Chapter Three – Homeward

“Behold the Blue-Wings Adventurer guild!” Kaena declared swivelling on the spot turning around to face them arms thrown wide, a certain glee resting in her gaze. “I am the assistant guild master of this establishment and am happy to be of service” The maid performed a curtsy Eila letting loose a snort as she stomped into the room.

“You said you were the guild master a moment ago.”

“Of course I did, a guild master for this area has to be at least rank-A. Although out guild leader is rank-S, it’s kind of a necessity when living so close to the mountains, of course you’d know all about that seeing as you crossed said mountains to get here.” Kaena gave the scout a smirk before moving towards a counter at the far end of the room. “This is the main lobby and over there is the mess hall, beneath us we have the basement which is mainly just storage while upstairs we have the dorm rooms as well as both my and the Guild master’s offices.” She explained Ward casting his gaze about the room.

It was average he supposed. It kind of reminded him of a medieval inn, or maybe a pub; the lobby as a small area with wooden floorboards a set of stairs resting to the right hand side of the room and a desk taking up the other side. The majority of the space had been filled with small round tables with the exception of a cork message board waiting on wall tacked with pictures and posters and what looked like quests. It was exactly like he’d been expecting, somewhere warm and comfortable, not quite cosy and a little barren. The Mess hall however carried a more military vibe, several long tables running the length of the room; with a single window looking into what Ward supposed was the kitchen. The entire area had been sunk slightly into the floor; the wooden boards giving way to a cobblestone floor a single fireplace resting in the corner of the room. The buildings walls made from quarried stone, the mason work rising upwards for three stories. Ward hadn’t seen much of the town but he was fairly certain, even if the Guild wasn’t the largest building in town it was the tallest. “We can get you registered down here tomorrow morning, I’ll prepare the paper work, after that all you’ll need is the guild masters acceptance and you’re an official adventurer. But for now I’ll take you up to your rooms.” Kaena gestured for them to follow as she made her way in the direction of the stairs.

Ward followed after, all he wanted was a bed, a nice warm bed where he could lie down and sleep to his heart’s content, where hopefully he’d wake up the next morning this entire debacle no more than a passing dream. He could hope; at the very least he could hope.

“Currently there are two dorm rooms available, one of the women one for the men. Eila and Dala can take the near room on the right while Dossan and... Aran was it? You can have the near room on the left.”

“And where will I be going?” Ward questioned coming out onto the landing of the second floor a long wooden corridor with a total of six doors spaced at regular intervals along the room, the hall itself lit by a single lantern resting in the corner of the guild, a small shuttered window looking out into the street beyond.

“You can choose between the basement or the library.” Kaena shot him a smile Ward standing still for a long moment his party members flushing past him heading in the direction of their respective rooms Eila shooting him a wide grin.

Maybe he’d misheard something.

“I’ll be sleeping in the basement?” He questioned Kaena maintain that gleeful smile as she stepped past him taking a step down the stairs.

“That or the library; no more than two people in a room I’m afraid, it’d be a little cramped don’t you think. I’ll bring you a sleeping bag if you’d like. So which will it be library or basement?” The maid tilted her head to the side in question, Ward feeling his final thread of hope drawing taught and snapping, and just like that he was in free fall.

“I’ll take the library.”

“Good, in that case it’s the far room on the left. I’ll be back up with a sleeping bag in five minutes. Good evening Ward.” Kaena gave a slight bow of her head before turning around disappearing down the stairs. So that was it... Fate was cruel, or maybe that was just Kaena.

Ward let out a weary groan his body slumping forwards as he trudged his way in the direction of the appointed door. Today had been a disaster, it didn’t feel like a day, it felt like an entire week had passed; one week of his life down the drain. Ward pushed the door aside stumbling into the library, a wall of darkness greeting him as he stepped into the room.

The library was a small square space, and frankly the term ‘library’ itself was probably a misnomer, study would have probably fit better. A small desk sat at the window of the room a rusty iron lantern resting on the wood, a small quill and inkpot sitting right besides. And as for books a pair of shelves took up the left hand side of the room, although only a half of the first shelf had been filled and that mainly with a mix of trinkets and tokens; only four or five books present at all. Ward let out a sigh, there were probably more books in his backpack then there were throughout Burlo the surrounding countryside included. Ward reached back un slinging his backpack and bowling it forwards to rest right beside the desk, before closing the door behind him plunging the room into near absolute dark.

