Episode Seven, Part 5:

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴏɢ ᴅᴀʏꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀ

Struck from a great height by someone who should have known better than that.
The dog days are over. The dog days are done. Can you hear the horses?
 'Cause here they come. 

-

The jeep came to a stop, as had everyone else walking ahead. They weren't going to go any further with the car for fear of causing an alert that would cause Basilisk to attack. Not to mention the unspoken dread that so many of the guards would still be working for Eryx, despite Atlantis' taking rightful heir. 

Quill and Aeryn passed by to join the rest of the group as Kodiak went over the plan to approach the gates. Meanwhile Sol took a few steps forward as Wynn hopped off the back of the jeep, then froze in her place. 

Wynnlow didn't noticed until he was a few metres away, feeling an absence by his side. He turned around to face Sol, moving cautiously towards her as she seemed to be in some kind of shell shock. 

"Sol?" Wynn's voice was wary. 

Sol acknowledged him, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the path in front of them. If she were to squint hard enough, she could probably catch a glimpse of the gates peaking out behind the trees. 

"What if they don't accept me back?" 

Wynnlow sighed sympathetically, seeming to understand everything thought on her mind. 

"They will. You're their Nobel. These people need you... Just like I needed you." 

"But- But Atlantis is Nobel now. Just like my dad wanted. What if he was right about it, Wynn?" Sol moved to face him completely, desperate for his assurance as she followed his eyes, making sure they were always locked on her's. 

"What if I can't do this? What if there's more people in there that Eryx has ready to kill me next? What if-" 

"Hey!" Wynnlow wanted to grab her hand to soothe her, to distract her, but he hesitated. "You think they're gonna hate you? You think they'll reject you, but you're wrong. What they're gonna realize is that you're a survivor. Dreea and Kodiak, and all of us are here back to you up when you're ready to expose Eryx for what he's done." 

"What if-" 

Wynnlow grabbed onto her hand, finally,carefully raising it up to the space between them. He turned her wrist until his initials were visible for her to see - on the side, right underneath her thumb; the same place Wynnlow's tattoo was. 

"You can do so much. And you will save so many people as Nobel... Your people will see this. And I am your people." 

Sol dropped her head, her eyes focused on the way Wynnlow held onto her hand. She squeezed tightly, nodding to tell him that she believed him, and then pulled away. 

Wynnlow waited for her to collect her thoughts, limping alongside her to the rest of the group where they were all waiting, proudly. 

"You ready Sovereign?" Kodiak smiled over at her, everyone looking to her. 

"Nobel Sovereign." She corrected, laughing a little as she nodded for him to lead the way. 

Wynn followed at the back of the group, Sol now ahead - hand in hand with Kodiak for that extra courage as they parted from the shelter of the trees out into the open of broad daylight. 

Their presence was spotted almost immediately by the guards, but Wynn's eyes were focused on the people that he could see out in the centre, anticipating their reaction. He noticed that lot of the guards manning the gate had retreated their weapons down, but there still a few who were aiming at them - presumably not noticing two of the Sovereigns as part of the group. 

As he looked back again to the crowd of people inside - no more than a few seconds later - everyone's eyes were on them, whispers breaking out in every corner of Basilisk. Wynn gulped, worried on Sol's behalf, the same fears that they would reject her creeping into his chest. 

Slowly, the gates opened - Dreea barely able to stand still as she knew it was the last thing standing between her and Sol. When they finally passed her, she jumped forward, crashing Sol into her embrace. 

Kodiak was given the nod to allow everyone inside, hurrying to get them in as the gates, once again, closed behind them.  When Dreea finally pulled away from Sol - tears melting in the corner of her eyes, it finally hit them how many people had gathered around to see the sudden return of their Nobel. 

Sol breathed nervously for a moment. Or, tried to. The breath couldn't quite reach her lungs for a moment. Despite what must have been hundreds of Basilisk all standing around the gates, everyone for silent for a minute - trying to comprehend what had happened, where she had been, how long it was since she had gone missing. 

A lone voice in the crowd erupted into many. "The Sovereign's alive!" 

"They found her!" 

"She home!" 

In a matter of seconds, the silence turned to a deafening roar; the people of Basilisk all cheering and clapping and celebrating for Sol. Wynnlow stepped out of the way as everyone moved even closer - a group towards the front even hoisting Sol upwards in the air, carrying her above the crowd. 

Wynnlow smiled, despite knowing she wouldn't catch sight of him among all the faces, proud to be right: not in the sense that he used to be - stubborn, defiant, opposing to Sol - but proud for her, knowing more than anyone just how much she had overcome to make it home again. 

