The bald man guided them into a small side room, which was lavishly decorated in fine wooden furniture, contrasting the mixture of stone that were the floor and walls. No longer was there a mismatch which’s only purpose was to hold strong. What decorated the walls could be called art.

  Several different types of stone formed, at some places sceneries of mountains, at others strange swirling and curving symbols and at some just simple notes – carved into the very wall.

  Letting himself fall with a heavy sigh into a stone seat, laid with pillows and blankets, the bald man gestured them to take a seat. They should have stayed outside, Clay knew very well that it would be easy for the man to let the very room crush upon them, or for the ground to open up and swallow them whole.

  With a gesture of the man's hand, the silver guard that had followed them thus far, closed the doors behind them and left. Well it was too late for regrets, so he just took the seat that was offered and without much hesitation got to the point. “So, what do you want to discuss?”

  Leaning back, the man made himself comfortable, the seat shifting to better suit his needs. “You don’t need to be afraid or to stress, boy, I really just want to talk.”

  “Don’t call me boy,” rebuked Clay calmly. He went through too much to be not taken seriousness just because he was still young.

  Nodding seriously, the man said, “Noted. Didn’t want to offend you, just bad habit. I know that you probably went through more horrors than the people that call themselves men these days. So let us start with introductions. I’m Oliver Hill, or often just called the Mayor. You could say I’m the leader of this lovely little haven.”

  “I would say I’m pleased to meet your acquaintance, but after that small debacle outside, I can’t say I am. Well, not that there is much choice for us. I’m Clay Raymond.”

  Seeing that Oliver’s gaze shifted to Mia, she simply said, “I’m Mia Hawk.”

  Taking a breath, Oliver exhaled, visibly relaxing as his bulk of a body sank into the chair. “I know we started on the wrong feet here, but you have to understand my position. I have to guarantee the safety of my people, especially when talking to a fellow Ascended.”

  Frowning, Clay repeated, “Ascended? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Like I said, there’s much to discuss,” replied Oliver with slight annoyance. “I don’t even really know where to start, but I guess that’s as good of a starting point as any. You and I are what we call Ascended. Why Ascended? Because our essence became purer than the one surrounding us. We ascended above the essence in the atmosphere, thus the name.”

  So what he called awakened, they called ascended, not that he cared much for it. “Good for you, I’m more interested in knowing what we have to do to stay here.”

  For the first time, showing confusion upon his unblinking eyes, Oliver leaned forward, “In what community were you before?”

  Scoffing, Clay threw himself against his seat. “Community? Don’t make me laugh there was no community, the first real humans we met tried to kill us, behaving like some caveman. What followed were bandits, travelers that ran at sight, and communities that were hostile to anyone new. For the last two years it was us two, no more, no less.”

  “That can’t be,” said Oliver matter-of-factly. “Where were you during the Conjunction?”

  “I’m just assuming that you refer by the Conjunction to the anomaly of the two moons aligning about a month ago. We were alone at that time and is the whole reason why we are here,” replied Clay before muttering, “wish that wasn’t the case.”

  Letting himself fall back to his seat, Oliver had disbelief written all over his face, in turn confusing Clay. “What is that face supposed to tell me?”

  “Clay right? I don’t think you realize how hard it is for me to believe that you two survived the Conjunction all on your own.”

  “Well wasn’t easy, we almost died, okay mostly I almost died, but we did make it somehow. I won’t deny that a good portion of luck played a part, but what does it matter?”

  “What does it matter?” repeated Oliver with ridicule. “Listen, I don’t think you get the seriousness of your claim, we lost thousands that night! First, the one’s with weaker essence were crushed by the atmosphere, then came the beasts, an endless onslaught which wouldn’t refuse to budge until day came, there we had a moment of respite only for the same thing to repeat the next night.”

