His memory had never been good, but as he trudged along the barren streets of his home, Gabriel could swear it had gotten worse.

His mind kept turning over the words he had written in his journal, his brain continued to plague him with information and thoughts that he didn’t need. He needed to figure out what to do next, but all he could do was consider why it felt like he had been out for multiple hours while he could only remember the last few minutes. All he could remember was climbing out of the tunnel with a few bottles of water stored in his knapsack, yet he found himself trudging through the ruins of his home that he never intended to return to.

It was oddly silent. A welcome change from the usual bustling mess that this particular street had usually been, Gabriel thought. Definitely favourable to the anarchy that had erupted after the invasion. But Hashvan had never been this silent.

Gabriel’s mind turned over the memories of what his home used to be, and what noises typically accompanied his casual strolls. The shouts and blares of irritated riders within their little floating triangles, the calls of vendors for people to try their ‘exquisite food’ which never turned out to be anything better than the same disgusting rubbish that the academy served.

“I used to yell at them to leave me alone, yet I can’t help but wish they would call out again. It was entertaining, at least,” Gabriel muttered to himself.

Then, as soon as his sentence had finished, hope fluttered in his chest. A low buzz of it, but enough that he could feel something other than dull acceptance. A body, one that didn’t look to be as rotted or mutilated as the others he’d passed, fell within his line of sight. Without a second thought, he rushed forwards.

The girl was, as he’d previously noted, relatively untouched. Around his age, if he had to guess. Definitely not heart failure. Perhaps a form of silent weaponry had been what killed her because even as his hands trailed across her body to look for a wound, he could find no damage. No blood, barely any dust, and a few cuts on her cheeks.

“How did you die..?” Gabriel muttered to himself, preparing himself to bring this girl back to life. His hand, already trailing the black smoke of his necromancy, brushed a strand of her blonde hair to the side. However, his heart nearly exploded in shock as the girl spoke up, her pale lips moving softly.

“I didn’t. Let me take my nap,” she muttered before her dark brown eyes opened with humour that matched her smile.

Gabriel just stared in shock for several moments, no sign of his beating heart visible on his face. He could vaguely see his reflection in the girl’s eyes, and the reflection was a dumbfounded man. His lips moved soundlessly, black hair surrounding his confused green eyes until she spoke for him.

“I could feel you coming through the streets. Turns out, being a stonelian that is quite useful for these ruined towns. The creatures never check a body twice; they’re too arrogant!”

Gabriel’s expression became neutral in the time it took for the girl to speak. A stonelian, he knew, was an elemental in the realm of rocks. If they were in contact with stone, they could feel any sensation through any other rock as long as the stone was connected.

“So you played dead?” Gabriel asked, and the girl nodded with a smile. “Odd. Like a possum.”

The girl nodded once more, before tilting her head curiously.

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“Not as odd as you. I could tell you never really broke your stride, and you were tromping along pretty carelessly. And, since you thought I was dead, you clearly aren’t a stonelian. Why so fearless?” she asked, and Gabriel chuckled.

“The creatures are anything but silent. I learned that if they went somewhere, they screamed as they went,” Gabriel smiled humourlessly, and the girl nodded in appreciation of this.

“I’m assuming you’re talking about the flying creatures. The ones with legs, or whatever you can call those strange little tendrils, are pretty quiet. I nearly got caught by a few when I was going through the more populated areas.”

“You were exploring?!” Gabriel exclaimed, his curiosity and confusion getting the better of him. The girl just smiled.

“Maybe. But more importantly, what are you? I can tell you’re something unique because you try to hold yourself aloof, yet you can’t seem to hold that demeanour for long. A necromancer, perhaps?”

Gabriel, despite himself, found his jaw hanging open in bewilderment. His mind tried to process what the girl said, how she managed to unscramble him so quickly, and she answered that for him.

“It’s not hard to read someone, you know. Telepathy might not be something I’m capable of, but a necromancer’s eyes are usually where they store what they really are. I should know, my father was one.”

Gabriel frowned at her, tilting his head in confusion. She elaborated further.

Your eyes tell a story, and I can see your entire life flashing within them. When you can let people live forever, you need somewhere to store your own finite life. And I’ve noticed most necromancers unintentionally keep their stories in their gazes. The way that older folk can have wisdom within their eyes.”

He just shook his head now, heaving a breath of bewilderment. “If you say so,” he muttered, before abandoning the subject and looking around them both. “Well, at least I met someone perceptive. Is there anything else you know?”

The girl pursed her lips in response, tilting her head before responding.

“Well, the Likaven has fled. Neither he nor his Lichven has been seen, but we can have hope that they’re alive. I think there’s a resistance stronghold at his palace though, and the shields there are holding fairly well.”

“Shields? What shields?”

“Don’t you know? The Likaven’s palace is constantly surrounded by a field of various magics. It’s meant to be a vakron shield, so it’s easier to cast. It’ll be able to hold for about a week before it falls, and the monsters have wasted three days battering at it.” “For the sake of the skies, what’s a vakron shield?” Gabriel demanded, and the girl giggled with a smile.

“It means it’s time-sensitive. No matter what’s thrown at it, it’ll hold for that one week from the moment it was activated. It’s given us time to figure out that only very potent and pure magic has been able to harm them.”

“Potent and pure being the raw energy of magic, instead of its application?”

“Exactly! At the same time, bare fists actually work shockingly well. It seems that the skin of a Hashvien is quite dangerous to the beasts, but we can’t figure out why.”

The torrent of knowledge was shocking to Gabriel, at the least. Such a revelation, that the simple skin of his people was effective against the invading aliens. His expression was enough to alert the girl that he would process this for a little while, and she smiled. Then, she harrumphed and extended her hand, visibly embarrassed.

“My apologies! I didn’t give you my name! Cassia Lockurin!” she smiled warmly, and Gabriel hurried to extend his own hand in greeting.

“Gabriel Kavenhull.”

She nodded at this, before casting her gaze around them. She then closed her eyes, opening them within a few heartbeats.

“It doesn’t seem like anything’s coming. We should probably find shelter,” she murmured, and Gabriel frowned, realising she had probably felt the tremors within the ground.

“Sure, we can do that. But if the Likaven’s palace is guarded by a fading shield, doesn’t that mean we’re close to finished? I mean, if his palace falls then it means that he’s gone. And without Enocavian, what are we supposed to do? No Lichven has ever matched his strength.”

“And what can we hope to do about that, Gabriel? We’re only a pair of teenagers out here. Sure, we’re both nearly adults. But what use are we to an amassed army in Hangiel?”

“We’re Hashviens, Cassie. Almost our entire history is filled with people who were little more than children doing the impossible. It’s almost become an expectancy that those who aren’t notable become something”

Cassie went silent after this, processing the logic behind her newfound companion’s words. After a while, she nodded her head in agreement.

“Then let’s head to Hangiel. And hope that Likaven Enocavian’s palace holds.”