Lux

I was standing in the middle of one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. The sky was a bright, crisp blue, the sun radiated a soft warmth. Which was strange because the sun usually shone down harsh, and blinding, the heat so intense it sometimes made it hard to breathe. I had never seen so much grass, so green and lush, soft beneath my feet. It tickled my toes. I smiled at the feel of it. A cool breeze blew though carrying with it the fresh aroma of -- what?
Some kind of flower I supposed. I was not sure. There weren't many, if at all, these days.
Where was I?
The question suddenly struck me, and it dawned on me that I had felt so comfortable and safe here I was blinded to the fact that this was not my reality. I was here alone, no campers, no Duke. Where was Redd? And Sevyn? I immediately anticipated the crippling feeling of anxiety to consume me. But there was nothing.
No fear. No panic. Just peace.
Redd and Sevyn suddenly became a secondary thought. I closed my eyes and looked up at the sky, this feeling was indescribable. It was like the rays of the sun was individually piecing every part of my body, filling me with warmth, peace.

"Have faith. Do not despair."

There was that voice again.

I was jolted awake by a hand violently gripping me and yanking me to my feet. I was so caught unawares by the situation I fell over, but another hand grabbed my shoulder. That's when I realised I was being dragged. It was dark, the middle of the night, and the only source of light was the bright moon.
What the hell was happening? Where were they taking me? Who were they?
I tried to vocalize my questions, to get some sort of explanation. But I could not speak. My voice was locked up somewhere and I could not find the key. I was being dragged away from where we had set up camp, I tried to get a glimpse over my shoulder, but I could not crane my neck far enough.

When I finally got control of my feet I dug my heels into the hard dirt and jerked backwards. My captors were taken by surprise, but yanked me forward still. I was shoved to the ground, grazing the palms of my hands when I landed. I let out a cry, finally freeing my voice.

"Miss Lux," that all too familiar voice drawled my name.

I looked up and locked eyes with Duke. We were in some dark tunnel or something, I could not tell. There was a fire roaring just behind him and it made his already dark figure look so frightening. In this moment I wanted to cry, to scream. I had fallen asleep with the ring on my finger again, and this time Duke was looking right at it. Duke's boot came down on my fingers, pressing them into the ground. A strangled scream pushed through my throat, unlocking every trapped sound. He came down on his haunches and touched the gold band on my finger. My eyes burned, the tears streamed freely down my face.

"It seems you've been telling lies, Miss Lux," he asked rhetorically, glaring down at me. I opened my mouth to speak, but I was silenced by Duke's large hand striking my face. The irony taste of blood instantly filled my mouth.

I knew he would do this, I knew he would wait until I was alone so he could confront me. The camp was far from where we were, no one would see me die, at least he gave me that much.
That familiar cold grip filled my heart and my breathing became fast and ragged.

"I try, Lux," Duke snarled, "I try so hard to do what is best for my people. But now I have to deal with obstinate teens like you! You do not respect the rules!"

"Duke, please." I cried, the pain in my hand and on my jaw was unbearable. Duke roughly took hold of my face, forcing me to looked into his crazed eye.

"It's your fault that Priest is dead. It's your fault that your father is dead! You brought this on all of us! You think this is a game?"

I could not answer, just gazed into Duke's eyes, my vision getting blurry as I tried so desperately to get some into my lungs.

"Love is forbidden! What are you trying to say, Lux, that you believe? You will bring the fury of Tryannus burning down on all of us!"

I was completly consumed by panic now, it was like my lungs had closed, refusing to take in air. I was wheezing and crying, my vision was getting dark. My hand hurt. My face hurt. Could nobody hear or see us?

Please help me. I don't want to die. I did not know who I was saying this to, but thought it over and over again.

"Do not fear. I will make this quick. The same for Redd, too." Duke lifted his foot off my hand, then stood up to his full height.

