Chapter 1: Chapter 1
A vast desert, sand in endless dunes. Uniform color and shapes cut open by a few exceptions. A crashed spaceship the size of a jumbo jet. A pile of house-size stones. The wind whining at the undulating dunes. With the wind, the sound of an engine arrived. The sound grew from the purring of a cat to the roar of a dragon. The roar soon diminished as if covered by a blanket.
With an explosion, the roar reappeared as a racer bust through a dune. It landed on all four wheels with the sound covered by the engines roar. The car skid, but couldn't find a grip. Sand spat everywhere and a big dark shape materialized in the cloud of sand behind the car.
Two rows of teeth the size of truck wheels encircled the car. With a snap, the teeth hit together. The big maw opened up and there was a low frustrated growl. The racer was spewing up dust some distance away. The beast had three long necks all connecting to a singular head. The head was disproportionate to its larger body. It's eyes followed the fast disappearing racer as the sand cloud settled. Giving one last roar, the beast sauntered away.
The racer had two people inside sharing its cabin. The driver had a smaller seat and the passenger sat on a bigger one. Two older examples of the human race, a male driver and a female passenger. Both of them pushing seventy.
The woman had her legs up on the dashboard. Half of her head was shaved clean and on it a magical symbol tattoo. Her silvery hair contrasted by her walnut skin tone. She smiled at her husband and said.
"Nice driving Hull." She patted Hull on his thigh and started to fish for something in the door's pocket. Hull answered the smile with his own as he put the car into autopilot. The chair he was on pulled backward and widened into lounge mode.
"Thrilling." Hull said and flicked a switch, activating the navigation screen. The windscreen filled with a map of the surrounding area. The information told them first that they were three hours away from their spaceship. In addition on the map were the crashed spaceship, the pile of rocks and a sun crystal towering over an oasis. "Nella, you think the oasis is inside the Garthinus' territory?" Hull asked his wife, who had finished her search in the door pocket. Nella fished out a candy wrapper. A Glass Bomb as it was called. Their slogan was 'Like eating glass shrapnel, but tastier'. The Glass Bomb starts out sweet in your mouth and at one minute it explodes into tiny pieces of sour goodness. The surprise of the candy exploding and the extreme sourness it carried were its high points. The times Hull had heard about the greatness of the Glass Bomb, during their thirty years of marriage, were too many to count. In fact, he had heard about it since they met for the first time, but it felt right to say it this way.
While Hull was reminiscing about the past, Nella was about to answer as the candy exploded in her mouth. Taken aback by the sour shards in her mouth, her face convulsed as. She blinked hard and with traces of tears in her eyes answered the question.
"Might be." She said and blinked again forcing the tears away. Hull smiled and remembered the pain he experienced when trying the candy for the first time. "However, it most likely won't dare venture too far from its nest with us around." Nella continued and grimaced as another wave of sourness attacked her. With a flick, Hull entered the oasis as their destination. The wheel turned on its own as it steered the racer towards the oasis. Hull turned a small dial to its active position and the map became see-through. Every few seconds a small circle expanded from their location on the map. It was the active beast detector. The detector would notify of any beast cores entering within five kilometers of them.
"Outside night it is then." Hull said lifted his hands in an exaggerated celebration. With an audible swallow, Nella downed the rest of the Glass Bomb. She pressed a button and their chairs entered couch mode. The seats merged together forming a big whole. Nella laid herself in Hull's lap. Hull drew his thumb down Nellas brow, down the arch of her nose and atop her lips. One last stop at her chin and he rested his hand on her lower cheek. His thumb kept caressing her cheek.
It was comfortable in his warm embrace and it didn't take long for Nella's eyelids to grow too heavy.
Nella woke up as Hull moved under her. She turned to look up at her husband. There was some alarm in his visage, but no sense of panic. Nella elected to gaze at him instead of speaking. Hull's expression when concentrating on something was a bit intimidating. But the hard exterior was just a cover for his big soft heart. He had grown old, he wasn't the young man he used to be. His light skin had grown wizened. The thing he hadn't lost was the life and passion in his eyes which kept Nella's heart fluttering up till this day.
Deciding she had been enjoying her time enough she asked a one-word question.
"Energy?"
"Energy." Hull answered in kind and turned a dial as options whirred on the screen. "Too much, before you ask." He scratched chin, enjoying the brush of a stubble.
"Didn't even think the Garthinus could be an energy thief." Nella said laying in the warm lap without a rush. "This is the wrong lottery to win in." Nella continued and Hull gave half a smirk in response. Nella pulled herself up, without forgetting to give Hull's stomach a goodbye kiss. She stretched her neck and sat down in a lotus position. Closing her eyes she started gathering her energy. The tattoo the side of her head glowed with a tinge of magenta.
Hull smiled while looking at Nella. He had long since understood he would never be as good as Nella was in the martial or magical department. He was still a practitioner too even if not versed in any depth as close as her. This was his favorite skill since he could spend time gazing at the beauty of Nella's inner constellation. Hull summoned his inner energy to his eyes and around him, the magical energies gained form.
From inside Nella stars of energy appeared. The pattern of the stars made for a beautiful constellation. The stars shone in a lustrous Magenta and began swirling in a graceful dance.
Hull remembered the olden days, the days back in university. He remembered the first meeting he had with Nella. She had been sitting in the park, deep in an energy gathering exercise. The wild dancing energy around her had struck a spark in Hull, and the fire it lit hadn't waned since. The abundance of energy Nella hadn't diminished at all, but in fact, grown. It only appeared like less since she had been practicing control all her adult life. She realized the wild burning of energy wouldn't win in every situation. Now she was formidable. Even if their names didn't echo through the stars in the same way anymore.
With much effort, Hull averted his eyes off Nella. He set his mind on finding the Garthinus nest. It was time to hunt.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone