September 4, 535
Two days before the eleventh expedition into the Land of Solitude began.
As Eldric cautiously approached the desolate town, a pungent scent of soot and ash permeated the air, invading his nostrils. The ground beneath his feet transitioned from dry, compacted dirt to a scattered array of crushed stones, bearing witness to the relentless forces that had ravaged the area. Drawing nearer to the outer wall of the town, Eldric's eyes fixed upon a weathered sign suspended above the entrance. The vestiges of words once etched upon it were now mere ghosts, faded by the relentless passage of time. It stood as a silent testament to the existence of a nameless town secluded within a vast desert expanse.
The ferocious gusts of wind, previously hurling stinging particles of dust into Eldric's face, gradually subsided as he cautiously took his initial steps into the ghostly village. The streets lay deserted, strewn with debris and the remnants of utter devastation, while the houses stood in an unsettling state of disarray. Shattered fragments of glass littered the ground, bearing witness to the shattered dreams that once flourished within these walls. Decaying wood dangled precariously from the rafters of what were once bustling abodes. The wooden walls, weathered and worn, bore the unmistakable marks of decay, with rot creeping upward from the ground and mold festering on their weathered surfaces.
Dead trees, like solemn sentinels, dotted the sides of the road, their barren branches surrendering to the weight of desolation as they cascaded to the ground. Storefronts, or rather their feeble remnants, were now ensnared by an intricate web of weeds and creeping vines, suffocating the very life that once animated them. Eldric stood transfixed, his voice stolen by the haunting sight that unfolded before his eyes.
Turning left onto another desolate street, Eldric found himself confronted by a scene far less promising than the one he had just left behind. Houses, reduced to ruins, lay in complete disarray, while charred stones scattered throughout the ground seemed to bear the marks of an inferno long extinguished. In the crevices of these forsaken remnants, stubborn weeds defiantly clung to life. Even in the presence of faint signs of life left in his wake, the desolation that met Eldric's gaze left him utterly unconvinced that anyone had ever called this forsaken place home.
As Eldric pressed on, his footsteps echoed through the empty town, the resonant sound of his heels clicking against the cracked and fragmented stone. Along his path, he encountered a stone abode that defiantly withstood the test of time. Upon stepping inside, he discovered the remnants of a once-thriving blacksmith's workshop. Rusted swords and shields from a bygone era leaned against the walls, bearing witness to the skilled craftsmanship that once animated this place. In the center of the room, a silent and cold furnace stood as a poignant reminder of the dormant fires that once roared within. An anvil, corroded by the relentless march of oxidation, bore the scars of time, its surface cracked and chiseled.
Leaving the blacksmith's abode behind, Eldric continued his solemn exploration. Eventually, he stumbled upon what appeared to be the town square, now an unrecognizable labyrinth of collapsed structures and twisted metal. In the heart of this desolate expanse, a stone fountain sat forlornly, its once-joyful waters long evaporated, leaving a tangible sense of abandonment in its wake.
Among the wreckage and corroded iron, an enduring symbol of hope emerged—the chapel. Its lofty steeple, though diminished in stature by half, defiantly pierced the sky. While every other edifice had succumbed to the relentless march of time and decay, the chapel stood resolute, its roof nearly intact, and its sturdy walls a testament to resilience
Eldric approached the chapel.
"State your name and allegiance!!" A mysterious voice called from above. It was slightly lower pitched than Eldric's but its booming volume echoed throughout the village. Eldric stood silent.
A moment later, a large figure dropped from the chapel. He stood and faced Eldric. He was a man, just slightly taller than Eldric. His shoulders were broad and his hair was thick and brown. His eyes, a deep blue, pierced into Eldric's soul as he paced closer to him. His shirt was dirtied and earth-toned, with no visible tears. To accompany his shirt, his pants held multiple pockets and went down to his ankles, and his shoes were thick and durable. His face and arms showed scratches and cuts, while his chin was protected by a beard.
