Present Day

The dull hum of Captain Langford’s voice barely reached Eva Victoria’s ears over the constant drone of the rain falling on the school roof. It was so hard to concentrate - every time she tried to force herself to look back at her notes or up at the chalkboard she found her forehead resting back on the cold window staring at the swirling fog. She thought she could see shapes, black specks in the distance that made her blood run cold, but every time she tried to focus in on one it faded from view.

“Ms. Ivans?” Evie’s head snapped up as she realized the teacher was looking at her. And she probably had been for quite some time judging by the impatient scowl on her face. Then again, the big scar on her cheek made it look like she was always scowling.

“I wonder how she feels having to teach teenagers about long-dead heroes nobody cares about instead of fighting out there… Probably no happier to be here than I am…”

Evie tried to sit up straight, brushing her hair behind her ear and hoping her face wasn’t too red from leaning against the window. It felt like she had been sitting in that seat for hours even though the clock in the corner sad it had barely been 30 minutes.

“I’m sorry, can you say that again?”

She heard a snigger coming from Derek behind her as Captain Langford’s frown deepened.

“I aked you: what crime was Joan of Arc convicted of by the English before they burned her to death?”

“Er… witchcraft?”

“That’s mostly correct…” The teacher’s eyes narrowed as if she was disappointed Evie had answered correctly. “The English needed a reason to discredit her, so they tried and convicted her for many charges including witchcraft, heresy, and even wearing men’s clothing.”

Evie gave a small sigh of relief and looking over to see her friend Mia laughing, leaning over from the desk beside her so that only she could hear.

“Evie Swiftfoot dodges the killing strike!”

“And how old was she when she was burned?”

Like a practiced soldier, the teacher had struck again just as Evie had let her guard relax. She looked down at her notes, which unfortunately only contained the day’s date, February 17th, 2039, and her best effort at a stick figure cutting down a group of enemies with a broadsword. Glancing sideways at Mia, she saw her friend holding up a three and a five behind her back.

“Thirty five.”

She knew immediately from the laughter around her that her answer was wrong and felt her face go red with a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.

“No, she was 19…”

The teacher sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose. Having succeeded in catching Evie out, now she only looked tired and disappointed. WIth another, long-suffering sigh, the teacher straightened her uniform and stared searchingly down at Evie. The only thing that could have possibly made History class feel more fake was being taught by a teacher wearing epaulets.

“Please see me after class Ms. Ivans”.

Evie glared daggers at Mia as the teacher turned back around to the chalkboard and started writing, but Mia just shrugged.

“You’re the worst.”

“Hey, my arm is still bruised from the beating you gave me last week in Martial Skills.”

“That was fair game, fight better.”

“This was fair game, pay attention.”

“Girls, girls, break it up.”

Derek’s usual lack of subtlety, drew a glare from not only both Evia and Mia, but the teacher as well. He mercifully lowered his voice as he continued.

“What we really need to be talking about here is how we’re going to celebrate Evie’s 18th birthday tomorrow. I hear the militia’s running a convoy up to Lake Anna and the weather’s supposed to clear up.”

Evie scowled at him, her glare only slightly abating.

“You mean if I’m not stuck here in detention with Captain Langford because of the two of you… Can this not wait until lunch?”

“Sure, usual spot?”

Mia leaned her head in so the three of them were huddled in the passage between their desks.

“Derek, have you looked outside? You want to go up on the roof in this? Not everyone has an [Environment] skill…”

“Well we have Martial this afternoon anyway… You really think old Kent is going to take it easy on us because of the weather? Might as well get some privacy.”

All three of their heads shot up, nearly banging into each other in their haste as the teacher loudly cleared her throat from the front of the room.

“Mr. Morrow, Ms. Ashford, Ms. Ivans, if I hear one more word out of any of you that isn’t the correct answer to a question I ask, all three of you are going to be helping me care for the training weapons after class this afternoon, am I clear?”

