Chapter 2
The grey skies were fading to a distinct shade of desert orange. Soft winds blew across the barren landscape, too soft to kick up the dreaded sand and dirt. I could see from my apartment window the beautiful summer morning pushing its way into the melancholy hearts of the people of Madrid and all of Deos. A few shop keepers dared to push the heavy wooden door and thick curtains from the store fronts and let the lightening morning sun fill the corners of the cold, stone stores. The pale grey streets was glowing with morning light and in the distance, a few streets away, I could make out the shape of the vast desert and the long road that lead away from the Wastelands and into the interior of Light, the kingdom of the Guardians.
A soft sound awakened me from my trance. Thistle lay sprawled on the couch, her left arm and leg dangling off and her head pressed into the corner of the tousled a bit and then sat up.
"... errrrrrr..." She rubbed her eyes with the back of her tiny hands. "I didn't sleep so well..."
"Haha, you seemed to have passed out right when you lied down on the couch, Thistle... what would you like for breakfast?" I closed the curtains that covered the large stone cutout window and I made my way for the kitchen in the corner of the room. "How about... some cereal? Do you like rice cereal? … it seems to be the only kind you can find now..."
"Sure" The little girl plopped back on the sofa and stared at the ceiling. The morning light glowed palely through the curtain and illuminated the window. Thistle made popping sounds with her mouth and reached her pale arm to the ceiling. "... Steel... can I ask you something?"
I was reaching for the milk in the back of my desolate refrigerator. "Yeah, anything, Thistle." I poured the cereal into two chipped bowls and poured the last of the milk on top of it so it would be at least somewhat edible.
"About that country you mentioned the other day... America? What... what is it... or... what was it?"
I paused and looked at the girl. I held the empty milk jar in my hand while I spoke. "America... this has to do with the story about my grandmother, right? Well, you see..." I leaned on the counter and put down the milk jar. "... a long time ago there was once a land of prosperity and hopes and dreams and everything that is now gone in this world. That country was 'America'. There were hills and valleys and oceans and forests. Bright, intelligent people once lived there, some say the most intelligent people in the world.
"When my grandmother was a little girl she used to live in a tiny cottage overlooking the coast in a state called 'Maine'. Then horrible things happened. Some say it was the wrath of a god, some say it was just nature taking its course, but my grandmother always used to say that humanity had it coming upon themselves. Over the years the people of that country, well... the people of the Earth... they had poisoned the soil and polluted the air. One day, the Earth shook with a mighty quake and the crust of the Earth split in two. This is also the first time human kind had ever seen the Immortals. Most believed them to be hideous daemons who had taken the form of humans and bring vengeance upon those who had brought the curse upon the pitiful Earth... then again, my grandmother used to say we are all responsible.
America had an interesting ordeal during the desperation after the quake. A horrible and corrupt politician play the heartstrings of the bleeding hearts and the souls of the compassionate who lived in America. When she took office she enforced a string of harsh laws and amendments and turned the once beautiful democracy into a despot state. Many attempted to flee the country, but few were successful. My grandmother was one of the lucky few who escaped the would-be genocide. It was like the 1930s and 40s all over again." I put the palm of my hand against my face.
"So... all those people... the ones who didn't escape... they died, didn't they?"
I nodded. "The immortal race ran rampart in the Americas but in time they brought about their own destruction. In Europe they have attempted to invade through the Balkans but the people of Light, the Guardians, us, we have held our ground and kept them away even when the other Mortal nations have fallen into the Immortals' tyranny."
Thistle looked overwhelmed by all of this new information. She twirled her sandy blond hair with her fingers. "I think... I think we can beat them, Steel. The Immortals, I mean. When we have so much to lose... there's no way they can defeat us."
"You speak very bravely for a ten year old girl." I handed her the bowl of cereal and a spoon.
"Hey! I'm going to be eleven in three weeks!" She stuffed her mouth full of the bland cereal.
"Right, right. How could I forget?" I looked at my miserable bowl. "I really wish they could still grow corn... that used to make the best cereal. They can't grow it now. The climate's not right here and it costs less to grow rice anyways. You almost ready to leave, Thistle?"
