#{uncle thace}

           The sentries pushed me forward to the door, pain shooting into my shoulders from my arms being pressed into my back. I grunted in pain. Before I could slam into it, the door slid open, the light blinding me. There was another unprecedented shove, and before I could catch my footing, a bruising pain arose in my side.  Then realized I fell. The thunderous sound of laughter from the millions of Galra spectators filled my sensitive ears.

“… I give you, Thrix! Daughter of Valk and Ryfeta.” His voice was louder, clearer and sharper.

My eyes were still becoming accustomed to the lighting as I pushed myself up.  Eventually, I managed to steady myself by widening my stance. I brought my hands to my sides, one on the hilt on my blade.

“The younger sister of Thace.”

           My grip tightened as his golden eyes dangerously flickered. I remained stoic and silent: conserving my energy. Lotor momentarily seemed perplexed, and then came forward to me slowly. With each step smile seemed to grow and his teeth seemed to become more revealed. He continuously moved closer until he was only a foot apart, his bared teeth turned into a predatory smile.

“What’s wrong, Thrix? Not going to defend your brother’s honor? What a shame…”

I kept my sight forward, not moving a muscle, harnessing the internal storm like my brother once taught me. Patience yields focus, don’t let your actions override your thoughts: control it.

“I can’t believe you’re too weak to preserve what little your beloved brother gave up.”

There was a growl that formed at the back of my throat as Lotor started circling me like the Earth’s… what were they called? Vulvars? Vurtles? — No, Vultures.

“But I guess that’s expected…”

Again, he stood in front of me, after circumventing my stiff body.

"After all, you're weak enough to succumb to a human's charms."

           Every muscle in my body tensed and my lungs found it difficult to breath. My surroundings seemed to have faded, creating a tunnel that focused on the slightly built Galra. The pumping heart in my body seemed to have skipped a beat. I made no attempt to move; I feared that if I move I would only be an easier target because of my fragility. 

           My mind began reeling with memories of the planet Earth, the deserted shack, the violet eyes and the cries of the baby at night. I looked away from him, and stared at my hands that were planted to my sides. They were trembling.

"What are you talking about?" My voice was shaky and hoarse.

           Everything inside me was hoping he was bluffing. But, his sneer, chuckle and glimmering eyes had only convinced me he wasn't. I closed my eyes in an attempt to avoid his cold, icy stare. I tried to avoid the inevitable truth that he knew…

“Your son takes so much after you; talent and all,”

Son. Keith.

Sooner than I could anticipate, I sensed my sword arm rise and my other grasp onto something, there was a swift movement of my legs… All of a sudden, my blade was at Lotor’s throat, I had his arm pinned against his back and my body was kneeling over his, with his stomach pressed against the floor. The rowdy crowd had gone silent.

“What did you do to him, you bastard?” I demanded.

It was the first time my voice was clear for months.

“Oh please,” There was a faint laugh, until I pinned his arm farther along his back and urged my blade further into the flesh of his neck, barely causing blood. He grunted in pain.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?” I ordered even further, my voice almost hissing poisonously.

“Nothing!” He uttered throatily.

There was a mild sweep of relief, but my constraint didn’t falter.

“Then, where is he?”

He paused.

“I can’t imagine a greater burden than what your son’s bestowed,” He barely muttered.

My eyes widened.

At that moment, I had an inherently strong maternal instinct that made every fiber n my body believe the inevitable truth. The truth: that I’ve denied for so long. He’s the red paladin. Without a moment’s hesitation, I slammed the hilt of the blade against the back of Lotor’s head, rendering him unconscious. The crowd gasped and began hollering in protest. I got to my feet with newfound energy and looked around, sentries were coming from every direction. Enabling my armor’s mask, I ran. I ran as if it was the only thing worth doing in this universe. The Blade of Marmora had left my mind, Lotor’s taunting was gone, and the crowd no longer seemed to matter.

