Outside, the Bonobos group surged forward, a terrifying force of nature. Dabozz, their leader, rode atop a majestic parrot hundreds strong and three times the size of their ancestors its feathers gleaming like molten metal. With a savage cry, he hurled flaming stones, reducing village homes to cinders. This was no raid; it was a full-scale invasion.
"Takes the termite!" he screamed, his voice cracking like thunder as they closed in on Habituh's home.
Habituh pulled the window shut, her mother Solenne appearing beside her with her younger sister.
"Follow me," Solenne commanded. They hurried into a study, its walls lined with books remnants of an early modern human's quest for knowledge.
Solenne slid a heavy chair aside. The shelves groaned and shifted, revealing a glowing portal to a hidden room.
"How did you know it was here?" her husband, Aziel, whispered, but was cut off by the crash of the breaking door.
They scrambled inside, searching frantically for a button or switch. Habituh rifled through the books as the echoes of the Bonobos drew nearer. The door broke with a heavy crash, footsteps pounding through the halls, and the leader's snarls pierced the air like jagged knives.
Habituh finally pulled the right book, and with a soft click, the door locked behind them. Their breaths came heavy as the cold truth settled they were trapped.
"The termite escaped! Fucking humans!" one growled.
"We need an exit!" Solenne urged.
"Mommy, why do we keep running? We just moved here months ago," her younger brother, Kian, asked, his voice trembling.
"It'll be okay. Father promises a true home," Aziel replied firmly.
"Where are we going, Father?" her little sister, Lila, asked, clutching Solenne's shawl.
"North… Salemele," Aziel answered, the weight of the decision sinking deep. They embraced, knowing the path ahead was perilous.
The Forfeihuman were religious survivors descendants of those exiled from the floating Sky Cities years ago. Their Abrahamic faiths, fractured into countless factions, struggled against the ever-present threat of the Veil Kin
shadowy hunters who stalked humans, calling them destroyers of nature, wise yet fearful of their own ignorance.
Salemele was a great city of Salem Christians who awaited a Messiah born not descended from heaven. They were builders and warriors, their city fortified with towering walls and advanced tech to repel invaders
human or Veil Kin alike.
Tolerance was a myth in these lands; religion was a blade, slicing anyone who defied its creed.
Because they learned one hard truth about tolerance from their Homo sapiens ancestors: it's like trying to compress a galaxy into a single atom impossible and destructive.
So anyone who stands against their religion is cast out, rejected not just by their own but by other Forfeihuman faiths, regardless of the source of their beliefs.
Aziel's father, Jabari, had once led a southern faction called "Heaven," a great city that served as a refuge from relentless earthquakes. Steadfast in their belief that the Messiah would return to teach the true scriptures, they held fast to their faith. But their fragile city was attacked in the dead of night
no one knew why or by whom. Aziel was forced to flee, wandering until he reached the eastern lands, now called Free City—not truly free from the grip of occasional natural disasters.
Habituh's family belonged to those who chose coexistence. Their leader, Mahbuh, an Islamic cleric, had rallied many under a banner not just of faith but of hope—the coming of the Messiah, regardless of the name given. Despite sudden natural disasters forcing them to migrate from place to place, and frequent guerrilla attacks by the Veil Kin, Mahbuh held them together.
But ten years ago, Mahbuh was murdered, and his followers scattered like leaves in a storm.
Now, the family fled again through the East, entering territory once held by indigenous believers who had long welcomed them but now faced death themselves.
The West remained unknown—an uncharted expanse known as the Territory of No Return. Scorched by relentless solar radiation and scarred by cosmic fallout from ancient space wars, it was a wasteland compared to the vast melting ice continent nearby. Yet, these ravaged zones were but pockets within a fractured world.
The West was home to the vile Veil Kin, a shadow that haunted all hopes. The Forfeihuman's only refuge lay to the North—either to be baptized into the fortified city of Salemele or to seek shelter among the southern tribes. The rest of the South was held by Muslims, their resilient cities standing as bastions amid chaos.
Yet the South was not theirs alone. Indigenous believers held sway up to the northern borders, where breath was scarce and the land sacred. They claimed this harsh terrain as holy, guarding it fiercely as nature's own sanctuary.
Solenne's fingers traced the wall until she found a small keypad, hidden in plain sight.
"It's a password," she whispered, but before she could react, Dabozz's voice thundered nearby.
"Move that chair, now!" he barked.
Habituh and Solenne scrambled, fingers trembling as they fumbled over the keypad, desperate to crack the code.
Aziel's fist crashed down on the panel, the sharp sound echoing through the tense silence.
A soft, satisfying click followed—the lock disengaged.
Solenne pressed a hidden clasp on her dress, triggering a faint blue glow that spilled across the hidden door, illuminating their narrow escape route.
They slipped through into an underground passage and began running.
Countless tunnels twisted and branched before them, each leading in a different direction. Steeling themselves, they chose the path that veered north. The dim, flickering light revealed the dizzying depths below, while distant high ground loomed like a silent guardian far above.
"This is the end," Habituh murmured, breath shallow.
"Over here!" a Bonobo ape called.
"We've got to go back!" another yelled.
"You've got the termite leave none behind!" a third snarled.
Solenne grasped Aziel's arm tightly. "They're closing in. What now?"
"We jump," Aziel said without hesitation.
"But we don't know how deep," Habituh warned.
From the shadows, an orangutan emerged, massive and muscular, its fur tangled but gleaming with bio-enhancements. Its lips struggled with speech a rough, guttural growl punctuated by halting words.
"W-w-w-wait," it stammered, clutching a sleek, sci-fi weapon strapped to its arm. The device looked part energy cannon, part taser, humming with suppressed power. Tubes pulsed with neon light, and small vents released faint puffs of ionized gas.
"Look… you… family," it said slowly, eyes wary but curious.
Aziel raised a hand. "What do you want from us? We mean no harm we just want to live."
"Silver…" a Bonobo shouted nearby. "Where are you? We got the—"
The orangutan snapped its mouth shut, raised his weapon, and fired a piercing pulse of energy that struck the Bonobo dead center, sending him crashing down into the cavern's depths.
They watched in frozen horror as the Bonobo kept falling, the sparks of energy crackling along his body lighting his descent through the darkness. With a powerful throw, the orangutan hurled the fallen foe aside, revealing the vast, yawning depth of the cavern below.
"I think termites… wise," Silver grunted, wiping sweat from his brow. "Too me… you dumb."
He tapped the wall, revealing a hidden stairwell descending even deeper.
"Go now," Silver urged. "I lure… them. Protect young. Make termite important. Go!"
"Thank you, Silver," Aziel said, urgency in his voice.
They rushed down the steps as the heavy footfalls of their pursuers echoed above, Silver charging into the darkness, drawing the enemy away.