Go Down Kicking (Legion of the Black)

Beneath the branches of the canopy, the sunlight scattered over the coarse green grass and the breeze created a soothing whisper among the boughs. Stepping softly upon the dry soil, a girl of twenty years experience hummed quietly to herself as she walked. The restless air lifted her rich brown hair from her neck and the sparse vegetation grazed against her exposed legs. Under the pretence of being carefree, she turned into a small clearing bustling with life. Women, men and children draped in makeshift outfits carried out the tasks they had to complete to survive day after day.
"Lily!"
A high pitched voice rose above the clutter and a tiny blonde haired girl ran forward to hang onto the woman's leg.
Lily crouched down on the ground and hugged the small child warmly.
"What have you been up to then?" She asked and pushed a strand of short hair back from the girl's face.
"Hawwy was telling me a stowy." she replied, wide eyed, "The pwophet will help us!"
"Oh," Lily's brow furrowed slightly, "That's ni-"
"Skye!"
She was cut off by the girl's older brother, Harry, approaching them. When he reached the pair, Harry bent down to scoop up Skye and sighed as he sat her on his tanned shoulders.
"You can't even leave Lily alone for two seconds, can you?" He stated more than asked and rolled his hazel eyes.
Lily straightened up and smiled at her friend,
"Don't worry, I really don't mind."
"Seeeeee?!" Skye stuck her tongue out at her brother and once satisfied with the reaction she received, she began to wriggle about. "Now put me down!"
Harry laughed in despair and set her down to run away through the legs of other inhabitants.
"So what's all this about some prophet? Please don't go telling her stories about fake saviours." Lily said anxiously, diverting his attention back to her. But Harry shook his head.
"No, this is something real!" He exclaimed before continuing in a lower tone, "I've heard that everyone in the towns is talking about attacks being made against F.E.A.R and people being liberated. This is happening on a much larger scale than anything we've ever seen before! They say that five men are in charge of these rebellions... The Prophet, The Deviant, The Destroyer, The Mystic and The Mourner."
Lily bit gently on her lower lip and studied Harry's face for signs of dishonesty.
"Wow... I..."
She paused and frowned down at the ground, "I really hope they turn out to be what we've been dreaming of. We're lucky that F.E.A.R have let us live on the land un-attacked for so long. If they ever decide that we threaten them then we will not be strong enough to fight them off."
"Yeah, I know." Harry's face twitched to display a half-hearted smile as he turned his head to look across at the rest of the people in their makeshift tribe. "Anyway, I need to sort out Skye, I have no clue where she's decided to vanish to." He snickered to himself and made eye contact with Lily once more before placing his hands in his pockets and walking away from her.
Lily watched him depart but payed no attention to where he was going; her mind was too deep in thought. Was it possible? Were there really people out there, rebels who could bring about the downfall of F.E.A.R? With every fibre of her body, Lily willed it to be true.
The brush of a stray palm leaf against her shoulder awoke Lily from her trance. With a smile at her own idleness, she took a few strides over to the closest tree and hauled herself up the spiky trunk. Clinging to the bark, which somewhat resembled scales, she managed to shuffle to the top of the tree where the branches were bunched. Ignoring the cuts which now adorned her hands, legs and feet, Lily pushed aside the slender leaves and settled herself atop the tree. From her new vantage point she was able to see the whole oasis. The brush-like tops of the palm trees formed a rich green ring around the gently lapping blue of the lake which kept them alive. She could even see the wavering gauze of heat where the stark blue sky collided with the oven red of the sand.
Lily narrowed her eyes as she stared at the horizon, trying to make sense of the shapes she could see. But her attempts were to no avail. Whenever she thought she could see a line-up of tall black figures, a flurry of sand pixillated the image. What would horned black shapes be doing parading the horizon anyway? The towns were in the other direction, off to the East, so F.E.A.R could not possibly be approaching from so deep within the desert. Surely rebels would not hold such a shape? They were human after all. Spectres only existed in the imagination, so this must be a hallucination caused by the temperature, Lily concluded.
All her duties for the day had been completed earlier and she was not in the mood to socialise with her friends, so it could do no harm to close her eyes for a while now. Lily leant her head back and slowly her eyelids fell to conceal her brown eyes.

Notes