Three days passed without any unusual event occurring. In the meantime, Faye and Hector had tried to question Chloe, without much success as she was reluctant to recount her story.

It was thanks to Lily that answers could be obtained. She spent her days keeping her company and putting her at ease, until she started opening. Lily recounted the snippets of information she had acquired and, according to her reconstruction, Chloe’s story went like this.

Like usual, Chloe was spending her day in a small clinic near the border of the Beta, healing the wounded returning from the hunt. Suddenly a commotion arose, with noises of steel striking steel and cries of pain filling the air. This prompted her to leave the building she was in to assess the situation.

When she put her head outside, the first thing she saw was Isaac fleeing from a large group of armed individuals. The second thing she saw was the same individuals assaulting a few of her patients. They were regulars of her clinic who knew both her and Isaac well. Most likely, they had been targeted the moment they had tried to intervene. Soon, Isaac reached her position.

“Run!” he cried out loud, taking her by the hand and dragging her with him.

She attempted to ask for clarification, but the answer came in the form of an arrow shot in her direction, which she avoided only thanks to Isaac who pulled her away from harm’s way.

“Come on guys! We must get both of them!” the captain of the aggressors had shouted.

For some reason, they wanted to capture Isaac and would make use of anything to reach their objective. Chloe panicked, without understanding what was going on, but she followed Isaac who guided her deep inside the Beta.

Isaac’s aim became clear the moment a familiar and feared figure in all of the Beta made its appearance. The Sloan Matriarch came out of nowhere, moving faster than the eye could follow, accompanied by a thunderous shockwave.

“What is the meaning of this?” she asked in an annoyed tone, loud enough to be audible miles from there.

The captain of the aggressors stepped forward, explaining the situation. According to him, Isaac was a fugitive guilty of harming the Torchbearer. Although Isaac tried to counter those accusations, his words went unheard.

But what left Chloe even more shocked than what she already was were the next words of the captain.

“The Torchbearer wishes for the Saintess to return to his side”.

After those words, the Matriarch fell silent while she came to a decision. After a few interminable moments, in which nobody dared to move for fear of provoking the master of the Perimeter, she relayed her judgement.

“Leave,” she told Isaac and Chloe.

“He must be allowed a head start”, she told the captain.

And with that, the chase began. For days and days, the two of them ran from their hunters. More than once they were cornered and were able to escape only thanks to Isaac’s immense skill with the sword. They had no time to sleep and barely any time to eat or drink the few provisions they were allowed to leave with.

The two of them were able to hold on only thanks to the synergy of their respective abilities. Isaac burdened himself with his and her injuries, while Chloe patched him up. Had it not been for him, she would have been unable to hold on, as most flying arrows were aimed at her, the weaker of the two. Had it not been for her, Isaac would have been unable to hold out against so many aggressors, especially while having to endure fatigue, hunger and thirst.

And the ending to the story was already known: Isaac was captured while the two of them tried to reach the Gamma in search of help, Chloe managed to slip away and find me, and then I personally intervened to fix the situation. What had exactly happened between their escape from the Beta and arrival at the Gamma was still being defined, but in time Lily would be able to obtain further data and everything would become clearer.

While I recalled these thoughts, I heard the rustling of the leaves as Hector was approaching me.

“Mr Guzman Miller asks to see you, sire. I asked him to wait for you at the entrance,” he spoke while he was still far away and out of sight. He was aware I would be able to hear him, so after relaying the message from a distance, he directly headed back from where he came from.

I jumped down from the tree I was resting on and went after him, as we were directed towards the same place, namely the entrance to the Gamma from which the main road of the Perimeter unravelled.

It had been some time since I had last seen Reuben, the person to which Tobias had entrusted Faye’s protection during the gap year I had spent as a butchered corpse. After the revival of the Gamma he had left our side to return to his commitments in the Delta, although he had also been tasked with the role of intermediary of the communications between the three Perimeters.

After a brief walk I emerged on the main road, a large flat earthen path free of vegetation traversed by travellers, inhabitants and wagons filled with wares. Every single person I passed by reacted similarly, flinching for an instant and moving out of the way to let me pass.

Soon enough I reached the edge of the Gamma, and I saw Reuben conversing amicably with a member of the personnel. A shiver ran through the bodies of the ones inside my field of view, their heads snapped around and a few gazes stopped on me. Most took a step back at my sudden appearance and looked at each other, while Reuben's only reaction was his eyes growing wide for a moment before they returned to normal.

When I finally reached his position Reuben gave me a polite bow

“Congratulations for your coming-of-age, Mr Doe,” he spoke respectfully.

“Thank you. You may continue to call me John,” I responded with sincerity to his words. He had my favour, as he was the one who had been by Faye’s side when I couldn’t.

“What brings you here?” I continued.

“Scouts in the northern wastelands registered abnormal movements of beasts, sign of an imminent stampede. I was sent here to ask if the Gamma could provide support”

The request advanced from the Delta was reasonable. The Gamma had yet to stabilise itself, but it had attracted several talents during the years, starting from the first group of pioneers that had accompanied me, which was now an elité force under Hector’s guidance.

“When did you depart?”

“Several days ago, it is most likely the stampede is about to reach the immediate neighbourhood of the Delta”

I pondered on the situation and then called Hector near.

“Inform Faye,” I spoke tersely.

“Certainly, sire” he responded before leaving the place.

Over the past few days, me and her had talked about the future and how to face it. We had decided that the best course of action would be to act separately from that moment onwards, as the challenges ahead of me would not allow her to stand by my side. Nevertheless, she had been reluctant and had accepted only after me promising to keep her informed about my predicaments.

“I will help,” I informed Reuben.

“I thank you, Mr John. May I ask when the reinforcements will be able to depart?”

He hadn’t understood what I meant, but it was to be expected. Those on my level seldomly intervened directly, more often leaving these kinds of things to the children and adolescents to take care of. They usually interfered only if too many lives would be lost otherwise, or if someone or something catched their sight.

“Now,” I responded, walking past him.

“Excuse me?” he questioned me with a confused expression.

I ignored him and quickened my pace, passing the border and venturing out into the wastelands once again. Once I was far enough not to affect anything, I took a deep breath, lowered my body to a more aerodynamic position and kicked the ground with great strength.

The ensuing explosion parted the earth.