Mark and Milana had a long moment of silence on high speeds, heading towards Tenebrae, with Aria safely strapped on Mark's back, sound asleep. The night was so young and calm that you could hear their paced-rhythmic leg movements from a distance. The silence was broken up by Milana.
"I wonder how we'll be treated like when we do arrive at Tenebrae. In all our years of voyaging through countless cities, I have never been to Tenebrae. It's a nice city from what I have heard and the security there is quite tight. We'll be lucky if we can find access to sneak in there without being noticed."
"Why though? " Mark asked, rather reluctantly.
"Well, for starters, the guards at the top of the high walls have been tasked to shoot down any moving object on sight. No visitors are allowed in Tenebrae. No one leaves also. Well, that's what I thought until you met Aria and her crew."
"I see. They must have the resources to be able to live inside the walls without any interactions with the outside world, don't they?"
"Yes" Milana continued "They do. However It's basic logic that if prey is cornered for some time and has no where to go, it stays there for however long it can, until it notices the danger is no longer there. However, if the predator persists and makes itself at home, the prey will have no choice but to leave the safe haven in search of food, which in turn gets it killed or if it's lucky finds food. In the case of Tenebrae, there's no luck on their side. The have flourished for the longest of times, being the only human civilization to zero recorded halo invasions. An outstanding feat, considering their early days were filled with so much of them. Since the erection of the walls, Tenebrae has flourished. They lacked nothing. From human resources, food, water, and other important raw materials for human survival." Milana paused to catch her breath as she was saying all these while running. It wasn't easy but she liked spreading knowledge to anyone who cares to listen. A sort of rabbi complex I suppose?
"Well, as it turns out, true happiness is always short-lived, hence the reason the sent out Aria and her crew." Upon saying this, Milana looked back and noticed that their house in the middle of nowhere had become a dot in the horizon. She turned back to look at Mark, still holding Aria but this time. the look on his face was different, cautious.
"Mark, what's wrong?" Milana asked.
"Get ready. It seems they're here. I count six no, seven of them."He said, looking from side to side. The Halos weren't visible yet to the normal eyes but from their scampering around, you could know they were there. "We could easily outrun them, if I wasn't carrying her" He said beckoning to Aria.
" We fight then?" Questioned Milana.
"Yes, it would seem so. Besides, we've already been cornered."
After saying this, Mark stopped and looked around. There the stood, six meters away from Mark and Milana. Aria was still fast asleep. Mark gently placed her in the sandy floors, took up his sword and unsheathed it to prepare for the battle at hand. Milana stayed exactly where she was and watched him do all this. Although they were cornered, She wasn't afraid. She had so much confidence in Mark that she even sat down and started singing a lullaby for Aria as she was sound asleep. A music well known in her birthplace.
" Sleep, Sleep The Whispers are telling you sleep, sleep they do so for your own good sleep, sleep You're more than excited but if not you're well dead so sleep sleep, they Whispers are crying to you. Sleep it's all for you're own good if you, Sleep. They're scared of the nights;
Tak lelo…lelo…lelo ledung…
Please hush, don't keep on crying, off to sleep you go
My child with a lovely face.
If you cry, you won't look as beautiful.
I pray that you can live honourably,
Be a woman of high importance,
Bring honour to your parents' name,
Be a warrior of your country…
Please hush…my child…
There, the moon is full,
Like the head of a scary giant,
One who's looking for a crying child.
Tak lelo…lelo…lelo ledung...
Please hush, my beautiful child, off to sleep you go
I am carrying you in a sling.
If you keep crying, you'll make me nervous."
