"Whoops! I'll get it!"

Dax sighed as he watched Ren's uncoordinated arms fling the flying disk in the wrong direction and land somewhat unfortunately on one of the dilapidated spacecraft nearby.

The two friends had come out to the grassy field to enjoy the warm summer evening playing catch and goofing off, although technically this particular field was off-limits. It was too far from the palace and the old spacecrafts laying around too dangerous, especially for Ren, the son of a somewhat paranoid king. Even though they were the same age- just shy of adults- the king had long ago given Dax the task of assuring Ren's safety. Dax took the job seriously, no matter how difficult Ren made it. Dax reminded himself of this just as Ren ran over towards a dangerously tall and frail-looking spacecraft and began to hoist himself up the metallic side.

"Ren, you know you're not allowed to climb around on those," Dax warned him.

"Nag nag nag. It's fine, I'll get the disk and come straight back down." He found a broken panel and hoisted himself up.

"Wait a minute..." Dax grumbled, realizing it was a little too convenient for the disk to end up where it did. "Don't tell me you begged me to come out here and throw your disk around just so you'd have an excuse to climb one of these things."

"Then I won't."

Ren grunted as he used a vine to hoist himself over the top. He picked up his disk but didn't come straight back down as he promised. Instead, he stood on top of the ship and stared at the horizon, shielding his eyes.

"Dax, you have to come up here!" He called, raising his arms and spinning in a circle. "It's a great view."

Dax couldn't help but smile quietly at Ren's innocent enthusiasm. The setting sun lit him up from behind making him glow.

After a moment's hesitation Dax shook the smile off his face and followed behind, clambering up and sitting down heavily on the rounded roof. It was a pretty good view. The ship was just high enough to see over the hill which slowly sloped down toward the valley where the Navinian palace sat nearby the houses of the villagers. The old stone brick walls in the distance looked out of place next to the remains of the sleek metal spaceships that surrounded them. Not spaceships, Dax reminded himself, escape pods.

There were dozens of them strewn about in the field they had been playing around in, each sized to fit about ten people, and in varying conditions of decay. When the Navinians ran from their home planet centuries ago they hadn't been able to take much technology with them, and certainly not any construction equipment. Hundreds of years later and they were still using simple mechanical tools, despite having several books in the preserved digital library on the construction of much more advanced technologies.

Dax himself had offered many times to fix and make use of the electronics from the spaceship scraps, being an outsider used to tinkering with electronics. However the king and his people seemed to prefer this way of life, though Dax could never understand why. Still he had to admit his life here was a thousand times better than life was on his more technologically advanced home planet.

Ren sat down next to him and they spent a moment in silence, taking in the view.

They were quite a pair, Ren with his chocolate skin and dark black hair and Dax with ivory skin and hair a bleached white. Ren had the vivid golden eyes unique to Navinians while Dax's were a muted gray. Age was about the only thing they had in common.

"Dax," Ren started. "Someday... if you fix your ship, do you think we could take a trip out there, just to the next system over?" He was looking at the sky where stars had just started to poke out of the dark blue. Dax gave him a sideways glance.

"Is this a fantasy situation or are you asking me honestly?"

Ren shrugged, which Dax took to mean the latter. Dax followed his gaze towards the stars.

"Then even after everything the king and I told you, you still don't understand how bad it is out there."

"There's gotta be something worth seeing!" Rex complained. "All I've ever seen is this boring valley."

"There is," Dax admitted. "But you'd be dead or worse before you could even get there. Even if you weren't... what you are."

"Not if you were with me!" He punched Dax playfully. "Aren't you supposed to be a super soldier or something? That's why father keeps you around in the first place."

Dax smiled wanly, flexing his arm and feeling the metal joints click under his skin. "Something like that. But even I'd have no chance against the Empire if they found out you exist."

Ren was persistent. "What if they aren't looking anymore? It's been two hundred years! You even said our people were no more than a fairytale when you left the empire."

Dax saw the determination in Ren's eyes. This was bad. Ren had always had a fascination with space travel and the world beyond their small planet, but he didn't think he would seriously consider leaving. If Ren was even bringing it up with him, it meant he thought he had a chance of making it happen. And he was damn stubborn.

Dax looked away. "It's not possible. My ship is dead, unfixable." He lied. "And none of these have a shot in hell." He patted the ship they sat on.

"What if we could send a message-" Ren started, but Dax was already getting up and turning around to climb down the craft.

"Hey! Listen to me, I'm seriou- ... Dax?"

Dax was frozen, his eyes tracking something on the horizon in the direction opposite the palace. Three shapes, too big and moving too fast to be birds.

"No way..." He muttered, unbelieving. Ren stood up next to him, following his line of sight.

"What are you... are those ships?!"

