Moonstone: Breaking Point
an excerpt

“My father once told me that no trend continues indefinitely, that tension can build, but eventually it will reach a breaking point. Following this, the pendulum of events will swing abruptly the other direction, and those empires built upon the assumption of a perpetual forward motion will come crashing down. I have seen this time and again. I now know my father was wrong about one thing; this trend does continue forever.”
Melody Dreamsail lifted back the hood of her thick royal blue robe to reveal her gossamer elfin form, her features at once frozen in time by immortality but aged by a thousand years of ordeals, wrinkles of wisdom struggling to appear against resistance. Her blue eyes reflected the derelict ruins around her, the broken remnants of a great castle now overgrown with vines and foliage. Then a crease in her forehead opened to reveal a third eye.
“So, once again, the cycle resumes.”

Nialle Trellaine-Cuna and her daughter Crystallia stood out from the crowded streets of Zynskistra, one of the larger cities on planet Lykosa. The natives of the home world of the Lykosan Empire were fur-covered with triangular ears and pointed teeth, an amalgamation of two species engineered over thirty millennia ago on a distant world by a distant civilization. A minority of residents and visitors were of other races, as were the two faerie-like beings. Nialle’s soft features and large, black eyes contrasted well enough with the lupine anthropomorphs around her. But, her daughter exhibited a trait neither she nor her husband Danit of Cuna had, pairs of translucent wings. She had grown quickly and was now in adolescence. Her mother had hardly changed except for a variety of hair styles and a handing down to Crystallia her penchant for loud cosmetics and latex attire, symbols of rebellion in their home realm, in favor of looser and more comfortable clothing and less time-consuming facial adornment. On the Lykosan home world, it made no difference; she was still a Strangeling. But, in spite of their reputation as aggressive, the Lykosans were welcoming and friendly, far more so than the people back at Collindale, her home city.
The setting of the orange dwarf sun colored the sky as the city skyline sparkled. Around them in the distance, mountains formed a black, jagged break in the horizon. Formed from a vast coral-like forest, these growths sustained a population of over ten billion beings, nearly half of whom resided in giant metropolises like Zynskistra, the capital city of the province of Saclordia. Rising above the more distant features were a conglomeration of spires, orbs, and cylinders representing the city skyline. The towers shimmered with twinkling lights.
Then, suddenly, a burst of orange light emanated from one of them. Nialle and Crystallia stood breathless for a moment as flames burst outward, followed by billowing smoke, blotting out the light around it.
“What happened?” Crystallia exhaled with disbelief. Nialle clutched her for a moment as other onlookers watched. The first wave of emergency response aircraft flew overhead, flashing spotlights and stroboscopic coloring flickering, hovering ambulances and fire-fighting machinery designed to pull citizens out of harm’s way.
Nialle unfolded a small device, flipping it open and pressing a touch-screen. A translucent, three-dimensional projection appeared above it of Nialle’s mate Danit, another faerie-like being, but one distinct from her, with a face that was unnaturally long and sloping rather than wide. His body appeared more substantial, though this was largely the illusion created by wearing an armor-plated Lykosan Imperial Functionary uniform. “One of the Imperial Market Towers is on fire,” Nialle said. “What happened?”
“Suicide bombing,” Danit answered. “We think there’s more down there. Crossover to me; it’s not safe down there. The planet has just gone on high alert.”
The ground trembled as another burst erupted, this time much closer from the Jas State Embassy building, a curved, metallic tower topped with an orb. Its numerous windows flickered into darkness as smoke rose from its base.
“We can help them, Mother,” Crystallia said. She unfolded her wings and ran towards the embassy.
“No, wait!” Nialle protested. “Let the response crew…” But, before she could finish, her daughter was airborne, fluttering towards the pillar of fire. Nialle ran down below, fighting her way through restless and enraged Lykosans, their teeth bared and their eyes sporadically reflecting flashing lights around them with a ghastly blue-green glow. Some backed away, carrying pups or helping injured companions, while others stood, angered towards their still unknown adversary for the territorial incursion. Nialle winced as an enraged Saclordian behemoth grasped towards her and tried to take out his frustration and distrust of foreigners on her as she brushed past. She ignored his taunting insults comparing her to the Vek:thogh:hagh necromancers of legend, a comparison implying that she was a necrophiliac. Overhead, her daughter Crystallia bounced and dipped in turbulent wind as she approached her objective.
Nialle stopped running, looking around nervously for any other racists among the Lykosan creatures around her. She opened her communicator again, bringing up Danit. “Crystallia… she flew off on me… into the Jas State building.”
“I’ve alerted Melody and the others,” Danit answered. “We’re under attack. We’re taking down a Chloos warship as we speak.”
Nialle squinted and watched her daughter circle and land on the side of the Jas tower opposite the fire. She climbed around the side of the building before beating in a window and entering. Nialle looked at the gap between her and the tower, as well as the height. She turned to Danit’s image. “I’m Crossing to her.”
Nialle held out her arm and a swirling blue vortex of light emanated from it. She allowed it to expand and engulf her. Danit’s image rippled and flickered, before fuzzing out. Then, Nialle disappeared, leaving a brief shimmer of sparkles.
