Xtreme Saga - Book One: The War for Rig

Chapter 21 - Hunting for Friends

Prime, Goddess of Wisdom, had sent Mera and Orb to the Emix Grasslands. Mera knew that the Verge Network mainframe was located somewhere in this region, but the goddess had told her she needed to find the Resistance. Sadly, Mera didn't know anything about them. In Pylon City, no such group was ever mentioned. If anything, Mera's time as the "Crimson Shadow" was the closest thing to a resistance movement against the Cult of Ios that had ever taken place in the region. At least during her lifetime anyway. Nevertheless, Prime had sent her to Emix; so Mera assumed that her path would eventually lead to the Resistance in one way or another.

Emix was the ideal region to travel in. Both the desert region of Pylon and the snowy region of Elurra were a nightmare for travelers. One was hot and the other cold, but both were extremely difficult to survive in. Solox wasn't so bad. The weather was hot and humid, but the experience of traveling through that region after having survived both Pylon and Elurra was immeasurably more pleasant. That being said, Emix was more comfortable and easy to traverse than any other region on planet Rig.

Emix was a grassy region with a sparse number of trees and lots of mostly flat plains. The region sat on top of a large aquifer of fresh water, so the soil was healthy and moist. Yet it wasn't humid like Solox. The region had a lot of smaller wildlife consisting of mostly rodents and birds, and some larger herbivorous mammals, but lacked any larger predators. This was probably due to how heavily populated it was compared to other parts of Rig. While Emix did not have dense cities like the few scattered across Pylon, there were a great many smaller villages sustained by a combination of trade and farming. The land was so fertile in this region that much of Rig's population relied on it for food. But this also meant that it was very difficult to find people who didn't want to be found.

Not surprisingly, the Resistance's location was a closely guarded secret. Mera had no real clues about the group. Its location, numbers, and intentions were all a mystery to her. All she knew was that Prime had told her to find them and then sent her to Emix. So, she and Orb traveled from village to village looking for any clues about how to find the illusive group. To Mera's dismay, they had found out basically nothing after more than a week of searching.

No one Mera spoke to admitted to knowing anything about the Resistance. Many flat out denied its existence, while most said they didn't know anything. It was clear to Mera that at least some of the people she had spoken to were lying. She understood the need for secrecy. The Cult of Ios had members and sympathizers all over Rig. You never knew if you were talking to someone who considered members of the Cult as friends or foes. Saying the wrong thing to the wrong person could end badly not just for the person speaking out, but also their friends and family. Nevertheless, Mera was not a Cult of Ios sympathizer.

Mera hated the Cult. They had destroyed her life. Her sister had been kidnapped, she had been forced to leave her home, and now they were planning to destroy her entire planet. Mera was one of the most active Rigans in the struggle against the Cult of Ios. Yet now her loyalty to her people was being indirectly called into question. She knew in her heart that the inhabitants of Emix were not to blame for this situation. They were simply acting to protect themselves. But she still found the whole ordeal quite irritating. For people to think of her as a friend or member of the Cult of Ios was downright insulting. Obviously, they didn't know who she was, but it didn't make her any less unhappy. It seemed like no matter how hard Mera tried to work with other Rigans to fight against the Cult of Ios, they never wanted to work with her. However, she would not give up hope. Rig was in danger, and she was one of the only people who knew the truth. If Mera stopped trying, her world was doomed.

It was the third community Mera and Orb had visited since first arriving in Emix. A decent sized village, but not really large or active enough to be called a town. Vendors sold and traded goods at small stands along the main path running through the center of the community. This village was located somewhere near the central part of Emix. It was common for travelers coming from Elurra to pass through here on the way to the capital in Pylon. The village was called King's Crossing, as it had once been a place where the royal family would stop when travelling by land to Elurra.