  Seeing the blank stare of Oliver, probably remembering the night, Clay too went back, reliving what happened. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “It’s fine, I won’t ask what you did or how you two survived the Conjunction, but I do need you to understand how important it is that you are an Ascended. Let me try to make it clear by asking how many people in this city do you think have ascended?”

  Well he and Mia were both ascended, he fought a boar, bear and dire wolf who were ascended and there were probably more beasts who just hid. All in all was Churchville pretty small and he saw thousands of people alone on his way towards the inner city, so there must be quite a few. “I’m guessing a few dozen or so?”

  Smiling, Oliver raised two fingers, “There are two. Besides myself, there is only Degen.”

  Taken aback by the small number, he felt shocked by the implication. Well, that at least explained why every other human they came across felt so much weaker compared to the beasts – because they are. That humans were inferior to beasts was nothing new, but that the contrast was that apparent? It didn’t speak well for humanities future.

  “I understand that it’s unusual for us to have survived on our own and have ascended as you call it, but what exactly does that mean and why is it so important?” asked Clay with raised eyebrows.

  Clasping his hands together, Oliver explained, “It means many things, but most important for us is that an Ascended attracts more essence during the Conjunction. The biggest enemy that night were not the beasts, but the atmosphere. You can fight a beast, run from it, or try to hide. There is no fighting the atmosphere, nor running or hiding. You can only wait as you feel how your body is slowly crushed. Some lose their senses one after the other, a few lucky one’s die directly from heart failure, but many more suffered for hours until the last of their organs finally gave in. It’s a very gruesome death.”

  “I can imagine,” replied Clay. So that would have happened if his aura shield had ever failed. Those without it had not much choice but to patiently wait for their suffering to end, not knowing wherever they lived or died.

  “Believe me, you can’t,” stated Oliver. “The only good thing that came out of that night was the discovery that we Ascended, draw in a much larger portion of the atmosphere’s essence, meaning that the burden for everyone else becomes easier. I don’t want to think how much higher the casualties would have been if Degen and I weren’t there.”

  Their survival seems to be a bigger feat than Clay originally anticipated, but he didn’t really care for it, for him mattered one thing only. “As I see it you have use for us right? Can we stay if we help you defend against the beasts?”

  “Of course, but we would never force such a thing, the only thing that I ask is that you stay during the Conjunction inside the city,” said Oliver quickly before adding, “Of course you will be compensated for your efforts, I’m sure we can work out details that would satisfy you–”

  “Wait a moment,” interrupted Clay while holding his temple. “You only want me to stay during the Conjunction and defend against the atmosphere – something which I would have to do anyway – not having me fight any beasts, and compensate me on top of it?”

  “Yes,” replied Oliver seriously. “As I just have explained, are lives at stake here, and your presence alone could save thousands.”

  “Our presence,” corrected Clay.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Well, Mia and I have both ascended,” explained Clay casually.

  His smile widening, Oliver said, “The Sun must have answered our prayers after all by sending the two of you!”

  “The Sun? I didn’t know there were other people worshiping the Sun,” wondered Clay.

  “You are full of surprises,” stated Oliver, surprised. “I didn’t expect you to know of it. The belief of the Sun wasn’t really a common religion here, but it quickly grew in believers after Dave introduced the religion about two years ago. Oh, I can still remember the frenzy once the beasts had escaped after sunlight, since then it practically grew on its own. People crave hope and salvation these days more than anything, so it's steadily gaining believers.”

  Dave? Why did that name sound so familiar? Clay was sure he heard that name somewhere, and he came here about two years ago? “Oliver, do you know by chance where this Dave comes from?”

  “He actually came here with a whole caravan of people, it was quite far from here I believe, from a small city called… Churchcliff or so?”

  “Do you mean Churchville by chance?” asked Mia, shocked.

  “Yes, that was it! How do you know of the place?” asked Oliver.

  Smiling, Clay buckled over before bursting out laughing, Oh the world can be so small. “We two also come from Churchville.”