“Yes ma’am!”

Mia smiled, putting on her best innocent face causing Evie to roll her eyes and fake a retch. Derek waited for the teacher to turn around again before pointing to both of them and then up at the roof. Evie sighed and tried her best to focus back on the class.

***

Evie was ready the moment the teacher dismissed them. Bag packed and coat on, she quickly slung the sack over her shoulder and tried to disappear into the crowd of her classmates heading to their next class. Just as she almost reached the hallway, Captain Langford’s voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Ms. Ivans…”

Evie froze, wondering if she could pretend not to have heard. But that would get her detention for sure and even the most rebellious part of her didn’t want to be stuck cleaning weapons with Captain Langford all evening. With a sigh she turned back to the classroom, catching Mia’s eye on the way out.

“Good luck, I’ll see you later.”

Her friend’s voice was barely audible as she rested a gentle hand on Evie’s shoulder and gave it a short squeeze before following the crowd out the door.

Evie walked over to a desk at the front of the class and threw her bag back down with more violence than she intended, folding her arms in a pout. She glared back up at the teacher, challenging her to say something. Instead Captain Langford leaned back against her own desk, arms folded as well, mirroring Evie's posture. The classroom was now empty, the chaotic shuffle of students transitioning to their next classes echoing faintly down the hall. The rain continued to beat a steady rhythm against the windows, adding a somber undertone to the silence that stretched between them. For more than a minute they sat there staring at each other in silence until Evie lost her patience.

“Well if that’s it-”

“Sit down.”

Captain Langford’s voice was soft, but there was iron in it that stopped Evie and she found herself abandoning her second effort to flee the room.

“Evie, what’s happening? Two years ago you were my best student, bar none, and now when I don’t catch you napping or daydreaming you’re chatting or passing notes in the back of class. I've watched you excel in your physical training and tactical simulations - all of our combat teachers still talk about you like you’re the best student we’ve ever had - and then you come into my class and hand in this…”

Evie almost didn’t want to look down at the test the teacher slid onto her desk. She hadn’t even answered half the questions. A big red 31 was circled at the top of the first sheet. Despite herself, she felt the stinging of tears in her eyes that she couldn’t understand any better than she could control.

“It’s like you don’t care anymore…”

“What’s the point of any of this? Why are we still learning about long-dead heroes when all of us are going to be fighting or working in less than 6 months? I hit Level 23 last week in training. Do you know how many times I’ve leveled up in history class? In math?”

“Then history is even more important! You know why the stewards want you to learn… We’ve found again and again that youngsters with affinity for a certain hero are far more likely to get a tier 2 transformation. That’s easily worth ten levels. You could make a real difference!”

“But there hasn’t been one new Tier 2 since the last [Pathfinder] died five years ago. This is it. Besides, everyone knows Stewardess McIntyre’s daughter awakened Joan of Arc more than 10 years ago. So no one else will get her anyway.”

“But that isn’t all this is about. Maybe you’ll fight next to her and you’ll be glad you learned about her hero. Or maybe knowing about a young girl almost exactly your age who brought her whole country back from the brink of destruction might be a little inspiring for you.”

Evie broke the teacher’s gaze and looked down at her shoes. Even here she was losing.

“Is that it? Captain Forrest will give me detention if I’m much later.”

“No it’s not it! Are you telling me the girl who wrote this just doesn’t care anymore and wants to die with every other irrelevant meathead on the frontlines?”

This time she couldn’t stop herself - she caught one glance of the small handwritten pile of papers in front of her, just the title: “My Hero”, and a few tears dropped silently down her cheeks. She tried to shift her long dark hair to cover them, but it was pointless.

