The golden light of dawn stretched over the landscape. It warmed Tyler's face as he smiled—finally, the X's on the ground were easier to spot now.
———
Philip and Wilhelm reached Philip's farm.
"Can you move?" Philip asked.
No answer.
With a quiet sigh, Philip hoisted Wilhelm onto his back and trudged through the tall sunlit cropfield. His steps were slow—he was old, and the 6 foot 5 boy was heavy.
Inside the house, sunlight spilled through the corridor windows. Philip gently set Wilhelm down in a corner, right in front of the kitchen door.
"Wait a second," he muttered before heading outside.
Wilhelm sat unmoving, staring into the hallway. His eyes were empty, unblinking.
Outside, Philip retrieved a scythe. Returning, he fit its blade into a subtle crack in the wooden floor, prying open a hidden trapdoor, a heavy, reinforced trapdoor.
"Alright, come on." He knelt down and once again lifted the tall teenager onto his back, grunting under the strain. Sweat soaked his shirt; his wrinkles deepened.
He descended into the dim basement—a corridor lit by a single torch and lined with three doors.
Unlike the rest of the wooden house, the walls in the basement were all made of stone bricks, the doors were also multiple layers of wood.
Philip carried Wilhelm to the last door and eased him onto a bed.
"Argh…" he groaned, catching his breath. "You okay?"
Still, no answer.
Wilhelm stared blankly at the ceiling, unmoving, as lifeless as a corpse.
Philip lingered at the doorway, looking back. "Rest up, kid. Stay down here. They won't find you."
Still silence.
Philip closed the door but didn't leave. His eyes found the ceiling. Then he shut them tight, dragging a palm down his face.
"Argh…"
After a pause, he entered the first door. No lights inside—but something glowed: an enchanted book hovering above a lectern, its aura flickering like firelight. Deep blue, not a hint of red. Pure blessing, no trace of curse.
He approached, hesitated with a deep sigh before laying a hand on the open page. The aura dissipated quickly.
The back of his shirt tore. Making way for something huge to grow from his back.
A pair of wings.
———
"Oi." Thomas slapped Alexander's face lightly. "Oiiii." not so lightly now.
Alexander's eyes fluttered open into an annoyed glare—made worse by tragic bed hair.
"We're going mining, big man. No time to waste." Thomas slung his axe onto his back and walked off.
"Natalie," he said gently, kneeling by her. "Wake up." tapping on her shoulder, not even hiding the fact that his treatment here were a lot more gentler compared to Alexander's.
"Mmm… what?" Her eyes barely opened.
"We're going mining," he repeated, resting his axe on his shoulder. "We don't have pickaxes though, so… I guess we're blunting our weapons today. Well, except yours." He glanced at Alexander. "Yours could fuckin' walk through literal hell and come back polished."
Alexander stared up at the pre-dawn sky—dark blue streaked with orange. A silhouette stood atop the ravine.
A gentle breeze tousled Alexander's and Natalie's hair. A not-so-gentle gust knocked Thomas off-balance.
"Woah—what the fuck?" He squatted for balance. The wind died, and all three immediately understood what it meant as they gazed up.
"What were you thinking, Tommy?" Tyler stood at the edge of the ravine, looking down.
"Tyler? How'd you find us?"
"Phil's not here? He left markers."
"Phil? Wha...? Argh, whatever. Just get down here man."
———
After some tricky climbing, Tyler reached them, brushing dust from his clothes. "Of all places, you're hiding here? Like—"
Thomas tackled him with a hug. He quickly pulled back. "That meant nothing, and none of us are gonna talk about it." He pointed sternly at each of them. Natalie chuckled when the finger reached her.
"What's so fuckin' funny?"
"Nothing!" she said, hands raised.
"I thought they might've gone for you too," Thomas said. "So…"
"So you were worried about me?"
"Who the fuck said that? What's wrong with you?"
"Whatever you say. Do you even know why you're being hunted?"
"Well, yeah. We, uh… kinda did killed a few guards trying to get my disc back."
"That's good you—wait, WHAT?!" Tyler's face twisted in shock. "YOU KILLED THEM?!"
"THEY TRIED TO KILL US FIRST! Especially the guy—what's his name—starts with an H."
"Hawthorne," Alexander said.
"Yeaaaaaah! He should haul some thorns up his ass. He stole my disc!"
"AND YOU KILLED POLICE UNITS?!"
"They. Fuckin'. Started. It." Thomas threw up his hands.
Tyler opened his mouth, no words came. He was still processing.
"They've got the freakin' Forger of Fire on us, man! Of course we had to fight back!"
"Wait, what? Forger of Fire?"
"You're like thirty chapters behind, dude." Thomas slapped Tyler's shoulder. "Let's catch you up, buddy."