  Hearing the conformation, Mia eagerly sat up, asking, “Was someone named Jake among them?”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Jake? Do you mean Jake Adler?” Seeing Mia eagerly nod, Oliver smiled. “That must be the biggest reunion I have seen in a while. Yes I know him, in fact he is in this very building, he is our strategist and logistician after all.”

  Eyes widening, she almost jumped from here seat right then and there, but was able to contain herself, as the door opened and the silver guard strode in whispering something into Oliver’s ears.

  Nodding along to whatever the guard said, he slowly rose from his seat. “You have to excuse me, I have matters to attend to. Rolland here will lead you to Jake, so that he can give you a rundown on what happened and get you all settled. It’s what he does anyway.”

  Still left with a million unanswered questions, Clay refrained himself from asking and just nodded in agreement. He knew how important it was for Mia to meet Jake again. You could say he was the only person she could call a family, the only person she shared a connection with from the past.

  They walked silently as Rolland guided them to the second floor, halting before a large wooden door. Knocking once, he opened the door without waiting for a response. Inside was a spacious office, far larger than the one of Oliver, but in turn not nearly as lavishly decorated. The walls were lined with shelves, each filled to the brim with books and folders. While the middle of the room was taken up by a large wooden desk that had towers of papers lined up, each wavering to topple over.

  Behind sat a man with an unkept shaggy fringe of brown hair, while a messy bear grew on his face. His clothes fared little better, wrinkled and flicked, they presented a clear contrast to the formal attire downstairs. Besides the appearance looked the man healthy if a little bored and annoyed at being disturbed. “Rolland, please don’t tell me you have more fucking papers for me.”

  Looking up, he was startled at having more company than only Rolland. His glance quickly swept over Clay, ignoring him mostly, but the moment it wandered downwards and his and Mia’s eyes met, he dropped his pen.

  With wide eyes he quickly stood, losing his balance in the process, luckily he was able to catch himself on the table. During the catch, he accidentally knocked one of the paper towers over, sprawling papers all over the room. The storm of flying paper and the loud rattle, that came with it, were none existent to him as he closed and opened his mouth, failing to articulate a sentence.

  Nearing tears Mia took a few hesitant steps forward, Jake tried to do the same with much more difficulty, not able to take a step without supporting himself on the desk. Which was no wonder as two finely crafted wooden prostheses acted as his legs, and at his next attempt of a step he broke down to the ground, refusing to avert his gaze during the fall.

  Spreading his arms, Mia finally let go and fell into his embrace, both bawling their eyes out. Awkwardly standing in the back, Clay shot a pleading look to Rolland, who just slowly took a step back, closing the doors behind him, leaving Clay helplessly alone.

  Fuck. He wasn’t the person to consult about emotions, and had struggled greatly with helping Mia out of her sorrow. At the time he just tried to distract her with tasks and daily life, which worked well for a while, but internally he knew very well that he was never able to really help her come to terms with her losses.

  Hell, he doubted that he came to terms with his own losses, but maybe Jake could finally help her with that. Luckily there was a seat in one of the corners, and he just tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, pretending to read in a random book he had grabbed from one of the shelves.

  After a while they calmed down and Jake asked, “It’s so good to see you heathy! What about Jim, did he–?”

  Seeing Mia vigorously shake hear head and tear up again, he pressed her head against his chest, “Shhh. It’s all fine now, let it all out.”

  Eventually they broke their embrace, interlocking eyes, Jake asked, “Better now?” Quickly averting her eyes, Mia nodded before hastily standing up. Pumping into Clay, who stood behind her. Patting her on the head, he said, “I told you he would still live.”

  Grabbing crutches that were leaning against the desk, Jake slowly rose, before pulling a latch on his prothesis, locking them so that he could stand. Taking a better look at Clay, he looked lost before asking, “Sorry, but who are you?”

  “I’m Clay. Don’t you remember? I was the guy that originally warned you about the ants.”