- 

After the hype had calmed down a little, Dreea wasted no time in pulling Sol away from the crowd into the Sovereign's Quarters. It was strange, and maybe a little selfish, how Sol wanted more time to relish in the victory of her return. To walk through the Quarters and take in everything she had missed whilst she was out in the DeadLands, but there were more pressing issues at hand. 

She followed Dreea into the room, where five people were already waiting for her. Kodiak, Joren and Aeryn. She expected them of course, but was relieved to see that Wynn was there as well. She could see that he felt a little out of place - still unaware of a lot of Basilisk's customs, but there was no one else who could have as valid as an input on the situation as Wynn. 

And then there was Atlantis - someone who, quite frankly, she didn't care about seeing ever again. 

Before anyone could get a word out, Joren rushed over to Sol and embraced her tightly against his chest, loving her like he had done with his own child. "I've missed you, kiddo." 

Sol pulled away, looking up at the older man fondly. Eyes bright with tears, but she managed to seal them away. "Not as much as I've missed you." 

Dreea coughed awkwardly beside them, hating to ruin the moment, but every second unresolved ticking away against her. 

"Sorry to interrupt, but we need to decide what we're going to do about your dad." Dreea explained. 

Sol sighed, fully prepared to give her verdict. It was something that had been on her mind ever since she realized who sent Ellery and Adair to kill her. 

"I know what my sentence is for Eryx." Sol couldn't help but glance over at Atlantis, hovering in unease in the corner of the room. She was almost waiting for her to testify for their dad, give her a reason for redemption, anything to oppose Sol's decision to banish him. 

"We do have a few options..." Aeryn announced, guilt coating her voice. "He could stay in the cells - a prisoner of Basilisk. You could banish him. Deliver him to Riders and allow him as their hostage - I'm sure that would even form some sort of peace between our two clans." She said, using the word 'peace' lightly. "Or, um, execution." 

Kodiak looked to Dreea, then both of them turning to Sol who was ready to speak. They wanted - if not just as much as they imagined Sol did - for Eryx to be killed, but what was holding them back was the idea of how the decision would haunt Sol long after he was gone. If she could ever separate the idea of who she thought Eryx was from who he actually was.

"We banish him. Anyone who tries to oppose, or help, or even communicate with him faces the same punishment." 

Kodiak and Dreea noticeably relaxed, expecting a far worse sentence for her father than she had delivered. Meanwhile Wynn, on the other hand, stood with his arms crossed and his head titled in confusion slightly as he tried to understand Sol's logic behind her answer. He looked around, hoping to see everyone else as dumbfounded as he was, but no one was. 

"You're kidding, right?" Wynnlow didn't mean for the words to come out, especially in such an undermining tone, but he couldn't hold his frustration in. 

"Wynn-" Kodiak tried to calm him down. 

"No, none of you have any idea what it was like out there." 

"But we know how Basilisk works. Eryx isn't the first person we've had to banish, and he won't be the last." Dreea told him. "This is River's decision, not your's." 

"I'm not saying it's my decision." He snapped at Dreea, losing his temper a little. He turned to direct Sol. "But what he did to you. What he wanted to do... How he dragged that on. That wasn't just trying to kill you, Sol. He was torturing you." 

Sol faltered at his response, unable to look him in the eye. Emotion was clearly getting the better of her, and Dreea wouldn't stand to see that happen after everything. 

"Hey, you don't speak to the Sovereign's like that." She warned. "Either shut up or leave." 

"I'm not speaking to her as a Sovereign, I'm speaking to her as her friend. As someone with a fricking stab wound in their leg to testify what we were put through. Believe it or not, I was the lucky one out of us." His last words for Sol, hoping they would wake her up to see the reality of what they had endured. 

"I think Wynnlow's right." Atlantis spoke up. She was the last person anyone expected to side with him, including herself. Despite the troubled waters she had found herself in with her dad whilst Sol was away, Atlantis was in the same boat as her sister: clinging onto the idea of a person, rather than the reality. 

Sol looked over to her, a sharp, impatient glare shot her way. 

"I don't think family justifies that kind of pain." 

Sol rolled her eyes at Atlantis. As if she knew a thing about pain. 

"He's just as much my dad as he is, yours, but I don't think what he did is forgivable." 

Sol Scoffed. "Just as much? You haven't known him for what, 10 years of your life?" 

"Fine. You're right." Atlantis agreed. "I don't know him, but I know the stories my mother told me in the Bunker about him. Point is," she tried to explain, "we have know when to let go of who we want someone to be, and judge them on who they are, instead. If this is your judgement on our... on your dad, then Dreea is right: we have to accept that. But so do you. Make sure you can live with it." 

