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“Just over that hill now, you can go the rest alone. I’ll leave ya from here.” Harlon pointed in the direction of the fort. We could see the wooden walls from here, which were just a series of dark tree trunks tied together with a whole lot of rope and sharpened towards the top.

The sight of it all was heartbreaking. “Everyone’s been holed up here since?”

“Twenty years goes by quicker’n you think it does.” Harlon shook his head and pulled at one of the furs he wore. “Anyway, good luck. I don’t know if they’ll trust ya anymore after being gone that long anyway.” His feet sank into the snow again and again as he walked away, just like in every dream that I dreamt he did.

I didn’t have time to feel bitter about it though. The priest and I turned towards one another. “Well, we better get movin’ and see what’s goin’ on, huh?”

“Didn’t you hear him? How do you know they won’t just shoot you? Or ME first, and THEN you?? Then everything will have been POINTLESS-”

“Ya always go thinkin’ that the worst will happen first don’cha?” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Won’t ever know unless we go up n’ knock now will we? C'mon shrimpy. Ya can walk behind me if y’ want.”

The southerner didn’t answer through words. Instead, he took a few cautious steps around and stood behind me just like I suggested. A cold wind blew and he shivered, rubbing at his arms quickly in an attempt to warm himself up. “L-let’s just go already,” I nodded and went ahead.

Along the way the snow became waist high in a few patches, but we were able to climb out of it again. Only when we were several yards away did I notice there were actually people sticking up and out from behind the wall, bundled up in coats and scarves and pointing guns at us. A few of them shouted to each other and some of the others peeked out from behind the log wall.

I looked for any recognizable face, but I had been away for so long; they all looked foreign to me. Still, asking them for help was better than freezing to death out in the mountains. I sucked in a big breath and shouted. “OY, ANY’A YA FROM ALTERIS?”

None of them answered me immediately, until someone had courage enough to do so. “AYE, YAH, WHAT DO’YA WANT? GIT OUTTA HERE!” The accent definitely confirmed that they were.

“I’M WYATT EVANS OF ALTERIS, ASK IF ANYONE KNOWS ME!”

The man at the top of the wall hesitated before ducking down behind it again.

The priest poked his head out to have a better look, “What in the world was that??”

“What?? There oughta be SOMEONE in there who knows who th’ hell I am. It ain’ like they all jus’ fergot.”

“And what if they DID?”

I sucked my teeth. “You just let me handle alla this. Don’t need’em hatin’ ya anymore than they already do and will.”

A 'door’ of sorts swung open, but only a little bit, and out came several men, all with rifles pointed at us once again. I held my hands up and one of them moved to the side and ushered the reverend out into the open whilst almost prodding at him with a bayonet.

“Who’s th’ southerner? Ya ain’t some spy are you??”

“N-no I- I’m with HIM- he-”

“I busted’m outta jail when Veldren went down in flames last night. He ain’ no harm ta any of ya.”

A few murmurs rose at the news of the island catching on fire, then another one turned to me. “And how do we know yer tellin’ the truth?”

“Well, we’re wearin’ the prison uniforms ain’t we? Not enough fer ya? Ya know how impossible that place is- WAS to get out of. Anyone found anybody who remembers who th’ hell I am yet?” Just as I asked again, another person squeezed out from behind the door and came over towards the group. The sight of him alone made me forget everything.

Here was this young ma in about his early thirties, with curly black, messy hair hidden away under a cap. On his face a thick beard was trying to grow in, a thin nose and bright yellow eyes just like my own. He was wrapped up in a beaten, dark green coat and a black scarf, dark trousers and ragged boots just like the rest of these men were.

He stared at me, growing pale in the face like I was some terrifying beast that had manifested in front of him. I felt as though I couldn’t really breathe or think. Even if he looked different from how I remembered him, I still recognized his face.

“Wyatt?” His voice had changed too, no longer was he a thirteen year old boy but a man. He threw his gun onto the snow off to the side and came up to me slowly. Not once did we look away from one another. He reached up slowly, putting his hands on my face to make sure I was actually there in front of him before pulling me into a strong embrace. “Oh my God-”

I shook myself from my initial surprise, my own arms coming up around him shortly afterwards. My eyes felt like they were stinging, and the numbing cold didn’t help. “Tory? How’dja get so big-”

He quivered and bit back a sob, pulling back so he could look at me again. “Ya fool, you been gone fer twenty years, what else was I supposed to do?” Already he was getting all teary eyed. “How did you get out- I thought you were…”

“Dead? Hah…no, no… been holed up this entire time on that island…this ain’t th’ place to talk about it though… Listen, I brought a friend, the southerner here. Can ya let us inside? We need a place t’ stay…He won’t hurt no one, I promise.”

Tory looked over towards the priest, confused. Then he sniffed and rubbed at his eyes with the back of his gloves. “Yah... yah, c’mon in, quickly. There’s a storm comin’ this way.”

I nodded and the rest of them herded us into the fort, shutting the big door behind us.