“I ask all of my students in their first class to write about the hero that inspires them to fight. It’s simple, but you can learn a lot about who someone is going to be from what they write. I saw you walk in here for the first time, laughing with your friends, uniform torn, practice sword on your back, and I thought to myself ‘here’s one more wannabe [Vanquisher] who just doesn’t get it.’ But you surprised me. You know I’ve read countless essays about The 10, about Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, President Obama, the stewards, and yes… about people’s parents-”

“So there’s nothing special about it...”

“Maybe not years ago, no. I’m sure back in 2019 plenty of 14 year-old girls wrote essays about their mothers. Back then, I worked at a credit card company. Do you even know what a credit card is?”

Evie looked up at her blankly. She hated this. She wanted out of this room, now. Unfortunately the teacher ignored whatever silent signals she was trying desparately to emit and kept on talking.

“Exactly… In 2019, I was a Senior Manager of Underwriting Valuations. In 2021, I was a Level 14 [Knight] fighting tooth and nail every day to stay alive. The Virus stole our future. It stole yours before you were even born. Back then I’m sure plenty of teenage girls wrote about how their moms were their heroes, but today…

“What does it even matter?”

“You didn’t write about generals conquering lands or heroes killing monsters - you wrote about your mom raising you by herself. This isn’t just an assignment, it’s a part of your story. And it’s a reminder that you have the strength to handle the challenges you face, just as your mother did. ”

Evie stood up abruptly, but suddenly she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the essay sitting on her desk.

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“I-I…”

“I don’t need to hear it. I know you have your reasons, your challenges you’re facing. And I know you’ll overcome them. I’m counting on you.”

Before Evie could react, the teacher grabbed her own bag and walked out of the room, leaving her standing there by herself.

***

“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.”

Each word was punctuated with a precise cut from Evie’s training sword, cutting down an imaginary monster hiding itself in the mist. The rain had picked up, a steady downpour that soaked through her clothes almost instantly, plastering her hair to her face. She welcomed the cold – it was sharp and cleansing in stark contrast to the turmoil roiling within her. Each slash and parry was a release, her movements fluid but forceful. Quickly she lost herself in the form – step, step, strike, pivot, block, counter. The rain made the surface slippery, but she adjusted her footing, her body intuitively syncing with the rhythm of her strikes.

If someone who knew nothing of the Virus and what happened after it came was watching her train, they would have hardly recognized her as human. She had tried to read what they called science fiction from the last years before the Virus, even enjoyed it for a time, but as she grew older, she found it almost impossible to connect with it. Back then the future was artificial intelligence and journeys to Mars, but instead of technology reaching the Space Age, it had fallen back to the Dark Age as the Virus knocked out power grids and rendered that entire society obsolete.

Instead of technology, it was humanity that evolved. She laughed imagining what Asimov, Orwell, or Weir would have thought about her: a 6 foot 2, 176 pound 17-year old who had never logged into a computer or sent a text message, and only knew cars as the rusted hunks of trash parents warned their kids not to play in. But she could jump more than 6 feet in the air and run 100 meters in less than 8 seconds. And she was hardly the pinnacle - as people leveled they grew stronger, faster, even taller to the extent that some may have called them a completely different species from homo sapiens if it was a debate anyone bothered to have.

Panting and soaked to the bone, Evie let herself come to a stop at the end of her routine. She stood in the center of the rooftop, her chest heaving, steam wafting up from her bare arms and looked out over the edge at the school grounds below. Lowering her sword, she closed her eyes and allowed herself a moment to breathe, feeling the cool rain fall softly on her skin. Little rivulets of water flowed from her hair down her back and coagulated on her uniform, but rather than feeling uncomfortable, the weight grounded her and helped her relax. Opening her eyes, she found them drawn to the mural at the edge of the roof. Unconsciously, she found herself walking slowly toward it, as drawn to the image as she had been the first time she’d seen it and every time since.

If people today were good at one thing, it was hero-worship. So much had been lost over the last twenty years, but no effort was spared in memorializing the few people who had been able to stand up to the Virus - trying to inspire the rest of them to rise up to their heights. The mural was a dizzying array of colors, especially cast against the bleak landscape, each hero shown as a beacon of valor and courage. Six men, two women – each the first of their archetype and the most powerful – and two pathfinders.

