Tessa opened her eyes to darkness and claws. The darkness came first, all around her, physical, grabbing for her, pulling her deeper and deeper, like a siren, dragging her down into the depths to drown her. Then, came the claws, tearing through her armor, shredding through her skin. Thrall, she could recognize the feeling, but she couldn't see them, it was to dark. She felt them on all sides of her, clawing, shredding. A scream wrenched itself from her, and she heard it, distantly. She tried to raise her hands to defend herself, but she couldn't, her limbs were too heavy. It felt as if her entire body had been filled with water, or lead, so heavy she could hardly breathe. Even standing took almost all her energy. She tried to summon her light, but she felt nothing. Nothing would come to defend her. She tried to reach out, and this time, she did feel something, someone, but it wasn't her. It was someone else, someone familiar. And a rift, a shield. She had to get to it, but she couldn't move. Her limbs were too heavy, she couldn't even lift a finger.
Suddenly, there was a blinding light, too bright to see what it was coming from. The thrall to her right let out angry screeches, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw the rift was glowing, and she could see someone fighting within, a silhouette fighting back, shoving the thrall off, away, until they stopped and retreated just a bit. The thrall attacking her had stopped momentarily too, and as she glanced down, she saw she was glowing as well, but her glow... It was different. It wasn't right.
The thrall had moved away from her, but suddenly pain tore though her body again, much worse than before. It was as though she'd jumped into a pool of acid, her entire body was burning, she felt like her flesh was melting from her bones. She felt like she was breathing broken glass, tearing apart her throat, her lungs, her heart. Another scream came from her as she collapsed to the ground. But this scream was so much worse. It echoed in the space, a broken noise, she felt like she was breaking, shattering into a million pieces, like a crystal glass dropped on stone floors.
As if in response, a roar sounded, so loud it made her scream sound meek and small. She heard her ears ringing softly. The pain faded slowly, into a dull, pressing ache, but she didn't want to open her eyes, she didn't want to see the beast that had roared, likely coming to finish her off after what the thrall had done to her.
"Look at me!" The creature bellowed, and she raised her head, fear and weakness shaking her body as she did.
"Oryx." A whisper, but she couldn't feel it on her lips.
The monster loomed above them, his face contorted into a snarl as he glared down at them. They were in some sort of hive cavern, on a ledge, a solid wall behind them. Oryx was hovering beyond the ledge, out of reach, as if he were mocking them, telling them they'd never reach him, as if they could do anything to him.
"You are the last hope of the Light?" He roared, swooping closer, moving to her right. She couldn't raise her head to see who he was addressing. "You, a warlock, your past shredded by the claws of your enemies." She could have sworn he sneered, "The same claws you bear yourself."
"And you," he flew to her, snarling down at her as she shrank away. He was close enough now, close enough to kill, but she had no strength, and he'd rather drag her suffering out a bit longer. "A girl, despised by the light, no matter how hard she fights for it." He growled, drawing back an arm, his claws bright and sharp in the light. She gasped, barely managing to raise an arm to cover her face as she saw the claw fly for her.
"No!"
***
Damain awoke to his door, slamming open, hitting the wall with a hard smack. He heard himself gasping, repeatedly, air moving into his lungs only to be shoved straight out, though it felt lie there was no oxygen in the room.His light was panicking, pulling back, into him, hiding from the dark. He raised his head, seeing through the darkness just as a figure lunged at him, grappling at him. He threw out a field of void light, recognizing the figure just as the energy left his palm. He watched her shadowed figure hit the floor, crying out just as she had in his dream.
"Tessa!" He scrambled to his feet, oxygen flooding into his lungs as he rushed to her. His blood roared in his ears as he grabbed for her. He'd killed people in the crucible with hits like that, fully armored too. Luckily it hadn't hit her right, she looked up quickly, blood already streaming from her nose, her right eye already swelling.
"I'm so sorry, are- are you okay?" He stammered, grabbing her arms, "You're bleeding-"
"Stop, stop-" She said quickly, grabbing his arms as he grabbed hers. She was on her knees, holding his arms firmly, her nails digging into his skin as she clutched at him."I need to know. The dream, did you-" She looked wild, her eyes were wide, she was panting for breath, her entire body was shaking heavily, trembling from adrenaline and fear.
