No Forgiveness in Light
Chapter 2

Snipe mounted his heli-blade elite before taking off, his Talons right behind him. The Rex Guardians were already in the air, speeding towards them grim determination on their faces. Their sky knight was not with them however, much to his disappointment; he would have liked to smush him personally for all the trouble he caused.

The rain poured down as the two sides clashed together, thunder rumbling as they squared off.

"Where is he?" Snipe snarled. "Where's your stupid Sky Knight?"

"It should be us asking that of you!" the girl hissed, igniting her blade as she drew closer. The rain sizzled as its drops landed on the weapon. "It was that Cyclonian bitch who brainwashed him! Where did she go with him?"

"That's my sister you're talking about!" He slammed his mace out toward her. She pulled back, but wasn't expecting the mace's head to extend, slamming into her skimmer. Her wing was completely crushed, and she let out a scream as she fell towards the terra. A hand shot out to stop her descent, nearly crushing her wrist.

Snipe raised the girl with one hand to glare directly into her green eyes. "What were you saying?" He held his mace next to her face, scowling at her. She was silent for a moments, watching the rain drip from the weapon, its red crystals tinting the drops red.

She began squirming, trying to slip from his grasp. The other Rex Guardians circled around, unsure what to do, their faces reflecting the fear they felt. Her eyes were wide with fear, and she spoke in a fast quivering voice. "Th-that Cyclonian, Ravess... Sh-she had captured Harrier. We know that she brainwashed h-him. There's no other reason why he would betray us to h-help the Cyclonians..."

"Where did they go?"

"Y-you don't know? Sh-she works with you, doesn't she?"

"Not anymore." Without another word, he ripped off her parachute and then let go of her, sending her plummeting to the terra below.

"No!" The Rex Guardian with the headband dove after her, his arm outstretched as he attempted to grab her.

Not bothering to see if he caught her or not, Snipe motioned to his squadron who made quick work of the remaining two Guardians, sending them floating to the terra below. Growling, he flew back towards his ship. Now what was a supposed to do?

Staring out into the rain, Ravess let out a sigh. Things weren't looking up at all... As the rain fell harder, so did her hopes of things working out. How had this happened? What had caused her to have feelings for a Sky Knight of all people? Perhaps it had all been a mistake... But even if it was, it was too late now.

Glancing back, she was glad too see that Harrier had gone back to sleep; he needed it after all. She had no doubt that these events would be harder on him then they were on her. She was used to being selfish, and used to betraying others if it suited her. Almost everything she had done in her life had been for her benefit alone. But Harrier... He was a Sky Knight. Everything he had done was in the name of Honor, and the Code.

Turning her head again, she went back to staring at the rain, but stiffened as she saw a flash of fire in the distance. Standing up, she backed away from the cave entrance. "Harrier!" she hissed.

Harrier lifted his head and stared at her, bleary-eyed. "Hmm? What is it?"

"I saw a flash of something in the distance. It looked like fire... You don't think someone has located us already, do you?"

He bit his lip and stood up, making his way over to the entrance of the cave. A moment later, the flash of fire flew by again, this time close enough to make him jump back in alarm. It took him a few moments before he realized what it was. "It's just the phoenix," he sighed in relief.

"Just the phoenix?" Ravess repeated, incredulous. "Phoenixes happen to be very bad! Why is it here?"

"Well this is its terra," he replied. "That's why we're here."

"So you brought us here to be eaten by a phoenix?"

"No, we're here because people avoid this terra because-"

"Because they don't want to be eaten by a phoenix," she finished. She sat down of the cave floor and sighed.

Harrier sat across from her. "The phoenix won't bother us, trust me."

"If you say so..." She traced her finger on the ground beside her before glancing up a him. "What are we going to do? Where are we going to go next?"

"Terra Saharr," he answered. "We need to buy some supplies... We should probably get you a new bow..."

"Saharr is Sky Knight territory," she warned.

"The merchants on Saharr don't care who you are, as long as you have money."

"Do we?"

Harrier nodded. "I grabbed my money pouch before we left... It's not much, but we'll find a way."

"I wish I had my violin... We could use that to make money..." Ravess sighed. "I doubt I'll ever be seeing it again."

"Perhaps I can buy you one on Saharr. We have, um..." He poured out his money pouch, separating the coins into neat little piles.

She quirked an eyebrow. "You carry that much on you?"

He shrugged. "You get paid a lot being a Sky Knight on Terra Rex... It's written in the Code."

"Didn't a Sky Knight write that Code?"

"Yes..."

She snorted in amusement. "Maybe Sky Knights aren't as selfless as I thought..."

He didn't reply to that, instead sorting out his coins. "We'll spend this much on food." He shoved the majority of coins into one large pile. "This much on crystals." He sorted out a much smaller pile of coins. "And the rest will go toward getting you some weapons, or anything else we'd need."

"Will we be able to carry all this on your skimmer?" Ravess asked.

"I don't know, but we'll have to try..." Harrier frowned, concerned. Flying with two people was slowing his skimmer down enough... It was an old bi-wing skimmer; It didn't go fast as it was. With all that extra weight... He blinked as he realized that Ravess had asked him a question. "Hmm?"

"I asked how much another skimmer would cost."

"Oh, um..." He furrowed his brow, trying to remember. Terra Rex paid for all his supplies, but he remembered it being brought up once at a council meeting. "We might be able to afford it... But only if we didn't spend our money on anything else... I guess it would depend on how well we can haggle."

"Haggling?" She smiled. "That shouldn't be a problem... I think you'll find that I can be very... Persuasive."

"Oh, I don't doubt that at all." Outside, the rain had stopped falling. "Should we head out?"

Ravess nodded. "Yes... Let's be on our way... We could probably make it there in only a few hours... At least it won't be so wet over there."

"I think a few hours on Saharr will make you wish that you were back here." Harrier stood up, stretching his arms before mounting the skimmer.

"I don't mind the heat," she replied climbing onto the skimmer, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning close to him.

He smiled, glancing back at her before starting forward. When the skimmer picked up enough speed he activated the wings, starting their ascent into the sky. The still damp air was cold, causing him to shiver. Ravess pushed herself closer to him, seeking to share his warmth. As she did this, the very air around him seemed to warm... Wait... The air around him was warming.

"Uh, Harrier?"

Her slightly panicked voice drew his attention behind him. His eyes widened as he saw the phoenix rising behind them.