Distant Horizons: Trust Is Dangerous

Betrayal… It hurts terribly. It scorches the soul. After the soul burns, only ash remains. And don’t believe those who say that ash is good fertilizer. Supposedly, on fertilized ash-ground, a new harvest will grow better. Nonsense! In fertile soil… yes! On land burned to the ground… nothing will ever grow.

That’s what young Arkady understood—the one who was first used and then betrayed by the people he trusted. Betrayed again. What can grow in a burned-out soul of a boy who has only one shell left?

Only the Universe knows the answer to that question…