Two men stood on a hill. Gazing over the vista that it commanded, one remarked, “well, it was only to be expected.” The other man stirred and replied

“Expected, yes. Hoped for, no.” The first man to speak shrugged his shoulders and continued to look over the valley to the south. Both men were old, but still commanded a presence, a feeling that if needed, they could take up mantles that they both had laid down, and go out to reclaim all that they once had. The second man stirred once more. Shorter than the other man, but more powerfully built, he had developed a bit of a paunch in his older years but could swing a pickaxe with the best of them.

“We were lucky with the first generation. Some of them had been born with the danger around us and so they knew that frankly, we were best staying off hidden like we were. However, this second generation….”

“You know we are to blame for this really.” remarked the taller man. Dressed in the clothes of a forester and looking dangerous with the bow he still carried, The sword at his side showed that he was also proficient with skills that were not normally known to a normal forester. “All those damn tales we told them when they were growing up.”

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“But we told them as tales, disguised the actual names and people in those stories.” Argued the other man.

“Yes Johns, but we still showed them a world outside the village.” said the other man

“But that's all they were supposed to remain, Simon, Tales!” shouted Johns frustratedly.

“Well, we got a choice now. We can either train them up, or we can leave them ignorant and then have them disappear on us one day, to go take that adventure.” Simon looked at his friend and raised an eyebrow. “How many of them do you think would make it back with the second option? I certainly don’t see Sonia’s son coming back without training and you know he would definitely be one of those to go.”

“That boy is a Helion” grumbled Johns.

“Maybe so, but damn me if he doesn’t remind me of Ivans.” Both of them chuckled and smiled sadly as they thought of their old comrades. One of many who had not made it through the years.

“I guess you are right. We shall have to gather them together, and put them through training. With a bit of luck, some of them will drop out. The ones that don’t well, they may be better prepared than we ever were.” Simon looked at Johns speculatively.

“Hhhhhmm. You might be onto something there.”