As Erik walked through the gate to Bridgefort, a massive burst of cheers bsted all over the camp. Everyone ran down the narrow stairs from the wall, pushing and nudging each other as they did.

  Erik was amazed at the amount of hugs he got from the weeping men and women in uniforms. He didn’t know what to feel. He sort of understood what this meant for them; they had been fighting not only a losing war, but a hopeless one, for months on end. The beasts had spread further and further, even taking to swimming across the sea to invade more nd, and they couldn't be stopped. All over the world, these beasts were winning. Until now.

  The crowd separated to let the general pass. Mathisen walked closer to Erik than she had ever been, and the crowd fell silent in suspense. The older general squeezed the man between her arms in the biggest hug he’d ever been on the receiving end of. Even she was crying by the time she let him go.

  She stood straight, turning to her people, who all stared at her, not knowing how to react. After a few seconds, they all stood at attention, except former Colonel Ashleigh and former Major Svensson. They weren’t military any more, and that decision was now visible with pride on their faces. The general noticed, and smiled.

  “Tonight,” the general started, her voice empowered by her authority. “- drinks aren’t limited by rationing.”

  The general said this as she had already started walking away, having passed through half the staring crowd already. As she finished her sentence, the uniformed crowd went absolutely nuts. Erik noticed Emma’s reaction being especially wild.

  The rambunctious celebration sted well into the night. Erik got the chance to get to know both Ange and Emma better, as the three randomly met among the scuffling crowds several times during the night.

  Ange, whose name Erik didn’t feel was the most scandi of names, was actually British. She had requested a transfer to Mathisen’s command as soon as she heard that Bridgefort was holding. The general was her role model, and she knew that if the world was about to end, she wanted to stand beside General Mathisen as it did.

  Emma was from the Swedish region of the Empire, and she had grown up in the military from when she was a young girl. Her father was an officer, and her mother died a few months after Emma was born. Her father died some years ter, and Emma had from then on been raised by her godfather and his wife.It just so happened that her godfather was also a general in the SEMP.

  She had also requested a transfer to Mathisen’s command, though that was when Operation Bridgefort was still in the pnning phase. Both Ange and Emma could be counted as military elites, especially considering their age. Ange was the same age as Erik, twenty-four, while Emma was two years younger.

  Erik also got to know a few of the others, feeling like the main attraction that night. He wasn’t used to, nor did he really appreciate the attention, but he was happy for them. They had reason to let loose for a night.

  He learned a bit more about the invasion, and how far it had progressed. The rest of the continent was much better off than the northern part of the Empire. As Erik had guessed, they had found the invasion’s starting point from somewhere near Erik’s home, and the monsters seemed to spread out from there in most directions.

  They had gone south towards the rest of Europe and east towards Asia first, but soon took to the sea, the first ones to reach the western colonies only getting ashore a week ago.

  And so, the war had spread even across the Atntic. Some had even reached Africa, having gotten through Europe in its entirety. Why the beasts spread out and seemed to be gunning for infrastructure rather than food was a mystery, though humanity had pondered whether they were controlled by someone or something.

  An alien invasion was in fact the top theory for quite a few people, and the governments of the world couldn’t ignore that possibility either.

  Erik decided not to share all the details with everyone. Ange, Emma and Mathisen were enough for now. He hadn’t even shared everything he knew with them yet, but would probably talk about it more with his new companions.

  Mathisen didn’t need to know everything, but those who would be with him might need to know. If everything hit the fan and he could’ve avoided that situation by sharing some information beforehand…

  Before Erik went to bed that night, he checked in on Command, and found Mathisen by her desk, all alone. She told him to come in and he sat down in front of her desk. She looked thoughtful and it took a few seconds of silence before she said anything more.

  Despite her contempting demeanour, she didn’t want to talk shop. She asked Erik details about his life, what he enjoyed doing, his hobbies and so on. Small talk was likely something she didn’t get a chance to do often, so he kept them chatting a while longer, before eventually turning in for the night.

  Despite the thin, rolled out mattress and all the noise that went on until morning, Erik felt like he’d slept better than ever. Yesterday was a win in more ways than one. He’d finally found people, and he learned more about his father and the state of the world. He’d also been promised help, both in the form of transportation and manpower. He had additionally been promised resources, but that was currently too abstract to really consider.

  “Morning, sir.”

  “Morning, boss.”

