The snow falling over the settlement of Derban had finally come to a halt after several days of brutal storms. A woman peaked through a window of her one-story log cabin and smiled. Winters on the continent of Yeupis were long and brutal, especially in the north, so any pause in the weather was cause for celebration. The woman exited her home with a bucket and shortly after returned with some fresh snow. Her intention was to make deer stew to distribute among her neighbors, most of whom were elderly men and women. She placed the bucket on her wood-burning stove and was about to start the heating process when she realized that she was missing the key element—wood. She sighed and turned around from the stove.
“Stefan! Joakim! I need you boys to do me a little favor!” she called out. A few moments later two teenagers presented themselves before her.
“What do you need, Mum?” the elder but shorter of the boys asked.
“I can’t start the stove without wood, would you mind getting some from the shed?” the woman asked.
“How much do you need? What are you even making? We have so much deer jerky left.” The younger boy asked.
The woman scowled as if to say, ‘you ask too many questions.’ The boy backed down as a chuckle escaped his brother’s mouth.
“One log will be enough; it should be around the same length as your arm.”
The elder boy took a glance at his brother’s arm which was covered in a cast, the result of being adventurous and climbing a bit too high up a tree.
“One log? Then can’t I go alone? Stefan’s arm is still in bad shape. He’ll hold me back if we both go.”
The younger boy could do nothing but grumble, since the last thing he wanted was a scolding from his mother.
“How many times must I tell you this, Joakim? You are not allowed to leave this cabin alone. Neither of you are. Stefan doesn’t need two working arms to keep an eye on you. And before you laugh, Stefan, he’ll be watching you, too. Don’t stay outside longer than you must. Understood?”
“Understood.” The boys confirmed in unison.
As the boys put on their coats and boots to travel outside, their mother looked at them, a somber look in her eyes.
“Damn it, Stef, I don’t get it,” Joakim complained as the two brothers walked into the dense forest that surrounded the clearing their small community was located in. “I’m 15, you’re 14. We’re more than old enough to do whatever the hell we feel like. Why does she push us around like that?”
“I don’t know,” Stefan shrugged. “Light Pillars?”
Joakim did his best to not burst out laughing, but to no avail.
“Light Pillars? You know damn well those are myths. Don’t bring up something stupid like that, I mean… do you know anyone who claims they’ve seen one?”
Stefan kept walking ahead with a straight face. He was adamant about his theory.
“Don’t give me that look, Stef. Who’s seen one? Tell me.”
“They are myths,” Stefan said. “But all myths are based in some truth.”
“Truth that no one’s seen or heard in generations. Face it. They’re not real. And even if they are—
“Well, if it isn’t the Laine boys!” a man’s voice grumbled a little deeper into the forest. “Are you here to fetch firewood or get another arm broken?”
Stefan’s mobile fist clenched at his side as his eyes met the man’s. Besides their mother, the man was the only other adult in Derban who wasn’t elderly or at least well into their middle-ages. His full head of black hair that reached his chin was a rare but sure sign of that.
“Hi, Mr. Holt.” Joakim politely greeted the man while putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder, calming him down.
“Mr. Holt?” the man laughed. “You boys have known me your entire lives, why don’t you get used to calling me Ruben yet? Or Uncle Ruben, at the very least?”
“Sorry, Uncle Ruben. Mum wants us to call you Mr. Holt. You know that.” Joakim shrugged.
“The nice and proper way…” Ruben muttered. “That’s Kallista for you.”
The three men trudged through the knee-deep snow for a few more minutes to the shed where previously chopped logs were stored, mostly by Ruben. However, the entire community was free to use it.
“Uncle Ruben, I have a question.” Stefan said after they had reached the shed and each respective party began loading their share of the logs onto special sleds that were stored in the shed.
“What’s up, kid?” the man said without taking his eyes off the cargo he was hauling.
“Are Light Pillars real?”
“Light Pillars?” Ruben said. He stopped for a second, in deep thought. Like he was deciding how to word his next sentences. “Yeah. They are.”
The younger boys’ eyes grew with amusement, while his brother sighed in defeat. Joakim was wrong.
“Really?” Stefan asked eagerly. “Have you seen one yourself?”
“I… have seen a few,” Ruben confirmed. “Back when Kallista and I were soldiers, before either of you were born. They don’t really show up in this part of the continent, though. Why do you ask?”
“Well, we were wondering…” Stefan said shyly. …if that’s why Mum doesn’t let us leave the cabin by ourselves.”
Ruben’s eyes widened; his expression was uncertain. But the boys knew that what Stefan just said had triggered something in the man.
“Stefan, you’re a smart kid… but why on Earth would you think that’s why she does what she does? Think of actual reasons, like… bears, cougars. Things that can realistically do something to you.” Ruben rebuked.
Suddenly, a shaking hand grabbed Stefan’s coat sleeve. He turned to look at the petrified face of his brother pointing out a finger into the sky. He didn’t need to say anything for Stefan and Ruben to grasp the situation.
“No, no, no… we went 15 years without them…” Ruben said in a terrified voice that the boys had never heard before. “Why now, goddamn it?! Why?!”
Multiple thick, golden rays of light descended from the sky, extending so many kilometers that their origin point was unable to be seen. There were 20 of them in total, and they all ended at one location.
“Shit, they’re all landing in Derban. Move it, boys, we gotta go!”
The trio dropped their cargo and moved as fast through the deep snow as they could. They stopped just before they could pass the tree line where Ruben gestured for the boys to get low to the ground.
“Now,” Ruben said, turning to Stefan. “I must protect the elders from them. Kallista can hold her own, and she’ll join me after she wards off the ones going for your house, and they will. You boys stay low and don’t move until one of us gets you.”
‘Don’t fuck up now, Kal. This was gonna happen.’ The man thought, aiming his primitive Desert Eagle at one of the lights near the Laine cabin and its neighbors.
The light faded away, and at the points where they contacted the ground, humanoid figures were visible. They were taller than even the tallest people the Laine boys had seen. Light-brown or blonde hair of various lengths covered their scalps. Their skin was paler than the snow and flawless like porcelain, and their eyes were either green or blue. They wore heavy black boots and grey military uniforms that didn’t look like they could protect their bodies. The only things Stefan could liken them to were wingless angels. If only angels carried rifles and submachine guns.
Kallista ran out of the front door and immediately took a defensive stance, wielding a rifle that still looked puny against the technologically advanced Angels’. She took a quick scan of the tree line, looking for any sign of her former comrade or her sons. Then, a figure darted into her field of vision.
“No, Joakim!” she cried. “Get away, get away!”
Ruben rose to his feet and prepared to charge in, and as he did so, he yanked Stefan up by his arm, horrified at what his brother had just done.
“Run, Stefan!” Ruben screamed before pushing the boy into the forest as an Angel aimed its rifle towards Kallista and Joakim.
Two seconds later, a shot rang out and a moment later, a body was heard dropping to the ground. Stefan didn’t dare look back as he painstakingly tried sprinting through the snow. All he could think to do was run.
ns 172.70.127.47da2
and then Add to home screen.