As the sun began to set, everybody’s nerves rose in a near equilibrium. There were no visible windows to tell what time it was exactly, since they were all covered, but the natural clocks infused in everybody present spoke volumes of the day’s approaching end.

As the newest Oath takers of the pathfinder organization drew calmer breaths, they grew sleepier when the time they would normally fall into sleep came and passed.

They forced themselves to remain awake, though.

They had to. Their first directive was they were to exit the city of Hope with the two senior pathfinders. Knowledge that they were soon to leave the protective walls drew on everybody’s nerves. It forced away any semblance of a need for rest.

Well… for mostly everybody.

Asterion had a nap recently—as unfortunate as it was. It did have its benefits. His sleep had been quite nasty the past two days, but the punch let his consciousness rest for a bit longer than it would have otherwise.

The result was that he was actually decently awake when everybody was fighting their circadian rhythm for control over their slowed minds and bodies. It did nothing for the thrill he felt in his heart, though.

He laughed maniacally.

‘Gosh. Well. Life, it’s been nice! My time has come.’

He was pretty sure he wasn’t going to last very long out in the untamed wilderness of Eden.

It didn’t help that he—along with everybody, knew nothing about where they were going. They hadn’t been let into the secret of how they are going to leave the sealed and guarded gates of the outer wall, nor where they were heading after achieving that difficult task.

Well, except for Bellarus and Brandon, of course.

One thing that made it a little easier for everybody were the presence of the two men. They acted as a pillar of leadership and example.

That leadership being that both men were their superior… leading and calming nerves with their own calm demeanor. While the example being the fact they were standing in front of them.

They came from the untamed wilderness into the city of Hope, after all. They had already found their way in. Why wouldn’t they be able to find their way back out?

Still, it was all very nerve wracking on Asterion.

‘Ah. We’re all going to become criminals.’

It was illegal to breach the inner wall. So much so, that those found to have done so are punished harshly. The sentence for being found doing so was a minimum of two years in a small cell—and depending on the severity, up to a death sentence. Most of those that do are smuggling resources in and out of the rich, resource dense district that sat just outside the castle, which housed noble families, many related to the royal family who controlled the government.

It was equally illegal, however, to breach the outer wall. It was just much rarer to catch someone doing it. Once they successfully made it outside of the wall, they weren’t searched for anymore. The soldiers stationed on it knew they wouldn’t last the night out in the harrowing realm beyond the wall.

…Unless you’re guided by a pathfinder.

It was very rare for a pathfinder to enter through the gates of the outer wall. It took a lot of time for a person from the outside to be admitted through the gates, a lot of questioning, and a lot of forced answers. Most simply found their own, less than legal ways in.

Which led to the current situation.

Two of the eighteen people present were already wanted criminals. It’s just that nobody noticed they weren’t from their side of the wall yet. By the end of the night, the other sixteen would be equally criminals.

Their disappearances would be noted in the way they lived their lives before they left. Some would be identified before others, some marked missing, and others presumably marked deceased.

If they ever returned the legal way—through the gate entrance, they would be imprisoned… or if found alive after smuggling themselves inside and escaping, marked alive as exiles, which carried its own problems.

Asterion looked toward Brandon and Bellarus.

‘That’s probably what happened to them.’

He was in the presence of two wanted criminals—possibly even real exiles.

Eventually, sometime between midnight and morning, Brandon moved toward the wall and moved aside the blanket that covered a window. From where Asterion was in the room, he could also see out. Well… he couldn’t really see, exactly, but that was because there was only blackness on the other side of the window.

“It’s time.” He said, turning back.

With a nod, Bellarus spoke loudly, so that everybody could hear clearly.

“Okay. Here is how we will be leaving Hope. Brandon and I will take you to the edges of the wall, where we will meet with a guard we have paid to look the other way. We will split into two groups…” he pointed to eight of the recruits close to him, “you eight with me, the rest of you will follow Brandon.”

While Asterion was a bit surprised at the mention of paying off a wall guard so casually, it seemed quite reasonable, in hindsight.

The walls, like many buildings in Hope, were built from massive bricks consisting of a rather mystical rock that was immensely durable. It did not scratch, chip, or blemish over the uncountable years even before humanity took it over. There was simply no chance they would have ever been able to rip a hole through it.

If they had been able to, the creatures that roamed outside would have been able to over the countless centuries, as well.

But when humans arrived Hope was not abandoned and uninhabited. Creatures did exist both inside the city and its impenetrable castle. They had simply climbed over.

Asterion looked around at the others… then looked down at himself.

‘We’re not exactly climbing shape, are we...’

Getting sixteen people over a wall would be difficult… getting them over ‘the’ wall, would be impossible. It sat above the city like a flattened mountainside.

Of course, Asterion had never seen a mountain in person, living in the city for his entire life, but from what he read they sounded very similar to any tall piece of ground.

The only other viable option would have been to simply walk through an opened gate, passing a couple unscrupulous guards on the way out.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t pointed out to join Bellarus’s group, which left him in the caring hands of Bearded Brandon… who was known for being harsh…

‘Ah… that’s great.’ He thought, sighing sarcastically

One decent thing was that within his group, he was already acquainted with three of the other seven. It seemed Peter, Daren, and Aaron were also left out of the first picks.

