Altered Destiny

Ch. 7

Apparently it's the 3-year anniversary of Songs of War! Have a chapter to celebrate!

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"You ready?" Galleous asked.

Honestly, no. Ingressus wasn't ready. Doing this went against every survival rule he'd ever been taught. He could almost hear the voices of every Voltaris in existence yelling at him to back out, to stay hidden, that the mountains were the only safe place, the Voltaris were the only safe clan, that what he was about to do was suicide.

But he wasn't in the mountains. That place was lost to him. He was in the middle of nowhere, half a continent away from anywhere the raiders would've thought to look for his people. A Sendaris had known of his existence for over a month and had done nothing to harm him, even after learning that Ingressus couldn't return to the mountains and would be no use to the raiders. Unless he suspected Ingressus had lied...

No. There was only so much second-guessing a person could take, and Ingressus had hit his limit. He'd made his choice. He would at least have some measure of protection in Ataraxia, and if that failed, he would run. He had what he needed to do it; a map, his blade, food and water, string for snares or to make a bow, and any other supplies he could think of. He'd made Galleous sketch out a map of Ataraxia for him, and he knew how to get to the mainland or, if he really had to, to an island low enough to jump into the water from. He wouldn't wait around for someone to find him. He couldn't hide forever, and he was pretty sure he'd go crazy if he stayed confined to the cave. This would happen on his terms.

He was nervous. Maybe he wasn't ready, but he was prepared. So he looked up at Galleous and nodded firmly. No backing out.

Galleous nodded back reassuringly. "I won't let anyone harm you."

He stepped out of the cave and gestured for Ingressus to join him. Ingressus flexed his hand nervously, then stepped into the Ataraxian sunlight for the first time.

The first thing he noticed was how bright everything was. Not just the light, though he did have to squint as his eyes adjusted. No, it was the color. He'd never seen this much color everywhere. Sure, there would be sparks of color when the clan trained with their Songs, the glow of the sunrise or sunset and the aurorae dancing across the sky, and the scattered clumps of spruce trees that clung stubbornly to the mountainside. But here in Ataraxia the color was just everywhere. He'd had a few glimpses of the outside during his time in Galleous's cave, but he hadn't dared venture too near the entrance or onto the balcony in the day. He'd seen only a few slivers of the outside world. Now, it was surrounding him. Green grass covered the ground like snow, stretching across the surface of the island. The trees were covered in colors he hadn't known were possible– yellow, red, orange, green, gradienting from the trunk out to the tips of every branch, from the base of the tree to the crown like an otherworldly flame. Blue and red and golden flowers bobbed merrily in the breeze all over the land, and a bright orange... something sat near the footpath a short distance away– was that supposed to be a face on its side? A flame-red bird lifted off from a fence and darted past them, chirping loudly as it chased after another bird with bluer-than Protisium wings. Red and yellow apples hung heavily from one of the trees, and wow, they were more colorful in the sunlight than they had been in the cave. It was as if the colors of Songs had been painted over everything in sight.

"Welcome to Ataraxia," Galleous said.

"Holy frost," Ingressus whispered, looking around at everything. "I didn't expect... I knew that... it's all so alive."

"It is an amazing place," Galleous agreed.

Ingressus shuffled his feet through the grass as he and Galleous walked, feeling the stalks tickle his skin. He could've spent forever watching the way it bent and sprung back, but a motion to his left made him snap his gaze up, the grass forgotten. A Nestoris woman was kneeling on the ground outside her cave, tending to a flowerbed. She was facing slightly away from them but Ingressus tensed anyway, speeding up automatically to put Galleous between them. Right. Enemy clans. Don't get relaxed.