  Ange and Emma sat down on the other side of Erik’s table, each with their own tray filled with various breakfast foods. Ange had lots of beans, sausages and bacon, while Emma had loaded up with bread, ham, cheese and a side of orange and apple slices.

  “Please don’t call me that,” Erik said, putting a spoonful of cereal and milk in his mouth.

  “Sir or boss?” Ange asked jokingly.

  “Either. You know I’m not going to order you around, right?”

  “We figured as much,” Emma said. “That doesn’t mean we should just do as we want, though. Don’t worry, we’ll be ready to follow orders when you give them, otherwise we’ll do what we can, when we can, and try our best to advise you as we go along,” Emma finished with something resembling a smile, and Ange nodded in agreement.

  “What’s got you in such a good mood? Never seen you smile before. You’re not a morning person, are you?” Erik asked. Emma giggled, as if trying to prove a point.

  “Not at all. I’m sorry about yesterday. It’s been a rough couple of months. You killing those things yesterday… It made me hopeful, I guess. Just don’t push it,” she finished, pointing her butter knife at Erik’s face with a smile.

  “Morning, girls, Mr Fried.” Mathisen sat down next to Erik.

  “Morning, General,” the three said in unison.

  “The pilot will be ready in an hour. We’ll have you all in Leicester this afternoon. He will take you to the air base set up around there, from which you will be based until you feel ready to take on this invasion with full force,” Mathisen said, obviously not knowing how to rex a little before work.

  “Rex, General. We talked about all this yesterday. Nothing’s changed, right?” Erik asked.

  “No, I suppose not, Mr Fried. I’m just a bit excited, I think.”

  If anything, the general’s demeanour suggested the opposite.

  “Don’t worry, Mathisen. Look around. Everyone’s all jittery and excited. Some of them have barely slept after st night’s party, and they don’t look half as miserable as they did yesterday. Even Emma smiled and apologised!” Erik said, grinning at Emma who responded with a huff.

  All around them were tired and haggard-looking soldiers and other personnel, barely sitting upright as they tried putting some food into their mouths. Even so, all of them were smiling, joking around with each other, ughing at every bad joke they heard in the vicinity.

  Hope. In reality, the only thing that had changed from the moment Erik found these people.

  He couldn’t imagine how they had even managed to keep fighting the past few months without any hope. What would he have done if he lived when the invasion started? Most likely, he’d just die the first day or two. A lot of people had, and he wouldn’t be any different.

  Some had made it out. The evacuation was assisted by the government, the SEMP and even a bunch of other countries that had avaible air units. Still, most of the death toll from the invasion could be linked to that first week alone, and the dead were mostly from the Empire.

  If he’d been alive, then, he would likely just be another statistic right now. Instead, he could try to fix all this.

  “It’s pretty amazing. I wonder if we’ll be famous or something!” Emma said with wide eyes.

  “No!” Mathisen and Erik both excimed, and looked at each other.

  “What I mean is that the st thing you will want to do is draw attention to yourselves. If someone is behind this invasion, you would instantly become their primary target,” Mathisen said.

  “I just want to be able to live my life by the time we get the invasion beat,” Erik expined. “Being famous is not on my agenda, trust me.”

  “Think about it, Emma. It’s fine for us, it’ll likely even be good for our careers in the long run. But for Erik, it’ll be different. He’ll be famous for being different, for being able to do magic. The real thing… supposedly. He will just be treated as a dance monkey. I get why he doesn’t want that,” Ange said.

  “Fine, we’ll do it covertly, I guess,” Emma said, crossing her arms and leaning back on her seat. “But I’m pretty sure he’s the one who’ll screw that up.”

  “I have to agree to that assessment. I hope you realise this, young man, but you are a bit fshy. I mean, how you acted yesterday…”

  “Oh, I agree,” Erik agreed.

  The three stepped on board the helicopter after saying their goodbyes to the Bridgefort outfit. As soon as they got out of the hurricane-force winds from the rotors, a masculine shout greeted them.

  “Hi there!” The man from the front of the helicopter had long, bck and curly hair, tied into a bun on the back of his head. He also had a thick beard, with two mirrors installed in front of his eyes and under his rge headset. He pointed to another set of headsets and gestured that they should wear them.

  Ange, who had been the first one into the helicopter, had already grabbed one, and was in the midst of putting it on. She grabbed two more, handing them out to Erik and Emma.