The recognition in his face was what stopped her. Her face fell, as if she'd been hoping it was just a bad dream, a figment of her imagination, just as he had been hoping. Her grip slackened a bit, and she slid back, sitting on her feet, staring down at the floor, through the darkness.
"Damian," She said after a long moment of silence, still holding his arms, as he was still holding hers, unconscious, or simply unconcerned by the blood dripping from her chin to the floor. "I feel like I'm suffocating."
In response, he swept his light into her. He felt her weight shift forward as she held his arms a bit tighter and leaned a bit closer to him. The light flooded over her, filling the whole room as it rippled around them, pulling her into his embrace as though he was carrying her to safety. He could feel the lack within her, as though her light had fled, leaving only a bit left for her and Echo. But it was different than last time. There was no unification between her and the light. The light felt cautious, upset, afraid, even angry, but not at Oryx. It was angry at her. But she just felt drained. Pain, fear, exhaustion, fatigue, but as his light held her, he felt relief within her, and it took everything in his power not to draw her into his arms and hold her. He pulled away, pulling his light away from her as he felt his own emotions tumbling. Oryx had nearly killed her in front of him, and what had he done? He could still hear her screams in his ears. He had still heard them when he'd hit her, and now her blood was on his hands.
"You still have some light," He told her, moving to stand. "But whatever happened in that dream..." He trailed off. "You're light is changing. We need to call Ikora. If Oryx did something to you... to your light..." he shook his head, dropping her arms and standing up, turning for the bathroom door. He ducked inside, grabbing a cloth and tossing it to her before grabbing another and wetting it in the sink.
"Sit over there." He said, pointing to the bed. "Kylie will get Ikora, we need to worry about stopping your nosebleed." He squeezed out the wet cloth and headed back out. She'd gotten up and sat down on the edge of his bed, holding the cloth to her nose. The blood on her face was already drying, red covering her mouth and chin, her hands, her clothes, some had even dripped onto her bare feet. He sat down beside her and took one of her hands in his own, scrubbing the blood from it with the wet cloth.
He washed the blood from her hands and face, and eventually the nosebleed stopped. He gave her ice packs for the swelling and apologized to the point where she had to tell him to stop, and ten minutes later, Ikora and Cayde stood in the dimly lit bedroom.
Damian was in the bathroom, the door open as he scrubbed the blood from his own hands.
"So tell us about the dream." Ikora said from the bedroom. They'd explained to her the basics, but nothing in detail.
"Well," Damian said, turning off the sink and coming to lean in the door frame, a towel in his hands. "My experience is going to be different from Tessa's, but from what I remember, it started off when I was being attacked by thrall. My light formed a shield around me," He explained, "A healing rift, so the thrall could attack me, and I could feel it, but it wasn't hurting me." He caught his lower lip between his teeth and bit down on it before continuing, "I could hear Tessa screaming." He said, "But at the time, I thought it was just a dream. It was so dark I couldn't see her, and I tried to go to her, but the thrall wouldn't let me move.
"Then the thrall withdrew, and I started glowing. The same way you would with the blessing of the Light. And when I looked, Tessa was glowing too, but it was... Different. Then I heard her screaming-" His gaze went to her, worry in his eyes, "It was like the light was burning her, I couldn't understand it. It felt like... hate."
As he spoke, he saw Cayde standing in front of Tessa, gently moving one of the ice packs from her face as he inspected the swelling, one ear open to what Damian was saying, his face a mask of concentration and thought. But, as Damian spoke the last word, his head flicked up, the soft glow of his eyes moving to the wall, behind Tessa, and then towards him as he turned towards the warlock.
"That can't be right." He said, handing the ice pack back to Tessa and motioning for her to put it back on her face again. "The light cares for all guardians, the fact that Tessa is here should be enough. She can be revived, she has the powers, even beyond most other Guardians. The light could never hate her." He was frowning, troubled, considering the statement, wondering what it could mean if it was true.
