Free Kastori Revelations (The Kastori Chronicles Book 1) by Stephen Allan

charred object in her hand.
    “I’m pretty sure this is a limb. I’m going to take it back to the research lab to examine, but I just thought you’d want to know what we’re doing.”
    “I see,” Crystil said Looks burned. That could be interesting. Forest fire? I should ask Cortanus.
    Celeste waited a beat, then headed to the research room. Once Celeste was gone, Crystil sat back down, gently rubbing her foot. She pulled off her boot, and no swelling appeared. Still, she beat herself up for feeling the need to always be “on.”
    “Cortanus, have there been any fires recently?”
    “There was one spot where it looked like a fire had taken place, but it was so contained that it did not look like the result of a storm.”
    Before letting her mind wander, Crystil quickly put her boot back on and marched to the research bay. When she got inside, she found Celeste carefully placing the bone inside an analysis receptacle, a small box which slid into the ship as numerous instruments analyzed the bone.
    “What do you think you’ll find?” Crystil asked.
    Celeste turned, her back leaning against the wall.
    “I’m not too sure. It looked like a large four-legged creature. The entire skeleton probably stretched about ten feet long.”
    Crystil felt like Cortanus had missed something important because she couldn’t imagine any creatures of that size she would want to encounter. She attempted to brush off the concerned feeling while waiting for the ship.
    The two waited more. They wound up sighing, neither wanting to talk in case Cortanus interrupted.
    “You need a reboot, Cortanus?” Celeste asked after about three minutes.
    “No, I am still analyzing the bone. It is odd. This contains a structure unlike anything I have ever seen. I cannot create an image of what this could be because I do not even have a foundation to start from. If I have more samples of this, then I could start to piece this puzzle together.”
    The two locked eyes immediately, knowing the solution.
    “We’ll be back, Cortanus,” Crystil said as she led Celeste to the airlock.
    The two dropped down and Crystil gave Celeste permission to lead. She saw Cyrus still sleeping to the side, but saw no point in waking him for a quick mission. She and Celeste jogged to Celeste’s discovery spot. They reached the hill and looked down from the peak.
    “How much further to this skeleton, Celeste?”
    “Well…” she said, her voice trailing off as she slowed down. “It was supposed to be right here, but it’s gone.”
    Crystil had learned not to doubt Celeste, but—
    A low pitched growl came thirty feet in front of them. At the top of another hill stood two massive creatures resembling lupi, and they barked and howled.
    “They look—”
    “We don’t need the bones for survival, Celeste. Let’s go.”
    Celeste didn’t need to be told twice as they turned away. Crystil had her gun ready, but never fired. As they walked back, Crystil began to think about Celeste’s words, and how well those two creatures—both ten feet long, one with black and brown fur, the other with black and white fur—met her description. How did Cortanus not see this?
    They returned to find Cyrus awake, stretching his arms out. He looked like he finally wanted to work.
    “What’s going on?” Cyrus asked, hands on his hips.
    “Nothing we can worry about now,” Crystil said, her voice on edge. “Right now, we can either start getting water, or we can spend the day relaxing. I want to reconsider our decision.”
    “Let’s at least see if Cortanus has any updates,” Celeste said.
    “Fine, but I’m making the decision that we’re getting prepared in the meantime. You can stay here if you want, Celeste, but I don’t want to sit back and—”
    “No, it’s fine. I’ll go.”
    She sounds testy. I probably sounded testy. I should be a bit gentler. They aren’t following you. They’re not hunting you.
    Crystil turned back just to make sure and saw no sign of the