The only thing I saw was my child… my son… my Keith. The sight of my blade coursing right through a sentry’s armor at the chest was transparent. I swung my blade at the attacking sentries, at each slash disregarding Thace’s rule: patience yields focus. After seventeen years of patience, my focus has finally yielded to the priority that’s only mattered: my son. The screams didn’t frighten me, the blood didn’t sicken me and the soldiers didn’t restrict me. With one final kick to someone’s stomach, they were sent flying, knocking down the others behind, providing me some time. Taking advantage of the precious obstacle I’ve created, I began sprinting to the ship bay. With each step, there was a fire that continued to grow. With each huff, there was a flying spark. I became a comet, hurtling toward the ship bay.

Once I came up on the door to the bay, I stopped short. Without a second to catch my breath, I placed my hand on the door’s print scanner. Recognizing the Galra blood, the door opened, only to reveal two more sentries on guard duty. Instinctually, I gashed both of them— neither knew what was coming. I started to run towards the closest fighter ship, but turned right around. Kneeling down, I nabbed one of the now impaled sentries’ guns. Satisfied with my new ammo, I proceeded to dash. I came across a fighter with a slightly slicker and smaller build than what I remembered.

Looking behind me, I saw no one and knew I still had time. I walked up to the ship’s launch podium. Looking at the series number, I realized it was a more recent, if the most recent. Bringing my eyes back onto the ship, I studied the frame. The cockpit was more tunnel shaped and had a barrel-like body. The wings were semicircle shaped. Such wings would enable faster speeds and wormhole jumps. The ship seemed so familiar looking… almost like the Castle of Lions. A dawn of realization came upon me, this was a prototype based on the Castle’s design.

“Oh no…”

There was a thundering noise coming from the hallway and I realized they were close. Immediately, I slammed my palm on the podium’s screen. It unlocked the ship’s firewall and the ship hummed to life. Lugging my stolen gun, I rushed behind the vessel and jumped onto the loading dock.

I jumped into the cockpit and strapped myself into the pilot seat. Instantly, I pulled the slick lever that closed the loading dock. The actions were swift and quick. A loud bang abruptly distracted me from my concentration. Pulling up the monitor’s camera for the rearview, it was noticeable that the soldiers had broken into the ship bay.

“Sorry.” I said insincerely.

I pressed an icon that opened the exit bay. In a moment’s notice the bay doors to space opened, creating a vacuum. Soldiers, droids and sentries came from behind me and were sucked into the empty void. However, even killing these Galra won’t prohibit Lotor from locating me, and by extent, Keith. Plucking a microchip from under my claw, I inserted it into the ship’s mainframe by hard drive. The chip had a residing virus that enabled any user to disarm the previous server and their control over the device. It was a genius invention from a scientist at the Blade of Marmora. For a moment, the plane turned pitch black, all of the installed Galra purple lights off. Until, there was a whirr inside the vessel, and all the light tunred back on, now a brilliant bright blue.

Before liftoff, my armor’s mask dissolved to let me see at maximum extent. My hands found the manual controls and, with a deep breath, I pushed forward. Abruptly, the ship jerked forward at flew into the dark abyss.

Taking a hand off the controls, I opened a hologram window and searched for the Castle of Lions’ frequency, hoping it was the same from over ten thousand years ago. A map of nearby galaxies came up, with a small pulsing dot barely three galaxies away.

I felt my cheeks pull at my lips and my eyes grow wet. A hitching breath that was unfamiliar escaped my mouth. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if I was crying or laughing. But the relaxed tension in my chest told me that it was a mixture of both.

           With a shaky hand, I inserted the pulsing dot’s coordinates into the ship’s automatic route system.  There was a slight hum all throughout the ship, I closed my eyes and leant my head against the seat, and my body was pushed into the seat from the gravitational pull of the ship’s wormhole jump. My cheeks again pulled my lips, this time they remained. It was first time I’d smiled in a long time… I sighed and opened my eyes to the view of stars and planets racing passed me.