We shouldn't have waited so long to leave this planet, Vatra thought. She looked around at the frantic expressions. Screams and shouts pierced the air. Parents raised their youngest toward the two passenger ships, trying to save their children.

She wouldn't waste time worrying about everyone else. Not anymore. It was her time to be selfish.

Guilt weighed down her feet, but Vatra pushed herself toward the third ship as close as she could before two guards stepped in their way.

"There's no more room on these vessels. You'll have to wait for the next flight out," one of the guards instructed. He didn't sound very convincing himself. The young man darted a wary eye at the ship behind him, as if he, too, wanted to make a run for it.

"We overheard about the solar flare," Vatra said. "We're getting off this damn planet." She went to step forward, but the two guards raised their firearms toward her.

It wasn't like she expected for them to just step to the side. But, she didn't want to kill anyone, either. Not in front of a huge crowd. Chaos would ensue.

Vatra grumbled to herself.

"It is just the two of us," Spyro added.

"No, it's not," the guard replied. "It's just the two of you, then it's just everyone else behind you, too. We can't make an exception for anyone."

Committed to the job until the end, and it doesn't look like they're getting to leave, either, Vatra thought.

"Who's on that ship, anyway?" Vatra jutted her chin to the ship as she asked the question. "I saw the other ships loaded with passengers, but I haven't seen anyone get on this ship."

The two guards looked at each other, as if debating whether to answer Vatra or not.

Finally, the second guard that hadn't spoken yet answered. "It's a skeleton crew for security to protect the volunteers."

"Skeleton crew?" Vatra flitted her gaze to Spyro. "Surely they can fit us four on board."

The guards raised their brows at her statement.

"Don't you want off this planet, too?" Vatra pushed.

"They're sending another ship down for us," the first guard said, lowering his weapon.

"Are they?" Vatra pressed.

Doubt visibly crept to the guards' faces. Both of the men completely lowered their guns and glanced out over the crowd behind Vatra and Spyro. It was clear they weren't willing to die for their job as they'd been so willing to answer Vatra's questions. And, they didn't make any further attempt to stop the two of them from approaching the ship.

Vatra and Spyro darted past the guards before they could change their minds. As she went by, Vatra looked at the guards with a scrutinizing gaze. It wasn't that they weren't willing to die, she realized. They were hopeless.

I won't let that be us. Vatra turned back to the ship and walked in step with Spyro.

Confidently, they approached the side of the vessel. Vatra noted the boarding ramp was lowered, which she hadn't seen before. Either someone had lowered it while they were talking with the guards, or it had been down the entire time. Though, the former was more likely. More people would have tried to get on a ship with a downed boarding ramp.

The ramp was narrow and went up into the belly of the ship at a steep incline. Vatra peered up into the darkened ship with curiosity.

"Do we just make a run for it?" she questioned Spyro.

"No, I do not think we should," Spyro replied. "We should move in cautiously, and hide until the ship is far enough into the atmosphere."

Vatra blew a raspberry. "You're no fun."

Taking the first step on to the ramp, Vatra's boot paused on the metal. She snapped her head to the right when the sound of screams and gunfire filled their air.

Why aren't I running into the ship?

"The people have started to panic, they are attacking the ships," Spyro announced. He'd taken a few steps away from the ship and looked out in the direction of the noise.

Vatra's view was blocked by the low-hanging wing of the vessel. She glanced down at her boot, then shuffled back to the dirt. "This isn't right. How can we leave everyone behind to die?"

"Easy enough, don't worry yourself with the mortals," a voice replied behind them.

Spinning around, Vatra's eyes nearly bulged from her head. A small group of gods and spiritual beings approached them and the ship. They were no small fry, either. In the forefront was Veles, a Slavic god with more power to his name than Vatra could even recount.

Veles was the one that had spoken. He bore a grin on his aged face as if he'd told a joke. With his right hand, Veles tugged at his long, grey beard and chuckled.

"Ah, Vatra, my dear. You and your spirit friend are looking quite pale. You look as if you've seen the god of the underworld." Veles strode past them.