The man paced towards Eldric, circling around him before stopping in front of him. "An imperial uniform, not a design I'd seen before, but noticeable nonetheless. Who are you?"
Eldric stood, frozen.
The man stepped to Eldric, sticking his face in Eldric's, their noses a breath away from each other. "Must I repeat myself, who are you?"
"El-Eldric, Eldric Freeman."
The mysterious man stepped away from Eldric
"Freeman." The man repeated the name to himself. "Ok, Mr. Eldric Freeman, I'll lay things down for you nice and simple. I have nineteen individual snipers pinpointed on your very location. They work for me. As soon as I give the signal, or you move, they will not hesitate to fire and kill. Do I make myself clear?"
Eldric nodded. He noticed an audible accent within the man's voice, but couldn't quite pinpoint it.
"Good. Now answer my questions concisely and efficiently. Who is with you?"
"With me?" Eldric was taken aback. "Nobody is with me. I'm alone."
The man squinted in suspicion but seemed to accept the answer. "Alright, what are you doing here? Are you working with the Einrich Empire?"
"W-What?" Eldric chuckled. "No, no not at all. I'm not working with anyone, I just told you. In fact, Einrich's after me, that's why I'm in the Land of Solitude, to begin with."
The man paused, and stared Eldric directly in the eyes, sending shivers down his spine. "You mean to have me believe that you are being sought after by the Einrich Empire, and so you've deserted your country by entering the Land of Solitude, and somehow came upon this village. Do I have I that right?"
Eldric nodded.
The man's mouth widened and exploded with laughter. He laughed so hard that he had to crouch to catch his breath. "Don't worry, you're not being followed," he said, still panting from his laughter. "Not by Einrich, that's for sure."
"Why not?"
The man raised an eyebrow. "How long have you been in the Land of Solitude?"
Eldric thought for a moment. "Little over a day, I guess."
"Then there you have it," the man said definitively. "If Einrich were truly after you for whatever reason, they would've either killed you or captured you by now. Einrich isn't some petty nation like Wargia, they've got power. In their eyes, you're already dead." The man then looked Eldric up and down before thinking to himself. "Last question, Mr. Eldric Freeman, do you have any relation to a man by the name of Leodric Wilson?"
Eldric drew a look of confusion. "Leodric? Sorry, I don't think so. I've never heard the name. Apologies."
"I see." The man nodded before turning his back to Eldric, sticking his hand to the sky and waving goodbye. "Live your life well, Eldric Freeman."
Eldric was caught aback. He followed the man into the chapel, hoping to find more answers. "Wait a minute, you can't just leave me here. I'd die if I spent another day alone, and you're the first person I've seen out here! How can you just leave me?!"
The man reached the back corner of the chapel and began removing debris from the ground, revealing a trapdoor leading beneath the structure. "I'm under no obligation to tell you this, Eldric Freeman, but don't follow anyone in the Land of Solitude. It's bad manners, you know? Also, I don't believe I have any obligation to assist you whether I'm the first person you've seen or the one-hundredth. Good day!"
"You could at least give me some pointers, maybe a place I can go to? I'm not trying to run from Einrich for the rest of my life."
The man removed the last of the debris covering the metal door. Lifting it up, he glared at Eldric. "Mr. Freeman, I can tell you're new to this whole thing, but you're in the Land of Solitude. Running is all you're gonna be doing now. Now, as I've said, good day." He climbed into the hole and disappeared into the darkness below.
Eldric peered into the square hole. A wooden ladder, showing no signs of age, led down to the ground where a singular torch illuminated the stone floor below. Having no other leads, he grabbed onto the ladder and followed the mysterious man down into the depths.
Reaching the bottom, the sunlight from above had all but disappeared, and in front of him stood a long hallway with a singular door at the end. The man, carrying the only source of light, led the way to the door at the end of the hallway.
