Excerpt:

Red and Gold

The stars before them were infinite. They shone with the same cruel beauty both in the realm of the Goddess of Tyranny and here, in the universe ruled by the Goddess of Hatred.

Silence filled the cabin, heavy and dense, until Rakai pressed some buttons on the ship’s console. The low hum was the only sound breaking the void, until Lorian spoke, her voice thick with distrust:

“You haven’t even told me where we’re going. I feel foolish trusting you… but what choice do I have?” she growled, crossing her arms and staring ahead as if willing to pierce the emptiness with her gaze.

Rakai remained unmoved, fingers still flicking the controls.

“Let’s say we go to my place first. Then… to Ziantis. I have to retrieve my ship.”

Lorian’s expression hardened; a single raised eyebrow betrayed her scorn.

“Your place? Will you give me a tour of your humble abode?”

Rakai fixed his golden eyes on her, a vein twitching at his temple.

“I’m going to eat, and if you want, you can join. Sorry if my ‘humble abode’ doesn’t meet the standards of a spoiled princess.”

The crooked smile on Rakai’s lips was enough to spark a flicker in Lorian’s red eyes. They held each other’s gaze, hostile, as if words could turn to steel any moment.

The tension shattered suddenly by the ship’s mechanical voice:

“Warning: Entering Recon System. Divine Federation Control.”

Both glanced to the console.

“How much of the universe does this Federation control?” Lorian asked, breaking the hostility with a serious tone.

Rakai sighed, leaning back.

“All that remains. People sought peace, and the Federation imposed it… in its own way.”

Lorian tilted her head, disbelief sharpening her voice.

“All that remains… of the universe?”

“The war destroyed it. Vast regions turned to cosmic ash.” Rakai scratched his head as if speaking of something too vast for words. “The battle between Father and the Pillars was so brutal it wiped out entire worlds. It left a void where nothing exists: no stars, no life, not even dust. Only darkness.”

Lorian parted her lips, impressed despite herself.

“Impressive…”

Their journey continued under that shadow of thought, until finally the destination planet appeared before them. To Lorian, it was a strange world; to Rakai, routine.

The ship passed through the atmosphere. The world below seemed almost… peaceful. Calm cities, no military vessels in the skies, no fortifications on the edges. Only buildings, lights, and civilians wandering the streets.

“You live here?” Lorian asked, puzzled.

“Something like that. I have a house but spend little time there. I prefer traveling.”

The ship descended through traffic more like transport vehicles than war fleets. It finally landed atop a building. The metallic voice spoke again:

“Landing complete. Location: Residential Building, Zone A.”

Rakai grabbed a bag, stretched disdainfully, and descended through the hatch. Lorian followed, taking in the surroundings. The city felt like a distant dream: warm weather, human laughter, a world untouched by fallen empires.

“My home’s in this building, lower down,” said Rakai. “I’ll take a bath and eat something. Then you’ll tell me how you ended up in the Nexus. And hopefully…” she whispered at the end, “we’ll find a way for you to return from where you came.”

Fatigue shadowed Lorian’s steps, though she would never admit it to her reflection with red hair. She clenched her jaw and followed.

The apartment they entered was small: a bed by the window, two worn sofas, a round table, a bathroom in the back, and a tiny study. Lorian looked around incredulously.

“I suppose… it’s fine for someone alone.”

Rakai set the bag on the table, pulled out clean clothes, and disappeared into the bathroom.

“Are you mad again, princess?”

“Don’t call me that. And no, I’m not. Do I have reason to be?” Lorian’s voice was sharp, defensive.

Rakai smiled arrogantly.

“Whatever you say. But stop being a cone in my living room and tell me why you were in the Nexus.”

Lorian collapsed on the sofa, her foot thudding angrily on the floor.

“It was in Elysium. An easy battle, until the God of the Eclipse entered the fray. He sacrificed himself playing his best card… and the idiot unleashed an attack that wiped out the entire planet. The ground opened, swallowed him in a black hole. I fell with him.”

“And that’s it?” Rakai arched an eyebrow.

“That Nexus is… nothing. Pure darkness. I wandered there, without time or place, until I saw a light and followed it. I ended up somewhere else.”

Lorian’s eyes darkened with the memory.

“There she was… myself, but different: the Goddess of War. She had killed her father; her Exquema was a twisted version of what it should be. I wouldn’t stay there lamenting her fate, so I asked for help to return to the fissure that was still open over the planet. She stayed below facing those things when they began to come out while I ascended toward the hole.”

She paused, lips trembling.

“I wonder how she’s doing…”

“Dead,” Rakai’s voice was dry, without hesitation. “Those things leave nothing alive.”

Lorian glared at her.

“What are you talking about?”

Rakai sat opposite her, elbows on knees.

“We call them Xeros. Monsters born outside the universe. Without consciousness. Just beasts with hunger, corrupted by that darkness beyond the universe that makes them incredibly strong… sometimes even god-level.”

Lorian swallowed hard, trying to hold her gaze.

“How do you know so much?”

“Our first encounter with the Nexus was because of Father. He survived the Xeros during his time trapped in the Nexus, and during the war with the Pillars, the universe broke; rifts connecting the Nexus with the Universe opened, letting the Xeros through. They corrupt everything they touch. They devour matter.”

Lorian barely murmured:

"Planets…

…"

–Read more in its original Castilian language at https://fictograma.com/ , an open source Spanish community of writers–