To a Point
The world Alexa used to know was always a place of innumerable possibilities for adventure. There was always a new mountain to climb, or a new group of people to guide, or a new place to discover. But whenever she finishes a trek to the highest peak, the adrenaline she would feel always dissipates before completely fading away with each breath she takes. The unhappiness she found within her path had urged her to continue on and seek further alternatives.
Something within her heart yearned for a touch of something unattainable, and new, but before she had always ignored it. To listen to the heart before the mind, would always end up in heartbreak and disaster. And yet, Lex's mind chose to follow a path where her heart studiously lingered ahead. It has been 4 years since the "great accident" had occurred, but the memories of such a thing have yet to fade away. The people's faces that she had once conversed with upon the expedition have become fragmented, and are sewn together once again when the itch to reread the old articles of their deaths and how there was only one "fortunate" survivor. The sadness of their passing never haunted Lex for more than a couple of months as she knew that life can always end in an instant, especially when guiding inexperienced, or experienced, climbers past the point of safety. There was always death to counteract the lives within the world, and their deaths were no different than those from the expedition.
But what had haunted Lex to this very day were his eyes.
Lex had never seen a more profound nor breathtaking shade of amber combined with a glint of intelligence. Those eyes that had watched her skitter across the floors of the pyramid for a way out, also followed her as she miraculously transformed from a meek prey to a cautious predator under the guidance of their owner.
If she were to close her eyes and listen, she could still hear his near silent footsteps, and soft purring before me and feel the intense heat that his own species seems to radiate with. The musky scent of his smooth hide would envelope the air as she recalled the instances where we would be forced to endure each others' close proximity. The touch of the said-hide was scorching compared to the frigid air that seemed to encase the whole temple.
During those moments, Lex's mind seems to attach its fate for existence to the palm of the hand of the alien hunter. The fear of death still lurked within her mind, but the fear of the survival of the serpents became overwhelming such as her resolve to survive.
Between the skirmishes with the serpents and finding the way out, Lex instinctively marked the hunter as mine. His life soon became a priority as he somehow brought out a part of me that she had never expected to find in the depths of the labyrinth, hope.
The moment that Sebastian was dragged away from Lex's fingertips, the possibilities of her existence plummeted within my mind. And yet, the mercy that the young hunter had shown her when she gave back his weapon, only fueled her will to hope.
Consciously, Lex touched the mark on her face. Scar.
A bittersweet smile fell upon her lips as she recalled the moment his eyes met hers.
She could swear that there was a spark of something between the two of them that the world could not comprehend.
The pain that followed the marking upon Lex's face felt like nothing she had ever felt before, but she knew that she would trust the soul that held hers tightly in his claws through whatever he would do. The touch between their eyes again, torn a part of her heart away, as she subconsciously knew that she would never again have what they had at that moment.
Tragically, whatever that could've been said between the differing dialects soon fell into the pit of the abyss as the mother of all the serpents rose to seek vengeance for her fallen offspring.
The battle itself was hard to decipher as Lex was running high on adrenaline to survive. A memory of a breathtaking leap from Scar stood stock-still in her mind. The dexterity that he had shown in maneuvering his body to an angle where he could pierce the neck of the queen astounds me. For a being as large as he was to move as fluid as the wind slicing the trees, sends a chill up her spine.
And yet, no matter how marvelous his skills and talent are, he is still a mortal. The moment the serpent's tail pierced through his body, Lex's soul cried out in anguish.
The painful remorse in his eyes yanked another chunk of her heart apart as his body was lifted towards the blades of death. But then, the serpent queen fell to her doom by the gigantic iron separating vat, ending her short reign of terror upon the Earth.
But Lex's mind was only set on one entirely different being, who was quickly bleeding out on the cold white canvas. As she knelt before him, she knew that her life would never be the same again. His soft chittering breath seemed to echo through the morose wind and she leaned down to grasp his hand in mine.
A soft sputtering purr vibrated through his chest as she sat and desperately tried to stifle her sobs of sorrow. Scar's unoccupied weak clawed hand rose and gently traced the scar on her cheeks, before sullenly falling to the ground and silence enveloping the land.
Lex bowed her head in grief and had she been able to, she would've screamed the unfairness of it all to the banshees of the Arctic.
A crackling sound forced her attention from the unmoving body of Scar to the looming figure of another hunter. The huge size and white coloration of this hunter showed the age and experience that he had surpassed. The wisdom hidden behind his hooded eyes sent a shiver through Lex.
Within seconds, more hunters seemingly appear out of thin air and a huge entrance to a spacecraft hovers behind them. Their appearance nearly made Lex step back, but she remembered how the hunters only valued strength. Lex consciously stood as straight as she could and stared up into the eyes of the ancient one as he stared right back with undistinguished a word, four hunters broke away from the formation and carried Scar's body towards the ship. A clicking noise tore her gaze from the disheartening procedure to the old one.
He reached out his arm and grasped an object. Lex slowly reached her hand out to accept it. The chill that radiated from the object seeps into her skin. The metallic sheen from the object reflected her dark gaze. She looks back up to the being before her and nods softly in gratitude.
The old one returns the nod, in what Lex had assumed, respect, before majestically turning around and strode back onto the spaceship with his brethren.
The moment that the ship left Lex's vision and fled into the skies above, she stoically began her march towards the snowcat that was still operational. The silvery wind began to play with the waves of her hair avidly. And at that moment, she knew that it was the last time that she would ever see the snow be so silent and somber. As she stood there watching the Hunter's Moon reflecting the sun's radiance, she heard a familiar purring noise.
Lex's eyes snap open and her memories leave her mind in a smooth flush.
She pivots her body into a crouch-like position before swiftly searching around the room for anything that looks different. Once she has searched around and came to a conclusion that there is nothing out of the ordinary, she strides towards her drawer and meticulously unlock the mechanism that holds the revered gift within.
Once the lock clicks, she reaches inside for the innocent looking object and carefully removes it. She had memorized all of the grooves and contours of the object a few months back. The cutting sound of a sharp object reaches her ear before silencing. The object within her grasp is no longer a duplicate for a tin can, but rather a menacing spear. She had also taken time to teach herself the ways to handle such a weapon when the need for it arose. But for now, she would only hide it in a safe place. The spear sheathes itself by the simple pressure on a hidden switch.
Before Lex could put the spear away, a red light shines through a little hole from inside the handle, leaving her momentarily awestruck. The beam flashes brightly before disappearing. She then looked up at the vanity mirror above her drawer and she could only see her dumbfounded reflection staring back.