"Perhaps." Ikora said, her face resuming that familiar, thoughtful expression. "Tessa's light is not her own, not originally at least. It is possible that the light does not have the same trust in Tessa as her mother did." Ikora removed her right glove and rose her hand to Tessa, palm out, her hand facing up. Tessa pressed her own palm against it, watching the warlock. Damian could feel Ikora's light shifting as she searched Tessa's. He wanted to lean forward, to see the exchange, to see what Ikora was finding, if she was finding anything.
"Ikora," Cayde said, almost sharply, "You can't possibly think-"
"I'm merely suggesting we consider the possibilities." Ikora stated, drawing back her hand when she was satisfied, returning her glove to her hand "It is equally likely that this is simply Oryx's doing, as it was the last time your light left you." She told Tessa. "What did it feel like when this happened?" Ikora asked her.
Tessa swallowed, "It felt like I was in a pool of acid, like the light was burning my skin, and it felt like I was breathing in shards of glass or daggers." She explained,her breath shaky as she spoke. "But it was worse than that. I can't explain it." She said with a small sigh.
Neither Cayde or Ikora said anything for a while. Ikora looked up after a moment, as if realizing they were expecting her to say something.
"I'm sorry, guardian." Ikora said, her face grim. "I will need some time to think this over before I can truly hope to understand what is going on here." She said, then looked to Damian, "Please, continue."
Damian nodded and tried to gather his thoughts again. "After whatever happened happened," he began again, "There was a loud roar, and the chamber lit up. It looked like we were in the dreadnought, on one of the ledges along the channels. Oryx was in the chasm, but he flew over us, he said something about us being the last hope of the light. He addressed me first, he said-" Damian took a shaky breath, his heart suddenly pounding in his chest. "He said, "A warlock, your past shredded by the claws of your enemies."" Damian glanced at Cayde, the only one in the room who didn't know. He couldn't help his glance, but he quickly tore his gaze as he took another breath and continued, "The same claws you bear yourself." He closed his eyes for a brief moment, trying to calm down a bit before he spoke again. Even recalling the incident to his mind sent the panic tumbling through him, as if it were happening all over again. "And then he talked to Tessa, I don't exactly remember what he said-"
"A girl, despised by the light," Tessa recited, "No matter how hard she fights for it."
Damian nodded, swallowing hard, "And then he hit her, and I thought he'd killed her, but then I woke up."
"And how did this happen?" Cayde asked, gesturing to the swelling of Tessa's eye. Damian felt his stomach twist in guilt as the hunter looked to him.
"I woke him up pretty loudly, and I sort of tackled him." She explained, "It was dark, it was hard to see. He only hit me on impulse."
"I didn't mean to." Damian added, "I realized it was her right after the wave left my hand."
Cayde held up a hand, "It's alright, I just wanted to know." He said, and Damian felt himself relax, even if it was just a tad.
He nodded in understanding, though he still felt incredibly guilty. There were a few long moments of silence before Ikora took a breath, nodding to herself before looking to them.
"If that's all," She said, "I will be in my study."
Cayde nodded in agreement, "Yep, I'm going to go too." Cayde said, "Are you both okay?" They both nodded to Cayde as Ikora left the room. Cayde placed a hand on Tessa's shoulder as he headed for the door. "Be careful, okay?" He told her, "Don't do anything stupid." He said, giving her shoulder a small squeeze before letting go and heading for the door. In the doorway, he turned around and looked to Damian, pointing at Damian, then pointing with two fingers at his own eyes and then at Tessa, who's head was down and didn't see the exchange. Damian nodded and watched as Cayde left the room, listening until the apartment doorclicked shut.
Damian pushed himself off the door frame where he'd been leaning and headed over to where Tessa was still seated on the edge of the bed. He sat down beside her, leaning over his legs as she was leaning over hers. "You okay?" He asked her quietly.
She nodded, then sighed, pushing herself back, off her knees and back still, flopping back onto her back on the bed. "I'm tired," She murmured, "But I don't want to sleep." She said. Her voice was soft, and deep from the lateness of the hour, tired and gentle.
Damian nodded, "Me neither." He said, at least not alone. "Do you want to stay here?" He asked her, looking back at her over his shoulder to where she lay on the bed, rubbing at her uninjured eye and wincing when she brushed a tender spot on her nose.
