The Sandrîanî metropolis disappeared behind us in a wisp of sandy mirage, the entire desert kingdom swallowed up by the surrounding hills of sand. The sun's rays were sharp and sizzling on my head and droplets of sweat made their way down the sides of my face as we traveled further south. The pendant Gandila gave me felt like ice against my neck, the only thing that managed to help me stay sane in the furious heat.
The warmth was intense, but nothing I wasn't used to back on earth.
The land however, was absolutely striking. The Sandrîanî desert was beautiful in its own simple way. A colossal sea of sand that seemed to cover every inch of land, stretched out in front of our small party. Each sand particle was bright, its colour almost blinding while they glittered like precious stones in the sunlight.
I gaped at the simplicity of it all. The way everything seemed to be completely open and how the waves of sand joined the very sky above us in a kind of elegant endlessness.
I was unfortunately too exhausted to really appreciate anything. My breath rasped painfully through my lungs with each step and my legs had become deadweight. Lex walked next to me - the only person who bothered to stay by my side while we trekked through the sandy hills. I wasn't as physically fit for our journey as I would've liked and I appreciated Lex's company.
I glanced at her often - dreading the irritated expression that my slow pace probably invoked - but found nothing but kindness in her blue eyes as she inspected our surroundings instead. Her blond hair was tied up in a rough bun, the strands wild with the heatwave that blew through them ever so often. Her beautiful face was slightly flushed and smeared with sweat. She wore the indigenous Sandrîanî clothing with extra brown cloth wrapped around her arms and legs to counter the harsh rays of sun. Her dark leggings and shirt seemed to form a stark contrast to our almost white surroundings and made her look even more stunning.
She caught my stare and smiled. I returned her gesture and suddenly noticed something I never saw before. A piece of cloth was moved aside to reveal a mark - no scar - on Lex's one arm. I almost gasped aloud in shock at the sheer ferocity of the wound. The scar looked almost faded with age, but I knew it would be forever etched into her skin by the damage with what it was etched into her flesh.
Lex's eyes followed mine and her face immediately darkened. The light in her blue gaze evaporated at once, replaced only with silent fury.
"You finally noticed." She said, her tone harsh.
Lex glanced at the rest of our party that began to descend a great hill, leading into a small valley between two great mountains. The rocks that made up the mountains seemed to glitter like pure obsidian. Dark and brooding. The whole setting seemed slightly ominous, but I couldn't manage to focus on anything besides Lex's scars.
"H-How?" Was the only word I could manage. Lex didn't meet my gaze for a while and the silence felt almost painful.
"Jacob and I were born in the same region and thus grew up as childhood friends. Both of our families were sent to The City more or less at the same time." Lex began, her eyes clouded with nostalgia that seemed to travel much deeper than mere recollections.
"It was... very hard on the both of us, especially Jacob. Almost immediately after he was ordered outside the City for work, his little brother died for reasons unknown to everyone at the time. I was the only one who could give him the news since his mother - out of pure grief - had forgone the ability to speak." Lex scowled, the anger in the motion catching me off guard.
"The only thing she did was stare out of her window every single hour of the day."
All sound seemed to disappeared from my pounding mind while I listened.
"Jacob's brother used to work part-time for a wealthy higher-up, Oliver Reece. Turns out Reece's wife broke off their relationship very unpleasantly and he managed to lose his company's profit in a matter of a few months. One evening he drank himself into oblivion and totally lost his mind."
Lex's eyes were burning. "The boy was killed that night. They left his corpse on Jacob's porch like some kind of blight, too heedless to have done anything else with it."
The latter had still not met my gaze and was instead, absentmindedly focused on the ugly scar that ran across the length of her arm. The skin was roughly parched into the rugged shape of something that resembled a lightning bolt.
"We got these when we found the dogs who murdered Ian. After the Deathtreaders finished torturing us, Jacob and I couldn't use our arms for weeks as a result. Turns out the bastard we killed was part of the Government's ranks of highest officials and we were able to escape death only because everyone knew Ian. Knowledge of his murder would've caused a definite riot and was too much of a risk for the Government to take."
Lex's voice was raw as she spoke and something inside my chest shattered.
"In my entire life, I had never come to know such pain before. Even though it happened many years ago, I scan still hear Jacob's screams echoing in my mind. Still feel them digging into my bone, feel the blood still spilling down the medical beds."
I swallowed bile, the heat of the day suddenly like a shadow on my skin. Lex's eyes were dead. There was nothing but darkness in her blue orbs when she finally met my own.
"Our pain was worth it though. We were hungry with hatred and could see no other way out of our livid vengeance. We had to kill them."
Lex's face then contorted into a dark smirk, the motion making my blood chill. The sight was utterly abnormal for someone like Lex. Good, innocent, beautiful Lex.
To think the Government could turn even the kindest people into vindicators. Into fighters.
"Ian was avenged, but his death was not forgotten. Never ." Lex growled. There was suddenly pure resolve in her eyes. Obstinance that boiled from the deep fires of revenge. A strong anger that could very much be the death of a person if taken too far. I knew this because I'd been there before. It was why dread bubbled up inside my chest as I stared at the concrete resolution that burned inside Lex's eyes.
