Shattered Dawn

Elion lounged on his bed, playing on his Xbox. He yawned, then rubbed his eyes and checked the time: 1:15 am. Liora hadn’t come home yet.

Reaching into the bowl of Doritos next to him, he used the gaming chopsticks he wore to pick up a chip. Two loops allowed him to wear them on the index and middle finger of his right hand, and a hinge connecting the sticks provided a springing action for easy operation. He liked using them because they let him eat chips without getting grime from his fingers on his game controller.

He also felt smart when he used them, since he used the 3d printer at school to make them. Elion had fiddled around a lot to make the print turn out right. Beside him, his cat, Snickers, lay on the bed, purring contentedly.

Sighing heavily, Elion unpaused his game and continued playing. He could at least stay up and make sure she got home safely.

A door slammed downstairs.

“Elion!”

At the sound, Snickers leaped from the bed, bolting out of the room. Elion recognized Liora’s voice, noting an unusual hint of intensity in her cry. He paused his game and sat up, listening carefully, his brotherly instinct activated. She’d been hanging out with her new boyfriend, Keith, and his buddies who were in college.

I hope she’s not drunk again. Liora was his twin sister, and at only seventeen, she shouldn’t be out drinking. Uncle Zev had promised to talk to her, but he was only home for two or three days in ten. Elion hadn’t seen him for nearly a week, and he had no idea when Zev would be back.

Elion had always tried to protect Liora. As children, when other kids bullied them about their white hair, Elion would defend Liora. When their parents had died in a car accident, he took his role as protector even more seriously. But as they’d gotten older, Elion grew more and more confused about what he was supposed to do.

Liora had started dying her hair black, trying to fit in more with the kinds of people who had bullied her as a kid.

He knew Keith was a bad influence on his sister, but she wanted to spend time with him. What could Elion do? He was her twin brother, not her dad. All his entreaties had proved ineffective, so he’d settled for staying up late and waiting to make sure she made it home.

“What!” he yelled back. Images of Keith’s friends flashed through his head, and he hoped that none of them had followed her home. But she had an annoying habit of pestering him unnecessarily, and he was still annoyed at her for telling him off about his pudginess earlier.

The other day she’d purposefully embarrassed him by calling for his help. Keith had laughed at the way Elion had stumbled over himself, looking for danger. She’d just wanted him to open a jar of pickles.

“Elion!” she screamed again, and this time he couldn’t ignore the note of panic in her voice. She sounded genuinely upset. Tossing his headset onto the bed, he grabbed the baseball bat he kept in the corner of his room.

As he planted his bare feet on the cool floor a loud splintering crash rocked the house. Adrenaline flooded through him now, and he ran, throwing open his bedroom door. Down the stairs he saw Liora, grabbing at the floor as something dragged her out of his vision.

She screamed again. “Elion, help!”

Gripping his baseball bat in both hands, he sprinted down the stairs into the living room, ready to smash Keith’s brains out. A jagged hole in the front of the house marked the place the front door had once been, splinters of wood and bent siding panels littering the front room.

Cool night air blew through the opening, the peaceful scent of fields and fresh cut grass mixing strangely with the chalky mustiness of crushed drywall.

A huge spider-like machine dragged Liora by her ankles through the hole, its articulated mechanical joints glowing from within. Teal light flickered, the whine of motors loud as it moved. The vision of the otherworldly entity shook Elion. He rubbed his eyes. Adrenaline surged and protective instinct pushed him forward. He sprinted across the room, grabbing Liora by the hand and pulling.

The spider machine pulled back. Liora gasped in pain as her body lifted off the floor. Elion swung his bat one handed, over his head, striking at the spider’s metal skin.

With each strike the bat vibrated, stinging the palm of Elion’s hand. Liora screamed and writhed, blood dripping from her ankles where the creature bit into her flesh, one high heel still miraculously clinging to her foot.

Elion hit again, and the spider stumbled to the side. He dropped Liora’s hand and gripped the bat, swinging two-handed down onto the spider’s body. The bat splintered as it wrenched itself from Elion’s hands.

The spider-machine groaned with a sound like grinding gears, then, with a sudden burst of speed, whipped Liora through the hole in the front of the house. She yelped, clawing at the grass, pulling up handfuls of sod as she attempted to free herself.

Elion grabbed the double barreled shotgun from its place over the mantle. He ran to the hole in the front of the house and looked out across the yard. A dozen black cloaked beings occupied the front yard. A gigantic sphere hovered over the front lawn, like a snow globe filled with thousands of purple streamers, casting a strange amethyst light over the yard.

