Light peered through.

Sunrise. I didn’t get enough sleep. A little groggy but also sort of giddy. The lady was already up and she was making something.

“Morning,” I managed.

“Morning. Drink up. We’ll soon have company.”

Drink what? Oh, she was making soup.

My head kind of spun but when she mentioned company, I immediately remembered where we were. I looked up, straining my neck a bit. It hurt and crackled. Cold salty air filled my nostrils. Another morning.

We had plenty of time before they came down. Hilda said, usually the soldiers patrol this area twice every day and they should spot us during their morning rounds and come to pick us up.

“Won’t they ask questions or take us as prisoners?”

“Should be fine as long as you’re truthful about your intentions. As for me, I’m a traveler who just found you stranded and decided to help.”

“Okay.”

While it was true we had time, I still felt nervous. A bit too nervous. So much so that I couldn’t eat. I felt like throwing up a bit and honestly… I just wanted this to be over with. And yet, yet I had to do this. I just had to.

And the wait began.

Ten minutes turned to an hour.

I kept thinking this wouldn’t work. I kept thinking somehow the patrol would miss us. Maybe there was no patrol today. Maybe the guy on patrol had bad eyesight and was hiding it. Maybe he had a fight with his wife and wasn’t in the mood to help strangers.

Maybe-

Trickle. Someone was coming down.

Ropes?

Slowly but someone actually came down. Rugged man, tanned, hairy. He scowled at me and the girl and spat on the ground. “We’re not taking refugees,” he said.

“We’re travelers,” Hilda said. “His parents are missing and we’re searching for them,” she said, pointing at me.

The man scrutinized me. “Why are you outside?” he said.

“I came from the outside,” I said. “I’m not from here.”

“Then why would you think your parents are inside?”

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“Because an oracle said so.”

“Oracle? Are you nuts? Or did you go crazy?” he clicked his tongue. “So young, yet crazy.”

I didn’t have problems if he found me suspicious or insane, or if he pitied me. I just needed to get in and find them.

“Please,” Hilda said. “Let us in, we’ll leave as soon as he finds them. If they’re not here, we’ll leave right away.”

The man scratched his head, grunted a couple of times before groaning once. He pulled out a large black whistle and blew on it. No sound came out.

But another rope dropped from above. It was so high I couldn’t see properly.

“Thank you,” Hilda said.

“Any funny business and you’re both going to spend the rest of your lives in the dungeons,” the man said. “That said, I hope you find them,” he spoke to me.

“Me too.”

Hilda grabbed me with one arm and grabbed the rope with the other. It was slowly moving up. I watched the ground moving further away from us, and the grasslands, and… everything. Chest pounded, sweat poured. I was so close, so damn close. I wanted to see them. I wanted to find them. I wanted to tell them so many damn stories. No, no, don’t get too hyped. It’s possible the lady didn’t know what she was talking about.

Yet, with all my damn heart I hoped she was right. And I hoped the heartbreak she was talking about was all the shit I dealt with during this journey. After all, I was going to have a reunion I craved, right? And there was no other reunion I craved more than this!

So yeah, I really, really hoped-

Bright. Sunlight blinded me for a second. As did the severely bright, dazzling city below.

Houses built on slopes and troughs and just wow. White buildings, black roofs, and sea on the other side. Glistening.

“The town information center is on the right. See that four-story building with three roofs, that one. Tell them, Brimstock sent you. They’ll help you out.”

“Thank you!” I couldn’t stop my voice from roaring. I couldn’t stop the excitement. Not after making it so far.

I could almost run down, down the slope, to the damn building and scream for help!

The big man sighed again. “Just so you know, we just took in a lot of refugees but… but the death toll has also been quite terrible.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Hilda said. She didn’t let me go, and slowly started walking. “Thank you.”

The big man nodded and we were on our way.

“I can walk!”

“Yes. But you’ll only make it harder for both of us. Just stay put. We’re early. Good chance they’re not even here yet.”

I opened my mouth but didn’t say anything; instead, I begrudgingly stayed put. And slowly but surely, we made headway for the four storied building.

Most people around me was a human. I couldn’t call them westerners. Something about them struck different. I couldn’t tell why. They also had pointy eared people. I couldn’t quite call them southerners. The ones with long ears definitely looked like elves I was familiar with. Very similar to Hilda.

I didn’t see any market around this place. I didn’t see any shops either. Just residential houses and people going about. A little less crowded than I’d expect but just a normal city.

No wait, this is supposed to be a port city with access to the sea. But perhaps the sea was dangerous and people didn’t use boats here. Yeah, probably.

We arrived at the building. There were people here. And when we dropped the soldier’s name, the receptionist actually became cordial.

“Let’s see… Denker Borges… Lindell Arnius…. I’m afraid I cannot find either of them in the deceased list,” she said.

I didn’t know why but a sudden stone had been lifted from my chest. “Is there any record of them in the refugee list?”

“No,” she said. “None. We have too many refugees and it’s been tough to tabulate all the records. Perhaps you should go to the refugee camps and see if you can find them, though be warned, disease and brawls run rampant there.”

“Thank you!”

Hilda sighed, and rather audibly. “Calm down.”

“I am calm!”

“No, you’re not.”

She again grabbed me and despite my groans and protests didn’t let me off.