Episode Four, Part 5:
C h e c k m a t e

As the majority of Riders and Targo had returned to the ruins of Blood Riders' camp, Rhea, Kane and several others continued on to the labs, needing time to devise a new strategy. 

The guards shut the doors behind Rhea, all turning around to face her, not caring to disguise their frustration with her. 

"What is your problem?" Rhea sighed, rolling her eyes as she turned away from them. She perched herself on top of one of the counters, glancing around at the state of the lab. 

"Soniya, get a group organized to clean this place up, and make sure it's safe for when Elara gets here. Chess," she diverted her eyes to their prisoner, looking her up and down in judgement before speaking, "figure out if we have what you'll need here to get Elara through The Alteration." 

Chessca immediately began searching the cabinets and drawers, becoming acquainted with all of the medicines and equipment she would have to bring Elara to ascension, not having much choice but to obey Rhea. The guards, on the other hand, didn't budge. They stared back at their leader, arms folded, reluctant to listen. 

Rhea sighed once again, trying to shield the fact that their defiance was making her nervous. 

"What?" She repeated her question, more impatient than the last time. 

"You let them kill Rogue." One of the guards answered from the back of the group. 

Rhea tilted her head, waiting for the speaker to shift into view. 

"He was the king! I-" the boy scoffed. "Do you have any idea how long we've been at war with Basilisk for? Longer than you've been around. It feels like you gave them the biggest victory of all, and no you expect us to follow you?" 

"They already have the biggest victory. They have Elara!" Rhea argued. She jumped down from her seat and walked over to the boy, standing intimidatingly close to his face. "Because you and the rest of your guards couldn't keep this place protected." 

"I still don't see why getting you your Heir is our problem." Someone else spoke up. 

"Yeah. The Nobel had a point. The honour for our king should mean we avenge his death-" 

Rhea laughed, going to desperate attempts to regain control. "Have you not been paying attention? Take a look around, dumbass. There's nothing left of your home - and you have not only Basilisk to thank for that, but Noah - your own king." Rhea reminded them. 

"Let me point out that we are here to help. If the City of Targo weren't here, Basilisk would wipe you out, because they took your precious king when we were gone. That's not on us." 

There was silence in the room as Rhea reclaimed her authority. 

"So I'll promise you this, and I'll bet it won't be long before you make it known among the rest of Blood Riders: whoever helps us in reclaiming our Heir will be allowed refuge in the City of Targo. Otherwise, you'll be left for dead to Basilisk..." 

She let her words linger for a few moments, watching the shift on their faces from uncertainty, to fear, to acceptance. One by one, they all began to follow orders, assembling the room to a safe condition for Elara. 

Rhea closed her eyes momentarily, trying to assure herself that everything was fine, but her mindfulness was interrupted. 

"So you got them to listen... I would congratulate you, but it seems that you've done about the bare minimum so far." Kane muttered. 

"What's this I hear? Looks like someone's finally learned how to speak." Rhea spat, finding it hypocritical that he would criticise her attempts when he was yet do something on his own. 

Kane stood up from where he was lounging on the seats, circling around Rhea. 

"You promised that me and my daughter would be home in the City of Targo by now, that she would be Commander, and she wouldn't remember any part of the process from The Alteration," Kane argued. "But we had her and you let her get away. And worst of all, you and I both know that without getting more of the serum in her soon, she'll die. What happens then, Rhea? To me? To the rest of these people?" 

"I'm working on it-" 

"I know, but I'm getting tired of waiting, and Elara can't for much longer. Just... Just figure out a way to get her that serum. We'll stall if we have to, even if it means that Basilisk have her for a little while longer because I am not letting her die." 

Rhea didn't know how to respond. She was tired of hearing the same thing over and over, because she truly believed that no one cared about getting Elara more than she did, but she couldn't be bothered to fight with Kane anymore. 

Before she could speak, Kane walked away and Rhea was left to her thoughts. She hadn't realized how afraid she was until now. 

//// 

Elara remained sitting as she watched Wynn hover over to the door. Other than Kodiak, it was just them in the room, and Wynn had put off leaving for as long as he could, but they both needed to rest now. 

Wynn held his hand on the frame of the door as if trying to pull himself out, but he glanced over his shoulder, adapting to seeing through his black-and-half-closed eye. 

Something unspoke drew both Wynn and Elara to move towards each other again, and Elara hurried up from the side of the room, wrapping her arms around her big brother once again. 

"Everything will be fine." He promised her. Then, "we're fine," he said as he squeezed her tighter. 

