The exhaustion was beyond bearable as Shayera pushed her body beyond its limits to continue forward. She didn't know how many hours she had been flying for already. It was well into the night as the only light she had to guide her was the moon. She didn't know if it was past midnight or not; yet that didn't matter to her in the slightest at the moment.
All Shayera could feel was the pain racking through her body. She had refused all medical treatment when the seven of them had returned to Wayne Manor. While Shayera was emotionally despondent, she had not lost her sharp senses. She knew the damage electrical burns from Nth metal could cause. She knew the damage that electrocution could cause. Shayera also knew that she wasn't physically fit to be out on her own like this. She didn't have the resources necessary to treat her wounds.
Shayera gritted her teeth as she placed her hand over her stomach. Her skin felt like it was on fire. Her shirt was sticking to her burned skin. She shook her head and kept her focus forward as she attempted to ignore the pain. She just had to hope that her Thanagarian healing factor could mend the wound with no assistance.
She had ended up banking at one point and was flying above land again. She didn't know where she was but she could tell she was at least over a wooded area with no major cities in sight. She had no intentions on stopping just yet. She wanted to put more distance between herself and Wayne Manor. Between herself and the lie that was Hawkgirl. The Justice League had been Hawkgirl's family. Shayera was not Hawkgirl and she never could be. Hawkgirl was a respected and beloved hero. Shayera was nothing more than a traitor.
Shayera took a deep breath and felt the back of her throat burn with the intensity of a lit fire. She had cried for hours on end until no more tears would come forth. Her eyes burned and her throat was raw. She was exhausted both emotionally and physically at this point.
She wasn't just exhausted but also hungry. She hadn't eaten in three days. Her guilt over the Hyperspace Bypass Generator and planning on helping the Justice League had fried her nerves and she had not the appetite to eat anything. Thankfully Hro had been too busy in his plans to notice her behavior. She also knew this wasn't an ideal situation. She was burning a lot of energy by flying this long distance. She knew she was going to burn off more calories than she would be able to put in at the rate she was going.
Now that Shayera paid attention to it, her back and wings were also sore from when Hro had knocked her back into the metal wall. Her right shoulder was also sore from when Hro had thrown her to the floor. At least nothing had been broken or dislocated. Otherwise Shayera knew she would have been stuck at Wayne Manor with the others. She never would have been able to leave with those types of injuries.
Ironically, being bruised and burned was the best case scenario for her right now.
Shayera let out a heavy sigh as she felt a few tears build within her eyes. She had no one to blame but herself. She had caused all of this. She could have told them the truth at any time yet she didn't. She had believed that once the Thanagarians had stopped the Gordanians from invading Earth that she would have been able to convince Hro to let her stay behind. Then the truth of the Hyperspace Bypass Generator came to light and she knew she couldn't allow the humans to die. She couldn't allow their peaceful existence to be extinguished. Shayera couldn't justify the use of violence against Earth in order for Thanagar to win the war. She knew Thanagar would only move on to another planet and begin the process anew. They would wage a new war against another species.
It was a never ending cycle that the Thanagarians would not stop until they were gone. Shayera knew in a way that she had halted the cycle for now. Millions if not billions of Thanagarians would potentially die against the Gordanians because of her actions. She had killed her own people. She had condemned those who did not die into slavery by the Gordanians should they be captured. Though she also knew that Thanagar could potentially still win the war. She just wouldn't be there to witness whatever the outcome.
That was when it had hit Shayera. She would never see Thanagar again. She would never see her homeworld again. She would never feel the warm, humid atmosphere that was perfect for flying. She would never see the cities they had built or see the advanced technology they had created. She would never witness the dangerous yet wonderous wildlife on the planet.
Shayera tightly closed her eyes as a choked sob escaped from her throat and she began to cry once more. She wiped the back of her hand against her cheeks as she opened her eyes. Barely able to see, Shayera finally landed on the ground below. She immediately fell to her hands and knees and openly sobbed. Her lungs burned as she struggled to take in breaths between her sobs. She looked to the ground and could see her tears mixing with the dry dirt they fell onto.
"What did I do?" Shayera managed to choke out. She clenched her fists into the grass and dirt. She lifted up her right fist and slammed it onto the ground as hard as she could. Finally she collapsed onto her side as more sobs stabbed through her body and ignited her chest.
The sky was dark as Shayera laid uncomfortably sprawled on her back as her bloodshot, emerald eyes stared blankly upwards, tears still streaming down with no signs of stopping. A warm gust of wind fanned her hair across her face and obscured her view of the moon above her as her bangs stuck to her wet cheeks. She felt a slight impatience rise within her as she tried to raise an arm to brush the errant locks away but her arms were numb and had become dead weights from her exhaustion. Instead Shayera simply closed her eyes. That was as much as she could manage to do at this point.