Read Online The Book of Ominiue: Starborn by D.M. Barnham - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: D.M. Barnham
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came to Shayne’s side, resting her arms upon the wooden railing. She also looked up at the stars. Shayne watched her from the corner of his eye, even though she was slouched she still stood at a foot taller than him: her eyes gleamed in the night as she watched the lights.
‘Why is it Afra’hama, that of all the sky Ta’Orians, you are the only one to look up at the stars?’ She lowered her gaze to look at Shayne; her yellow eyes glittered in the receding moonlight as she examined his face. Shayne tried to grasp the question. He felt a connection to the colonyships and to the Astronauts, a connection the Planetsiders did not. To him they seemed blind to the universe around them and its wonders. He could not find an answer.
Pan’araden nodded at seeing his struggle to articulate a reply, instead she pointed to the Milky Way, her hand moving over the Sagittarius Arm. ‘There is an ancient legend of the stars, before the first Time-Bender. We call the path the Dragons Run. Once we believed it was where the souls of the Dragons and their riders would rise when they were slain. For eternity they fly on the winds of night as the blessed, with the heroes of old. It is a beautiful thought and as a child I wished that one day I would join those stars.’ Pan’arden grew quiet for a moment as they both contemplated the skies above. She then looked up at the colonyships glinting above them, ‘Where did the new stars come from?’
‘They are not stars; they are spaceships .’ Shayne hesitated a moment while he tried to think of an appropriate description for them. ‘Like a sea — what do you call it? Vessel , ship, but they fly in the sky like a bird.’ The lionman’s eyes widened in wonder. ‘We travelled in them from another star.’
‘Which star?’ she asked looking at them.
‘You cannot see my world, it is too far away, too small, too dark, but the sky ships started their real journey from that star there,’ Shayne pointed to a rather bright point in the night sky. ‘The world is called Ursa Auckland.’
Pan’arden looked up at the star with a thoughtful smile printed on her face. ‘What is your world like?’
‘I do not remember my planet.’
‘I do not understand. What do you mean?’ She regarded him surprised.
‘I awoke upon the giant starships. That is my earliest memory.’
***
He lay in darkness, unable to form thought. He existed in a state of nothingness and that was all. The first thing that he had come to recognise was the darkness that surrounded him. He had observed this entity for some time but only now he had come to realise its existence. It slowly dawned upon him that he was subject to this darkness. It was separate: different.
His awareness of what surrounded him shifted to a feeling, something a part of him. He tried to move that which drew his attention, but he was received with no response. He slowly formed the idea of weight placed upon him; upon his arms, running along through his legs and into his chest, stretching through his body. Even the tips of his fingers felt they held a burden too intense to carry.
The heaviness grew until he noticed a pain throbbing through his head. He tried to protest but he could not think of any words. His mind slowly dawned upon the possibility of being conscious and he soon concluded that he had just awoken, but from what? He could not recall ever falling asleep. He tried to solve this problem but his mind could not form full images or find the correct words. He fell into confusion. He could only create short, simple sentences and for some reason this troubled him. He knew that something was not right.
The harder he tried to solve this issue the more troubled he became so he let his mind slip. His thoughts travelled back to the darkness that surrounded him and he wondered what it was. He became comforted by this darkness, it soothed him, but his newfound calm was disturbed by something else. It was always there but he was not aware
‘Why is it Afra’hama, that of all the sky Ta’Orians, you are the only one to look up at the stars?’ She lowered her gaze to look at Shayne; her yellow eyes glittered in the receding moonlight as she examined his face. Shayne tried to grasp the question. He felt a connection to the colonyships and to the Astronauts, a connection the Planetsiders did not. To him they seemed blind to the universe around them and its wonders. He could not find an answer.
Pan’araden nodded at seeing his struggle to articulate a reply, instead she pointed to the Milky Way, her hand moving over the Sagittarius Arm. ‘There is an ancient legend of the stars, before the first Time-Bender. We call the path the Dragons Run. Once we believed it was where the souls of the Dragons and their riders would rise when they were slain. For eternity they fly on the winds of night as the blessed, with the heroes of old. It is a beautiful thought and as a child I wished that one day I would join those stars.’ Pan’arden grew quiet for a moment as they both contemplated the skies above. She then looked up at the colonyships glinting above them, ‘Where did the new stars come from?’
‘They are not stars; they are spaceships .’ Shayne hesitated a moment while he tried to think of an appropriate description for them. ‘Like a sea — what do you call it? Vessel , ship, but they fly in the sky like a bird.’ The lionman’s eyes widened in wonder. ‘We travelled in them from another star.’
‘Which star?’ she asked looking at them.
‘You cannot see my world, it is too far away, too small, too dark, but the sky ships started their real journey from that star there,’ Shayne pointed to a rather bright point in the night sky. ‘The world is called Ursa Auckland.’
Pan’arden looked up at the star with a thoughtful smile printed on her face. ‘What is your world like?’
‘I do not remember my planet.’
‘I do not understand. What do you mean?’ She regarded him surprised.
‘I awoke upon the giant starships. That is my earliest memory.’
***
He lay in darkness, unable to form thought. He existed in a state of nothingness and that was all. The first thing that he had come to recognise was the darkness that surrounded him. He had observed this entity for some time but only now he had come to realise its existence. It slowly dawned upon him that he was subject to this darkness. It was separate: different.
His awareness of what surrounded him shifted to a feeling, something a part of him. He tried to move that which drew his attention, but he was received with no response. He slowly formed the idea of weight placed upon him; upon his arms, running along through his legs and into his chest, stretching through his body. Even the tips of his fingers felt they held a burden too intense to carry.
The heaviness grew until he noticed a pain throbbing through his head. He tried to protest but he could not think of any words. His mind slowly dawned upon the possibility of being conscious and he soon concluded that he had just awoken, but from what? He could not recall ever falling asleep. He tried to solve this problem but his mind could not form full images or find the correct words. He fell into confusion. He could only create short, simple sentences and for some reason this troubled him. He knew that something was not right.
The harder he tried to solve this issue the more troubled he became so he let his mind slip. His thoughts travelled back to the darkness that surrounded him and he wondered what it was. He became comforted by this darkness, it soothed him, but his newfound calm was disturbed by something else. It was always there but he was not aware
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