Creyson Parthy & The Trojan Attack
Copyright 2013 Paul Richard Bailey
Chapter One
‘Valiros’
In all my life, I had never known the mighty lights that illuminated Valiros to fail; it was unthinkable. Nevertheless there I stood, engulfed by darkness.
The lights were designed to fade to a subtle glow at night and brighten to full beam every morning; they were constant and dependable. Despite the fact it was still early in the day, the lights hadn’t faded, they’d simply gone out. It was as if someone had left the room and flicked a switch.
I didn’t move a muscle as I waited.
A loud clunk, followed by a strange whooshing sound, and the lights began to power back up, flooding the land with their dazzling rays.
I breathed a sigh, before continuing on my journey.
I assumed someone, somewhere had made a mistake; pressed the wrong button. No doubt they would receive a rather stern reprimand
My name is Creyson Parthy. During my one cycle and eleven phases in this world, I’d managed to live seven hundred and two days of an unremarkable life. On day seven hundred and three, everything changed.
This day started as most. The lights came on; the population went about their business, and life continued in its normal, organised way. We had no way of knowing that the failing lights were a prelude to something far more dangerous, or that this particular day was the beginning of the Trojan attack.
I was walking to meet my friend Benton, before work, at the hillside on the edge of my old village. He was unhappy as he’d received his order of enrolment into the military.
Benton was a self-inflicted outcast; convinced that people didn’t like him. He was socially awkward, veered towards the negative, and struggled to develop friendships. We both knew this day was inevitable, but its arrival would take Benton to a whole new level of unhappiness.
He stood at the top of the hill looking as low-spirited as I expected. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was his overwhelming sadness that consumed the lights, and caused the sudden darkness that submerged the field.
Benton offered a half-hearted attempt at a wave, barely lifting his hand above waist level. I returned the gesture with slightly more enthusiasm.
We’d grown up together, and our friendship was based on a mutual understanding of what it was like to be different. He was the pessimist, and I was the optimist; both challenging the other to see the world differently. I’d learnt to hide my peculiarities far better than Benton had, by accepting society’s rules. His lack of acceptance caused his oddities to stand out like a tone-deaf singer in a pitch perfect choir.
“Hello Crey,” he welcomed in a miserable voice. As a vacuum sucks dirt from a grimy rug, Benton sucks cheerfulness from a joyful person.
His clothes were shabby, his long hair was unkempt, and dark rings circled his eyes, symptomatic of a restless night’s sleep.
We shared pleasantries and caught up with gossip; both completely avoiding the topic of his new appointment.
Eventually we stopped talking and flopped on the ground. Relaxing, and using our hands as headrests, we both lay on the soft grass transfixed on the black and silver sphere that encased our home world.
“What do you reckon’s out there?” puzzled Benton.
“Amazing winged creatures that soar in the skies,” I replied. “Cities twice the size of anything we’ve seen. Aliens with purple hair and four legs.”
“Crey…”
“Countless civilisations all living in other bubbles.”
“But you’ll never know. You’ll never know if there’s flying creatures or four legged aliens.”
“But I can imagine.”
“Forget imagining, Crey, wouldn’t you like to know what’s out there?”
“That’s dangerous talk Benton. If the Council heard you speaking like that, they’d lock you up.”
We both shared the same fascination. As infants, we’d spent countless days and nights on the rolling hills less than a hundred paces from our village of Danton, imagining the unimaginable.
Benton sighed. “Once I start my new duties, I’ll probably find out.”
“I’m sorry Benton. But you never know, you may like the military.”
“Doubt it.”
“You’re going to see things, discover things that I never will.”
“I’m going to be condemned to spend the rest of my life alone under the service of the High Darlon Council. You can’t understand what that’s like.”
I was trying to perk him up, but I knew as well as he did, nobody wanted to be forced to join the military.
We fell silent and looked up at the sphere. It encompassed all of Valiros; once condemning the land to perpetual darkness, until the creation of the artificial lighting.
Over the cycles, there’d been numerous expeditions to crack the surface and venture beyond its boundaries, none of them had been successful. As far as the general population was concerned, the world outside of our own was a mystery, an unanswerable question that stirred debate within Valiron society. Even members of the High Darlon Council claimed ignorance.
“I think the bubble is there to stop us from getting out,” scoffed Benton.
“Or maybe it’s there to stop something else from getting in.”
“Either way, the government are lying to us.”
“If they are, it’s probably for our own good.”
“I’d rather join the Veils than the military.”
“Now that’s even more dangerous. They’re an outlawed group.”
As with most great mysteries, it led to conspiracy theories and wild speculation. It also gave birth to a group that met in the cover of night, and hid in the shadows of society, the Veils.
Benton reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He opened it and placed it on the ground, brushing his hands over the paper to smooth out the wrinkles.
“Look at this,” he said, handing the sheet to me.
It was a simple poster with a black background and bold, white writing.
The writing read: UNRAVEL THE MYSTERY AND EXPOSE THE TRUTH.
“Benton, what are you doing with this?”
“I found it.”
“Well get rid of it.”
“They’re all over Lincoll.”
“I don’t care.”
He snatched the poster off me and shoved it back into his pocket.
“The Veils know that the government are lying to us. They say the military will block any attempt to break through the sphere.”
“Maybe there’s a good reason. How do you know whatever’s out there isn’t so terrible, they have to hide the truth? Or maybe there’s nothing out there at all, and this is just the Veils causing trouble.”