Pale streamers of light remained cast by the moonlight falling through the gaps within the shutter, Ward letting out a gentle sigh, marching forwards to stand beside the desk pushing the chair back and falling down. Today had been exhausting; emotionally, physically, mentally exhausting. He wanted to go home; he wanted his bed and his computer and his mobile... Although thinking about it; wasn’t this what he’d always wanted? He wanted to live in a fantasy world; he wanted to live in a videogame world... Wasn’t this what he’d wished for, an escape; and there really was no better escape than this. He might not be complaining if he had a bunch of cheat like skills and abilities, but no what did he have; eighty kilos of fat and bag of magical trinkets. He wouldn’t have complained so much if he’d had one of his old teams either; a real team. Not this ragtag bunch nobodies, they were randomly selected starting characters, their ranks and their levels both were too low: there was no chance he’d be stepping into a high level dungeon for months, maybe years. Damn it... That wasn’t fair.

This world wasn’t a game; he didn’t need to go diving into dungeons anymore, he just; he needed to survive for now. He could deal with everything else later. This wasn’t a videogame and his party members weren’t characters they were people; if their hit points reached zero they’d die, and if they died he’d be left alone again.

Ward swallowed hard, pressing his forehead against the deck, a violent headache assaulting him, a deep pain racking his body; stealing the breath from out of his lungs. “I’m an idiot” He muttered throwing his head back glancing upwards towards the shuttered window, gingerly reaching out tugging at the shutters turning them to reveal the town below.

It was small and ugly and somehow warm: the streets were lined with little earthen abodes, each was but a single room, loaded with beds and tables and chairs, enough for a whole family. The Village had a total of thirty-eight buildings, thirty two of those simple houses, a fire burning in the grate the smoke rising out of a small hole placed within the roof, the other five had more specialised purposes. The guild building, the town hall, the butchers, the blacksmiths and the watchtower, he could see them on his map, a little name present besides each building, and if he looked out there into the moonlit streets he could see them, well he could see the butchers and the watchtower at least. The butchers rested on the other side of the road from the guild building its’ walls the same as any other house except for the wooden supports and coat of white wash, the building having a secondary room to act as storefront, slate covering the roof instead of thatch. The Watchtower on the other hand was good solid stone, it only stood two-stories high, but it was wide and well fortified, arrow slits pointing out in every direction, a flame burning atop the tower shinning out to the world. Ward heaved out a sigh shaking his head. He was tired and he needed rest, this was an irrational situation, there was no point in applying rationality to the world about him. This wasn’t a game anymore true, but that didn’t mean that all of the old game mechanics were going to work just like they used to; this wasn’t some kind of fantasy: it wasn’t a fairytale.

Okay that was enough with the inner monologue, he needed some light.

Ward reached forwards grasping the small iron lamp resting atop the desk turning the device over with the pale light of the moon above. The lamp was a simple device made from a mass of metal and glass a nozzle sitting inside the glass case rusted over just like everything else. Ward sighed turning the little device upside down running his hand over the bottom of the machine, his finger dropping down into a little dent on the base. He blinked turning the bottom of the lamp towards the window, a small alcove appearing on the lamp base, an emblem etched there at the bottom of the machine; an emblem he was familiar with. Ward reached down twisting the clasp on his bag lifting up the lid and plunging his hand downwards into the bag and as if by magic amid the odds and ends something smooth and warm appeared in his hand Ward finishing it out and slamming it down on the table. He should probably stop using that phrase, ‘as if by magic’; after all it wasn’t ‘as if’ anymore it was actually magic. He let out a weary laugh at the thought turning the gem over in his palm. A Fire shard, typically it was used as an evolutionary material for equipment, a small stone about the size of a marble, no larger than an eye, It gave off a soft orange light, warm to the touch a small speech bubble floating above the little stone a black trail of ink leading off towards the stone.

FIRE SHARD - Quality: C Fire shards are small stones, they carry with them the power of the element of fire, and are often used in the creation of arms and armour to impart magical properties on various different gear. They can also be used as consumable offensive items able to inflict burns on enemies as well as a power source for magical items of the fire affinity.