I fell on my side, clutching my chest as the world began to spin fast, and I was trying to take in breaths. Duke's voice was muffled, I could barely hear anything. I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again. I looked down to where my feet were, and there stood a fuzzy Sevyn, bow and arrow in hand aimed at Duke.

"Let her go." I heard her say, even though it sounded like she was miles away. It was followed by Duke's sarcastic laugh. Then another sound, a whizzing sound. The two men who dragged my here fell to the grown, unmoving.

"Get up, Lux! Get up!"

But I could not even move my feet. I had surrended to my fear and it had completely paralised me. I was going to die here.

Suddenly I was yanked up my Sevyn's firm grip.

"Run!" And as if on cue my feet took off, one in front of the other faster than they should be able to go.

My lungs burst open and I was able to breath again, the adrenaline surging through my body. I did not check to see if we were being pursued. I just ran, following Sevyn in front of me, darting through run down buildings and over rubble. Until finally I was out of breath and called for her to stop. Sevyn skidded to a hault and turned back towards me.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "What happened to you back there?"

"You...saved...me." I gasped between breaths.

Sevyns reddish-brown hair was tosseled, some of it was stuck to her damp forehead, her big blue eyes were wide and alert. She looked like a warrior.

"I woke up and you were gone. I promised Redd I'd take care of you."

Sevyn was truly my best friend, I was never going to be able to repay her for what she has done. I leapt towards her and gave her a firm hug. Sevyn seemed startled by this, but she reciprocated my affection. The she pulled me away and held me by my shoulders.

"Lux, we can't stay out in the open like this," she explained carefully. "We need to find Redd so we'll know how to move forward."

*

We walked for a few miles not sure of where we we're going, and boardering on exhaustion. We were walking through the ghost of what must have been a great city; which must have been torn apart by some storm. The streets were littered with cars and buses, which were now almost entirely buried in dirt. Some parts of the eartch were torn open, tell-tale signs of an earthquake. I limped slightly next to Sevyn, glancing around nervously. This was uncharted territory, there could be Guardians around here, or worse still, savages.

Sevyn stopped suddenly, reaching out to grab my arm too.

"What?" I whispered, my eyes immediately darting around.

Sevyn held her finger to her lips, signalling for silence, then she pointed up ahead. Before I could get a clear look, she pulled me to the side to hide behind a rusty car. Up ahead was a silohuette of a man. He was walking towards us. But his walk was sloppy, he seemed to be stumbling and tripping over his own feet. Sevyn and I gave each other quizzical looks, before she stood up to get a better look.

"It's Zach!" She cried, bolting out of our hiding place towards the man.

Zachery was part of the scout led by Redd, I wasted no time rushing to him. As soon as we reached him he fell to his knees then landed face first, revealing four large arrows through his back.
I let out a sickened cry. Sevyn bent down to turn him over.

"Zach," she cried, for the first time I heard fear in her voice. "Zach what happened?"

I reached down, my hands shaking so hard I though they would fall off my wrists, and I tried to pull one of the arrows out. Zach let out a blood-curdling scream and I fell back in fright.

Sevyn held her hand out to me. "Don't, Lux."

"What happened?" She was addressing Zach now.

His breathing was shallow, even in the darkness I could see blood smeared across his face. His breathing was shallow, blood began dripping out of his mouth.

"T-t-taken..." He stammered, choking on his blood.

"Taken? Who was taken?" Sevyn pressed, urgency laced her voice.

Zach closed his eyes for the longest time, I thought he was dead. Then they flew open marred by hysteria.
He began to kick and squirm in Sevyn's arms.

"Redd...P-Penance..."

My heart was hammering in my chest bruising my ribcage. Sevyn glanced at me in acknowledgment. Zach gave one more kick then went still, his eyes wide open staring into space. I grabbed my aching chest as tears stung my eyes again. They must have come under attack by savages, because Zach said Redd was taken. To Penance.

"Lux--" Sevyn started, but she did not finish, the look on my face must have said enough.

My blood ran cold, I was sure my heart had stopped beating.
Redd was taken to Penance.
They were going to kill him.