The sun was waking up in the east when Iago finished eating and left the canteen. Shea followed after him like a pet that didn’t even need to be given the commands. Fascinating how she had decided he was trustworthy and didn’t question any of his actions, even if they were no good, like entering this city once they saw who lived here.

When Iago stepped over the threshold, the soldier rushed after. The man extended his hand as if to stop him but then thought better of it. “I went to see the Elders, they want to meet you now.”

“Do they?” Iago asked with a frown, then shook his head. “I don’t think I want to meet them.”

“But.. But!” the soldier shouted out, lost on how to answer that question. “They’re the leaders of this camp. You need to get their approval to continue staying here!”

“I have my doubts,” Iago murmured, then raised his head to meet the soldier’s gaze. “Who in your opinion will come to kick me out? I’d like to meet that person.”

The man knew better than to open his mouth. No one would dare to obstruct a shaper’s path. Still, he had to do his job. “Then, I’ll take the girl. Her fat-”

“She’s with me,” Iago cut him off. “Do you need anything else?”

“I… No, that would be all,” the soldier said with a small head bow in respect. The flash in his eyes, though, told Iago everything he needed to know about whether it was genuine. “I’ll be off then.”

“As you wish,” he said in an offhand manner and moved his eyes to the road ahead.

Morning light showered familiar streets in soft light, bringing memories of times past. He hadn’t lived in this part of the city but the architecture was similar throughout the majority of the capital where commoners lived. Simple two story houses with leaking roofs and cracked walls. They had been built so long ago, they were crumbling under the people’s feet but no one could afford the repairs.

Still, it was a roof over one’s head. He’d spent enough nights sleeping under the open sky to know how much that was worth.

“I still want to help,” Shea said in a quiet voice near him. He turned to see her walking a few steps back, head lowered as she held onto her dress with white fingers.

“Mhm?”

“I don’t want to be a burden to this city! I want to help these people out too!” she declared in a strong voice, her cheeks growing pinker with each word. Her head fell right back down after finishing too.

He shrugged. “Then go after that soldier, I’m certain he’ll find some work for you.”

“You.. You’re not angry, right?”

“Angry?” Iago asked with a tilt to his head. “Why would I be? It’s your choice what to do with your time and abilities.”

It seemed to have been a real worry for the girl as she breathed an audible sigh of relief, then smiled brilliantly at him. He had to admit to himself that grin was a powerful weapon. Happy, pink-cheeked - she looked better than any lady of the capital with mascara all over their face could claim to.

“Will you come with me?”

He shook his head, letting out a long held yawn. “I think I’ll find a place to rest now. Find you in the evening, or something. Oh, just be careful about that other shaper. That commander is most likely her personal chief, or something similar.”

Shea nodded and dashed after the retreating back of the soldier. He hadn’t dallied around and was almost gone from their sights. Upon hearing the girl’s shouts he stopped and said something, but they were too far for Iago to hear.

Not that he really wanted to. It felt like an elephant was sitting on his mind and Iago yawned again, pulling his eyes open for the hundredth time this morning and walked away.

Most houses seemed uninhabited but all of them were too crumbled for his liking. It would be hard to relax in a place where you had to worry that the roof could fall on your head any minute.

One of the buildings looked promising from the outside, top floor had fallen but to the side which left the bottom floor standing steady, with few cracks lining its walls. However, the moment Iago approached it, voices reached him from inside. Judging by the sounds, it should have been over twenty people.

He changed his path and went deeper into the city. There would be plenty of places there. As he was about to step onto a road leading into the noble districts, he saw a crooked tower. Part of its foundation had given way resulting in an angle but the rest of it was decent. Well, if you didn’t judge the missing three and a half floors. Only two remained with the flooring of the third and two walls there.

Approaching without hurry, he listened for any sounds but heard nothing. No one met him at the door and he went inside.

It was furnished in the scarcest of ways; absolutely nothing besides a few white places on the walls where paintings or carpets once hung. It was somewhat disconcerting but Iago kept his judgement until he saw everything. There was still the second floor to check out.

The stairs were in a poor shape. Half of them were missing and some of those remaining had cracks running through them. He had to jump from one to another, afraid of making a wrong step. Luck holding, he reached the next floor without incident.

After opening the doors, he was pleasantly surprised. This was more like what he had been looking for.