Ward sighed ignoring the message and popping the stone in the bottom of the lamp, the little marble fitting snugly into the base its glow slowly vanishing as Ward placed it down upon the table the light remaining dormant. Well if that was the power supply then now all he needed to do was find the switch to turn it on. Ward turned the lamp round his hand, his fingers slowly finding themselves brushing up against a small cog imbedded in the top of the lantern and making the obvious move he gave it a firm turn to the right.

The Lamps nozzle made a spluttering hiss a moment later the iron case rattling before a little flame burst to life, drowning out the moonlight and suffusing the dry cold little room with warmth.

“Wonderful” Ward yawned leaning back within his chair watching as the flame bobbed before him, bright and happy.

“Oh you got that old thing working?” Ward jumped at the voice rising to his feet his chair stuttering backwards before tipping over, Kaena letting out a small chuckle as she knelt down lowering a bundle of cloth down onto the floor. “Your’ sleeping bag, and thank you for fixing the lamp; I’m a little surprised though. Do you always carry fire shards with you?” Ward shrugged keeping his silence Kaena narrowing her eyes before giving him a pleasant nod and exiting the room. Ward let out a weary sigh looking down at his sleeping bag. The term comfortable didn’t seem like it would fit into the current situation; his sleeping bag looked like very little more than a couple sheets of cloth sown together in a torn and patched mess of colours. Well it was still summer, all he needed was something to lie on mattress and blankets were a luxury not a necessity. It was best to focus on the positives right. Ward sighed; maybe he had something in his bag for this.

Hah, not likely, of all the things the games developers could have thought of supply the players with camping gear had never been one of them after all who would need those items when they were playing from the comfort of their own home. Ward sighed; he missed his room.

That said he’d only had six days until he was due to go to college; part of him was kind of glad and kind of sad he was going to miss that whole experience. Ward sighed scratching the side of his head and grabbing his pack hefting it up on top of the desk before plunging his arms deep into opening has hands grasping about through the sea of unasserted items. The game had a near infinite selection of different items divided into different categories; Materials, tools, equipment, relicquaries and tokens. Materials were used primarily to upgrade equipment and there were maybe over a dozen different items at most. Tools however were slightly more interesting, they were consumable items that could imply a buff on allies debuffs on enemies or could be used to interact with the various maps in order to gather materials or perform side-quests. Equipment spoke for itself, weapons and armour as well as magical trinkets like rings and necklaces, and then there were the reliquaries. Reliquaries came in a set of three each set containing an item to boost offence, defence and health, these items were meant to be holy each giving been blessed by a god and granting a divine blessing. And last but far from least were tokens; special currencies which could be exchanged in the in game shop for various other types of items, including attempts at the games gacha. He was an idiot...

How had he forgotten, all of his worries were pointless, he’d been playing Haven’s Light for two straight months, it wasn’t like he had nothing to show for it. Ward clenched his fist tight within his bag drawing out a small blue envelope holding it high into the air in reverence. Within this envelope were over two-hundred different materials, a random assortment of equipment, one whole set of reliquaries and three new characters classed rank-A or above!

The thought itself was addictive, that one possibility, the chance to receive what you desire the most. A brief almost instantaneous adrenaline rush; there was nothing quite like it: no other game had that kind of tension. Ward had played a lot of games, many of them using the same system, but there if you just pushed through with sheer numbers it was a guarantee, if you had the money to buy enough coins or diamonds or whatever currency it was they were using you were guaranteed top tier gear, items and characters: games where if the price was right you could always win. But they weren’t fun, even now the chance was there, he could receive a true treasure trove of items or a pittance with a single rank-SSS hero as compensation for his effort. And while yes that did sound like a lot, a rank-SSS adventurer did sound strong, there were players who had maxed out the level and rank of every adventurer in the game, collectors and completionists who devoured any player with the slightest gap or weakness in their team. Ward had fought against them scores of times, and even with his strongest teams his success rate was barely over thirty-percent. If the day came when his ragtag band of fighters had to face opponents like those; they’d lose no doubt about it, no way around, it was a fact. Ward sighed rubbing his finger against the blue envelope thumbing the white wax seal the image of a crescent moon stamped down onto the paper. It was his first time seeing a real sealed envelope; he was just supposed to break the wax wasn’t he?