Inside the Jas tower, Crystallia ran towards a group of Lykosans gathered around a cluster of rocks and plants shaped into furniture. Fire in three places obstructed exits, and one of the fur-covered beings was injured. Crystallia folded her wings behind her and then turned to look as a bright flash of swirling blue energy emanated beside her. “Mother,” she sighed.
“Crystallia!” Nialle called out, running.
One of the Lykosans stood up, flicking his ears forward. He spoke in his native language, a combination of complex barks, yowls, and hand gestures. “Where did you come from? Did you find a way out?”
Crystallia answered, simulating the sounds as best she could. “I know a special way out,” and then she looked at Nialle. “Mom’s a healer; she can help.”
Nialle sighed and approached. “How bad is it?”
The wounded Lykosan, a black and gray-furred being, issued a slight whimper before forcing himself upright. He struggled to gesture with an injured arm. “Never mind me; can you help him?” He motioned towards a translucent brown blob of fluid. It extended a stalk upwards, which then dropped back inwards.
Nialle knelt next to the protoplasmic form and dipped her hands into it, grimacing. An orange glow emanated from them, and the creature gradually extended another upright pseudopod. Nialle backed her goo-covered hands out and then took the injured Lykosan’s arm. The orange glow appeared again, and then the Lykosan took back his hand and licked his residual wounds, muttering, “Thanks for both of us.”
The walls vibrated as a rumble outside echoed. An airborne firefighting craft arrived, and several hurled controlled explosive devices broke open a bank of windows. Wind blew throughout the office floor as armored Lykosan firefighters jumped in. “How many do you have, and how many wounded?”
“Seven,” Crystallia answered, and then looked at the Jas organism. “No, eight. Two wounded, but she fixed them.” She kinked her head towards Nialle. Two others burst in and sprayed back a path, while another jumped in, scanning the room around them with a hand-held device.
“Oh, D’hoskha!”The one with the device shouted as the floor suddenly shook and collapsed. The room’s contents and inhabitants entered a free-fall as burning debris fell around them. Crystallia grabbed towards her mother, beating her wings frantically as the lupine beings around them howled and screamed in anticipation of death. Crystallia started to concentrate on generating the swirling blue patterns of Crossover, when she sensed that someone else had already done so. She could hear a song.
The orange against black of falling, burning ruins gave way to a glowing blue and white light erupting from below, rising up to envelope the eclectic mixture of endangered beings. As the light engulfed them, the room’s contents stopped falling, floating gently in mid-air as their fires extinguished themselves. A billowing shape rose up, a small and delicate figure wrapped in a blue robe, to the center of the room. A gentle voice emanated from her, a form of magic in the form of a soft, melodic elvish song. She reached up to pull back her hood, revealing swirling light amber hair, almost white, with a prominent lock of silver. Her two regular eyes were closed, but she opened a third. She shifted from long, high, sorrowful chords to a lower chorus chant, and a swirling vortex of light appeared, similar to Nialle’s Crossover effect but noticeably larger. As her voice echoed, the remaining building collapsed, and they floated for a moment in mid-air, the ground below exploding. Then the vortex of light surrounded them.
The light cleared, and they were now inside one of the great chambers of the Anawind Royal Palace, the home of the Lykosan Emperor and quite possibly one of the most heavily fortified places in the known galaxy. Guards in elegant uniforms ran up, at first pointing energy weapons but then backing into a respectful stance as Melody Dreamsail and the others gently drifted to the ground.
The lead guard, dressed in gold and black armor with an ornate headdress, stood with his combination sword and plasma beam rifle while the others responded in unison with a formation. “Welcome Melody Dreamsail, daughter of Spiritwalker and Muriel, of the House of Dreamsail. The Empire of Lykosa stands at your side, and we are grateful again for your intervention.”
Melody stepped forward, reaching her hand behind the guard’s ear with a gentle stroke. She lowered her head slightly. “The House of Dreamsail has not stood since the days of Queen Moira over a thousand of your years ago. I was there when it fell.”
The Lykosans whom Nialle and Crystallia encountered in the Jas tower, along with several hundred more, looked around the vast hallway with astonishment. Some were merely confused, while others feared that they had traversed into the afterlife, awaiting a transformation into a four-legged mythical ghost being. The rescue crew on instinct resumed searching for wounded, and upon finding them, rendered aid. Nialle joined them, looking around with admiration, though she was accustomed to grandiose adventures, at times even weary of them. Crystallia, still fairly new since her parents decided to become more actively involved again with the Lykosan Empire’s diplomatic endeavors, gazed with fascination.
Melody walked forward, with Crystallia rushing to walk beside her. “The Chloos Kuplib have returned.”
“Yes, My Lady. We believe they have infiltrated our home world with sympathizers; it is they who appear to have been responsible for the suicide bombings. As these attacks from within happened, a coordinated attack occurred from orbit. For the first time in over fifty years, an outside force sent battleships to fire on the planet Lykosa from space. The Imperial Armada defeated them with little resistance; they were more intent on maintaining their attack on the planet than defending themselves.”
“How much damage was done?” Melody asked.
“4230 confirmed dead, 1627 unaccounted for. No damage was done to the Armada fleet or the planetary defense. They were all civilian targets.”
“Terror,” Melody answered, looking back at the guard. “The Chloos didn’t attack to win the battle today. They did this to instill fear.”