Page 23 of Barbarian Daddies

The current situation is tense, to say the least. Jewel has helped the Fire Tribe in a multitude of military applications, which has helped turn the tide more in our favor, but we are nowhere near close to a reasonable conclusion, let alone the possibility of a temporary ceasefire. The territories have been drawn, but the lines are not thick nor unbreakable. We’re still fighting over strips of land. Still stealing resources from one another. Still shooting first without bothering to ask questions.

And the Sky Tribe are still hell bent on sending starships to Earth for more of our women, while the Fire Tribe are still determined to conquer the cities. It will go on like this until they all die out, unless we find another way. And the only way that makes sense is the cure.

Which is why the damned research lab is so important.

“My scouts say they have seen technicians working there,” Kai says. “In the building. They go in early in the morning and go home in the evening. The lights are on. People come in and out of the place with metal boxes, too. We don’t know what’s in them, but the visits coincide with new medicine the Sky Tribe distributes among the locals for various illnesses. They haven’t gotten anywhere close to developing a cure for the plague, but they are trying to keep the male population healthy, at least.”

“I think the medicine is also designed to keep the women and the girls’ immune systems above the red line. They’re probably trying to prevent infections,” I say. “Which would make sense since most of the scientists who would’ve been able to develop the actual cure died in the beginning of the civil war.”

“We’ve been fools since day one,” Maur exhales sharply, shaking his head in dismay. “We went straight for our weapons instead of trying for peace talks.”

“Our fathers did try,” Kai replies. “Remember we were kids when he dragged us across Ruby City to attend Elian’s speech before the budding Sky Tribe factions.”

“Elian?” I ask.

Dahlen lights up. It’s his turn to shine again. “Elian Daron, of the Daron clan,” he says. “One of the first and lasts pacifists of the Fire Tribe at the time. There was no Fire or Sky Tribe yet, though, only ideologies forming and spreading. Elian advocated for peace and unity. He proposed sending people deep below the surface of Sunna to study the inner fire. He was convinced the plague stemmed from there.”

“Why did he believe that, though?” I wonder, trying to make the connection. “The plague is viral, a living organism that corrupts, consumes and destroys. The fire is pure physics, friction of atoms, destruction and transformation.”

“We don’t know,” Kai says. “Elian died before he could share his findings. There were rumors at the time that he had already sent a couple of scientists down into the Red Rock Volcano south of Diamond City. It’s what he’d come to Ruby City for, but he was assassinated that day. Mid-speech.”

“Right, I think I remember the story,” I mumble, now curious about Elian and his research.

“We always believed it was intentional, killing him then and there,” Maur replies. “There were hidden interests most likely, and someone fought hard to protect said interests without caring about our survival. Or they simply refused to accept Elian’s arguments and thought the best way forward was to kill as many of us as possible so they could inherit Sunna and the surviving women.”

“Which matches the Sky Tribe’s ideology to the letter,” Kai says.

It’s sickening to think about it, but it’s also likely. Especially if Elian Daron was getting close to identifying the source of the plague. His death ultimately sparked the beginning of the civil war, but his descendants and the Fire Tribe factions that formed afterward never got to read his findings, to fully understand why he thought the solution to their problem was in Sunna’s fire. They only remembered the loose concept and stuck with it, choosing a more natural path as opposed to the Sky Tribe’s methods.

I’m certainly looking forward to getting inside the research lab, first and foremost. And then I would absolutely start digging deeper into Elian Daron and his work on the topic. I reckon I might unearth a few more leads that might get us closer to the truth. Alicia will come in handy then. Provided we survive this incursion into Sapphire City.

9

Cynthia

Once we reach the shoreline of the Crimson Sea, it’s like a different world altogether.

The last time I saw this seemingly never-ending mass of rippling red waters was through the thermally treated and hyperspace-resistant windows of Umok’s starship just before we crash-landed, and our lives were forever changed. It’s beautiful from where I’m standing, though, kissed by Sunna’s twin suns, Rey and Hyx, and basking in their reddish light against a clear, scarlet sky. The shore itself is a strip of black sand and pebbles sprinkled with red and orange seashells.

To the north, it leads toward a mass of obsidian rocks jutting outward, the result of a massive volcanic explosion that rocked the coastline ages ago. To the south, Sapphire City rises proudly above the water, built on thick black stone. Its surrounding walls are painted blue, as are the turrets of every building—skyscrapers and palaces unraveling on different levels. The bottom half of the city is hidden behind the sentry walls, but the top is visible from our position. A myriad of white steps and cobblestone alleys connect the city’s various levels.

We hide in a crevice of the seawall just half a mile from the city until nightfall, careful not to be spotted. Guards patrol the beach, passing by every other hour, but we are out of sight and safe for now. As soon as the darkness of evening settles across the realm, however, we notice a change in their defensive movements.

I climb on Maur’s back as he goes out to get a better look.

“Oh, God, this is beautiful,” I whisper, glancing up.

The stars above are plentiful and glimmering shyly, the three moons rising above the sea. The city lights glow white and yellow, torches burning along the sentry walls. Dozens of Sky Tribe fighters patrol the surrounding area, but few venture by the shore and even fewer get close to our position. Instead, drones fly out and scatter around the city, focusing on the mainland since there’s nothing at sea they may perceive as a threat.

“It will be even more beautiful when we control the city,” Maur says to me. “It will be our gift to you.”

“Beats dinner and a movie,” I giggle, and he smiles softly.

I’ve told him and Kai all about my life on Earth, about cinema and music concerts, about our way of life and our methods of wooing our soulmates.

“We’re ready,” one of the fighters says as he returns from a quick walk up the beach. “The path is clear toward the northern gate. They’re preparing to change shifts.”

Indeed, as I look out again, I notice fewer sentry lights moving. Soon enough, there will be none while the night-time guards prepare for their posts. That’s a ten-minute window we cannot ignore, so we move fast, keeping to the rocks’ shadows as we sneak toward the northern gate. The closer we get, the bigger the city becomes, ultimately overwhelming me with its titanic proportions. A couple million people could easily live here. It’s a shame only about fifty thousand have survived beyond these beautiful walls.

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