"You'd be okay with that?" She asked, moving her hands and pushing herself up onto her elbows to look at him.
"Sure." He said with a shrug, "That way I can keep a better eye on your Light." He added, "I could use my light to keep the nightmares away, and maybe even heal your eye, if you want."
"You can do that?" She asked, sitting up fully.
He nodded, "As long as you respond to my light positively, I can use it to evoke a positive response instead of a nightmare." He explained, " I mean, it's not a guarantee, but it could still work, if you want to try."
Despite his calm words, Damian felt nervous, like he was making promises he couldn't keep. He'd just offered for her to stay here, in his bed, and of course, he wasn't going to do anything, he wasn't like that, but he was still worried. Cayde had asked him to keep an eye on her, and sure, using his light to soothe her while she slept would allow him to do that, but it was so... intimate. There were no blocks between his feelings and his light, his light was his feelings, and it showed everything, like a canvas of his thoughts. It worried him for the same reason he'd pulled his light away earlier, because he wasn't ready for her to see those things yet. And he'd want more, he'd want to hold her, to wrap her in his arms and comfort her, but he wasn't sure she'd want that, even if she had accepted his offer to stay with him.
"Okay." Tessa said, then looked at him again, "You're sure you're okay with this?" She asked him again.
"Of course." He promised, "Besides, it doesn't have to mean anything." He said, pulling back the blankets and sliding under them.
"Okay." She agreed, taking the left side of the bed and climbing under the blankets. Kylie flicked off the lights as they settled under the blankets, coming to lay facing in, peering through the darkness. "Thank you." She said quietly after a few moments.
"Of course," Damian said, "Don't mention it."
She nodded softly in understanding and closed her eyes, burrowing a little deeper into the blankets. Eventually, Damian heard her breathing slow as she dropped off to sleep. Slowly, he let his light fill the room. He filled it with warmth, and calmness, spreading it across her, hearing her sigh into it softly. He did as well, closing his eyes as he felt himself growing calmer, to know that she was okay, that the was with him, it made him feel better, it made him relax, the feeling eventually lulling him to sleep.
***
Damian woke the next morning with a weight on his chest, his arm wrapped around a thin torso. Opening his eyes and peering down, he saw that Tessa had moved to press her head into his chest, and he had wrapped an arm around her, holding her against him. He gently slackened his grip, but didn't push her away. The blankets rested just above his hip, and with Tessa so close, he realized how much smaller than him she was. He couldn't help but smile at the fact. Most Guardians were generally fairly tall, he was, most others were, even the women. But, Tessa was not tall. For a regular human being, she was average height, but for a guardian, she was quite short. Sometimes it was hard to tell, she had long legs and she carried herself with grace and dignity that sometimes made her seem taller than guardians much taller than her.
He glanced down as she lifted her head, looking up at him as she blinked the sleep from her eyes.
"Oh," She murmured, realizing she'd been laying against him, "Sorry." She said, scooting back from him a bit.
"Don't worry about it." He said, "Did you sleep well?" He asked her, moving his arm off of her as she sat up and stretched.
She nodded, yawning into a hand. "Yeah," She said, "You?"
He nodded, yawning as he saw her yawn. "Any nightmares?" He asked.
"Thankfully, no." She said with a shake of her head. He nodded again, sweeping his light over her again, listening as she let out her breath softly. Her light felt mostly the same, though it was calming slowly. It felt like it had taken a step back, and was watching from a distance, as if it were trying to give her a chance.
"Your light still isn't at it's best." He told her, "So I'm going to have to say, no dangerous missions until we figure this thing out."
She pouted at that. "Fine." She huffed, because there was no argument to be made. "But I don't just want to sit on my butt until Ikora can figure something out." She told him, setting her jaw and watching him.
"No," He agreed, "Besides, sitting around is definitely not one of your strong suits." She opened her mouth to retort, but he continued. "But," He said, "If I can get Ikora to give us the okay, I have an idea on where we could go to be productive for a few days."
"Oh yeah?" She said with a raise of an eyebrow, "What's that?"
