Up ahead was a forlorn sight that I had never seen in this life. My body memory remembered something similar to it got me slightly excited as a six-year-old returning home after so long.

I stood between two dark grey fluted columns, huddled in a thick fur lined hooded cloak, doing my best to remain warm, against the freezing wind and the blown snow. Their stark grey fluted surface was dusted with snow blown by the strong wind. This was, I had been told, a river crossing into our domain. Beneath my feet, the snow lay thick upon a platform.

That same wind, which was blowing eddies of snow across the white landscape, also made the vast river full of white-capped waves. It was probably the widest river I had ever seen, and the opposite bank was much further away than any other river bank I’d seen back on Earth. Still as wide and imposing as the river was, that was overshadowed by the deep, featureless snow which covered the land and paths alike.

I could just make out stark black monoliths dusted with a faint layer of snow, rising tall out of the thick snow and guided both the path and eyes up the solitary hill towards an impressive building, its dark grey stone walls and towers rising out of the pristine snow like a imposing fortress doing its best to lord over the seemingly untamable lands below.

Countless small, and a few larger, pillars of smoke rose in the distance. They must’ve come from various buildings hidden behind those imposing dark grey stone walls. The pillars of smoke rose until they faded away into the featureless dusky grey clouds which mirrored the snow below. Like the buildings, they seemed impressive until you realised just how tiny and insignificant they were compared to the expansive world they tried to fill.

Surrounding that imposing dark grey fortress, stark upon its rise, was a world of white nothingness. No trees, bushes, isolated buildings, or any strange oddities made the snow lurch in odd shapes. It was alone, and trapped within the world of white, which threatened to swallow it whole.

Even the huffing and stamping of the beasts who had pulled the carriages here, and the trudging, crunching steps of my Brother as he walked toward me were strangely still in this vast world. It was as if nature was telling us it, and not us insignificant humans, ruled this world.

‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it,’ I said when he got closer. ‘Nature reminding us that though we may believe we are the lord of all, we are but insignificant in the grand scheme of things.’

‘That is heresy, Brother, please be aware of whom you speak of such thoughts.’

‘Maybe it might be, but even in my previous world, even though we dominated the world in ways which this world may never believe, we were still at nature’s mercy. And we treated her poorly, and she let us know.’

‘Are you sure that your Elven… Contact didn’t infect you with their worldview?’ My Brother said, going over a similar argument we had time and time again over the past few months.

‘Come on, Brother, I honestly don’t know what happened to me.’ I said. I really didn’t. Now I was away from her, I was thinking clearer. Still, I wondered why I would kiss a beautiful woman like her, and even those who had only seen her from a distance claimed she was indeed beautiful, without really knowing her.

It felt like I had been pulled along by currents too strong for me navigate.

‘Still, Brother, I agree with you.’ My Brother said. ‘Fastidious House really is isolated and alone. We are far from even the crudest new settlement. My—Our Father was happy with our lands here, though. He claimed that one day they would rival the power of those of the Inner Heartlands, that he was passing on a legacy which maybe not even his grandchildren might not fully appreciate.

‘There have been winter days when I stood upon the tallest tower and looked out over the small patch of land covered by our house and the attached settlement. Then I look out over the endless white and realise just how small we really are.

‘Back then, I took it as a challenge to expand our lands and settlements so that in time the white would be pushed back to an insignificant line bordering the horizon.’

‘And now, Brother?’ I asked.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘I still seek the challenge of increasing the holdings of Fastidious House, of bringing talented Tier Five and Tier Seven out here. It’s a fun challenge, and one I revel in. It is also partly why I headed out to Outer Heart and not Northern Shield as I was originally tasked to do.’

He lapsed into silence. I joined with him in the silence, allowing the wind to mask the sounds of the beasts huffing behind us.

‘I was a city dweller, you know. Cities and towns so large that you would not understand them. Interconnected so well that you didn’t have to brave the wilderness without the conveniences of life and technology. There were parks within these cities which could easily house even the largest of the settlements I’ve seen so far.

‘Never once, after moving to the city as a teen, did I look back at the countryside. City to city to city my whole life. But standing here, in the quiet stillness of the wilderness, and being so long at Outer Heart I realised I missed the quiet country of my youth.’

‘Maybe you should’ve been reborn amongst the tribes, then?’

‘No, dear Brother, no.’ I said with a chuckle.

Though we looked alike, you could tell his growth years were filled with good quality nutrients, unlike mine had been. He was both taller and broader than I was. I was shorter, and seemingly less muscular, because my muscle was leaner, I ended up being not much weaker than him.

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because if I was, then I wouldn’t be able to have such a dear brother, such as you.’ He muttered and turned slightly away. Though it was fun to tease him, I could still feel the bond that the two brothers had from my body’s memories. And it was so powerful I knew it was impacting me in this life. ‘In my previous life, I had a horrid family. Though they did their best to disown me, I worked hard and made something of myself. After I died, they started hounding the one I left my estate to for something. But you and our Father did what you could, so that even after being hounded out by society, you did your best to protect me.’

I wrapped an arm around my brother and pulled him in for a hug. He mumbled something which even with my Traits I couldn’t quite make out.

‘For that I am grateful.‘ With another squeeze, I carried on, ’I love you, Brother.’ We remained locked together, looking up at the dark walled castle-like Fastidious House rising out of the snow on the distant bank of the river. ‘So, Brother, just how are we going to get to there from here? There seems to be a massive river in the way?’

‘Ah, yes, the Shield River. That which nominally marks the border between Heartland and the Wild Lands…’

‘With the exception of one small insignificant House which was stupid enough to claim lands which they needed to protect themselves.’

‘Ah, yes, they were called Fastidious House, I believe. Yes, a strange lot they are. A strange lot who gather other strange ones to their banner.’

We burst out in laughter as our odd skit ran its course. Our laughter intruded upon the vast expanse of nature which surrounded us. We separated slightly and stood partly alone as the wind and waves of nature reclaimed their rightful place as the lord of their domain.

‘Our Majordomo is currently working on getting our river craft out of storage and down to the river. They were not expecting us until the snow died down, but I was eager to bring you home, Brother, so I rushed us to our House instead of one of our satellite settlements within the Heartlands proper.’

‘And how did they know we were here?’ I asked, not having seen any communication being sent.

‘These pillars, and those stones over there, they’re magical repeaters. Through them, we can send messages via the system. That was what I was doing whilst you were standing out in the forsaken wilds like the barbarian Trait Three that you are.’

I accepted his ribbing with a chuckle, which was partly snatched away by the wind.

The longer I stood out here, waiting the quicker I wanted to return home. Not because it was cold, no, the cold didn’t really bother me, not dressed like this. It was because I really, honestly, just wanted to go return to a place which was important to me.

Yes, after ten long, horrid, endless years, I was finally returning home.