Liora struggled, her braids flailing around her head as cloaked figures grabbed her. They pulled her upright. One of them placed a hand on her forehead, and she slumped, her screams dying to whimpers. They dragged her toward the purple sphere. The spider-machine released Liora’s legs and scuttled over to stand beside another of the strange machines, waiting for further orders.

“Stop!” Elion shouted, bursting through the hole in the front of the house. Splinters from cracked 2×4s pierced his bare feet, the chill night creeping in at the edges of his bathrobe.

Leveling the shotgun, he took aim at the nearest intruder. He didn’t want to accidentally catch his sister in the spray of pellets. As he did, the tallest of the cloaked beings beckoned toward Elion. He spoke, his voice thick, rasping, menacing.

“Bring me that boy!”

At the command, the two spidermechs loped forward with frightening speed. Elion fired. The gun blasted, noise stabbing into his unprotected ears. Cyan sparks exploded from the body of one of the spiders as it staggered a few steps sideways. Elion shook his head, ears ringing.

Elion aimed at the other machine and pulled the second trigger. The shotgun bucked in his hands, knocking the spider back a step.

Liora sagged limply between her captors as they dragged her into the purple sphere and disappeared.

The giant spiders recovered from Elion’s attack and charged again. With no time to break the barrel and reload, Elion gripped the gun like a bat. He squared up, but the first creature pounced at him, metal mandibles grasping at his body, his bathrobe.

Elion staggered backward and fell to the ground, crying out as sharp pincers dug into the skin of one leg. The shotgun fell to the ground nearby.

Elion kicked with his free leg, fingers grasping in the wreckage of the front of the house for anything that might be used as a weapon. The other spider reached him, and bit into his calf, sharp pain stabbing through his knee.

Together the creatures dragged Elion across the front lawn. His bathrobe rode up, exposing his boxers as the wet grass slid across his back.

Two men wearing black robes grabbed him by the arms, hoisting him to his feet as the spiders released their grip on his legs. Elion’s legs stung, crumpling beneath him as he tried to stand.

“Give my sister back,” he demanded, his voice shaking as he tried to show strength.

The tall man who had spoken turned toward Elion. He reached up and pulled his hood back from his face, letting it fall over his shoulders. His face contorted into a smile, lit with purple light cast by the gigantic glowing sphere. A shock of hair, white like Elion’s, spilled down over the man’s shoulders. Golden eyes glared beneath a strong brow.

Elion did not know the man. But… he looked familiar. Kind of like Uncle Zev. Elion had only ever seen white hair and amber eyes among his own family members.

“Interesting,” the man said, ruffling Elion’s hair. He grabbed Elion’s chin and pulled his face close, inspecting Elion’s eyes. “I did not know that Aria had a son as well.”

Elion tried to pull away, but the man’s grip was iron. “Get your hands off me.”

“You don’t know who I am,” the man said, eyebrows raised. “Did Aria never speak of me?”

Elion shook his head. His mother had never talked about her past.

“A shame,” the man said, his smile turning contemptuous. “She did you a disservice.”

“Who are you?” Elion asked.

The man shook his head. “You don’t recognize me? The same blood runs in our veins. No? Nothing? I am Dorian.” He declared this last part as though it explained everything.

To Elion, it explained nothing.

The man, Dorian, looked disappointed. “She really never mentioned me? Never spoke my name to you?”

“I’ve never heard of you,” Elion said, glancing nervously at the cloaked men now encircling him.

Dorian’s face twisted into a scowl. “I am Dorian Starholder,” he declared. “I sit upon the throne of Erod.”

Elion stared blankly.

Dorian’s face reddened with anger as Elion’s face betrayed no recognition, no understanding. “I caused The Breaking of The Sky. I freed us from the binding lies. I shone a light on the myth of Tephalian Invaders.” The man’s boasting did not impress Elion, confusing him more than anything. But the man continued. “I am He Who Glitters in the Night!”

Elion shook his head, bewildered and confused.

From across the street, a dachshund barked. Mrs. Phillips’s little wiener dog, Hamilton, ran over the asphalt and bit Dorian’s cloak, snarling.

The wizard kicked at the dog, but Hamilton did not let go of the robe. “Get away from me, you filthy—”

Hamilton pulled, and the thin material of the robe ripped, a strip of it coming away in the dog’s mouth.

Dorian sent a small bolt of purple lightning snapping through the air, striking Hamilton. The dachshund whined, and, tucking his tail between his legs, ran off down the road. The scrap of robe flapped from his mouth, jerking the small dog around with a life of its own.

Dorian scowled, turning back to Elion. “My name is Dorian,” he said coldly. “They call me the Black Fist. Master of the Black Wall.”