A large bookcase occupied one of the walls. The movement of the tower had thrown most of the books out, which were now scattered over the floor. Underneath them was a thick dusty carpet. It depicted some kind of mythical beast but Iago couldn’t determine what it was through all the dirt.

His gaze moved forward and landed on a wooden desk near the window. He walked closer to inspect it and recognised redwood. With a few swipes of a cloth, it would be shining once more. There was even a similar chair underneath, though it was broken to pieces. It would take a bit of fumbling about, but he was certain he could repair it without using shaping.

That would be nice. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d worked on something so simple. It was probably when they had returned to the capital after all those years with nothing but a few coins to their name. It was enough to get a small house on the outskirts but not much more.

Everything had to be made by hand or scavenged from the craftsmen in the city. He chuckled to himself, recalling the hours spent haggling over a single chair much worse than this one. The artisan had wanted to take the wood to warm his house’s hearth but they had argued it was part of the shop’s inventory so it should be for sale. They had talked for so long and to such nonsensical extents that the man just gave up and let them take it for a single copper.

Oh, how they had been proud about that. They had gotten a good chair for a single copper!

“Good chair, my ass,” he muttered. “It was but four pieces of wood, not even equal in size, and a part of a plank to put on top! Still, we made it work.”

There was a sound of movement in his backpack and he opened it to let Scorpius out. The nosferatu flapped for a moment, then changed shape. It was so quick, Iago couldn’t see what happened. One moment there was a bat flying through the room and the next a young adult stood with a serious expression.

“Good morning,” Iago welcomed him, brushing the dust off the desk with his hand before turning away from it. His eyes landed on the last and most important part of the room.

Tucked in a corner stood a small single bed. It was covered in old unmoved blankets and that’s all that mattered. He could rest here without anyone getting in his way.

“Is there anything you need of me?” Scorpius asked, looking around the room. His expression didn’t change throughout the whole inspection.

Iago sat down on the bed. It was hard but not as much as ground would be. “No, you can go and explore the city.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Scorpius said with a pointed look towards the window. Sun was still in the early stages of rising but the heat was mounting up while brightness already encompassed everything.

“Ah, sorry. You can stay here until the evening.”

Scorpius nodded in acceptance but before Iago could tell him goodnight, he spoke up again. “Why did you let her go with the soldier? He’ll find out she’s a shaper.”

“So what? It’s not a secret that can be kept for long.”

“But what if she becomes more useful than you and they decide to get rid of you as an someone hard to control? A threat? Humans do that all the time!” Scorpius said, his mask finally cracking with worry lines appearing on his face.

“You worry too much,” Iago answered leaning back against the wall. “Her shaping is erratic, powerful but without anything to help keep it form. If she was taught well, and her mental barriers removed, she’d be a danger but now… It’s impossible for her to become anything.”

The wording seemed to have surprised the nosferatu. “Mental barriers?”

Iago nodded with a yawn. “She attacked you like a cave woman with a stone in her hand. Do you think you would have survived had I wanted your demise?”

“No…” Scorpius murmured, his brow furrowed. It was something that had bugged him in their encounter too. “Why did she attack me like that? I couldn’t make any sense of that. She should have been the aggressor but instead I could have killed her with ease…”

“I think, it’s as simple as no one ever telling her that she can kill with shaping. The possibility might have just never crossed her mind.”

“That’s..”

“Outrageous?” Iago asked with a laugh. He looked up as if he could see the sky above but it was just a dusty ceiling. “Some people are lucky enough to live lives devoid of violence and suffering. I still haven’t decided whether I should pity or envy them.”

Scorpius hesitated but asked nonetheless. “You won’t teach her, will you?”

“No,” Iago answered, closing his eyes. They were so heavy and he had no reason to keep them open. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept. Two, three days ago? It was way past the point he should have taken a rest.

The nosferatu didn’t say anything more and silence took reign of the room, and not five minutes later Iago’s mind left for the dream world. Or nightmare in his case. It was such a thin line between the two, after all.

In the meantime, the girl the two had discussed was talking with a soldier that had introduced himself as Alec. He was apparently twenty five years old, much older than her though she wouldn’t have said so from his appearance. Short brown hair, youthful blue eyes and an always smiling face.

“Where are we going?” she asked as they rounded a corner.

