Jabez’s mother died last night. Nobody came to attack us, check on us. Three of The Seven remained, they joined me and stood outside the room last night. I’m not sure if they remembered their sense of duty or there was some kind of internal rivalry. That’s not for me to know or care about. When she died we didn’t waste time planning for a burial. The remaining members of The Seven began to build a pyre, I joined them. I didn’t know what else to do, and I didn’t want to intrude on Jabez’s final goodbye with his mother. As he brought her towards the pyre, the sky glistened with what I now know are stars. A bright white silver disc called the moon shined across the sky as her body burned. None of us spoke, none of us left. We watched the flames. As they started to go out The Three retreated to the temple. Jabez refused to move so I stayed with him. It was the only thing I could do to provide some form of comfort.

I’ve never seen a sunrise before, but I felt hope as I watched it rise over the hills. Slowly the sky went from black to orange and finally a bright blue. It’s more than what I imagined it would be like. I’d never seen so much light in my life. The sun, moon and stars. To think there were so many people who never saw any of them before. It really is a brand-new day for everyone. This is what I wanted. I wanted the sunlight to spread around the world, and I’ve got it. But it feels like I lost.

Nothing positive has come yet, nothing that I can see. I see two things in front of me. I see a man who was reunited with his mother, grieving her death before they could truly embrace each other. More than that, I see my friend in pain, and I don’t know how to help him besides sitting in the grass next to him.

“Where are you going,” Jabez breaks the silence.

“Nowhere.”

“After this. You can’t stay here forever.”

“Probably check on Levi. What about you?”

“I don’t know. All I ever wanted was to get back here but there’s nothing. No mother, no amazing temple, no hidden cities, and no science. It was all a lie.”

“You can come with me. We can go get Levi, then travel the world. It’s a new world out there, and you’ve got a lot to offer people.”

“I can’t do that to you, everywhere I go, everything I care about comes to an end.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“You should be. I’m not sure why you haven’t run away yet.”

“Because we’re friends,” I wrap an arm around his shoulder, “and friends take care of each other.”

“Is that what friends do?”

“It’s exactly what they do.”

“Then I promise not cause you any pain.”

“Hey, can you not do the super thoughtful thing right now. Let’s just watch the sunrise. I’ve never seen one before.”

“They’re beautiful.”

“They sure are.”