No one bothered to keep track of our ages back then. Can't blame them, doubt they wanted to get too attached to the kids they were trying to sacrifice. I was probably around fifteen, Al thirteen, if i had to guess. The perfect age for doing dumb things without fully understanding the consequences, how you'd think about what you did on random nights for the rest of your life. Not that I'd do much different if I could go back. It was steal or starve those days after Blackwater fell. We still hadn't gone in a gate at this point, we were dumb but we weren't stupid.

"What happened to Blackwater?" She asked, morbidly curious.

"Do you want to hear more about the town or about Alaric?" Cassian let a little edge back into his voice.

Lyra's thought about it. The historian in her wanted to know it all, but there was the matter of priority. "I'm sorry, please continue about Alaric,"

"For years, we survived. I had a knack for fishing without getting caught back by whatever else lived down in the depths, that kept us fed on the desperate days. We managed to find shelter when needed, always stumbling upon abandoned homes or buildings. The only real threat were the roving gate beasts, but I figured out pretty early on they didn't like to stick around open gates too much. I think they were impatient to get out our world, maybe scared they'd get sucked back in a gate if they got too close."

"Wait," Lyra looked from her notebook, "is that true?"

"No idea if a gate can suck 'em back in, just a guess." Cassian responded thoughtfully.

"I don't care about that,

" Lyra r that,"

they don't like to be around gates, I've never heard that."

"Well, yeah," he chuckled, "kind of funny I thought. Closer you were to the danger, safer you were."

She paused for a moment, still unable to wrap her mind around the idea, before asking, "Have you ever told anyone about this?"

"Just told you."

"Anyone else?" She pressed further, desperately. She didn't want to believe that the Hero who closed the Hell Gate left millions to die because he didn't feel like sharing.

"No I didn't tell any one." Cassian's voice was level, cold. "You think I should have?"

Lyra nodded, how could she not? If word had gotten out fifty years ago, then maybe millions of lives could have been saved, possibly more than Cassian had saved by closing the Hell Gate itself!

"You don't know people," he scoffed, a bitter edge to his tone. "They'd have snuggled right up to gates, time-bombs ready to go off any moment and take 'em all down with it."

He gave her a piercing stare and Lyra wasn't sure what she saw in his eyes, rage, sorrow, maybe guilt, "or maybe it would have worked. People are smart, they might have figured out how to keep the gates from blowing. Then you'd have a world of towns like Blackwater, gladly sacrificing a few souls each year to keep their own precious haven intact. You'd have a world that needed to keep the gates open. It I'd told anyone I wouldn't be the Hero that closed the Hell Gate, I'd be the bastard that damned humanity."

Lyra sat stunned, her pen frozen over her notebook. She had always thought of Cassian as the selfless hero who saved humanity out of the goodness of his heart, everyone did. But his words painted a far more complex picture - one of a flawed man who made difficult, possibly even wrong, choices.

Could he be right that people would have flocked to the gates, sacrificing innocents to preserve their own safety? Every fiber of her wanted to deny it, to believe in the humankind she was taught growing up that came together, and fought back from the brink of extinction. But here was the man at the front of that fight, telling her otherwise.

She glanced down at the notes scrawled across the page, detailing the horrors Cassian had just described. With a heavy heart, she drew a line through them. Some truths were too dangerous to transcribe. For the first time in her career as a historian, she decided the people were better off not knowing. This knowledge could break what fragile bonds still held

"You were telling a story about the Great Healer Alaric," she stated quietly.

"I was wasn't I? Finally ready to let me speak without interrupting?" He arched an eyebrow, but Lyra just continued to stare at her notebook, "Good enough, now where was I? Oh yeah, We'd staked out a small gate, waiting to jump whoever came out with loot. Well, I was waiting to jump them. Alaric thought we were trying to 'trade' with them. If I told Al we'd rough 'em up a bit, take everything of value, and be on our way. He wouldn't have gone through with it.