"Woah!" Eldric shouted. "I had no idea chapels had these kinda things down here."
The man jumped and quickly jolted his head around. "You followed me down here? I thought I told you to get out of here." The man's eyes shot bullets towards Eldric, making his body shiver.
Swallowing his nervousness, Eldric spoke. "Of course I followed you down here," he retorted, "you haven't answered any of my questions, and again, you're the only person I've seen out here! You can't just expect me to take what you've said and go: 'Oh yeah that makes perfect sense to me!' Are you crazy?"
The man looked at Eldric for a few moments before turning around and mumbling to himself. Eventually, he began walking down the hallway, Eldric a few paces behind him. They reached the door and the man pulled a metal key from one of his many pants pockets. "The only one, huh?" He said while unlocking the door. "That will change, I guarantee you that."
Eldric followed the man through the door. Inside was a small room with several bookshelves lined up against the walls, each filled completely with large books. In the center of the room stood a small desk, big enough to hold one person and completely covered in books. The ground held scrolls, tapestries, and open books in no discernable pattern. The man put the torch in a torch holder along the back wall and sat down at the desk, opening a book that was already there.
"Woah, how'd you find this place?" Eldric questioned, running his finger along the many books.
"I just happened upon it," the man said begrudgingly. "I would enjoy it if you'd stop probing me for questions, thank you."
"Hey, fairs fair. You probe me I probe you."
"That's hardly the same thing-"
"Isn't it? Your snipers don't threaten me anymore, we're underground. Now answer my questions."
The man looked at Eldric staying silent. The two continued to stare at one another as if sizing each other up. After a minute of this mental battle, the man spoke. "Three questions. I asked you three questions, so you ask me three questions. Fairs fair. Afterward, you leave, and I never see you again. Deal?" The man closed his book and placed it on the desk. He crossed his arm as if waiting for what Eldric was to say.
"You asked me four, but fine. Three questions." Eldric thought for a moment before speaking again. "First, who are you? I don't mean just your name. Where are you from, that sort of thing, why are you here?"
"That's already three questions, but fine, I'll count it as one. My name is Michael Hickhox, I'm a merchant from the Principality of Rivercrest. I've been wandering the Land of Solitude for longer than I can even remember."
"The pleasure's all mine." Eldric turned to face the books once again. He pulled out a random book and looked at the cover. It was written in a text he couldn't read. Not because it was faded, but because the writing was in a foreign language he had not even recognized. Looking back at Michael once again, "Ok, second question: Where the hell are we? I was taught and I believed that nobody had ever lived in the Land of Solitude, barring the Men of Gordon and petty thieves. Just what is this town?"
Michael chuckled, not nearly as hard as on the surface, but still a hearty laugh that Eldric could hear from across the room. "First, let's get things straight. The Men of Gordon aren't here. They never existed to begin with. Sorry to burst your bubble, but from what I've learned only the empire teaches its youth about the Men of Gordon. If they did exist, I surely would have encountered 'em at some point, but they don't. And I haven't" Michael rubbed his hands together. "Now to your actual question, of course people lived out here before this was the Land of Solitude. Did you take basic history lessons? Before the Second Alcrestian War a hundred years ago, it was thriving with life, and so too was this village."
Michael stood up and walked to one of the bookshelves on the back wall. He pulled a piece of parchment and laid it across the ground.
"We're actually in old imperial ground, Mr. Freeman," Michael pointed to an obscure place in the middle of the map. "In a town known formally as Clerud."
Eldric crouched next to the parchment. On it depicted a vastly different map from what he'd known of the continent. The far east was barely explored, and the empire was much larger. Just then, Eldric's head felt a ringing pain, unlike anything he'd felt before. He felt as if a knife had stabbed him in his head. With no hesitation, he screamed out in agony.
And then almost as quickly as it came, the pain dissipated.
"What the hell was that?" Michael exclaimed. "Are you insane or something?!"