  The brown-skinned man in the front gave a thumbs up and turned forwards, looking at his dashboard full of lights, buttons and dials. As Erik fumbled to put the headset on, Ange looked on, which was a bit awkward. After Erik gave her a thumbs up, she pced her hand on his cheek.

  Suddenly, a slight static could be heard from the device around his ears, but most notably was the white noise-like silence. Ange removed her hand and smiled.

  “Better?” she asked in a normal voice, which Erik could hear through the radio in the headset.

  “Yeah, sorry. New to this,” he expined before turning to Emma, who had also put the device on her head and turned it on. She gave a thumbs up to the pilot.

  “I’ve heard a lot about you. Mr Fried, was it?” the pilot said, flipping a small lever or switch in the dash.

  “Call me Erik. Hope you don’t believe everything you hear,” Erik responded. The pilot then muttered something unrecognisable into the radio, then proceeded to lift the helicopter from the ground. After a short hover, they went further up, clearing any and all nearby obstacles.

  “What I believe is that this garrison had one hell of a party st night, all in your honour. That’s all I care about,” the pilot said as the helicopter started to move forwards.

  “Your name?” Erik asked.

  “Amir. We’ll be arriving in seven hours, give or take. I trust you’ll tell me if any of you start feeling ill?” he asked.

  “Of course,” the three said in response.

  “Good, good. AC only works in front, it can get hot back there,” Amir said, looking behind him to his three passengers quickly before turning back ahead. “I’d love to see the blonde one button down a bit,” he said, as if there was nothing wrong in saying that on the radio.

  “Amir?” Erik said after a second or two of awkward silence ter.

  “Yessir?”

  “You should keep those things to yourself,” he said, and Amir looked panicked as he turned around to face Erik. Ange and Emma both looked at Erik with surprise in their eyes. Was he in the wrong here? People weren’t supposed to talk like that freely, normally.

  “You speak Arabic?” Emma asked.

  At that moment, Erikrealised what had happened. He thought back, and realised Amir had said that st part in Arabic.

  “Sorry, sir. I would never do anything too untoward,” the pilot expined, his expressions showing that he really meant it. Erik figured he wouldn’t. He probably wouldn’t still have his job if he wasn’t professional most of the time.

  “Anyway,” Erik said, sitting back in his seat. “- are we there yet?”

  “We just left, sir…” Amir said.

  “Let me know if something interesting happens, then!” the man responded, closing his eyes to rex.

  A kick in his left leg woke him up a while ter. Emma pointed towards the shut door, and Erik got up from his seat, looking out the window of said door. A couple of hellbeasts were swimming beneath them, fighting the rge waves that attempted to push them away. Erik sat back down after he couldn’t find any more than two of the beasts.

  “Where are they headed?” Erik asked.

  “Somewhere between the States and the Coalition. Antwerp or Rotterdam, most likely. We’re nearing the shores near Norwich, UB. You’ll want to pay attention,” Amir said, his voice a bit tense. “We’re entering the warzone in a few minutes.”

  Intrigued, Erik sat up front in the seat next to Amir, getting a good view from the front of the helicopter. As the shore grew visible, so did all the choppers, the barricades and ground vehicles on and around the shoreside.

  A few hellbeasts were blown away while attacking the barricades, but were otherwise unharmed. As Erik’s helicopter flew above them, a couple of dogs ran back to sea in a rain of gunfire and explosions, but new beasts arrived on shore seconds ter.

  “Why are they giving up?” Erik asked, having thought about that earlier at Bridgefort, but hadn’t asked.

  “We don’t know,” Ange answered, looking out her own little window just as a British soldier got caught between a monster and a barricade. “They’ve done this from the get-go. If we can hold them for a little while, they retreat for a while, only to try again ter. That’s why Bridgefort wasn’t constantly besieged. It’s a bit worse by the sea, as there are instead multiple groups making ndfall at different times at different pces.

  All attempts at marking them have failed, as even paint gets washed off in the sea. We don’t know if the same beast attacks the same pce several times, or if they alter their course, but we think they keep going for the same target. GPS tags on the ones attacking Bridgefort has determined the same ones attacking multiple times, but the data set is small.”

  Erik considered this in silence for the next while. In less than an hour, they would reach the airbase outside Leicester. The helicopter passed by several smaller vilges and farms where people seemed to live just like normal. Like the world wasn’t at war against monsters. It warmed Erik’s chest.

