Episode Five, Part 6:
The Girl from the Ground

You say 'what if I give up?' I say,' that's
the one thing that I'll never let you do.' 

The news came as a shock to the other Sovereigns and no doubt, it left a terrible, inconclusive worry in their chests.

"Did any of them recognise you?" Kodiak asked, not knowing where to begin with his questions or what he needed to know first. Was she safe? Did they still believe she had a duty to them? Was Elara in danger?

"Yeah," Sol nodded, trying to gulp down her fears but they weren't budging from her throat.

"That could just be your anxiety talking; you recognise them from when you were in The City, so you probably think the same is true for them," Dreea suggested. Her comment came across as not wanting them to jump to conclusions but the reality was that Dreea almost couldn't stomach the idea of people from Sol's command in The City being on the island with them.

"Someone called me Commander," Sol confessed, dropping her head low in shame as if the words on her tongue had a dirty aftertaste and if she couldn't face herself, she didn't expect the others to be able to. But Wynn wormed his hand around her waist, tugging her tighter into his side - a way of communicating that he was baring the hardship for her.

"What did you say?" Kodiak asked.

"Nothing," she said. "I just ran. Cowardly, I know-"

"I wouldn't say that," Kodiak told her. "A lot of the time, lately, when I get freaked out, I just stop. I know I should run, but I can't; running is brave sometimes."

"Thanks," she said softly, "but it still doesn't help. I should have stayed there to confront the situation. What if that person has told someone else? What if there's more people from The City there that recognise me?"

"Well, how come they didn't recognise you before?" Wynn asked. "When you first visited their clan alone, or when the three of us were they yesterday in front of everyone? Or when we-"

"I don't know!" She cut him off. "There's hundreds of people there. Maybe they just never noticed me or I was always in the right place at the right time," she suggested, unable to think of any other alternative. "Point is, with Reegan now thinking we killed Tobias, the last thing we need is for someone to tell her that I was the Commander of The City they fled. You know, the one they hate probably just as much as us? The one they're all exiles from?"

"No one could hate Targo as much as us," Wynn muttered under his breath, accidentally thinking out loud. When Sol shot him a frustrated look - warning him that he wasn't being helpful - he was quick to apologise. "Sorry. I'll shut up," he said.

"My fears are that Reegan isn't going to know whether we're Basilisk or The City of Targo, and I don't know which is worse: losing the alliance, or being mistaken for The City of Targo..."

"I'd vote the latter," Kodiak said. "In the meantime, we need to wait this out; see what happens... Riv, you need to lay low," he said to her. "That means Dreea, Wynn, and I will be the ones to leave camp and try and find Hestia."

"Did you gain any more information?" Dreea asked. "Find any clues at their camp?"

Sol shook her head. "I didn't have long to snoop around before the guy recognised me. What about you?"

"Kodiak and I secured a decent stash of weapons," she said, smiling over at the other Sovereign, hoping that their news would comfort Sol. "There's enough for all of our people to be double-armed, should we need it."

"What about the ship?"

"No. Sorry," Dreea apologised, wishing she had a better answer for her friend. "We can-"

"We'll figure it out later," Sol cut her off, speaking quietly and suddenly avoiding everyone's eye contact. "I ran all the way back here; I'm going go catch some air. We can talk this evening."

"Are you o-"

"I just need some space to think," Sol insisted, not letting Kodiak get a word out. She couldn't bring herself to lie to them and, even if she could, they would see right through her, so there was no point.

Reluctantly, the other three Sovereigns watched Sol as she left the tent, no longer feeling secured by the collections of weapons they had or any distant hope of leaving the island. With Sol as defeated as ever, it was near impossible for the others to hold onto their hope.

//////////

"I'm hoping your wanting to have space from everyone doesn't include me," Wynn said, announcing his presence as he cautiously approached Sol.

She turned around and looked up at him, not surprised to find that he had made his way over to her, just startled at the sudden sound of his voice. She shook her head gently, scooting further along on the log to make room for him, and he eagerly looks his place beside her.

"I don't know what to do, Wynn."

"I know," he said, hoping that if anything, him being on the same page as her would offer some comfort.

"What if I never get us home? If we're stuck on this damned island, at war with Exile Allegiance forever - just like we used to be with Blood Riders? Or if I get us all killed trying to leave?"

"You always figure it out," he said. "Why are you so ready to tell yourself otherwise this time around?"

Sol let out a heavy breath, slumping down as she dropped her head into her hands. "Because it feels like the end," she confessed. "Like, this is it; this is what it all comes down to, what we've endured hell for, ever since I found you," she said. "It has to end. We're supposed to go home to our beds like this has all been a long, exhausting day, and we'll wake up tomorrow and everything would be behind us, as simple as that. We go home and, as if in a sweet epilogue to our journey, the only thing we'd ask is for the chance to live, and we'd get it."

