Steve Doyle

Fire from the Sky

The hunter stopped amid signs of a Cerapachynai tribe. It would not be good to stumble upon them, for they were cannibals who would consider the hunter a meal. It would be best to determine which way they were headed to avoid—. Intense heat ripped through the hunter’s back, interrupting all thought. The hunter collapsed to the ground, twisting and writhing in agony, trying desperately to escape the burning. It was no use. In mere seconds the hunter lay still, a victim of fire from the sky.

Throngs of panicked citizens choked the streets desperately seeking news of loved ones. It seemed no one who had left the city that afternoon had returned. Not a single scout, hunter, explorer, or forager. No one.

Unfortunately, it was not unusual to lose one or two or even more on a particularly bad day. Many dangers lurked outside the city walls. Out in the wilderness roamed cannibalistic Cerapachynai, gigantic Dinoponera, poisonous Pogonomymex, and the dreaded Formicinae who would kidnap and force one into slavery, often attacking the city with the aim of carrying off the children. There were also Odontomachus raiders, nomads who robbed and killed those unlucky enough to cross their path. Armies of Humatum and Burchelli would often march across the countryside destroying everything in sight. Then there were wild beasts, some of which would swoop down from the sky and others large enough to crush one underfoot, usually a careless accident, but not always. Of particular dread were the terrible Moloch, giant horned dragons capable of tearing down an entire city with a few sweeps from massive claws. In addition to these living threats, nature added such calamities as earthquakes, flash floods, wild fires and poisonous winds.

But even with all these dangers, most who left the city returned by nightfall. This day there were none.

The Queen’s Council met in an emergency session to discuss possible causes for the situation and determine a course of action.

“Torrential downpours swept the area late in the afternoon.”

A council member shook his head. “Those whose duty it is to venture outside the city to procure foodstuffs are trained to seek sufficient shelter in such circumstances. Even with severe flooding it is unlikely harm befell them.”

“Had the trails been washed out? Could they have all gotten lost?”

One of the elders cleared his throat. “I recall a legend in which an army got confused and wound up going in a circle, each soldier following the one in front and the leader following the one who brought up the rear. They marched on and on in this fashion until they all fell dead from exhaustion.”

“But that had been an army on the march, not hunters and gatherers who operate independently and almost individually.”

“Were the Humatum on the march?”

“Not likely, their columns would have been spotted by scouts who would have returned immediately to the city with the news.”

“What about the Burchelli to the south? They spread out over great distances when they march; one could easily be surrounded before realizing it and be unable to get back to the city.”

“No, not everyone would have been cut off. Those that went north, for instance, wouldn’t have come into contact with any Burchelli soldiers.”

“What about a poisonous wind? Those have been known to kill many.”

The council members fell silent. Poison wind came suddenly, moved quickly, and covered a large area. The city would be safe, having been built to withstand such a disaster, but those outside would have no protection. This was the most likely scenario.

The Queen announced that poisonous wind was believed to have been the cause of the disaster and that scouts would go out at first light to assess the danger and search for the missing.

In the morning search parties set out on all points of the compass to find those who had gone into the wilderness and not returned. They found a body, crumpled in a heap, burned beyond recognition. They found another. And another. And another.

The scouts returned with their horrific tale. One would have thought fire had torn through the area, but nothing else was burned. Just the bodies, as if these individuals had burst into flames.

The oldest of the elders could not explain this phenomenon. Armies of Pogonomymex had employed poison to subdue their enemies, but no one had ever successfully used fire. Fire had proven to be an uncontrollable force. Unfavorable wind could turn the weapon against those who would deploy it. Had some enemy learned to harness its power to inflict these deaths?

The Queen ordered autopsies performed on all the recovered bodies. The examiners reported that with the exception of one who had been crushed, they had indeed burned to death. But they hadn’t spontaneously burst into flames. Each had been hit with some sort of laser, some in the head, most in the body, all from above. Something had brought down fire from the sky.

So this was no natural disaster. There were those who believed something other than nature was responsible for the poisonous wind, but that theory had never been proven. How could anything make the wind blow? But this was different. This was a direct attack upon citizens of the city.

Outraged, the Queen decided to meet the threat with overwhelming force. Every available soldier would march out to find and destroy this enemy be it large or small. Five hundred thousand of them formed up and made ready to go.

Little Timmy had had great fun yesterday afternoon playing with his new magnifying glass. Concentrating the sun’s rays into a pinpoint, he’d delighted in watching the hapless ants upon whom he’d directed his deadly beam. Here he comes now, magnifying glass in hand, skipping merrily toward the anthill.

Somewhere below, three million feet begin moving to meet him.