The next morning they set off to the south, following a longer route that would take them around Fextran to get to Casthorpe. It wasn’t direct, and it would require some enlightened guesswork to get between roads, but it was doable.

  Well, Jake thought it was, and no one had complained too much.

  To his surprise, Gordon was going to meet them there. He’d head back to update his superiors first, and then use Yvette to get to Casthorpe quickly. Considering how indirect their route was, Jake had a feeling that Gordon might even beat them there.

  Officially, Gordon was going to act as an introduction to any local resistance members they met, so an early arrival was good. Still, Jake had a feeling that Gordon would be keeping watch on them.

  Things had become far more complex than any of them had expected, and with that came more and more risk, both for them, and for the resistance.

  The days when they could simply hide out in a tavern and be careful about who they spoke to were long gone. It was a sobering thought, and on its heels came the realisation that things might never be that way again.

  Jake knew too little about the world outside of Strovia, and even less about the other Realms. Would they face the same problems even when they moved on?

  The idea of doing all this, just to escape and then start it all over again was a horrible one. A part of Jake wanted to ignore it, to just focus on what he was doing and leave the future for when they got there.

  He couldn’t do it, though, he couldn’t get it out of his head.

  The others had just as much experience as Jake about what the other Realms were like, so he went to the only source that he could.

  Ari had taken to walking at the rear of their group, trailing along just far enough that he wasn’t included in any conversations. It was the latest of Ari’s efforts to distance himself from them, and it was working.

  Ari didn’t feel like part of the group anymore, not in the way he had.

  Waving the others on, Jake dropped back to walk beside Ari. For a few moments neither of them spoke, and Jake wasn’t sure how to start the conversation.

  “Is something wrong?” Ari asked eventually, turning to look at Jake. “You seem unsettled.”

  “What is the next Realm like?” Jake asked in a quiet voice. “Are we just doing all this to be back under the Triarchy’s thumb somewhere new?”

  “Don’t worry, it won’t be like that,” Ari said, the ghost of a smile pulling at his lips. “Graldan, the next Realm, isn’t like here at all. There are no countries, not like in Vash. There are only classers as well, Vash is the only place where the unascended can live.”

  “Wait, what do you mean there aren’t countries?”

  “I mean just that. Everything is done on a city by city basis. Some factions, like the Triarchy, might have several cities under their control, but just avoid them. You’ll be given several options when you ascend to the next Realm, and the System will tell you who controls each one.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “I don’t get it. How can it be so different?” Jake asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “Lots of reasons,” Ari said with a half-hearted shrug. “The biggest one being resources. Each city sits on a Dungeon, and the stronger the Dungeon, the stronger the city. They tax you going in and coming out, and offer decent rates for whatever you bring with you. The better the Dungeon, the more classers and the more money that faction earns.”

  “Okay, so why doesn’t one faction just take over a lot of them, like a country?”

  “Because the Dungeons are what matter. The lands between have Hollows scattered around, but the Dungeons are the key. Maybe one day a faction will rise that has the strength to hold more than a few Dungeons in Graldan. If they do, then something like what we have here could occur, but I doubt it. The political landscape is constantly changing as classers move on to Imkara, the third Realm.”

  Jake nodded slowly, not fully understanding but getting enough of what Ari was saying to form a picture. The detail didn’t really matter right now anyway. What was important was that they could avoid the Triarchy. That meant that ascending to the next Realm really was a way out.

  “Thanks, Ari,” Jake said, moving to jog back to the front before hesitating and glancing back to the older man. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think Felix would want this for you. You said he wanted you to keep pushing, to not accept your limits. Honour his memory by doing that, not by throwing yourself away like this.”

  Ari looked away, saying nothing, leaving Jake to sigh and carry on back to the front of their group.

  “Everything okay?” Nepthys asked quietly, moving over to walk by his side.

  “Yeah, I’ve just run out of things to say to him now,” Jake said, shaking his head before pushing those thoughts aside. “It’s down to him now. Let’s focus on Casthorpe and our plan.”

  “We have a plan?” Nepthys echoed, making Jake chuckle despite himself.

  “Not really, so we better get started making one.”

  -**-

  It took almost a week for them to get back to Casthorpe, doing their best to steer clear of any other travellers as they went. Now that they were back out in more commonly travelled areas, it would only take one sighting to have the Fatesworne and the Triarchy on them in no time.

  That thought lingered in Jake’s mind for a good part of their journey, not as a worry, but as the beginning of an actual plan. Perhaps not a good one, but the best he’d managed to come up with so far.

  A key part of it, though, would be him having a firm conversation with Ivaldi. There were still things that he didn’t understand, and he had a feeling that if he pushed Ivaldi, he might get some answers.

  It was a dangerous tactic, he knew that, and alienating the mysterious shopkeeper seemed a poor choice. Still, with things as they were, he was torn between moving on and trying to do more.

  If he could just get a better grip on the true situation, it would help him make that decision.

  “It feels strange to be back here,” Alan said, pulling Jake from his thoughts as they reached their destination.

  The safehouse they’d fled to when Nepthys had been captured looked just the same as when Jake had last seen it. It felt like an eternity ago now, but in reality, it had been all of three months ago.

  So much had happened since then, and they’d made such progress. Jake was coming back here to reach his third tier, to choose between leaving and taking the fight to the Fatesworne.

  “We’ve changed so much, and it looks exactly the same,” Jake said, shaking his head as they moved closer.

  “Looks like Gordon is already here as well,” Nepthys said, nodding to where Yvette was grazing at the rear of the building. The horse was happily munching away at some grass, though Jake got the clear impression that she was watching them carefully at the same time.

  Shaking it off, Jake led the way over to the safehouse and opened the door, stepping in slowly as he looked around the interior. He was fairly sure that Gordon wouldn’t betray them, but he didn’t exactly know the man well.

  “Ah, you’ve made it,” Gordon said, coming out of the kitchen with a sandwich in hand. “I’ve stocked some supplies for us here, so feel free to kick back and rest. I’ve got a report on the area for you as well, but that can wait for when you’re ready.”

  Jake was about to say that they’d have the report now, but Aspen was already rushing for the kitchen as he tossed his pack into the corner.

  Chuckling to himself, Jake went to go claim a room and drop his pack off. They’d been moving fairly steadily for a while, an hour or two to rest before doing more wasn’t too bad an idea.