Siren's Elegy Volume 1: Orphans of Ashen Earth

Chapter 34: Purity

September 01, 4021 23:00 [Matriarch 04- Outer Gates]

Indra leaned against the Matriarch's outer gate, arms crossed. He closed his eyes, enjoying the way the cool night breeze felt on his skin. It was quiet; not a creature in sight, save for the other personnel on guard duty. He stood under a watchtower, its light sweeping the open field. It turned slowly, occasionally bathing him in light. The silence didn't bother Indra. It gave him time to think of a way to escape. Just as the Crow predicted, he had been mandated by Tengri to stand guard tonight.

"The job is boring, but it'll build character," the Hyena told him before sending him off.

Who is he? My father? Indra sighed, clutching his chest tightly. The entry card for the Cloudburst Aisles sat snugly in his inner breast pocket. It felt heavy; the weight of choice pressing against him. He sucked in shallow breaths. The consequences of being caught for desertion weren't the only things that worried him. There were other complications.

"You nervous?" Prasanna asked, concerned. "Don't worry! I've done this once already. There's pretty much nothing out here. And if there is, we'll see it a mile away."

Escaping would prove to be difficult.

"Nice to see I'm not alone for this," he commented. Just my luck. How am I going to explain this to her?

"I'm glad too. What are the odds? We got paired together after so long," she chuckled.

"Exactly, what are the odds? On my first night of guard duty as well. You requested this, didn't you?" Indra remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"N-no," she denied, whistling unconvincingly. The blush on her face betrayed her. She quickly dropped the facade at his incredulous expression. "I didn't want you to be out here all by yourself, that's all."

Indra felt a twinge of guilt. He couldn't leave her and Emil here, but this could be his only window of opportunity to escape. He searched for a viable solution, wracking his brain. He could only see one way out. There was a garage within the compound near them. It was bound to have a few vehicles. The difficulty lay with acquiring a key for an unattended vehicle. Then, it would be a matter of driving towards the coordinates the Crow had sent him on an encrypted server. He doubted they would remain hidden for long after acquiring a vehicle. They would have maybe thirty minutes before a Hyena would be able to reach the outpost and tail them. They could fend off the cavalry on their own given that they were just human soldiers. He sighed dejectedly. He could see no way to bring Emil along with them without alerting the other officers. It would just have to be him and Prasanna. Indra mustered up the courage, steadying himself. Now, it was just a matter of convincing her.

He turned to her with a serious expression on his face, leaning in close. Prasanna's eyes widened, her breathing becoming rapid and shallow. A tinge of scarlet spread across her face from the bridge of her nose to the tips of her ears.

"Would you consider running away with me?" he whispered softly.

She stepped back flustered. If steam could rise from a person's ears, surely it would have risen from hers.

"W-what? R-run away with you? What are you talking about?"

"Shhh! They'll hear you! Keep your voice down!" he whispered harshly.

"That's a serious commitment you're asking me to make," Prasanna replied, fanning herself.

"I know it seems out of the blue, but I at least wanted to talk to you about it because I trust you."

Her face was beet red at this point, almost as if she had been locked in a pressure cooker.

"L-look, could we maybe slow this down a bit?"