Once we were inside, I saw that the place was a lot more barren than I had assumed it to be. Here and there were a few ramshackle structures that were so crudely pieced together to make flimsy housing. Some of them looked like the wind could knock them over with a good strong gust. All around were bits of stone, both small and pebble sized to about half the size of a man, little boulders really. Near the back of the fort grounds appeared to be a cave of some sort, with some mine carts sitting outside, one of them full of dark colored rocks, another cart tipped over and empty, and several worn pick axes and other tools laying around gathering frost.

Residents spotted the area as well: men and women, most of them older, some of them younger, and a few children. They all wore clothing that looked just as haggard as they themselves did, and their faces were sunken in and nearly grey, tired, defeated. All of them though had the same bright yellow eyes; they were all from Alteris.

I wasn’t ever accustomed to seeing anyone from our town look as beaten down as these folk were. Was this what they’d all become after the bombing?

“What happened here...? Why’s everyone look like they’re starvin’?”

Tory sighed, “Because we are. We’re runnin’ out of food again, and winter’s comin’ to make it worse.” We came to one of the larger structures shortly afterwards. It looked to be a meeting place of sorts. “Here, c’mon inside, I’ll explain everythin’ that’s gone on since ya were taken away.”

I stepped through the threshold, but someone else grabbed the priest. “Nuh uh, ain’t bringin’ no southerner in here, c’mon you.” One of the more burly looking men dragged him back outside and into the snow, not being very gentle about it either.

“W-WYATT-”

“HEY! Leave’m here! It’s FINE-” Just as I started to go out after them, Tory pulled me back by the shoulder. “Tory I can’t jus’ let’em toss him back outside again, he won’t last out there in this weather-”

“They ain’t gonna put him outside, there’s a shed next door ta this place, they’ll probably just lock him up for a little while t’ keep an eye on him. With all the soldiers poking around at us lately, I don’ blame ‘em.”

As they carried the priest off towards the aforementioned shed, I stood there hoping to God that Tory was right about what he’d said. “Please jus’ don’t hurt’m, he’s all right… and what do ya mean soldiers?”

“Ya think the south’s up n’ left us alone yet? Even after this long? Why else would we, a buncha sailors and fishermen, be hanging around an abandoned mine fer twenty years?”

“So that’s what that cave was… Thought it was just there fer decoration.”

Tory smirked a little. “Haven’t changed a bit have you? Even after being in prison fer as long as ya have.”

“It’ll take a lot more’n twenty years in prison ta make yer big brother change, don’cha worry one bit about me.”

“That scar on yer face is new, it suits you somehow. Makes you look like a grinning wolf up to no good.”

I reached up to feel at the corner of my mouth, smiling. “Yeah? Good. Anyway…ya know WHY the soldiers are attackin’ ya out here? I don’t see how they have any reason to.” Every now and again I peered at the door behind me, wondering if the priest was still all right. There weren’t any gunshots or anything of the sort that I could hear. No screaming, no yelling, just the strong gales.

“Probably wanna blow us off the map fer good, as if the whole bloody town wasn't enough back then. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet… might be just a matter of time, but we don’t have anywhere else to go. Stranburg’s housing the soldiers as it is, and it’s hard to smuggle in ore for them and food n' supplies back out to here. That and it don't pay well at all. Ain’t so sure how much longer we can last like this, ya know?” He leaned down to pick up a lantern, lit it and set it on an old wooden table. The warm yellow glow highlighted our faces and made the few pieces of furniture, chairs and barrels, crates and boxes and the like, cast long dark shadows on the walls.

“Aye… Knowin’ what I know, I’m surprised too.”

“What do ya mean?”

I frowned, realizing that none of them knew about anything going on. I didn’t want to sour our first meeting after twenty years though. “…Nothin’… I’ll tell ya later…I’m just glad I got ta see ya again is all. And grown up no less.”

Tory chuckled a little. “Aye, well I wasn’t going to stay teeny forever. How did’ja find this place?”

“Well, as luck would have it, Harlon led us here. I didn’t think I’d run into him either.”

“Harlon?” He tilted his head, confused. “Ya saw Harlon out there? Harlon Morrison?”

I nodded. “Aye. It was the LAST thing I was expectin’ too. Thought he’da left the north fer good, didn’t know he’d still be hanging around. I thought maybe he was stayin’ here with the rest’f ya folk after I ran into him, but he didn’t seem so… thrilled about you lot.”

“Nah… I had heard he was still around, traveling through the mountains, though WHY I’ve not a clue. Thought maybe they were just rumors instead… Guess they’re true…”

“Guess so then. I thought th’ old bastard was gonna shoot us the first moment he found us out in Blackwald. Thankfully he din’t.”

Tory looked at me, eyes widening a little. “Why would he do that??”

The expression shook me out of my reminiscence. “Oh…uh…well I mean he wouldn’t… Heh, nevermind.”

Slowly he sat down on a nearby bench, and I joined him. “…Just how much is therr about everything that I don’t know about? Or that any of us don’ know about?”

I tilted my head back, letting it rest against the wooden wall. “So, so much… And I’ll tell ya about it… but, fer now,” I brought my arm up and pulled him closer towards me, just enough to lay my head against his shoulder. “Damn missed ya…lemme have my moment.”

He didn’t argue, and outside I heard hail starting to fall from the sky. But I couldn’t bring myself to care much about anything beyond it.