The night trudged on as Onder stared at the ceiling. He listened for the sound of his siblings breathing to keep him sane. Every creak from the wooden walls elicited a jump in cortisol. He had to stop himself from getting up to investigate every little thing.

  His mother’s merciful rays returned after what seemed like days of being awake. Onder was exhausted, but he had a job to do. He got out of bed and prepared a meal of nutrition cubes for the kids. He stuck to dried meat, as always. The children woke up to the smell of breakfast and stumbled over to him.

  “You two were so good yesterday.” He walked over and set the table. “I know quiet time isn’t very fun, but I need you to do just a little more today.”

  They both groaned. Helena started yelling through a mouthful of food. “Play time is after quiet time! You promised!”

  “I know, I know. It’s just this once.” He placed a hand on both of their heads. “If you do more quiet time today, you won’t have to do it again for another week.”

  “Play time for a week?” she asked.

  “Yes, I pinky promise.” He stuck out his pinky and she shook it with her entire hand. Once again, he could feel an unreasonable amount of force for a human child.

  She’s strong. Definitely only half-human. That’s good.

  He let the kids finish breakfast before sealing them in the travel basket. The local market would be his first stop for locating the gang leader who saw too much. Hopefully Aphmor would be more cooperative this time. Onder didn’t want to have to force him to talk.

  The market was noticeably less crowded. Onder only took a sliver of the local gang with him to Hek’s town, but the argument must’ve scared more of them off for the time being.

  “Prince,” Aphmor called. “I hope you’re here for trade today.”

  He shook his head as he approached the counter. “You know why I’m here. I need you to talk.”

  “I’m not in that gang, prince. They don’t tell me where they’re going when they leave the market.”

  “Just give me a direction. I can handle the rest from there.” Onder’s voice hung low. He wasn’t going to leave empty-handed.

  Aphmor glanced at Onder’s side where the basket hung. “Okay.” He pointed to a side exit of the market. “I don’t want any trouble.”

  Onder knocked twice on the counter, a symbol of appreciation. He started walking in that direction, prepared to search every cave and cranny he passed. It was a foolish plan. Sigiba’s rocklands stretched on for miles. Each cave led to a dead end. If the gang leader had been in any of them, he didn’t leave a trace.

  Did Aphmor mislead me? No, he wouldn’t make an enemy of me just to protect a gang… Right? They’re his descendants, maybe he feels a kinship.

  Deep down, he knew his thoughts were based on little more than sleep deprivation and paranoia. Sigiba was an enormous planet and the gang had a whole night of a head start. They could’ve changed directions at any point, leaving Onder with nothing.

  He kept the search up for a little too long, finally feeling exhaustion creeping up on him. He slowly lowered himself to the ground. His breathing was fast and shallow. Panic started taking over.

  Everyone’s gonna know. Everyone’s gonna be looking for them. I can protect them when I’m there, when I’m alert. I still need to rest. I still leave them vulnerable.

  He placed a hand on his side. The children were still quiet under his jacket. He took the basket out and looked at their tiny faces.

  “No more quiet time. You both did so good.” He opened the hatch. “Would you rather walk next to me?”

  “This is too small,” Mtsi answered, pointing at the basket.

  “Yes, I’m sure it’s cramped in there,” Onder giggled.

  Each sibling held one of his hands as they made the trip home. Onder’s breathing started to settle. His siblings could finally watch the sunset. He was depriving them of too many things for too long. He didn’t want them to learn his fear.

  The children alternated between walking and sitting on his shoulders. The trip was much too long for their little legs. His mother’s light was just starting to dim as they entered the market.

  Onder’s froze. Something was off. The market was uncrowded before, but now it was completely empty. Aphmor did not greet him as he entered. He saw thin limbs draped over the counter and rushed over. Aphmor was hunched over and unresponsive.

  “Aphmor!” He started shaking the man. “Aphmor, what happened?”

  He looked at the giant tree connected to him. It didn’t look damaged, but it was drooping.

  “What happened? Why didn’t you protect him?”

  The tree gave no response. He checked the ground surrounding it and saw damp soil. Something had been poured on it recently.

