Aley put her head in her hands, staring at the floor while Xinn, Lore, and Rokh waited for her response.

The room they had brought her to was small and dark, the only furnishings a pile of blankets in one corner, which she was sitting on. The walls weren't gray or black—like it seemed everything else was with Xinn and his crew—they were made from coffee-brown wood, which, while still dark, was a welcome change.

They had brought her to this room, cell more like, before Xinn explained everything. He told her about her parents, the war, the prophecy, throughout which Aley had done her best to contain her expressions and words. She didn't like the way they were trying to read her.

Now with her head down and breath shaky, she wasn't sure what to think. It makes sense that aliens are real—but like this? With wings and superpowers? Prophecies? That's a bit harder to swallow. How do they even expect me to react to that?

"Okay, okay," she said at last, raising her head to look up at Xinn. A headache rushed to her temples. "So you think I'm some sort of savior that is supposed to end a war with my sister. How do you know it's us? You've clearly never met us before."

He raised an eyebrow slightly. "You have traces of both sariun and valicaran in you, even while disguised as a human. We've had teams following that valicara for weeks now since they possess the technology to find you. If we weren't completely sure before, we are now considering your ... new functions." He jerked his chin at her wings.

They opened automatically at the mention of them, curling slightly around Aley when she glanced at them. She winced at the ache that came from the spot they had fused to her back. "Oh." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lore take a slight step away from her. She pushed her long brown hair back, wincing when her fingers got tangled. "Then why didn't you get us sooner? Why wait for so long?"

"We assumed you would come to us when the time was right. It was thought you were hiding somewhere on Kliktal, preparing for the day you would bring this war to a close. But when we discovered the valicara were actively looking for you on other planets, we couldn't just let them have you if you were to be found." Xinn's body posture was rigid, arms tucked behind his back while his eyes dug into hers. Despite the discovery of the savioresses, he seemed unawed or even affected at all. A perk of being a people watcher as well as an actor was that she could read body language pretty well. Everything about Xinn was controlled, but not stiff. He was confident in himself and unmoved by her presence.

She pushed herself off the blankets, standing to face him better. "You need Rocki too. Why didn't you grab her?" Lore took another, tiny step back, not meeting her eyes when she glanced at him. His arms were crossed, guarded and closed off from everything else. He didn't seem comfortable.

Xinn's eyes narrowed. "We tried. The valicara got to her first and managed to make off with her. Normally I wouldn't be worried about attacking them, valicara aren't true warriors like sariun, but she's very likely to be in their main compound. It's made from mountain stones and heavily guarded; we won't be able to break in easily."

"You are going to get her though, right?" said Aley.

"Of course, savioress. Getting your sister is our second priority. Our first is keeping you safe."

Her brow tightened, making her headache squeeze harder on her brain. "They wouldn't hurt her, would they? If she's the savior you think she is?"

The question was met with silence.

"The valicara are ... cold," said Xinn carefully. Each word was slow, and deliberate, as if trying to find the most delicate way to explain. "They don't have emotions like we do. They would do anything in a heartbeat if it meant winning the war. I don't know what they plan on doing with the other savioress."

Aley's eyes dropped to stare over his shoulder, dread curling in her stomach. A shiver raced across her arms. They would do anything ... including hurting or killing Rocki. And me.

"But we're going to get the savioress before anything happens, right, general?" Rokh hurried to try to reassure her, eyes darting towards Xinn.

"Yes," he replied, but his tone lacked conviction.

Aley met his eyes again, crossing her arms. "Then what are you doing here? Why aren't you out there trying to get Rocki?"

"I told you, savioress, you are our first priority."

"I think it's a little more important to get my sister away from the monsters that might try to hurt her rather than making sure I'm safe inside your camp! What if they kill her?" Her voice caught, tears springing unexpectedly to her eyes. "You have to make sure nothing happens to Rocki."

"We will," said Rokh. His eyes shot to Xinn and back to her. "We'll get her out, don't worry, savioress."