"You're telling me Hawthorne stole your disc?"
"Yes."
"Why would he do that?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Thomas pulled a severed pinky from his pocket. "But I'm pretty damn sure this was his."
"Stop waving that around. It's gross."
"But it's him."
"So, the government stole your disc, and you fought your way through their troops?"
"Well, sorta. The government's not innocent either. If the Vice President's corrupt, so is everything."
"I am the Vice President."
The ravine went quiet as all eyes turned to Tyler.
"…What?"
"You're the Vice President?" Alexander asked.
"Yeah. Hawthorne was dismissed after what he did to you guys. I was promoted." Tyler scanned the ravine after the words 'you guys', and found someone missing, "Where's Will?"
"Got pissed, spouted some shit and ran off. Probably home by now. But what the fuck, you're the Vice President?!"
"Yes. And our President seems innocent enough to me so far."
Thomas squinted. "You're probably being lied to, man. Manipulated and shit."
Thomas added after receiving a disapproving face from Tyler, "We overheard them man—Schwartz and Hawthorne. Didn't really catch all of it, but it wasn't about fuckin' politics of Eucadia. It was some shady ass shit like 'I'll get the island, and you'll get the uhh... island again?'"
"What the island has," Alexander corrected.
"Yeah, that. The President said that."
"Schwartz?"
"Yeah."
"That… doesn't match what I was told." Tyler rubbed his chin.
"What did you hear?" Alexander asked.
"That you guys assaulted a guard. Hawthorne wanted severe punishments. Schwartz wanted leniency. Hawthorne was fired. And that's that."
"Who told you that?"
"Schwartz."
Thomas snapped his fingers. "Boom. You're being played, Tyler. In fact, Schwartz is probably following you to get to us... right now!"
Everyone looked up. No one was there.
"Maybe not," Thomas added.
"Here's our side of the story," Alexander stepped forward. "Hawthorne stole the disc. We investigated him. Heard something shady go down between him and Schwartz. Knocked out a guard in the process. And only after Schwartz won the election, only then were we hunted, only then."
"They waited until they had power," Tyler said. "So getting pardoned would be easy afterwards…"
"My thoughts exactly."
Tyler hesitated. Whose story should he trust? Be the Vice President to Schwartz or remain the friend of Thomas Soon?
"…Okay," he said. "I believe you guys."
"YES!" Thomas cheered. "Time to mine, get stupidly overpowered, and fuck those bastards up!"
"I've been meaning to ask this, who's she?" Tyler gestured at Natalie.
"I'm Natalie Sinclair," she said.
"A fellow fighter!" Thomas pumped his fist. "The four of us will get the disc back, and shove so many thorns up that prick's—"
"Actually," Tyler cut in, "I'm here because Schwartz asked me to invite Alexander."
Everyone stared at Alexander, who was pointing at himself confused.
"There's a festival next Saturday at New Angeles. You're invited by the President himself."
"What the fuck, man?" Thomas blocked him. "Stop doing VP errands, no one cares about a dumb festival other than that dumb Schwartz guy."
"Tommy."
"What?" Thomas turned to Alexander who called him.
"This might be an opportunity."
"What do you mean?"
"The VP's on our side. I'm invited to a festival where Schwartz—and probably Hawthorne—will be."
Thomas understood, his eyes lit up. "YES! Trojan Horse plan! You'll be the horse, Alex!"
"Exactly. Unsuspecting but deadly."
"…What's a Trojan Horse?" Tyler asked.
"A story from Grandpa's books," Thomas said. "It was a giant horse statue disguised as a gift but actually filled with hidden soldiers. They surprise ambushed the motherfuckers. That'll be Alex in our case."
"And you know this too?" Tyler looked at Alexander.
"I don't know why I do."
"He's weird like that, he also recognised another one of my grandpa's books even though the cover's all fucked up." Thomas said, grinning. He struck his axe into the ground. "ALRIGHT! THAT'S OUR PLAN! We attack next Saturday at the festival. But first—let's mine and get STUPIDLY POWERFUL!"
Everyone rose, weapons in hand.
"Woah woah, Tommy."
"What?"
"We're not killing anyone alright?" Tyler said.
"Why not?! The prick stole my disc!"
"Doesn't mean you should kill him! Lives are precious, Tommy. You've already killed, and yet you don't feel any remorse?"
Thomas tapped on his chin, "That's a good question."
"Just... Just don't kill anyone, can you promise me that?" Tyler pleaded, with his face close to Thomas's.
Thomas couldn't say no to him, "Ugh... Fine! Fine!"
"I've gotta go," Tyler said. "Can't raise suspicions for leaving this long."
"Yes, sir. Our spy on the inside." Thomas saluted as Tyler climbed out of the ravine.
Outside, hidden in the bushes, someone marked a circle on a map.