Episode #1 - "Torn": Star Chasers (Volume 1) Read Free Page B

age, yet he still weathered the years remarkably well. Shilastar was the last of his family, his wife had passed on some years back.
         Phaylio’s first questions were always, “How did you get here? And why did you come back?”
         Ty responded, as usual, “I closed my eyes and held my breath and hoped.” The answer was not far from the truth, and it was always received by welcome laughter.
         “Friith will be glad you are back, he says you’re his best customer, you know.”
         “And what of Triist?”
         “She thinks so, too,” said Phaylio with a wink.
         The two talked back and forth at length. Ty’s closed eyes began to wander, and from time to time they fell on Shilastar. His speech began to slur as fatigue swept over him, but the old-timer just kept rambling on, even after Ty fell sound asleep. Dreams came to him, quiet and calm.
         Night came and then the fullness of day, but Ty continued to sleep. Faces came into and out of his dreams. Places flashed before his eyes, some he had never been to, and never wanted to travel to either. He saw Chalys and its eight suns. Time drifted and floated, and he was back on Rhalean, watching thoughts drip away one after the other. A war ship hovered in the background, and as he awoke he thought it strange. Rhalean was a clear zone.
         The scent of food woke him, and the sound of giggles flooded in as he opened his eyes. Shilastar held a plate of Paliyian gruel underneath his nose; he never wanted to know what was in it as he devoured it. The taste was one of his favorites, in spite of its appearance.
         After a quick step into a purifier, he and Shilastar went for a walk. The day was full, as it most often was on Paliy, and the air was fresh and fragrant. Ty quickly checked overhead, sighing with relief when it was clear. “Can we cross over to the second village today?” he asked, speaking to fill the silence as much as anything else.
         Shilastar hesitated before answering, “I’m not sure if the field is safe today, it looks like a storm is perhaps on the way.” Shilastar’s mood was not as light as it had been a short time ago. The two walked on in silence. Ty didn’t mind the quiet, he had matters of his own to mull over. He knew he couldn’t stay here long, and soon, perhaps too soon, he must move on.
         Ty almost took Shilastar’s hand, as he would have before, but now things seemed different. She was no longer the same. Some changes were subtle. A season ago they would have talked and laughed for days. He walked ahead of her to the top of the hill on the outskirts of the village.
         “I am of age now,” spoke Shilastar at length, “. . . and soon father says I must choose. Then your visits will be out of place... Do you know what I mean?”
         “Yes, I think I do,” replied Ty honestly, “but let’s not think of that now. Let’s have fun! Let’s enjoy the day!”
         A sudden breeze picked up and in seconds a storm swept in, just as Shilastar had predicted. Luckily, a small shelter stood just at the bottom of the hill. They barely made it under cover before the rains. The trickle of the rain against the roof, the cramped space where they waited out the storm, and their closeness to one another, drove their thoughts on. They felt one another’s warmth, and it was awkward. Ty knew emotions set them apart. But the uneasiness forced them to talk like old friends again.
         Ty touched his hand just above Shilastar’s breast. He meant to get a closer inspection of her necklace, which he had not seen before, but instead he hit his elbow and his hand landed on her breast. Shilastar smiled for a moment, but the smile disappeared as she touched her necklace.
         “It is odd workmanship, is it not?” Ty asked, not meaning for his words to come out unkind.
         “It was my mother’s, but... now... it is only a worthless trinket. I will wear