Blink remembers that her name is Clarice, but nothing else. Her amnesia is extensive, she has the occasional flash of memory but nothing substantive enough to completely jog her memory. All she knows in her former life was war; and all she’s experiencing now is war as well. At the moment she is riding a ferecat called Tavella, being pursued by four winged, bat-like warriors who honor Blastaar. It turns out Blink has attacked one of Blastaar’s garrisons, and the soldiers are in pursuit. They think her trapped in a canyon; but it’s a set-up. Ahmyor and the rebels are waiting for them. The winged warriors attempt an escape, but one of them knows it is futile, and they are all killed by a hail of arrows and spears.
Ahmyor congratulates Blink, but she’s not so happy. He agrees, saying they’ve only brought down the forward guards. The two kiss, and he calls her a marvel. “Yeah. That’s me. Miss Marvel”, Blink answers mournfully. She pulls away from the kiss to carry on with the next part of the plan; to excise the watchtower posts. Blink pulls one of her crystals from her quiver and rides off.
The watchtower guards are wondering what is keeping the winged infantry guards so long; after all it was only one lone woman they were after. Suddenly the lower half of Blink’s body is seen on a pair of binoculars; but it’s far too late. She jumps in, beating them around, telling them what useless guards they are. As one of their swords flies over the edge of the tower she blinks it away, and it materializes near to Ahmyor, where he and the rebels are waiting. This blade is the signal that he has been waiting for to start the attack. “All those who seek freedom !”, he cries.
Inside the main citadel various guards are sat around a table playing a card game. One of them is angry that the serving girl with the food hasn’t shown up. Then the table shakes. Outside, on the castle walls, someone screams “To your posts now!” as the rebels begin storming the main gates. Meanwhile Blink is quite easily subduing one pathetic guard after another, commenting on how she had a harder time stealing food when she was a kid. Blink can’t remember much of her childhood, but she is sure it was harder than this. She finds the master key in the grasp of an unconscious guard.
A huge battering ram with a purple head and horns smashes through the main gates as Blink lets herself into the dungeons. But the dark terrifies her, stemming from her captivity as a child. Then a vile smell hit her; of rancid food and excrement. She is shocked when she finds the children of the royal family of Annihilus’s loyalists, chained up; beaten and starved and ritually abused by their captors. It stirs memories in her so horrible she can’t help but relive them ...
(flashbacks)
Blink remembers her childhood in the Age of Apocalypse. She was in the pens, concentration camps for humans and dissidents. She would cuddle up with Illyana for warmth and escape; but it was always short lived, for the Sugar Man would come. Blink loved Illyana deeply, but she always hoped that he’d take her first. But he never did.
(present)
The memory makes Blink break down. As Ahmyor enters to comfort her she cries that she can’t make sense of it all and that she feels so lost. She wonders whether she loves him or if she’s just clinging to him. Then part of her wonders, if it really makes any difference.
(four days later)
Blink, Ahmyor and a few rebels are walking across the sand, riding their ferecats. He asks her whether the heat of the suns are uncomfortable; there are three. But she thinks it’s beautiful. Ahmyor tells her that she has made him happy, as a man and a warrior, and that she has restored his soul. She tries to joke, and he asks her why she does that every time he’s about to tell her he loves her. She tells him she must, every time. Blastaar’s guards are watching this sweet conversation, thinking it’s so very beautiful. So they blast the pair with some type of stun weapon, and ride in on sleds to pick them up.
Blink awakes, hands tied behind her back. It is dark. She sees Ahmyor tied to a large stake in the ground, from where he apologizes for their capture. Then they hear a voice, mocking their love; and suddenly the duo find themselves in a massive coliseum, filled with literally thousands of people. Sat at a throne is Blastaar, who sneers that he’s very happy that he’s captured the woman who has taken the heart of “this worm”, as he calls Ahmyor. Blink isn’t impressed by him, and is about to tell him how she’ll kill him when Blastaar shoots a green beam of energy from his hand at the floor near Blink’s feet, sending her flying. He tells her he is more formidable than the hounds that serve him, and the monster that is her lover. Blink says that if there is a monster it is Blastaar, and the tyrant grabs her by her hair and flings her across the ground violently. He tells her that his rule is fair when compared to that of Annihilus, and asks her whether she’s even heard of him. Blastaar, loving the pain he’s causing, proceeds with his revelation. “He really hasn’t told you, has he? Well, deception is his life’s blood... for your dearest Ahmyor is the demon Annihilus!” Blink is shocked, as Ahmyor cries out that it has to be a lie.