All the streets looked identical to her. None of the buildings had anything to tell them apart besides the different ways they had crumbled in. Some had fallen on the side, others toppled on themselves while a couple looked like they had been struck by something. Their sides were cut in half like one splits a log in two equal parts, or in some cases incinerated whole. She stepped wide around them.

There was just something wrong with seeing nothing but small pieces of stone where a building had once stood. Or more often where the other half still stood.

“Where we left the food, you can help me and others sort it out. That’s fine, isn’t it?” he asked with a look towards her.

She nodded in answer. “I don’t mind working. I’ve lived in a village my whole life.”

“Did you?” Alec asked with surprise. “I thought you were some noble lady with the way that guy was protecting you.”

“Not at all. It’s just the way he is.”

“If you say so...”

They walked in quiet after, Shea having no idea how to continue the conversation. It had ended on such an awkward note. The soldier didn’t seem to believe her about Iago, but she didn’t want to start defending him since no accusations were said.

Maybe she could just change the topic? It would be better than walking without saying anything like this. She was about to ask him about living in the fallen capital when a teenager in armour halted before them out of breath.

He shifted the too large helmet on his head so that it sat straighter and saluted Alec. “Leader, the squad is planning to go hunting. They want your approval before leaving.”

“But we just went yesterday. The storehouse should be full for now!”

“Commander took all the bags but one. He said this batch was especially nice and should go to the Mistress and her retinue,” he reported without saying his opinion but his tone was enough. It was furious and his face twisted into an ugly mask as he added, “Commander also said we should be thankful for the Mistress’ kindness since she decided to leave one bag for us.”

“One bag?” Alec shouted out, his own voice lacking any control. “We have to feed the whole city with it, not just us!” The teenager nodded eagerly, ready to say something but Alec waved him off. “Don’t,” he said in calmer tone. “We shall go hunting then.”

“Should I notify Commander?”

“Don’t,” Alec said with a shake of his head. “I’ll do it myself, go to the others and have them prepare. We leave the moment I come.” The teenager soldier saluted and Alec turned towards Shea. “Sorry, it seems the plans have changed. I’ll show you around and find some work on another day, okay?”

“Can’t I come with you?”

The question made the leaving leader double back. “It’s dangerous there! I wouldn’t take anyone that is not a soldier hunting through the debris. Not only can the houses crumble at any point but we can be attacked by scavenger parties. No, it’s way too dangerous for someone like you!”

Shea crossed her hands over her chest as she scowled at the man before her. He was acting just like the old folk in her village, saying she was too young, too weak, too something to go wander the forest alone or go diving in the river. “I’m not your pampered city lady! I lived in a village all my life, and how do you think I’ve got to here? By flying on a magical carpet? I’ve been to a number of ruins, walking alone or with Iago!”

“He let you go with him?” Alec asked with an expression of horror on his face.

“He never questioned my right to do so! This is no longer the world where you have the freedom to coddle others, at any day they might be left alone and have to protect themselves! What would you feel if you knew it was your fault they never learnt how to do so?”

“I- uhm- I-”

Shea breathed heavy, her heart beating at double the speed. “When it happened I knew nothing and would have died in days. But because of Iago I now know how to survive on my own. I won’t let you return me to that useless little girl that can’t help anyone, even herself!”

Alec didn’t seem too convinced but couldn’t find a good enough way of refusing her and in the end just shrugged. “If you really want to, I won’t prevent you. But don’t expect me or other soldiers to safeguard you.”

Although, he said that, there was no truth to it. The moment other soldiers found out about it they were shocked, then laughed at their leader for being defeated by a woman and then made sure she was in no danger whatsoever throughout the journey.

They told her to stay in the centre of their formation as they moved outside the city. The heat in the desert was as bad as always once the sun rose and she wondered how those men could bear wearing all that armour. Steel helmets and breastplates with chain mail underneath. Swords hung at their belts and half of the soldiers had shields strapped to their backs or hands.

Because of that they were forced to walk at a turtle’s pace. She felt like skipping and twirling around just to pass the time from the boredom. Her other option being listening to men wheeze and pant as they put one foot before the other. Sweat ran their foreheads in torrents and half an hour in one of them fainted.