"Remember how I said I'd need to go back to my clan as myself if I wanted to get any real information from my father?" He asked her. Recalling the conversation they'd had a few days ago.
"Yeah." She said with a nod.
"Well, I was thinking I'd take you with me. Showing up will put all the focus on me anyways, so I thought I'd bring a wild card." He said, smiling at her. "If you're okay with it, of course."
"You want to take me with you?" She asked, watching him closely.
"Yeah," He said, "I thought about what you said earlier, and maybe you don't need to blend in after all." He said, "If you want to go, that is." He said, offering her another smile.
She smiled back, her smile tuning a bit mischievous. "It would be my pleasure."
"And," He added, "Once the clan knows I'm alive, it will put me in line to be the next king." He'd thought about that fact the entire time he'd been back in the village, wondering if he ever would be king, and if he even could be king as a Guardian.
"Or it will put a target on the back of your head." She reminded.
"Of course." He said, taking on a grin much more mischievous than hers had been. "That's the best part."
***
Half a day later, Damian and Tessa were back in the hanger, standing in front of Damian's ship with significantly less ammo crates as they had the day before, on their way to the dreadnought.
"So," Tessa said, watching as a few frames checked and fueled up Damian's ship. "What exactly is the plan here?" She asked.
"Well," Damian began, leaning on the small stack of crates, "We're going to go to my village, make a grand entrance, and I'll tell my father I'm paying him a visit and am reestablishing my position within the clan." He explained, "And, maybe we'll even be able to get some information on Oryx." The clan had a relationship with Oryx, maybe ancient and outdated, but it had still existed, and maybe it still did. Damian was ready to take that chance, and with how the fight was going with Oryx, he had a feeling Tessa was willing to take that chance too.
"So where do I come in?" She asked, taking her gaze off the frames to glance at him.
"You are the wildcard." Damian said, smiling to her, "You're a distraction, yes, but also another pair of eyes and ears." He explained. "They'll be watching your every move anyways, so live in it, flaunt it, enthrall them. You're something they've never seen before."
She smiled at his excitement, "Okay, but how are we going to blend in?" She asked, moving out of the way as he picked up an ammo crate from the small stack and headed for the ship ramp. She grabbed the second and followed him.
"Yes," He said, looking back as he started up the ramp. "We don't want to blend in perfectly, but I did have Kylie and Echo recreate some of the typical clothes that they wear, including the court clothes." He told her. "Though, court might be the wrong word, it's more like a group of higher ranked warriors, but they form a court of sorts."
"And how long do you plan on staying?" She asked, setting down her crate beside his as he went out to grab the last one.
"Until Ikora calls us back." He said, carrying the crate into the ship and setting it down as the frames moved away from the ship, signalling them that they were all clear. "And if she doesn't, we'll leave after a week." He said. "We will need to be careful, though. In it's current state, your light will we quiet enough that they'll never notice it unless you try to use it, but for me, I'll have to let back on mine and not use it much. Echo and Kylie will have have to stay back with the ship unless there's some sort of an emergency."
She nodded in understanding. "How will we know if Ikora sends word?" She asked.
"There are certain spots around the village that have enough light that we can talk to Echo and Kylie without being detected. There, we should be able to check in a few times a day to see if there's word from her." He explained, setting down the crate. "You're sure you want to do this?" He asked her.
"Absolutely, any possible information we can get on Oryx is worthwhile." She said, confirming his beliefs. "And besides, it'll be fun."
He smiled at that, pressing the button to close the ramp and heading into the cockpit. He sat down in the pilot's seat and placed his hands on the controls. "It will be dangerous." He reminded.
Tessa slapped his shoulder as she dropped into the seat beside him. "Start the damn ship, Damian." She said, smiling at the amount of times he would ask.
He did, and soon enough, they were off, racing through the skies, the city and the Traveler becoming a small speck behind them.
***
The ride to Damian's clan was a long one, and to make matters worse, they had to land the ship some fifty miles off to insure it wouldn't be spotted, and from there, they'd ride on horseback just close enough to the village, and then Damian would fly them in. It would take about a day, they'd probably arrive late the following evening if they left that morning. Until then, they spent the rest of the day prepping for their journey, packing a few leather satchels with food and a change of clothes, because they'd be able to get more clothes in the village. Damian went out for a few hours and came back with a pair of dark mares for their journey, though he didn't explain how he'd managed to catch them or why they trusted him so much.