Thistle sipped the last of the milk from her bowl and grabbed her pale green cloak. I put the bowls on the counter and grabbed my white one and dressed quickly. I locked the door on our way out and stared back at the building as we walked away on the dirt road.
Something... something just doesn't feel right. It's like... I'm not coming back here... it's almost... uninviting.
"What's wrong, Steel?"
I turned around to face Thistle. "Oh, nothing, nothing. Let's get going. We want to get to the valley before it gets too hot."
The dirt roads gave back to cobblestone and from there we continued to walk. Thistle kicked smalls stones along the road and I trailed behind. My mind was still not at rest. The summer sun began to rise a bit higher and I figured it must have been about seven in the morning. We crossed the cobblestone marketplace which was full of vendors bustling around, putting up their large tents in the square that was shaded by the thin sheets that connected the roof of each stall to the next making pathways of cool shade for customers.
We exeted the market place and crossed the southern part of the city and headed east, parallel to the Wastelands. The earth was clay-like until we reached a giant depression in the ground. At the bottom of the valley there was sparse grass and many ancient trees, the few who still dared to exist. They must have been hundreds of years old. They cast much shade and there were many strange rock formations, most of which seemed to represent human-like creatures. Angels, they say.
"Steel! WOW! Look at this tree!" Thistle ran down to a tree and attempted to climb it. "How do they all stay alive?"
I was looking at one of the angel-like statues and replied "They say this valley is a gift from God himself... but the truth is that there's a spring beneath the Earth and it feeds this valley. The trees are safe from the dust storms because of the side of the valley". I placed my hand on the smooth, white stone. "This stone is a lot different than the stone they used to build the city..."
The morning sun was getting higher. Eight, perhaps. The lovely shades of morning had been replaced with the crystal blue skies of a clear day. The air was a bit stale from the last day's dust storm but a couple of fluffy white clouds still dared to cross the morning sky on their ventures to other countries, to be seen by other peoples, to be questioned by other mortals such as ourselves.
Thistle was sitting on a low branch of the tree. Her cloak hung limp in the dead air and she was staring at the horizon, a look of surprise and intrigue on her face. "... what's that on the horizon... Steel... who are those people?" She continued to stare into the distance.
I whipped around and followed her gave to the horizon. I shaded my eyes with my hand and looked at the dark figures who were approaching. They were two men with light skin and silvery hair. They were dressed in black robes and seemed to be coming directly at us.
"THISTLE! RUN! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" I pulled the little girl out of the tree and grabbed her arm. We ran in the opposite direction, up the side of the valley. "Those... they're not people, Thistle. Those are them. Those are the Immortals. How... how did they get this far into Light? I don't understand!"
We continued to run until we exited the hill and I felt a sharp pull on my leg. I had caught my foot in a dead tree root and had fallen on my face. Thistle fell on top of me.
"WE HAVE TO KEEP RUNNING!" I screamed.
My knee was gushing blood and I could hear their approach. I tried to push Thistle on but she refused to budge because she was afraid to go on on her own, I could see it in her eyes. Within a few seconds they were around us. They stared at the little girl and then at my knee.
"KILL ME! DAMNIT, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN! Just kill me and let her go!" I thrust myself before them, my leg was still numb. "JUST TAKE ME!" The pain was throbbing, perhaps my leg was broken.
The first of the Immortals, a tall, lean man pulled me up by my cloak and held my arms behind me. He was surprisingly strong... the again, they are not mortal.
The second grabbed the astonished Thistle by the hair as she tried to escape. She fell to the ground and the Immortal, a shorter, stubbier man, pulled her up by her hair. She obeyed like a begrudging servant. "We have better plans for you two." His red eyes gleamed with evil, the evil that naturally existed in the hearts of all imorrtals. Thistle began shaking and soon tears began streaming down her freckled face. her deep blue eyes with swelling and I could see the fright and anguish she was experiencing. Something snapped inside of me.
The tall man held his grip tighter against me as I began thrashing against him. "DON'T YOU TOUCH HER YOU BASTARD!" I screamed and thrashed and shook my head from side to side, hysterical. This is not happening... save me... anyone... save us. Dear God of the mortal races, do not abandon me now.
I felt a sharp prick in my arm. I felt heavy, heavy, heavy... "Just...let her... go... take..." I blacked out.