[Sarah]

 

 

-Part 4-

The vast plains spread open before them, the tree line thinned and now only a few dotted the area. It was surprisingly pretty for being such a bland place. The grass rolled in the wind, looking similar to ocean waves. And though the sun was shining hot over their heads a cool breeze was constantly blowing so it wasn’t so bad. Being an immortal had its perks, they wouldn’t get sunburnt. Scarlet squinted her eyes against the glare of the sun, struggling to make sure they were taking the right path through the plains.

“Just up ahead it the forest so it will only be a few hours.” Scarlet said glancing back. Kat was joking with Rhyket and Vella even had a small smile on her face. Relieved that so far things were going ok Scarlet returned her attention to watching the horizon. She could not yet see the tree line, but she knew it was there. The path was at least visible. Two dirt dips with grass sprouting up in between, suggesting that they were not the first to come through here on wheels. Out here no one was hired to keep the roads up, or make sure that they didn’t get washed out. So it was a pleasant surprise how soft the ride was.

Rolling hills surrounded them for miles, with nothing that could be used for cover around them, only short bushes and tall grass. They wouldn’t be going in very deep, only on the outskirts of the plain. Even then there weren’t any trees to dot the surrounding path. With trades that dated back to the beginning of civilization having come through the plain at one point scarlet would have figured that there might be a few trees left by lost seeds. Nope, only grass. The grass must have overpowered the trees, forcing the seeds to die since they would not be able to get enough water. While the grass was able to live with the limited supply.

Nature could be shocking sometimes; even plants had competition for territory. With a shortage of water only grass thrived, whereas in the forest the trees grew tall and the underbrush only made it along because they didn’t need so much light. And grass was still found, but less dense. Scarlet laughed to herself a little, she had to stop reading so many nature books. They were not helpful, and only made her appear to be some sort of nerd. That would not look well if she was trying to intimidate someone.

[Sarah]

The tuskow started going downhill, it was an easy slope and they only had to hold on for a little while. The grass was about as tall as the kart off to the sides of the path so Rhyket and Kat where constantly picking grass out of their clothes and hair. Well, Rhyket pulled grass out of both himself and Vella. “This is ridiculous.” Kat growled gingerly pulling a few pieced of grass from her hair trying not to mess it up. "You’d think they would cut all this short and use it for feeding tuskow or something.” She mumbled, flicking the grass from her hand.

“Yes, this is just awful.” Rhyket agreed, picking another strand of grass off of his suit. “It doesn’t even provide shade.” He sighed, shaking his head. “I really don’t understand why the gods decided to make this; hardly anything can stand to live here.” Kat smirked but kept her mouth shut. “Well, what shall we do while we wait to get into some more hospitable territory?” Rhyket asked, glancing away from Vella. “We could sing?” Kat suggested hesitantly.

“What will we sing?” Rhyket asked giving Kat a questioning look. “I don’t know…” she said embarrassed that she had brought it up. Vella snickered a little, but didn’t make any comment. Kat stretched out, they hadn’t been sitting long but she always got itchy to move after a while. “Why did you suggest it then?” Rhyket asked exasperated. Kat hung her head a little “sorry.” She mumbled.

[Sarah]

-Rhyket is acting so different.- Vella thought watching the way he moved. So loose, and casual. –He was always so stiff before; ready to strike the moment anyone spoke out.- She wondered if he had changed over the five years she had been gone. –it must have been my fault that he was so stiff, I was such an improper woman.- Vella hung her head lower. –what will the council think when we get home? They’ll cast me into hell for sure. Would that be so bad? Scarlet would be there, so I could have a friend.- Vella’s hopeful thoughts where cast away. –no, Scarlet said herself that it was a land of eat or be eaten. She killed to get attention from her superiors. I don’t want to live in a world like that.- hopelessness took over her again, since Rhyket had shown up she had gotten herself in a deep pit of depression.

She didn’t care what happened to her really, she only wanted for Scarlet and Kat to make it out alright, but she knew that she would be powerless if Rhyket took action against them. Desperation clouded her thoughts, panic set in and then she would have to work at keeping her mouth shut and calming herself down so she didn’t go bat shit crazy in front of everyone. Inside she was slowly going insane an internal battle between loyalty to her gods and loyalty to her friends.  