Damian gave her a heavy outfit of fighting leathers to wear over a soft set of undergarments. The leathers had to be some of the most impressive things she'd ever seen, their intricate details paralleled only by certain guardian armor pieces. The top had a few sections of varying protection, over her chest and back, the leather was thick, with scale like pieces over her shoulders that reminded her a bit of chain mail. The sleeves extended to give her a sort of glove, and over her forearms and elbows were arm guards made of a thick, tough leather. A matching weapons belt also could be worn at her waist around the tunic. The bottom was a slim set of pants made from the same leather, slim knee pads built into the pants, and a set of boots that ended just above her knees, complete with ankle and shin guards over it. Along with the pants was a thigh holster for a small knife. All of these items were a rich black, and fit her body perfectly when she tried them on.
"These must cost a fortune to buy." She said, looking back at Damian as he checked over the latches and clasps.
He nodded, "Only the high class have enough money to afford a good set. Mostly they're used for battle or long travels, and it's just about impossible to find one not designed with wings, so I had to modify yours a bit."
"Is there anyone in your clan without wings?" She asked.
Damian nodded, "Of course, there are plenty of people, it's just that those without wings are looked down upon as something less than, because they don't bear Oryx's blessing, even if it's just genetics. They make up the lower class and aren't allowed to reach the upper class even if they manage to make the money the upper class have. They're also forbidden from most of the ceremonies and rituals and celebrations unless their working." He frowned, "If I am able to inherit my father's throne, that will be one of the first things to go."
"How will I be able to be with you in the court, then?" She asked.
"Because I'm of a high rank due to blood, choosing you as my partner will grant you access to the palace and court. The nobels won't like you, but as an outsider they wouldn't exactly have been kind to you anyways." Damian explained.
"Well, then I won't have to worry about being kind to them." She said, it would make her life easier.
Damian laughed a bit at that. "No, you will not." He agreed, "I'm almost certain you'll hate at least half of the people there within the first hour of our arrival."
"Great." She said sarcastically, smiling a bit reluctantly, "I guess that will make it more interesting."
He nodded, moving past her and patting he arm as he passed her. "Don't worry about it." He told her. "It's going to be fine."
***
Damian and Tessa left at dawn the next morning, leaving Echo and Kylie in the ship after they had loaded everything into their satchels and went over their plans one last time. They made makeshift bridles for the horses from some rope they found in the ship, and headed on their way.
Riding bareback wasn't a challenge for Tessa, as she'd often ridden horses in her time in the wilds. Damian, however, was a bit rusty, kept a slower pace than Tessa, and quickly grew sore, which he complained about, and she was happy to mock and tease him mercilessly. At midday they stopped to eat lunch, and let the horses graze and drink, and Damian took to the skies, circling the area to gather their whereabouts. Tessa couldn't help but stare up at him as he flew through the skies, his wings looking much larger and impressive open and in action. After his search, he concluded they were just under halfway out, and after a few hours they could leave the horses and fly the rest of the way and arrive by sunset.
The flying was scary at first, but once they got up high enough, and she felt how sturdy Damian's grip was, she began to calm down. She held tight to him, even as the awe of the experience flooded her senses. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if she had a pair of those wings. While she stared below him, he pointed out some of the features, mountains, the main river that came down from the valley, and the edges of the territory, and which neighboring clan was on what side.
He held her a bit closer as they neared the village. They were flying down from the north side, there was a steep cliff that dropped off into the valley, where the village was laid out below them. The river dropped off the cliff in a steep waterfall, leading to the village below, splitting and forking before it reached the village, and meeting again in a large lake on the southeastern side of the territory. Damian paused of the cliff, beside the falls, setting her down beside him.
The cliffs weren't what she had expected when he'd told her about them, they were rock, yes, but the forest around them ran straight up to the drop off, moss and vegitation growing along the jagged rocks all the way down. Peering over the edge, she could see the forest resumed at the bottom, the falls dumping out into a large pool, where the rivers stemmed from.