  The feeling only sted a mere second before his heart turned cold and hard.

  “Drop me off there,” Erik said, his voice as cold as his eyes as he pointed at a Hellbeast that had somehow gotten through the barricades by the shore and gotten innd.

  “Yessir!” Amir said, turning the helicopter slightly to alter its course.

  “You two head to the airbase and deliver the message. Meet me at the address I gave you ter tonight.”

  The two women nodded, but didn’t confirm his order by vocal response. Already he was giving them orders, something he had said he wouldn’t do. They didn’t seem to mind and they had even said they would follow his orders if he gave them.

  Erik opened the door, letting a rushing storm of air inside the helicopter, and removed his headset. He picked up his Backpack of Stuff, which had become the official name for the stolen backpack filled with a collection of unusual items, and dropped down to the ground.

  Ange shut the door behind him, and kept looking out the window until Erik couldn’t be seen anymore. She and Emma smiled at each other knowingly before they signalled the pilot to keep going.

  Erik nded on a narrow straight of asphalt. Quickly approaching him was a yellow car, the headlights blinking rapidly. Erik moved to the shoulder of the road, and the car rushed past him, the people inside waving in fear at him, signalling danger.

  A few seconds behind the car came the beast, and the people trying to escape the monster had no intention of stopping to rescue Erik, as they were long gone already. The beast, now more interested in Erik than the yellow car, didn’t prove any smarter than the rest of its ilk, as it rammed straight into his invisible wall.

  As its face got smashed in, Erik threw a handful of screws at his victim, and the match was already over. He grabbed hold of his knife, forced his magic through it, and slit the monster’s throat with it.

  As he removed the knife, the metal that was its bde had visibly corroded, and was almost liquefied at certain points. Erik ran more magic through it, and in less than a few seconds it was broken beyond repair.

  The Remnant sighed and tossed the handle away. His magic wasn’t much into recycbility, it seemed. He broke everything he used his magic on. The knife was understandable, as Erik spent a good deal of effort forcing the magic into the knife, unlike the other stuff he used, where his magic and the object seemed made for each other, and united in perfect harmony.

  Still, that didn’t mean the items survived the massive influx of magic. The screws that made his Tes Bomb all melted, his frisbees shattered after two uses and the yellow bouncy ball that he used on the defence of Bridgefort turned to acid sludge, meaning it certainly wasn’t reusable.

  The sticks shattered and the pebbles turned to dust. Erik wasn’t sure why the frisbees could be used twice, though he was happy they did. They weren’t as easy to find as regur rocks or screws were.

  Erik looked around, and found no one. It seemed it was just that one beast that got past the shoreline. There weren’t any people around to observe his deeds either, luckily. But how would he hide the monster corpse? He deeply wished for a looting ability that turned the looted corpse into rainbow smoke or something, but he had no such thing, nor anything to dig a grave with.

  If anyone discovered the corpse of a Hellbeast, there would be no chance to continue on covertly. The world would never stop until they found what killed it, and Mathisen could only help so much. The entire trip here was, at least for General Mathisen, just to deliver a message to the air base, hoping they would follow her lead to go rogue, for all intents and purposes.

  While it wasn’t really defection, it was certainly possible they could be convicted of that in court. To prevent that, Erik had to give results, but it was still too early. He had to grow stronger first. When he was ready to fight back for real, he would make himself known if they needed him to, but right now, everyone needed him to y low.

  He pushed the massive dog-like being out of the road and into the brush on the roadside. He covered the corpse with branches, straw and whatever else he could find, but when he was done, there was only one way to describe what was in front of him; a suspicious mound.

  It was perfectly noticeable and obviously man-made, but hopefully no one would even bother with it. Hopefully, everyone using this road would travel by car, which could make it a bit more difficult to notice, Erik hoped. He grabbed his backpack tightly and went on his way, heading in the direction of Leicester.

  A few hours ter, Erik had been wandering around the town centre for a little while. He felt awkward wearing the deep-green casuals of the SEMP, but it was the only clothes they had avaible at Bridgefort after he showered there that morning.

  He looked like a background character in a low budget war film, and he felt constant gazes focusing on him as he wandered around. Luckily, he had been given some cash to be able to buy what he needed when he arrived, and he didn’t waste a second when he spotted a clothes store.

