Cloudhawk didn’t get all of the answers he sought, but the soldier indirectly revealed something important . He was considered a traitor for living among blasphemers .

He understood being labeled a traitor . These visitors from the holy city a.s.sumed he was a demonhunter . ‘Blasphemers’ must mean the Seekers who dabbled in old technology, something they thought to be sinful . Excavating and using these tainted things was, to them, an unforgivable slight .

The ‘blasphemers’ Cloudhawk was supposedly in league with had to be the Seekers from Blackwater Base . Was that their target? Had they already been there? Was h.e.l.lflower alright?!

Cloudhawk had played a tiny part in something much bigger, and still they’d sent two demonhunters and a hundred soldiers to track him down . Cloudhawk didn’t want to imagine what had befallen the base, nor was now the time . The young soldier, with his dying moments, had given him away to the others . His compatriots would be here soon .

“I’m sorry . ” Cloudhawk looked to the two dead soldiers in silence for a moment then began to strip them of their equipment . Luckily, the smaller guard had been roughly Cloudhawk’s size, although he was stockier so his armor didn’t fit perfectly when Cloudhawk slipped it on . Strangely, after Cloudhawk put on the last piece the armor began to reform itself with a series of clicks and snaps . Afterwards it fit snuggly around his person, almost as if it’d been tailor-made for him!

As he was moving the bodies to hide them, a slip of paper fell out of one of their clothes . Cloudhawk picked it up and gingerly unfolded it . Drawn in luminous paint was the image of a girl . She was dainty, delicate and beautiful, with flowers all over her body . The painting released a pleasing scent, and though it was only a picture it was as detailed as though she were right there before him .  

On the left side something was scribbled: For my love .

It was a present, one the young soldier would never send . Cloudhawk felt conflicted with its discovery .

When the girl discovered that her lover was dead she would certainly be sad . She would be yet another person who would hate Cloudhawk for the rest of her life . It brought a bitter smirk to Cloudhawk’s face . Something else for me to bear, another person’s hatred to add to the others that only seemed to grow with time . But what could he do? He was just a minor figure, one who only wanted to live . That was all he wanted!

But there was no such thing as a minor figure in this world, not really . Strong or weak was only measured by comparison . To lovers, family and friends, even the smallest person was a giant . When such a giant fell, all the world they held on their shoulders fell with them .

Cloudhawk pocketed the picture, then dealt with the bodies . Shortly after the sounds of footsteps preceded the arrival of two soldiers who had seen the flare . They spotted Cloudhawk’s bloodstained armor before noting his face . It was too dark to tell anything else besides . “What’s going on? Where’s the traitor?!”

“Right here!” When they got close enough, he buried a pair of daggers in their throats . Their deaths were quick and uneventful, and suddenly there were two more corpses to hide . He looked over their twitching bodies blankly .

Since when had his heart become so numb? He remembered the grief he’d felt the first time he killed another human . Now it felt so natural…

He was disgusted with the change he saw in himself . Only, they were changes that ensured he stayed alive . Perhaps everyone who survived out here turned into something despicable .

Several minutes later, Captain Bolte arrived at where the flare had gone up . The first thing he saw was the corpses, neatly lined up on the ground, nine of them in all . All of them were his soldiers . Anger flooded him, made him tremble . “What is this?! Can someone explain to me how these soldiers were all killed so easily!?”

One of his subordinates approached and gave the report . “They all seem to have been caught by sneak attacks . I’m almost certain the traitor is disguised as one of us and attacks our people while their guard is down . It’s the only way he could have killed so many . ”

Captain Bolte’s hands were curled into white-knuckled fists .

The turncoat had been hit by Mistress Luna’s exorcist staff, that they knew . He’d never heard of anyone being able to take such a blow and keep fighting so vigorously . This sc.u.m wasn’t strong, but he was an adept scoundrel – there wasn’t an ounce of honor in him, no line he wouldn’t cross . His main tactic was to attack from the shadows, and Bolte’s men were dying because they were unprepared .

“If he is dressed like us, we can’t know if he’s still here or not . Should we keep searching?”

Captain Bolte shut his eyes in frustration . Skycloud’s soldiers were not pushovers . Their target shouldn’t be able to completely escape detection or injury, even relying on underhanded tactics . There had to be something special about him . He had to be more more than just a simple renegade, and he also couldn’t have been as injured as they thought . Bolte’s people were tired . If they continued the search under these conditions it would only lead to more dead .

“Return to the outpost!”

“Huh? Why?!”

