Title: The Crucible

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Author's Note: This is the second part of my Salvation series. There will be five short stories in all, and you should read Prologue: Checkmate first to understand what is happening here.

Please read and review.

crucible: an object made stronger as it is passed through fire

Chapter One: The Obliterated

Three months after Checkmate:

"You lived another life, Max...a life completely different from this one...a life when you loved me."

"I don't remember that."

The desert stretched for miles, shimmering in the sweltering heat. The dunes of dark red sand rose and fell in a gentle rolling motion, reminiscent of waves. It was a barren wasteland without any form of life, plant or animal. At the western horizon line, a range of mountains rose like a hazy mirage, distant and faint.

Myth had it that, several millennia ago, the desert had been a beautiful forest. But it had also been the sight of a great battle between demons and the people of Antar. The Antarians had won, pushing the demons back into their lairs beneath the earth, but at a great cost. The forest had been burnt down, and many people, animals, and plants had died. Since that day, nothing had ever grown on the land, and the rocks had turned red, stained with the blood of the fallen heroes.

A long figure stood on the dunes and looked around. She appeared tiny and insignificant in the great expanse of wilderness. Her blonde hair stuck to her sweaty face and neck, and her pale skin had turned red with heat and sunburn. She clutched an infant to her chest as though it was the most prized thing in the world.

The figure hesitated for a moment, then continued walking resolutely across the land. It was impossible to tell where she had come from or where she was going. The closest civilization was far away, across the distant mountains. She could not have come from there, she would have died long before reaching her present position. She could not be going there, she would die long before reaching the cities.

But she walked resolutely on.

"Liz is human. She has nothing to do with us."

"No, you have nothing to do with us."

The figure carried a bag over one shoulder and another on her back. She staggered under the heavy load. Inside the cloth sacks, she carried the precious little water and food that she had. It had to last her and her son until they reached somewhere else. Somewhere safe.

She stumbled, clutching her son with one hand and reaching out with the other to break her fall. She dropped to her knees, the hot sand burning the palm of her hand. Her pants were torn and the skin of her legs scratched, as though she had fallen numerous times.

She stayed on her knees for a moment, then licked her dry lips and stood up slowly. She shifted the sleeping child to her other arm, resting him in the crook of her elbow. She hobbled painfully on, not even taking a moment to rest her wearied eyes.

"How did I ever fall in love with someone like you? How did I marry you?"

"You were different then, you were a king. Now you're just a boy."

The child whimpered and she paused to whisper comforting words. The baby relaxed for a moment, then tensed again and let forth a tiny wail. She frantically hushed the boy, looking around her as though worried that someone would hear her son's cries.

She needn't have bothered, there was no one there to hear.

She was alone, a single figure casting only the tiniest shadow across the vast stretch of sand and sun.

"You're still in love with her, aren't you?"

"It's hard to describe what I feel for Liz."

"I know. It's what you and I used to have."

She trudged onward, and above her the sun began it's slow descent behind the distant mountains. The sky was suddenly lit with crimson waves of light, but the beauty of the glorious sunset was lost on the lone wanderer. She had come so far, and had so far left to go. She walked on.

Finally, when her legs would no longer support her weight, she collapsed to the ground. She carefully swaddled the sleeping infant in a soft piece of cloth and then let herself stretch out next to him. She stared up at the sky, watching as the final ray of light disappeared and the world was thrown into inky blackness.

There was not a cloud in sight. The moon and stars shone brilliant, casting a soft glow upon the land below. The desert seemed less harsh in the gentle light of the night sky.

The air was still hot.

The figure peered at each of the stars, wondering around which one the planet she once called home orbited. She smiled to herself, struck by the irony of her search. When she was on Earth, she would stare at the night sky and speculate about which star was the Antarian sun. Now she stared up at the Antarin night sky and wondered which star was the Earth's sun.

Her idea of home had changed.

"Listen, I just want you to know if anything goes wrong... if you're not able to go home, then you have a home here. That your child has a home here too. I mean, you're uh, you're both part of this family now. We'll figure out what's wrong with the baby. We'll find a way."

She twisted slightly and glanced at her son. He slept peacefully, his eyes closed softly. He looked so much like his father. Black hair, strong jaw, narrowing eyebrows. He was a tiny replica of the one-time king.

Except for the eyes. His brilliant blue eyes, now closed in slumber, were his mother's. So much like his mother's, that when his eyes were open, she swore she could see herself staring through them.

They were supposed to be a family, happy and full of promise. They were supposed to move out into an apartment and raise their son together. They were supposed to… She sighed and mentally forced herself to think about other topics. Dwelling on what could have been would do her no good.

And yet…

It was difficult. Because she had almost had that life, because for a few brief moments it had lingered just at the tips of her fingers, and she had played the fool, thinking she could have it.