  Something toxic? That’s the only thing that makes sense. The tree would’ve put up a fight if someone attacked directly. There would be blood or even a body around.

  Mtsi tugged at his pant leg. “The tree-man looks bad.”

  “Come on, you two need to get back inside.” He picked the up and took the basket out.

  “Oh, this is too good.” The familiar gruff voice appeared from the corner of the market. “The fearsome prince of Sigiba is a babysitter.”

  The hatch was closed in an instant. Onder walked towards the man, blinded by rage. His siblings and the gang leader were the only people in the world to him at the moment. It made it all too easy for the man’s crew to sneak out from behind the market stalls.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Thump.

  He felt the weight leave his shoulder. The sickening sounds of wicker on rock followed. He turned to see the woven hatch being torn from the basket by two gang members.

  One man with his hands on the pack was mist within seconds. Mtsi and Helena screamed as blood filled the air. The woman who was pulling the bag with the dead man quickly ripped Helena out and held her close.

  “Stop right there,” she commanded.

  Helena wriggled within her grasp and started to cry. Onder felt her pain in every bone in his body. He obeyed the woman and remained still, but Helena’s thrashing was knocking her off-balance.

  “You little shit! Stay still!” The woman kept her grip on Helena as she fell to the ground. She took out a knife and put it to the girl’s throat. “Tell her to stop!”

  Onder could feel his heart jumping up to his throat. “Helena. It’s ok sweetheart. Please stay still, please…”

  The leader called out to another subordinate behind a stall. “Get the boy.” He looked back at Onder. “If you move, the girl dies.”

  The children’s screams quieted down to whimpers. Onder did nothing but watch as Mtsi was pulled out of the basket.

  “What are you planning? You know you’re dead if you hurt them.”

  “Oh, I won’t touch a hair on their heads. As long as you comply,” he sneered.

  “What do you want?”

  The man leaned back on the stall behind him. “First, proof of loyalty. You’ll go to Hek’s town and bring back a corpse. A small taste of what’s to come.”

  He started walking towards the town as if he were a robot. His world was crashing around him. He was worthless. He couldn’t protect his only purpose in life. Hek meant nothing to him if his siblings were in danger.

  He could hear the leader’s voice as he reached the exit. “Such small creatures. Kind of cute.”

  You fucking bastard. You have no idea how much pain I will bring to your miserable little crew.

  His violent thoughts seemed to manifest into reality as a bright golden light appeared in the center of the leader’s chest. Onder noticed the glow in the corner of his eye and turned around. The light expanded across his chest and started burning through him. It surrounded him in a small sphere that curled in on itself, culminating in the form of a human man. His body was entirely displaced, becoming an explosion of flesh that scattered across the market.

  Onder saw his father where the leader stood. He wiped the blood from his face and took a look at the scene around him.

  “Oh Onder. You can be such a disappointment sometimes.” His stone sword appeared in his right hand, covered with messy scratches of golden text. “Did you not love your siblings enough? I trusted you to guard them.”

  Onder dropped to his knees. Now was not the time to argue. “Father, please, just help them.”

  The kidnappers were locked on the man in front of them. The knife at Helena’s throat started to falter, and she was able to land one steady kick to the woman’s stomach, knocking her over. Helena fell to the floor and scrambled back to the basket. Their father slowly encroached on the gang members whose eyes were bloodshot with fear.

  Despite Sigiba’s isolation, his father’s reputation was well known. Their ancestors had records. Aphmor had stories. If there was even a shred of connection to the greater galaxy, to the history of the universe, the name Zihatzik the Conqueror would be feared. No description was needed to recognize his presence.

  “Zihatzik,” she whispered; her voice trembling.

  He turned to the man holding Mtsi. “That’s mine. Drop it.”

  The boy was on the ground in an instant. Zihatzik’s eyes moved towards him. He knelt down and put a hand on the child’s head. He smiled, but his eyes were filled with a sense of dominance.

  “Ah, the spitting image of me when I was a weak and pathetic boy.” He chuckled. “Nignah made you well.”