Eldric looked at his hands, not saying a word. "I-"
Michael slapped him. "If you're going to scream as if someone was murdering you, at least give me a heads up! As far as I know you just called in your entourage!"
Eldric, regaining his composer, sat up. "Sorry. I don't know what happened. I just got this pain in my head and-"
Michael stuck his hand up to silence Eldric. "Whatever, I'm over it now. If it happens again, however, I'll pop two pieces of lead through your skull. If I get back to my point, you won't do that again will you?"
Eldric shook his head.
"Good. As I was saying, the village, Clerud, was abandoned in the war, and hasn't been repopulated since. Nobody in their right mind would live on the front lines, right?" He went silent before rolling the parchment up and returning it to its previous home. "After the war, when this land was deemed neutral and belonged to no one, again not by any Men of Gordon but instead the nations at the forefront of the war, the town never got a chance to return to what it once was. Now, it stands as a grim reminder of the perils humankind has gone through and the lengths it will take to achieve her goals."
Eldric didn't say a word. As Michael returned to the desk in the middle, he looked at Eldric with inquisitive eyes.
"And what of your last question?"
"What?"
"You wanted three questions, you've only asked two. I would like to get this over with so I can return to my solace."
"Right, okay." Eldric rose to his feet. He had received the information he wanted, so he put his mind to the future. I have to make it out of here, there isn't any way I'd survive longer than a week if I stayed out here. "You said you were from Rivercrest, right? Tell me. How can I get there, or any northern country for that matter?"
Michael looked at him and burst out once again in his enormous laughter, this one lasting longer than the previous. Once he caught his breath, he looked at Eldric and immediately burst out into laughter again. After another few minutes of Michael cackling, he finally caught his breath and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Eldric Freeman. You wouldn't survive a day up in the northern countries. What, you want to live on the front lines of an international war?!" Michel burst out laughing once more. "It's impossible."
"Then where else could I go? I can't go back to Einrich, they'd kill me. You know as well as I that I wouldn't survive a day in Reinbose, so where else-"
Michael stopped Eldric with his hand. "I wasn't saying livin in Rivercrest was impossible, rather leaving the Land of Solitude is impossible. Besides, Mr. Freeman, you'd sooner die in Rivercrest than you would here. Hell, even Reinbose is probably safer for you than Rivercrest."
"Why is it impossible?"
"Why?!" Michael exploded in laughter once more. "Mr. Freeman, entering the Land of Solitude is easy as a task may come. But leaving? You'd have the stain on your back of someone who came from the Land of Solitude. People, regardless of whom, will take you for a ruffian, a convict, practically someone who escaped their life sentence in prison. Us merchants get a bye because we come back here. One can never truly leave this land. Take you for instance: you will die in the north, you make it seem like you can't return to Einrich, which is probably true regardless of circumstance, and you can't get to Reinbose. Even if you do get to Reinbose, your clear imperial accent and body language will give you away. Your best option, again, is to simply live your life here, in the Land of Solitude."
"But I need to leave," Eldric said desperately. "I know it's a stretch, but I can't stay here. I'll do anything. I need to live the way I want to live, I can't do that here."
"And what way is that?"
"I just want to live comfortably; without the restraints I had in the empire."
Michael's head cocked to the side, and his eyes squinted. "And you expect to have that in the north? Where war rages on, families separated, and children slain? You expect a stress-free life in such destruction? Take a look outside, Mr. Freeman. You'll see land. Desolate land, sure, but peaceful land. Sure, you must deal with the occasional thief or creature, but if you have someone alongside you, you will get on just fine. There is no war, no conflict. People living day by day as if it were their last. You get the freedom you can't find anywhere else. What more could you want?"
"I don't want to just 'get on', I want to live. I don't want to have to constantly look over my shoulder in fear of my life. I'd done that enough in the Empire, I'm tired of it."
