“And that was what it means to get a good night’s sleep,” Shara said, sitting down at the semi-private table in the corner of the room across from Tel. A quick hand to flag a waitress over, and she eyed the half-eaten breakfast sitting in front of him. “Not hungry?”

Tel pushed the plate across to her and gestured with his other hand. “Help yourself. I’ve never been a big eater.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Shara said, then pointed at the plate when the waitress came over with a smile. Innkeeper’s daughter, from the look of the eyes and nose. “Another plate of whatever this is,” Shara said. “And some juice. Whatever’s cold and fresh.”

“That’d be the orange,” the woman, barely more than a girl, really, said. “Will you two be staying another night?”

“We will,” Shara said. “I’ll come over and settle up for the rooms and meals with your mother after I eat.”

“Sure thing,” the innkeeper’s daughter said. “I’ll be back with the food.”

“You’ve done so much for me, I’ll pay for the rooms,” Tel said. “It’s the least I can do.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Shara said, loading some egg and ham onto the toast and then shoving it into her mouth. A bit cold from sitting on Tel’s plate, but damn, still good.

“Can I ask why?” Tel asked.

“Sure,” Shara said, sliding the toast along the plate to soak up the leftovers, and then taking a big bite. How long would it take for her breakfast to come out? This was barely a warm up. Or, at least the juice. Whatever, she popped the last of the toast into her mouth then looked up from her plate to find Tel staring at her. “What?”

Tel blew out a breath. “Why don’t you think it’s a good idea for me to pay?”

“Ah, right,” Shara said, stretching across the table to grab Tel’s heavy napkin, and cleaned off her fingers. After a quick inspection, she reached into her inside coin-purse, grabbed a handful of coins, and did a quick look around the tavern.

With nobody looking in their direction, and no sign of the daughter with her damn breakfast, Shara dropped the coins on the table. No sooner had they hit the table than she scooped them right back up and looked at Tel, waiting for a chaos butterfly to make an appearance.

“What?” Tel asked, tilting his head to the side and looking at her.

“Figured you’d count them as soon as they hit the table,” Shara said.

“I did,” Tel responded.

“If you did, why wasn’t there… you know?” she wiggled her fingers at the air around him.

“Ah. You mean a butterfly? They only appear when we vocalize, say it out loud, the results of our calculations. Well, I guess that’s not entirely true, since clocks don’t speak. Nobody is sure why, but there needs to be an output, like a voice or the visual movement of hands on a clock, to bring order to the world,” Tel explained. “Just thinking it doesn’t create order.”

“What about that big silver – What did you call it? – gun? I didn’t see a clock face, and it sure wasn’t talking,” Shara asked.

“It had measurement displays on the tubing, as did most Seventh Generation technology.”

“Seventh generation? What does that mean?”

“The easiest way to explain it would be to call them the biggest advancements of technology during the Escalation War. At the beginning, they used what came to be called First Generation weapons and technology. Barely more than clocks themselves, really. Every ten to twelve years after that, there was a massive breakthrough that allowed for more powerful creations. It wasn’t planned or anything, just coincidental,” Tel said, the confidence back in his voice as he quietly shared the history.

“How many generations were there?”

“Nine, in total,” Tel said, and held up a finger, and then another. “Two more after the gun.”

“I’ve only got a rough idea how many nine actually is, but you’re telling me that gun wasn’t even the most powerful weapon they had?” Shara asked, her mind reeling at the implications. No wonder the world almost ended.

“Not by a long shot. The Eighth Generation was... scary. That was when they got into large weapons of true destruction. And the Ninth, the last generation, well, we all know how that went.”

“Reapers?” Shara asked.

“Yeah,” Tel said quietly, shrinking a little in his chair and looking around the room.

“You know it’s not true, the old urban legend, right?” Shara asked, trying to sound confident despite the same shiver running laps up and down her spine. “A Reaper won’t appear just because we talk about them.”

Probably.

Tel looked back at her and gave a slight nod. “I know. Old habits, I guess. Back to the original topic, you thought I’d give away I could count if I went up and paid for our rooms?”

“Yeah, sorry. I figured if you went up to pay, you’d count what it cost, and a lot of shopkeepers here in Bastion, those with a license to measure, weigh, or count, are at least chaos sensitive. If that,” she wiggled her fingers at the air, “had happened in front of the innkeeper, she would’ve known you can count. And that could’ve raised questions we don’t want to answer.

“I guess that makes sense though,” she continued. “You know, I was surprised you didn’t count the people in the room down here already. Or measure how big it is. That seems like something you’d do, and there aren’t butterflies everywhere,” she said.

“I did, and I did,” Tel said. “I know exactly how many people are in here, and I have a pretty good idea of the dimensions of the building, not just the room.”

“Really?” Shara asked and leaned forward. “I bet you’re just saying that to try and impress me,” she teased.

Tel’s left eye twitched at her. “White rabbit,” he said.

“Huh?” she said.

“White rabbit,” he said again.

“Yeah, I heard you the first time, and I still don’t know what it means,” Shara said.

“It’s something I force myself to say instead of saying calculations out loud,” he hissed.

