7.

  “Feel better now?” Naomi asked as she walked over toward where Santi was perched on top of the dead monster. Santi kept his foot wedged on the monster’s chest as he ripped the lance free. He could have willed it loose, dissolved the blade back into its normal semi-solid state, but there was a joy in ripping apart the monster.

  “You were right. I did it for wounded pride. They were mental hunters, physically weak and corrupted, but I shouldn’t have done it on my own.”

  “Hard to break out of those habits you developed as a scout. You were so used to doing everything by yourself that you forgot what it’s like to be part of the team. From what I have seen you use your team to support you, instead of being part of the team.”

  “Close. We were doing some training together to try to work together. Duncan ruined all those plans though,” Santi said. The days of them clearing out monster nests right after they all had arrived at Homebase seemed far away.

  “You need to learn how to fight in a team where you’re not an ancillary piece but a foundational piece. Your strength right now means you don’t need it, but once the invaders arrive there will be plenty of strong opponents. Who will be well trained and skilled in team combat.”

  “You offering to teach?” Santi asked.

  “Yes. We might have different goals. But we are human and this is our home. I don’t mind some of the groups who came last time, but I will not cede responsibility of our homeworld to invaders.”

  “Agreed. We finish this little challenge and head down south towards your camp. We work on our teamwork as we go?” Santi offered.

  “That works for me. Alan isn’t very good at working with teams either. Don’t have much in the way of mage or distance fighters in this group though, we lean heavy in [Warrior] types.”

  “[Mages] are weak early on. Lots of people could have earned the class but likely didn’t survive early days or level fast enough. Distance fighters need proper equipment to level or earn their class. Close range fighters are more likely to emerge early on,” Santi said almost immediately by rote memorization.

  “Accurate, but that’s because you are unorganized. Once we get back to my camp we can work on properly balanced out ranged teams. I’ve developed a wide range of skilled ranged fighters and early mages. And I can help you do the same thing if you’re willing to take my advice,” Naomi said. She spoke her criticism without venom, just facts.

  “It’s a hard thing to differentiate my hatred and memories of what happened, with what needs to happen,” Santi admitted.

  “The invaders need to be repulsed,” Naomi stated.

  “It’s the deal I made with Duncan all over. A greater enemy to unify against,” Santi muttered under his breath.

  “Except that I’m not a sociopath. We don’t have to be enemies. Both our sides made mistakes and I hope to prevent those mistakes from being made again. Our temporary truce and alliance could become permanent,” Naomi said.

  “We can protect the world together against these invaders, but if you turn around and sell out the planet, how can I make a permanent alliance?”

  “It’s because you misunderstand what our patron wants. This planet is nothing to him, the equivalent of pocket change. But what this planet can produce is something he would want. Talented warriors, training grounds for descendants, things like that. If we win and we claim this world for our patron, he’d get first call on those who leave the planet to explore cosmos. Are you going to be one of them?” Naomi said, unraveling years of theory and questions.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Leave the planet? No. This is my home and all I’ve ever wanted is to have my family back. In peace and security.”

  “Then for you, it doesn’t matter.”

  “It does though. I can’t let what happened go. Or trust you and the other Apostate’s word.”

  “Then a temporary alliance. Until the invaders are repulsed or integrated amongst us,” Naomi said.

  “We can do that,” Santi said. He was reeling from all the news that Naomi had just thrown at him. The battle with the sorrow eater had only ended moments ago, the blood was still on his boots. Naomi hadn’t let him settle down, pouncing while he was still hyped from the fight and not completely logical.

  “Alright, let’s go. We have more dens to clear out to keep ahead of Alan.” Naomi prodded him and the two of them set off again. Santi kept his magical senses spread out, looking for any signs of survivors or monster ambushes. This area had been depopulated, even with his sense’s stretched to their maximum he couldn’t find anything out there.

  “What was it like in the big cities? During the first integration?” Santi asked suddenly.

  “Bad.” Naomi said succinctly. That was the end of their conversation. Santi kept his mouth shut as they kept walking, stewing on their earlier conversation. He wanted to believe her, about being long term allies. He was tired. Fighting for years had worn him thin and having his friends and family here, was a siren’s call to him. To carve out his own little kingdom and then just live happily. Let the rest of the world burn for all he cared.

  Issue was he wouldn’t be left alone. That they couldn’t find their little isolated pocket and just rest and live in peace. Violence would come for them, whether that was invaders or monsters or other humans who wanted what they’d built. Santi couldn’t just hide his head in the sand, no matter how bad he wanted to.

  Naomi was likely his best bet at building stable peace. She was smart, capable, experienced, and most importantly, not homicidal. He didn’t know about the other Apostate’s, besides Delilah, but he doubted that they’d be quite as accommodating. From what he’d pieced together, Naomi was a general and leader. She had become a Champion through a leadership class. That was not easy.

  A powerful asset who could help him build a strong and stable base of operations and training programs that would save lives. It would allow a potential enemy to know how to breach many layers of his defenses if he wasn’t careful. A double edged sword if there ever was one.

  Blocks disappeared as they kept walking at a brisk rate. The ruins of humanity, rusting steel, cracked asphalt, and yellowing bones, decorated the entirety of the area they walked around.

  A wind picked up carrying the scents of the sea on it. The brine of the ocean filled his nostrils, whipping away the stench of decay that clung to the city. They were getting close to the edge of the city and where the Bay Bridge connected Oakland to San Francisco. Cars were abandoned all around the area, some ripped apart with bloodstains on them, most just left abandoned.

  “Is it strange that we haven’t found survivors?” Santi asked as he looked about. His first year in the last timeline had been spent mostly hiding and doing the bare minimum to survive. He would never have tried to risk a large scale city like Oakland before.

  “No. There’s plenty of people out there that would have survived. They won’t be staying in a high traffic area like this. So close to the bridge that would allow people to move across the cities and with multiple dens right here. Better idea would be to hide by the outskirts. Not everyone can clear their entire city like you did.”

  “Cross the bridge?” Santi asked as he looked around. They hadn’t found any more dens in the area and his map showed that there wasn’t any close by. Alan and his group would be closer to where the other dens had been located.

  “I’ve only been here a few times before the integration. Had great seafood. Roads were always a mess,” Naomi said. She started walking across the bridge.

  “Have you ever been to Treasure Island? There could be a den there,” Naomi continued as Santi followed after her.

  “Can’t say that I have. Should be a fun time,” Santi joked as they started to cross the bridge. They had to walk between cars, which had been piled together into a rough barricade. Someone or something had tried to stop something from crossing the bridge. There were some basic defensive structures built in, but looked abandoned.

  Santi looked them over and saw scratches and claw marks across it, blood stains on both sides. There looked to be abandoned makeshift weapons, pipes, shovels, pitchforks, and even a few garden hoes. There were no bodies though. Not even bones.

  “Naomi, you see all this?” Santi asked as he walked past the abandoned barricades.

  “Oh, yeah. I have a feeling that Treasure Island is going to be a lot of fun. You’ve dealt with undead before, right?”