Ward frowned taking a deep breath and pressing his thumb down the wax seal snapping and the slip coming free. Ward opened the sheet of paper out what looked like a small red and black ticked falling into his lap, the image of a rising sun printed on the right hand corner; Haven’s Dawn Beginner’s Bundle printed in white across the ticket. Ward grinned holding the ticket up to the light before lowering it gently to the table pondering his next move.

That was when he noticed it, just out of the corner of his eye; the envelope in which the ticket had been sealed, a scrawling script etched in white covering the blue paper; a letter his name printed at the top alongside a message that chilled him to the bone.

Welcome Ereward Garr to the World of Errot

The time has come, the time for heroes to rise from dust and ink and paper, the time where ancient kings shall grasp rusted sword and wake them from their slumber.

The time of returning, the time where once more the gods will wage a war. A great battle to decide the fate of this world.

All sides stand prepared, trumpets blast and war drums beat, the game is set and the stage prepared. The Drian continent shall bare witness to a feud that has festered for centuries, the pantheons of Urote and Enia stand opposed and there people ready for the coming storm.

So you have been called; for if a god is to step foot upon mortal soil so shall they to become mortal, their divinity forfeit. The gods are in need of champions and you shall command them. You warlords and generals, great tacticians of the game known as Haven’s Light have been called forth bound upon your path and to your pantheons. Or have been left scattered amidst the breeze alone and unknown chained the Broken pantheons that scatter the edge of this world.

Ereward Garr you are a broken champion bound to the gods Brana Renel and Alena. You carry with you their blessings in the form of your’ HUD.

Godspeed and good luck champion of the Heldrain Gate.

So damn tropey...

Ward wasn’t entirely sure exactly what he’d just read but it put him ill at ease. It sounded like a scenario out of a cheap light-novel; he had been summoned to another world in order to fight some stupid war. He didn’t get it; where was the joke supposed to be? And why did they have to use his full name Ereward Garr; as far as usernames go that was probably one of the dumbest which was the whole reason he preferred Ward. He shook his head he could deal with that later; first he was going to use his open his beginner’s bundle and then he was going to take a nice long nap and by the time he woke up he’d have forgotten that letter even existed.

Ward sighed tossing the letter aside and grabbing his ticket looking over the thin sheet of paper once more unsure of exactly how he was supposed to open it. Ward paused noticing a small indentation running along the edge of the left hand side of the card cutting straight through the image of the rising sun. Maybe it was like a move tick: he was supposed to tear the end off to activate it. Ward swallowed hard; there was going to be hell to pay if he screwed this up. He took a deep breath placing the ticket down onto the desk and slowly ripping pulling tearing the piece of card apart, a clean cutting running down the side. The next moment a faint chime rang throughout the room, clear cut like the ringing of a bell, vibrating off his skin. And then the ticket itself caught fire slowly burning down into nothing crumpling into a pile of ash, the light of the lamp flickering and, as if it were caught within a fierce gust of wind, it went out.

It was at that moment the thought occurred to him, just a small vague nagging idea, that maybe summoning three high ranked adventurers into an eight-by-twelve foot study was a very bad idea. Not that he had the time to regret his decision a moment later the dark room drowning in a wave of light Ward rising to his feet turning his gaze inwards towards the centre of the room greeted by a familiar sight.

There upon the floor was a ring of light, a circle of white tinged blue, pulsating and expanding and spreading across the floorboards. Ward retreated pressing his back against the nearby wall, making his way slowly about the edge of the room as the circle grew, drawing incrementally closer each second, pausing briefly before continuing on its’ path once again. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen this spectacle, but then it had just been pixels on a screen; Haven’s Light’s summoning circle, bringing the world of man and gods together, drawing forth heroes and weapons and reliquaries to aid the games patrons in their quests. Bands of runic symbols were drawn down onto the floor, burning themselves deep into the floorboards faint wisps of smoke rising into the air, the light growing brighter, rings forming like those within the trunk of a tree, growing outwards, further and further until they just stopped; the air still and rippling with something that could only be called magic. Ward stood still his back pressed into the wall, his gaze turned towards the door, the circle of light forcing him back into a corner of the room; he was penned in, a spectator to the event he knew was about to unfold.

Within the circle a trio of smaller lights appeared expanding outwards to form circles of their own consuming all available space, each circle halting upon completion leaving the others to take up the area remaining. Several seconds later, three more rings had appeared, two smaller circles one barely a metre across the about as long as Ward was tall and the third a massive disk stretching two and a half metres plus. Ward took a deep breath his fists clenching; just a few more moments and he’d know whether his gamble had been worth the price he’d paid.