Michael put his elbows on the desk and began rubbing his forehead. "Fine then, go. If you're so insistent on leaving, your best bet is Reinbose. Head due East, if you don't know which direction that is, it's the way the sun sets. It's about a nine-day hike if you know the terrain, so I'd give you about two weeks. Due east is Greenwood. It doesn't have a wall or anything like Erdenjist where I presume you come from, but it does have guards. They might listen to you if you bring up your plight, but they also might not. So, your guess is as good as mine. Good luck!"
Michael stood up and grabbed a book from behind him, opening it and shooing Eldric away with one of his hands. Without another word, Eldric turned around and made for the ladder to the surface. As he neared the opening, he heard voices that were having a conversation from above.
"Hey, Michael?"
Michael sighed before looking up towards Eldric. The hallway wasn't too long and the two could see and hear each other quite well. "What is it now? I thought you were off."
"I was, but do you think one of your snipers could take me?"
"My what? Oh!" Michael chuckled to himself. "Sorry, Mr. Freeman, but there weren't any snipers, that was just a ruse to get you to confess. If you really want someone that badly-"
"You don't have to lie to me, I can hear them talking above."
Michael put his book down and stood. "You what?"
"Yeah, they're talking to each other, I don't know what about but I could-"
Michael jumped out of his seat and over the desk. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!" He exclaimed.
Before Eldric could interpret what he'd said, an explosion ruptured from above him, blasting a giant hole that revealed the secret hallway and room, causing rubble to fall upon him. Michael shielded himself from the sudden sunlight, noticing several figures above the now large hole when his eyes adjusted.
"Hello, Michael Hickhox," a deep voice rang from above. Michael knew this voice, but he couldn't tell which figure spoke it. "We thought it was strange when we weren't greeted at the gate. Did you forget about our little exchange?"
Michael did not respond.
"Anyways, we thought you abandoned Clerud, which we thought was lucky! I mean, first time Michael Hickhox wasn't guarding Clerud in how long? We couldn't pass up this opportunity!"
"How'd you find me?"
"It was pretty easy actually. We heard an ear-shattering scream coming from the chapel, so we investigated and found this hole of yours. We sent scouts below and heard you talking to yourself, and knew we needed to catch you off guard, get the high ground, you know."
"And this is your plan to do that?" Michael's eyes were beginning to adjust and he could start to see the visual differences in the figures. "You've fallen far,
"You've wronged us several times, Hickhox. One too many, if you ask me. I think it's time for a little repentance, and what better place than in the chapel of your own stomping grounds?"
Michael put his hand on his gun. "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get."
"Very well."
One of the men above Michael, presumably the leader, raised their hand and immediately three figures jumped below. Michael quickly drew his gun and fired at the descending figures. Three shots missed, one hitting the shoulder of the back right figure. The three landed and quickly lunged towards Michael. Dodging the attacks effortlessly, he could hear the chuckles of the leader from above.
"Can't use your tactics if we constantly go after you, eh, Hickhox?"
Michael, not reacting to the taunts from above, grabbed one of the attacker's heads and swung his body into another, crashing the two to the ground. He pounced on the third, who now had his gun out and pointed at Michael. Before he could fire, however, Michael stepped beside him and whispered into his ear. Immediately, the man drew the gun to his head and shot himself.
Eldric heard all of this from inside the pile of rubble. He felt immense pain all over, but fought through that pain to scrape away what little he could to escape. As he scraped away the rubble, more fell upon the spots where there were holes. He had no idea how much rubble was on him, but he kept digging. Eventually, the rubble stopped replacing the old, and he could crawl out from the rocks.
As he escaped, he watched as a soldier clad in an old imperial uniform shot himself with Michael next to him. Immediately, Michael noticed the struggling Eldric and ran over to him, keeping an eye on the figures from above.
Eldric, coughing, struggled to get his words out. "They're after me. They have imperial uniforms. I told you." He finished his thought before passing out once more.
