Indomitable

n.i.n.e.t.e.e.n

They'd been walking silently for hours and hours, past the innards of the city and onto the outskirts, until the setting sun bathed the sky in vibrant tones of pink and purple and red as it slowly sunk below the horizon.

Remi could feel her feet growing sore, but she didn't complain. There would be no point in doing so.

She could have ran, but she knew she wouldn't have made it far. It wouldn't have taken her long to get lost, and then someone would recognize her by her hair and horns and snatch her up for their own purposes.

Her capture was inevitable at this point, but at least she could choose who would take her.

Besides, she was away from crowds of people now, and could relish in her near-solitude.

"Through here," Melee called, turning sideways and squeezing through a thin slit in between a couple ancient buildings.

Remi hesitated a moment before ducking her head and following suit.

They had to walk sideways in the dark for a few moments while the ground sloped downwards.

Down, down down, until it opened up and they were in a cavernous passageway, lit by burning torches.

The air was instantly cooler on Remi's skin, and she savoured the feeling.

Taking a deep, soothing breath, Remi could also tell that this air was a lot more dry. Not near as much humidity.

And yet, the rocky walls were damp and dripping with condensation. The floor was cold even through her sandals.

"Are you just going to stand there all day?" Melee's voice startled her. Her grey eyes were sharp. "The least you could do is try run away, or make it easy on yourself and follow me. But don't just stand there."

Remi shook her head silently and walked in Melee's direction. After hours of walking together, she was feeling more comfortable around the wild, sarcastic young woman—even if she was quite possibly leading Remi to something terrible.

"You don't seem like a mercenary. Bodyguard?"

"Just a guard. For a prison. But it doesn't pay overly well, so I have to do things on the side. Things like this."

A prison? Remi's cousin, Soren, sometimes mentioned rumours of such a thing.

Remi took another deep breath of the stagnant air before biting back, "Such as saving girls from being raped and then kidnapping them for someone who probably wants them dead?"

Melee let out a grunt. "Like I said, there's no heroes in this world. You shouldn't expect any."

"Are you too scared to become one?" Remi asked, blinking.

And yet, as the startling words tumbled forth from Remi's mouth, she realized that she should be asking herself that same question.

Why was it that Remi never stood up for what she believed? Never took a public stand and tried to change things for the better . . .

Was Remi scared to try change the way things were?

Yes.

But why? What was she scared of?

Melee's voice startled her from her thoughts of self contemplation.

"Scared? No," Melee replied flippantly. "Just aware of the fact that change is impossible."

She continued on, without waiting for a reply. "Did you know that there are those worse than the psychopaths littering our streets? They're locked up, removed from society, because they're some of the craziest basket-cases in existence and even the psychopaths are terrified by them. Our society has fallen so far into immorality that its irreversible. Unchangeable."