The moments trickled by in silence, brief and simple; Ward waiting for the summoning circle to activate, waiting for his heroes to arrive and for the mess he was about to make. He did not have to wait long.

The summoning circle exploded. In the blink of an eye, a wave of light exploded outwards followed by a concussive blast a wave of wind striking Ward and pressing him against the wall, his ear drums popping leaving him deafened, a beam of light firing upwards, it struck the ceiling causing the wood to bend and glow, before breaking through splinters and chunks of wood clattering down to fall about the floor the roof undergoing the same treatment a beacon of light firing upwards into the sky driving out the night and creating an artificial dawn before petering out, leaving the village of Burlo stunned into silence and Ward staring at a trio of figures left bleary and dazed staring into space.

A few scant second passed, delirious and dazed the woman on the far side of the room tumbling down to the ground falling back onto her rear breaking the spell drawing Ward’s eyes forwards to meet her. She was dressed in simple clothes a pair of dark red iron gauntlets covering her fists Ward placing her age somewhere between Nine-teen and Seventeen meaning she was probably just slightly older than himself. Her hair was a dusky red tied back into a long pony tail falling backwards down her back, her skin pale shaded with the slightest touch of sun her eyes a brown that neared orange her the woman wearing a simple tunic and leather trousers, the thick dark green cloth straining to contain the woman’s bust.

“Where the hell are we, what is this place?” a metallic voice rang out Ward turning his attention to the second figure, a large armoured man stepping out of his circle the light the ring taking on a deep red hue before vanishing.

Ward had seen every character and class within the game or he had at least before the Haven’s Dawn update. All of these characters were new, but he could at least take a guess, staring upwards at the massive man. He was clad in steel standing at just over six-foot-four inches ranking just above Aran in terms of height but his body was slender and light, a sword un-haltered and clasped firmly in hand, the blade as long as Ward was tall. If he had to guess this ‘hero’ was most likely some kind of knight or a similar class, at least going by the armour and weapon, polished steel painted black, curved points turning away at the joints, the armour cut into a multitude of different segments carrying the appearance of an exoskeleton rather than any traditional kind of armour. The woman’s sword was a little more rustic, a single straight blade; the point blunted into a smooth curve catching in the light. The knight leaned, hot breath spilling outwards from his helm, a pair of yellowed eyes staring outwards, his pot helmet crowned with a mass of small steel spikes a pair of straight, glossy black horns jutting out from the back seeming to bend the light about them. “Tell me: what is going on here, I was at Ackeran, I was fighting at Ackeran and now I’m here, what did you do to me?” The knight demanded leaning backwards jabbing his sword forwards Into Ward’s face, a wave of liquid flames bursting outwards trickling along the blade and blasting from his gaps within his armour those yellow eyes burning brighter within the darkened helm.

“Feur what the hell are you doing?” The red haired woman cried rising to her feet as fast as she was able marching in the armoured man’s direction.

“I’m trying to get answers: maybe being magically abducted by a fat little mage was one of your life’s ambitions but I want to go back!” The knight yelled Ward clenching his fists tighter glaring up the length of the man’s blade.

“None of us know what’s going on here; I’m just saying it’s not a good idea to be attacking the one person who might.”

“Don’t worry I won’t hurt him as long as he tells me what I want to know.” The man yelled swiping his blade sideways scoring a deep gash along the wall just above Ward’s head blackening the stone in the process. Ward let out a whimpering cry not entirely sure of exactly what kind of mess he’d gotten himself into this time.

“Who are you, where am I and what is going on here?” Feur demanded swinging his sword back resting the blade against her shoulder. Ward swallowed hard, meeting the man’s gaze with what little resolve he could muster.

“My name is Ward, and we are in the village of Burlo just beyond the Heldrian mountain range. I summoned you here.”

“Why?” Ward cast his mind back into his head attempting to draw forth an explanation that wouldn’t sound like complete nonsense to these people.

“I cast a spell without thinking and somehow it ended up summoning you here I don’t know more than that.”

“Then send me back!” Feur hissed a heavy tone of threat carried in his words.