* * *
When Eldric awoke, he was inside a room unfamiliar to him. Several guns lay about the floor, and a workbench sat against the wall, where Michael was working. The bed Eldric laid upon was facing a staircase, and next to the staircase was a railing where a brown satchel was hung.
Hearing the sounds of life, Michael turned around. "You're awake."
Eldric nodded.
Michael turned from the workbench and picked up a flask. He shook it before tossing it over to Eldric. "Water."
Eldric looked at the flask. He unscrewed the top before putting his mouth to the opening and flipping the flask. The water rushed down his throat and dropped into his stomach, cooling his entire body down. His throat was quenched, and his thirst replenished.
When he finished the flask, he set it beside his bed. Michael had returned to working at the bench. "What happened to those imperials?"
"They ran off," Michael said quickly. "And they weren't imperials to begin with. Ex-imperials, maybe, but I've run into them for years, now."
Eldric nodded. "Thanks, by the way."
"For what?"
"For getting me out of there and to wherever we are."
Michael didn't respond. The two sat in silence as the sounds of tinkering continued. Suddenly, Michael put his tools down and turned to face Eldric.
"All right, I've made up my mind. I'll take you."
Eldric was taken aback. "What?"
"I'll take you to Reinbose. Only Reinbose. I'll be your escort if you want to call it that. I've been to Greenwood a few times. It's a hub for merchants and dealers alike, so I know the fastest way there. I'll protect you along the way, and we'll make it there in a week or so."
Eldric was stunned. "I thought you said-"
Michael stuck his finger in Eldric's face. "I'm aware of what I said, and I gave it some thought. You said you'd do anything to get out of here, and I'm jumping on that. I'm a merchant, aren't I? I'm not gonna do this for you for free. I'm gonna need a favor from you when we reach Greenwood. No need for details now, but when we get there I'll tell you all about it." Michael stuck his hand towards Eldric, offering a handshake. "Do we have a deal?"
Eldric hesitated.
"Freeman," Michael began, "I want you to accept this knowing what's ahead of you. We've got a roughly nine-day trek through the deadliest place on Alcrest. Ein help us, we'll make it in eight. There might be things more deadly than you've ever encountered before. Keep that in mind." Michael's hand slowly lowered again, returning to the position it once was. "This is my one and only offer as well, so your answer is final."
Eldric brought his hand to Michael's and shook it. Quickly, Michael pulled his hand away and turned back to the workbench.
"Freeman, do you have a weapon of your own?"
Eldric shook his head.
"Really? How did you survive out here without one? And didn't you come from the Empire? Why wouldn't you have a gun?"
"I did have one, but-" Eldric cut himself off. He thought back to the soldier.
"I see." Michael drew a look of confusion. "Anyways, we need to get you out of that uniform of yours. Can't have you revealing who you're allegiance is towards if you're trying to go to their enemy. Wait one moment." Michael walked downstairs. Eldric was tempted to follow him but refrained from doing so. Eventually, Michael returned with several clothes in hand. "These are old ones of mine, but try 'em on. Best not reveal where you hail from so easily, right?"
Eldric removed his uniform and tried a few pieces of clothing on. He settled for a black shirt and dark brown pants with not nearly as many pockets as Michael's. His makeshift bandage got in the way, so he took it off.
"What?"
To his surprise, the injury had all but faded, leaving three noticeable scars in its place. "That doesn't make any sense."
"What's wrong?" Michael asked.
"Look!" Eldric showed his healed shoulder. "My shoulder! I swear it was bleeding out last night!"
"Maybe you were just dehydrated," Michael responded. "Hallucinations happen all the time when you are."
Eldric went quiet. He couldn't accept that as an excuse for his wound disappearing, but he had no choice. How else would a deep gouge evaporate in a day?