Elara nodded against him, but Wynn knew there was a reason she wasn't letting go. 

"Try and get some rest, okay? We'll see you in the morning, I promise." 

The young girl sighed heavily and pulled away. She kept her gaze on the ground, not wanting to watch him go, or have to see his injuries again. 

"Hey," Wynnlow smiled, nudging her away slightly with his arm. 

Elara reluctantly smiled back and glanced up at him. 

"I love you." He reminded her. 

She bit down on her lip, struggling to accept it, but eventually, she came around. 

"I love you too," Elara replied, knowing that he would wait there until she said it. 

Wynn hesitated for a moment. It seemed he knew Elara's doubtful mind too well to know that she would be wondering whether or not it was true, but he knew that getting her to say it back would have taken a lot from her considering the way she was tearing herself apart.  

Lost in a blur of empathy and concern, Wynnlow turned himself away, not before raising his hand and messing up Elara's red hair. 

She giggled and swatted him away, the entire facade of stability fading once he was gone. 

She shut the door behind her brother, unable to face Kodiak as she spoke. 

"Have I scared you away yet? Do you take back what you said?" 

The Sovereign frowned, slowly pulling himself up and walking to stand behind her. He gathered her hair in his hand, tucking it all over one shoulder and finally turning her around. 

He followed her eyes down and took hold of her hands, rubbing his thumbs over her blue and purple knuckles. 

"You'll never do that. I'll never leave." Kodiak promised her. "And I meant what I said the other night." 

Elara sighed, looking up to stare into his blue eyes. There was a moment of peace, but she refused to hold onto it for long. 

"You also said that who I was in my visions isn't who I actually am. But I knew I was hurting Wynn in my vision, and I actually did hurt him - just as much. So you were wrong. It's okay if you're wrong about it too." 

"No," Kodiak shook his head. "I love you, and I'm not going anywhere unless it's where you are. Do you want me to tell you that every day? Because I will if that's what it takes." 

She couldn't tell him that she wanted that because she knew he would, and it wouldn't be fair to drag him through her mess. 

"What was actually outside when the sirens went off? I thought it was in my head until Quill took me here. My brothers - they seemed worried." 

Kodiak sighed, debating if she could handle the news. Then again, they were all aware that Targo were bound to come back sooner or later, so she might as well find out then. 

"T-they came back." 

"Oh," Elara didn't need any other explanation. She knew what it meant. 

"We have an advantage. We have Rogue." 

"As in Blood Riders' King?" 

"Yeah," Kodiak confirmed. "Well, had." 

Elara began to panic at his correction, thinking they had let him get away. 

"Riverly killed him. It weakened Rider's alliance with Targo, and we're hoping that they'll turn on each other pretty quickly. Albeit, that'll probably mean a war, but at least Riders will be fighting Targo, too." 

Elara moved over to sit down where Kodiak had been, her hands falling from his. She leaned her head against the cold, brick wall, processing what everything meant. 

"You can't make all of your people fight for just one person. For just me." 

"It's not just you," Kodiak told her. "It's me, Ares, Quill, Wynn, River, Bas, Fabian, MaReya - all of your family - everyone that cares about you that will fall apart if you're gone. Everyone, no matter how insignificant they may feel, causes a chain reaction when they leave. You're no different." 

Elara watched as he sat down next to him, their knees touching as if they couldn't keep apart. She met eyes with him, just gazing for a moment, and she would have stayed like that for quite some time had he not spoken. 

"Why didn't you tell me what it was like?" He sighed heavily, and it was a revelation to her - an understanding that he couldn't stop his thoughts from continuously drifting back to the same question. 

She curled her lip a little, not wanting to sound selfish or to overlook the suffering that Kodiak put himself through with the serum to understand her. 

"Because it gets to end for you." She confessed. 

Kodiak frowned and took hold of her hand, holding it securely on his lap. He brought one of his knees up on the bench in front of him, twisting to face Elara. 

"What do you mean?" 

"They gave you part of the serum at the lab, and you gave it to yourself here, but once you came out of it, that was the end. You weren't pulled out halfway through, you weren't one phase away from having your memories wiped, or screaming yourself to sleep each night, or struggling to distinguish the line between reality and a vision. You woke up and it was gone. I wake up and I'm still living it, and it won't stop." 

"Elara, I'll make it better." 

"Kodi-" 

"No, I swear we'll figure out how to make the visions stop. You'll get better." 

"Don't promise something that's not yours to promise." 

He shook his head. "You'll get better. You have to." 

Four // Part Five
It gets to end for you.