Episode Six, Part 4:
The Boy from the Bunker

If I could find a way to change 
our fate, would any of our 
demons be erased? 

Kodiak let out a long-held breath as he laid down atop the mattress inside his tent. It was so divine to have a mattress to sleep on again, and not settling for the discomfort of the sand beneath him, which is all he - and the rest of his people - had after escaping Neptunum. It felt even longer since he'd had a decent night sleep and although Basilisk were now sheltered on all sides for the first time in a long while, Kodiak couldn't see himself falling asleep anytime soon without Elara by his side.

He sat up, careful not to make too much noise, and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the tent. Izzy was sound asleep in the corner, nestled up under a bundle of quilts that he had been quick to secure for her, and the sight alone was enough to offer Kodiak a sense of relief. Even if he couldn't find any rest himself, at least he knew Izzy could.

Still, without Elara in reach, it almost reminded Kodiak of his months of sleepless nights on Neptunum; he'd sit up on his bunk after tossing and turning for hours, much like he'd been doing for the past several minutes he'd been in his tent, and eventually he'd give up his hope of rest and trade it for isolation on the deck of Neptunum, letting the cold, evening air wake him up as he'd stare out into the water, dreaming about if he would ever see Elara again...

Shaking the horrible memories from his head, Kodiak peered over at Izzy, debating whether or not to leave and find Elara, but he didn't want Izzy to suddenly wake up and find herself alone, especially given what she had experienced the past few days.

After finally deciding on sitting in the tent's opening - right in reach of Izzy, but able to occupy his mind with gazing out across their new campgrounds and watching his people - a loud, thundering sound ripped through all of his plans.

Immediately Izzy gasped awake, her dark, beady eyes scouring her surroundings and landing on Kodiak, relieved to see he was there beside her. At the same time, instincts latched onto him and he moved closer to her, attempting to shield her from what sounded like the sky tearing apart.

"Kodi? What was that?" Izzy asked, her tired voice half coated in sleep, the other half, fear.

"I-I don't know," Kodiak said, securing his arm around her as he tried figure out what to do. He couldn't tell Izzy what was happening, but he knew right away: Exile Allegiance were here to attack. "Hey, come with me. We have to find Elara," he said, pushing himself to his feet and carefully helping Izzy to stand up.

She held tight onto his hand and obliged without any doubt as he started to lead her through the campgrounds, both of them glancing in every direction to find Elara - Kodiak even calling out for her.

Izzy couldn't help but notice all of Basilisk running around; their guards were hurrying to the front gates - all of them armed and seeming to follow a pre-arranged plan, others hurrying for shelter towards the back fence, and the other Sovereigns hurrying out from the main building with camp, already yelling out orders and seeming much more aware of what was happening than Izzy was.

"Where is she?"

Kodiak glanced down when he felt Izzy come to a standstill, noticing that she had stopped walking and was instead glancing around with tears pooling in her eyes, desperate to see Elara somewhere, already running in her direction.

Not knowing how to give her the answer, Kodiak crouched down in front of her, keeping his hold on her hand, enveloping it between his. "She's somewhere safe."

"Did you see her?"

Kodiak shook his head, unable to get a word out before Izzy protested.

"Then you don't know that!" She whimpered. "She could need us-"

"Hey, I know her," he assured her. "I know Elara. I know that when she heard the commotion, the first thing she would have wanted to do was come and find you, but then she would have remembered that I was with you and she knows that I'm going to protect you, so she would have made sure to hide somewhere until it's safe to come out."

Izzy sniffled, finding sense in what Kodiak was saying, but she didn't want to give up on Elara if she was out there waiting for them to find her. "Are you sure?"

A resounding ache in his chest - a familiar twinge laced in doubt, one always in the back of his heart like a forever-worry that Elara needed him, but he nodded. "She's smart and she's brave," he said, momentarily glancing over towards the front gates, spotting Wynn, Sol and Dreea, but no Elara. "And I bet you she's with Uncle Quill. She's much better with a blade than him, don't you reckon? She probably had to stay with him to make sure he doesn't get in trouble."

