Part 1:

“No!” she screamed aloud, the sound waking her from her nightmare.

Milada jerked upright, her heartbeat racing at thousand miles per hour. Her body shook violently, and she gasped for air as she tried to remember where she was. The darkness wrapped around her, and it took additionally ten seconds before she recognized her location—she was in the Queen’s castle in Hellich, the capital of the Sacred Land—exactly where she’d been for the last two weeks.

She held her breath, clutched her bed sheets, and prayed she hadn’t woken her friends. When no one came running through the cold stone-halls of the castle, she relaxed again, letting out the breath she’d been holding.

Still a bit shaken, she surveyed her surroundings. One of Hellich’s moons shone through the window, illuminating the superfluous room. Different kinds of old weapons and armory adorned the stone walls, making the room seem intimidating in the dark. The king-size bed was big enough to hold three of her, and she almost screamed when she saw something beside her. Jerking away, she got enough light to see what it was—it was just the excess bed sheets.

Relieved, she rubbed her forehead and drew her knees up against her chest. Then she leaned her chin on the top of her knees, sighing.

The nightmares had plagued her like this every night for the past fourteen days. Queen Sari had requested them all to stay at the castle until after Aurora’s marking, and seeing as it was only two weeks away—on the night of a full moon—she hadn’t thought twice about staying. But now she wished differently.

Not that she had anywhere else to go…

Hugging her knees, she sat in the darkness while calming her nerves. It didn’t use to be like this—she was never this afraid. But the memories of her upringing at Haw Tech—the facility that created her—brought terror to her nights.

Milada didn’t know exactly how long she sat there, but when she could see the sunrise slowly ascending outside the window, she knew it’d at least been several minutes. The morning light didn’t make the room any less threatening, though. Her eyes fell on a spiked club—a morning star they’d called it at Haw Tech—and she was reminded of her early training sessions.

She clenched her eyes shut, hoping to rid her mind of the horrendous images, the memory of them alone was enough to make her start shaking all over again.

At Haw Tech, they’d given her a special drug to calm her down each night. Her "Watchers" said that it was imperative that she slept since they counted on her healing abilities to continue the training. Even after the torturous training sessions, she’d needed the drugs to calm down to shut off the psychological side-effects of their abusive methods. Somehow, it hadn’t crossed anyone’s mind to bring those when embarked on this trip—not that they had any responsibility towards her any longer either.

She was nothing—a freak without a home, contract or memory.

And I have issues, she reminded herself. Her nightmares were returning in full force, and she had no idea what to do about them. Furthermore, she was too much of a coward to voice her problems to their leader Aaron, or to anyone else in the group. It didn’t help that they were all too busy to notice her either.

Milada realized that she wasn’t going back to sleep—even if she could avoid the dreams, she was too restless now. Stretching her aching neck-muscles, she rose from the bed, hurrying to get dressed. She cringed as she saw her reflection in the full-body mirror: long dresses didn’t suit her.

Of course, it was an ancient tradition of Queen Sari’s people to wear these gowns, but that didn’t mean she had to like them. Silently, she was counting the days until she could get her shorts and button-up shirt back. However, she couldn’t do anything before the full moon. Until then, she would have to bide her time, walking aimlessly through the land, in an overly fancy dress that did nothing to complement her physique.

With just a small ruffle of her long red hair, she walked away from the room, tiptoeing down the castle’s long, empty hallways. There was no point in waking up the rest of her group. She headed for the main gate, readying herself to walk through the city of sleeping Immortalias.

It was one of the things she’d grown to like while she stayed here. On her trips to the outskirts, it was easy to pretend she was like the rest of them—that she belonged.

Nevertheless, there was always a nagging voice in the back of her head telling her that she was only fooling herself. The people of Hellich were peaceful, creative and free. They were united in their goals for the future—she didn’t belong with them. All Milada knew was how to maim and kill subjects.

She felt the familiar sensation of darkness seeping into her mind. At first, it had been unsettling. She’d planned to talk to someone about her fears, but the longer she waited, the more she understood how ridiculous she would seem to them.

No, she couldn’t tell anyone.

Milada skipped down the set of stairs, running over to the servants’ door and opened it, wincing at the loud creak of the hinges. She glanced around, making sure no one noticed before she slipped outside.

The pre-dawn air was fresh. The slight chill didn’t bother her but instead soothed her restless body in a way she couldn’t explain. Without thinking further, she ran over the courtyard and into the empty streets of the city.

Ever since Aurora had agreed to be marked as a royal Immortalia, Milada had felt alienated from the group. She didn’t exactly understand the importance of breaking the contract that bound Aurora to the human Zachary, but from what she’d gathered, it was part of a bigger plan.

Aaron and Aurora had been busy with the ceremony and each other. It was rare she even got to see them out and about. Of course, Milada was happy that they had found each other, and she wished them all the best in the world.

To make matters worse, the Immortalia Queen, Sari, had somehow fixed Zachary’s mind, and now the human followed her around like a lost puppy. Even Valeria had found a young man in the city who made her giggle uncontrollably.

The last remaining part of their group was Allegra, but no matter how alone Milada felt, nothing could make her go to such extremes as to seek out her. After the betrayal, Queen Sari had ordered long-term imprisonment in the castle’s dungeons. The thought of Allegra made the hairs on Milada’s arms stand on end.

Everyone else had somewhere to be, except for her. This was just one of the thoughts that plagued her every day.

As she approached the outskirts, Milada could see the first orange rays from the sun above the wall. It blended together with the dark sky, hiding the stars one by one.

