The Girl from the Ground - Season 1

Episode Five, Part 1:

Episode Five, Part 1: 
Defectors 

A small crowd had already formed by the front gates of Basilisk by the time the Sovereigns had arrived. If the radios were working and they had been informed before Wynn had a chance to find them, then they might have had a chance to dismantle the crowd before it became too noticeable, but it was yet another issue that New Riders had brought their way. Thankfully, the former Sovereigns were right at work, already pushing people back and clearing room for Veer, Eden, Harlow and Izzy as they walked through.

"What's going on?" Izzy asked, trying to disguise the fear in her voice as she approached the group of people by the gates. There were twelve of them in total, including two guards who Izzy was fairly sure was a part of whatever was happening, and each of them had a bag either slung over their shoulder, or sitting by their feet. "...You guys are leaving."

"Yeah. We're leaving Basilisk, alright," one of them answered, seemingly the spokesperson of the group. Izzy scanned her mind for the man's name but had trouble recalling it amongst the hundreds of names in her head.

"There's a war coming. You won't be safe out of camp," Harlow tried to discourage them, but he wasn't sure what to say. Was their any use? Was there any way they could change their minds when their bags were already packed and their feet halfway out of camp?

"Don't worry about us. We'll fight in the war, only, we'll be on the right side."

"Right side?" Eden mumbled just loud enough for the Sovereigns to hear. "New Riders are the ones who came to our land and attacked us."

"It doesn't matter, Eden. There's nothing we can do. They're leaving," Izzy muttered back.

The murmur of voices behind them blurred into one, indistinguishable noise, but Izzy was sure most of the whispers were about her. How could she let this happen? People were leaving Basilisk under her command. And if they lost the war because of it, then it was on her.

"If you leave," Harlow said, "if you betray Basilisk, then you won't be allowed back. Not if you fight for the enemy."

"That's the point," one of the defectors called out. "Basilisk is corrupt and we don't want to stay here any longer."

"Corrupt?" Izzy could hear multiple ask in the crowd behind her, all wondering the same thing. Truthfully, she was wondering it, too.

"My son here was in the running to be a Sovereign," the defector continued, grabbing his son by the shoulder and addressing everyone now that he knew he had their attention. "And he was born here, so he's been a part of Basilisk longer than any of those Sovereigns up there. He had all the training, he had the talent, and he wasn't picked. Do you know who was? The former Sovereigns' children, or their prodigies, or their favourites. They weren't picked because they were the best people for the job, they were picked because it was a way for the former Sovereigns to maintain their influence on camp. And because of that, I know we won't survive the war if we stay here. The Sovereigns can't keep us safe; they have no plan for the war. We'll die if we stay here, so we'd rather take our chances with New Riders."

Veer took a step forward beside Izzy, trying to walk closer to the defectors and no doubt reason with them, but Izzy held her arm up.

The next few minutes were a blur. All Izzy knew is that she watched her people turn their backs on her and walk out the gate, and even when the crowd had fizzled out and the people of Basilisk tried to resume their normal routine, Izzy couldn't move from where she was standing. She couldn't move.

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In some forgotten moment, the day had rolled into night, but Izzy couldn't recall watching the light fade away. It had felt dark for a while.