A Despot's Redemption

Ferric continued to navigate the forest , his breaths becoming more laboured as he cut through the leaves and branches that stood before him and the weight of his three dead teammates pressed heavily against his shoulders. He wrinkled his nose at the scent of his uniform that clung to his chest, drenched in sweat by the fierce humidity.

Every step felt eternity until he noticed the large column of smoke towering above him. Ferric grinned. He was just a few metres away from the campfire.

He reached out for the last branch that obstructed his path and pushed it aside

The Scorpios stood up and aimed their machine guns towards his direction. Ferric raised his hands to the air to signify his surrender.

"You won't be needing those weapons, I'm not your enemy."

"Then why are you here and who are you?

"I am Lloyd, a former member of a searching party sent to bring Chloe back to the Pangean army. But I have decided to switch sides and join your group instead. And if you are still skeptical , then here's my evidence."

He knelt down and slowly lowered down the bodies that he carried on his shoulder. Chloe sat on the nearby log, her eyes filled with shock.

"Lloyd, did you really kill all those soldiers just to get to me?" she asked

Ferric nodded.

"And I assume you took out Timothy as well."

"No. He outsmarted me. Timothy's on his way back to the camp."

"But why, why did you betray them?"

"It's a long story. Let's just say the Rapturians have something that I need."

Ferric glanced back to the squad as they inspected the bodies.

"So do you trust me now."

"You don't seem to be much of a threat," said Enyo the leader, " but we will keep your weapons for now, just in case."

"I guess we should introduce ourselves."

"No need," Ferric answered. " you're Enyo the leader, those two beside you are Luna and Michelle and the guy there is Jake."

"How do you know all of this?" Chloe asked

Shivers ran down Ferric's spine; he had to come up with a lie , fast.

"I found them in the archives." Ferric answered

"Very well , we'll let you rest with us for tonight but don't think we'll let our guard down."

10 minutes later

Ferric laid down on his back as he nestled deeper into his sleeping bag. He glanced upwards to the sky above him , enjoying the twinkling stars, the comets streaking by and the full moon casting a bright light that illuminated the forest.

The hooting of owls and crickets echoed through the woods, filling him with comfort. He glanced to the side where Jake lay right by him.

"It's beautiful isn't it." said Ferric

"You know my former buddy and I would go to explore the woods at this time. It's a shame that he left us back in the palace. Now he governs an entire nation with an iron fist but has no one to share it with. It must feel so lonely . Being stuck in that mansion and not having his teammates right by him. I wonder if he ever regretted it."

He sure did. It's kinda weird talking to him about myself though.

"I believe he does. But how has Enyo been doing? And do you know where she is? I'd like to talk with her, face to face."

"She hasn't been coping well with Ferric abandoning us. Just try not to be too blunt, okay."

Jake pointed towards the campfire that the Scorpios had set up. Enyo sat by the flickering flames, stroking a crumpled photograph from his earlier days.

Ferric stood up from his bag and went to join Enyo by the fire. She noticed him and quickly tucked the picture back into her pocket.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping now Lloyd?"

"Probably, but I saw that photo you had and wanted to know if you miss Ferric."

"Miss him? I loathe him, we treated him as our child , making sure he knew how to survive without us. And what he do, he left us behind , just so that he could be the right hand man for the president."

Ferric gulped. He recalled the day when Enyo, him and the squad stood in the presence of the president's office. The nearby officials flocked to the exits as they entered, fear etched across their faces. Infront of them was the Lumean president seated behind his desk along with bodyguards standing beside him.

He grinned as he sat up and went to confront them.

"So you must be the group responsible for eliminating my generals.

"Indeed, but why did you bring us here? You better have a good reason."

"Oh I do. You see the Shaikiran tribes have banded together as one nation to achieve one goal. Conquer Lumea, subject its citizens and expand from there. You may be pondering why we have a problem with them , after all their technology is inferior to ours. And that is true. But their tactics have left our army in shambles. My generals have no experience with the hit and run strategy they use and we need someone who is familiar with it."

"So you want to hire us to lead your army?"

"Correct Enyo, but I only need one. And the one that I need is you, Ferric."

From then on he worked as his commander for the army and soon became the new ruler once he had died.

"Don't worry about it." said Enyo calmly "Just go back to sleep."

The yellow sun began to rise from the horizon casting daylight over the forest. Clanging of metal echoed through the camp, jolting everyone awake.

Ferric opened his eyes to the sight of Enyo standing in front of him with a pan in both hands. Her long blonde hair shining in the sunlight.

Once everyone was awake and had their breakfast she proceeded to lay down her bag and took out a roll of paper. She placed it down on the ground for everyone to see and unfurled it.

It was a map containing all the different pathways across Asherah.

"Hey Jake, you want to help us find the shortcut."

Jake crawled forward to analyze the map. He was the navigational expert after all.

After discussing a bit with Enyo , he pointed to a line that went up to a large black mountain. That was where the Rapturian colony was built.

The squad gathered up all the pots cleaned by Luna and Michelle themselves and hopped onto the jeep.

Three hours had passed since they had driven off and now they were closer to the colony than they had before.

Vibrations resonated across the jeep , making Ferric and Chloe sick to the stomach. He turned his head around to the boot where a cloud of dust was being thrown up behind them. Ferric pulled the collar of his shirt up to his mouth, not willing to inhale any of the dark fumes or dust spewing out from the car.

Without warning, the jeep came to a grinding halt. The tires send out an ear piercing screech mingled with the neighing of a nearby horse.

"Steady now Phoebe!" said a young man on top of his white mare.

He was of dark complexion with a scabbard strapped behind his back adorned in red and yellow decorations. The man moved his eyes towards them as he clutched the reins of his horse.

Ferric's heart raced .His irises bore a shade of dark red which contrasted with the black sclera present on his eyes.

There was no doubt about it; he was part of the Restless, an android race posessed by human souls and they had no mercy for trespassers.