“Oh, like tell me how big the building is to prove you can, to try and impress me?” she teased again.

“I’m not trying to… white rabbit, white rabbit, white rabbit,” he muttered, and Shara chuckled.

“He okay?” the waitress asked, sliding a heaping plate in front of Shara, along with a glass that bordered on being a jug full of orange juice beside it.

Oh yeah, this place knew about portion sizes.

“He’s fine, just going on about a girl he met last night,” Shara said. “She had quite the… impact on him, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh?” the waitress said. “You mean you two aren’t…?”

“Separate rooms,” Shara said, adding a gesture with the toast towards the second floor to emphasize the point. “But thanks for the food, this is great.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Right. Let me know if you need anything else,” the girl said with a blush, then darted away.

“I’ve never been… gone to… done…” Tel stuttered and stammered, just as red as the daughter had been.

“Just because you haven’t yet, doesn’t mean you won’t or wouldn’t,” Shara said, leaning forward on one elbow to relax while she savored the breakfast. Wasn’t quite up to the level of those meat pies – she’d have to see if Tel had any more – but it was good.

“You really like food, don’t you?” Tel said.

“Moved around a lot as a kid,” Shara said between bites. “Never had any friends because of it, so I learned I had to look for something positive about constantly going somewhere new. Food was the only thing I could count on.”

“I… didn’t have a lot of friends either…” Tel said, sinking into his chair and pulling the collar up around his neck.

“I heard what Anad said,” Shara said, sitting up a little straighter and looking at the Clocksmith across the table. “Was it bad?”

Tel nodded, slowly and just once, like he was reliving the memory.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He looked up and met her eyes, but his head was already shaking. “Not today,” he said quietly.

“That’s fine, I won’t push it. But, could you tell me a bit more about Anad? How do you know a Tailcoat? And, most importantly, is he going to keep looking for us? I mean, we left him unconscious in the woods a couple of nights ago, but if he’s going to show up on our doorstep again, I’d rather not be surprised.”

“He wasn’t a Tailcoat when I knew him,” Tel said after a brief silence just long enough for Shara to fit the bacon and eggs between two slices of toast and slip into her mouth. “We grew up at the same orphanage, but he left when he was…” Tel cut off and looked around the room. “When he was… young.”

“Hrm,” Shara said, chewing and swallowing. “I’ve heard the Tailcoats pick them up young if they’re promising. Take them back to the capital to train them there. Make them think like Tailcoats think.”

“Maybe?” Tel said with a shrug. “Anad always… thought he knew what was right… but he didn’t do anything about it.”

“Could be why he joined the Tailcoats,” Shara said. “There was bullying, right? Maybe, just maybe, he knew he wasn’t strong enough or tough enough… or whatever… to stop something like that. So, when the Tailcoats came along and gave him that chance to be stronger, to do something about his beliefs, he took it.”

“He was there when they… killed everybody,” Tel said quietly.

“Or maybe he wanted to be the bully,” Shara admitted. “But back to the important question – Is he going to come after us?”

“I don’t know. If he’d wanted to, he could’ve killed us both back at the camp. You said it yourself, we couldn’t fight him…” Tel said, then cocked his face to the side like he heard something. A shake of his head, and his eyes were back on Shara. “He didn’t.”

“We couldn’t fight him if we’d stuck around, no,” Shara amended. “He might not have been as strong as you think though. When he… ahem… helped me out of that weird building…”

“Carried, you mean,” Tel interjected.

“Helped!” Shara corrected. “Helped. When he helped me out of the building, he wasn’t holding the Trance. Something about those pylons hurt him when he had the Trance in him. Hurt him bad. Honestly thought he was dead. A few times.”

“Hrmmm,” Tel said, putting a finger to his lips as his eyes traced up towards the ceiling.

“Careful,” she warned, watching for any pink appearances. “You have that look where you’re about to explain a theory.”

“Right, right. I’ll tell you about it later when we’re alone,” Tel said.

“Not usually what boys your age promise to do when they’re alone with a girl, but whatever,” Shara said.

“We’re probably about the same age,” Tel said flatly.

“Well, since I don’t know how old I am, I guess we’ll never be able to confirm that theory,” she said, finishing off her breakfast. “Now then, let’s get to why we’re here in Bastion.”

“The enclave,” Tel said quietly, leaning forward.

“Exactly.”

And all the treasures in it she could sell for a fortune. Except… what was that twinge when she imagined the look on Tel’s face after she betrayed him?

No. No. Don’t think of it as a betrayal. The treasures in the enclave are a payment for saving his life. For services rendered, along with some interest. They just haven’t talked about the cost yet. That’s all.

“We have to warn them,” Tel said. “If the Tailcoats found my enclave, they might know about the one here too.”

“So, where is it?” Shara asked, unable to completely keep the eagerness out of her voice. Thankfully, Tel nodded like he thought she was eager to save the other Clocksmiths, not eager to help herself to their vault.

Still, having Tel’s ability to carry just about anything sure would’ve been useful. Could ask him if he wanted to join her. The road’s been good for him. He might…

“I don’t know,” Tel’s words snapped her out of her inner conversation.

“Pardon?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he repeated.

