1 1. Ever Long Nights

It was mid-afternoon in the valley. The birds were chirping their sweet morning song, as a soft breeze blew through the leaves on the trees. The day seemed calm, one may even say it was peaceful.

The Valley was full of lush green grass, with flowers of purple, white, yellow, and red scattered throughout the plains. A large field in the center of the valley was surrounded by trees, where all manner of wildlife came to feed off the local flora. Rabbits, deer, squirrels, and birds all called this valley home.

A family of deer was grazing in an opening field, sticking close together so none would be caught alone. The sound of a twig snapping in the woods near the herd had them all jerk their heads and look in the direction of the sound. All of a sudden, one of the deer fell to the ground and the rest of the herd ran and fled into the tree line on the opposite side of the valley.

"Good shot my boy!" Dan spoke in a hushed tone as he looked at his son proudly. Dan is an older man in his early thirties. He has shaggy short brown hair and is sporting a well-kept goatee. He was sporting camo pants and a camo jacket. Around his back was a small rucksack with various gear. He pats his son on the back as they leave the bush and head down towards the now lifeless doe. As the pair reach the body of the deer, Dan begins to inspect it, "A clean kill. You're getting good at this." The arrow pierced the doe right through its heart, killing it instantly. As Dan was admiring the shot, he caught his son staring at the motionless body of the deer, "Lance?"

Lance was sixteen but looked a bit older. Like his father, he wore camo pants, but a blue-ish camo tee. Of all his features, his eyes were what stood out, emerald green, and semi-long sandy blonde hair. As Lance was looking down at the deer, right where the arrow had pierced its flesh, he then looked up at its head. "Dad, he looks sad." As Lance inspected the doe lying before him, he felt the sadness the doe must have been feeling in its last moments.

Dan looks at his son, puzzled as to what he meant. He looked at the deer trying to figure out what his son was talking about, "I don't understand, son."

"I don't know, he just... Looks sad." Lance shakes his head then looks back at his father and smiles, "Think mom will be happy?" Lance said with a sarcastic smile.

Dan laughs and ruffs up his son's hair, "I think she will wanna kill us. You know she hates when we skin our catch at home." He grabs a rope from his bag and begins to tie it around the deer's legs and neck. Dan double-checks the knots before standing and turning to Lance, "Let's go, buddy."

The pair walked back to the cabin, dragging the deer behind them. The cabin was a typical one you would find in the woods. Large logs made up most of the walls, with a front porch that had branches for railings. The roof was made of wooden shingles and the windows had small wooden shelves or planters. It was all shades of brown, with some red paint on the front deck. A smaller building a little bigger than your average shed stood just off to the back of the cabin.

The walk wasn't a long one, but the weight of the deer slowed them down considerably. It was late into the afternoon as the pair reached their home in the woods, Dan dragged the deer to the shed in the back and Lance headed into the cabin. Lance walked up the patio steps, across the patio and opened the front door, "Hey mom, we're back!" Lance closed the door behind him and took off his boots by the door. Before entering the house he lays his quiver and bow by the door.

Ally is humming to herself as she's cleaning the dishes. Ally was pretty by every definition of the word. She had long, golden blonde hair, almost white. Her eyes were bright royal blue, and her skin was very fair.

It's been sixteen years since Lance was born, and the small family has made the cabin into their home. It's not very big, but the inside is decorated and full of furniture. Pictures were hung on the walls, and even some animal heads, that Dan stuffed himself, were hanging along the walls. The newest addition would be the lights. Dan went into the city one year and bought a generator. He was no electrician, but he made do, somehow.

"Hi, sweetie, welcome home. Did you boys catch anything?" Ally seemed happy at first, but then you could start to hear the irritation in her voice. "You better not bring it in here again. I don't want to clean up this house a second time today."

"Don't worry mom, dad brought it to the shed." Lance walked into the kitchen with his mom. He kissed her on the cheek before heading into the living room.

Lance over the years has grown into a young man. Now sixteen, with his birthday just around the corner. He stands at just over five and a half feet or more than one and a half meters. His mom is barely as tall as him, but he has a long way to go to reach his father's height of six foot four. He wasn't very muscular, but he wasn't overweight or overly skinny either. He had just the right amount of meat on his bones in the right areas.

Lance sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, then picked up a controller for the console. As it boots up, he starts up one of his favorite games. The game is called Ever-Long Nights.

Ever Long Nights is a Sci-fi RPG, built around space travel. You start on a low-grade planet, starting from either the stone age, or the metal age, and work your way up. It has a diverse class system with many branches. The ultimate goal of the game is to go into space.

Lance spends countless nights playing Ever-Long Nights, sometimes waking his parents up in the process. Sometimes he even shirks his homework and chores to play.