She narrowed her eyes. "No, I am worried. My sister is out there possibly being hurt by a bunch of non-feeling aliens while we're here having a stupid history lesson! We have to go get her. Now."

"Savioress, it's not that simple," Xinn started. He was interrupted by someone tapping on the wooden door. He motioned for Rokh to approach.

Aley glanced at Lore, who was eyeing her wings. She hadn't realized they had been flared until she saw how intently he was staring at them. She took in a deep breath, forcing them closer to her back. They seemed to have a mind of their own, which definitely wasn't normal by human standards. Then again, none of this was.

"Tavl is here," Rokh said, glancing over his shoulder at Xinn. The general nodded, so he stood back and allowed a women in. She was much smaller than the others Aley had seen so far, although she hadn't gotten a good look at the crowd that was trying to stone her earlier. But compared to the three muscular men in the room, she was the smallest sariun Aley had met.

Tavl's eyes were wide as she awkwardly took a large bag off her back and held it in front of her. Her eyes locked on Aley, a gasp catching in her throat. She hurriedly dropped to her knees, tilting her head to the side without looking Aley in the eyes.

"Savioress," she said, her words tumbling out in a rush. "It is an honor to meet you." Her body posture returned to normal, leaving Aley to wonder what all that was about. She hesitated, eyes glancing around at the three other sariun in the room.

Xinn raised an eyebrow. "Get started then."

"Yes, of course." Tavl shakily approached.

Aley took a step back, standing on the pile of blankets. Why did they even bring me here? It's not like it's a very cozy conference room. It seems like a prison. "Who are you?" she asked warily as Tavl set down her bag in front of her.

"I am HaseAkeiTavl, secondary healer of The Center. The primary would have been here, but he is performing surgery." Tavl eyed Aley's wings with uncertainty. Her accent was thicker, a little harder to understand. "I was informed that your wings just now appeared?"

Who told her that? Oh, Rokh disappeared for a moment, he must have sent a message or something. "Um, yeah, something like that."

"Do they hurt?"

Aley stretched her wings a little, grimacing. "They're sore. And my head is killing me.

Tavl swept her black hair away from her face with the back of her hand, shaking a little. "Do you mind if I give them a look? This has certainly never happened before, and we want to make sure our savioress is well taken care of."

The blue-eyed girl hesitated but nodded. "It can't hurt. Not more than my wings anyway." She laughed wryly.

Flashing her a small smile, Tavl circled around behind, gently brushing the wings with her hands. Aley shivered, wings twitching a little at the unfamiliar feeling.

"Where does it hurt?"

Aley cracked her neck. "Mostly my shoulder blades. But where the wings start is sore too."

"Can you move them?" Aley did a series of tests for Tavl until the doctor finally had enough information. "I'm going to give you some medications for pain. I want you to take them as long as the pain persists." She took two containers out of her bag. "I brought them along just in case."

Aley smiled a little at her. "You're very well prepared."

"It's my job, Savioress." Tavl met her eyes this time as she handed over the medicine. They were sharp with focus. She was confident in her work.

"Thank you," she said, glancing at the boxes now in her hands. "Do you have something I could drink?"

"I can certainly fetch something. What would you like?"

She opened a box, mouth quirking up. "I suppose whiskey and meds don't go very well together. Just some water would be great." Skies above, a drink sounds heavenly.

"Of course, Savioress." Tavl knelt again, tilting her neck, before standing and scurrying out of the room.

Aley glanced inside the medicine box. It had square packages about half the size of her thumb stuffed inside, wrapped with cloth it seemed. She took one out, giving it a quick inspection before opening it, raising an eyebrow at the contents. It wasn't a pill, as she had expected, but a sort of paste.

Am I supposed to put it on my body instead of drinking it?

The door opened without anyone knocking. Tavl had likely returned with water.

"That was fast," Aley said, raising her eyes to the doorway.

