The tunnel felt longer than ever. He had been in a daze, a questioning wonder ever since the realisation hit him. His sister had known the demons were coming, known they would attack and waiting for them to take her away. But why, how, and what reason could she have for not telling anyone?

None of it made sense and yet he was sure that was the only explanation. But with that thought came another question, one the spirit had brought out itself—could she still be alive? Somewhere back on the island, after all this time, could she have survived the attack, was that even possible?

The questions kept piling over him and he hadn’t even noticed the machine in the area he once left Keira. Instinctively passing through the place they had escaped to as he continued through the tunnels to the miner's retreat. But as he walked by that space he also realised something else, the miasma that always lingered, that had pressured him since before even coming to the station was gone.

Did that mean the birds were gone as well? Did the structure destroy them when it destroyed itself or had they left after the one who summoned them disappeared? In either case, they weren’t here and the miners would be free to leave, he would be free to go home.

He started to run, he wanted to see the others, his family. He had so much to tell them and could only hope that once he unloaded those thoughts then things might become clear. But as he reached the opening; the steel wall and doorway, there was far less sound coming from the other side. When he walked into the space that housed so many before, there were only a few and none he recognised.

He wondered if they had already left, had already realised the miasma was gone and made their escape as soon as they could. He made his way to the room Keira was in, a few glances came his way from the stragglers but no one said anything to him. But for the second time in as many days, she was not where he expected her to be. But this time it was different, he wasn’t afraid, he felt no fear, and he was sure she was safe, he only had to find her.

When he walked back out to the larger room, intending to search for someone he knew, he met a large man who carried an equally large axe in hand. He had a puzzled expression as he sized Finlay up and as he was about to say something a girl came running over to them.

“Oh oh—you’re one the people we’re ‘sposed to be looking for,” she said with a voice louder than her small stature would suggest.

“I’m sorry if you were looking for me, where is everyone—my dad, Keira, I need to tell them I’m okay.”

She gave him as puzzled a look as the large man had, “You’re strangely calm.”

“What do you mean, did something happen?”

“We were kind of hoping you’d tell us.”

“Usually when someone disappears for a week, they're a little… desperate,” the large man finally spoke but what he said didn’t make sense.

“A week, what are you talking about? I couldn’t have been gone longer than half a day.”

They looked at each other as though having a secret conversation. He didn’t understand, the tunnel wasn’t that long and he ran most of the way back. His time in the structure couldn’t have been more than a few hours and there was no distortion when he had previously been there. What they were saying made no sense to him and he was already exhausted from everything that happened, he wanted to find his father, to find Keira and this was far too confusing.

“Where is my father?”

“They were taken back to Aberana, both him and your friend as well as the other miners,” said the man.

“We’re with the guild, as are the others,” the girl continued, waving towards the other people within the mine.

“We’ve been hunting the beasts that attacked here, and we were given a list of potential survivors—you were on it,” said the man.

“That doesn’t make sense, none of this does.”

The girl stepped in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder as she leaned forward to look him square in the face. She was young for the position she appeared to have, pretty and very slender with green eyes and short-cropped blonde hair.

“I’ll take you back, we’ll contact your family but the guild will want to talk to you. Especially now.”

He couldn’t answer but nodded his head. His mind struggled to make any sense, he felt lost in what they had told him and all he had experienced. The guild had found out about the station and sent people to help, that part made sense. The birds that attacked them had left, either destroyed or hunted and the miners were safe, that all made sense. Everything was okay, was good, and everyone was safe but he had still somehow lost a week of time when it should have been barely a day, and that did not make sense.

He followed the girl out of the mine, doorways and tunnels made from steel he didn’t recognise and an entrance further into the mountain than where he and Keira had escaped to. There were many more people outside, the guild had sent several parties to clean up after the disaster of the attack and they all seemed too busy with their own work to notice him.

“How well do you ride?”

They had walked to a bike, larger than his with thick tyres and heavy-looking plating that would cover most of the rider. It was completely black and had multiple compartments mounted to the back.

“That’s how we came here.”

The memory of his bike as it got ripped apart gave him a pain in his chest he wasn’t expecting. She grinned and stole a helmet from one of the bikes next to hers to give him, he didn’t question it as she pulled hers on and got on the large bike.

“Hop on.”

He slid onto the bike behind her, there was ample space on the large frame and he found plates to rest his feet on that were completely guarded. This wasn’t used for travel alone, but built to go through dangerous places and situations. It started without much noise as all their bikes did but the whir of the motors was much louder than his.

“Hold on tight, I don’t do slow.”

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He wasn’t sure what to hold onto but decided to grab plates on either side of the bike that rose up to their waist height. She looked at him for a moment as if he had done something wrong, then turned and set off and as was her word, was not taking it easy.

They made exceptional time, she never slowed down once. The road was rough but the bike ate through it without worry, without fear and he couldn’t believe how tight it took corners at the speeds it was moving. He couldn’t help but admire the bike, it was extremely well-built and she was a good rider. They tore through the landscape and trail he had travelled and soon they reached the signal shack far quicker than he had expected.

“You should call home, I’ll need to take you straight to the guild so it’d be better if you told them you were okay first.”

“Right, thanks.”

He took out his phone and turned it back on as he got off the bike. He hadn’t even thought about it, in his mind, he was being taken home but of course, the guild would want to talk to him. He had valuable information, they might already know he’d been in contact with the spirit. His father wouldn’t keep that information from them if he thought it might help them find him. They might have even tried to get into the tower and failed. It dawned on him that no one was around the sanctuary when he escaped, which seemed strange as well, if they were investigating, why wouldn’t they have people nearby, trying to get inside?