The wall that surrounded Hellich had become her safe haven. Whenever she came here, she found solace from the darkness, the nightmares and her own fears. Out here, there was only the nature.

Milada sat down in a small opening in the wall near and old observation post. It was just big enough for her to sit with her legs pressed against her chest. Since the gates were open, the wall didn’t really serve any purpose except looking intimidating. It split the land in two; on one side, there was a barren, dry wilderness, but on the inside, the scenery was prolific, green and exploding in colors.

She stared at the horizon, wondering if there were other Immortalias living far away from here. Maybe she’d fit with them? A sense of longing started to fill her chest, and she sighed heavily.

The sky was gorgeous, and she turned her face upwards. At this moment, she wished that she were religious. It would be wonderful to believe in something otherworldly, some higher being that she could rely on.

“Please, Gods,” she whispered and closed her eyes. “Help me.”

“You called,” a masculine voice said from behind, startling her.

Milada whipped around instantly. She jumped out of the opening, ready to fight any danger this newcomer might pose. Instead, she ended up tripping in the long skirt. Squealing loudly, she braced herself for impact with the ground when a strong arm caught around her waist.

“Easy there,” the voice said again, steadying her. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Irritated, Milada turned around. “I wasn’t—”

She stopped speaking as she met his eyes. She couldn’t even explain why she reacted like that, but as she stared into his blue eyes, all that came to mind was one of Valeria’s stupid sentences: Bow-chicka-wow-wow.

He was a fine-looking male. She looked up at him, noticing every detail: his dirty-blonde hair with sun-kissed stripes, his handsome face, and those eyes. Her eyes travelled further down, and she noticed his muscular body. Feeling her cheeks heat up, she realized he was still holding her up.

“Thanks. Ehm…” She cleared her throat. “Who are you?”

With a large grin, he stretched out a hand. “I’m Niko. It’s nice to meet you.”

She took the hand, almost hesitantly, shaking it. “I’m Milada.”

“So…” He released her hand. “What are you doing out here?”

“Nothing really. I couldn’t sleep.” Milada wanted to smack herself. Why was she responding to him? It went against her training to give up personal information to a complete stranger.

“Me neither.” He chuckled, ruffling his hair. “I’ve had some bad nightmares recently.”

This made her stop. Him too? Was it something that affected all the Immortalias? No. It couldn’t be that. Her group often told how great they slept in the Queen’s soft beds.

“Really?” she asked, trying to sound disinterested.

“Yeah… At first I thought it was something I ate, but then they kept coming.”

Milada didn’t know how to respond to that. The air grew silent between them, and together, they stared at the ascending sun. There was a thousand of questions rummaging inside Milada’s mind, but for now, she was comfortable with the way they were.

When the sky’s color finally changed from explosive red and orange to a light blue, Niko cleared his throat. “Will you be here tomorrow?”

She nodded. “If my nights keeps being interrupted like now, then you can count on it.”

Somehow, her response made him smile. “I’ll see you then.” He winked once and then waved goodbye.

Milada sat there for a while after he left, unsure about what had just happened. Someone had actually talked to her. To her.

She felt weightless, as if she could fly. With a cheery mood, she walked away from the wall, on her way to find Valeria; she simply had to tell someone.

It was silly. She was well aware of that, but at that moment, she didn’t care. For just a while, Niko had made her feel like she actually did belong with these people—as if she belonged with Niko.

Walking in her own thoughts, she didn’t hear someone yell her name. It wasn’t until someone grabbed her arm that she returned to the world. Shaken from her imaginary bliss, she stared into Aaron’s concerned eyes.

“Where have you been?” he asked.

Frowning, she gestured to the wall. “I went for a morning walk. Nothing else.”

Aaron relaxed visibly, but not completely. He let go of her arm and started running it through his dark hair again. “This is bad. This is bad,” he muttered.

Milada stared at him pacing back and forth. She wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, and her mind was still muddled with the memory of Niko.

Did Niko like sunsets too? Maybe she could suggest meeting him at night.

Confused, she realized that Aaron had been speaking. Shaking her head, she focused on him.

“…Sari and Aurora waiting at the castle. We don’t know the next strategy here; you’re the one with the necessary training, Milada.” He sent her a look as if expecting her to answer.

“Sorry, what happened?” She frowned.

It sounded serious. What was wrong with her? Something was obviously wrong, and she was thinking about boys. It was so unlike her that she wondered if this was a nightmare. She glanced at Aaron. He was the closest thing she had to a brother. They were the same in the sense that neither of them was born nor reincarnated; they were created.

“Are you listening at all?” he asked.

“I didn’t sleep well, my brain is working a bit slowly,” she said. It was a poor excuse, but she couldn’t explain it otherwise. Forcing herself to stay focused, she waited for Aaron to talk.

“The whole castle-guard is on high-alert,” he said, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulders. “Milada, it’s… It’s Allegra. She’s escaped.”

A/N: THIS IS NOT THE SEQUEL. I repeat: THIS IS NOT THE OFFICIAL SEQUEL.

As explained in my message at the end of Immortalia (The part before this one) Immortalia's sequel will be called: Immotalia II - The Catalyst . This here, is Immortalia 1.5 - The Indestructibles .

Basically, this won't be a full novel. I'm still not ready to write the sequel. However, because I'm almost at 10k followers, and a large part of my followers are you people, I wanted to give you something :) So, here's a Novella about what happens in between the end of Immortalia and the start of The Catalyst.

I hope you're still with me

Also, how you've been? ^__^