Stopping, they crowded over the man and Alec loosened some of his armour but mostly just poured dirty water over his face. Soon enough the soldier came back to himself, a look of pure annoyance on his face. He muttered under his breath, pushing himself off the ground and shoving concerned friends away from him.

Soldiers laughed and joked, but their voices were strained.

“Is it far from here?” Shea asked in a quiet voice.

A woman from the front turned to reply to her. Her armour was lighter than that of others and there was a bright smile on her face. “An hour or so. We’ve walked most of it by now.”

“Don’t lie to her her,” another woman countered, hitting the previous soldier with a gauntleted hand. “There’s still from two to three hours since the heat will start taking victims soon.”

Her words showed up to be true as soldiers started falling one after another. The group managed to take but few steps before another one went down. It wasn’t normal, unhealthy probably but everyone treated it as if it was expected. Shea had a hard time understanding how that could come to be.

Mother had always repeated her to take care of one’s health. It was the motto she tried to instil in every villager. As long as you were healthy, you could achieve anything. No goals were worth reaching if you lost your health over them.

She considered telling that to the soldiers but they were so sure of themselves. Maybe they knew something she didn’t. It could be that the heat stroke was nothing for the people from the capital, their health might be more resistant. Or they could have some medicine that prevented damage from it.

Alec held out the longest but even he fell by the end. Though, just once, unlike many of the other soldiers. The sun was especially harsh today, Shea herself felt faint at times, and she was wearing just her thin clothes and a cloak to hide her skin from direct sunlight.

Right before midday when the sun was at its highest they reached the mansion. It stood alone in the middle of nowhere with most of its walls collapsed upon themselves. Only the backside had remained, once white walls greyed and weathered. Wide cracks could be seen from afar but the walls were still standing, though the bottom floor was buried underneath the sand.

“We’ve scouted it last week,” one of the woman said, falling back to walk by Shea. “But leader there wouldn’t let us explore it saying it was too dangerous. Ha, what does he know! We should have scavenged it days ago!”

“Denni, stop it. You know he was right, Commander would have gutted us all if he found out,” the other hissed, moving to walk by Shea’s other side.

“And he won’t now?”

The one named Denni shrugged. “Maybe. Even if he was notified, he might still get furious for us leaving without him.”

Shea remembered Alec telling the messenger soldier that he’ll tell the Commander but never leaving to do it. He had talked with her for a bit longer before they walked without hurry towards where his soldiers were waiting, after which they’d left right away.

It was probably not a good idea to mention it so she kept it to herself. The two woman didn’t notice her silence and kept on bantering among themselves whether they were going to get gutted upon return or not.

“Everyone prepare!” Alec shouted out as they neared the ruins. Both female soldiers sighed and left Shea’s side to return to their place at the front. “Look for signs of recent human presence!”

Upon hearing the words, the soldiers scattered in all directions. They went around the house with their noses to the ground, or as low as they could move them with all that armour. It was almost funny how they bent and shifted to see anything through the slits in the helmets.

“We can proceed once they’re done,” Alec said.

Shea looked up at him with a frown. “Wouldn’t the wind hide all the tracks in the sand minutes later?”

Leader’s face went through a myriad of expressions at her words; narrowing of eyes, sudden widening and a horror filled look towards his soldiers. “It’s… There’s not always wind…” he murmured without any conviction.

Shea was certain she’d said something wrong and didn’t talk more. Instead she decided to go to the two woman and join them in moving a few stones. Together the three of them managed to push them away and Shea was shocked to see a hole in the ground.

“How did you know?” she asked with a look towards the two soldiers.

They grinned at her, Denni adding a wink. “Trade secret.”

“Corp, we’re going in!” the other shouted out and before Alec could stop them, clambered into the hole.

With a quick glance around, Shea went after.

At first the sun’s light showed her the way, but soon darkness settled. Touch alone was left to provide all the necessary information. The surface was unequal, but not sharp so the descent wasn’t complicated. She’d gotten down more complicated trees when she was younger.

Soldiers below her made a lot of noise in their wake, and it was easy to know when the ground was close. She jumped down the last bit and turned around to face the darkness. In an instant, she regretted not asking Iago for his tools before leaving. His fire steel would have been invaluable now.

One of the woman cursed, a few sparks flew and a fire blazed alight. “Ha! I told you I knew how to do it!”