I wasn’t, and nor did I want to be, a follower of the Veils; but I understood their curiosity, and shared their inquisitiveness. Their ethos had tempted many an outcast, which is why Benton would have made an ideal recruit.
“They’re brave,” he continued. “They’re brave enough to challenge the government; to demand answers.”
“If they were that brave then they wouldn’t keep hiding. My grandfather used to call them ruffians who didn’t have the faintest clue what they’re doing.”
“The Veils aren’t the only ones who don’t know what they’re doing,” mumbled Benton as he pulled blades of grass out of the ground. “Ah, ignore me, Crey.”
I admit to dreaming of a world beyond my own, a place that’s filled with new sights and sounds. I’d imagined what it would be like to escape the clutches of my somewhat restrictive world and experience a freedom that Valirons were not permitted. But joi
ning the Veils was not the way to do it.
“Sometimes you have to try and see the positive side. Sure, Valiros has got its faults, but it’s not all that bad.”
“I’m not saying Valiros is a bad place to live; I mean, in a lot of ways it’s practically perfect. If you believe the propaganda then Valiros is a beautiful utopia,” Benton adopted a mockingly posh tone, “a place of harmony, cooperation, and understanding.”
“And doesn’t that sound like the sort of world you want to live in?”
“But how can you say that crime, poverty, and suffering have been obliterated? You can’t. The Council would like us to believe that we all live in a state of pure contentment.”
His contemptuous attitude was beginning to aggravate me.
“Look around you. Most people are.”
“I just don’t think happiness should be forced or expected. How can you pass a law that demands you stay happy?”
“Happiness leads to a productive society, and a productive society is a stable one.”
“You sound like the council’s propaganda machine.”
“I’d like to believe they’re just trying to protect what we’ve built.”
“It’s not protection. They’re basically outlawing free will. You know, and I know, the High Darlon Council considers disruption a disease, an infection to be cured.”
“That’s a little harsh.”
Climbing to his feet, Benton stared beyond the rolling hills at the Valiros Capital, Trans Central, standing proud on the horizon.
“Look at them,” he spat, “sitting in their perfect homes, living their perfect lives, all pretending to be happy because that’s what they’re told to be. We look up to them because of where they live. We wouldn’t be allowed to live in the city.”
The city sparkled in the radiant illumination provided by the huge candescent lights suspended from large metal tracks that ran the interior of the sphere.
Each building was a crafted work of art embedded with hundreds of windows that glistened under the bathing luminescence. The capital, as with all of Valiros, was uniform in colour and style. Every building, door, and window was beautifully designed to complement its neighbour. In the centre of the city was the High Darlon Council building. Its circular structure was the focal point of Trans Central, and every preceding building flowed in the same circular pattern, creating a swirl effect that caused the city to fan outwards. With the use of various shades of white and grey, all the constructions blended together, combined with smooth and curving lines. The architecture aimed to create a seamless appearance of almost liquid beauty. Valiron design rarely incorporates sharp edges such as squares or triangles, and instead favours arcs and circles. Even if you tried you could find no end or beginning within the city. Trans Central was one monument, all linked together to create an appearance of complete unity; a beacon for people to aspire.
As we looked on at the capital, one of the overhead lights near the edge of the city flickered; first brightening to a dazzling white then dimming to a muddy yellow, before returning to its normal beam. It was similar to the event I had experienced, only less severe. Benton didn’t seem to notice.
I stood next to my friend, putting a hand on his shoulder to calm his irritation.
“You can see our village from here. Look at it.” He switched his gaze to Danton. It was equally well designed and exquisitely formed, if less grand in execution. “I think Danton is just as beautiful as Trans Central. Don’t you?”
“Sure… because individual creativity is frowned upon and conformity is a way of life.”
“Now you sound like a conspiracy nut.”
We both laughed.
“I’m going to miss this, Crey; you and me putting the world to rights.”
“I’m not going to miss it… But I am going to miss you.”
There was an uneasiness between us.
“I’d better go. I leave this afternoon, and I still need to pack.”
“I’ll come and see you before... before they collect you.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.” He forced a smile. “Besides, then you’ll have to face Zeal.” The mere mention of that girl’s name sent a shiver through my body.
“Good point.”
“Bye Crey.”
We shared a brief, uncomfortable hug.
“Bye Benton.”
And with that simple farewell, he set off down the hill back to Danton.
Benton’s anger and bitterness often left me feeling gloomy, but it also made me question many of my own beliefs.
It’s the Valiron ambition to live only for the betterment of Valkind, and to achieve perfection in all that we do. I’d always tried to live by this philosophy, but if I were to listen to Benton then that way of life was unattainable.
My world hadn’t always been a structured, pretty place, at least not until ‘The Change’.
History concerning our culture prior to ‘The Change’ is fragmented, lost over time. This has led many to theorise that Darlon Officials have conspired to conceal the truth from the populace; a notion strongly rejected by the High Darlon Council.
At school, we were taught that our world was once a savage and inhospitable place, consumed by an unending darkness that bred solitude, forcing its people to live only to survive. ‘The Change’ saw the birth of light, education; turning an aggressive people into an enlightened one. How this happened is never included in any teachings.
As I watched Benton make his way down the hill, his shoulders slumped with the weight of his fate, I had no idea that in less than twenty-four hours, the secrets of our world would be revealed to me. I would find out what lay beyond the sphere, I would discover what dangers threatened my people, and I would be forced to make choices that would not only change my future, but the future of all Valirons.
My name is Creyson Parthy, and this is my story...