Heaven/Hell

"Silva, the humans have arrived. Their ship landed just off the Reservoir Mountains," announced one of the Iridem, running back into their camp. The Reservoir Mountains were a hundred miles east of where they were.

Demetria looked around and everyone stopped what they were doing. They looked at Silva with anxious expressions, but he kept his demeanor. He nodded at everyone and said, "You are all doing exceptionally well. Keep training."

Demetria and Ares walked over to Silva, and Ares asked, "So, what's the battle plan?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been sitting here with your brain trust with a map, working on something, and there's guys in big armor ready to annihilate us. You have a plan and I think you should tell us," Ares said, crossing his arms.

Silva narrowed his eyes at him, but he said, "I will inform you when it is ready. For now, keep training."

Ares opened his mouth to speak but Demetria immediately elbowed him. She knew that getting into a fight with Silva would benefit no one, though she was wary. It was all starting to become real. One day, she was playing with the Iridem children in their village. Next, Dr. Arrow's army was en route to slaughter them all, and she didn't think they were as ready as they could be. They needed more time.

She glanced at Silva, who nodded his head at her, and they turned away, back towards the other humans. Ares immediately burst into a rant.

"I mean, does he not realize we're going to die if we don't do anything? Selfish, arrogant prick!"

Demetria said nothing as they joined the humans.

They trained for the rest of the day. Demetria practiced her archery skills. It was getting better and she was starting to hit a straight line on a tree, just like she could with a gun. Every now and then, she could feel eyes on her, but she ignored them. She had to focus on the full out war they were going to partake in in just a few days time. She couldn't have any distractions.

Around dinnertime, Silva made the trainees do one-on-one duels. He made everyone stand around in a circle and put an Iridem and a human in the middle with just a spear and a gun, in case that's all that they're left with in battle. He made everyone do it to see their strengths and weaknesses.

Ares went first with Aqua, Caelum’s sister, as his partner. Aqua was extremely skilled and she moved so quickly and smoothly that Ares would've lost had he not stuck out his foot and made her trip. She was lying on the ground when Ares pulled out his gun and pressed it to her head.

His face broke into a smile and he pocketed the gun and held his hand out for her to take, but she ignored it and stood up.

"Very good," said Silva. "Aqua, you have a very good ability to use your quickness, but I believe that you use it too much. What if you get shot in the leg? You will not be able to move as fast, so then what? What will you do? Learn every skill possible and you will not die out there."

Aqua nodded her head and joined the circle.

"Ares, you are smart. You think very well on your feet. I would not have thought of tripping her in order to beat her. That is the kind of thinking we need. Good job."

Ares beamed and he went back and Demetria in the circle. He was almost jumping up and down from glee and Demetria rolled her eyes. Ares loved attention and being told that he was great. The fact that Silva had nothing bad to say to him was going to make his ego explode.

This continued for the rest of the night until dinner. Silva called one human and one Iridem until all the humans, except Demetria, had gone. Ares volunteered to go more than once and Silva let him until he asked to go again. After that, he paired two Iridems together and made the humans watch. Almost everyone had gone except Demetria, and she was starting to notice something.

"You all did very well and now it is time for dinner," Silva announced and the circle dispersed.

"Wait," Demetria spoke up. Silva turned around, asking as if he didn't hear her, and she had to run to him and stand in front of him. "I never went," she said.

"I am afraid we are out of time, Demetria. Please, have some dinner," he said, curtly, and walked away. Demetria stood in her spot until Serena called her over and handed her a plate of food.

She couldn't understand what was going on. Why was Silva acting like that? And why did he deliberately forget her for the one-on-one? Throughout dinner, she kept looking at Silva, who wasn't eating anything, sitting with Caelum, Aqua, and a few other Iridem, but he didn't notice her.

After dinner, Silva stood up and the rumbling crowd of Iridems and humans, full from their dinner, silenced almost immediately.

"The humans have arrived just off the Reservoir Mountains. They will be here shortly and I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep training. I have made a plan but we must keep in mind that we must use every skill we have in order to defeat them. The humans have a way of getting what they want out of us, but it will end here. This our planet, not theirs."

The Iridem, mostly, started cheering and chanting. Silva held his hand up and they silenced.

"We will first have the strongest at the front. It will be more difficult for the humans to invade. I have already spoken to those Iridem and humans." Demetria looked around and saw Benjamin and Ares grinning at each other. They were going to the front and she didn't know about it? And when did Silva talk to them?

"Next we will have the best archers in the trees and up in the cliffs. The humans have canons that we can use from the mountains. Then, we will have Iridem and humans scattered throughout in case the humans invade. I also have already spoken to those Iridem and humans..."

Demetria looked around. Almost everyone was looking at each other like they knew what their position was, but she didn't? What was she supposed to do if Silva had never spoken to her about it? Smoke was billowing out of her ears. First, Silva deliberately left her out of the duels, and now she wasn't even going to fight?

"They are an army, but we are Iridem," he yelled, and looked at the humans, "...and Human X. We can defeat them. We are the best and we will win!" The Iridem and the humans chanted and cheered, excitedly. "Now get some sleep. We will arise early tomorrow for more training."

Everyone stood up and went to their camps and hammocks and wherever else they slept, but Demetria stayed seated. Ares tugged on her shirt but she waved him off and told him that she was coming. She waited until everyone had gone before she stood up and followed the path to Silva's makeshift hut, at the end of the camp. She then burst through the door to find Silva staring at the same map he was using before. His head snapped up and he immediately pulled out a dagger. When he saw her, he stood up.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Demetria asked, angrily.

"What? What are you doing here–?"

"Or I guess the question is, what is wrong with me!? Why am I not in any of the battle plans!? Why did you actually go out of her way to make sure I didn't have to duel with anyone!?"

"Demetria–" Silva started, his eyes were narrowed.

"I deserve to be fighting alongside you! I am the reason why all the other humans and The Pioneers came to help you and this is what I get? I get left out...why? Is it because I'm a girl? No, Serena's a girl and she's an archer! Do you have some sort of a hatred for me that you just don't want me there at all!?"

Silva was silent for a moment. He looked down and then looked back at her with an expression on his face that she couldn't recognize. Then, in a split second, he strode over to her, placed his hands on her face, and kissed her. Demetria had never been kissed before. The humans on Planet X were like her siblings and she never even thought about it with an Iridem, much less Silva. He stood a good foot and a half taller than her, so he had to bend down. His lips were soft and molded perfectly with hers, and she felt like she could melt in them.

He broke it off and stepped back a foot or two.

"That is why," he said, his voice hoarse. "I am finding myself with such emotions about you in a way that I never thought was possible for me, especially to a human. I cannot think properly if you are in the field. I need you to stay behind and be safe…”

"This is an act of love?" she exclaimed, incredulously. "You–You couldn't have gotten me, like, flowers or something? Silva, I want to be apart of this and it's not right for you to be selfish and not think about the others! You would do better with me out there than to just stand back and wait until someone comes and gives me your dagger or Ares' gun or Caelum's spear because you three are dead. I demand that you put me in."

Silva nodded his head.

"You have made your point."

"Good," Demetria nodded. And then she closed the gap between them and pulled Silva down towards her and kissed him.

He stopped and pushed her away slightly, staring at her. Demetria stared back at him. He had a look in his eyes, like hesitation, something she had never seen in him before.

“Are you sure?” he asked, quietly.

“It’s now or never, right?” she replied, breathless.

Silva responded by hoisting her up and she wrapped her legs around him. He made his way over to the bed and laid her down on it and kissed her over and over until the sun rose in the morning.