Episode Seven, Part 3:
Eight

Oceans rise, empires fall; 
we have seen each other through it all. 

Sol stood to the edge of the beach, right where the sand began sinking into the ocean behind her. Wynn was standing at her side as Kodiak and Dreea called the entirety of their people in, ordering them to approach and listen to the speech that Sol was reciting in her head as she paced back and forth in front of Wynn.

"You okay?" He asked, noticing that she wasn't her usual, fearless self she always tried to be in front other people.

Sol laughed a little, but it was drenched it fear. "It's kind of just hitting me," she said.

"What is? The fact that this attack is really happening?"

"No," Sol shook her head, finally come to a stop right in front of Wynn, trying to reach a place of stillness as she glanced up at him. "The fact that Joren isn't here."

Wynn frowned a little, confused at why his absence suddenly seemed to be hitting her now out of all possible times.

"You think I give pretty good speeches?" She asked. "Most of them probably came from what Joren said to me before I spoke. Ever since my dad-" She cut herself short, shaking her head quickly to distract herself. "He's always had my back; reminded me that I've trained my entire life to lead these people; that I'm capable and that I'm not afraid-"

"You are capable," Wynn interrupted, grabbing onto her hand, but Sol was quick to pull away.

"Not now," she whispered. "People are beginning to come over. They'll be looking to me for demonstration-"

"So?" Wynn asked. "Love makes you strong. They need to see that; they need to see you, me, Kodiak and Dreea working together; that the only way we're going to make it through this is by having each other. The reason you've always managed to save the people you're fighting for is because you love them, Sol."

"Love doesn't save people. We lose the ones we love all the time and it has nothing to do with it."

"It does," Wynn insisted. "You took mine and Elara's place in The City of Targo because you loved us; you saved Chessca because you love her; and love's also the only reason Elara made it through on Neptunum," he said. "If now's not the time, then I get it," Wynn assured her. "But don't push away what you need because you think it makes you stronger. Joren's not here; let me be the one to tell you that you've got this."

Sol sighed, reluctantly caving into a smile and rolling her eyes at him. "Tell me this is all going to work out, and I'll believe you."

Wynn smiled down at her, momentarily glancing at the rest of Basilisk as they began to crowd behind her, all eager to hear word from their Nobel Sovereign.

"There's a reason you and I are still alive," he said. "Our story's not over. The same goes for all of these people."

He grabbed onto her shoulder, carefully turning around to face everyone as the last of their people drew in. Wynn remained close and kept his grip on her, waiting until Dreea and Kodiak reached them and stood to either side.

"We're all going to be looking to you out there and I know that whatever you say to us on the war grounds will be the right thing; that it'll be what keeps us alive. Alive so we can find our way home. Because that's all we're doing," he spoke, his breath beating warm against the skin on her neck. "Fighting our way home."

"Home," Sol hummed the word back to him, distant memories of Basilisk dancing around the hurricane of thoughts tearing through her mind, but all home really was, were the people in front of her; Kodiak and Dreea at her side, and Wynn's safe and steady grip on her skin.

She nodded once, informing Wynn that she was ready, and took a deep inhale as she stepped forward from the others, beginning to raise her voice loud enough for every onlooking face to hear her.

"Basilisk," she called out. "The fight begins now! In a few minutes, those of us trained to fight will begin the ascent towards Terra Firma Tribe. Their leader, Calvin, will be waiting to give instruction for us to begin our march towards West of The City Exile Allegiance."

She kept her eyes scanning the rows of faces before her, making sure each and every person she could see was equipped with some kind of blade or weapon in their hand - most of which they had managed to secure from both clans as part of their alliances.

"When we reach the midway point, Calvin will give us the command to begin our attack on Exile Allegiance; this is when we have to act quick," she warned them, turning around to Dreea to let her explain the next stage.

The Sovereign reached her side, subconsciously twisting her sword around in her hand as she paced back and forth in front of the crowd.

"Because Terra Firma Tribe are under the belief that we have an alliance with them only, this gives us a few seconds to take them by surprise when Exile Allegiance appear. We'll shift our attack onto them and we'll all kill the nearest member of their clan who is within reach to us; these few seconds will be the most fundamental of the entire night," she informed them. "But as soon as they realise what is happening, those who are left alive will start fighting back, and it will be brutal. But this is when Exile Allegiance will jump in to protect us."

"I know the great fight is nothing new to us," Sol continued. "I know we've each taken our losses and most of us still have the scars on our skin to testify for what we've lived through, some with wounds still fresh from what we survived on Neptunum."

Her eyes found Elara standing at the front of the crowd at the far, left side; arms wrapped around Izzy, making sure they kept their distance from everyone as best as they could. There was a lot of people Sol wanted to protect - Atlantis and Chessca being the first, as always, to cross her mind - but there was something she could feel burning inside of her chest as she glanced at the two younger girls; a determination to make sure they would still be standing at the end of the night; to make sure that if she could give anyone the chance to go home, it was them.