The music was perfectly sung and it carried with it a sense of bloodlust as death filled the air. It was time for Mark to make his move. The first Halo dashed in to reach for the sleeping Aria laying besides Mark, but had it's hands cut off in an instant, Mark's body still in the same position. It looked at Mark and tried reaching for his head in a seemingly weak attempt to cut it off with it's sharp over-sized fingernails but all to no avail, as Mark carefully dodged and delivered a counter with his sword, clean cutting the head of the Halo straight off, stabbed it as well, to be sure. The Halos body fluids flowed out from it's head severed neck like a newly-built fountain. Mark looked at the other and it came in with a left jab that was so close to connecting but was stopped halfway by Mark's intense movement. Before the Halo could have the joy of smashing his face, Mark had already cut off it's hands through the shoulder joint. These Halos attacks were so fast to be seen with the common eyes, but all the attacks seemed slow as Mark would already counter before it has a chance to land on him. His mastery of the sword was like none ever seen before. The newly amputated Halo seemed not to learn it's lesson and dives in with another jab, only to be countered with a full body slice from head to toe. By the time Mark was done, there was nothing left of the Halo.
The others left decided to surround Mark and dive in all at once in what seemed like a pincer. It was perfectly executed and Marks body couldn't be seen again. He was about to be attacked from all directions, at the same speed. Although Milana couldn't see him again, she didn't bulge. She just kept singing, peacefully to the sleeping Aria. A sudden shockwave could be felt and there stood Mark in the center of it all. All the Halos in the pincer had their bodies split in two parts: Torso and legs. Their burning flame rings were extinguished. There was no other one left. Milana was still on the sandy floors, comforting Aria. Through all these clashes, Aria wasn't fazed enough to wake up from her slumber. For one reason, she seemed more comfortable than ever before. This made Milana worry. Mark approached them after all set and done, He stood, with a stench of yellow fluid gushing down his body. He was drenched in Halo blood.
"Well, I didn't realize you would be this much soaked in Halo blood. You wouldn't be able to carry Aria now." She said, as she stood up, gently carried and placed Aria on her back Her grip wasn't strong enough so she switched Aria's position to the front for an even stronger grip. Aria rested gently on her bosom as Milana spoke. "let's head towards the Oasis. We'd wash up there. Hopefully, before morning, we would have arrived at our destination. I was hoping you wouldn't get drenched though. Who can blame you? it wasn't your choice to make." She said, as she looked Mark disgustingly from head to toe.
"Alright. I'll take you up on your decision. We head for the Oasis." The moon shone so brightly that it lit up the entire horizon of the desert. It was beautiful. Cold, but beautiful.
Mark and Milana had arrived at the Oasis after a few minutes of voyage through the night. It was here he realized that this place holds a traumatic memory for Aria and that should she wake up right now, she would be so triggered that we could only imagine the outcome. They both undressed and went into the Oasis at different ends. Mark had little to no interest in Milana's body, as beautiful and well proportioned as it was. Mark paid little to no attention to anything around him. He was as cold as the nights of winter and even colder when it comes to women. Milana couldn't find out why. She decided to tease him a little bit. "Hey, Mark." she whispered, and he turned and looked at her naked and bare body nonchalantly. "What is it?" He asked.
"Nothing, I just wanted to know if your humanity seems to be still working. Turns out it's not." She said as she continued to carefully wash her entire body in an erotic manner, but in all her attempts of advance towards him, Mark was absolutely unfazed. She took notice of it and immediately stopped, embarrassed by her actions."He made me seem like a whore" she thought. Mark was so used to seeing women completely naked through all his years of conquest. From the unsightly and repulsive-looking, to the finest and most refined of women. Milana would pale in comparison against the latter. In a short time, he was done washing up and went out of the lake to reveal a body with so much masculinity that it didn't seem normal. From his perfectly symmetrical muscle mass all the way to his handsome looking face to match. The definition of godlike beauty.
"Hurry up" He said, throwing a rag towel towards Milana as she emerges from the Oasis like a beautiful Lazarus. She caught the towel and cleaned up before putting on her initial clothing.
"We head out for Tenebrae soon. If you were to guess, how would we enter the city?" Mark asked, rather unsure of how to get into that city.
"Well," Milana began, as she wore her clothes.
