“Left, to the left a bit.” Gryff shouted.

Jano was sweating. It was a relatively warm day, though you wouldn’t know it through the hazy darkness which surrounded the Chaos-Shapers settlement. Though ever since the battle, Jano was sure it had thinned out a little.

In any case, the heat wasn’t actually the cause of his sweating. He was one of the only people capable of rebuilding the majority of the damaged stone buildings damaged from the attack. He wasn’t the only one that could do it. But he was one of the only masons who could do it with any skill and speed. Thankfully some of the buildings were made from compacted clay found within the ground and finished with intense heat and mortar, which could be then formed into shape with the help of the Berserker Fire clan. Gryff had thrown himself into work in the weeks after the death of his brother and Jano felt that he too should help where possible.

And there was more than enough work for him. He followed Gryff’s instructions and moved another repaired brick into place. It was slow going, but Dariea had told him to think of it as training. So he did. He turned to another large stone brick which had been fetched on a little cart. He pushed his hands onto its surface, as he had all the others. He guided more stone essence to the cracks and holes. A wheelbarrow of rock and sand lay to the side. He pulled all of the ingredients together, and a woman from the Shifter clan added small amounts of water to the mixture. It slowly began to repair as he guided the stone and mixture where it needed to be.

They had been at it for hours when finally, Jano placed the final brick for the day. The house had almost fully collapsed when they had begun. Jano felt a sense of accomplishment and a strange deja vu. After all, this was what he had been trained to do for years. But it all now seemed like another life.

Gryff slapped him on the back. “Well I think that earns us a drink. Don’t you?”

“Sure, sounds good.” Jano replied, wiping the sweat from his brow. He was confused at the attitude of Gryff; but he wasn’t going to say no. It had only been a few weeks.

“Come on, I’m buying.” Gryff said.

They walked away from the newly repaired buildings. Another column of soldiers from all of the different clans marched past. After the battle, they had created guard lines and temporary fortifications at the bottom of the hill, away from houses and important buildings.

A permanent unit of around a hundred soldiers now blocked passage in and out of the settlement. Smaller versions were being created on all of the other settlements, but as most people were already here for the festival, the Chaos-Shapers were the main defensive post. Just in case they were to suffer further attacks, which Dariea had explained was fairly likely.

As they walked past yet more tents and temporary housing, Jano thought about Dariea. How he hadn’t seen her ever since immediately after the battle. She had assigned him the task of working on the repairs and disappeared.

Gryff headed towards the nearest tavern. The doors opened and Jano reflected on the fact that no matter where he had been, which admittedly was fairly limited, taverns were the same. It was darker than it had any right to be and it smelled of stale alcohol and sweat. But in a nice, homey kind of way.

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They took two pints of amber brown liquid from the innkeeper and plonked themselves down at a nearby table.

“Do you really think there’ll be more attacks?” Gryff asked.

“I don’t know. Dariea said something about the Emperor being set on aggressive expansion. So there’s every chance.” Jano shrugged.

Gryff sighed and looked into his drink. “It was exactly the same here for years; before I was born. I’ve read it in the history books. Constant fighting and warring. Each settlement claiming itself superior and seeking to rule the others by force.” He looked around and lowered his voice.

“Seeing what we’ve been able to achieve working together, as part of an equal alliance, makes me wonder why we ever tried it any other way.”

“The thing is, the average citizens have no idea. Or they didn’t when I lived there. Access outside of the city was extremely limited and we definitely weren’t allowed outside of Qursa and generally, life was hard. We had no idea about the Emperor’s warmongering.” Jano replied, not realising he was defending ordinary Qursans until the words spilled from his mouth.

Gryff nodded. “So is he as powerful as they say?”

Jano looked at Gryff. He looked genuinely worried. But the type of fighting he had witnessed at the battle was fearsome, any people who are that powerful shouldn’t be so concerned. He felt as though he knew less about the world the longer he spent outside of Qursa.

“I have no idea. But he easily overpowered Dariea, and I didn’t know how strong she was. Though I don’t think she was quite at full strength for some reason.” Jano hesitated.

“He’s funneling power from the spirits of everyone in the Empire, under the guise of granting power. So I suppose he probably is that strong.”

“So the rumours are true. But if he can distribute power in a similar way to the way he funnels it from his subjects, then he probably has quite a strong force of Mages somewhere.” Gryff replied, his eyes searching Jano’s expression. It made him quite uncomfortable.

“My Dad says that Qursa is nothing more than an industrial city now. That the Emperor keeps his main forces in the south, in the Capital of the Empire.”

“We weren’t told about anything to do with politics. As far as I was concerned, if something happened in the next district, it was just as alien to me as an event in another city. Of course we knew that Oberin and Eradinium was where the Emperor spent the majority of his time.”

“Well, let me catch you up a bit. Oberin is the capital city, and he’s been terrorising the surrounding villages and towns to the south for fealty. Generally getting his way, or wiping them out. He is using the money earned from the industrial might of your city to finance his bloody rampages. Other kingdoms continue to buy Qursan goods, in the hope that trade will foster good relations. So far it seems to be working. I just don’t understand why he wants to attack us. Why did people like my brother have to die?”

Gryff was about to continue talking, when a messenger approached their table and bowed before Gryff. He was dressed all in black, with half a mask covering the top of his face. His mouth and jaw were exposed however.

“Apologies sirs, but I have been requested to fetch Jano for the King. Prince Gryff, I believe your father also requests your presence.”

Another messenger, this time wearing the bright red of the Berserker Fire clan, arrived and stood by the other messenger. He bowed, before giving his counterpart a dirty look. “Prince Gryff, you are requested to meet King Afan at the palace.”

The two young men exchanged looks. “Well, it seems we’re both heading to the top of this bloody hill. Thank you gentlemen, we’ll be up when we finish our drinks.”

The messenger in red began to babble. “My Prince, King Afan requested your presence most promptly.. he —“

“When we finish our drink. Thank you.” Gryff reiterated sternly.

The messenger in black bowed and took his leave. The man in the red robes did the same, before walking away sheepishly.