The two raggedy youths crouched in the overgrown bushes outside a dozen paces from the pulsing sphere. watching intently as the gate began to pulse and shimmer. For as long as he'd known, gates were just about the only way to get anything good anymore. Sure you could survive on eating what the pre-gate world had left over if you could find it, or digging around in the dirt, or fish like he was still doing to keep them fed, but all of that started to get hard to find 20 years before Alaric was born. All the old stuff either was eaten or went bad, people had dug up about all there was to dig up, and fishing was dangerous, never knew what you might pull up.

Gates had everything you could want, better than out in the world. Only problem was you had to take it from what was already inside the gate, and they weren't known for liking that.

Cassian squinted at the pulsating sphere, his untamed magical instincts buzzing. It was like seeing colors that he could vaguely sense, but couldn't quite make out. This one was definitely about to spit something out, he just knew it. He'd been right about the feeling last time too. Of course last time a beast erupted out and caught their sent, causing the pair days of trouble trying to shake it off their tail.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

He had never told Alaric how he'd led the monster away, and Al had been too relieved to ask, he'd been convinced they were done for as the enormous beast tracked them relentlessly for days. Cassian remembered the relief on Alaric's face when he had emerged from the woods, claiming he had lost it.

Wasn't any point in telling the other boy the truth either. That to save themselves, he had sacrificed others. Led the monster right to a campsite he had discovered, full of families. Listened to the screams as he slipped away unnoticed into the night. They'd had a better chance of fighting the thing off, that what he'd told himself. Didn't hear much that sounded like fighting back that night though.

"Cass?" Lyra's voice cut through his reverie. Cassian went back to staring at the gate, Alaric nervously wringing his hands next to him.

"I said, What if they don't want to trade?" Al asked the same question for the third time, just with the words changed up a bit this time.

"That's the beauty of trade, everyone needs something, just got to convince them to make a deal that's better for you than them."

The gate pulsated with increasing intensity, its shimmering surface twisting and contorting. Cassian watched with bated breath, barely daring to move a muscle as the pulsations grew stronger. Alaric didn't see much of anything change, he still hadn't figured out how to grab hold of the magic going through him yet.

The gate erupted in a blinding flash of light, revealing a gaping portal big enough for a man to pass through. Just as quickly, it sealed shut again, leaving behind a disheveled figure clutching a bulging sack. He looked battered but triumphant, exactly what Cassian had hoped for.

Cassian turned to Alaric, grabbing his shoulder firmly. "Same as last time, yeah? I'll do the talking and you just wait for my signal."

"You want me to scream 'Bloody hell, it's a monster!' right?" Alaric's face scrunched up in confusion, still not quite making sense of what the pair were doing. He was right to be confused, the plan as Cassian explained it to him didn't quite add up right.

"Yep, that's the plan. That way he'll get to thinking that maybe trading away some of what he's holding for something lighter is a good idea." Cassian tried to smile reassuringly, but no one ever taught him how and his self taught attempts weren't going well.

"And you'll trade him some of those coins you never let me see?" Alaric probed.

"Stop asking about them, makes me think you wanna take 'em from me." Cassian snapped back, cutting off any further questioning.

"I'd never do that," Alaric replied earnestly, and Cassian knew the younger boy wouldn't, even if it meant starving to death. That's what he hated about Al.

"And you won't get the chance. Now remember to say your line, then bolt to our hiding spot before he knows what hit him."

"Got it." Alaric straightened his shoulders, ready for action.

Cassian crept through the underbrush, moving as silently as a shadow. He kept his eyes fixed on the disheveled man, watching as he stumbled down the wooded path dragging his bag behind him.

The man dragged his bulging sack, grinning wildly despite his haggard appearance. His clothes were stained and tattered, hair a tangled mess atop his head. Fresh wounds and fading bruises covered his exposed skin. He had the look of someone who had fought desperately for whatever he carried, and would again. Cassian wished he hadn't had that look. He looked as though he had just crawled his way out of a lions den. Probably would have been in better shape if he had.