“Sure, sure, Lyra. Let’s go now!” Denni said with her eyes locked on the staircase to their right.

Shea in the meantime took a better look at the room they were in.

It was very large, with wall high windows in three of the four directions. All of them had broken down, pieces of glass showering the ground as stones had overtaken their place. Those seemed to have stopped the room from being buried in sand.

“Come on, girl! Let’s go!” Denni urged her and Shea ran to catch up to the two soldiers by the fourth wall.

Staircase leading up and down was there but the path upwards was blocked by rubble. They could only move down and the two were already on the way. They were ignoring the shouts from above by Alec and with a hesitant look backwards Shea followed after them.

Flickering torchlight revealed carved walls in unknown designs and they moved in excited silence. This was a mansion so it had to have a lot of supplies. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.

Something fell downstairs.

All three of them froze in their place as one and stared at each other wide eyed.

“There shouldn’t be anyone there…” Lyra whispered, her hand with the torch beginning to shake. “Shouldn’t..”

“No shit, genius,” Denni growled in as quiet a voice. She crouched on the stairs, listening for a moment, then grabbed the torch from Lyra and descended down the stairs.

Lyra watched after her with an open mouth, fragments of words on her lips but not daring to shout out to her companion. Shea stared after too, admittedly, not eager to follow after. What if one of those scavengers from before was there?

Nausea rolled over her as she remembered their torn corpses. It was a horrible memory for her, and she had been just a passer-by. But to those scavengers those were their friends and families. The thought of seeing her villagers like this...

If it was her, she’d kill everyone involved in that massacre. Whatever it took, she’d make them pay for doing this to those she’d cared about and who hadn’t done anything wrong. They deserved to have their deaths be avenged.

But this also meant, she was in danger. She hadn’t done anything to the scavengers herself, but she had been near and hadn’t stopped the madman leading the soldiers. It was the same as agreeing with what he had done.

“Come down here!” Denni shouted out from below, laughing. “You must see this!”

Shea wasn’t eager to go down but the soldier was laughing so hard, it piqued her curiosity. What could be there to have caused so much mirth? It wouldn’t be something weird. Would it?

Slowly she started descending, Lyra after her. “I so don’t want to go there,” she kept on murmuring under her breath. “Something is off here. It is, I know it…”

“Just come, you chickens!” came a mocking voice from below.

The two increased their speed by the barest amount. It was dark without the torch to light their way, and the stairs had rubble strewn all over them. Shea reached her hand towards the railing but the hand met nothing. Further, and it hit a crack lined wall. The fractures went in all directions, like a web of stone under Shea’s fingertips.

Five more heartbeats and she rounded a corner where Denni was waiting. She had a huge smile on her face, and upon noticing them pointed at the shelves lining the walls. “It’s the kitchen! The kitchen! We’ve hit a jackpot!”

“Is it safe here?” Lyra asked in a soft voice, poking her head from around the corner. She had taken off her helmet and was looking around with a distrustful gaze.

Sharing her concerns, Shea noticed the many cracks in the ceiling. It looked like it could give way at any moment. Her gaze lowered towards the walls, but all of them were blocked by the shelves. They were crooked and many of the doors had fallen off or were on their way, holding by a single hinge.

“We should get out of here as soon as we can,” she said to the others.

Lyra nodded quickly while Denni laughed. “Chicken.”

They went through the shelves after. Shea chose the lower ones on the right and squatted down before them. It was too dark to see inside and they only had one torch so she had to extend her hand without knowing what was inside.

She raised her hand but it was as if pushing it into a wolf’s jaw. Anything could be sleeping in the darkness and she might wake it up, resulting in the loss of her hand. A shiver ran down her back at the thought but she still had to do it.

The others were rummaging through the cupboards on the left and judging from the muted cursing by Denni, they weren’t finding much. In no time, they will turn to look at her findings and see her still with her hand posed.

It wasn’t what she had planned when coming on this hunt. She had wanted to help, be of use but if she stayed frozen like this, she would be just a nuisance. Someone that took up valuable resources but gave nothing in return. Somebody that didn’t deserve to stay in the camp.

They would keep her because of Iago, but it wouldn’t be worth surviving like that. She had been taught better than that. Her mother had never said anything against weak people, but she had done everything to prove to them that it was important not to be a burden to others. Shea couldn’t let herself become someone that needed to be reminded of that.