"Well, when I healed Brody…I saw these -- these flashes, of Brody, of Larek, but also…"

"But also what?"

"I remember you."

How long had it been since he had uttered those words to her? A simple 'I remember you,' and everything in her life had seemed so right. How long had it been since she had felt that way?

Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Decades?

No, she knew the answer to that. Only months. Just a few months since she had stepped into that swirling mass of energy and disappeared across the universe, hurtling through space to an unknown planet and an unknown life.

She shivered suddenly, unnaturally cold in the stifling heat. How did it end up like this? She cast her thoughts back, trying to remember the past. It was only a few months ago, not long at all, but it seemed like an eternity. So much had happened, so much had changed.

She had changed.

And it all came back to that one fateful day in the Granolith chamber. To those few words that had been uttered that had forever sealed her fate.

"Tess did it! Tess killed Alex!"

She stood up abruptly, angry and restless. How could they have not seen the truth that stared them in the eyes? How could they have rushed to condemn her so quickly? With their history of bizarre and inexplicable events, how could they not have considered every possibility before calling her a murderer? But she knew the answer to that as well.

How easy it was to blame the hated, the outcast, the stranger.

Did they think of her as often as she thought of them? Did they remember her? Or did they try to forget? Did they push her far back into the recesses of their minds where she could no longer torment them with her 'disloyalty?' Or did they spend every moment thinking of her, hurt and scared at the way she had 'betrayed them.

The vengeful part of her hoped that it was the second one.

But the other part, the logical part, the part that told her that they had been played by Khivar, that they were only reacting to what they saw and heard, that part reminded her gently not to be to harsh on them.

But after three months of hell, the logical part had grown weaker. It now only whispered at her, whereas months before it had roared. Let them suffer. What did it matter to her?

Pushing herself into a sitting position, she closed her eyes and allowed the images of the past few months to play across the backs of her tired eyelids. She could see herself huddled in the Granolith, alone and scared, pressed up against the cool metal walls that surrounded her like a prison. She remembered grappling with the controls, trying to adjust her flight pattern. Somehow, from somewhere deep in the alcoves of her mind, she had managed to come up with the information needed to take her to Larek.

And then there had been the arrival. The men had crowed around her spaceship, pressing in close to catch sight of the strange foreigner who had landed on their peaceful world. And she had stood, trying to maintain any and all composure, and ordered them to take her to Larek.

And that was where it had all began.

The battle she now waged against Khivar, the one that had sent her and her son into the great desert, the one that had ruined her life, it had started at that moment. When she had first gazed upon Larek's planet and asked to be taken to the only friend she had left in the world, that moment had changed everything.

Somewhere along the way, she had crossed over an invisible line, and there was no going back.

Because as much as she hated her 'family' on Earth, it was Khivar that she hated more. She had spent three months with members of the Resistance, seeing first hand what the ruthless skin King did to those who did not support him.

She had seen battle fields covered with red blood and dead bodies. She had smelled the acrid smoke from burning flesh, had choked on the bitter air that lingered over the ransacked and plundered villages. She had heard the screams of dying men, the terrified wails of children separated from their mothers, the furious ring of metal on metal as the battle raged across the planet.

She had experienced war.

And Khivar had threatened to kill her and her son, to kill the Royals left on Earth and their human friends, to obliterate the entire universe if he needed to, as long as it removed the opposition to his rule.

Obliterate it all like he had obliterated her, taking away the life she had once cherished and the people she had once called family.

And the vengeful part spoke up again, asking insidiously why she was protecting the others on Earth. Did she care what happened to them? They had betrayed her, these one-time friends. They had sent her to hell. They had taken all she had ever wanted, and trampled on it, mocking her. They had taken everything she had ever sacrificed for them, and thrown it back in her face, cold and uncaring.

But another part spoke up. Not the logical one which had gone into hiding. A different part of her, the one that still clung to the tiny shred of hope that maybe some day everything would turn out alright. That part of her spoke up, reminding her why she was doing this. Why she was fighting. Why she was going through hell. Why she was sacrificing everything she held dear in this never ending battle against an enemy so much stronger than herself.

Because somewhere out there, out in the great expanse of inky blackness, on some tiny planet circling an insignificant star, there was something worth saving.

"Yeah, well...you're my favorite Martian."

In case you hadn't guessed, this is where my story is going to end up. The next chapters will be leading up to this point. However (and this is a little confusing) this is where my final story is going to end up. Which means that this point will not be reached during this story, and you will have to keep reading my next stories to find out how Tess ended up in the desert, and how she gets out of it. I know, it is a shameless ploy to ensure that you keep reading the entire series... :)

Next Chapter: Only One Regret

Due: Thursday 11/10