. If he had been a true peddler of the rare gems that were found deep within the extensive yet abandoned mines beneath the desert, he wouldn’t have flaunted the rare gems for all to see. The brown-robed priesthood who governed the depraved planet Aela was stuck on swooped in unannounced and confiscate anything resembling the coveted resource.

Aela looked down at her own crystal display and nodded to herself. She kept the rougher clusters and potent pieces secured in her pack beneath the table, waiting for the right client to inquire, conveniently out of sight. A simpering girl pining after a married man would give silk scarves and leather boots for rose quartz and the promise of love within the pink-hued stone. Successful men who sought more wealth would find security in wearing a green aventurine bracelet tucked under their sleeve. A mother would pay handsomely in tailor-fit clothing for black tourmaline, which offered her children protection while she was away. And when things went awry, as they inevitably did, and Aela was chased from her stall with sticks, she would add another flea-bag village to her list of places she could no longer show her face—until the basest of survival instincts brought her out of her hovel in the Spine.

A woman kept her children to the middle of the road but they looked to either side with excitement. Aela lips twitched with the hint of a smile under her scarf at the children’s expressions of wonder at the various offerings. Had she ever looked like that at the market when she was a girl? With a quick whistle, she caught the younger child’s attention and beckoned him forward.

The child pulled at his mother’s skirt and darted toward Aela’s stand. She pulled down the scarf from her face and regarded the child’s large brown eyes. “Hello,” she said with a smile. “Would you like a crystal?” Aela whispered conspiratorially. The boy’s brown eyes grew even larger as he nodded. His mother, to her credit, banded her arms around his chest and went to pull him away from her booth. “I mean him no harm,” Aela said with a reassuring smile.

 Aela plucked a small rough cluster of citrine from her pack, and held it out for the boy. He looked up to his mother, who didn’t break her stare from Aela or her hold on her son, but nodded curtly. The boy reached for the crystal, but Aela lifted the geode out of his grasp.

“This will help your creativity,” Aela said, adding a tinge of mysticism to her voice while she slowly turned the citrine over to catch the light filtering into her shade tent. The boy’s eyes lit up even more, taking on a lighter shade as he beheld the glittering deep orange and amber stone. She glanced up at his mother, whose features softened as a small smile graced her sun-tanned face lined with delicate age. Aela then placed the citrine cluster in his hand, and continued, “Treat it properly, and it will serve you well.”

The older boy on their mother’s other side eyed the crystal in his brother’s possession with envy. Aela put her hands on her hips and shifted her focus to him.

“And you.” His eyes darted to her, mouth falling open slightly. She reached into her pack at her feet again and pulled out another small specimen. “This will help keep you balanced,” she said, as she unwrapped and extended the murky white quartz to him. “You probably need it with this one, hmm?” Aela said gesturing to his younger brother who was enraptured with his new stone. The older boy nodded absentmindedly while he turned the quartz cluster over in his hand, tracing over the geometric angles.

Aela laughed softly to herself and tucked the scraps of fabric she had wrapped around the quartz and citrine into her pocket then pulled up her dust scarf to conceal her face once more. At their mother’s prodding, the boys stammered their thanks and blessings of the stars to her while she ushered them onto the center of the path once more.

It was rare for Aela to have such a pleasant experience in Surya. As her eyes trailed the family walking away, she didn’t regret giving the crystals to them, despite their value and what she could have traded for them. Gods knew everyone could use all the help they could get on Prente. 

Aela herself used crystals for what she could, even though her kind shouldn’t need the aid. She was as careful as she cautioned her clients to be of course, with the priesthood lurking around. At the thought, Aela rearranged the tonics that always brought her a steady stream of clientele and the crystal bracelets she had beaded by hand on her table.

While the gifts of her kind leaned toward the psyche and dreams along with the water element, Aela had not manifested true Sight. It was likely for the best. What viewings she conducted for the brave souls who dared ask her for a reading, besides a deeper instruction on the use of the crystals she sold, were nothing more than wise words spoken after hearing their particular plights.

What would the inhabitants of Surya, or all of Prente, do if they learned what she truly was? Of who traded crystals and elixirs at their local markets? Would they claim her as their master, like those they worshipped in a sky they had never seen, or sell her out to the priesthood? If the priesthood got their zealous hands on her… Aela shivered despite the heat.

