Chapter 4: To The Field! I awoke to the feeling of a warm liquid washing over me. My vision was blurred but my situation came into view quickly. I was in a bath and that same kind looking vandal was scrubbing my hair out. I hummed at the feeling. I was bandaged from head to toe and unbearably sore. “What happened?” I asked the vandal. “You were injected with ether and you’ve grown bigger!” He replied. I observed myself, and he was right. I was significantly larger than I ever was or thought I could be, I stared at my hands. “Did that machine do this?” I asked in disbelief. “Yep, all worth it though, huh?” He smiled and rubbed something rough on my back. I shivered at the feeling, I looked the vandal in the eyes and tilted my head. Why was he so kind to me? He widened his smile and I responded with a small smile of my own. “Alright, hop up.” He helped me stand up and guided me out of the tub. He slid a helmet with horns and other details decorating it over my head. He walked me to another room and handed me a set of armor, defined crisply with House Winter’s banner and seal. “Alright, you’re ready to go out into the field,” he said as he picked me up and carried me out of the room. He carried me back into the room with the machine. Tenvorock was standing there, I didn’t know what to think of him anymore. Was he my dad? Or the root of all my problems? “Aer...I’m going to take you to see your mother one last time, alright? Then you’ve gotta go out there into the firefight” He held his arms out and I hesitated. I wanted to see Mommy, but I’m not sure if I should trust him. The vandal handed me to Tenvorock and I didn’t protest, he held me gently. Tenvorock headed towards a door on the other side of the room , he placed me down in front of the door and pushed me in. I saw Evalyne, my very own mother, laying on the bed in pain. I walked up to her and she turned her head to me, she held her arms out and I crawled into them. “Child… light…” She coughed quietly.”It’s time for you to know the truth,” Evalyne started. “The females of our kind are treated extremely poorly, we have no say in the war and are kept in nurseries. These nurseries are prison’s where we are beaten and forced to give birth.You are lucky… Please do not cry for me, visit me at home…” I couldn’t speak. [i]This is my mother![/i] I could see through her eyes that she was truly leaving. “I love you…” She went limp, I couldn’t help but cry painful tears. [i]She’s really gone, isn’t she?[/i] I couldn’t accept it. I nuzzled her dead body for a time and then walked out of the room. Tenvorock, seeing the sadness in my eyes, picked me up and cradled me. He carried me over to the armories and set me down amongst a group of Eliksni. It was made up of a captain, four vandals and two dregs. The kind vandal was there, he smiled at me. The captain took one look at me and stifled a laugh, Tenvorock growled and the captain went silent. “Alright vandal, speak up, what’s your name?” The captain questioned. “Aerile,” I whimpered. “Aerile, hmm…” The captain paused for a moment. “The name’s Lionik. These four buds are Mrer, Tere, Hueskin, Bline and these two little troublemakers are Zon and Yel,” he introduced. [i]Tere, that was the name of the nice vandal. I feel better now that I know his name.[/i] “We’ve been ordered to scavenge about the Ishtar Sinks, tryin’ to find some scrap metal, troops,” the captain announced “All ready?” The squad nodded and I felt my nerves tear at my gut. The group was beamed into a skiff. I yelped at the new feeling. We were now sitting on seats in rows adjacent to one another, I looked about nervously . Tere gently grabbed my shoulder and I twitched towards him. His touch calmed me and I relaxed. “You’re gonna be okay...” He reassured me. I nodded and the captain walked back to us and handed me a shotgun and two blades. He nodded to me and walked back to the helm. I holstered my weapons and Tere poked me for my attention. “What?” I asked. “Look,” he replied, gesturing to the window. I hopped up to the window, looked out and gasped. Beautiful flora mixed with intricate machinery, vast meadows and giant mountains displayed all in a natural order. “Where are we?” I asked in awe. “Venus, beautiful ain’t it?” Tere replied. I nodded and stared out the window until the skiff gradually slowed to a stop. The captain leaped into the back of the skiff and shouted with pride. “Alright! Ready up!” Eight glowing blue holes opened on the floor and each squad member leapt into one. Tere grabbed me by the hip and held me tightly before leaping into one. ”Leap!” We heard the captain shout. Tere leapt out of the tube and onto a metal pole protruding from the skiff. “Go!” Lionik ordered and we each jumped from a pole, landing softly on the ground. I had my eyes closed, but when I opened them I took a frantic look around. It was like the place Mother used to tell me of, where the air was sweet, unlike that of the musty air in the Wintership. I took in a few breaths and smiled to myself. The rugged landscape looked… Familiar somehow. The glowing blue plants reminded me of something... “Venus.” I whispered under my breath.