Prologue: A Starfall Outside Lod

Lod was normally quiet town. A farming village that rested at the foot of tall mountains that the villagers called Stone Tooth. There was no trouble in Lod, at least nothing the town guard or some villagers with bows and spears couldn't solve.

It was boring, or at least that's how young Holden felt. At the tender age of ten, Holt found himself adhering to a strict schedule. He would wake up each morning before dawn and tend to his father's chickens. Then he would help his mother with his household chores. Once that was done, Holt would then have the afternoon to himself. However, there were no other boys in town for him to play with. Just girls. Had been that way since he was born.

It was a wonderful break from the boredom when one afternoon a star roared as it streaked over Holt's head. He had been sitting in his backyard, playing Swords with a good branch he had found, when it happened. The noise tilted his head up, and he watched as what looked like a ball of fire went by overhead.

When Holt got a closer look at the star, and could faintly pick out the metal, his face of excitement morphed into one of pure joy. Fire and metal in the sky meant only one thing. He had seen them in picture books and had read about them time and time again. Holden dreamed of one day being able to ride in one.

The Steeds of the Night Sky.

"Starship!" Holt shouted, barely able to hear himself over the roar of the engine.

However, he noticed something strange. Starships were supposed to be flying much higher. He shouldn't have been able to distinguish between it and a regular shooting star. It was too low. And getting lower. And lower.

And that's when Holden saw the starship go low enough to begin clipping the tree line of the nearby forest. Stone Tooth Woods. The birches were supposed to be the mightiest on the planet. The crashing ship tore through them like nothing, the splintering wood echoing through the night. Then. Finally.

BOOM!

The ground itself shook as the starship presumably slammed into the ground somewhere deeper in the forest. Once the tremor ended, Holt wasted no time. He made a mad dash towards and into the forest, so fast he hardly even heard his mother crying out his name.

Holt followed the path of destroyed trees to wherever the crash site. Occasionally he would spot chunks of metal on the forest floor. He would stay clear of them though, as he had read certain parts of a starship could be dangerous to touch when they were damaged.

At last he reached the crash site. And what a crash it was. The ship was in ruins, having been stripped to a rudimentary framework of thin metal and wires. Parts seemed to be strewn about on newly scorched earth, some of them still on fireThere were occasional arcs of electricity, the crackling making Holt stay several feet back. But there was still the temptation to get closer and get an even better look.

"Dammit!" a voice called out before there was a sudden smashing sound and another piece of metal flew off what was once the front of the ship. A creature in a brown leather coat began crawling out of the wreckage. Holt suddenly dashed away, hopping into a bush and hiding before the strange thing could spot him as it got on its feet.

Holt thought it resembled an Abellan. Its flesh looked soft and squishy, no scales in sight. Though considering only its face was visible, maybe it kept its scales hidden. Its eyes were much smaller than Holt's, and it had a weird opening between the eyes and mouth. No gills either, so definitely wasn't like Holt. It had hair, though it wasn't like the white stuff the Abellans kept on their heads, nor was it black like a Canaanite. Instead it was a light, fluffy brown mane that stopped right below his ears.

There was a chirping noise that made Holt bury himself even deeper into his hiding spot. The strange thing didn't seem bothered by it though. It seemed to be coming from it anyway. It raised up its wrist and pushed down its sleeve. The strange device attached to the arm was one that Holt recognized from pictures as well. It was a communicator. And then the thing spoke into it.

"This is The Fool," it said into the device. It had a rougher voice, one that reminded Holt of his father's. It was safe to assume this thing called The Fool was male. "Come in Lawless."

"This is Lawless," another voice replied, presumably through the communicator. That one reminded Holt of his mother, so he guessed the stranger was speaking with a woman. "Den. What the hell happened? You landed there?"

"Shot down," the man replied. He suddenly moved, throwing one of the sides of of his coat open, reaching down to draw his pistol, then pointing it in the direction of Holt and his hiding spot. All in a single fluid motion.

"Come on out and surrender! I know it's just one of you!"

Having gone from awe to terror and then back to a mixture of the two, Holt stood up and stepped into the newly made clearing with his top and bottom arms up. There was an intense fire in the stranger's eyes as he pointed his weapon at Holt. However, the flame died down as he could spot how little a threat Holt posed.

"What was that?" the woman asked over the communicator. "Den are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the man said as he put his gun back in it's holster, smirking at Holt as he relaxed his pose. "Just a local kid. Nothing to get any kind of worry about. What's your name?"

"Holt," the boy answered quickly. He let his upper arms fall down and relax, but the lower ones on his side stayed half raised.

"I'll call you back in a few hours, Silvy," the man said. He poked the communicator's screen a few times, then lowered his sleeve over it again. He started walking over to Holden, and that's when the boy realized just how tall this strange man was.

"Holt, do you mind bringing me to the nearest town?" he asked. "My name is Den, and I think I should start working on my ship soon. So it would help if I could get my bearings straight?"

All Holt could manage was some nodding.

"Good. Lead the way, new friend."

And so Holt began leading Den back through the newly created forest path towards Lod. The two of them walked slowly. Den because he had definitely gained some new injuries from that crash. And if his mother's reaction to him bringing home a stray pet was any indication, Holt dreaded how she'd feel about an alien starship pilot turning up on her doorstep.