Elion shivered in the cold night. “N-n-never heard of you before. I’m serious.”

“I am your uncle,” Dorian said softly. “I am your mother’s elder brother.”

“Mom only has one brother. And he’s younger,” Elion said. “Maybe you have the wrong house?”

But as he spoke Elion saw the truth of Dorian’s words in his face. The color of his hair and eyes, the shape of his jaw, the curve of his nose, all hinted at the relationship. If Zev had a brother, this man could definitely be him.

Dorian gestured toward the other cloaked figures. “Venya, bring him through the portal too. We’re lucky to have caught them both in the same place. Zev must be losing his edge.”

The two men holding Elion began dragging him toward the purple sphere through which Liora had already disappeared. Two of Dorian’s cloaked acolytes stood beside it, turbulent purple light flowing through their staves and crackling around them as they wrestled to contain and maintain the portal.

A pang of fear gripped Elion and he struggled with his captors, his movements energized by panic.

He fought against the vice-like grips on his arms, struggling to break away. His legs slipped on the grass as they approached the portal, struggling weakly in response to his mental commands. Air and light bent strangely around the orb, as guttural, clicking sounds emanated from it.

“What are you doing with us?” Elion shouted.

A woman stood beside the portal. She removed her hood, allowing raven black curls to spill down over her shoulders. Her dark eyes flashed alluringly in the dim light, and she smiled meaningfully as Elion met her eyes. With a flourish, she gathered power in her hand and tapped his forehead. A wave of numbness washed over him like ice cold water.

She turned, her robe flapping around her legs in the strange wind of the portal as she stepped into the sphere, disappearing.

Elion stared into the swirling patterns of the portal, unable to tear his eyes away, mesmerized by the twisting ribbons of light. He felt it catching at him, tugging on the edges of his soul like a strong current. The portal seemed to be downhill, dragging, sucking everything into it.

The sound of an engine revving pulled Elion’s attention from the portal. A pair of headlights split the darkness as a vehicle raced down the road toward them.

With a roar, a gigantic black truck jumped the curb and flew across the lawn. The dark robed wizards sprang into action, dodging away from the vehicle.

The truck slammed into one of the mechanical spiders. Glowing legs and chunks of metal flew into the air, even as the remainder of the beast was crushed beneath the wheels of the truck.

Light burst from the cab of the truck, shining through the windshield. The truck skidded to a stop on the grass. Several blasts of purple energy struck the truck, rocking it as the door opened.

Translucent shields shimmered in the air around Dorian as wizards produced sticks from within their robes. Too short to be staves, and too long to be wands, these sticks hummed and shone with a purple light similar to that of the portal, rippling through runes carved into the wood.

Two of the nearest wizards sprinted toward the truck.

Uncle Zev sprang from the driver’s seat. As he jumped through the air, golden wisps of light surrounded him, weaving together and solidifying into a protective suit of golden plate armor.

Zev’s arm, now encased in a glittering vambrace, slammed into the face of the nearest wizard, dropping him like a felled tree.

Wizards scrambled away from Zev, running back toward the portal.

A blast of violet light shredded the dark night, striking Zev directly in the chest and flinging him backwards. He smashed into the side of his truck, bouncing off in a spray of sparks. The impact tipped the truck up onto two wheels.

Zev rolled, throwing himself away from the vehicle as another blast of purple energy struck the truck. It groaned and crunched, tipping over on its side. Zev landed in the grass, face down.

The remaining spider crawled over the toppled truck, pouncing toward Zev from behind.

“Look out!” Elion screamed, but the numbing spell turned his words into a mumbled groan.

Zev unholstered a golden cylinder from his belt, gripping it in both hands. A white blade ignited like a lightsaber, growing from the hilt in a blaze of light as Zev whirled toward the spider.

The spider lunged at Zev, mandibles snapping. Zev sidestepped, rolling with agility despite his full suit of armor, and the spider caught nothing but air. Zev’s blade flashed, severing one of the machine’s legs. The spider stumbled.

One of the wizards cast a spell, a bubble of amethyst pearlescence. The bubble grew and enveloped Zev, lifting him off the ground. Zev grabbed onto the mechanical spider as the bubble grabbed him.

“Got him!” the wizard yelled. Then the bubble began expanding to envelope the spider, and the wizard gasped as he fell to his knees. “Help!” His wand arm trembled as he tried to maintain the spell.

The spell collapsed, and Zev fell to the ground atop the spider, slashing down with his blade and removing two more legs. Zev dropped off the spider, sending it staggering away.

Zev turned to face the remaining assailants, his glowing blade casting a stark light across his furious face. He stepped off the body of the spider.