Alaric shifted his weight from foot to foot, fidgeting with nervous energy as he waited for Cassian's signal. He still wasn't sure about this "trading" business, but Cassian had assured him it was all above board. A simple exchange of goods - nothing more.

Crouching low and moving with silent, feline grace, Cassian circled his target. His blade glinted in the dim light, but Alaric was just naive enough to think it was the coins he planned on trading. Cas flashed a sly grin at Alaric, who took that to be the sign, would have taken just about anything Cas did at this point as the the sign, he was anxious to get his part done with.

"Bloody hell, it's a monster!" Alaric shouted unconvincingly before darting back though the brush and towards their hiding spot. The ragged man jumped in fright, whipping his head around wildly. The man froze, clutching his sack protectively. His eyes darted around where Alaric had been in alarm.

"Where? What monster?" He cried in a panic and then howled in agony as Cassian pounced on him from behind, slamming him to the ground and leaving a dagger lodged in his back. The sack fell open, spilling out a collection of valuable gems, coins, and other riches looted from the gate.

Cassian rummaged through the pile eagerly, picking at trinkets and oddities. All of it was worth something to someone, it just wasn't to Cas or Al. Some of the things had that slight buzz of magic though. Picked up one of the gems, pushed and prodded at the magic a bit, and it started to spit out water. Cassian smiled and pocketed it.

The man let out a weak cry, writhing in pain, as Cassian went through his pockets.

Alaric came bursting out from the bushes, eyes wide with shock as he took in the scene before him. The disheveled man lay crumpled on the ground, his face pale and contorted in pain. He let out a choked gurgle while a growing stain of crimson spreading across his tattered shirt. His only friend was hunched over the dying man, hands slick with blood as he rifled through the man's belongings.

Cassian looked up sharply, eyes widening in surprise. He'd told Al to run away, not to come back for anything. Now he saw him over the mans body, red handed, blooded dagger next to him. If Al ever figured out how shit of a person he was, it would be now."

"Are you okay- What happened?" Alaric rushed over in a panic. He had believed this was just going to be a simple trade. Alaric's hands fluttered uselessly over the wound. He had no idea how to even start to help the man but couldn't keep hi had no experience healing injuries this grave.

Cassian looked at him, wondering how Al still hadn't figured out this was the plan from the start. The boy could be clever as all get out, throw something in front of him and he'd figure out how it works, and maybe even how to fix it, but time's like this he was almost obnoxiously dim. So Cas did what he always did with Al during the hard times. He lied.

Cassian gripped Alaric's shoulder, failing to halt his frantic movements. "There's no point, he was already good as dead when he stumbled out of the gate."

"I saw him, I couldn't tell he was this hurt," Alaric put his hands over the gash in the mans back, hoping that would stop the bleeding, "how did he even make it out of the gate?"

"No idea, when I got closer, I could finally see the blood on him. Guess we couldn't see it cause it was behind him, some beast must have clawed his back good. I tried to help, but he's just too far gone." Cassian shook his head sadly.

Cassian got up, and tried to pull Alaric away, but the Al refused to leave the man bleeding out. The boy tried binding the wound with strips of fabric from his own cloths, cloths he really needed, but it wasn't enough. Alaric's hands trembled as he held them over the gaping wound, streams of crimson soaking into the dusty earth beneath them.

Cassian had Alaric from under the armpits, preparing to haul him off, when the air crackled with energy. Brilliant shades of green and blue erupted from his body. Magic, raw and wild, surged out of Cassian and towards the man's wounds. Through the swirling glow, they could see his injuries knit themselves back together, leaving behind only darkened scars.

The bloodied man sat up sputtering, the wound in his back sealed over. Al smiled and promptly passed out.

"What, where, why?" The man stared at Cassian, realization dawning, "I'll kill-"

Cassian slit the mans throat. He looked down sadly at the bag full of treasures, then at his friend. He took a few choice pieces, and then picked Alaric up. He'd figure out what to tell the boy later.