"But Basilsik will survive this, too. And then we'll go home. All of us. And life won't be surviving anymore," Sol promised them. "Life will be good and safe and we won't lose people, we'll gain them. If you fight for anything tonight, fight for your future; for your life... For us."

"One nation! One clan!" Someone roared out from the crowd, throwing their fist up so the Sovereigns, and everyone else, could see. "One people!"

"Basilisk!" Someone else joined in, beginning to chant from the other side of the crowd, repeating their name over and over until every voice could be heard, riling each other up and beginning to turn in the direction of the forest with Dreea and Sol hurrying around, ready to take their place to lead them.

Wynn hovered behind, as did Kodiak, both of whom turned their attention to each other in a realisation of what was coming next.

Wynn nodded over in the direction of the group that was lingering behind, heading over with Kodiak to reach Quill. They managed to gain Elara's attention who to their relief, was able to leave Izzy alone in Harlow's company for a few moments, promising to not be too far.

Elara frowned as she reached the three of them, knowing that Wynn was about to leave to fight in the war, carrying out the risk of something happening to him. She didn't want to remember then, how it felt to lose Ares, but she couldn't help it. Neither could Wynn or Quill.

"If you die out there, I'm going to kill you," she warned Wynn, forcing a terrible scowl on her face that was heavy with heartache, but she still managed to bare she slightest of smiles his way, hoping she would see the playfulness to her words; the hope she was still trying to hold onto, because that was all she knew how to do.

"I'll be fine, Ell," he laughed, stepping forward and wrapping her in his arms. "Once Calvin is dead and most of Terra Firma are, too, I'll come down to you and Quill. Nothing's going to happen to me."

Elara nodded as she pulled away, forcing a brave look Wynn's way, but her trembling lip gave away her fear. Out of instinct, Kodiak reach out and slung his arm around her, pulling Elara into his side.

"Be safe," Quill spoke up, looking over at his brother with a half-hearted smile, not too surprised to find that these kind of goodbyes never became any easier.

Wynn softened as he looked over at him, hurrying to pull Quill over and fondly wrap his arms around him, just as he had done with their sister. "Everything's going to be alright, Quill," he assured him, holding on for just a little while longer. "I'll be back before you know it. Just stick with Kodiak."

Quill nodded and broke from the hug, rolling his eyes at Wynn as he reached over and messed up his hair - surprised that he hadn't seen it coming.

"Of course you'll be fine. Who else would I have to annoy the hell out of me?" Quill laughed, swatting at Wynn as he tried to move out of the way.

"Exactly," Wynn smiled. "And I've got plenty of stunts up my sleeve that you can look forward to."

He was relieved to see that he had managed to lift his siblings' spirits - that he would leave them with a sense that everything was going to work out, but he couldn't quite manage the same for himself. As his laughter died down, he looked back at Kodiak, both of them knowing that he was needing to leave.

"I'll look out for them," Kodiak promised, tugging Elara a little closer into his side for good measure. "We'll be fine."

"Thanks," Wynn exhaled, reaching out to Kodiak's shoulder and squeezing reassuringly, bidding one last goodbye to his siblings.

Once he was a few yards away and Elara knew for certain that he really was leaving, she let out a heavy sigh and leaned against Kodiak, unable to stop her gaze from instantly wandering over towards Izzy.

"You guys can't stay with me, you know that?" She said. "I know you want protect us, but you can't come too close. I'll sit with Izzy by one of the firepits whilst we wait this thing out, but don't worry about me. I'll be okay."

Kodiak nodded and rubbed soothingly up and down her arm, knowing that she was in desperate need for rest but hadn't been able to find any for a long while. "It's almost over," he promised her. "With Terra Firma out of the way, we'll have all the time we need to find our way home, and Izzy will probably feel safe again knowing that Calvin's dead."

"I hope you're right," Elara said. "I hope that's all it will take for her to not be afraid anymore. I don't know if I can help her through this all by myself."

"You did in the Bunker-"

"No I didn't," Elara shook her head at her brother's words. "I had you and Wynn and everyone else. And no one could get to us in there. Out here, this is the 'big, bad scary world' that's all unfamiliar to her; the same world where every 'bad guy' from one of the stories I've told her, is."

"Yeah, and every one of those bad guys is dead because Wynn and Kodiak and the others make them go away, just like they did for you when you were younger," Quill reminded her. "If anyone is going to get through to her that she's going to survive and she's going to be okay, it's you. Don't doubt yourself."

"Thank you, Quill," she murmured sincerely, mustering up her best smile his way. "And just for the record, you were also one of those heroes in those stories of mine."

Quill beamed back at her, but there was a glimmer of misery as she turned away from him and Kodiak, having no choice but to steer away from their protection and security at such a time for the sake of taking care of Izzy.

"They'll be okay," Kodiak said, seeming to read his thoughts. "You and I are here if anything happens. We can keep an eye on them."

"Yeah," Quill nodded, appreciating the assuring pat on the back from the Sovereign, reluctantly following his lead over to where the remaining others from the group were waiting for them. Unable to be with any one of his siblings as the war against Terra Firma began made him more anxious than he could explain but he was glad, at least, to have Kodiak by his side.