“Through the portal!” Dorian shouted, grabbing Elion’s escort and pushing them toward the sphere. “We’ve got what we need!” Elion stumbled and fell through the air. The ground turned into a steep slope, and he slid down it, tumbling toward the portal.

Zev threw his blade. It whipped past, a spinning boomerang of death, decapitating one of the portal stabilizing wizards in an explosion of purple and yellow light. The shockwave knocked the other wizard back, and he dropped his staff. The portal began to unravel, purple tendrils flicking out through the air.

One of Elion’s captors let go of Elion and dove into the portal. Elion struggled weakly against the other wizard.

The maimed spider-machine renewed its attack on Zev, stabbing at him with spiked legs. Zev caught one of the legs in his hands and tried to force the spider back. A blast from a nearby wizard threw Zev off balance, and the spider pounced, dropping with all its weight atop Zev, crushing him into the ground.

Zev shouted, his sword reappearing in his hand. He slashed, severing a limb, then slashed again and again, his assailant falling into several pieces. Zev pulled himself back up to his feet.

Panicked wizards dove into the portal, abandoning the scene as the portal collapsed.

Zev raised the visor on his helm, and made eye contact with Dorian across the yard. Dorian met the gaze, then turned quickly to the portal, tumbling through.

One of the portal tendrils snagged Elion’s wrist, and he floated off over the grass. The portal expanded, swelling to fill his entire field of view as the world shrank behind him. He was falling, falling…

A gauntleted hand seized Elion’s shoulder, nearly ripping his arm from his socket. Zev seized Elion, grunting with exertion as he pulled him from the portal. It collapsed, a violent whipping tornado of destruction which evaporated into the night sky. A thunderclap split the air.

Elion lay panting on the grass of his front lawn. After a moment he sat up, surveying the damage. Part of the front of the house was missing. Zev’s truck lay on its side, blocking the front walk. Dark robed shapes lay motionless in the grass; the bodies of dead wizards. Crushed and dismembered spider limbs lay strewn across the yard, Where the portal had been, a perfect hemisphere of sod and topsoil had disappeared, leaving a smooth indentation in the ground.

Zev flopped to the ground beside Elion, gasping for breath. His magical armor dissolved into the night. Elion pulled his bathrobe more closely around him.

“What was that? What just happened?” Elion babbled.

“Where is Liora?” Zev exclaimed, looking around. “Where is your sister?”

“They took her! They dragged her out of the house and pulled her into the portal!”

“Zelian’s Halls,” Zev muttered, the words sounding like a curse as he clutched his head in his hands.

“What are we going to do?” Elion asked.

Zev nodded grimly. “We’ll just have to get her back.”

A light came on in the house across the street. Zev and Elion looked at each other, then at the surrounding carnage. Mrs. Phillips’ thin voice floated through the air, calling for Hamilton.

“Mrs. Phillips isn’t going to be happy about this,” Zev said.

Elion moaned, distraught and overwhelmed. He clutched at his legs, slick with blood where the spider-mech had bitten into him. Pain washed over him, and his head spun.

“Liora,” he gasped.

“Your leg,” Zev exclaimed, noticing the blood. He ran across the yard to his upended truck, and recovered a first aid kit. A splash of cleansing alcohol and some gauze pads later, Elion’s legs were no longer bleeding.

Zev began rounding up pieces of destroyed spider-mech and pulling them into the garage.

Elion, still in a daze, wandered over to stare at the hole in the side of his house. On the sidewalk he found one of Liora’s high heels. He picked it up, turning it over in his hand.

He remembered Liora leaving earlier that afternoon, heels clicking on the front walk, braids bouncing. She hadn’t dyed her hair recently, and he could see the true white color coming in at the roots.

“I might not be back till late,” she said. “Stay out of the snacks in the pantry cause you’re getting fat, and you need to eat some actual food once in a while.“

A shiny blue-green dress stretched over the curves of her body, with a plunging neckline showing off a bit too much. The hemline of the dress lay well above mid thigh, with a high slit running up nearly to her hip. Liora had been working out a lot lately, and liked showing off her legs.

She wore a bright red lipstick and a lot of makeup, highlighting her cheekbones and making her golden eyes pop. Elion didn’t like the idea of strange dudes leering at her in clubs, and wished she’d cover up a bit more. At least she still wore the star pendant her mother gave her; a golden 7-pointed star dangling on a chain just beneath her collarbones.

“A bit early in the day to be clubbing isn’t it?” he asked, then added, “I don’t think you should hang out with those guys. They’re in college.”

“Knock it off,” Liora said. “You’re not my dad.”

“Well, you’re not my mom,” Elion said. “But you’re still too young to be drinking.”