“Pretend I’m stupid for a second. Yes, pretend. Explain what it is you don’t know.”

“I don’t know where the Bastion enclave is. I’ve never been to it,” Tel said. “It could be outside the city. It could be next door. It could be back in the woods. I just don’t know.”

Shara sighed, leaned back in her chair, and picked up the huge mug of orange juice. Of course he didn’t know. That would’ve been too easy.

“I think I might be able to find out, though,” Tel said, bringing Shara forward in her seat again. “Like in Gravelburg, there have to be merchants who help move supplies and other stuff. I have a few ideas who they might be, based on some paperwork I saw back in my enclave. We can start with them and see what they know.”

“See who knows what?” a deep voice, like what a bear would sound like, asked from Shara’s right, and she turned to look up, up, and further up, at a huge man standing beside the table. And that explained why it sounded like a bear – the man had a beard down to his waist, his braided hair just as long, and then hair sprouting from almost every inch of skin other than his face. If he wasn’t a bear in a short-sleeve shirt…

“It’s not polite to interrupt somebody’s conversation,” another voice, almost a whisper, said, and a small woman stepped out from behind the massive man.

Just when had these two come over, and how had Shara not noticed them approaching?

“Figured it was the easiest way to join them,” the big man said with a chuckle that shook Shara’s plate on the table, then pulled up a chair and sat down. The chair groaned under his weight, but put up the heroic effort to support his massive frame.

“Do you… know them…?” Tel asked, back to his quiet voice.

“No…” Shara said as the woman also pulled up a chair.

“Name’s Born,” the man said and held out a thick hand.

“Put that down, your hands are filthy,” the small woman said, pushing down on Born’s wrist until he lowered his arm. “I’m Neela.”

“Now you know us,” Born said with another chuckle. “We’re practically old friends. And you know what old friends do for each other, they get them breakfast!”

“You just ate,” Neela said, once again pulling Born’s arm down before he could flag over the waitress.

“I’m a growing boy,” he said.

“If you grow much more, there won’t be any buildings in Bastion big enough,” Shara said flatly.

“S’okay,” Born said, the smile never leaving his face. “I prefer nature. Like the woods. You know the ones,” he said, learning forward. “You just came from them, after all.”

“No idea what you’re talking about,” Shara said, taking a swig from her orange juice. Just who were these people and how did they have any idea where she and Tel had just come from.

“Of course you do,” Neela said. “No need to be shy about it. You did us a favor out there.”

“A favor?” Tel asked.

“Took care of a little problem,” Born said, and pointed at his eye. Then he winked.

“I really…” Shara started.

“Please save us both the time,” Neela interrupted quietly. “We saw you coming out of the bunker and followed you and your Tailcoat friend. Was a little surprised you left him sleeping like you did, so maybe not friends after all?”

Shara took another drink from her juice before she responded. On the one hand, she couldn’t believe these two had followed them all the way back without her noticing, but on the other, how else would they know about Anad?

“Did you hurt him?” Tel asked, and Shara rolled her eyes. There goes playing dumb.

“Considered it,” Born said. “But I heard you talking around the camp. He helped, so we gave him a pass, this time.”

How close was this monster of a man to hear us talking? And I still didn’t notice him?

“Which is how we know you’re no friends of the Tailcoats,” Neela said.

“And why you’re in Bastion. I’m sorry about what happened to your friends, by the way,” Born said to Tel, his smile finally vanishing.

“I…” Tel mouthed, but Shara cut him off.

“You seem to hold all the cards,” she said. “Thinking you know who we are, where we’ve been, and why we’re here.”

“Oh, we know exactly who you are, niece of the Insurmountable,” Neela said to Shara with a small bow of her head, and Shara’s stomach dropped at the mention of the name.

“The Insur…the Insurmountable is your aunt? The one you always talk about?” Tel asked, his voice a hiss like it was an effort not to shout.

“We can talk about that later,” Shara said, but her attention was focused on Neela. If the woman knew that, she might also know about Shara’s actual past, and why she was at the enclave to begin with. Not good.

“Don’t give me that look,” Neela went on. “I assure you, we’re not here to reveal your motives to… anybody,” she added, her eyes flicking in Tel’s direction.

“Then why are you here?” Shara asked.

“To invite you out for dinner,” Born said, that stupid huge smile back on his stupid huge face.

“Dinner?” Shara asked.

“Obviously you do know who Shara is if this is about food,” Tel said flatly, and Shara took a brief second to glare at him. This was the moment he chose to get flippant again?

“Dinner is part of it, but I believe there is an opportunity for us to work together. After what you did in the woods, well, we could use people like you,” Neela went on.

“And why…?” Shara started.

“There are more portals,” Tel interrupted quietly, and Shara looked over to find his eyes darting back and forth. “That has to be it.”

“Yeah, hard pass,” Shara said, leaning back in her chair. Hiding their involvement didn’t serve a purpose anymore with Tel giving it all away. “No way I want anything to do something like that again.”

“It’d be worth your while,” Neela said. “For example, we could help you both get what you came to Bastion for,” she said, her eyes never leaving Shara’s. “And, we might even have some information on where your mother is.”