Light, Glorious Light

A Song for the Departed

Sharp pain prodded Akiva into wakefulness. Smoke was everywhere. A wreckage of twisted metal burned unchecked. Around her, the sun reflected off the desert sands of the waste in sharp whites and tans that hurt her eyes. That's when she noticed her goggles were missing and she was being dragged through the sand. Memory of the crash came back to her in a flash of images and sounds. Sisters of Phalanx had died, and a burning infected had taken hold of her boot. Akiva wrenched forward, tearing her vest, and rolled up to a standing position. Her assailant was behind her standing in direct sunlight. An infected able to withstand the ravages of The Great Mother's grace was unheard of. Such a monster would be dangerous beyond any of his ilk.

It was Maira. Her face battered and bruised, she favored her right leg. Despite her obvious pain, she stood proud. The two young women stared at each other, polar opposites. Where Maira was tall, Akiva was short. Where Akiva was wiry, Maira was toned muscles. Where Maira had straight cherry red hair, Akiva had a brown puff she kept tied at the back of her head. Where Akiva was the color of sun kissed almonds, Maira was the color of ivory with pepperings of brown on her cheeks. They were the same age, born during the same birthing festival, and the youngest women in Phalanx.

For the majority of their lives, The Mothers had insisted on keeping the two women together. It seemed inevitable the two would become fast friends or fierce rivals. There hadn't been many children within the city during their childhood, a dozen according to The Mother's records. Five had been boys and were sent away to Cavalry at the onset of puberty. Their parents were the last generation of Phalanx to give birth. The two had been inseparable since before Akemi Raheem disappeared. That was more than two decades ago, two decades side by side. It had been a year since they'd spoken to one another, the day Maira joined The Valkyrie.

"You're wearing my goggles," Akiva said. She felt around at the tender spot on her bottom. Whatever had poked her had not broken the skin.

"I gave them to you," Maira said as she took off the eyewear. Akiva could see that the sun had already reddened her face. The only untouched place being circles around each eye.

"Keep them for now, May."

"No, you keep em." Maira dropped the goggles in the sand and walked away.

Akiva retrieved the goggles and looked around. Vulture Six had crashed on the other side of a wide canyon. She could see the cliff at the depot's entrance skittering with movement like an anthill. It would be days before the infected fell asleep from lack of stimulus, the surrounding areas would be in danger until then. That included Akiva and the surviving Valkyrie. She followed drag marks in the sand to an outcropping of rock on the opposite side of a large sand dune. Maira was there seated beside four bodies.

"They're dead, Akiva. These women have defended Phalanx against slavers, marauders, and swarms of infected. Some of them for as long as we've been alive." Akiva said nothing. "Gemma had been a Valkyrie for thirty-five years, and look at how she died? Falling out of the sky trying to save a garbage picker!"

"Maira, I'm sorry for your loss. I never intended for any of this to happen."

"Do you know what makes it worse? I begged them to turn around and come for you. The captain knew we didn't have enough fuel to investigate your beacon and make it home, but I pleaded. I pleaded and now everyone is dead."

If it were possible for Akiva to feel worse, she would have. She knelt in the sand and raised her hands to the heavens. She sang out to The Great Mother, so that the goddess's light might shine on the dead, but Maira interrupted.

"No, you don't get to pray for their souls. They were my sisters-in-arms... it's my job."

"Let me help you then: where two or three are gathered together in her name, there she shall be in their midst," Akiva quoted. "If we sing together, she will hear us. You may hate me, but I owe them this, May."

Maira didn't reply at first, but after a few minutes she began to sing. Akiva joined her in praise of The Great Mother and together they asked the goddess to accept the souls of her daughters to her bosom. They sang the name of each of the fallen soldiers and spoke of one righteous deed that each had done to earn their spot in heaven. It was a beautiful but mournful song made doubly so by the perfection of their paired voices. The two had sung together since they could speak, and even after a year of separation there was an undeniable harmony between them. Then it was over and the waste grew silent once more.

Akiva looked to the sun and the nightmare it promised with each inch it moved toward the horizon. "We have to go, May. The sun will set in a few hours and this place will be swarming with infected."

"Stop calling me that."

"What? May?"

"Yeah. My name is Maira. No one calls me May anymore."

Maira went back to the corpse of Vulture Six to see what she could find and Akiva salvaged supplies from the dead warriors. The scout's gear would have been enough to get her back to Phalanx, but even if it all survived the crash intact it wouldn't be enough for two. The Valkyrie had no shortage of weapons, but they lacked much in terms of survival gear. They weren't equipped to navigate the waste, not like Akiva and the other scouts who mapped the waste and hunted down supplies.

The pilot did have a compass and a map which was a great addition to Akiva's gear. She'd marked her route back to Phalanx on her Armpad but she needed to conserve power. There was no way of knowing when she'd have a chance to recharge the device. A physical map was a rare asset that could withstand the toughest of electronic hurdles. Ideally they would avoid the EM Fields and the roving electrical storms that dotted the barren land. Worst case scenario, the two could put their Armpads on safe mode and utilize the dead pilot's map.

Maira returned carrying two backpacks. By the grace of The Great Mother, one was Akiva's. A strap had been ruined by fire, however the bag gave Akiva renewed confidence. The pair's chances of surviving the trip back to Phalanx had doubled. It would only take two days, but it was two days through a region full of bandits, marauders, and infected. Not to mention the natural pitfalls. Maira took a rifle and all of its ammunition, all but one knife, and the pilot's revolver. Akiva was content with just the one blade, she'd always been clumsy when it came to firearms.

Armed and with all the supplies they dared carry the two headed for home with darkness and monsters not far behind.