Chapter Two- Eridanus

Eridanus, the river of light... you don't know much about him yet, but trust me, he's important. Look up the constellation for more clues.

“There’s the Sun Runner.” Azul growled proudly as they reached the port. The sunship was small, an elongated silver tear perched in the docking bay. “Sails are folded in, of course.” Kraik hummed mildly, justifying the small size of the sunship. Eridanus reacted appropriately, looking over the streamlined keel of the ship.

“Chvandak vetch keyavonvet!” Syzygy’s head whipped around suspiciously. “You speak Gwentori?” Shrugging slightly, Eridanus nodded once and hastily changed the subject- Gwentori could, in Eridanus’ opinion, overreact to trivialities, and this particular Gwentor looked highly irascible. “Magsail, I assume? Electron flow from the star, and all that?”

Azul nodded, proudly. “Of course. Good orbital engines, too. Bit old, but some of the best kept up in the system.” Eridanus nodded slowly. “Ion engines?”

Sharply, the captain replied, “Of course. Everything on the Sun Runner is fully up to standard Tchanok safety measures.”

“You have any other crew members I should know about?” Syzygy bobbed his head slowly. “Ymir. The navigator. Hurinai.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes.”

“Small crew.”

“It is a small ship.”

In front of them, Chraik elaborated, “Of course we did have the tech before you- Dracotaur by the name of Ferrin. Void pirates got him.” Snapping open a holocrystal, the Haplok produced a shimmering image of a smallish Dracotaur with scars twisting over his deep orange scales.

“Got into a few fights, did he?” Eridanus chuckled. He noticed that one of the Ferrin’s forearms had been severed, replaced by a nasty-looking steel sword.

Tilting her head backwards to fix Eridanus with one dark eye, Azul nodded gravely. “More than a few.” She briefly waved identification papers at the Ce’taai security guard, who lowered the scaffolding holding the sunship down to ground level. Syzygy, lost in thought, stepped quickly to the side to avoid being crushed by the expanding gangplank. Standing aside respectfully, Eridanus allowed the small Gwentor to board before him.

Inside the Sun Runner, in contrast to the plain silver hull, the walls of the corridors were swirled with shades of shimmering green-blue dye, beginning to fade around the edges. In a few places, the dye had started to chip away. “Nice paint. You pick it up from the Delean Moon?”

“Yes, actually.” Azul responded, a definite note of pride in her voice.

Ymir was on the bridge, leaning against bulwark coated in dark blue pigment that almost matched his indigo skin. “Found a new crew member, then?” the Hurinai asked, smiling. “I do hope this one isn’t as foolhardy as Ferrin was.” Eridanus fixed the Hurinai with a keen gaze.

Deep blue skin. A platinum mane and spiraled silver-white horns. Brilliant silver eyes smiling out of a craggy face. Ymir looked like every other Hurinai Eridanus had seen, excepting his broad grin and easy stance. You didn’t see many cheerful Hurinai. Then again, Eridanus supposed he hadn’t seen many Hurinai before- there was a colony of the largest moon of Del, but the bulk of the species lived in the next system over. Crossing the void to the closest star took at least a year in the fastest ship- and then most people wanted to go back, too. But time didn’t play by your rules in deep space.

“So. Where are we headed?” Eridanus asked Ymir. As he ran a hand over his gnarled silver horns, the Hurinai’s broad smile widened. “First Del, to see the Captain’s tribe in the Fire Games and pick up a payment. Then it’s on to the Outer Orbits. It’ll be a dangerous mission. Think you’re up for it?”

Eridanus smiled. “Hurinai, I’ve sailed across the Deep Void twice. I’ve run the Fire Caves of Del. I’m not worried about anything we find in the Chranoka orbits.” The smile faded slightly as he glanced at Ymir, gauging his reaction, and spread again when Eridanus confirmed that the Hurinai was beaming back.

“You’ll be in the engine room. There’s a Haplok-size suit by the hatch if you need to go into the main power chamber- it should fit you pretty well.” Azul said as she walked past. Turning away, Ymir pulled up a star chart on the plasma wallscreen in front of him. Eridanus smiled, the soft light from the luminous ceiling glinting off his amber eyes. “I don’t need a suit. Perks of the species, you might say.” As he turned and opened the hatch, the gauntleted tips of the young man’s fingers passed briefly through the wall, leaving a brief golden shimmer in the metal.

Author's Note

Review whatever you feel like! I'm reasonably confident with Eridanus' characterization, so just point out any problems, especially in grammar or structure. As always, I appreciate reviews. :)