Trying to ignore his shock, he finished putting on his shirt and pants. The black shirt hugged his skin, allowing him to move fluidly, and the pants were just the right size. He made sure everything fit well before turning back to Michael. "About my weapon."
"Right, what kind of gun do you want?"
Eldric shrugged. "Anything works really."
"That's what everyone says, but everyone has their own gusto when firing a gun. Do you want something more accurate, or something that fires rapidly, or maybe something in the middle?"
"Truly, anything works." Eldric stepped to the wall where guns were lined up in a neat fashion.
"What did you use back in the empire?" Michael asked.
"They had us use a lot of guns. Basic training they had us use a smaller pistol, but in practice it was more similar to a rifle, I guess."
Michael walked over to the array of guns lined against the wall and picked up a small grey handgun. He showed it to Eldric with a proud look on his face. "An Abbasi-X7. A reliable, accurate gun. Easy to hide. How's this?"
"That's perfect."
Michael nodded and quickly slammed the gun on the workbench and began tinkering with it.
Eldric watched Michael move parts around with meticulous accuracy. His hand glided across the machine, moving into place various switches, springs, and parts. His fingers moved like water flowing down a pipe, and his hands held the gun with care found only with mothers and their children.
When Michael had finished tinkering with the gun, he closed it up and handed it to Eldric. "It's ready to go." Michael stepped away from the table and grabbed a small pouch off the ground. "Here's the ammo for it." Michael walked over to the staircase and began heading down. "We leave at first sunlight. Don't kill yourself before then."
* * *
Eldric rested in the room for an hour or so before getting up and deciding to explore the village while he could. He walked down the stairs to see the dilapidated remains of a house. The front door was dislocated from its hinges, and the walls were chipping away, but the house was intact. The ground floor had signs of furniture once existing, and water dripped from the cracked ceiling. The windows were broken and charred, and the floor was covered in cobwebs and dust.
Exploring the houses around Michael's, there wasn't much to see outside the occasional half-broken piece of furniture, or an old book strewn about. When Eldric returned to Michael's temporary home, the sun had begun to set, making the sky orange and the streets a dark shade of red. Stars began to appear in the sky and the noises of the night had begun.
Michael had been in the broken house when Eldric returned, reading one of his books. He looked up at Eldric briefly before returning to his reading. Still looking at his book, he ushered to the makeshift bed Eldric woke up in hours prior.
"You can sleep there tonight."
Eldric stared at him, puzzled. "Where will you sleep?"
"That doesn't matter. I'll be out when you go to bed and I'll be out when you wake up. When and where I go to sleep is none of your concern."
Eldric began walking over to his new bed before asking Michael if he could read one of the books lying about the floor. With a slight nod, he picked up one of them with a thick spine and a hard leather cover and sat at his bed.
The bed was comfortable, though dead grass pierced into his skin unless he shifted about. He found a nice spot and flipped open the book. Inside, there were symbols Eldric didn't even recognize, similar to the ones on the cover of the book he'd picked out in the underground library, but slightly different.
Some time had passed before the sky had darkened to the point where the symbols were impossible to read. Michael had taken notice of the darkness and slammed his book shut. Standing up and bidding goodnight to Eldric. Without a word further, he stepped downstairs and exited the house with minimal sound.
Eldric had grown tired of trying to read the incomprehensible symbols, so he too closed his book and laid his head on the grass. Surprisingly, it supported his head quite nicely. Soon enough, he had fallen asleep.
* * *
Michael's word held true. When Eldric awoke, there was nobody in the house but him. Thinking Michael would be in the hidden library, he grabbed his newly acquired gun and began walking to the central square.
The sky was covered with clouds, and the air was much cooler than the day before. A certain moisture hung about the air, giving the weeds some weight under the small droplets of water. The night sky began to appear more blue as the coming of dawn neared. When Eldric reached the central square, Michael had already been there, waiting for him. He wore his satchel around his shoulder and posted his own gun on his shoulder.
"Ready to go?"
"Let's."