"If you try going in from the gate, you would pretty much be mincemeat before you can make your face known. It's safe to go round."
"But you can't." Mark said "The city is literally surrounded by mud caused by the daily purification of heavens lake. This mud extends all the way around the entire city. The only way that is sanely possible to walk through would be the main gates' bridge. Wait!" He exclaimed. "You don't mean we..."
"That's exactly what I mean." Milana said, fully clothed.
"We run in through the main entrance and take cover inside the mud as soon as they start shooting at us. Hopefully, we don't die in the process."
"Milana you're telling me to dive into a centuries worth of human rubbish when I'm very sure there's another way?"
"well, most of the people that made it into Tenebrae followed this same method. Well, the few that actually survived though. Not the shooting, the iron spikes that lie within the mud." Milana said with a little smile on her face. She finally knew something that Mark didn't, and it made her happy to an extent. Milana noticed Mark had paused his movements for a moment but she didn't care. she was self-praising at the moment. "He must be struck with surprise as to how much I know that he doesn't. Well, it is to be expected. All this nonsense about Elders knowing more. Pfft! Reading books will always beat experience anytime, anyday." Her thoughts kept plummeting in the wrong direction until she noticed Mark mutter two words.
"Don't Move."
It was at this moment she had realized what was happening and there was no questions about the growl she was hearing just few millimeters away from her neck region. She knew what it was. A Halo. She was struck with surprise, not fear. She knew Mark would always save her when need be and that is what seemed to be the case. At his command,
"Duck!" Milana moved the fastest she could to a squat position. She held her head while in that position while Mark delivered an attack from the distance. It split the Halo clean from it's shoulders, diagonally down to it's torso. Luckily for Milana, she didn't get stained by the blood.
"That was close!" exclaimed Milana as she got back up to a standing position. She had never been so filled with adrenaline in her entire life.
"Yeah it was, now quickly we better get going. We wouldn't want anymore of them coming now would we? pack your things. Tidy up. We're leaving."
She nodded in agreement. Mark gently picked up Aria and placed her on one arm, as light as she was. "Milana, whatever reason do you waste my time? Hurry up we better get going..." he said as he looked back to Milana who was still smiling at him. He got really angry at this point. He decides to walk towards her. She kept smiling. Until he arrived and touched her, she fell into his arms. he dropped Aria gently on the floor and was about catching Milana, when he saw the deep cut the Halo had given to her from he shoulders down through her spines to her hip. The cut was visibly painful. Mark had no idea how to feel at the moment. He'd never had a chance to feel this way. He never gave himself the chance in the first place. In all his years on earth, his attachment to humanity has always been few. He had his reasons for doing so. To avoid this scenerio placed in front of him. In the same Oasis. Always. Another Tragedy had struck him. It was like then. He unintentionally recalled his past. How many people had died here. His memories were so fumbled up in negative emotions that he couldn't find a positive one amongst all of them. "Perhaps it's because there isn't one? I highly doubt it." He finally found one. A memory of him making love in this same Oasis to a beautiful woman. This memory was still short-lived by the interference of a Halo. His head began to ache and with every passing time, He felt tears slowly building up. He didn't want to, but it slowly flowed down his eyes. He looked up towards the moon in an attempt to stop the flow but there wasn't anything he could do"Milana Milana!" He said as he was brought back to reality by Aria's sleepy movement towards him. He realized Milana was still in his arms. "Milana! answer me. Are you okay?" He said, as he gently dropped her on the floor, examined her back and saw how bad the wound was. He didn't know what to do at the moment.
"Hey, Mark." Milana let out a voice filled with pain. "I can't feel my legs. I doubt I would be able to make this journey. Not on my feet though. I'm so sorry. I'll be a burden to you now, right?"
"No no" Mark said, trying to hold back his tears "You're not. you've never been. you never will be. I'll make it to Tenebrae. You will too. I am not living you behind, Not again!"