The Girl of Many Floods- Linh Song

XIII

Linh never thought much of the Neutral territories. She knew that they were made out of many different lands, but they were only ever referenced when Exillium was spoken.

No one told her they were jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

The Lost Cities were all about jewels and crystals and all things sparkly. Linh didn't mind them, she still thought the Lost Cities were beautiful. But the Neutral Territoies were a different kind of pretty. For starters, there was the untouched natural land. The elves loved to put out the most precious of crystals, to build their cities out of wealth. But here where nature was allowed to grow free, it produced a stunning image.

The twins had leaped onto the edge of some kind of forest. Trees stretched out to the horizon, it shades of green from grass green to deep emerald. From pine trees to oak trees. The sun was high up in the sky, casting the warm yellow sunshine onto the forest. Bushes rustled as animals crept through them. The calls of many creatures  rang out in the silence.

Even Tam was stunned, "it's amazing," he whispered.

They stood there for a moment more, staring into the distance before Tam grabbed her hand and gently pulled her away from the view.

"Come on, let's find a place to stay."

They had been issued what Linh called 'The Exillium Survival Kit'. They had been given a tent and some basic necessities to live in the Neutral Territories. Nothing substantial, but they would do short-term.

Tam and Linh wandered into the forest and found a sheltered grotto. It wasn't exactly the best location, but it would do for the night. They set up the tent and ate some of their packed food. It was weird, eating somewhere so...open. It was not that they hadn't eaten outside before it was just that this time they were so....detached from everywhere else. Because of her. Linh felt a sudden pang of guilt.

"I'm sorry Tam, for dragging you here," she whispered into his ear.

Tam looked taken aback by her sudden apology. "Linh," he said sternly, "I told you that this was my decision. This is not your fault okay?" He held her hands in his, "remember what guilt can do to your mind. So please, never mention this again."

Linh shuddered. She had heard too many horror stories about minds breaking from guilt.

"Okay," she nodded. "But truly, thank you for coming with me, I couldn't have asked for a better twin"

"I know I'm a great brother, you don't have to tell me."

Linh playfully punched him in the arm.

Then he smiled. A genuine one. It had been far too long since Linh had last saw Tam smile.

They shared another moment in silence before Linh suggested they try out their Exillium uniforms.

Tam rolled his eyes, (do we really have to?) but he agreed anyway.

The Exillium uniform had steel-toed boots, which laced up over the fitted black pants.
The long-sleeved shirt was also black, and
worn tucked under a grey vest with silver buckles and chains across the front. The back half of the vest draped low and flared like a trench coat. Sewn under the collar of the vest was a hood with a deep cowl that cast their faces in deep shadow. Paired with the mask, it was impossible to
tell what the twins looked like, and the full
effect was incredibly intimidating.

"This is weird," Linh said, nodding at her uniform, "it's so different from the ones at Foxfire."

Tan looked at the registration form the Magistrate had given and read, "Exillium has been designed for anonymity, as such, no one will know each other's identities. You will be expected to wear your masks at all times."