Blade(Part 1): Dawn

Chapter 22: Alexius

Alexius, wounded, and barely able to stand, stumbled through the jungles outside of Savona. The throbbing pain in his chest made every step he took sting horribly. It was nothing he wasn't used to, though. Alexius managed to walk through the jungles of Astros until he spotted a campfire in the undergrowth. Suddenly, a gunshot sounded, and Alexius ducked before the plasma round could hit him. It was Marcus.

"It's me, Marcus!" Alexius shouted.

"Sorry," Marcus cried. He was holding a rifle in his hands, and so was Decimus. Maria, Lucia, and Placus remained unarmed. Alexius and his family had packed their things and fled Savona as more Skaolan soldiers occupied it. Supposedly, his grandfather had friends in Noglidas, the capital of Astros, but the city was hundreds of miles away. It would be weeks before they arrived there by foot. Alexius sat down next to his mother, still clutching his wounded chest with his hand.

"Alexius, what happened?" Maria gasped.

"They brought new soldiers," Alexius groaned. "One of them got me in the chest with a cursed staff. I think some of my ribs are cracked."

"Well, let me take a look," said Maria, taking out a small tablet.

"What's that?" Alexius wondered.

"I was a nurse during the war," said his mother. "I kept a few things with me." She scanned Alexius' chest with the tablet, then an aura of nervousness surrounded her. It quickly went away, though.

"Well, whoever hit you didn't hit you that hard, did he?" she asked. That made no sense. Alexius remembered Kai's staff smashing against his armor, and he heard a loud "crack" from his chest.

"Yes, he did," he corrected.

"Well, there's only a small fracture in one of your ribs," said Maria. "A nephalem's body must be able to withstand more abuse."

"Well, it still hurts like hell," Alexius complained.

"The pain will be gone in the morning," Maria promised, putting the tablet away.

"Alright," Alexius sighed.

"Were we followed?" asked Decimus.

"I don't think so," Alexius hoped. "But I wasn't really looking behind myself on the way here. I'll keep watch while you're all asleep, just in case."

"No," Decimus denied, standing up. "We'll have a better chance of losing the Skaolans if we move now."

"But I'm tired!" Placus whined, yawning.

"We all are, little one," Decimus admitted. "But we can't stay here. Come on. If we're lucky, there's a village not far from here." Marcus, Maria, Lucia, and Placus stood up the fastest, but Alexius gave a sharp wince as he slowly rose to his feet, still clutching his chest with his hand. He and Decimus threw dirt on their campfire, then Marcus turned on the flashlight that hung from the end of his rifle's barrel. Decimus also turned his on.

"You know how to use that?" Alexius wondered, to Marcus.

"Grandpa taught me a thing or two," Marcus assured. "I'll watch your backs." Alexius and Decimus were both in front of them, while Marcus was behind them with his assault rifle as they went into the jungle. Alexius had his aura blade in his hand, and Decimus had his rifle pointed in front of him, lighting their way through the jungles. Alexius could see just fine, anyway. His nephalem eyes allowed him to have better eyesight in the dark, but there was still nothing other than the trees of the jungles around them. It was silent, other than the birds chirping and the occasional buzz of an insect. Alexius could sense a feeling of nervousness from his siblings. Marcus, who had never held a gun in his life, was one of the people entrusted with his family's safety, while Placus and Lucia had never had their first taste of danger until just hours ago. They didn't completely understand what was happening, but they would never forget having to leave their homes because they knew they were in danger. Alexius couldn't help other than to believe that they might not have been in danger at all if he had just stayed as far away from Savona as possible. At least then, they wouldn't have had to leave their hometown in fear for their lives. Why he came back to Savona in the first place was still a mystery to Alexius. He should never have returned. The family walked through the nighttime jungles for hours, arriving at a village in a small clearing just before the sun rose. Alexius dropped his aura blade, while Marcus and Decimus lowered their rifles.

"Here we go," said Decimus, with drowsiness in his voice. Maria, Lucia, Marcus, and Placus were all exhausted from walking all those hours. Alexius could have walked a little further, though.

"Finally," Lucia groaned.

"We should only stop here for a single day," Alexius suggested. "Or at least until we get some rest."

"That's what I was thinking," Decimus agreed. "It'll be more difficult to draw attention to ourselves."

"We could look for some kind of transportation," said Maria. "A train station or a bus stop."

"I'll handle that," Alexius offered. "You all just go to the tavern and get some sleep."

"Be careful," Maria warned.

"I will, mom," Alexius promised. He went into the village while the rest of the family went to the first tavern they spotted. It wasn't a promising establishment, but it was all they could afford. They couldn't stay in town for very long, anyway, especially if one of those three Shadows Alexius fought had managed to track him all the way from Savona. The Guardian walked around the village, looking for a train station or bus stop, like his mother suggested. Suddenly, he heard a loud whistle echoing through the air. It was near the edge of the village. Alexius went through the clearing the village was built in to find a large, streamlined train with a dozen carts attached to it docked at a small cabin. A dozen people were lined up at it, and when the train's doors opened, they poured into the passenger carts.

"Excuse me?" Alexius called, to the man in the ticket booth.

"Yes, sir," said the man.

"Does this train go to Noglidas?" Alexius wondered.

"No, this one is going all the way to Thebas," the man answered. "The next one leaving for Noglidas will be here at noon today."

"How much for six people?" asked Alexius.

"It's a single gold piece per person," the man enlightened.

"Perfect," said Alexius. "I'll be back at noon." He walked off. At least he and his family wouldn't have to walk all the way to Noglidas. Things just got a whole lot easier for them. That was only if the Shadows stayed off of his trail, though.