Brandon called his squabble of recruits to him, waving an impatient hand while doing so. As he did, Bellarus, who had already quickly explained the route to them, walked his party to the door and outside, closing the door behind them.

‘Why aren’t we leaving with him?’

It seemed a bit rediculous to not join them, since that would mean they would be distantly separated by the time they left, as well.

Brandon, meanwhile, simply huffed, aiming to call attention to himself.

“Okay people. We will leave shortly as well. Taking a slightly different path. The city patrol gets more active at night, so we will have to be careful to avoid them. If one gets suspicious and we’re caught, it’s a big issue.”

He paused, causing the recruits who stood around to shift anxiously…

“You’re to follow me, and be careful about being too far behind. It’s suspicious if there’s a train of people walking in the direction of the wall. In the event we are found, you are to make your way to the eastern gate as fast as possible avoiding capture. The guards there will be expecting you, but do not engage with them. Just run as fast as you can through its opened gates, and they won’t give chase.”

Asterion’s heart began to rush a tad. ‘What do you mean “in the event?” Has it happened before?’

After his instructions, he stood for another long minute, moved toward the window to take another look, and then moved toward the door, seeming to cast a lengthy shadow of eight anxious people.

They all walked out together, forming a tight group as they nearly jogged down the street. The tense atmosphere of each step outside the building was enough to wake the sleepiest of anybody’s mind, but it did nothing to energize their bodies. Their movements were slightly less coordinated, and it was hard to walk both fast and silently.

Everybody except for Asterion, at least—and Brandon.

Walking down the street in the rear of the pack, Asterion looked up at the colossal that rose above the horizon of buildings. The Outer Wall. It’s grey stone bricks were illuminated by the full moon that now passed the midline of the sky, marking it as shortly past midnight. It was still a bit of a journey to the wall, at least another fifteen minutes, since they’ve walked some distance by now.

Each minute they were outside was a minute they could have been caught by a patrol. Brandon seemed to turn randomly in and out of side streets, following some pre planned circuit through the buildings that littered the outer edge close to the wall. Asterion had thought at first that he was just wasting time making random cuts through alleys, but as the last of the pack, he was also witness to the most harrowing experience of any of the recruits.

That experience was the noise of heavy metallic footsteps and distant conversation of an approaching patrol. Just as he slipped into an alleyway to the parallel street, he heard from further down the street a pair of guards rounding the corner.

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‘They have the entire city patrol route mapped.’ Asterion realized, his heart still in his stomach from the close call.

The thought was both horrifying and reassuring.

Five minutes in, the nervousness that plagued everybody only grew. It was obvious they wouldn’t catch up to Bellarus’s party, but the lack of knowledge of how far ahead they are—or if they even made it, was excrusiating.

Taking a moment of rest, Brandon, who was still ahead of the group paused on a shaded alley corner to look down the street, and muttered a stifled curse.

It would have been funny in a different situation to see the faces of everybody present freeze in surprise. But it wasn’t a different situation… and Asterion froze with terror, as well. It was the difference between being imprisoned and escaping the city and embracing his new life…

So, when Brandon’s low curse left his mouth, Asterion was the first to look in his direction, somehow beating those huddled around him. He had been watching the back of the group, adding a layer of protection to Brandon’s occasional glance backward. He would have sounded the alarm had a patrol seen them… or… they would know faster than that when he simply ran past everybody in the opposite direction, at least.

Brandon quickly motioned for everybody to hug the wall of the alley, to hide in the deepest shadows of the building on either side of them. Just in time for two armed and armored men to rush past the opening in a hasty sprint.

‘Guards…’

Ironically, the two men were rushing toward the same direction they were going, toward the wall.

‘Meaning that more than likely Bellarus’s group had been caught.’ He realized.

Asterion’s heart, which was already in his stomach up to this point was now deep in his feet. It was almost like a weight held them down preventing him from moving. He had never been the most fearful individual, but the thought of a small army of swords and spears coming his way to stop him from leaving didn’t inspire a final stand mentality.

Rather, it made him want to beat himself for thinking this was a good idea.

‘Well, all is not lost… if only half of us are found, we still have a chance at getting out.’

He wasn’t very hopeful. Any smart person could conclude that any group of people heading towards the direction of the wall were probably trying to get out. There wasn’t many ways for them to leave, though. They would know they were going to try it’s weakest point—the configurable door to the inside.

Looking back toward the group, Brandon muttered lowly, his gruff voice full of precision and seriousness.

“Okay. We will continue on together, we still have a chance. We will make it through the gate no matter what. Do not worry, your comrades in Bellarus’s party are in good hands. He is fine.”

His words were so full of conviction that only someone who knew they were true would be able to utter them. It eased most people’s fraying nerves immediately. One thing caught Asterion’s attention, though. Something not mentioned in the reassuring message.

So… he asked about it.

