Rebellion

Insurrection: Book I of the Arcturas Trilogy is an upcoming XMS prequel novel set during the last days of Lost Arcaea. It details Arcturas' role during the Khaliri Rebellion and the events thereafter.

Prologue
Darkness had begun to envelop the Kodax ruled city of Intax, the dim light of the sun causing shadows to dance across the surfaces of the buildings and cobble-strewn streets. A single Elemental dressed in battered Glatorian armor stared out the window of a ramshakle house at the vanishing sun.

Another day has passed, he thought.

Another day that his enemies had not found him. Another day the lives of himself and his family would not be forfeit to the brutality of the beings he'd betrayed so long ago. Usually such thoughts brought him relief, but today they did not. He couldn't quite place what was bothering him, but something was going on. He hadn't felt so on edge in months, long before he'd taken Shardak and his adopted daughter Nightshade to Intax.

He wondered if it was the rumors of tribal warfare, but quickly discounted it. There were always rumors that the Kodax tribal wars would come to Intax, that an enemy tribe once-proud, now-bestial Makuta offshoots would descend upon the city and slaughter its inhabitants. Intax had never been attacked in all of its history. Well outside the Empire itself, it was a melting pot for all those beings who had escaped the Ix's tyrannical rule.

As he did whenever he thought of the Empire to the south, Arcturas' hand clenched his sword and he tensed, forcing back a slew of terrible memories. His scars throbbed, his remaining souvenirs from that last night of fire and blood.

That, and the Sword of Fire. Arcturas stared down at the sword's hilt, around which his fist had wrapped. He knew he should have left the sword behind. It was an artifact from a time that no longer mattered to him, but the whispers of the sword had become part of him. He couldn't bear to part with the sword. It was one of the few reminders of the past, of what he'd lost.

"Father?"

The sound of Shardak's voice jerked Arcturas out of his unpleasant reverie. He turned to face his son, who wore Glatorian armor and an ancient Kanohi mask. Another reminder. Looking at the tall, strong young being, Arcturas felt a stab of regret.

Another emotion he'd tried to supress for years. What was wrong with him tonight?

Arcturas opened his mouth to answer him, but no sound came out at first. He found himself unexpectedly choking on his words. "Yes?" he managed to get out, hoping that his voice sounded normal. "Is something wrong?"

"Blast's waiting outside. I'm just heading into town with him for an hour or two," Shardak said.

"Oh," said Arcturas. He thought he sounded more than a little foolish. The Glatorian who called himself Blast was his son's closest friend, a Glatorian who worked and lived alone and seemed to have no more knowledge of the world outside the Fells than Shardak himself had. "Just be back before too late. It's already getting dark."

Shardak looked slightly puzzled. He was an adult in his own right now, and Arcturas had never really set limits on his travels in Intax before.

Adult he may be, but there's still so much he doesn't know, said Arcturas. ''He's never seen the world outside, and has only heard rumours about what lies outside Intax and the Fells. Should I have told him the truth? ''

"Very well," he said. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

No, Arcturas decided, as he always had. ''It's not worth it, and besides, it doesn't matter. I have a new life in Intax now, two beings to take care of. It's doesn't matter anymore. ''

But he couldn't stop himself from thinking, ''He's getting older. What were you doing at his age? Do you want to shield him from the truth, or is this secrecy because you don't want to face the truth? To reflect upon your sins?''

So many regrets. So many lies.

Shardak had noticed Arcturas staring at him. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Arcturas blinked once to clear his head, and looked away for a moment. "Yes, fine. Just tired. It's been a long day."

"It has," agreed Shardak. "Well, don't let me disturb you. Blast's waiting."

He left the room, closing the door behind him. Arcturas hesitated, listening to the sounds of his footsteps growing fainter. He almost called Shardak back, then stopped. What was going on today? Why had he been on the verge of telling Shardak the truth about the Ix, his heritage, and his past? His mind was wandering, going back to the time before Intax, before his flight from the Empire.

All of the lies I told are for the greater good, thought Arcturas.

The voice of a being suddenly leapt, unbidden, into his mind. ''Is the greater good worth this, Arcturas? Is it worth all of the suffering and death you've caused''?

The voice, seemed so real that Arcturas, though he knew it was just the shadow of a memory, felt the pain all over again, the pain of his greatest regrets. Though he tried not to think about his past, he could never forget the most painful of his memories.

''Should I tell him? Can I tell him, after I've tried not to think about the past in years?''

So Arcturas, for the first time in countless years, allowed his mind to wander back to the time of Lost Arcaea, to the life he'd led before his coming to Intax. The life that had begun in the ancient lost cities of the Twelve Elemental Kingdoms.

Gone, all gone.

But Arcturas realized in that moment that he could never forget. And that, whatever happened, he could not run from his past any longer.

Chapter 1: The Strangers
The first sign of the war came to Arcturas' city on his eighteenth name-day.

It came with the strange soldiers, tall and thin, who wore green and black armor that gleamed dully in the midday sun. Arcturas counted at least forty of them as they passed through the merchant quarter of Ektaban, all of them moving with cold grace and a focused sense of determination. Arcturas could see that every one of them carried weapons of curved steel sheathed at their sides.