She had seen The Ten in art, heard their exploits told in stories, and sung in songs from the moment she was old enough to understand what was happening. But eight of them were dead now, and while the Virus grew stronger, humanity grew weaker. New heroes had risen up, but not as powerful as the first ones. And crucially, no [Pathfinders], without whom no new hero could awaken. They had lost so much and every year the Virus only seemed to get stronger.

“That mural gets me every time I come up here… Whoa, whoa there!”

Derek’s greeting became a cry of alarm as he tried to step out of range of Evie’s sudden slash and slipped flat on his back on the wet roof.

“Whoops, you surprised me.”

Evie’s voice was a deadpan, but she couldn’t help the small smile that formed on her lips. Mia’s laugh from behind Derek threatened to turn it into a full grin

“I think you just made my day! Get him while he’s down!”

“Careful, I hold grudges you know…” Derek muttered grumpily, accepting a hand up from Mia who was still laughing.

“Yeah, I think that training dummy in the attic is still waiting for you to show it what’s what. Didn’t that knock out one of your teeth in fourth year?”

“I told you it was a baby tooth and it had been loose for a week!”

Derek raised his hand in mock indignation, before wiping them on his uniform pants that had somehow stayed dry in the rain. All of them laughed, and despite herself Evie felt a small grin forming on her face.

“Ooh is that a smile? You’ve been Ms. Sourpuss today and now we find you training in the rain like a tragic heroine!”

Her tone was light, but Evie thought she saw a tinge of concern within Mia’s eyes as they met her own. She tried to muster a reassuring look on her face, but Mia had already looked down at her feet and was futilely struggling to wring the rain out of her wet uniform.

Seeing Mia’s discomfort, Derek walked over to a clear spot on one side of the mural and motioned over to them.

“I hope you brought dessert Evie, because I made meatballs!”

Mia hurried over to where he was standing and looked up at him with a small pout on her face.

“Hey it was my turn to cook…”

“And did you?”

“No, but I’m offended that you planned for that.”

“I won’t even dignify that with a response… [Small Shelter].”

As Derek pointed at the roof a small bubble formed in the air around them blocking out the rain. He gathered a couple of logs from a waterproof bag in his pack and laid them in the center of the bubble where they immediately burst into a crackling fire. Mia immediately rushed over to the fire and placed her hands over it as close as she could bear.

“Wow, such a showoff…”

Despite being a weak fighter, Derek was the only one of the them who had unlocked his archetype, [Adventurer], and he was excited for any opportunity to show off his skills. The shelter did nothing to block sight or sound or impede an enemy attacking him, but it protected the area around him from the elements and was a blessing on forays outside the fort or in bad weather.

“You’re free to sit outside if it makes you upset.”

“Um… nope!”

They all laughed again as Evie followed them into the shelter and they settled down on the roof. They tore into the pasta and meatballs from Derek’s bag without even waiting for the food to warm beside the fire. As they ate, the mood lightened and as much as Evie wanted to stay upset, she found herself smiling and laughing with her two best friends.

They all went back to the start of grade one when a vicious battle over the swingset led to several black eyes and a bloody nose. Evie’s mom had seen her come home – both the giver and receiver of the worst – and instead of going to the others’ parents to complain, she had invited them all over for cake. Evie remembered how mad she’d been at her mom when she’d come out of her room and seen the two of them waiting in the parlor. She’d try to turn around and run back, but her mom had made her stay. And now… here they were.

“Seriously, Evie, I thought you were going to send Derek off the roof! Nice move…”

Mia gave her a playful shove as she laughed and Evie made a small shrug, feeling a smirk forming on her lips.

“Maybe I was. Just a little wake-up call for our esteemed [Adventurer].”