After she knew she was heard, Atlantis politely left the room, knowing there was nothing else she could do to change Sol's mind if it was already made up. After a few moments, Wynnlow left too, desperate for Sol to catch a glimpse of his apologetic eyes, but to no avail.

When it was only Kodiak and Dreea that remained, Sol spoke up again, her voice void of all certainty that she previously held onto. 

"Does Eryx know I'm here?" 

"I... I don't-" Kodiak was cautious about answering. 

"Does he know that I'm here? Yes or no?" 

"Yes." Kodiak told her. "I think one of the guardsmen were sent in their to deliver the news. Same time as they told him that there was a trial beginning to decide his fate." 

"I want to see him." Sol announced. 

"Riv, I don't think that's a good idea." 

Sol rolled her eyes. "I know where he is. I'm not asking you to take me to him, I'll do that myself. I just wanted to know if you guys would come with me." 

Dreea turned to Kodiak, reading his expression. "Okay." She told her. "We'll be with you." 

The walk to the cells was slow and incomprehensible - nothing more than a fog in her memory until she stood outside the door to where Eryx was locked up. 

Sensing her discomfort, Kodiak hugged her from behind loosely, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Whatever you decide." He declared. 

"Whatever happens." Dreea added. 

She breathed out. Exhaling, then sucking in a deep breath as Dreea reached for the door handle and opened up the door. 

Eryx was on the ground of the cell; his hair a wicked mess, the smell of alcohol hot on his breath. Sol was even concerned about how he had gotten hold of the bottle of whiskey that he was nursing in his hands, and could only think about how the sight of her drunken, deranged father was burning into her mind. 

At the sound of them entering, Eryx turned around, gazing up in wonder at Sol - who he thought was nothing more than a hallucination at one point. 

"My gosh, Khan was right." He muttered to himself something about one of the guards. "You're really alive... Impressive, Sovereign." 

Well, he wasn't consistent - unless of course he had forgot about how he had stripped Sol of her title and stole all of power for himself. 

Dreea and Kodiak waited anxiously, every second going past without Sol speaking only adding to the weight in their chest. 

"Have a fun trip?" Eryx teased, laughing manically at himself. He raised the bottle up for another sip, spilling the substance all along his chin and down his neck. 

"Where are you friends? Ellery and Adair?" The names sent shivers down her spine, her knees weakening. She fell back a little against Kodiak, but he was there to keep her steady, to make sure she could feel him right behind her at all times. 

"And that kid that came out of the Bunker..." Eryx clicked his tongue, putting on a fake show of empathy as he delivered the news. "Hate to break it to you, but he went out there looking for you. It's such a pity that he'll be dead by now. I could tell you had a fondness for him-" 

"Wynnlow's not dead. He's here. He found me in the DeadLands." 

Eryx froze. Suddenly seeming somber as if the shock of the news had brought him back to reality. "Impossible." 

"Ellery and Adair on the other hand..." 

"You killed them? My, this keeps getting better." Eryx clasped his hands together in amusement, unsure whether he believed his daughter or not. 

"They're dead, but... I wasn't the one who killed them. It was Wynn." 

Sol could feel Kodiak tense up behind him - taken aback by the confession. She had forgotten that she couldn't bring herself to tell anyone what had happened out there, until now. Until she was standing in front of her biggest demon of all. 

"That's a good one, Sol." Eryx pointed in her direction, nodding his head. She suddenly remembered why she hated that name so much. Wynn had called her by that for so long that she forgot not everyone else did, too. 

"So you know, I didn't come here to make you believe me. I couldn't care about less about that. You'll realize everything I've said is true, soon enough." 

"Then what are you here for, Sovereign, if not for some quality time with your old man?" 

"I came here to tell you that the trial is ended. Your fate will be announced tomorrow at our Decider in front of all of Basilisk. I hope it was worth it, dad. Truly, I do." 

Seven // Part Five

There's literally one - potentially two - chapters left of Season 2!

I have no idea what I want to start on next. I have a screenplay with a deadline that I need to focus on, but I also have a second screenplay going as well for a film I might make with a friend. But then there's Season 3 (I've got major plot points and minor points covered for what I want to happen in Season 3 and the build up to Season 4, but I still need to piece it all together). Then again I need to edit Counterfeit so I can work on my dream of getting it published, but I also need to continue writing the sequel. But I also have The Numb trilogy which I have been wanting to write since 2015...

Um, okay, I am no help to myself.