/////////

Elara leaned back against one of the logs laid out on the beach, slowly combing Izzy's fingers through her hair as she sat in front of her.

It had been over an hour since their people left for the woods and Elara knew that chances were, the war had already started. It was terrifying to think that her brother was somewhere caught up in that danger and though she tried not to let the doubts in, her heart couldn't help but make a home to all of the fears telling her that she might not ever see Wynn again.

Trying to distract herself, Elara closed her eyes and tried to focus on soothing memories, hoping that she would end up so lost in her mind that before she knew it, Izzy would be shaking her shoulder to tell her that all of Basilisk were back on the beach and the fighting was over.

"...Are you sleeping?" She heard a tiny voice ask.

Elara laughed but still kept her eyes shut. "No, Izzy, I'm not sleeping," she said. "Just resting."

"Oh... Where has everyone gone again?"

"They've gone into the woods. They're trying to keep the bad guys away; nothing for you to worry about. You're safe here with me."

"What about the others over there? With Kodi and Uncle Wynn?"

"Some of them can't fight, or the Sovereigns want to make sure they're safe. That's why there's guards waiting with them."

"Kodi can fight," Izzy said. "You've told me all those stories-"

"Yeah, he can," Elara assured her. "But he wants to make sure you and I are safe. That's why he's over there."

Elara opened her eyes to observe Izzy's reaction to her answer. The young girl chewed on her bottom lip, turning around to glance over at Kodiak and the others, seeming to overcome some of the weight that was on her shoulders. She didn't look away as quickly as she had been for the past few days, and even managed to take a deep breath as she kept her gaze focused on where the Sovereign was waiting.

"He stayed here for us?"

"Of course he did," Elara smiled, pushing herself to sit up and loosely braiding the young girl's hair in her fingers. "You and me are his family."

"And family protects each other."

"Exactly," Elara smiled, beginning to feel as though Izzy was starting to warm up to the idea of Kodiak again. "The same way he did for me in the stories I told you in the-"

"What's that noise?" Izzy interrupted, suddenly pulling away from Elara and beginning to scan her eyes across the beach. Elara joined in, just as confused about what she was hearing, but already having a gut-feeling when she identified the sounds coming from the forest behind her.

She waited a moment, standing to her feet as she helped Izzy up, holding her tightly against her as they waited to see what was happening. A little way along the beach, Kodiak, Quill and the others all stood up as well, seeming to take hold of their weapons as the guards instructed everyone to, knowing that was coming.

"Ell?"

Elara bent down so she was eye-level with the young girl, grabbing onto both of her arms to secure her. "I think there's few attackers from the other clan about to come down," she informed her, deciding it was best if she was honest with Izzy and allowed her to prepare herself for what was coming. "It might get a little scary, but I'm going to be with you the entire time and I won't let anyone hurt you."

"Can't we go somewhere?" Izzy asked. "Can we hide?"

Elara shook her head, pushing Izzy's hair out of her face, remorseful to already see tears forming in her big, brown eyes.

"This is the safest place for us," she said, knowing in her heart that it wasn't true. Izzy could be in the shelter. Izzy could be perfectly safe with Quill and not have to face any of this.

"Someone's coming this way!" Izzy warned her, suddenly wrapping herself around Elara's waist as she watched one of the fighters from Terra Firma begin to run over towards them.

"A guard will stop them..." Elara muttered, knowing that it was the plan - that it was the entire reason Basilisk and Exile Allegiance had stationed some of their guards on the beach: to protect those that were waiting from the stray members of Terra Firma that had gone in search for them.

But she watched as the attack drew closer and showed no signs of slowing down and Elara knew that they weren't going to stop pursuing her and Izzy.

Having no choice but to take measures into her own hands, Elara reached down and picked up the nearest stick that was in reach, snapping off the end in an attempt to make it sharper, but it was a miserable defence against the baton held tightly by the man charging at them. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, Elara was acutely aware of the stitches in her sides and the complete exhaustion she had been trapped in for days, knowing that the adversities she faced on Neptunum were something she was no where near recovered from.

"It's going to be okay, Izzy," she said, making sure the young girl was secured behind her, hating to think what would happen to her if the attacker kill Elara and left Izzy defenceless. "I love you. I love you so much." 

Seven // Part Three
Love makes you strong.

I loved Sol and Dreea's speech! And Sol suddenly realising what it means to her that Joren is gone! And Wynn being the one to remind Sol that love makes people strong because Joren always pointed out to Wynn and Sol that they gave each other strength and always reminded them to look out for one another. I think that line (love makes you strong) was a nice homage to Joren.

Of course, I ADORED the cute scenes between Wynn, Quill, Elara and Kodiak! But Elara and Izzy are in danger... What's going to happen to them?

Also, you might have seen that I added Season 10 of The Boy from the Bunker to my page (you don't get how strange that feels to type). I was submitting the books in this series to one of the Wattpad accounts and needed the link, so I just posted a 'coming soon' chapter) but you can add it to your libraries so it's ready! I'm hoping to get the first chapter out this month!

06/04/21.