Vas stood in a dark place, across from his smiling companion.

He recognized it.

He knew it.

It had no gender. It had no face.

Vas knew it, though. They were friends. They had to be.

Vas felt a confirmation in his mind. Of course they were friends, but not exactly friends.

That last thought was telepathy. It was the way the companion communicated with him.

Was wondered why he was here. Was he dead?

No.

Was he dreaming?

Yes.

Vas tried to stare at the companion, and found that it was much like looking at a reflection of himself. It was smiling at him. Vas smiled back at it.

The companion’s arms were at its sides, this time. No arm stretched out to Vas as in the past.

That was because Vas was still alive.

Still alive? Vas wondered if it really was the part of him that would become a Risen.

It just smiled. No response this time.

The companion turned away from Vas, inspecting the endless darkness in that direction.

It was watching something.

----------------------------------------

Vas jerked awake and found Selene was laying across his chest. Due to them both being naked, Vas couldn’t help but have an indecent thought or two. However, those were quickly brushed aside when Selene turned her head to look at him.

“Awake now?” Selene asked the question, but obviously knew the answer.

Vas nodded anyways.

“You were thrashing around in your sleep again.”

“Sorry.”

Vas had no idea why he was thrashing about in his sleep recently. It was the same dream as usual. It felt peaceful, he always felt calm. Then he woke up and heard about how he’d rolled around punching and kicking and clawing wildly.

“I woke you fast enough this time. You didn’t hit me.”

“Well it’s good to hear that Vas is only periodically abusive!” Alex’s voice came from outside tent.

“It’s unintentional. You can’t control what you do in your sleep,” Joust muttered.

Vas frowned at bowed his head to Selene, “I really am sorry,” he said quietly. He hoped Alex couldn’t hear.

Selene just rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to Alex, you aren’t doing it on purpose. You haven’t even hit me hard enough to leave a bruise yet.”

“It’s abuse I tell you! Call animal control or something! There’s a bear in the tent with Selene!”

“Shut up, Alex.” Alex sniffed loudly. “The first step is recognizing it.”

Selene stood up and started dressing herself. Vas followed suit.

It had been multiple months since they’d started their trek to the north. They’d encountered a batch of Risen, been trapped in a blizzard, almost fallen into a lake, and had made it past the waves of Risen marching to the Wall. They were almost a week ahead of the first wave, by Vas’s estimation.

Multiple months of marching in snowshoes and walking as much as possible. Alex had eventually stopped complaining about the snowshoes, but always found something. The ash was too thick and made her smell bad or her things were too heavy because of the ash or… Actually, maybe she was just complaining about the ash, Vas realized.

However, today everyone was in high spirits. Vas had no idea where exactly they were, but he was fairly certain that they were within a few more days of heavy walking to the Wall.

Vas walked out of the tent after Selene. The Scouts wore all their layers, and had been for the majority of the trip. Hoods, scarves, gloves. Every extra bit of clothing helped.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Vas found it funny, now, that he’d used to practice every morning with his sword. He’d been so focused on staying alive and training himself and staying in peak condition. It was only later, when his group had been whittled down and killed that he’d realized the truth: survival was based on luck.

Additionally, his miaodao looked ready to break apart at any time. He’d tried his best to keep it well-maintained, but nothing was built to last through that many strikes. He would need a new weapon when he returned to the Wall.

Vas glanced at the many patches and cuts in his jacket and realized he would need a lot of new things when they got back to the Wall.

The Scouts marched for six hours straight north. They’d been heading straight to the north ever since making sure they were a good distance ahead of the front wave of Risen.

It was around this time that Vas spotted shapes of people in the distance. It was a large party, and he suspected it might be Risen.

The Scouts proceeded with caution, staying as low to the ground as possible while still heading in the same direction. Although they were cautious, they also hoped that the group in front of them was the army, and that they’d found their way back to the Wall.

As they got closer, Vas thought he heard a conversation. “They’re people!” His excitement skyrocketed, and the other Scouts caught it. Alex jumped up and down a few times, waving at them. “HEY! PEOPLE!”

The group turned and saw them, and its leader waved back. The two groups walked up to each other, and once they were within normal speaking distance, the leader clutched his fist in the air. Army.

Vas kissed his knuckle and held his fist in the air as well. “Scouts, eh?” The man walked up to Vas shaking his head, “I don’t recognize you from any of the recent departures. Long trip?”

Vas snorted and laughed softly. “Long trip.”

The man nodded. “Well, welcome home.”

Vas looked around.

“Wall’s about a day’s walk straight north. Basecamp is a little more to the north-east.”

Vas nodded. “Many Risen lately?”

“No, that’s why we’re so far out even though we’re not scouts. Command’s worried they’re gathering up for a bigger attack or something. Haven’t seen more than thirty of the monsters since the ashfall started.”

“They’re right.”

The man watched Vas for a few moments. “How many?”

“Too many. A week away.”

The man growled out a couple expletives and rubbed his eyes. “I’ll escort you back to the Wall, but I need to leave the majority of my people out here just in case. Don’t say anything to them. Need to keep morale high.”

Vas nodded, and the man led them back to his group. “I’ll be escorting this Scout party back to basecamp. Spread out and keep your eyes peeled. Jun, I’ll leave the captaining to you.” The man identified as Jun saluted in response.

As Vas and his small party walked past the members of the Vanguard, all of the members of the army kissed their knuckles and raised their fists into the air. Alex returned the gesture excitedly.

“We’re basically famous.”

“Once you start telling your stories we actually will be.”

Alex got a gleam in her eye.

“Alex. No stories.”

“You can’t stop me!”

Vas just sighed and followed the captain. He was too excited to argue with Alex.