She would accept neither fate. She had survived this long undetected, and would continue to do so. At least the boys, who were long gone, had a bargaining chip. Navigating the priesthood was simple enough; divert them by offering something of greater value, and they would focus their attention elsewhere. Aela sucked on her teeth at the thought of those boys having to use their citrine and quartz in such a way instead of how the universe, how nature, intended. Though unfortunately for Aela, if the skies ever darkened, everyone would see the veritable treasure was not hidden beneath the earth, but hidden in plain sight. She never had to fear the dark.

Like a dog with a bone, the priesthood was determined to hoard crystals. But why? It wasn’t like they could commune with the stars. Though Aela knew how unlikely it was that traveling rings could have survived the war that ravaged the galaxy unbeknownst to those planet-bound. Any crystalline technology once gifted by the stars had long since withered away. Yet the question persisted at the back of her mind. What if they had a means of communicating with their heavenly masters?

Aela’s mind was only half present as she traded her assortment of beaded crystal bracelets, pendants, tonics, and such from her table. 

Surely if the priesthood had been interacting with the stars, someone would have come by now, wouldn’t they? Wasn’t anyone looking for her? The thought slipped through the cracks of her jaded heart before she could stop it. No. It had been fifteen years since she had fallen from the sky and made impact into the side of the Spine, forming a crater which now served as her home.

The Surya market throng slowed to a trickle, and Aela began the work of putting away her displayed items back into her satchel. Internally, she mulled over her own shopping list and didn’t notice that another patron had stopped at her booth. She barely registered them with a glance and said, “I’m done for the day, come back tomorrow—” The words died on her tongue as she looked up at a brown-robed figure, flanked by three others on either side of them. Dread pooled in her gut like spilled ink.

“How can I help you?” she asked as she rose slowly to a standing position.

“Hello, child,” a man, by the sounds of his voice, said. The priests were all garbed in brown, flowing robes tied off with a bit of rope. Only the timber of their voices gave any real clue if they were man or woman. Most seemed somewhere in between.

“Packing up so soon? We’ve come a long way to browse your wares,” the priest said. Aela bypassed the gods who had never listened and prayed silently to Fate as she slid a hand into her pocket. As if of one mind, the priests turned their cloaked heads to each other in deliberation, then swiveled back to her. The middle priest spoke again, “An interesting assortment you had here...” They trail a gnarled finger across the black table cloth. “I make jewelry, High One,” the term of respect curdled on her tongue. “If you can come back tomorrow, I will set out my best pieces for you to browse,” Aela said the rehearsed lie smoothly. With a feigned glance behind them, Aela calculated her escape. “Now, if you will excuse me,” she dipped her head and grasped her pack in her free hand. “I think not, child. I can assure you, you have everything we need here and now.”

Aela was saved from the priests’ scrutiny by a sudden commotion from the fake crystal peddler across the road, who apparently finally deigned to notice the brown robes. All the priests turned their heads toward the noise. Aela held her breath as she pulled out a handful of hematite shards from her pocket. In a blur of movement, she slammed them onto the table between her and the priests. A dark cloud exploded from the shorn crystal and concealed her inside its darkness. Within seconds, she had disappeared through the tent flaps at the back of the stall. Heart pounding from more than exertion, she ran for her life. 

She streamed past people who looked at her askance, some shouting at her. She wanted to shush them all, but couldn’t spare a second to lose.

Don’t look back. Just keep running.

Surya wasn’t large, thankfully, and she made it to the border within minutes. Because of its proximity to the mountain and one of the larger rivers that ran down from the oasis on this side of the Spine, trees sparsely decorated the landscape. Hiding behind a tree, Aela drew in a ragged breath. She filled her lungs to the point of pain, then exhaled slowly. Silently. Showing as little of herself as possible, she peeked out from the edge of the trunk and checked for signs of pursuit. Nothing immediately jumped out at her—no flowing brown robes or screams—but something told her to keep going.

Not questioning that internal whisper, she hurled herself away from the tree in a sprint again. All her running to and from the mines in the desert had paid off. Smiling grimly to herself, she began her ascent up the Spine, confident that once she was far enough up the slopes, they would never find her. Or her crystals.

