THE ETERNAL

CHAPTER III: THE SPARK IN THE INFERNO

"Unlike the Gods, the Titans started as gentle and crafty beings. Eons of slave labor creating the universe made their souls bitter and full of hate for the Gods and all their subjects. Led by their leader, the titan lord Hepheros, the Titans started burning all the worlds they themselves built. This marked the start of the eons of war between titans and Gods" - Unknown

Again, we moved on with our journey, again questions remained unanswered, and our goal seemed further than ever. We have been on the road for a few days now, without incident. Marius and Alesandra were getting along better and better, his jokes and friendly demeanor annoyed her less and less as we closed the distance to our destination. We met many people on the road, we kept our distance from the soldier patrols even if they did not give us a second look. We also noticed a rise in traveling priests, all eager to preach about their one and only God. Alesandra seemed really annoyed, even angry when priests tried to speak to her, but she was like that with most people, so I did not think anything of it. She attributed the rise in the activity of the priests to the uncertainty of people scared by the tremors, predators praying on the week, and afraid for monetary gain - as she put it. I found it only natural, that people seek stability and leadership during hard times, a rock to hold on to while the flood rushes over. I fear this will not be enough this time, as the wrath of the Titans was sure to have no bounds.

We were walking on a long and winding road, open fields everywhere in sight and all this walking without a word made me think of my parents more and more. I had to break the silence and stop my thoughts from getting me more upset than I already was. I turned to Marius, but he was more concerned with watching birds fly by than conversation, I watched him just stumble along the side of the road with his eyes on the sky and a big smile on his face. So next I turned to Alesandra, our eyes met, and I got my chance, so I took it.

"So... You never really told us anything about you." I said to her as an invitation for her to open up to us.

"There is nothing to tell, my past is my own and it's not relevant to where we're going." She brushed off my question without a blink.

"But you already know our story, it's only natural for us to know a little bit about you. We will be responsible for each other's life on our travels. It would be good to know who I'm fighting with by my side."

Her eyes rolled inside her eyelids just to show the extent of her annoyance at my relentless questioning. "Very well, what do you seek to find out?"

"Well, where are you from?

"Somewhere far away from here, you would not know the place. Next question!" she answered brashly.

"Why did you travel so far from your home then?"

"Safe to say I was banished for not sharing in my parent's idea of morality. Any other useless information you need from me?" she asked without hiding her contempt for me.

"You are a fountain of information!" I joked while swinging my gaze around to Marius. He was still immersed in his sky gazing, but something told me he never missed a word Alesandra said. I turned back to her with more questions burning onto my lips "What kind of ideas were there that you could get banished for disagreeing with?"

"The kind that involves life and death and are far from your comprehension. I will not detail any further so you might as well change the subject or better yet, drop it altogether."

Before I could continue to press the issue, Marius grabbed my attention and pointed in front of us. "Looks like the open fields have ended! We must be getting close to the city!"