Dan finished up in the shed and brought in some venison for supper. With Ally's help, the couple prepared to make dinner. Ally peels and chops some vegetables, while Dan focuses on seasoning the meat and cooking it just right. As they continue, Ally turned to Lance, still playing his game in the living room, "Sweetie, supper will be ready soon. Why don't you go clean up before it's ready?" her sweet soft voice always made dan smile as he walks over and kiss her on the cheek.

"Okay, mom!" Lance responded to his mom as he turned off his game and headed into the washroom.

Some time had passed as Lance finished his shower. Upon heading back out Ally was busy setting the table, and placing forks and knives around placemats. Dan was by the stove making each of their plates. Laying a fair chunk of venison on three separate plates, right next to the veggies already on the plates.

"Sit buddy, it'll be ready in a second." Dan grabs the plates and sets everyone up with a plate. They all sit down together and enjoy their meal, talking about what happened throughout the day. "So when are you gonna stop playing games all day?" Dan didn't mind Lance playing video games, but he felt there was a time and place. Every time Dan looks, he sees Lance playing some game.

"Never!" Lance said with a mouth full of food and a big cheeky smile.

"Don't speak with your mouth full sweetie" Ally Told Lance as she smiled.

"Those things will rot your brain and make you into a potato. We live out here, you need to learn to work hard for what you want or need." Dan wasn't scolding Lance, but he also didn't like watching his son play video games all day.

"I know dad, I will work hard. If you actually knew about the game and how hard it is, you wouldn't doubt me." Lance looks at his father with hopeful eyes.

"Sigh, there's no convincing you, is there?" Dan sighed then they all went back to eating quietly.

*

The night has grown late, the full moon overlooks the cabin, and the night is clear. Stars sparkling in the night sky so brightly. Other than the stars, the only light is the lite glow of the television shining through the window of the cabin.

Lance is laying back on the couch with his legs on the coffee table playing his game. He's wearing headphones and has the TV muted, so he doesn't wake his parents.

The night is calm, as snores could be heard from his parent's bedroom. Dan has always snored and bugs his wife to no end. If one could describe this scene, one would say it's the average family.

In the game, Lance has already reached space travel. His goal is to recruit an armada to conquer some of the biggest civilizations in the game, making himself the one true ruler. Though it is not explained what the true ending is, he feels this is it.

He is in the process of hiring main characters for his team when suddenly, the cabin starts to shake a little. Not enough to wake his parents, or cause him to be alarmed. A light tremor, barely noticeable if one were moving around. But, that wasn't the only thing to happen.

BRVRUUUUUUM!

A loud sound, akin to spaceships in movies, resounds throughout the area. Trees began shaking violently, animals running in all directions, and the slight tremor from before, now feels like a small earthquake.

Lance jumps up, scared half to death, he runs around from window to window, looking all over to find what caused the earthquake, 'what's happening' he thinks to himself.

Dan walks out of the room, groggy from the sleep still in his eyes, "Can you turn that damn game down buddy, or go to bed. Either works for me." He's rubbing his eyes to refocus so he can see better. As his eyes focused he noticed Lance was running from window to window.

"Dad, that wasn't my game, I swear!"

"What's wrong then buddy?!" The confusion was evident on Dan's face as he spoke, but before Lance could respond, the loud sound echoed throughout the house once again.

BRRVRRUUUM!

"What the...?!" Dan follows his son's example and looks outside. The sound this time was much louder, and the ground shook far fiercer.

Ally rushed out of the room, she too thought it was Lance's game, but she knew he wouldn't dare have it that loud while his father was there. Before Ally could question the boys about what was going on, a deafening sound reverberated just outside.

BRRVRRUUUUM!

The earthquake was so bad this time, all three of them fell on their butts. The three of them stumbled back to their feet. Lance was the first to regain his balance and ran to the front door and outside. His parents followed shortly behind.

Once they were outside, Lance looked up to the sky. Then, as he stared into the blackness of the evening sky, he got a shocked look on his face. His knees became like jelly as he fell to the ground once more "This can't..... How?"

Dan and Ally looked at each other, puzzled, then they looked in the direction their son was staring and let out loud gasps. "Oh my god!" Ally voiced her thoughts as she saw just what Lance was looking at.

High in the sky, barely visible, a huge ship hung over them. It looked black to them and was hanging just above the forest. It was huge, the size of a small city in scale. Lance knew this was a battlecruiser due to his time playing Ever-Long Nights. Before the group could catch their breath, the ship let out another loud noise.

BRRRRRRRVRRRRUUUUUUUUM!

It was so loud this time, they had to cover their ears. Lance looks over to his parents, worry and fear in his eyes, "Mom, Dad?" Lance was scared, he knew how powerful a spaceship could be, especially a ship designed for space battles. But, before his parents could even say any comforting words, a blinding flash assaulted their eyes burning them. All they could see was white.

Seconds seem to last for hours. Lance couldn't move, or more so, he didn't want to because he couldn't see. Several minutes passed before his sight turned black. 'Am I blind?' Lance thought to himself, that the bright light must have blinded him.