"I live for the day I get to see the Government finally destroyed. It is the very reason I joined you, Artemisia. I want to be part of their downfall, even if it leaves me immobilized or kills me in the process. I will not stand their reign any longer. This suffering must end."
I looked at her for a very long time. In the corner of my eye, I was vaguely aware of the group slowing down in front of us. They probably realized we weren't following them anymore.
The sun's hard rays were far away. My thoughts a completely turmoil. I understood Lex's pain. Her thirst for revenge, even better. The loss of someone you cared for, was the most horrid of all suffering one could ever experience in this world. As I looked at Lex however, what truly resided in her heart - the fury I found brewing there - scared me. It frightened me because I knew what it could do to a person, what that hatred could make one do when not controlled. And I wasn't about to let Lex get killed by something as useless as the Government.
Her life was not worth giving up, I realized for the first time since I arrived on Nova Terra. I didn't want to lose Lex nor anyone else. Not even the stupid Lesphares or Angelus - the latter still causing uncertainty to cloud my heart. They were all important parts of my new life on this strange planet now and I won't let them die just because of their revenge.
It was why I took a deep breath. Why I opened my mouth. "The Government has to be stopped, I do agree Lex. It is after all why we came all this way, why we gave up our peaceful lives for the sake of protecting others."
The sun lowered itself behind the darkness of a great rift between two mountains. The rocky expanse was bare, not a living creature nor plant in sight. Everything looked sharp an dangerous, the obsidian like jagged pieces of glass just waiting to pierce flesh. The entire setting gave me a strange feeling, but I was not able to pinpoint what exactly caused me the odd discomfort.
My heart thundered against my ribcage. "But Lex, is revenge really of such value that you have to sacrifice your own life? Maybe it will be our fate die trying, but how do we know? How can you disregard the time that is given to you so easily!? Isn't this life worth fighting for?"
My thoughts went back to Albert and the photograph he held in his hand, the recollection feeling like ages ago. Albert still wanted to find someone, someone he wanted to hold in his arms again. A family he yearned to return to. To think that someone as young as Lex could just throw away that wonderful dream for something as utterly absurd as the Government, frustrated me.
I noticed how Jacob looked at Lex. How could she give up her own life when he cared so deeply about her?
Lex opened her mouth. And screamed.
"Throw away ?! You think I'm just throwing my life away?! You have NO idea what we've been through in The City! What horrid things we've seen... what we had to give up! You didn't have to experience any of that, because you were all alone! For all those years you were completely isolated and had no one to care for safe for yourself! How can you possibly understand!?"
Her words pierced deep into my heart. Each like a knife that dug its way deeper into my flesh. I was too shocked to say anything, except the wish that I'd never used my mouth in the first place.
The next moment Christa arrived and Jacob following short after. Both were wide eyed and Christa immediately placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
"What's going on you two? We saw you weren't following us." She exclaimed nonchalantly, but her brown eyes were tensed. Jacob walked towards Lex, his gaze not once leaving hers. My vision was blurry and mouth, dry like the very sand I stood on. Lex's words kept repeating themselves over and over in my head, each time hurting me even more. My fists were quivering next to my sides and I felt Christa's eyes immediately trained on my face. Her friendly facade was splintering as she tried to comfort me and it somehow made me feel even worse than I already did.
We were suddenly not alone anymore. Angelus appeared next to us, followed by Ferîan and Quîncîn. The three Lesphares looked slightly uncomfortable with the mood of the conversation and even Quîncîn didn't glare at me like he usually preferred to. Angelus was however, just as reserved as he usually was, his body oddly rigid as if he was preparing for an invisible battle. His voice was husk in the twilight air, the last remains of sunlight streaming through the mountain pass ahead.
"Keep your emotions under control. The aura of this area is not ordinary. Something is definitely wrong with it and I have a feeling it is affecting your emotional state in a negative way as well."
I looked up at Angelus. His eyes were dark in the last hours of day, hair silky in the evening breeze that smelled of musk and smoke. I wasn't able to say anything to his warning. Even if the area was affecting our emotions, I could still not shake the feeling that some of Lex's words were not entirely fortuitous.
"We should keep moving. It will soon be dark and we have no recollection of the creatures that tread here." Ferîan warned and caused everyone to inspect their surroundings in slight more caution.
He's right. I thought absentmindedly, my thoughts too shaken from Lex's words to formulate clear logical thoughts. It would soon be pitch dark and we still had ways to go before we could rest.
My gaze went back to Angelus for the final permission to continue our journey and was surprised to find his own already fixated on me. I couldn't even find the strength to be embarrassed by the intensity of his gaze and the Defender also seemed to realize it. There was a flash of slight solace in his eyes and the soft expression made something in my chest flutter.
"Let's move. This region does not sit right with me. I do not know about everyone else, but I'm certainly not very eager to spend the night with creatures we know nothing about." Quîncîn snapped impatiently and started in the direction of the mountain pass.
Then he froze. We all froze at the terrifying noise.
The sound of beating wings that made the wind howl and very earth tremble.