A small pang of regret welled in her chest for the townspeople left for the priests’ questioning. She did her best to squash the emotion and reminded herself that if they knew what she was, they would have lined up and sold her out. It was the way of things on Prente. You couldn’t trust anyone. It made for a lonely existence, especially after Renee’s passing. Aela had let go of dreams long ago—of reuniting with her family, of finding her place among the stars, of coming into her power. Her destiny. The part of her past that refused to let go, that she refused to let go of, was her thirst for revenge. Though it slipped farther out of her reach with each passing year, the desire to deliver justice to those who had taken everything from her never dimmed.

Mentally she adding another town she could never show her face in, even veiled as it was. Aela paused her retreat every so often and checked for pursuers. She lost sense of time as she hiked back toward her cave, though she knew she wouldn’t reach it before needing to rest. The trek to Surya had taken the better part of two days across the Spine. It would take her at least that again to make it home. Aela leaned against a nearby boulder on the side of the path. She reached down and fingered the damage to her boots, which she had meant to replace at the market.

“Luckily, that’s repairable,” she said to herself.

“Hmm… don’t think so, lass. You’ll need a good leather maker, you will for that,” a drawling voice said, causing Aela to stumble as she whirled around. 

“Now, now. No need to get all startled. I’m not going to hurt you. Just stop your runnin’ is all.”

Of startling height, the newcomer was the tallest man she had ever seen. While Aela was taller than most women and even some of the men on Prente, this male towered over her.

 His skin was sickly pale, and despite no lines on his face speaking of age, his short hair was a steel grey.

“Stay away,” Aela threatened, already sliding a hand into her pocket for more hematite.

Grey Hair made his way toward her like he hadn’t a care in the world.

“Now listen, missy, I’ve been on this unrested planet for long enough as it is. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. But either way, you’re coming with me.”

“Did the priests send you?” Aela’s heart thundered.

“Ah, those silly little fellows in robes? Nah. I sent them.”

Blood drained from Aela’s face. “Please, I… I don’t have anything, I don’t know anything… I don’t know why they—”

Fear sank its claws into her, as it replayed her most terrifying moments behind her now-closed lids. A storm of fire glitched behind her eyes, and her body seized in a tremor. Before she realized what was happening, he was practically on her. Caging her in, he placed a gloved finger over her lips, silencing her. Aela’s eyes snapped open, refocusing on the here and now.

“Shh. Lots of denial from someone with supposedly nothing to hide. Shall we have a look-see? Hmm?”

He ripped the pack off Aela’s back and dumped the crystals out on the ground. Aela couldn’t suppress her wince.

“Ah! Look at that. That’s a nice bit o’contraband, ain’t it?” he said.

“I…” Aela began, but at one look into his black eyes, she changed what she intended to say. Resolve overtook the panic in her gut as she forced the latter down. 

“I know they’re valuable and hard to get. Take them. I won’t put up a fight, just let me go.”

Whatever his name was—Grey Hair—flicked back his long black coat and squatted down, making it seem like a cape behind him. He stroked the unbroken selenite wands almost fondly.

“I haven’t seen ‘em like this in ages.”

Something in his words tugged at her oddly. Before she could question what it was, anxiety again flooded her mind. 

“I tell you what, lass. I will be doing you a favor by taking these off your pretty little hands.”

He reached a gloved hand for her, and she darted backward, slamming her back into the boulder. He laughed throatily.

She maintained sight of him as she inched away toward the path.

“Take whatever you want. I won’t stop you.”

He slowly rose from his crouch, then in a powerful kick, sent the crystals shooting for her, sending a flurry of dirt, dust, and shards flying toward her. Her forearms rose in time and she deflected the shards from hitting her face, though a stinging sensation erupted elsewhere across her body. The hematite shards fell from her hand.

“‘Take whatever I want’, she says. You need to be more careful with your turn of phrase, missy,” he said, prowling toward her. “You’re coming with me.” 

Frantic, Aela looked around for a means of escape. Her eyes caught on the black hematite at her feet. With a dark smile, she stomped them with her boot.

She disappeared into the dark cloud as she turned away from her assailant and sprinted up the path once more. She saw a turn that was less favored and led back toward Surya. Her body darted around it and she scaled the rock face closest to her. She never thought she would be so grateful for the mines for honing her physique, but the perilous crevices and runs in the desert were saving her life today. As she dug her fingers into small divots in the rock, the only sound was the soft scrape of her boots and practiced labored breaths… Where was—Aela screamed as a firm hand pulled her roughly down the rock. Landing on her back, air abandoned her lungs as she looked up at a crystal-ridden face with menacing black eyes. Black edged her vision as she lost focus. Grey Hair.