The Discovery
The weight of time was something Joseph had come to terms with as he grew older. His hair, once a rich chestnut, had faded to a salt-and-pepper gray, the signs of age creeping in slowly but surely. He felt it in his bones each morning when he rose at dawn, the familiar aches and stiffness a reminder of all the years he had spent working the land and raising his family. It was a life he wouldn’t trade for anything, but the peaceful rhythm of the ranch seemed more and more like a bubble shielding him from the world beyond. And lately, that bubble felt fragile, as if something dark was pressing in from the outside, waiting to burst through.
One such morning, Joseph was out early, long before the rest of the ranch had stirred. He’d risen before the first sun had fully crested the horizon, the pale light casting long shadows across the fields. His boots crunched over the gravel as he walked along the fence line, surveying his land, his thoughts drifting to the unusual tension that had been gnawing at him for weeks. There had been strange noises in the night, odd rustlings in the tall grass, and the feeling that something—or someone—was watching him. But he had always chalked it up to paranoia. Avaleris was a wild place, after all, and it wasn’t uncommon for the ranch to draw in predators, both animal and human.
That morning, though, Joseph’s routine was shattered when he found them—the bodies.
The sight made him stop in his tracks, his heart leaping into his throat. Just beyond the edge of his property, near a dense cluster of trees, the mangled remains of two planet guards lay sprawled in the dirt, their uniforms torn, their bodies twisted at unnatural angles. Joseph crouched down beside them, tipping his wide-brimmed hat back as he tried to make sense of the gruesome scene before him. The planet guards were Avaleris’ first line of defense, patrolling the borders of the city and keeping the peace in the outlying territories. They were trained, tough as nails, and they had a reputation for handling whatever threats the wilderness might throw at them.
But this? This was unlike anything Joseph had ever seen.
The bodies were shredded, their limbs torn as if by some monstrous force. Blood soaked the earth around them, but it wasn’t the sheer brutality of the attack that disturbed Joseph—it was the precision. The cuts were clean, deliberate. This wasn’t the work of some wild dinosaur or a frenzied predator. Whoever—or whatever—had done this had wanted them to suffer. It was personal, cruel, and terrifyingly methodical.
Joseph’s Triceratops herd, grazing not far off, seemed unusually skittish, their low grunts echoing through the stillness of the morning. The air was thick with an uneasy silence, the kind that made the hairs on the back of Joseph’s neck stand on end. He scanned the area, his sharp eyes narrowing as they caught sight of something half-buried in the dirt nearby—a broken spear. It was standard planet guard issue, its shaft splintered, the tip missing entirely. There was no sign of a struggle, no evidence of a fight. Whatever had killed these men had come quickly and without warning.
A cold knot of fear tightened in Joseph’s chest as he stood and looked out over the fields. The ranch, his home, his family—it all felt too close now, too vulnerable. The guards had been patrolling not far from the main house, close enough that if whatever had attacked them decided to venture further, his family could be next. He glanced back toward the distant outline of his house, the familiar silhouette against the sky. Lila and the kids would still be asleep, blissfully unaware of the horror he had just stumbled upon.
Joseph wiped his brow, his mind racing as he tried to make sense of what had happened. He had lived on Avaleris his entire life, and while there had always been dangers, nothing like this had ever happened so close to home. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just the beginning of something far worse.
He crouched down again, his eyes locking onto the faces of the dead guards, or what was left of them. Their expressions were frozen in terror, their mouths twisted in silent screams. These men had seen their killer, and whatever it was had been beyond their ability to fight off. Joseph muttered a curse under his breath, his voice low and grim.
“What the hell did this?”
The question hung in the air, unanswered.
Joseph stood and wiped his hands on his trousers, glancing once more at the broken spear. He couldn’t let this go. If there was something out there capable of taking down armed planet guards, then the entire region was at risk. His family, his neighbors, even the city of Avaleris itself. The thought of something creeping along the edges of his land, watching, waiting for its next move, sent a chill down his spine.
Over the next few days, Joseph tried to keep things normal at the ranch, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that had settled deep in his gut. His nights grew restless, the comfortable sleep he had once enjoyed replaced by hours of tossing and turning, his mind filled with images of the dead guards, their broken bodies haunting him. When he did manage to fall asleep, he would wake up with a start, drenched in sweat, convinced he had heard something moving outside his window.
It wasn’t long before strange things started happening. It was subtle at first—odd movements along the distant horizon, shadows that seemed to shift and move in ways that didn’t quite make sense. At times, Joseph thought he saw figures out there, just at the edge of his property, but when he blinked, they were gone, swallowed up by the darkness. He told himself it was just his imagination, that the stress of what he had seen was getting to him. But deep down, he knew better.
One evening, while sitting on the porch after a long day of work, Lila came out to join him, her eyes full of concern. She had noticed the changes in him—the sleepless nights, the way his gaze would drift off into the distance as if he were waiting for something terrible to happen. Lila was a strong woman, but she knew her husband well, and she could sense when something was wrong.
“You’ve been restless,” she said softly, sitting down beside him, her hand resting on his arm. “What’s going on, Joe?”
Joseph hesitated, his eyes flicking to the horizon, where the last rays of sunlight were fading into twilight. He didn’t want to worry her. She had enough on her plate with the ranch and the kids. But he couldn’t keep it from her any longer.
“I found something,” he said, his voice low. “Out by the fence. Planet guards. Dead. Torn apart like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
Lila’s eyes widened in shock. “By the ranch?”
Joseph nodded. “Too close for comfort. And it wasn’t an animal, Lila. Something else did this.”
She frowned, worry etched across her features. “Have you told anyone?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know who to trust. The planet guards are supposed to protect us, but whatever’s out there… it got to them first. I’m not sure anyone can stop it.”
For a long moment, they sat in silence, the weight of his words hanging between them. Finally, Lila spoke, her voice steady despite the fear Joseph knew she must be feeling.
“Then we’ll be ready,” she said. “Whatever it is, we’ll protect our home. Our family.”
Joseph looked at her, admiration swelling in his chest. She was right, of course. They couldn’t afford to live in fear. They had to be prepared for whatever was coming, and Joseph would do whatever it took to keep his family safe.
But even as he nodded in agreement, the uneasy feeling that had been gnawing at him refused to go away. Something was coming, something bigger than they could have ever imagined, and Joseph had a sinking feeling that they were running out of time.