Mina of the Stars

Chapter 2 - The Darkside of Twilight

Mina stews in acrid thoughts of Kakos all through the back alleys of Phebetor.  It is only when she arrives at its perimeter that she is able to pull herself back into the present.   She is trading dangers.  Certainly the city holds some, but out in the dry volcanic desert beyond, lies a different, more visceral threat.

She pauses at the cliffside path down towards one of the five bridges that cross the creviced valley of Nix, the dividing boundary between Phebetor's city and the hungry planetary sands beyond.

Small scufflings ring around her.  Bare feet tuck into small piles of boards and rock.  Eyes peer at her from rough-hewn spy-holes and cracks.  The scent of urine is strong, as is the bitter-stale smell of black icquor, a drug that offers peace, until it wears off.  This is where most of the humans dwell.  Safe from the serpent sands outside, and near enough to receive god-leavings should they be so lucky.

I'd rather face serpents over a god-bloods.  A serpent doesn't present itself as anything other than a hunter. The god-bloods would have us worship their lies.

Mina shifts the water ration on her back.  She is sore, her muscles empty of strength.  It is her will alone that moves her now.  To get home, to return to Josh and Dee and bring home the water.

"Mina...terror?"

A small voice cuts in.  Mina looks to her right.  A human child crouches, peering down at her.  She's seen it before, but has never heard it speak. It stands. Fists clenched. "My father went against you today."

Mina stills. She can hear the shuffles about her grow.  She should not linger, should not invite conversation. But.  She remembers the determination in the older man's face.  He'd had a reason to live-- it stands before her. "He fought well. Did you receive your ration for his contribution?"

The child nods.  Its face is streaked with red dirt. "You fight so well. Why do you fight your own people? Why don't you fight for us instead?"

The hushes and whispers about Mina grow.  She feels nauseous. Her gaze hardens upon the child. "Do not confuse me, who killed your father, as a hopeful hero. I am every bit as monstrous as the gods themselves." 

 Mina's stomach clenches sick and empty as she turns away.  She descends the cliffside path quickly, but not before little eddies of their voices chase after her. 

"Mina-terror. She shows how strong one of us can be."

"She might fight in the pits, but she loathes it all the same.  See how she avoided Rylin today?"

"Mina met gazes with Kakos, and lived!" 

Mina hunches her shoulders and slips into the dark shadow of Nix. "Foolish humans." She seethes. She hates the hopeful spin they put upon her.  "I am nothing but darkness."

She reaches the middle of the cliff, where a metallic bridge hangs, chiming softly in the wind.  It is one of Kakos' creations.  Each plank is a polished metal plates in the shape of arms.  He's worked the ends into hands, many fisted, some open, some pointing.  She steps across the limbs, the metallic suspended chains hung with jewels shivering and tinkling.  The opulence of it all doesn't help with her twisted gut.  No human would dare take apart his handiwork.  Stealing from the gods invites a torture upon a soul.

Kakos's work is as impressive as it is disturbing, like his person.  His ability to melt metal with his bare hands is equally horrifying.  But all the gods hold horror and power in their hands.

Mina is glad when her boots crunch down on the black gravel of the other side of the bridge.  Mina removes her boots and secures them to the top of her bag.  The ground beneath is cool.  She stills, closing her eyes to the vibrations.  Immediately a voice arrives in her mind, not hers, but other.  It has been with her as long as she has lived on Typhon, and it says, as it always has: