Relicario Aldea - Titan
Relicario Aldea, the city built at the foot of the cryovulcano Madriguera. Luna had travelled here with her two guards and two other hunters. While Lestrade and the rest of the company were hiding in the dunes around the city.
Luna'd wanted to know more about the creatures that they'd found in the mass grave. And had insisted to let her go on her own. Lestrade had agreed that a large group would attract to much attention, but had refused to let her go alone.
Luna looked at the hunters before her. They'd exchanged their ACU's for civilian clothes. The were loose enough to hide their weapons. She felt the stares from the hunters who walked behind her. She wondered for the umpteenth time to what extent they were sent to guard her safety.
"I suggest we split up. Two of us will look for a place to spent the night, while the rest of us research. Look for a abandoned house in a rundown environment.
Any questions?" Parker looked everyone in the eyes. When nobody said anything, he nodded and pointed at Rosen and another hunter. "Rosen, Kelley. You two will look for place to sleep. Only make contact when you're in trouble, clear?" Everyone nodded. "Good, then we meet here at twelve hundred hours."
The group split up, and Rosen left with Kelley. She bumped shoulders with Luna when she walked past her, and looked into her eyes as Luna turned towards her.
"Excuse me, Wizardess." She said in a flat voice, and walked on without waiting for Luna's answer, with her back straight. Would the hostility and distrust ever lessen? Luna asked herself, as she stared at the retreating back of the hunter.
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The minute they walked into town, it was obvious that aliens actually existed.
They were huge, had the skin of an amphibian and had horns. Kelly, who was one of their world tallest human, came to chest height.
The second thing Becky noticed, was that there were differences to each set of horns. Where the horns by one alien looked like that of a goat, the other alien's horn were more like that of sheep.
Kelley nudged her shoulder. "Pay attention Rosen, we must find a place to sleep before noon." Becky nodded and payed attention on analyzing the condition of the houses around them. As well as the creatures passing them on the street.
They'd started their search on the outskirts of the city. The chance of finding a vacant house here was larger than in the center of the city. Where the well-kept houses of the rich and the elite were.
The buildings here were high and the streets narrow. The architecture was different to those on earth and the building materials used, unrecognizable. "The houses are in good condition, as far as I can see. The clothes of the inhabitants look well cared for, as well as the gardens and the porches of the buildings."
Kelley nodded. "Maybe it's a good idea to walk toward the volcano and look for a vantage point where we can survey the city."
Becky thought it over. Walking there alone would take time, but she didn't have anything better. "Okay, let's do that. Then we have a something to report at least. Even if it's only a estimate where we can find a abandoned home."
It took an hour before the finaly could start their climb. The streets here were broader and quieter, so that they could travel faster. The gazes had become less and Becky began to feel less tense. She wasn't used to being surrounded by so many non-humans.
She was born in district two. Home of the Hunter Clan. She'd never ventured outside her district before, until she joined the Peace Corps. After her transferre to District One she'd met her first Supernatural.
They were halway on their ascent to a place where they had a unopposed view of the city, when they ended up in a square. The houses here were rundown and the gardens unkept.
"Seems we're in the right place."
Becky breathed relieved. "How long do we have?"
"Half an hour before we have to go back again. You take this block, then I will check for a abandoned building in the next quarter." Becky nodded and took one of the side streets while Kelley went up the road.
The architecture of the houses were different here than the rest of the city and wider. In the gardens surrounding the buildings Becky could see yellow, blue and red flowers. Everwhere she could look she saw flowers with shapes she'd never seen before.
As she walked on the gardens became lusher until she arrived at a second square. This one smaller than the one where she and Kelley had separated. The surrounding buildings a lot more neglected.
Becky drank in the sight and walked closer to the gardens when something drew her attention in one of them. It was mostly hidden by flower bushes and Bekcy walked into the garden to get a closer look. She pushed a few of the flowers aside so she could take a close look at what had drawn her attention.
It was a statue. The figure was as big as her and made of a black material. The depicted creature was different form the creatures Becky had seen until now. Now that she thought about it, it looked more like the creatures they'd found in the mass grave.
He was dressed in the same uniform as the soldiers that were burried in the dunes, and stood to his full height. The features were noble and sharp with white spots which formed a mask around his eyes. The look in his red eyes imperious. His hand-like claws were resting on the pommel of a sword at his right side and on a shield that stood to his left.