“Wha...what?” Jerrel stared at me with wide eyes. My fears were confirmed when he started backing up while holding his arms out.

“Jerrel?” Arthur said while quickly walking over to him. He was trying to avoid causing a scene with what Jerrel said next. “What did you see?”

“He’s a...he’s the one from the leaderboard. He’s Sylar. He’s level 25.” Jerrel stuttered out neither loudly or quietly. I heard Camile gasp and watched her stand back and move towards her father. Jerrel gulped and took a deep breath, still looking at me and trying to back up if not for Arthur’s hand on his arm. “He has a title, it's called Fickle Ally. It says he earned it for murdering allies. His charisma stat is -1 just like Old Jeb was before he died.”

Arthur turned to look at me with a look of such intensity I reactively held my breath. Every muscle in my body was tensed to run at the first sign of trouble. “Syl, let's just talk about this. No one needs to get hurt. Things happen. That story you told me about your team, the explosion. Did you set it off? Is that how your friends died and you got that title?”

Warm tears ran down my face as I stared at the three people from Burch. Nodding while my heart broke I turned and ran as fast as I could through the gate and out to the forest. Finding the tree that served as my bed for the short night before I fell against it with a thump. I cradled my head in my hands and continued to sob. I alternated venting my frustration by screaming out to the night and offering apologies to the air where there was no one to hear them. I was haunted by that mistake and the framework gave no rest to the wicked.

Several beasts tried their luck against me during the night. The average level of them not even requiring my full concentration as I disposed of them and returned to my grief. The night passed quickly and the dawn light had begun to filter down through the trees when I heard raised voices off in the distance. I grabbed my pack and readied myself to head farther north and avoid Burch entirely when a voice that I recognized shouted out.

“Syl! Syl! If you can hear me please come out. We can talk about whatever happened. I promise.” It was Camile. I climbed up higher in the tree for a better vantage point and saw a small group of people from the town. Camile walked behind a group of men with spears and Jerrel was with her. “Syl! Please answer me! We just want to talk!”

“He’s probably long gone by now, Camile. You saw how fast he was, if he doesn’t want to be found I’m guessing he won’t be.” One of the other men said.

“It’s not right what you did Jerrel. He helped us, he saved my life!” Camile shouted in frustration. “Murderers don’t save people and put their own life on the line to defend a town they have never been to!” She rounded on the well built boy and looked ready to continue shouting.

“Stop it Camile. This forest is full of beasts even in the daytime. We all want to find him or we wouldn’t be out here. We have to be careful, none of us are combat classes and your father will kill us if the beasts don’t.”

“It’s just not right.” She mumbled and resumed walking.

“I didn’t mean it, I was just scared. You didn’t see it, the titles, he had so many. He’s killed more beasts than everyone in Burch combined. It just startled me, I can’t help it. I’m a blacksmith not a soldier. I’m not your father.” Jerrel said to the group. He looked visibly stressed, shoulders drooping as he was ignored by Camile.

There was a smolder of hope burning in my chest as I considered the decisions. I was so lonely that I was willing to risk capture if it meant being near people again. Trust blossomed in my soul as I listened to Camile continue to berate everyone in earshot. This was my chance and I had to take it. Climbing back down the tree and stopping at my pack, I checked on the falcon egg. It was still there, still warm and still not responding to beast companion. Shrugging sadly I closed the top of the pack and left it hanging off the branch. Hopping down to the forest floor, I walked west a bit until I intersected the path the young townspeople would take. There was a relatively wide clearing with good visibility in all directions so I sat down against a tree and waited.

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“Hey! It’s him! I see him!” a voice that I didn’t recognize shouted.

Watching with wary eyes as the group came into view, I stood up and tried to appear as non threatening as possible.

“Hey!” Camile shouted and ran up to me, nearly tackling me in a hug.

“Camile! Come back!” Shouted the boy in the lead of the rest of the group, the same voice from earlier.

“I was worried you were gone! Listen, whatever happened to you we can talk about it. You saved me and fought for our town. We owe you, Jerrel didn’t mean what he said, he was just scared and surprised. Please don’t leave.” Camile said after we separated. She had that intense look back in her eyes.

She took a deep breath and backed up to join the rest of her group that had traveled with her. “This is Rox, we call him that because he's dumb as rocks, you know Jerrel and then this is rian and ryen, two more brothers from Burch.”

“Can’t believe we are meeting the highest level person in the world!” One of the brothers said enthusiastically.

“Knock it off,” the other one said, giving him a small punch. “Sylar we wanted to thank you for helping save our town. I know what Jerrel saw but I saw a man helping when the town's own guards wouldn’t help. You have my deepest thanks.” He finished with an awkward half bow.

“Listen man, I'm really sorry for what happened back there. I never expected to see what I saw and I handled it poorly. It was a wake up call for me and scared me, I felt weak and exposed. I had no right to treat you that way.” Jerrel spoke up and reached out his hand. “I’d like to start over and forget that ever happened.”

They looked at me expectantly as my heart raced to try to think of what my reaction should be. The truth was that I was constantly terrified and lonely but they saw a figure on the top of the leaderboard with a troubled past. There would be a time I had to learn how to deal with this type of pressure but for now I just wanted friends.

“Ok. ok. Thank you for coming out and looking for me. The truth is I was scared of your reactions more than you were mine.” Looking at their faces showed their clear disbelief. “I have been on my own for a long time. Since the framework started, it hasn’t been easy.

Camile stepped in and hugged me again, “father told us what you said about your friends”. “I’m sorry Sylar, that must have been awful.”

“Please just call me Syl.” I answered, desperate to change the subject. “How are things back in the town?”

“Well....that's actually the other reason we wanted to find you.” Camile said. She looked back to her friends for support before continuing. “The mayor escaped with the guards during the night. When he gets back to Etes and tells them what happened, they will send the army to regain control of the town. Anyone who stood against the mayor will be hanged for treason.”

“What? Why would the King do that? Or allow that? I always thought he was considered a good and kind King.” I stammered out as a reply. Growing up both of my parents had been supportive of the current ruling family. King Bearn had a good reputation for fairness amongst his subjects.

“Things changed when the framework came. Father has many friends in Etes that have had to flee the capital, the king sees spies in every subject and crushes suspected treason with an iron fist.” Camile replied. “You spoke of a safe place for the people of Burch. Would you still be willing to lead us to it?”

“It can’t hold all of you, there's not enough room or resources for everyone.” I replied quickly.

“It’s not all of us, only those who stood against the mayor visibly or vocally. Father is gathering everyone to leave the town by nightfall. Any longer risks the King's forces arriving.There are 50 or so people that want to leave.” She looked to her friends for confirmation on the count. They all shrugged agreement.

“Ok. 50 people should be able to fit. It’s a long walk from here and it might be dangerous for people at a lower level.” I warned them.

“We can defend ourselves, you saw us at our worst after the mayor triggered that event. We only had a few hours to prepare and not everyone was healed from the prior event. We won’t be deadweight.” Jerrel offered from the group.

“We will meet you here later after nightfall. There are still some of the mayor's friends left in town. If you are seen before the group leaves they will make the connection. No one else knows of your offer for now and we need to keep it that way.” Camile said.

We split ways after that, the group returned to Burch to prepare and gather supplies. I roamed around the forest for a few hours harvesting ingredients and occupying my mind. My experience bar was almost full for level 25, a few more beasts would do the trick. Not in the mood to hunt I returned to my pack and took out the falcon egg. I sat with it against the tree in the clearing to wait for the townspeople. My eyes were heavy and I closed them while repeating the events of the last day over in my head.