The corners of Izzy's lips tugged up into a smile and she hiccuped out an almost-laugh. "Uncle Quill still needs a lot of practice."

Kodiak beamed out the brightest of smiles he could manage for her, tucking Izzy's wild hair behind her ear just like he had always done for Elara, hoping it would bring the young girl the same sense of comfort. "We'll work on that with him," he said. "Special Sovereign lessons, and you can help. But for now, I need to find you somewhere safe until all of this scary stuff is over. I think I saw Atlantis run over there; you can sit with her and Chessca until we come find you, okay? They'll look after you."

Izzy glanced over towards the main building that Kodiak gestured to, watching as several other familiar faces hurried inside to avoid the chaos. "Maybe Elara's already in there."

"Maybe," Kodiak nodded, hoping she was right. "Come on. I'll take you quickly-"

"It's okay," Izzy said. "You have to go be a Sovereign. I can get there."

"Iz, I may be a Sovereign, but I'm your family before I'm anything else, okay? You come first."

There wasn't any hesitation in Kodiak as he spoke. He simply squeezed tighter onto Izzy's hand and continued to walk, pulling her along behind him until they reached the entrance to the building, and he knew that nothing stood a chance at hurting her.

"Don't come out, okay?"

Izzy nodded. "Elara taught me how to find the best hiding places in the Bunker; I'll find somewhere safe, I promise," she said, suddenly noticing what she believed to be fear in Kodiak's eyes - like he was afraid to leave her alone. "She also..." She spoke up, wondering if there was anything she could say to comfort Kodiak like he had done for her. "She also taught me how to be brave, and you were the one who taught that to her, so now you've both given that to me. You shouldn't be afraid. You're my Great Sovereign Kodi, after all. Those bad guys should be afraid of you."

Kodiak hummed out a faint laugh, feeling his own eyes glow warm with tears, trying to comprehend how it was possible to love Izzy more with each passing day when he already thought he loved her with everything he had. If she was around, Kodiak would have told Elara that he was jealous of the six months she had with Izzy in the Bunker; six months longer to know her, love her, and protect her. It was all he wanted.

"You're right," he said. "I'm not afraid; I'll send all those bad guys away."

Izzy smiled, letting out a heavy breath as Kodiak leaned down and kissed the top of her head, handing over all of his courage to her.

"Oh. One more thing," Kodiak said, halting her just before she was ready to turn around and leave.

Izzy watched on, curious, as Kodiak reached into his waistband and pulled out his blade, passing the handle side to her. She hesitated to take it; Elara had always warned her to never use a weapon unless she was in grave danger, or if Elara was around, but Izzy seemed to figure out this would be an exception to her rule. After all, when the plans had been given to her, Elara never counted on the possibility of Kodiak being a part of them.

"You won't need it," Kodiak said. "But I don't want you to feel powerless. Be careful."

Izzy nodded, understanding the responsibility she now held in her hands, and promised to be sensible. She took a step back until she was inside the building, feeling a littler heavier now that Kodiak was out of reach, and forced herself into turning down the hallway in search of a place to hide.

//////////

Sol took several steps back from the gates to their campsite, extending her view of the fences and all of her guards lined at the front, trying to fire their bullets through the makeshift spy-holes in the fence.

Her throat was scratched and aching deeply from all of the commands she had been yelling out, and her hands were cramping from the tight grip that had been holding her weapons at her side.

"They'll back down soon... They'll back down soon," she whispered under her breath, trying to convince herself more than anything else. Reegan was persistent - she knew that already - but she wasn't strong enough, nor did she have enough experience to lead her people through a fight that lasted all night long. ...Right?

"Riv!? River? Hey, River?"

Sol snapped back into reality, suddenly aware of Dreea as she grabbed her by the shoulder, shaking her slightly to get her to respond.

"W-what?" She stuttered.

"We've got about a third of them down," Dreea said. "They still have a significant amount; what do you want to do?"

"How many Basilisk have we lost?"