"We have to go, now," Dax said, jumping off the spacecraft at a height that would break a normal person's ankles and landing easily in a crouch.

"Jump down," he said, holding his arms up to catch Ren. But Ren was still watching the horizon. His eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"Wait, what if they're friendly?"

Dax scoffed. "If they're here at all, it means they were looking for this planet, and that means they're looking for you."

"You found our planet and you weren't looking for it," Ren pointed out.

"I crash landed after drifting through no man's land for a week, it was a miracle I even got through the shield."

The planet was surrounded by a massive network of mirrors, designed by the last Locksmith to hide them. Seven years ago, at ten years old and on the verge of starvation, Dax in his stolen fighter craft had miraculously drifted straight through one of the relatively tiny gaps between mirrors. He remembered drifting in and out of consciousness until his radar had suddenly come to life, a planet appearing from nowhere. He was barely able to plot a course for the settlement picked up by his ships sensors before losing consciousness.

Dax pulled himself out of his reverie, reminding himself of the situation. He gestured to Ren again.

"Get down now or I'll drag you off of there."

Normally Ren would whine about being pushed around, but hearing the tension in Dax's voice he thought better of it.

As soon as he was down, Dax took Ren's arm and took off running across the field, careful to stay at a pace the prince could keep up with. Instead of heading the usual route down the hill to their right towards the village, Dax headed straight towards the entrance to the nearby forest.

"I can run on my own," Ren said indignantly, pulling his arm back and keeping pace next to Dax.

"Where are we going?" He huffed, already starting to run out of breath. "Why are heading towards the forest?"

"We'll be too out in the open if we head down the field," Dax responded easily. He could run for five minutes at this speed while holding his breath. "We're going the long way through the forest, then loop around and enter the palace from behind. The palace has special defenses, we'll be safe as long as we can get there without being seen."

Ren nodded, too out of breath to ask anything else.

By the time they reached tree cover Ren needed a break, so Dax hid them behind the trunk of a large felled tree. Bare minutes later they heard roaring as three sleek black ships flew by at low altitude, heading towards the village. Ren stared wide-eyed as they passed.

"I've never seen ships like that before," Dax said. "They're not Empire at least."

"Then you can't say for sure whether they're bad new or not," Ren crowed.

Dax shook his head. "You're too naive." Whoever they were, it would not be good if those ships touched down before they reached the castle.

Ren scoffed as only a prince could, but Dax didn't allow him a chance at a comeback.

"Let's go."

They started running again, Dax pushing and prodding Ren, urging him to move as quickly as possible. Fifteen minutes later they were finally in view of the palace rear gardens. The back entrance was just a down the garden path and across a small field. Dax breathed a sigh of relief. The gardens were empty, no enemies in sight to impede their path. Ren bent over as he caught up, looking like he might be sick.

"Just a little farther," Dax urged. "We're almost safe, you can make it."

Ren groaned. "If the people on those ships aren't trying to kill us, I'm going to kill you." But he gathered himself and headed out of the trees towards the gardens.

Just as they stepped onto the garden path, a wall of earth erupted out of the ground in front of them, blocking their way. All of the grass and flowers surrounding them spontaneously wilted, turning a sickly yellow brown.

Dax cursed. "A Vismutor."

He turned to face the trees where the sorcery had come from and placed himself in front of Ren.

A woman was walking towards them from the forest. She was wearing a long dark robe and black wavy hair spilled over her shoulders. Three others wearing the same robes with hoods up spread out behind her. They seemed to be the woman's lackeys. Dax wondered if they got their outfits from the thrift store for villains. It was almost funny how evil they looked. Almost.

As Ren and Dax turned to look at her, an almost manic smile spread across the woman's face.

"My Key." She practically purred, looking straight through Dax to where Ren stood. "I've found you at last." Dax felt Ren gasp and go rigid behind him. She knew what he was. A Vismutor had found him. This was the worst case scenario.

Dax took a defensive stance, and quick as lightning pulled three slim daggers out of his boot.

"Not another step," he growled.

The woman cocked her head, as if noticing him for the first time.

"Strange. One of the Empire's failed experiments. How did it get all the way out here?"

She waved her hand. "No matter."

The ground beneath Dax's feet turned into a deep pool of mud, sucking him in. The leaves on the trees near the woman wilted and a frost began to cover the ground. For the first time in seven years, Dax was frightened.

No Vismutor should have this much power. To be able to alter the environment so easily and at a distance was unthinkable. He desperately grabbed at solid ground around him, trying to stop himself from sinking.

Behind him, he heard Ren gasp as if in pain. Ignoring his training and taking his eyes off the enemy, Dax twisted to check on Ren. His friend had his head in his hands and his eyes shut tight.