She thrust her hand forward, eyes closed. Fingers trembled as they reached towards the back of the cupboard, meeting the wooden wall. Surprised, Shea opened her eyes and searched the cabinet thoroughly without finding anything of use; couple empty boxes and a towel.

The ground level of the shelf was as dark but she braved it quickly and reached for the shadowed shapes in the left corner.

“Ahh!” she yelled out as pain struck through the pointing finger.

“What happened?” Denni asked, jumping towards Shea with her armour clanking loud in the room. The sword was already in her hand, swishing back and forth.

Shea had to fall down, plaster herself to the ground to not get skewered. “It’s fine! Fine!”she shouted for the woman to calm down, all her pains forgotten in fear of being struck by her own companion. “It’s nothing, just please stop!”

“Nothing? Then why did you shout out?” Denni asked with suspicion, her sword still held high.

“I cut my finger… It surprised me.”

“That’s all?”

“Yeah.”

“Pah! You scared me there for nothing,” Denni laughed, waving her sword over Shea’s head. “I thought we were getting attacked or something.”

“Uh… Sorry,” Shea whispered, not daring to raise her head a millimetre from the ground.

Denni seemed to notice that something was wrong. She stared at the lying girl, then her sword and jumped backwards, falling over her own feet too heavy with armour to make the swift movement. “Gaah, this stupid shit,” she cried as she tried to stand back up. Unsuccessfully. “Lyra stop standing there and help me up!”

Her companion stifled a chuckle as she bent to raise her friend by the shoulder. “It’s your own fault, you know that?”

“Shut it,” Denni mumbled, standing up with a groan and turning away towards a doorway leading out of the room. “That must be the storage room, let’s go!” and before anyone could stop her, she marched through.

In her hurry, she didn’t take care and her shoulder guard knocked a huge chunk off the wall. It hit the ground with a resounding clack, all three woman staring at it in silent horror.

Rumbling sounds came from up above, and small stones started raining. Both Shea and Lyra dashed towards stunned Denni to drag her back. The woman quickly regained her senses and they started running up the stairs, words unnecessary.

Five steps in, part of the wall tumbled into their path. Shea being the swiftest one managed to catch herself before ramming into it and fell backwards, stopping the other two in their dash. They caught her, staring at the blocked path ahead in shock and disbelief.

Moments later, Denni pushed through and started hacking at the stone, screaming. Her attacks fell fruitless, creating a couple useless sparks. Lyra stood sculpture like with her hands over her mouth, tears rolling down her cheeks. She kept on mumbling something but Shea couldn’t make out her words.

She was trying to get through the sword wielding woman but without success. “Stop! Let me through!” she screamed at her but her words fell on deaf ears. The ceiling was cracking and rumbling loud enough to muffle most sounds, and Denni’s own screaming was just closing her off even more.

“Just move!” Shea hollered, trying to squeeze through but the sword close to slashed her arm off. The movements of it were so wild there was no way to judge its direction. She simply couldn’t get through!

Heart beating double the speed, she rose her hand to attempt long range shaping, something that was way beyond her when a sound caught her attention. She looked up to see the whole floor above a hand’s length away from her face.

Without any thoughts remaining she released her hold on the Energies within her and let it rush through her body. It burst out in a violent surge, leaving her powerless to even keep her eyes open. They closed of their own volition and she descended into darkness as her mind retreated to a safer place.

***

Author's Note:

Thank you for the comments! Hope they continue with other great suggestions, notices and opinions!

Iroo I'm glad you're enjoying it and you're yet to see the true side of that camp/city. It's only the very lowest part of the mountain the mess there is that I've shown so far ^^

Untellable Your suggestion was noted but I was really reluctant to try it since I already have three characters that need to sound different which isn't as easy as I'd like it to, so adding more voices to the mix wasn't on my to do list any time soon. However, I thought and thought about it, and then an idea struck me. I knew who it had to be and who's else story had to be told. Wrote it in a rush and it's one of my favourite characters now, even if for absolutely different reasons than Iago or Scorpius. Thanks for giving me an incentive to try and get to know my own characters better ;D (P.S. Don't underestimate Iago, just saying...)

Tom116 Glad you like it, and here it is. Hope you enjoyed this new chapter too!