  “Clay?! What happened to you? Did you dye your hair? What happened to Jim? It’s been so long, how did you make it here?” asked Jake.

  “Whoa calm down Jake, I think there is a lot we have to share with each other, so why don’t we all take a seat and talk. I hope you don’t have anything to do?”

  “Nah, any plans for today are out of the window. I still can’t really grasp the situation,” replied Jake and if to prove his point stretched out his hand which trembled vigorously from the shock.

  Settling down onto chairs, Clay started to recount the events since they had departed ways so long ago, with Mia occasionally adding things. Jake listened to each and every word intently.

  ******

  “–and that is how we finally found the Vanguard,” finished Clay after talking for what felt like hours. He left a lot of things out, but the most important events were mentioned, so he asked, “What happened to you three after we went our own ways?”

  Taking a deep breath, Jake replied, “I think I need a moment to process what you two just said. You could write a whole book about that journey… you are sure that your memory is fully recovered?”

  “I think so,” confirmed Clay. “It was really only the first few days, that were confusing and besides my missing arm I’m as healthy as ever.”

  “Well, that makes us two cripples,” said Jake with a chuckle that ended in a bitter smile. “But we didn’t fare much better, to be honest. I don’t remember much, due to blood loss, I was unconscious most of the time and if awake I couldn’t bear the pain for long before falling unconscious again. The times I was awake we were either running or fighting, there wasn’t much rest. The ants were everywhere, and without their queen it was pure chaos. Max had to fight endlessly. He…”

  Hearing the hesitation in his voice, Clay urged him on, “He what?”

  “Well we all didn’t take this journey well, Dennis had to carry me during the fights so we both were nothing but a liability for Max. He basically carved a path towards the others all on his own, leaving nothing but corpses in his wake. It changed him, especially when we lost Dennis…”

  “Dennis is dead?!” asked Clay shocked. Jake nodded in conformation, causing Clay to slowly exhale, momentarily closing his eyes. So he wouldn’t be able to keep the promise he had made after all. Opening his eyes again, he asked, “How did he die?”

  “Shortly before reaching Riverton we were ambushed by a whole platoon of ants with commander ants and all. You know how dangerous these monsters get when properly organized, so we never really stood a chance.

  “Max still fought valiantly to defend us, but there is only so much a single person can do, superhuman or not. Eventually ants slipped past, Dennis was able to take out the first, the second too, but by the fifth they got him, and I would have been next, if the others hadn’t found us through a stroke of luck. The ants weren’t there for us but the others, it just so happened that we were in between them,” recounted Jake with a distant stare.

  Letting the information sink in, Clay didn’t speak. Eventually, Jake continued, “You can imagine that Max didn’t take that well. He gave himself the fault and fought more rigorously than ever, never resting since. Becoming by far the strongest fighter we have. If not for Max, we might not have survived the Conjunction.”

  “Wait, is Max that Sir Degen I heard about? The one that ascended besides Oliver?” asked Clay.

  “Of course, Max surname is Degen after all,” said Jake before giving Clay a worried look. “You sure that your memory is fine?”

  “Yes! Sorry, I meant that I’m fine. I always had a bad memory for names, that’s nothing new,” explained Clay.

  “If you say so. Most address Max that way because… Actually, I don’t know who started it, but it somehow stuck with the people. He works himself like a dog each day to train and help wherever he can, he is probably the most liked person in the city together with Oliver and Dave. It’s funny really. This whole community is largely supported by these three people. Oliver built the walls that would keep us safe, Dave gave the people the faith to keep working, and Max is the spear tip that exterminates everything that threatens the peace.”

  That was good to hear, but Clay wasn’t really too eager to meet Max once again. They just didn’t agree with each other. He could only ever remember arguments with his past class representative, even before the world went to shit. But time had passed, maybe it was different now.

