Page 43 of On a Barbarian World

Desperation. She froze. What if the First Warriors were stuck here and had no choice?

She raced back to the table, pushing aside the books to find the notes Chaldora had left her. The First Warriors clearly spoke English. What if they weren’t from Markaria at all? What if, like her, they’d crash-landed here, with no way off?

Heart thudding, Aurina pushed more books and papers aside. Chaldora had said the meteors were a symbol of the First Warriors, and that the first appearance of them coincided with the omen of falling stars.

She sat back. God. What if the same meteor shower had brought down the First Warriors’ ship thousands of years ago, just like it had brought down hers?

She sprang up and yanked open the door. A warrior standing guard in the hall spun to face her.

“Skyflyer?”

“I need Chaldora. Can you get her for me, please?”

The warrior nodded.

Aurina paced the room, unable to sit. She was onto something, she could feel it.

Finally, Chaldora entered with a swish of skirts. “Aurina, you needed to see me?”

“Tell me again about when the First Warriors came, please. You said there were falling stars then as well.”

The scholar nodded. “They are an omen, a symbol of luck, because they are said to have appeared when the First Warriors did.”

“Anything else about the first appearance of the warriors?”

The woman shrugged. “They are said to have come from the north. They appeared from out of the Darken Wilds.”

“The Wilds.” Hmm, that didn’t narrow anything down.

“One account, more lurid than the rest so it has often been discounted, talks about fire and light. It also says the First Warriors brought sickness. That some of the primitive Markarians were not strong enough and died.”

“Sickness?” Aurina spun away, pacing. “The First Warriors could have brought some disease from off-planet that the native Markarians weren’t immune to.”

Chaldora’s eyebrows rose. “You think the First Warriors were skyflyers?”

Aurina nodded. “You speak English, Chaldora. That is not from this planet. I think the First Warriors crash-landed here, just like I did. Maybe brought down by the meteors.”

The woman dropped into a chair, her brow creased. “I guess it is not inconceivable.”

“They were possibly travelers or explorers from old Earth. If it was thousands of years ago, it would have been during the early days of space exploration. They may have gotten lost or been a group headed out this way to make a new home somewhere.” She spun, excitement a fizz in her blood. “My brother, Justyn, and his wife, Nissa, recently discovered an old starship wreck from Earth not too far from here…relatively speaking. So some Terrans made it this far.”

“So, you think the First Warriors were from this planet? Earth.”

“Yes. Earth seeded much of the life throughout the galaxy. War eventually destroyed the planet, although one of my cousins recently got the chance to go back to Earth. It’s pretty wild and still highly radioactive…uh, poisoned from the powerful weapons used, but there are apparently some survivors.”

“Incredible,” Chaldora breathed.

“Don’t tell Kavon yet. I need to do more research and beef up my theory a bit yet before I tell him.”

The elderly scholar frowned. “Beef up?”

“Never mind.” Aurina waved a hand. “Just don’t say anything yet.”

“I will not. If this proves true…it will be difficult for some Markarians to accept, to change the beliefs they have grown up with.”

“Let me do more work, first. Thank you, Chaldora, for your help. You’re a good sounding board.” Aurina tapped a finger against her chin. “So, if the First Warriors crashed here, and they had Durendal with them, then maybe the sword is still at the crash site. We need to find where they crashed.”

Chaldora made a humming noise.