She had been living with the gods for a long, long time. For way over half her lifetime she had been living there. Every day she had to prove her loyalty to them, and every day they made sure to make every angel go through classes and training. Beating it into everyone’s mind that it was loyalty to the skies or to suffer eternal damnation. It was an easy choice for her and almost everyone else to just be loyal. For the ones who disagreed they were asked to stay after class and weren’t seen ever again.  Soon it was just something they knew, to be loyal and ask no questions.

Vella couldn’t remember exactly what had made her lose that trusting loyalty enough that she started thinking about leaving. Everything had become a little fuzzy when she became mortal, and even when she got her immortality back her memories stayed fuzzy. Now that she had lost the trust the council had for her, would she be welcomed back? Would she forever slave under Rhyket’s ruling until his plan came to action and they all fell from the skies and into hell?  Probably, with what she knew about his plan from snippets she had heard him speak about it was something that would cause anyone involved to be cast down.

Rhyket wanted to overthrow the gods that was not usually something that went over well. So either way she would not be living in her old home, with her old position in the rankings of the soldiers. With a sigh she leaned on Rhyket, content on sleeping through the ride. It had been a long time since she had contact with E and only for a flitting moment did she wonder where he was before she drifted off into the recesses of her mind.

[Sarah]

Rhyket could feel the doubts forming in Vella’s mind. –Good girl.- he cooed inwardly. All he had to do was get Vella to willingly come back to the skies with him. He wasn’t sure what would happen then, but he knew that it would not be good for Vela and then he would finally be able to take control over his group again. Planning was what he did best, and every second he was gone was wasted on these stupid demons. It made him sick. His kindness was all part of his plan, no matter how bad it seemed to get with these savages.

They were headed uphill again and Rhyket had to hold himself ad Vella in place as the slope steepened ever so slightly. The useless whore was asleep of course. Much to the discomfort of Rhyket. It was hard enough to have to keep conversation going with the brain dead girl sitting across from him. Now he had to deal with the useless angel sitting next to him.

Rhyket hoped that before they cast Vella into hell that they would allow them to mate so that they could get the children they needed to over throw the gods. Maybe he could convince the council to keep Vella locked up so that he could just pump out little weapons for his ever growing army. So much for being a devoted catholic, Rhyket wished he could laugh about that one. It was a clever thing to come up with on the spot. Actually, he had planned out his backstory beforehand. It was much simpler and less messy that way.

-What gross creatures.- Rhyket thought looking at scarlet who led the two smelly animals up the path. He spread his mouth in a wide yawn, blinking a few times. Acting like he was tired as well. Kat was lying across the bench she had been sitting on. The stupid bitch had the whole side of the kart to herself. Kat didn’t have to deal with Vella, she got to relax and enjoy the trip. Rhyket growled inwardly, forcing himself to calm down a little. It wasn’t an easy task, he could hardly control his anger as it was, and he usually didn’t have to hold it down.

[Sarah]

Scarlet set the map down. “Fucking finally.” She said loudly, waking bot Kat and Vella from their sleep. “are we there?” Vella asked groggily, that was the first time she had spoken for herself for a long time. Immediately she shut up, turning her head away. “sorry.” She mumbled training her fingers through the grass. “yup, I had accidentally dozes off, but now here we are!” Scarlet said excitedly, pointing ahead of them. The tree line could be seen clearly, and was inching towards them at an alarming rate.

“Thank the gods.” Rhyket said, clapping his hands together. Which made Vella flinch and jump and cower at the same time. Kat only nodded, concern flitted over her face and she only shot a glance at Vella to make sure she hadn’t fallen off of the kart. Scarlet rolled her eyes, and made the tuskow go a bit faster. It had taken a little longer than Scarlet had expected but they were finally out of the hot boring plain. Trees came up to greet them. Their open branches welcoming them into the soft shade.

The four might not have been affected by the heat, but the bright sun took its toll on all of them, that mixed with the tall grass. They were ready for the soft sounds of the forest and the cool shelter. Instead of the whistling wind that flowed in and out of the plain. The tuskow even seemed eager. Probably wanting a drink and a little cool off. “Here we are Roraldi forest.” Kat said happily.