  Mtsi looked up with wide eyes as the strange man started ruffling his hair. Shuffling could be heard behind the market stalls as the remaining gang members tried to escape. The two in front of Zihatzik were frozen in time, stuck staring at the man.

  He scoffed. “Nothing worse than a gaggle of cowards.”

  He thrusted his sword into the ground. Sickening golden letters emerged from beneath every gang member in the market. They didn’t move through them; they consumed them. Flesh and bone slowly blended through the air and were devoured by the words. They burned out as if they never existed.

  Onder ran to his siblings, scooping them into a giant bear hug. They melted into his arms. Both had heavy streaks of tears rolling down their faces. Onder wiped them away.

  “It’s okay. Everything’s okay now.” He looked at his father. “Thank you…”

  Zihatzik cocked his head. “Don’t thank me, my dear failure. They’re my children. You didn’t need to ask me to save them.”

  Onder’s next words slipped right out. “Are you capable of saying one thing that isn’t terrible?”

  “Of course.” He smirked. “It’s time I took these two off of this rock.”

  Onder’s eyes lit up. “Really? We’re leaving?”

  Zihatzik’s smile vanished, replaced by a terrifying glare. He grabbed Onder’s head and slammed it into the ground. He kept a steady force on him. Enough to cause immense pain, but not enough to crush his skull. The giant kept holding on to his siblings as they screamed in terror.

  He leaned down and whispered in Onder’s ear. “You weren’t listening, you worthless creature.” The pressure released and Zihatzik stepped back. “I said I’m taking them. You’re staying here, foolish boy.”

  The insult almost sounded playful. Onder learned never to try with his father. Zihatzik had his plans for him; that was the extent of their relationship. Onder didn’t know exactly what those plans were, but he stopped caring when the infants arrived. It was an awful mistake.

  Onder’s grip around the children tightened. “No. No way. You’re not taking them from me.”

  “Spirits give me strength; you never learn,” he sneered.

  Onder knew he couldn’t stop his father from doing what he wanted. He started crying in frustration. The thought of losing his light was too much to bear.

  “You would keep them here for your own benefit?” Zihatzik asked.

  The question struck his core. That day was proof that they weren’t safe on Sigiba. He wasn’t enough. Hek’s town was not a safe bet either. There was no guarantee that they would be properly nourished in the future.

  He loosened his grip. “Mtsi, Helena.”

  “We want Ondy!” Helena looked back at Zihatzik. “He’s scary…”

  The man chuckled. “Yes dear, I am scary.”

  Onder took a deep breath. “Don’t worry. He’s your father. He’s just here to take you away from this place.”

  Mtsi choked through his sobs. “Why? Why can’t Ondy come?”

  “Because he’s useless now,” Zihatzik cheerfully answered.

  He was right. Onder knew he was a failure. His father was separating them for the sake of cruelty, but he knew they had to go with him.

  “It’s going to be okay.” Onder gently rocked both of them in his arms one last time. “It won’t be forever. I’ll find a way off this planet. I’ll get past mother. Nothing will stop me from finding you two again.”

  He stood up and approached his father. He didn’t hold on as Zihatzik pulled them away. The children kicked and screamed, but their father held strong. The distorted golden script from his sword folded off and shaped itself into a spaceship. The children made one last plea as they were carried away.

  “Ondy! No, please! We want Ondy. We need Ondy!”

  The door closed behind them, cutting the noise off. Onder stared at the spaceship as it launched. He could only hope that the children would come to understand why he let them go.

  You’ll be happier far away from here.

  There were only two ways to leave Sigiba. The first was to kill his mother, which would throw Sigiba into an eternal dark-age. The other option was to leave while she was away, but that would require a highly functional ship that could withstand the harsh weather. It would require an equally skilled pilot as well.

  I don’t even know how to pilot a spaceship. The only way I leave this planet is if Hek’s people and equipment withstand their first purge.

  He started walking towards the settlement with no hesitation. His siblings were gone, but his days of isolation were still behind him. Everything he had at the moment would go to protecting Hek’s people. They would be his way into the stars. The way back to his rays of sunshine.

  Character Art

  Zihatzik the Conqueror