Captan Bolte’s eyes popped open . He gave the impression of a desperate gambler, going for broke . “Do you remember what Master Raith did to draw him out? The traitor is obviously fond of those despicable worms . If we go back and exterminate them maybe we can flush him out of hiding!”

Cloudhawk was lurking nearby . When he heard the man’s plan, his face fell . This was bad . He didn’t have any particular affection toward Lighthouse Point, but he was tired of all the death .

Killing . It was the choice of the weak and pitiful . It was the most final means of dealing with a problem, and the most lamentable .

Cloudhawk didn’t even think, he simply vanished into the night . He wasn’t going to give his life to save Lighthouse Point, but to the best of his ability he was going to save as many as he could from pointless tragedy .

He reached the outpost before the soldiers did, and when he got there the scene shocked him .

The small, quiet community had changed beyond recognition . The central lighthouse was in ruins, homes were ablaze . Everything was in chaos and blanketed in a haze of acrid smoke .

“Y-You… what are you doing back here!?”

“Haven’t we suffered enough!”

Cloudhawk’s wounds had not entirely healed, and his hasty return left him both tired and weak . When the citizens of the outpost saw him they were angry, frightened . They stared with wide eyes as he pa.s.sed .

“What happened here?” Cloudhawk propped himself up with the help of the st.u.r.dy Skycloud weapon he’d stolen . He tried to speak with some authority . “Where is Coppertooth!”

“Coppertooth? He deceived us!”

“The elysians are nothing but brutal demons!”

“Convincing us to wors.h.i.+p those animals… he deserved a far worse death than he got!”

It was then Cloudhawk lifted his head and was dismayed to see the corpse dangling from the lighthouse’s ruins . It was none other than the honest, kind, cunning Skycloud veteran . He’d been terribly injured by the soldiers, but since then something even more terrible had happened . There wasn’t an inch of him left untouched, and his body was covered in burn marks . He hung from the lighthouse by his neck, swinging sorrowfully in the breeze .

No one knew his real name . They only knew what he’d been called: Coppertooth . He’d been their leader, the one who had brought them faith and safety . In the end it was his own people who brutalized him, tortured him, and hung him from the building that was meant to signify their undying faith .

“You aren’t welcome here!”

“Get the f.u.c.k out of here! Leave, as fast as you can!”

A group of young agitators had gathered round . Anger had clouded their minds and they brandished crude weapons with the intent to use them on Cloudhawk .

“All of you, calm the h.e.l.l down!” All manner of bitter emotions raged within Cloudhawk, especially once he saw what had become of Coppertooth . He hated them for what they had done, but he forced the words out through gritted teeth . “It’s done! Your hatred isn’t going to change anything, and right now those soldiers are coming back to finish the job . If you want to live, get the h.e.l.l out of this place!”

Thud-thud!

Two arrows sprouted from Cloudhawk’s body . The arrows might have done him in if not for the armor he’d pilfered . The sneak attack was like a call to arms, and all of a sudden the crowds were charging at him with their crude weapons .  

He was cast from the town, pummeled by the angry ma.s.ses the whole way, their faces twisted with despair and anger . They’d beaten him black and blue, even through the armor .

In that moment, something in his heart died .

Out in the desert he turned back to stare at the burning remains of Lighthouse Point . Orange flames and belching black clouds rose over it, a haunting image . The heat made the air twist around it like something evil had taken hold . He wiped the blood from his face and stared with fists shaking at his side . Then he turned and prepared to leave .

“S-sir… sir!”

He turned back to see a bit of rock being pushed aside from the outpost’s walls . A small figure slipped out of the hiding place, small and frail and covered in filth . A girl .

“Asha?”

“Coppertooth is dead . Everyone went crazy, so I hid in the tunnels . I’ve been too scared to go out all day . ”

“Don’t be afraid . I’ll take you away from here . ”

The two of them trudged into the distance, eventually disappearing across the horizon .

That night, Cloudhawk and Asha camped on the top of a tall set of ruins . Looking back toward Lighthouse Point, they could still see the smoke and fire even from this distance . Sometimes, when the wind turned, they thought they could hear screams . The stench of blood was unmistakable .

Cloudhawk tenderly rested his hand on the girl’s head . “Do you hate me?”

But Asha looked at him and shook her head . “I hate this world . ”

Could Cloudhawk say he never felt the same? But now, his time in this world was coming to an end!

They were close to the elysian lands now .

Asha looked at him in curiosity . “What will we go now?”

“Somewhere far, far away . ” He looked back at her . “We’re going to leave this place .  We’re going to leave it and never, ever come back . ”

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