It wasn't Tavl, but a tall man—rather, alien. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the huge scar across his neck, right where someone would slash a throat.

"General," he said with a nod before his eyes shifted to Aley. "Is this...?"

Xinn nodded back respectfully. "Yes. Savioress, this is Head TerrCileBreg."

TerrCileBreg came closer, then slowly knelt and tilted his head to the side. "Savioress. I cannot express what an honor it is to meet you. We have been waiting for this day for so long. Even if this is not quite the outcome we expected, I am grateful to know we at least have one savioress with us." He raised his eyes to her. The blue in his irises was darker than the other sariun's, almost melting into the black.

"T-thank you," Aley managed to say, not sure how to react. I wish they would stop kneeling like that. "You can get up. I doubt I have higher rank than you. "Head" sounds pretty important."

He smiled as he rose, now towering above her. "You are humble, Savioress. Right now, no one is more important than you and your sister. I was told what happened to her and do not worry, we will rescue her from the valicara. I already have some of my finest strategists working on it."

"When are you going to get her?" Aley asked sharply. "There isn't any time to waste."

"We don't have a timeline yet. We will, of course, try to get her back as soon as possible, but the valicara compound is difficult to infiltrate. It may take several weeks."

She was sure her heart stopped. "Several weeks? No, you have to get her now! Who knows what those monsters are doing to her?"

He held up his hands. "We'll get her back, Savioress. I'm sure of it. We want this war to end in our favor and to do that we need your sister. But to get her from the valicara, we'll need to have a strong plan and more information, which will take time to get."

"We don't have time!" she protested, tears beginning to line her eyes. "They could be hurting her. She needs rescued now, not in a few weeks!"

His eyes softened with pity. "I understand, Savioress. It's your sister and you want to bring her back to you. I know this is a hard position to be in, but you must understand the delicacy of the situation. If we attack now, without any intel or plan, we could lose soldiers and our chance at finding her."

"I thought you wanted Rocki and I together. You said you can't end your stupid war without the two of us. You're not going to have the two of us if they kill her first!"

"Savioress—"

"She could already be dead because you didn't do anything about it!"

"Please understand—"

"No, you have to understand! That's my sister out there with a bunch of heartless aliens who are liable to kill her at any time just to keep anyone from winning the war. If you don't get her back now, you might never have that chance!"

Xinn took a step forward as Aley's wings flared wide, holding out a hand towards her. "Savioress, you're upset. Perhaps we should leave you be for a while. Head TerrCileBreg, if I may have Lore escort you out?"

Heat bloomed in Aley's chest as two of the aliens turned away from her. "You're just going to let them kill her? Are you sure the valicara are the monsters here?" Her nose wrinkled angrily as they continued to walk away. "Fine. If you won't rescue Rocki, I'll do it myself." She took a step towards the door, but Xinn jumped in her way.

"Please, remain here, Savioress," he said. "This is the safest place for you."

She met his eyes with a glare. "No!" She sliced a hand in front of her to emphasize her statement. A silver blade slipped from her wrist, lodging in the wooden floor. She screamed, jumping back, and then stared at it. "What. The. Heck?"

Xinn began to back away, gesturing for a nervous-looking Rokh to leave. "You're upset," he said again slowly. "I will give you some time to calm down and return to check on you later." He backed his way to the door while Aley was still frozen in shock, then stepped out and closed it.

The heavy sound of the door shook Aley alive again. "Hey! Get back in here! What just happened?" She ran to the door, desperately trying to open it, but it was locked. "What about Rocki? What are you going to do?" She kicked the door with a shriek of rage. She spun around staring at the now-empty room, chest heaving with wrath.

Alone in an unfamiliar place, with new wings, seemingly new powers, and her sister had been taken by hostile aliens. There was so much happening at once her head spun with all of it, but she didn't have an outlet—there was nothing for her to hit, no one for her to yell at.

So she screamed, finding release in the raw, furious sound. It felt good.

She screamed again.