  Interrupting his thoughts, Jake said, “But I diverge. After meeting up with Dave and the rest, we tried to settle into Riverton, but the ants made it impossible, so we fled, eventually coming across this place. As you can see, we haven’t moved since, and now play each our own role in making this place work. I for example are responsible for strategies and logistics, mostly logistics to be honest, but it’s work that suits me, so I’m not complaining, most are doing far worse.”

  “So what now? Do we like built a home?” asked Mia curiously.

  “Oh no, for the time you can sleep at my place, until we get your plaques and with it, your housing sorted. As you might have seen, is housing inside the walls not easy to manage, having me giving many sleepless nights already. This whole city is one giant construction site, each requiring different materials and labor. It’s a nightmare to organize,” stated Jake with clear frustration.

  “Do you manage the whole city on your own?” asked Clay, bewildered.

  “God no! That would be impossible, the whole Hearth is filled with people trying to organize this monstrosity. I’m just the one responsible for relocating resources to the correct places. If you need anything, you issue a request to the Hearth, which eventually will to go through me. I work very closely with Oliver in deciding what is most important at the moment and issue based on that the resources to where they are needed the most.”

  “That sounds… pretty important,” replied Mia.

  “It is, and draws the ire of many people,” explained Jake. “Which is also the reason why I don’t leave the building much, can’t do so anyway with my legs. Most people actually don’t know that I have the final supervision over the resources. People can get pretty feisty if they don’t understand why their request for resources was declined, so we keep my involvement hidden. But coming back to our original discussion, I would heavily recommend that you first look for Finnian Voss.”

  “Who is that?” asked Clay.

  “You could say he is our head alchemist. As I understand, you haven’t resolved Mia’s poison problem, but merely stopped it from spreading. I’m sure he wants to take a look at it, especially the purple stuff in the jars you showed me. If someone in the city can help you, then it’s him.”

  “Wait a moment, did you just say alchemist?” asked Clay, bewildered.

  “Right, you couldn’t know. Ah, there is so much you don’t know yet. But don’t worry, you will understand with time, the city can be overwhelming the first few days… or weeks. Times have changed after all,” said Jake with a smile.

  Stopping himself from delaying further with questions, Clay thanked Jake and turned to leave, it wouldn’t be long before the sun would set, they talked too much. Just as they turned their back, Jake called out, “Just ask Rolland to guide you and Mia?”

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s good to have you back. We will see each other in the evening. Rolland can take you to my home,” said Jake with a smile.

  Returning the smile, she replied, “Of course, see you then.” Before swiftly turning around and leaving the room. Saying his farewell, Clay closed the doors behind him and stopped Mia by the shoulder, as she practically rushed to the stairs. “What was that about?”

  Stopping in her track, Mia looked down and fumbled with her thumps. Clay may not be good at helping Mia with her trauma, but he could tell when she was uncomfortable. It seemed like she couldn’t really relax in Jake’s presence after the initial burst of emotion after their reunion. She was also strangely tame. Normally, Mia asked more questions and was just as curious as him.

  “It’s strange,” replied Mia eventually. Seeing Clay’s questioning gaze she tried to explain, “Jake feels strange, of course his hair changed, he grew a beard but more than that it just feels wrong. He still speaks the same, smiles the same, but I don’t know… it just feels strange.”

  Well, that wasn’t a surprise. Well over two years passed since they last met, two years filled with changes that would leave no person the same. Mia herself isn’t comparable to the girl he found bonded to that tree. “I’m sure it will be fine, Mia. You haven’t seen each other in such a long time. You changed, Jake changed, and that is fine. Changing is part of life. Give it some time, and I’m sure you will be able to reconnect.”

  “I guess you are right. Let us go to that alchemist, maybe he can help me,” urged Mia, obviously trying to divert away from the topic. Clay happily obliged, feeling a huge burden lifting from his shoulders. They could finally take it slow, no longer had they to fear for their life each and every day. They could finally settle down in peace.