  He always had trouble buying clothes as he wanted them to fit him in a certain way, which was neither too tight nor too loose. It didn’t sound too complicated an order, but clothes usually followed trends, which for the st ten years or so meant the clothes were as tight as possible.

  Erik had hated this development, and had been forced to buy in bulk whenever he found a pair of jeans that fit him just right. He had never been skinny, nor really fit, but he wasn’t rge in any sense of the word. He had fb, or at least, he used to. Erik just noticed when trying on some clothes, but they seemed a bit rger on him than he expected based on the size. When he looked at himself in the mirror, a slimmer and fitter man looked back at him.

  He wasn’t body-builder material, and it certainly wasn’t the body of a gym monkey, but he looked like he was working out regurly and eating healthy. His fb was just gone. It made it slightly easier to buy clothes as well.

  Decked out in new clothes, courtesy of the Scandinavian Empire Military Power, he headed back out, much more comfortable as he walked the unknown streets. Reaching the apartment building he had been looking for, Erik long-pressed the button next to a sign marked ‘Callum’.

  After half a minute or so, he tried again, but still didn’t get any response. Having no idea where Jessie might be or what she might be doing, Erik had no choice but to wait around, hoping she’d return shortly.

  He watched the passing cars to make time pass faster. It was a trick he’d been able to do since he was a kid. He could almost completely zone out, making minutes pass by like seconds, so long as nothing made him lose focus. He didn’t know how much time had passed when he finally did lose it.

  He didn’t know what distracted him. That could happen sometimes. He looked around just to be sure, but didn’t spot anything particurly interesting. He sighed, but didn’t bother zoning out again. He walked around restlessly for a few more minutes until a young woman caught his attention.

  She was walking towards him on the sidewalk, with long blonde hair and a pink hairband on her head. She wore clothes that showed off her long, skinny legs. She noticed Erik, and watched him watch her walking closer. She walked past him with a smile, only to press a key into the keyhole on the door Erik was waiting by. She pulled the door open, visibly straining as she did, but had no problem holding it open. She turned to Erik instead of walking inside.

  “Would you rather wait inside?” she asked, completely unprompted.

  “Uhh… Do I know you?” he asked, hoping he didn’t look too confused.

  “Not yet,” she said in an obvious attempt at flustering Erik a bit more.

  “I’m waiting for someone,” he said, just realising she already knew that beforehand after he said it. What is happening right now? Luckily, the girl didn’t seem to mind his answer.

  “And wouldn’t you rather wait inside?” she asked again. Her smile was wonderful. Warming.

  “Uh, no, it’s alright. She probably won’t be long,” he responded.

  “Oh, it’s a she, is it? Girlfriend, perhaps?” the girl asked with a wink.

  “Oh, gods no. I mean, we’re friends. She’s with another friend of mine, actually-”

  “I knew it!” the young woman said, her angelic face suddenly much more normal. “I knew she met someone, but when she talked about you she didn’t have that… spark. Also, she isn’t usually interested in guys,” the girl continued.

  “What’s happening?” Erik asked, even more confused now. The girl, still holding the door open, stepped in front of the door with one foot and stepped forward with the other, stopping the door from closing and getting closer to Erik. She got real close to his face, as if analysing him.

  “I’m Sophie,” she said with a smile, her face suddenly that of a divine being once again. How did she do that? “I’m Jessie’s sister.”

  Erik wasn’t sure why he didn’t even consider this girl to be Jessie’s sister. Now that he knew, he even saw some resembnce. The way the girl had flustered him was probably the reason why he couldn’t focus.

  “Oh! Hey. I’m Erik. I’m sorry, I should have realised..-”

  “Oh please, you had no reason to know that! Besides, I’m the pretty one, so I would’ve been hurt if you recognised me by memory of her,” Sophie interrupted. “Anyway, coming in? I’ve been living with her since she got back, so I’ve got keys to her ft.”

  “R-right…” was all Erik managed to say as Sophie waved him inside.

  He followed behind her, a bit weirded out. That was very unlike him. He felt like he could handle most situations just fine, with only minor deflections by joking and so on. He hadn’t been ready for whatever this girl was doing, but that was exciting in and of itself, he thought.

  “Ta-da!” she said, gesturing to the entire ft as Erik walked inside behind her. It certainly wasn’t much. Besides the entrance, there were three doors, one of which led to a tiny balcony above the street where Eric had waited.