“Finn! By the gods you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, a lot happened though it’s kind of hard to explain.”

“Keira, he’s alright, he’s on the phone, they got him,” his dad yelled away from the phone though it was still loud enough he had to move it from his ear. He could hear Keira in the background trying to grab the phone from his father who didn’t let her. She must have been staying at his house, waiting for news.

“Tell her to relax, everything’s fine and I’m on my way back now.”

“Who are you with?” his father had managed to fight off Keira though still sounded as though he was struggling.

It was at that moment he realised he hadn’t even asked her name. She hadn’t bothered to introduce herself either so he had no idea what to call her.

“I’m not actually sure, someone from the guild, she said we’d have to go there first so I should call you to tell you I was okay and where I was going.”

“Tell her to bring you home, you can talk to the guild here, they can come here.”

“I’m not sure she’d listen.”

“That’s not good enough, fine fine—Keira, find out when the next tram to the city is, we’re going to the guild.”

“Wait, Dad, it’s okay, I’ll be fine, honest.”

He wasn’t listening.

“Dad… I didn’t know so much time had passed, I’m sorry I scared you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re alive, that’s all that matters.”

“Thanks, I should get going, I don’t think I was meant to do more than tell you I was okay.”

“We’ll see you at the guild then.”

“Seriously, don’t worry about it, I’m sure they’ll get me home once I’ve told them what happened.”

“No Finn, we’ll be there.”

He must have let his guard down as Keira managed to wrestle the phone from him and told Finlay off for disappearing on her. They all said their farewells again and wished each other safe travel before hanging up. He returned to the girl on the bike who sat watching, her arms crossed though she seemed quite content to wait.

“All good?”

“Yeah, sorry, we can go now.”

“No worries.”

He got back on the bike behind her, “You never told me your name.”

“Faye”

She immediately took off. The ride was much the same as it had been, fast, without a break though surprisingly comfortable despite the sharp turns. He found himself in a bit of a daze as they rode, he was still feeling exhausted and while not comfortable enough to sleep, it was close.

The sky overhead was dull, darkening with each passing hour as they reached late evening but there was no risk for rain. The world seemed calmer, he felt as though he’d been in some warzone for such a long time that the peace of the mountains was dreamlike. It didn’t help the exhaustion and near falling asleep state he was in.

When the trail opened so that they could see Aberana and the villages below, it was a strange experience. His world, once again became turned upside down and yet here, everyone was living their day-to-day lives as though nothing strange had happened.

He realised this must be how all the members of the guild felt, going out each day on various missions into the realms of the demons and then coming home to find peace and normalcy. There was a certain amount of comfort in that and even more that he knew his experience hadn’t changed his decisions to join the guild, only reinforced it.

She didn’t slow down in the villages either, though the people in the Northern village barely took notice. He wondered if she was well known in this area or if all the guild members travelled like this. But even moving along the bridge to the city, she kept the fast pace and darted around any other traffic.

He hadn’t been to the city since he was much younger and though it was known to always be changing, it seemed much the same to him. The buildings were all built with purpose, uniform and aligned to save space. The city had a much denser population than the surrounding villages but was more expensive to live in. There were significant class divides from the families that had been central to Aberana from the beginning to those that tried to make their mark in the city now.

It was a practical city and relied on the grey stone that was dug out of the island during its initial build as well as what came from the mining station. The streets were narrow, with enough space for two vehicles to pass by one another and walking paths on each side but no more than that and there were branching one-directional streets spaced throughout. He only knew the main tramline and a few buildings near the central station, particularly the museum which was the reason he visited in the past. But Faye knew exactly where she was going and weaved through the single-lane, one-way streets with easy confidence.

The features that stood out above everything else were the three pillars, the structures of the Ancients. But the sight of them made him shiver, a different experience than he had ever had before as he remembered his experience back at the so-called sanctuary. The largest of the three, known as the shrine was the home of the guild as well as the surrounding buildings. It was where most of the weapons and technology that they used to fight against the demons and the miasma came from.

He started to feel nervous, the thought of going inside another one of those black glass-like structures scared him. He was uncomfortable again even though he knew this would be different. The shrine was safe, they had been using it for years and it wasn’t the same situation as before. He had no reason to feel the way he now did but he couldn’t help as his fear only worsened.

When they finally reached the place that caused his emotions, he found relief as she pulled past it and turned to a smaller, human-constructed building. She wasn’t taking him into the shrine today but to one of the guild’s offices beside it.

They stopped and got off, leaving the helmets on the bike that she made no attempt at securing. She slung an arm over his shoulder as they walked and directed him towards the building. He wasn’t entirely sure if she was trying to comfort him or making sure he didn’t attempt to run away.

When they got inside there was a man waiting. He was tall, slender and dressed in a fine green suit that had a long jacket. He carried a tablet and was furiously writing something on it so he hadn’t noticed as they reached him.

“Ronan, you have to look away from the tablet sometimes or the world will go on without you.”

He looked up, his eyes narrow and hidden behind gold-framed glasses. He didn’t stop writing and after noting their existence went back to staring at his tablet. Faye patted him on the back, a gentle push towards the man and then almost leapt away from them.

“He’ll look after you, don’t worry, but I gotta go.”

She turned and marched back out of the door of the building, leaving him a little stunned as he watched her leave before turning to the man who was ignoring him. He waited for longer than he felt was necessary but before he reached the point of turning around and leaving as well, the man finally lowered his tablet and looked at him.

“I have a feeling you’re going to make my life even more difficult, Finlay.”