“I don’t know how!” Ward retorted, the man raising his sword high above his head the red haired woman letting out a wild yell.

“Feur stop; Garte help me out here!” The woman charged forwards grabbing the knight about his waist and pulling him back, his sword streaking down passing mere inches from Ward’s face. The third and final figure stepped forwards raising a gigantic rifle upwards placing all three occupants of the room within her sights.

Ward felt his heart flutter, and not just because his sudden glimpse at death, not because there a young girl was pointing a rifle in his direction a magic circle slowly widening in front of its’ muzzle; no. She stood stoic and silent, she was dressed poorly in what amounted to a potato sack, holes and patches poking through torn and burnt here and there, her feet and legs bare, her skin pale and soft, her eyes a warm hazel, her hair a slightly darker shade of brown, exploding about behind her in a wild mop. She was young and she was slender almost malnourished, her expression blank and resting there atop her head were a pair of ears. Ears resting atop her head dark brown in colour, just like those of a dog pointing upwards the points bending down ever so slightly, an animal girl; a girl with animal ears... Well that was something to check off of his bucket list.

“Go on Beastling; shoot I’ll take you down next!” Feur yelled spinning about swinging his sword through the air a tongue of flame lashing out from the edge of his blade the knight letting out a fevered roar “[Judgement Candle]!” a wave of heat exploded outwards an arcing blade of flame shooting forwards an explosion blasting out from the end of Garte’s rifle the flame vanishing extinguished Feur Himself knocked backwards by a series of pale blue beams of light. The beams striking Feur alone sending him rocking backwards into the wall the impact sending a vibration through the room. Ward’s vision blurring as his HUD, his head up display, faltered his battle windows appearing listing not only the health of his party members but also of the newcomers as well. Ward Groaned collapsing backwards to land his back against the door the animal girl approaching slowly her lips lifting up into a soft smile. “You summoned us?” Garte questioned looking down to Ward pulling her rifle up holding it in her arms, the weapon seeming comically oversize a long octagonal metal barrel with an eye the size of a man’s fist connected to a wooden an oversized octagonal chamber resting to the right of the stock.

“Yes I summoned you.” Ward replied his voice crackling as he spoke the young woman giving him a brief nod

“And this is mine?” Garte question tightening her grip;

“it’s certainly not mine.” Ward sighed Garte shooting him a smile before stepping back.

“Thank you.” Ward shrugged unsure of exactly how he was supposed to respond to his current situation, a moment later the room suddenly plunged into the dark.

The summoning circle finally vanished, the only light in the room being the pale glow of the moon streaming through the window and the gigantic hole that had been blasted through the roof moments ago. Ward sighed gazing upwards towards the stars above. The sky here was dark, darker than any sky he’d seen back on earth, the stars streaking across the heavens in a multitude of lines, like waves shinning above. They weren’t stars he knew but they were beautiful all the same.

And then just as quickly as the light had vanished it returned, but this time instead of white it shone gold; not just one circle, but hundreds of them, covering the walls and what remained of the ceiling appearing in the air itself. Ward took a deep breath, a sense of weary acceptance filling his gut, as a chorus of chimes rang within his ears, each circle dropping out a random item before vanishing into thin air, one after another: enough weapons and items to fill half an armoury and start a small items shop on the side, slowly pilling up flooding the room like water. Ward raising his arms to cover his head odds and ends raining down upon in an endless cascade; every now and then a different coloured portal opening, sometimes blue or red or purple, dropping an item and vanishing just as quickly. He watched and waited as slowly the flow of gifts dyed down, all occupants of the room swamped in books and scrolls and tools, alongside incomplete suits of armour and weapons impaled deep within the floor, a vague sense of awe and confusion silencing the room, a heavy creaking sounding about them all.

Ward had the terrible impression the floor was going to cave in; if only he’d been right.

The door opened, thrown aside, knocking Ward forwards casting aside the sea of items in the process. Ward Tumbled forwards colliding with Garte tipping the young girl over, a low growl sounding out from the doorway a lone figure striding in. “Ten minutes ward, we leave you alone for ten minutes.” The young man turned pulling himself out of the debris, Eila standing above him eyes opened wide glaring down; arms crossed: a fury like no other bearing down upon him faster than he could blink. “Ten minutes and you do this.” Ward remained silence; any semblance of sanity or normality breaking away in that moment as at last the day drew closed.