2163 Real Name (Part 1)

"Of course I will tell Valeron the truth!" Thud yelled, waking up the baby and making him cry.

Yet instead of calming her down, the wailing made her angrier as memories from her past flashed in front of her eyes. Images from another time, when little boys cried, people screamed, and the world around her burned.

"Maybe my father was a monster, but so were those who created the slave collars in the Empire and the Royals who allowed the same tragedy that happened to Balkor to befall countless youths whose only crime was to be talented.

"Yet none of them ended up like him. None of them got their name turned into a swear word. I still remember the day when Tyris stormed the palace. I remember my mother dragging me away to save my life while I cried my father's name.

"I was barely a woman, forced to witness my house being set ablaze while the rest of my family was butchered in front of my eyes. They sacrificed their lives just to buy us the time to escape.