Story #231 - Brighters

Brighters

The second sun had just dipped below the horizon as Lath Al'ten drew his mount inside the stable. It had been a long journey home; summer on Deloar was a brutal time for travel. Checking his chrono, he frowned – in only an hour and a half, the third sun would be coming up, and it was by far the worst of the three. Choosing to settle in the northern climates had made sense when he and Kendra had arrived planet-side, but at least in the Capital there were four or five hours of uninterrupted darkness.

He smiled when he thought of his wife. Dark hair, fiery eyes and a spirit tougher than his thoroughbred Jinth'a made her the perfect woman for him, even if she did drive him to the occasional bout of madness and distraction. His time away had been too long – speaking to her by du-phone was not nearly as satisfying as the real thing.

“Shh,” he whispered to Duaala, his steed, as he slipped out of the stables into the temporary darkness. The beast didn't bother to whinny in response; Duaala was as glad as he to be home, and would be asleep within moments. He had made it away from the meeting today as soon as he could, and with one of the council members having taken ill, what they had planned to cover was cut short. A quick lunch, some food for Duaala and he was on his way, ready to surprise Kendra a night early.

Though he'd only been gone a month, the small compound they'd built looked different, somehow, and Lath decided that was mostly because of the new Compactor in the south corner. They'd talked about installing it before he left, but they hadn't found the time with harvest season approaching. He'd told Kendra to wait until his return to get it up and running, but as with so many things in their lives, Kendra took the initiative. He smiled. She was a trial, plain and simple, but he would have it no other way.

Even the front door looked different, a darker color than the gray he remembered. As he came closer, he saw the darkness radiated from the lock on its right hand side, and was not new coat of paint or a splash of mud.

It was char.

Dashing forward, he slammed into the door full speed and felt it give way under his weight. He crashed into the main hallway, eyes wide and mouth open.

“Kendra!” He screamed, the broken pictures and gashes in the wall rushing past him as he raced through the house.

“Kendra!” He was desperate now, panicked. Kendra could handle herself in a fight, but the char on the door told him this hadn't been some bandit attack for crops or fuel – this was the work of Brighters.

They had another name, some unholy mangling that he'd heard spewed out from the lips of councilmen from time to time. The Brighters were the original inhabitants of Deloar, sun-worshipers that imbued each of the three stars in the sky with different personality traits. They were a warm and welcoming, if backward, people until all of the suns left the sky, and then they became frenzied, savage. In the darkness, their thin veneer of civilization slipped away, replaced by a consuming blackness that had them looting villages, burning crops, and taking women. He'd heard a Brighter speak, once, at the University in the Capital, and someone in the audience has asked about his people's behavior in the dark. The Brighter's face had gone absolutely still, and he replied that there were “no men in the dark, only shadows”. As far as Lath was concerned, that just meant they were trying to escape responsibility for their actions.

A search of the bedroom revealed no evidence of a struggle, but no sign of his wife, either. Brighters didn't usually come this far north during summer – they found being so close to their gods disconcerting. He seen only a small tribe, once, three years ago near the river to the south, and they had been gone within a week. Why, in the last month, had they come?

His voice was hoarse by the time he'd finished a circuit of the compound, and though there was minor damage everywhere, none of the major systems had been affected, and none of their fuel or food was missing. Only Kendra.

Calls to every neighbor in a ten-mile radius went unanswered – it looked like the Brighters had hit fast, and hit hard.

He was almost back to the stables when he spotted the tracks heading north, into the Sands. A large group had moved between the Compactor and the house, and from a distance, he could see something dark fluttering in the wind, caught one of the Compactor's edges, still sharp and new. Quick strides took him to within arms reach, and he felt his legs go weak. Kendra's hair, long and smooth, snapped out a subtle beat to the pulse of the wind. It had caught on a small rivet, one of several he could see she hadn't properly counter-sunk; she had always hated the pulse-drill.

Lath felt himself go cold, felt the battle-lust he had left behind on Corrul begin to rise in his throat. They had agreed that moving away was best for both of them, best before the law or the Order caught up with them, and Deloar had seemed the perfect place.

No more.

Within moments, he was back in Duaala's saddle, the Jinth'a moaning at being woken from a sound sleep. Kendra's hair was tied around his wrist, and Lath would not remove it until he found her, dead or alive. The Brighters had roused a Jeldor Berserker from his self-appointed slumber, and they would pay the price.

Lath checked his chrono as he spurred Duaala forward. Third dawn came in an hour, and ground covered by night would come more swiftly.

- D