"Come here, my Key," the woman called, gesturing towards Ren. When the prince opened his eyes they shone a bright radioactive green. His features went slack, as if in a trance, and Ren began to walk towards the forest.

"Ren! REN!" Dax yelled, but Ren appeared to not hear him. Dax mentally berated himself for losing his focus in a desperate situation. He would never have made a mistake like this during his training. For about half a second Dax closed his eyes and reset, gathering his resolve. Then he sprung into action.

He swept the daggers up off the ground where he had dropped them, and as he sank further into the ground he flung them at the women, two aimed perfectly at her chest and one at her head. She flinched back, but as soon as the daggers touched her body, they melted and spilled to the ground harmlessly. They served nicely as a distraction though, as the ground around Dax re-hardened just enough. With superhuman strength, Dax ripped himself free from the ground. Ice and wooden projectiles came hurtling at him, launched by the woman's lackeys. Luckily the grunts turned out to be not nearly as strong as their master, and Dax blocked them easily with his reinforced left arm.

While taking a step towards Ren, he brought up his right arm and pointed it at the trees. The skin on the top of his forearm parted, and a laser barrel popped out and began spinning and buzzing with blue energy. In just a few steps, Dax reached Ren and shot the concentrated laser burst in a wide arc. The blue light cut across the forest entrance, slicing far enough through several trees to bring them crashing down. The woman just barely managed to bring up another earth barrier in time to block the blast, but two of her lackeys weren't so lucky. One lost an arm and the other lost their head. At the back of his mind, Dax hoped Ren wasn't conscious enough to see that.

Dax gasped as the energy suddenly left his body. With his remaining strength, he hoisted Ren over his shoulder and took off towards the palace. He heard trees continue to crash down and the woman howling behind him.

Two guards were rushing out from the back entrance of the palace, alerted by the noise. Dax waved them back where they had come.

"ACTIVATE THE SHIELD," he yelled. For a moment they stared at him in shock, then one of them turned and ran back into the palace.

An overwhelming cold began to emanate from behind Dax. He felt the sweat on his back freeze. The grass around him withered then melted, forming a sticky yellow-brown goop. Dax balked and tried not to lose focus as he ran. This could not possibly be the power of one lone Vismutor, at least not one without a Key, could it?

The not-grass grew tendrils which crept up around his legs. Dax ran harder, ripping himself free. The cold was unbearable, his breath coming out in mist. The grass sucked his foot in and Dax stumbled, yards from the palace entrance. Unable to regain his balance, he face planted, dropping Ren in the process. The not-grass eagerly wrapped around his limbs, fastening him to the ground. The palace guard was stuck in place as well, hacking at the not-grass with a knife while trying to reach them. More of the palace staff had gathered at the palace back entrance, simply staring in shock.

Ren shifted, then slowly stood up, the yellow goop avoiding him completely. His eyes still shown an unnatural green, even to the whites. He took a step toward the forest, towards the powerful Vismutor who was even now walking towards them. Dax tore at the grass binding him, but every time he ripped a piece a new patch grew in its place.

Not a moment too soon, the palace shield came online. One of the only technological relics still maintained for a dire situation such as this. Blue light appeared in a curved line across the grass and around the sides of the palace. The forcefield shot up, mere inches from Ren's nose, and traveled up until connecting at the top in a dome shape over the palace.

As soon as the forcefield was up, the not grass turned brown and paper thin, disconnected from its source of power. Dax shook it off and rushed over the Ren, grabbing his shoulders.

"Ren? Vindaren! Hey!"

The green light was fading from Ren's eyes. He blinked a few times and then his dreamlike expression cleared to one of confusion.

"...Dax? Ugh, what happened?" He grabbed his head, squinting in pain.

Dax breathed a sigh of relief, then looked back through the shield where the woman had been standing. She was gone without a trace. But she would be back soon enough, he was sure.

Dax swayed, suddenly feeling the lack of both energy and adrenaline.

"Woah!" Ren reached out to support him and Dax took his shoulder gratefully. "Dax, are you-"

"-I'm fine. Just tired." He assured Ren, struggling to bring his eyes back into focus.

"Prince Vindaren!" The guard ran over to them. "Are you alright, your majesty?"

"I think so," Ren said, his voice still heavy with confusion. "But Dax-"

"I've got him, your majesty," the guard pulled Dax's arm around his neck. "Hurry inside, the king is on the verge of a stroke."

"I'll bet." Ren grimaced. He took one last concerned look at Dax and at the shield then hurried towards the back door where more guards waited.

...............................................

Hello, this is Em~

Thank you so much for reading 🤗! This is my first story I've made public and I'm excited to see what you think of it! I'm still very new at writing so constructive criticism/suggestions are much appreciated 😙