  The other two doors were right across the room from the balcony, one of which led to the one and only bedroom, the other to a small bathroom. Everything between those doors were a small kitchen and a tiny living room area with an old sofa and a tiny square table.

  While it was a whole lot better than the ashen remains of Erik’s house, it was nothing short of a travesty compared to the luxury apartments in Afterlife. If Erik hadn’t lived on the road for the past week, he couldn’t understand how Jessie could even live in a pce like this.

  Even so, her sister had moved in with her? Into this small space? There had to be some serious amount of love involved from both of them if they both thought that was okay.

  “This looks great,” Erik lied without any attempt at hiding it.

  “I know, right? I love to walk around naked in here,” Sophie said, entering the kitchen with one tiny step.

  “What?” Erik said while clearing his throat.

  “You’re such an easy target. Sis will be back in a few minutes I think. She’s visiting dad.”

  “No worries, I guess. How, uhh… When she..-” Erik tried, but had no idea how to even ask the question. While Sophie looked at him questioningly, he thought for a moment in silence, rather than seeming more like a monkey than he did already. “Was everything alright when she was gone?” he attempted after a moment.

  “Oh… No, not really,” she said, looking down. “But she’s back now,” she continued in an attempt at making herself feel better. It didn’t look like it worked, as her divine features still looked a bit rugged, and her eyes were glistening in the weak light from the mp on the roof.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

  “No! Don’t be. Jessie told me about your circumstances, and at least she came back to someone. I’m sorry for your loss, by the way.”

  “Thanks. How are things now that she’s back, though? That must be… different?”

  “Yeah,” Sophie said while ughing slightly. “Magic really exists, huh? I suppose I started hoping those family tales were real when the invasion started. They didn’t mention having to actually die first, otherwise I’d have started hoping she’d return to us someday. But then, what if she didn’t? How long should I have held onto that hope? I’m sure that would’ve broken me completely, eventually.”

  “I suppose. How’s your father doing?”

  “He’s better now. He didn’t handle Jessie’s death well. I mean, he worked and drank. Barely slept. Repeat. He withdrew from me. I understand that he didn’t want me to see him lose it. But I needed him, you know?” Sophie was tearing up at the thought, and she could barely hold her voice from cracking by the end.

  “Hey… I’m sure he tried his best for you. Is he alright now, though?” Erik said, stepping closer to Sophie, but didn’t do more than that. He just met this girl, and he’d never had such an emotional conversation with a stranger before. What was he supposed to do in a situation like this?

  “I think so. When Jessie got back here two days ago, she found me. Later we went together to dad. There was a lot of crying involved, a bit of anger. Not specifically targeting anyone, of course. I think he’s still having a hard time believing she’s back, so she wants to spend some time with him. He’s taken a few vacation days, and I don’t think he’s even touched the bottle since then. It’s getting better, I hope,” she said.

  Two days ago meant that Jessie too left Afterlife a few days earlier than she had too, if Erik did his maths right. He returned seven days ago, the same day his portal appeared. Maybe she missed her family.

  Erik felt a tingle unlike anything he’d ever sensed before just then. He looked around, but couldn’t make sense of it. It was like a low buzz in his ear, a little voltage running through his tongue and mild goosebumps all at once. He felt a sense of direction from it, but after a few seconds, it stopped moving. Something was pulling at his senses, but he couldn’t pinpoint where exactly he was pulled to. It started moving again, and the door opened moments ter.

  “Hey sis!” Sophie said, wiping a tear from her cheek with her finger, giving her sister a wide smile, despite her red and puffy eyes and cheeks.

  Jessie entered the room, wearing one of her signature bck hoodies. This one depicted a skull with a heart-tattoo on its temple with the words ‘Death’ in heavy metal lettering above it.

  “Erik!” Jessie said, sprinting two whole steps and attacked Erik with a big hug. “You’re here!”

  “Hey! It took a bit longer than expected, but here I am,” Erik expined, hugging her back tightly.

  “I can’t believe most of the Empire is gone! That must’ve been hard for you, returning there to find nothing but ruins,” Jessie continued, eventually letting him go.

  “Yeah, that took me by surprise for sure. It wasn’t easy getting past all those Hellbeasts, I’ll tell you.”

  “How did you get here? That’s still beast territory, isn’t it?” Sophie asked as if she hadn’t considered that before now.

  “Let me tell you a story of bravery, magic and more bravery!” Erik started, and started telling his story, starting with his resurrection at the burned down ruins of his old home.