Worlds Apart: Volume I

The During: The Raid

Ney'ite closed her eyes and took a deep breath as Neyetam painted her face for war. It brought back memories of her dream hunt. It saddened her heart that it was just Neyetam painting her face today. She knew it saddened him that she was the only one who could paint his.

"All done," Neyetam said as he took the brush away from her face.

Ney'ite opened her eyes. Neyetam was staring back at her. Ney'ite just saw her eyes looking back at her.

"Are you ready for today?" Ney'ite asked.

"You know I am," Neyetam said. He held out his hand for Ney'ite to take. "Are you?"

"I've been ready for a long time," Ney'ite said as she took his hand. "They're watching us now. Let's go make them proud."

"We've been making them proud every single day," Neyetam said. "You know that, right?"

"I know," Ney'ite said with a sad smile. "I just wish that they could be here today to see this. I don't think that they would have believed it."

"Tysal wouldn't have," Neyetam smiled. "Aytanin and Marali would have."

"Are you two ready?" Lo'ak said as he popped his head into the tent. "It's almost time to leave."

"We're coming," Ney'ite said as she stood up. "There's no need to nag us."

"Yeah," Neyetam said as he followed his siblings out of their home. "It's not like we've been waiting for this." Ney'ite could basically hear her brother rolling his eye by the tone of his voice.

The three siblings walked to their ikrans by opening of the base. Ney'ite took deep breaths to steady herself. Her rational mind knew that she wouldn't be in danger. Her and her brothers were just lookouts. Her irrational mind could only point out how her friends had gone to battle and never returned. She prayed to Ewya that everyone she cared about would make it home today.

Ney'ite got onto Swirya and flew out with her brothers. She flew in line with her brothers. Her father's words rang through her head.

Keep a lookout for incoming air crafts.

Don't step into the battle.

Stay back until the first attack takes out the train.

This is a privilege not a right.

It was those last words that rung through Ney'ite's head the most. Her father was choosing to trust her and her brothers. This was their chance to prove that they could be trusted in battle.

Ney'ite just hoped that Lo'ak wouldn't do anything too rash.

The war party flew through the forest. The war cries carried throughout the entire forest. They filled Ney'ite's heart with courage. They filled it with pride. Ney'ite knew that this was her people's chance to help push the Sky People back. It would be justice for all they had lost.

The war party came to the railway. Ney'ite and her brothers hung back until the ground team took out the track in front of the train. The train crashed and the air team swooped in. Ney'ite, Neyetam, and Lo'ak flew high above the rest of the group. Ney'ite's eyes were constantly moving from left to right as she circled above the wreckage below her. She watched as the warriors of the clan began to take the weapons that the train was carrying. Ney'ite looked away almost as soon as she laid her eyes on the scene. Her father didn't bring her here to watch the raid: he brought her here to watch the skies.

"We have to go down there, bro," Lo'ak said as he watched the warriors on the ground.

"Father will kill us," Neyetam said as he looked at Lo'ak.