Derek, nursing his pride more than any actual hurt, rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, just remember who keeps you all dry and comfy in this lovely weather. Respect the [Adventurer], or next time, I’ll make sure the shelter’s just a tad too small for you.”

They all burst into laughter again, as they started to pass around the chocolate chip cookies Evie had indeed made the night before.

As the laughter died down, Evie saw Derek open his mouth and knew what he was going to say. Forestalling his renewed attempt to get them to go on a trip, she put up her hand.

“Derek, I know what you’re going to say, but… I…”

He slowly closed his mouth, the smile turning into a small frown. Mia’s eyes sharpened into the penetrating look from before like the last ten minutes of light-hearted lunch hadn’t happened and she traded a subtle glance with Derek before focusing back on Evie, her gaze lingering this time. She didn’t look upset, but there was an intense look on her face that Evie rarely saw in her normally goofy friend. When Mia spoke, her words were slow and measured as if she was worried about saying the wrong thing.

“Please tell us Evie. It’s been obvious something has been wrong for a long time. We didn’t want to pry, but we… We know you’ve been hurting.”

“You know?”

Derek responded this time, putting a hand on Evie’s knee and squeezing lightly.

“Of course we know, Evie. We’re your best friends. I know we’re about to graduate in a few months and that’s scary for all of us, probably even for you, but you haven’t been yourself for years now.”

Evie saw the curiosity warring with respect for her privacy on both of their faces and knew she had to tell them, but she couldn’t put into words how much she didn’t want to. Saying it out loud, especially to her closest friends, made it real in a way she didn’t think she’d ever be ready for. She looked back and forth between them for a long time – Derek sitting there patiently, his hand still on Evie’s knee while Mia sat straight as an arrow, so still it looked like she wasn’t breathing. When Evie finally opened her mouth, the words were hoarse and raspy.

“Do you two remember the attack on the fort a year and a half ago?”

Mia replied instantly, her voice soft, but there was a note of wariness in it.

“How could we forget? It was the largest group of Virus anyone’s ever seen – nearly 500 people died before the army from Fort Washington arrived and drove them off. I’ve never been so scared in my life. And Derek…”

Derek’s eyes had only clouded the slightest bit, but Evie knew there was a deeper pain sitting right below the surface. That night he had been on a routine training mission with a small scout unit. He’d always been comfortable outdoors and it had been clear for a long time he was going to be a scout when he graduated. The soldiers had taken him and a few of their classmates outside the falls to scout the forest around the fields as the farmers finished the harvest, but they had been cut-off by the Virus attack. Every member of the expedition had perished besides Derek, who had returned three days later, bloody and frostbitten with the corpses of six soldiers and two of his classmates and a group of 15 living farmers.

Evie saw the pain in both of her friends’ eyes and clenched her hand so tightly her nails cut into her palm.

“They get it. Everyone has had something awful happen to them, has seen someone they care about die.”

“Mom and I were on the southern wall. I know-” she held up her hand forestalling Mia’s interjection. “I told you all we were on the other side. I wasn’t ready to talk about it then. I-I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about it now… B-but I have to tell you all because… We’ll get to that.”

Her voice trembled with emotion and she shut her eyes tight, trying to stop the traitorous tears forming in their corners.

“There was just a small force stationed there. Most of the Virus, and the two juggernauts were coming from different directions. The generals just saw a few enemies down south so they only sent 300 of us down there with one commander, Lieutenant Livingston. I remember being upset - I was Level 9 then and I wanted a fight. I wanted to kill Virus and maybe get my archetype, but Mom was happy. She’s like all our parents - grew up in a different world where fighting monsters wasn’t part of the high school education. And we were together, so at least there was that.

“We didn’t see the swarm until it was almost on top of us. I know we’ve learned about it, but nothing can describe how terrifying it was. One minute we were staring at five or ten Virus, and the next they broke apart and these huge black Virus bugs were flying at us.”