“S-sir. What about the patrols that might reinforce the gate…?”

Captain Brandon did not answer, obviously ignoring his question, returning to look back toward the street for an opportunity to continue.

His nonresponse was in itself a response to Asterion. It meant one of two things…

One, there won’t be any of the patrol reinforcing the gate, and their ability to pass through will remain uncontested. That he was worried for nothing, not even deeming it as an issue worth responding to…

Or—and more likely, some would inevitably move to reinforce the gate, forcing the guards who were paid to look the other way to turn against them, close the gates, and bar their passage, becoming their number one issue…

‘We’re so screwed’ he thought.

After a moment looking, Brandon made a low noise and rushed across the street into the opposite alleyway, and the eight recruits followed in pursuit.

Another minute passed as the group, now no longer in a walking pace as they ran through the streets, stopped to let Brandon ensure the way was clear before continuing through.

He moved, and everyone else did right behind him. Asterion was of course still last. He maintained his unofficial position as the rear with diligence, careful to not to be too behind everybody, while also checking to make sure nobody was behind them.

So, he was quite surprised when he bumped into the back of the person in front of him, who stood frozen in the middle of a dark street. They weren’t close to the next concealed alleyway. And there was no obvious reason to stop.

“What the hell, Peter? Go!” He whispered, urging him to continue following the people in front of him, and making an effort to sidestep and run on in front of him.

But before he could, Peter held him back with a stiff arm across his chest before he could pass, blocking his passage.

With the new angle, Asterion saw what blocked the path… or rather who blocked it.

It was Daren. He stood in a standstill looking down the moonlit street. Everything was dark, so he couldn’t see his face through the shadows of night, but from his stiff demeanor, it seemed the man was afraid.

“Daren. What are you doing? Go!” He whispered urgently.

The others of the party were already running, moving out of line of sight of the alley they were about to run through.

Peter, who stood next to him, cursed under his breath. It wasn’t a curse of hatred, nor one of sadness. And it wasn’t directed at Daren, who’s chest was rapidly intensifying as began to backpeddle up the street.

It was a curse born out of fear.

Looking down the street, Asterion found what caused the three of them to be left behind by the group. A shout was the last thing he heard before his ears began to ring from the adrenaline shooting through his veins, empowering him.

Two guard patrols had rounded the corner down the street in the midst of their exposure, and were obviously looking at the three of them. He wondered for a split second if they could play it off.

‘Maybe they didn’t see the rest of the group. We can play it off as simple wanderers…’

Then, both men got very irate, shouting amongst themselves before one separated to run in the same direction of the rest of the group, parallel to the alleyway and farther down the street.

‘No. Guess not.’

The remaining guard, still very far away, began to run towards them shouting for them to stay.

Asterion had no intention to listen and wait to see what the agitated guard was wanting, though. He immediately turned around and booked it up the street. Behind him, Peter and Daren seemed to get the message as well, their footsteps echoing his behind him.

Sprinting in the dark, the trio made little distance between themselves and the guard.

At one point, they ran into another patrol, this one directly in front of them and alerted by the shouts of the man behind them. So, they pivoted their haste into a side street and used it as an opportunity to run back in the direction of the wall, entering the next street on the other side in a hurry.

‘Gah. This is exhausting.’ Asterion thought.

The trio, but mostly Asterion, were panting heavily as they ran from the two men now giving chase.

Peter yelled from the front of the pack frantically. “What do we do!?”

Daren, without his usual jokes, replied immediately, nearly cutting Peter off midsentence.

“What do you think, you imbecile?”

Asterion wanted to join him in the quip, but was too focused on not tripping and breathing to talk. It was clear from the growing distance between themselves and the two guards that they were slowing down, weighed down by their heavy armaments.

Dashing through the street, the wall towered above them just ahead. It’s imposing figure blockading the starlit sky beyond it, and casting a darker shadow against the city of Hope.

Unfortunately, they could not join them in slowing down, since the street they chose to run on was actually the Main Street that led directly to the eastern gate of the wall. Without the circuited path that they were originally going guided by Brandon, all it took were the patrols behind them to get lucky and for them to come into contact with a guard ahead of them, leaving them with no escape.

‘Ah… I have never run this hard in my life.’

Asterion’s heart felt like it was ripping through his own chest, attempting to escape the clutches of his sternum and break free of the violence he was putting it through.

The buildings on either side, which grew both smaller and emptier as the wall ahead grew taller. The outskirt buildings were nearly all empty, aside from a few conspicuous people making it their home. It was just too far from most of the population to be habitable.

But Asterion knew that the wall’s height was only a play on his mind. The wall stayed the same height, they were just getting closer, meaning they were closing in on the gates.

Just as that thought was occuring, he saw something that utterly surprised all three of them, nearly tripping Peter in the process. Ahead, just out of a shaded alcove ran five people…

The rest of his own group—everyone guided by Brandon—Barreled out of the alleyway, rushing in the same direction they were, and sparing only a moments glance at the three of them as the group kept running.

Only one thing was on his mind when the last of the recruits revealed themselves.

‘Where’s Brandon?’