In the end, with the ability to fly, finding the way back to London wasn't that hard. Sure, they got lost more times than he'd like to admit and had to circle the area in search of landmarks, but after another two days, the vast city of London finally came into view.

  Leo promptly decided to ignore the voice in his head—one that sounded suspiciously like Nyx—urging him to just call Naz'Tor and ask for the coordinates of their home. He could have done that, yes, but after their last conversation, it would be more than embarrassing.

  No way he was losing blackmail on the merchant just because he forgot the way back home. Wasting a few hours to find the right direction seemed like a much better deal.

  Nyx disagreed, but he wouldn't budge—not on this.

  'So what's the plan for our short break?' Nyx asked once they landed and continued to make their way through London on foot.

  Leo shrugged as he jumped from one ruined rooftop to another. I have a few ideas. Nothing that requires your presence, though. You are free to do whatever you want.

  'Hmmm,' she hummed. 'Maybe I should get started on my affinity. I'm falling behind. I don't like that.'

  Going for darkness?

  'Maybe? I'm not sure. Your shadow affinity was easily stronger than mine, and you still didn't get it… I could try the same thing you did, though?'

  Leo slowed down a bit as he glanced at his companion. Stormveil, you mean?

  'No,' she denied instantly. 'Just combining my shadows with another affinity. Maybe fire? That sounds like fun.'

  Right… he muttered, taking a look into his soul—or, more particularly, into the stack of items hidden there. I have some water and fire cores if you want 'em. Or we can ask Lily for a few of those elemental crystals.

  'That should do. Now, I really can't wai— Leo! Stop!'

  Her sharp tone pulled him away from examining his soul and back to reality. He dug his talons into the roof, stopping just before his body could make the jump toward the safe zone ahead of them.

  Huh, we're already here. Why did you tell me to… He trailed off as Nyx nudged him and pointed with her tail toward the border of the safe zone barrier. His eyes widened. Oh… What the hell? We were only gone a few days.

  A camp had sprung up outside the barrier, bustling with activity. People, dozens of them—maybe even over a hundred—moved about, some working on erecting more tents, while others stood in small groups, talking between each other. Voidlings were nowhere in sight, but with so many survivors, it wasn't even a surprise.

  I recognize a few of them, but the rest? Where did ya all come from?

  Next to him, Nyx let out a huff. 'You remember the global message you sent, right? Sooner or later, someone had to show up.'

  Yeah, yeah, I know. I just didn't expect… well this! He pointed at the makeshift camp. A few small groups? Sure! But this will almost double our population.

  Nyx nodded silently, her gaze fixed on the gathering below. Leo wasn't much better, his attention split between observing the crowd and using Identify to scan anyone he could. Among the groups, he spotted a few interesting evolutions, but most stuck to the pattern he had already seen among the Wildborn.

  Fallen Humans, Ascended, enhanced version of Awakened—that was the standard.

  Not surprising… Barely anyone there is close to level thirty.

  'I see Frank,' Nyx spoke up, pointing to a group near a wooden watch tower at the edge of the safe zone. 'He doesn't look happy.'

  True to her words, Leo watched as the Fallen waved his hand around, yelling at the party of three before him. He didn't recognize them, though that wasn't saying much—he barely knew a dozen people in their group.

  Stolen story; please report.

  'I wonder why they aren't letting them in,' Nyx said. 'I get that London barely has any Nightmares now, but camping like this? It's still dangerous.'

  Leo rolled his eyes. Dangerous it might be, but you know what would be even worse? Inviting about a hundred strangers into your home without any checks in place. I bet that's what Frank is doing there.

  The feline shuddered. 'We should probably enter from a different side. Or under stealth.'

  You read my mind.

  Still under the cover of Stealth Shroud, Leo and Nyx slipped into the ex-Supercluster's tunnels, following a trail of Essence. Some would say that sneaking into their own home was a bit much, but they would kindly disagree. Almost everyone they passed looked seconds away from jumping out of their own skin. Adding to the chaos with his arrival didn't seem like the best idea.