Heavy, brown furs of a bear were draped across Veles' shoulders. The paws of the beast swung about his ankles as he walked up into the vessel. His tall and broad frame disappeared as quickly as he'd appeared.

The others he'd arrived with followed close behind him. Vatra watched with still meticulousness. She recognized Laverna, Mercury, and Loki amongst the gods. Though, most of the spiritual beings were unknown to her. It brought a sense of dread to her belly to realize a majority of the gods were known for their hand in trickery and thievery.

Vatra waited until the last one marched up into the ship, then she turned and looked back in the direction of the vessel.

"I do not have a good feeling about this. You do know who they are, correct? Veles appeared to know us," Spyro said.

"Yeah," Vatra muttered. "I don't like this, either. I've got a feeling that the fighting outbreak didn't just spontaneously happen."

Leaning over to the side, Vatra peered around the ship. She didn't see the two guards from earlier anywhere. Instead, all she saw was a mass of panic fighting their way onto a boarding ramp the crowd had managed to lower.

"We don't have a choice. There's no calming down that chaos in time, and I don't see the point in dying here. We need to get on this ship, now," Vatra said.

Spyro nodded in agreement.

They both walked up into the ship, Vatra leading the way. She'd pulled free one of her concealed godkillers and resheathed it at her hip.

As soon as Spyro walked up behind her, someone slammed their hand on a button and the boarding ramp began to close.

"Damn, I didn't think you two would ever get on this ship," Mercury said with a wide smile. He sounded almost too happy to be leaving their home.

"Why would you even wait for us?" Vatra asked. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, as the lights were dim in the room they'd entered.

Mercury fully entered her focus. Vatra remembered him always looking young, but he truly appeared to be a young teen before her. She almost forgot he was a god as old as she was.

Pushing the blonde curls from his eyes, Mercury spun around and led them down a hall into the main part of the ship. "You made the choice too, didn't you? Abandon the mortals? Not like those self-righteous gods and beings."

"No, we didn't. We chose life," Vatra shot.

"Is there a difference?" Mercury shot a look over his shoulder that made Vatra's blood boil. It was like he was mocking her for caring about the humans. A fake, pouty look crossed his features.

The ship started to rumble beneath them.

"Uh-oh, we better buckle in before the ship takes off." Mercury darted ahead, turning a corner that Vatra and Spyro slowly followed him around.

A large room lined with bucket seats surrounded them. Everyone was strapped in already and looked up at the two of them with curious gazes. Some of the gods appeared to consider if Vatra and Spyro were mortals themselves. The look of confusion on their faces said it all. A few of the others recognized the two of them and gave nods of acknowledgment.

Vatra and Spyro neared two, empty seats cautiously.

I've killed some of their friends. Do they not care? Don't they know? Veles even knew who I was.

Pulling her pack around to her front so she could sit with her back flat against the seat, Vatra buckled herself in. Once she was secured, Vatra unzipped a portion of her bag and peered inside. The insulated pack revealed clothes and belongings shoved under a small, glass container. Water sloshed around, and the small turtle-like creature Vatra had named Aspi looked up at her with its beady eyes.

A nosy Laverna leaned over in her seat. The goddess tucked one of her loose strands of black hair behind her ear when she did so. "Ah, that's an Aspidochelone, isn't it?" Laverna asked. Her voice was surprisingly low and warm.

Vatra cut her eyes to the goddess and nodded. "Yeah, I don't know what happened to the guy, but I found him getting sold around a deity and creature market. I thought it best to help him out."

"You know," Laverna started, "I heard stories of Aspidochelone having entire caches of treasure in them. From when they consume those who shipwreck on them, that is. I bet this guy has some cool jewels or weapons in him. If you can get him into the ocean at some point, he'll grow back to normal size."

"You sure know a lot about the Aspidochelone," Vatra said.

Laverna stared at Apsi with a twinkling in her eyes. "I just know a lot about hidden treasures, that's all."

Sitting back, Vatra sighed and closed her bag once again. She tried to push the thought of leaving Earth behind to the back of her mind. The faces of the guards and the frightened people getting further and further away burned in her memory. Now, she and Spyro were stuck with a bunch of gods and beings who'd tricked their way off the planet.

But, were we truly any better than them?