"Listen to me," Wynn said, resting his hand on her knee and waiting until she was looking his way before he continued. "I know what it feels like when things end," he murmured. "And I know the warning signs - what to look out for, what to savour, what to prepare for... Well, guess what? I'm preparing," he said. "Because we're getting out of here any day now and if I know anything, it's that Basilisk doesn't go down without a fight, ever. And that's because they get it all from their Nobel Sovereign. I mean, if you ask me, she's a little bossy sometimes and she needs to learn when to quit like when she's going too hard on a certain Sovereign when they're training in the Bunker-"

Sol nudged into his arm with her own, rolling her eyes at him and trying to hold in her smile, but it was no use. He had gotten through.

"All I'm saying is I've never seen you break; not once, even if you think you have. Everything from your dad, Rhea and The City, Neptunum, even me - this intolerable kid who wouldn't stop dragging you into his messes, who you're now stuck with for good - it's all a long, long list of things you've survived. Things all of our people have survived, because of you. I know you're worried, Sol, but I'm not. Listen to me on this one: you're going to make the right choices, no matter what you decide. If not, I guess you could always use me as your scapegoat. Dreea does."

"Really? Right as you're starting to get the hang of this Sovereign thing... Typical."

They laughed along together, but Wynn held an insurmountable more joy in his chest as he watched Sol, thankful that if his years on the ground had taught him anything, it was how to keep her fire burning when she needed it the most.

"We'll get home; I'll give you that," she said, smiling up at him sincerely - desperate for him to know that she believed him, "but that's not the only thing I've been thinking about out here."

"Is it about crossing the water? Because I know how to swim now, Sol-"

"Quit while you're ahead," she warned him, playfully pushing him again - more forceful this time. "I'm worried about Chess."

"Chess?"

"Yeah," Sol's voice softened completely and she looked down at her hands, noticing how they subconsciously grabbed onto Wynn's, each other's debts aligning as they held on. "If they recognise me, it's only reasonable to assume they'd recognise Chess, too. She was always by my side because I didn't want her out of sight; I'm now realising how much danger that pout her in."

"You're worrying about that?" Wynn asked. "Need I remind you that two Sovereigns just brought her back from the dead. I don't think anything can defeat her now, and it didn't, even before you found her."

"Three Sovereigns," she corrected him, not wanting him to forget his part in saving Chessca's life, "and thanks, but it's different, Wynn. We can't bring her back again if anything goes wrong. You know that was the last of the combination-"

"That's not the point I was making. And look, with your worries about Chessca, there's a simple solution: she doesn't leave the beach and meanwhile, we make sure one of us Sovereigns will always be around her. At the very least, Atlantis and Bas can stay with her; Atlantis to keep her calm, and Bas to slay any potential attackers... We're all going to be fine, Sol. You know that, right?"

Sol let out a heavy breath and leaned her head against Wynn's chest, finding a safe inhale as one of his arms wrapped around her waist. "The belief fluctuates," she confessed. "But right now, I do. I believe it." 

Five // Part Six
We go home and, as if in a sweet epilogue to our journey, the only thing we'd ask for is for the chance to live, and we'd get it.

Y'all, I'm so sorry it's been a couple weeks since an update. A lot has happened. I started a new job (my old job before I moved to America) and I love it! Got a lot of sad news about several customers passing away over the year (all the regulars), and one I was close to just passed a couple days ago, so that was tough. I've also been working a lot of hours, but I have a set schedule now, so hopefully I'll be more consistent with updates for this book!

Honestly, I'm just not ready to let it go, which is why I keep putting off writing the next chapter. Still, writing Wynn and Sol scenes is effortless, and I'm always so content when I get to come back to an intimate scene between them. I'll never get tired of Wynn being immune to the high walls Sol puts up. ♡

Also, as of this chapter, the entire The Boy from the Bunker series is 900,000K words! That's the published writing which doesn't include all the draft scenes, plans, notes, or hidden scenes (that I may or may not be publishing in a "deleted-scenes" kinda-vibe book (that may or may not be a hint)). 

I never even imagined this series being 10 books long when I first started planning it, much less a million words. I remember coming on a vacation to England and sitting in my room at my Grandma's house that we were staying in, and spending my jet-lag hours planning out the start of this series. I thought it would be 3-4 books long at best and my biggest concern was trying to pick a title. Now, a few years later, this entire series has stemmed-out and is such a fundamental part of who I am.

The first book in the Izzy spin-off series is up on my page so you can add that to your library and get updates for when I start publishing the chapters (it's going to be 4 books long), and I hope it won't be long until I get the alternative version to S5, S6, S7, and S8 out (as well as my aforementioned hidden scenes book).

Thank you for being on this journey with me; with Wynn, Sol, Kodiak, Elara, Dreea, and all our other heroes (there's too many to list; I'm saving it for the last chapter). I hope you enjoy what's to come and my dear epilogue which I had so close to my heart. ♡

TWO MORE EPISODES LEFT!
(That's terrifying)!

15/09/21.