Dreea glanced along the line of fences relieved that majority of their people were still standing, but not all. "Several," she said. "Barely anything compared to what Reegan has; these boarders are surely what kept Terra Firma alive for so long, but we've still lost a couple."

"Anyone significant?"

Sol felt cold for asking such a question; of course, all of her people were significant to her and even one life of Basilisk lost was a tremendous blow, but she knew Dreea understood what she was asking.

Dreea nodded. "Bianca Thorn. First in Command of our guards. Also Kodiak's Nominated."

Sol sighed, beginning to comprehend how dire their situation was becoming. Bianca had been part of the group that helped rescue her and Wynn from the DeadLands, and now she was dead - lifeless in an unfamiliar camp that Basilisk were soon to part from, never having the chance to make it home.

"We need to reevaluate our strategy. This fighting could last all night if we don't come at it another angle, and our people are going to become tired. I was thinking we could send a team out through a back exit and have them sneak up on Exile Allegiance from a different direction-"

Dreea cut herself short, suddenly glancing up towards the sky as beads of cold rain began to spit down on her and everyone else in sight.

"I'll hold that thought," she said. "With any luck, Reegan won't want to persist her attacks for much longer if the weather isn't on her side."

Sol nodded, understanding that they needed an insight into Reegan's decision making, and made her way over to the fence. Some of their guards made space for her as they were firing out of the peak-holes, allowing Sol to glance out of their camp and locate Reegan, observing her evident frustration to the sudden downpour of rain.

She looked around at her own guards, watching as the earth they hurried over began to grow slippery and unstable, further jeopardising their chances at dodging Basilisk's firing bullets.

"Sol, what's going on out there?"

She didn't take her eyes off from Reegan, but she knew Wynn had noticed her presence and made his way over to join Dreea, desperate to hear if she had figured out their upper hand for the attack.

"She's hesitating," Sol answered. "But that doesn't mean we can back down. Not until she retreats."

"We can't count that she will," Dreea said. "We should consider my suggestion of sending a team out."

"...Okay," Sol chewed on her lower lip, debating her call for several moments before giving in. "But you're not going with them; you're staying inside camp."

"Riv, I can handle them," Dreea insisted. "You know they're not going to win against me-"

"I know. I know you wouldn't even break a sweat, but it's not a risk I'm willing to take," Sol said. "Bianca just got killed - and she's one of our strongest fighters, and she was behind our fences. I'm not letting you out there."

Under usual circumstances, Dreea would have been irritated at Sol's order for her to stay inside rather than take the front line of an attack, but given what was at stake: survival, going home, Dreea wasn't eager to argue anymore.

"Okay," Dreea agreed. "I'll get a team together and send them out; we can watch from the fence and try and get an idea of how many they manage to take down-"

"Riverly, are you there?"

Sol frowned, sharing a dumbfounded look with Dreea as they turned to face the fences, certain that the voice had come from the other side. "What the..." She mumbled under her breath, hurrying over to one of the peak-holes and sparing a glance outside. Sure enough, Reegan was calling out for Sol's attention, now having commanded all of her people to stop their attacks on Basilisk, and wait for them to listen.

"Hold your fire," Sol called out to the immediate guards at her side, waiting for them to pass the message down the line. A game of Chinese-whispers which could bring unforeseen consequences their way if Sol wasn't careful.

"The daring Nobel Sovereign of Basilisk. Gutsy and gallant; isn't that how people would describe you?"

"What the hell is she trying to do?" Kodiak had made his way over now, trying to keep his voice hushed in his search for answers. He was worried enough about not knowing Elara's whereabouts without having to worry if Reegan was playing dark and twisted games with them all.

"I have no idea," Sol answered, refusing to name any of her suspicions until she was sure; she didn't want to add to everyone's fears if she could prevent it. "Maybe she's just complimenting me."

Wynn managed a half-laugh; at any other time, he would bellowed out his amusement or responded with a quick-witted remark, but the horror of the night was slowly beating away at him.

"What do you want, Reegan?" Sol called out.

