The stars were out and twinkling, and the great red bulk of Thoriam shined majestically in the sky casting an orange glow hauntingly across the great flat expanse of the dried up sea. Arcas and Hephaestus, two of Epaphus’ sister moons sat lazily beside Thoriam, dwarfed by the great, orange disc of the gas giant, and Darian, for the first time in years, marveled at the sight. He also thanked god that it was, in fact, night-time. Naked as he was and with no water, he doubted he could survive the desert crossing in the blazing heat of day. And so, he carried on, through the ruined city and across the desert. For sixteen hours he trudged on throughout the long Epaphian night. When he came to Carralac he stopped only to take a good long drink of water from the public fountain at the train station and continued till he got back to his broken down truck. He put Alaliaq’s slimy head into the rucksack and collapsed in the front seat, passing out nearly immediately.
         When he woke up, the sun was rising in the east and Thoriam had shrunk to half a disc. A strange bearded man in a wide brimmed hat was prodding him.
         ‘Son, son,’ he said as Darian opened his eyes, ‘are you alright? What happened?’
         ‘My truck broke down,’ mumbled Darian, ‘I got robbed.’
         ‘Do you have any money?’ asked the man.
         ‘No,’ said Darian, ‘they took my satchel. I was heading to Namsatin. I - I got a job there.’ he lied.
         ‘Don’t you worry son,’ said the kind man, ‘I can’t do much, but I can clothe you, feed you, and send you on your way to Namsatin if you like.’
         ‘I would like that very much,’ said Darian, ‘Thank you, good sir. How could I ever repay you?’
         The man smiled. He said, ‘Standing well in the Lord’s eyes is all the payment I need.’ He took off his outer cloak and handed it to Darian. ‘Come, next train to Namsatin leaves in two hours. Best get you to the station.’ Darian put the cloak on, grabbed the rucksack, and followed the kind man to the train station.
         When they got to there, the kind man bought Darian some meat-on-bread from the station restaurant and a ticket to Namsatin. When the train came, he told him farewell and god bless. Darian thanked him again and boarded the train and sat down.
         The train ride lasted for the better part of the long day, stopping at small towns along the way. They crossed the desert and passed through the land of Lomasia along the shores of it’s Dying Seas. They went up along the Corriander River and through the Corriander Pass crossing the Anzal Mountains and then down along the Niadna River and on into the city of Namsatin itself.
         The train ride was peaceful for Darian and he spent most of it staring out at the passing landscape reflecting on his adventure and on his life. And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he didn’t care if they caught the tall, black-haired immortal or not. All his life, he realized, he was a prisoner of sorts - first at the orphanage in Namsatin, than with the Peitho Kephale in Naham, and now, now that he was free of all of that he found himself doing the bidding of someone who didn’t even have arms to restrain him, someone who needed him to carry it around like a dead rock. And by the time the train rolled into the city he had made up his mind. He would get a job in Namsatin. Maybe he could meet a girl, get married, have a family. No one needed to know who he was or that he was an orphan. When the train stops, Darian decided, he would leave the rucksack on the seat. Let that jarred head find somebody else to do it’s bidding, he was free now.
         When the train pulled into the station at Namsatin it was dusk, and the sun cast a deep red light across Namsatin Bay, reflecting off the bottoms of low hanging clouds. Darian gave a heavy sigh and leaned over to whisper into his rucksack.
         ‘I’m sorry Alaliaq, but I’m afraid I must leave you here. I realized I don’t need glory. I’m happy enough to be free.’ and as he got up to get off the train the robotic monotone voice of Alaliaq issued from the rucksack.
         ‘You will regret this, Earth boy.’ it said. But, Darian ignored it and walked on. Other passengers around him heard it too, and whispered amongst themselves. But Darian ignored this as well. As he stepped off the train he breathed a long, happy sigh. He walked over to the end of the platform where there commanded a breathtaking view of the sun setting over the bay, a thousand little suns glistening off the waves. He took in the view and smiled the widest smile he ever smiled in his life.
         Just then a rough hand pushed him against the railing and threw his hands into cuffs behind his back.
         ‘You’re under arrest for the murders of five men in Arahas.’ hoarsely shouted the man behind his back. ‘Your grotesque, little friend told us everything.’
         ‘No, no - I didn’t mean to, I couldn’t help it, they were-’ cried Darian, struggling against the handcuffs.
         ‘You have the right to remain silent.’ yelled the man. He escorted Darian off the platform and into the back of a police van.
         ‘You’re spending the rest of your life behind bars, creep.’ he said as he slammed the doors shut.
         And indeed, Darian spent the rest of his life in jail, and he never found out what happened to Alalium or Alaliaq. And every day he wondered, and every night he cried.


THE END