She shuddered at the memory, the image of the swarming creatures vivid in her mind.

“They moved so fast, like a dark cloud descending. Livingston shouted orders, but it was chaos. We tried to hold them off, but they just kept coming. My shots kept missing. I fired arrow after arrow at the bugs, but I was so scared my hands shook. I remember seeing Mom, though, her face pale but determined, using her healing skills every time someone got hit. She was right there beside me, so brave, so calm, and seeing her there, I felt strong again. I finally hit one and then another and the bugs finally start to go down. We destroyed all of the Virus and I was so happy. I turned to mom to celebrate, and… and…

Evie took a deep breath to steady herself.

And that’s when I saw the dark slash running down her side…”

Mia gasped, putting her hand over her mouth and Derek’s faces were ashen. Evie continued, ignoring the tears rolling down her cheeks.

“It wasn’t even that deep, but it was already pulsing and oozing. [Healers] can’t heal themselves you know. And she was the only one on the wall with us. We got it bandaged, and called for another healer from one of the field hospitals, but by the time we got it seen to, it had already started to spread.

Outside of the occasional tremble, Evie’s voice was almost a monotone now. Inside, however, each word still felt like a hot knife in her heart.

“We’ve been fighting it ever since. The [Healers] have done everything they can, but it’s not enough. She’s… she’s not getting better. I didn’t want to tell you, I didn’t want it to be real! But things are getting worse and I don’t know how much longer she has left.”

The silence that followed was thick with shared sorrow and unspoken fear. Mia’s eyes brimmed with tears and Derek’s face was white as a sheet. Evie looked back and forth between them and felt a wave of exhaustion crash over her. She had put off this conversation for months, but rather than feeling any sense of relief at finally telling her friends, she felt an inescapable emptiness. She couldn’t take their looks of pity or consolation; it was too much. She hurriedly brushed crumbs off her uniform pants and stuffed the empty tin of cookies into her bag. When she stood, her head poked out of the shelter and emerged into the full force of the downpour.

“I… I need to go. Come on, it’s time for-”

“Don’t you dare!”

The shrill voice made Evie flinch and she turned to see Mia standing next to her, sorrow on her face replaced by anger. Her face was red and she had a finger pointed at Evie’s chest. Derek scrambled to his feet beside Mia, causing the shelter to collapse with a small pop as he left it. He put a hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off, eyes not leaving Evie’s face.

“Mia…”

“No! D-don’t you dare run away from this again.”

Mia’s lip trembled as she spoke and her teeth chattered together, causing her voice to shake.

“F-for so long we knew you were hurting. You didn’t want to tell us and you know what? It sucked. But I dealt with it. I guess we all have our own way of dealing with things, even if I can’t fathom why you’d want to carry this all by yourself. But now you finally did, and still want to run away and pretend like everything’s normal again?

“You don’t think we all haven’t experienced loss? I’m the only child left in my family – I saw three older brothers go up on those walls and never come down. Every time it happened I cried my eyes out on your shoulder until I had none left to give. And Derek? You know what really happened in those woods during the attack. We sat with him for days in the hospital while he recovered and listened to him recount those nights cold and terrifying nights. In fact, you know everything that has happened to us since the day we met and do you know why? Because we told you!

“You think you’re so strong keeping all of this inside and trying to bravely soldier on, but that doesn’t make you strong! That makes you weak. Strong people… Good friends, they open up, they confide in people.”

She grabbed her bag and pushed past Evie, shoving her hard on the way past.

“Crap…”

Derek gave Evie an inscrutable look before running past her towards the stairs after Mia. Evie was left standing alone, stunned, the cold rain mingling with the hot tears on her cheeks. How had this gone so wrong?

“Couldn’t one thing, just one moment be…”

But it was useless. She didn’t even know what to wish for. She had never felt so alone.

“I’m sorry.”

But the words were barely audible to her own ears and quickly washed away in the driving rain.