The usual noise of the merchants and crowds that lined the streets of the city was had been silenced almost at the same moment the first of the strangers had set foot upon the main road of red sandstone. Elementals, Matoran, and Agori alike all paused to gaze at the strangers as they passed by, their grey eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead of them.

The eyes were the most unnerving thing about these strange warriors, Arcturas thought. They were cold and black, and seemed almost dead to him save for a single, fevered spark of life that burned within each. The rest of their faces were hidden behind Kanohi masks, similar to those the Matoran wore. But these Kanohi were skull-like and grey, with slitted eyeholes cut into the metal.

Beside him, Arcturas' young brother Atarus stood, his eyes wide with mixed fear and excitement. "Tavek was right," the young Elemental whispered. "They are demons."

"Of course they're not," said Arcturas, hoping he sounded calm. These strange beings unnerved him a swell. "They're Arcaean soldiers, otherwise the city guards never would have let them through the gates. Look, they're carrying swords."

"They can't be Arcaeans," his brother protested. "No living being has eyes so cold."

Arcturas almost shared his brother's sentiments.

"Why do you think they're here?" Atarus asked, eyes flashing with excitement. Arcturas could see the same question reflected in the eyes of the other beings looking on, as they began to ask similiar questions of one another in hushed undertones.

"Well," answered Arcturas after a few moments, "It's probably something to do with the war. It's about time Lord Flareus sent someone here."

His brother, however, was no longer listening. His eyes had returned to the main road and he was pointing at the street, his eyes wide. "Look!"

The strangers had all passed by now, save for three beings. Two were dressed the same way the soldiers had been, but wore ornate, lacquered helmets rather than the Kanohi the others bore. Arcturas, however, barely gave them a glance. He had eyes only for the being in the black cloak that stood between them. He was pale, and his features set in an imperious, aloof expression Arcturas couldn't read. His eyes were icy black. Aside from his face, only his pale white hands could be seen beneath his cloak, which rather than reflecting light seemed to absorb it. Arcturas could almost feel himself being drawn into the inky black void.

"He's wearing a cloak of office," muttered Arcturas, half to himself. He'd only ever seen one other being wear one- the current lord of Ektaban, Kalir, on the most formal of occasions. This being was clearly someone important, if not a lord in his own right.

"Who is he?" asked Atarus. Arcturas wordlessly shook his head as the being walked past them. Arcturas could almost feel the coldness emanating from his presence but could not read it.

As the cloaked figure passed them, so did the last of the mysterious soldiers. Arcturas watched them turn down a wide thoroughfare that led into the heart of the city. He had a good guess at where they were heading-- to the Great Halls, where Grand Lord Kalir and the rulers of the city no doubt were waiting to recieve them.

As soon as the last of the soldiers had vanished from view, for a single moment everything was silent. Then a merchant, his voice carrying a hint of an Avenian accent, took up the cry of "Gems! The finest gems in all of Ignus!" Soon others followed suit, and within moments the street was once again bustling with activity.

Arcturas looked in the direction of his father's merchant stalls, where Atarus had returned to. His father, a powerful Lord of Ektaban, had given them  the job of watching his business in the merchant quarter while he wasout of town, and Arcturas knew he needed to reopen it at once. It was that miss the vast majority of the city's traffic, which came by a little later in the afternoon.

Mechanically, Arcturas rejoined his brother, going through the motions of his normal routine, but the thoughts of the strange soldiers and their cloaked leader continued to plague him. What were these men doing here? It had to be a new development in the war, which had raged unabated for more than a year now. But why come now? Ektaban was not unprotected. It was one of the largest cities in the Fire Kingdom of Arcaea.

What do they want here that they can't get anywhere else?

Those men were Ix," said his father over dinner. "From a branch of their military known to be the most dangerous of all the Ix Warrior Class."

It was dinner hour in the spacious home of House Thrane, though Arcturas had hardly touched his food. His father, Fulven Thrane, a wealthy Lord of Ektaban who'd made several contracts with prominent merchant families from all across Ignus, had returned to the city less than an hour after the arrival of the soldiers.Since then neither Atarus nor Arcturas had seen very much of him-- he'd been busy with some project in one of the city districts-- but when he'd returned for dinner Arcturas had immediately bombarded him with questions.

"They don't look like any Ix I've ever seen," said Atarus. "They're not like Valrix." Valrix was a contact of his father's, an Ix from the Fire Capital who dropped by once every few months in Ekbatan to visit their father.

"These are from an elite military force known as the Limiters," said his father.

"Why do think they're here?" Arcturas turned his head to regard his aunt, Ikana. His uncle, Fulven's brother Arturus, was currently fighting against the Khaliri rebels in the far south of Arcaea. He wondered if the soldiers brought news from Arturus, and how he'd been doing of late. "Has something happened with the war?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," said Fulven to her, "It's a fairly routine procedure. Still, these soldiers will be staying for some time, so I advise you to stay out of their way unless they approach you first. These men are trained killers, and we should be grateful they're on our side."

Arcturas regarded his father from across the table. Years of stress had begun to wear on Fulven Thrane, and though he tried to hide it the worry was plain in his eyes. He was trying to smile, but his joviality was clearly feigned. He hadn't even yet said a word about Arcturas' name-day.

Chapter unfinished...