As if feel like she was backed into a corner she couldn't escape from, Sol felt a sinking feeling in her stomach - something that told her this wasn't a conversation she would want to be having out in the open, even though she had no choice. Whether or not she answered, she knew Reegan was determined on saying what she had been holding in.

"I have a message for someone," Reegan said. "For the Commander of The City of Targo."

Sol gulped down a breath - one which would feel like forever until it returned to her - and nervously glanced down the line at her guards, seeing their faces all scrunched up in confusion - some even trying to remember where they had heard the name before: The City of Targo. For those lucky enough, the torment of their past was miles behind them - barely a passing thought; barely a memory. For Sol, it was a stain she couldn't wash off, no matter how hard she scrubbed it away; every time, the first thought when she woke up: 'where is Chessca? Is she safe? Did she survive the night? Is she in her bed right behind me, safe and sound?'. It was the sour taste in her mind that she couldn't swallow away whenever her memory betrayed her and she had to rely on her friends to straighten the blurred roads to her past, correcting moments that she no longer remembered quite right. It was the ache in her stomach that never completely disappeared, like someone had sent a blow to her stomach and the bruise left behind still hurt every time she moved a little too fast.

Well, Sol thought to herself. They might have been lucky to forget, but Reegan was armed and ready to open old wounds.

"Don't make me ask again," Reegan called. "I need to talk to the Commander of the City of Targo; come out and show your face, if you're really half as brave as everyone says you are, that is."

"Sovereign Riverly, what is she talking about? She knows we're Basilisk right?" One of the guards from her right side began to question. At the same time, someone else spoke from the other direction.

"Do you want us to fire? Reegan is too protected, but we could at least get some of her guards."

"Sol? Sol, stay ahead of her; don't let her get to you. We've got this."

Amongst all of the voices trying to reach her, Sol tried her hardest to focus on Wynn's; it broke through every other sound she could hear, but not the fear. Her fear was white-hot and rock solid, unshakeable, in other words. And it wouldn't budge. Not even for Wynn. Not even after her own attempts at shifting some of the weight from her heart. It held her captive in every way possible and now, all the secrets she had kept allowed to rot inside of her rather than digging their claws into her people, were beginning to spill out. And she couldn't protect Basilisk from herself. 

Six // Part Four
I don't want you to feel powerless.

The torment of their past was behind them; barely a passing thought; barely a memory.

I LOVED the solo Kodiak and Izzy scene at the start of this chapter! Kodiak's instincts for Izzy are the same as his for Elara, and they were there for her the first time he met her on Neptunum - when he knew how much she meant to Elara (and that she was the reason Elara had made it out of the Bunker alive). I also love the line he said to her, 'I don't want you to feel powerless'. I think that's such an important line for him - as her father figure - to say to her, as a young girl.  And then when he said to her "(Elara) is smart and she is brave". Like, he is such a tremendous person for them both and he's their great protector! I love my Zora family SO much. ♡

Also, it was so fun to write the growing tensions within Sol. There's obviously a lot between her and Reegan, but her biggest fight at the moment is with herself. Reegan forcing Sol to confront her past and her role as Commander of The City of Targo is the hardest challenge our fearless (daring, gusty, and gallant), Nobel Sovereign has to face right now. How can she protect her people if she's wondering that she might be what they need protecting from? There's a lot coming up for Sol and I feel like the rest of this book is going to be a real testament to her true character by exploring some of her greatest strengths: her loyalty and her people.

Do any of you watch You (Netflix)? I watched the entire S3 in a day and I keep going back to that finale... Man, I'm hooked. I bought all 3 books (not that I'll find the time to read them), and I'm already desperate for S4. I think this was my favourite ending of a season so far.

I've also been watching Maid (Netflix) and it is in my top three favourite shows, ever. It is one of the most incredible, extraordinary, inspiring tales of womanhood, motherhood, and the sheer strength and persistence of girls in our world. It has a significant place in my heart and I'll forever be recommending it to people, so go check that out if you haven't already. It's truly amazing (and based off of a true story)!!!

18/10/21.