"Those cliffs to the left are where the palace is built into." He said, pointing another cliff face off to the left across the valley. "And down there is the village." He said, she could see a cluster of buildings and houses, the rest lost in the haze. "We'll probably land in the clearing by the nobles manors and the palace." He said, pointing to a large empty space in front of the cliffs, across from the nobles houses, separated by one of the forks of the river.
"This is..." She looked out over the valley, stepping up to the lip of the cliff. "Incredible." She said finally. "Are those windmills?" Along the river, windmills had been build side by side, one on each side of the river, large wooden structures, turning slowly in the wind.
He nodded, "They use the rivers and the windmills to pump running water, but that's about as advanced as the technology gets." He explained.
"Even still." She said, her voice quiet over the roaring rapids, "It's amazing that they could engineer something like that. These people seem like more of fighters than engineers."
"They are, but there are other clans that are more technologically developed." He explained, "They've taken a few things from them. I've never been to their village, but I've heard it's stunning."
"It probably is, if they can build things like that without modern technology, they must know what they're doing." She said.
Looking out from the cliffs, she could see the sun setting off to her right. All of this had happened so fast, taking a moment to really think, she felt very far from home. Two days ago, she'd been on the dreadnought, and a day ago, she'd woke up to find that Oryx could reach them in their dreams, and her own light didn't trust her. Now? She was dressed in fighting leathers, standing on a cliff overlooking an entire village that distrusted everything she gave her life for. Yet, as Damian stepped up to her side, she felt herself returning home, and she realized again, that this wasn't a bad thing. They could gather information here that could lead to Oryx's downfall, and that had a nice ring to it.
Damian smiled at her, but it was mischievous this time, as if she were a war dog and he was sending her into the valley to wreck havoc. She smiled right back, and he scooped her up, into his arms and leaped from the cliff.
The fall sent her stomach to her throat, and even as he opened his wings, they only slowed a little, leveling out slightly as they plummeted toward the clearing. He waited a few seconds, though it felt like an eternity, until he flared his wings out wide and moved his feet under them, letting her legs down, but keeping her arm over his shoulder. She could see people below them, winged figures, dressed in the same finery Damian had showed her before, ornate coats and tunics, embroidered with stunning designs. There were also warriors, wearing the same leathers they wore, though some not as fine as their handcrafted pieces.
The clearing was large, the grass could have been about knee height, though it seemed weighed down, the ground damp from a recent rainfall. She could hear the river just beyond the crowd, sturdy bridges leading the way back to the manor houses standing tall behind them, where she could see winged figures standing on porches or peering out of windows. Trees dotted the ground around them, though the field was empty, there were trees behind them, and a few across the river with the houses, lining the edges of the village.
Damian let her go just a moment before they hit the ground, and she landed in a crouch, just a second before he did, his feet gliding gracefully to the ground with a soft crunch of the brittle grass below them. She peered behind her, to where he'd landed, standing as he folded his wings slowly, staring out at the small crowd that had gathered. She could hear soft murmurs, and a few people that looked like guards pushed themselves to the front, armed with long swords, holding the blades at the ready. She heard people running over from her left, from the palace built into the cliffs. She faced the crowd, her face a mask of calm, as Damian stepped up, to her side.
"I am Prince Damian, of the Skotadi." His voice was strong and even without looking, she could tell he'd let that damper on his features go. She could hear it in the sharpness of his voice, like a blade, slicing effortlessly through paper. His voice rang clear through the open meadow, clear above the murmurs, the whispers. "I wish to reclaim my place as heir, and seek council with my father."
Author's Note
Hey guys! I feel a bit like I'm going a bit out on a limb with this chapter, so let me know if you guys like it or not, because I'm going out on more of a limb next chapter. I know there wasn't a ton of content here, but next chapter I'm going to go more into depth about Damian's people and their culture. A lot of this is inspired by Sarah J Maas's works, as well as a bit of the Studio Ghibli movie Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The artwork for this chapter- if you can call it that XD- is a map that I drew up of the village. It should put things a bit more into perspective. I spared you the horrors of my handwriting, but I'm sorry the map looks so sloppy.