  That was why he only dropped his stealth once he arrived at the door—They must have added it when I was gone—leading to the meeting room. He knocked twice and took a step back.

  The door creaked open moments later, revealing Lily. Her dark hair was a wild mess, and deep circles marred her eyes. She looked up from the papers in her hand, a glare ready to smite down the person who dared to interrupt her.

  However, the glare suffered an instant death when she noticed who was before her. "Leo?" she muttered as if not believing her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

  He quirked a bald eyebrow. "Is this how you greet your brother who just returned from fighting a godling?"

  Lily blinked, then rubbed her brow. "I… Sorry, it's been a very, very long day, and your message said you would be back tomorrow."

  Leo frowned—this wasn't right. Normally, at this point, Lily would be tackling him with a hug. She had to be even more tired than her appearance suggested.

  "What's going on?" he asked, stepping into the room and closing the door.

  With a groan, Lily collapsed onto a chair beside the radio. "It's a mess, Leo. A bloody, fucking mess. Malcolm got injured on a hunt, so he's out of commission for another day or two. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, but we have almost a hundred bloody survivors camping at the gates. Frank and I are doing our best but…"

  "There's too much to do," he finished for her.

  "Yes!" she exclaimed in a momentary surge of energy. "Clara and Dylan are trying to help, but none of us were ready for so many people at once! They all showed up out of bloody nowhere yesterday… So many people to screen…"

  So we were right. Leo clicked his tongue. "And how is that going?"

  "Not bad, all things considered. Just too damn slow," Lily whined. "We had to fend off a couple of Nightmares last night to protect them, and now they're demanding to be let in. Ungrateful buggers—we gave them food and are helping to set up a temporary camp, and they are still complaining."

  "I can help," he offered, even if he really, really didn't want to.

  "Please do, at least protect them tonight. Tony is coming tomorrow, and hopefully, Malcolm will be back on his feet by then. With all of us here, maybe we can get this done in one day."

  Unlikely, Leo commented internally. With their luck, more survivors would arrive before they could process those already here. They should just focus on setting up some kind of system and get a few people to manage it going forward.

  'Sounds like something Holden can figure out,' Nyx said through their link.

  True that. Though… He looked up at his sister and smiled. "I will take care of it, don't worry. Just maybe warn them—don't want to scare them."

  "Will do, give me a sec," Lily said and grabbed one of the many microphones attached to the radio. "Frank, you hear me?"

  After a moment, a crackling voice came through. "Aye, but I'm a bit busy here, lass. Be quick."

  "Leo's back and agreed to take over the night watch. Can you let everybody know? We don't need any runners in the middle of the night."

  "Leo? Thank god… I will spread the word. Oh, and send Blake to me if you see her."

  "Will do. Talk to you later," Lily replied and put down the microphone. "All right, one problem solved, only about a hundred more to go…"

  Leo chuckled. "Just wait for Holden to get here. If there is someone who can organize this mess, it's him."

  "God, I hope so…" She sighed before giving him a pointed look. "Now, I deserve a break anyway, so tell me, dear brother of mine, how was your trip?"

  Of course…

  Yet, despite his lack of enthusiasm, he still retold every part of his journey. He probably skipped over some minor details, but if he couldn't remember them, they just weren't important.

  By the end of his tale, a thought struck him—something he had completely forgotten until now.

  Better late than never, I guess, Leo thought as he reached into his soul and latched onto a single item. In a flash, a large metal box materialized between him and Lily.

  His sister jumped, specks of light instinctively gathering around her hands. "Leo?! What the hell?! A little warning please."

  He waved her off and popped the lid open. Turning the box around, he presented it to Lily. "A little gift for the group."

  His sister's eyes widened as she crouched before the box and grabbed a few of the items inside. "Holy shit…"

  Leo grinned.

  Avoid questioning about Ddraig—success.

  Read the end of book 4 now:

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