Zev broke through Elion’s reverie. “Hey, Elion, go put that shoe in Liora’s room. It’ll raise questions if it’s laying around out here.”

Elion complied, stepping carefully through the wreckage in his bare feet.

As he returned, he paused in the living room. On the wall hung a picture of Elion, Liora, and their parents. Elion had grown up a lot since the picture was taken 7 years ago. Elion and Liora had both inherited their mother’s white hair and amber eyes, though Elion had his father’s square jaw.

He liked the picture, because when he looked at it he remembered good times with his parents. Last year Liora tried to take the picture down, insisting that they needed an updated family picture with Zev in it. Elion disagreed, and when Zev refused to dress in matching outfits for the picture, Liora gave up.

Elion came back outside to find Zev standing with his hands on his hips, looking over the scene.

“The police are going to be confused about this,” Zev said. “Maybe they’ll believe it was a drunk driving accident.” Elion surveyed the destroyed front yard, the wrecked truck lying on its side near the hole in the wall.

“I doubt it,” Elion said.

“They won’t believe the truth,” Zev disagreed. “But they’ll have to come up with something.” He shrugged. “I don’t think we can do anything about the crater.” He gestured to the hole left in the sod by the wizard’s portal.

The body of a wizard nearby began to evaporate, steaming in the night air with wisps of purple mist. Zev cursed and ran over to the body, grabbing the long staff which lay beside it.

They watched as the rest of the wizards dissolved, along with their staffs. Zev gripped the recovered staff tightly.

“The shotgun pellets could be a problem, if police look that closely,” Zev said.

The other houses on the street stayed dark, no signs of movement from any of them. Even Mrs. Phillips had apparently not noticed the mayhem yet. Zev guessed the effects of some kind of sound absorbing spell had masked the incursion.

Still stunned, Elion hadn’t managed to ask any of the millions of questions swirling through his head. Now it was nearly 3:30 am, and the cumulative effects of shock and the wizard’s spell began wearing off.

“Why does it matter?” Elion demanded. “Are you going to explain who those freaky wizards were, and why they kidnapped Liora? And that dude Dorian, what is up with him? Is he really your brother?”

Zev sighed. “Let’s talk in the garage,” he said.

Zev closed the garage door and then turned on the lights. The pile of mechanical parts twitched and glowed teal with an internal energy, as if chopping up the spiders had only maimed them, not killed them.

“Hold this for me,” Zev said, handing the staff to Elion. “If you let go of it, it’ll probably disappear like everything else and we need it. So don’t drop it.” He held firmly onto the staff, refusing to release it into Elion’s care until Elion made eye contact and acknowledged the order.

“I got it.”

Zev released the staff. It did not dissolve into mist.

“Why did they all puff away?” Elion asked. “What’s up with the purple mist? Are you going to explain to me what the heck just happened? Is Liora okay?”

“No!” Zev snapped, “She’s probably not okay, and we need to do something about that!”

Elion jumped back, surprised by Zev’s ferocity.

“Sorry,” Zev said. “I just don’t know how they found us. I can’t believe that Dorian managed to lure me away, I was stupid to fall for his trap.” Zev pulled at his hair, pacing across the garage. “The good news is he didn’t kill you.”

“That’s good news?” Elion didn’t feel reassured.

“Yes, it is,” Zev said. “He came here with a few of his warlocks, not his strongest, but an adequate force, and only a couple of arachnatronics for support. He wasn’t expecting much of a fight. But he should have known that I would rush back to defend you…”

Elion stared at Zev, eyes wide.

“If he knew I was away from the house, why not act faster, pull you through the portal before I could react?” Zev spoke mainly to himself, but Elion soaked it in.

“He did,” Elion said, starting to understand. “He tried to move fast. He got Liora before you could show up. He could have left but I distracted him. He wasn’t expecting me.”

“He wasn’t expecting you?”

“No,” Elion said. “He made his wizards grab me and then asked me some questions. He seemed mad that I didn’t know who he was.”

“Sounds like him,” Zev said. He spat on the ground. “Vain mother…” but he glanced at Elion and didn’t finish the curse. “Sorry, go on.”

“That’s all. He said some weird stuff about the sky, and fighting invaders, and being sparkly at night or something but I don’t know what he meant.”

“He Who Glitters in the Night,” Zev muttered.

“Yeah, that’s it!”

“He always cared more about his titles than his duties.” Then he muttered angrily, “I can’t believe I fell for his distraction. I should have been here. I should have stopped him.”

“Is he really your brother? What did he do with Liora?”

Zev scowled, shaking his head. “I suppose I owe you an explanation.”