The two sat silently on the cold ground. The Black Dogs were guarding the vicinity of this tile-walled building. The area was spacious, on the ground were broken wooden tiles. Rufus sat while holding his wound. “You came back so early,” he grimaced, “are they so easy to defeat when my men cannot kill them?”

“How did they enter?”

“Through a tunnel around the barbican wall. Before the barriers were up it was chaos, Einar.” He stared blankly. “So much chaos that I couldn’t even think for a second. I thought I was fine with war, readied myself, couldn’t believe that I stood with my hands shaking.”

“You are still here,” he whispered hoarsely. “And that’s all that it counts.”

Rufus blew air. “That’s the thing is, how can I face these people? Ha, I was really a just fish on a pond. All these schemes and politics, they are too tiresome for me.”

“How’s the weather?” Einar asked.

“Cold isn’t it? All of them are waiting for the winter. They think that they can starve the City of Nimrod. They don’t realize that just below us are farms that could produce beetroot that could feed the city states. We have cattle undergrounds and we can reproduce our products. They rely on us to feed them and now they think they can get away with all of this?”

Einar produced a paper. “It says here that they are allied against the ‘greedy’ of Nimrod. Bunch of fools really, they must think that we are a happy target.”

“They think so,” Rufus clamped his jaws. “Lady Rubina, the Favored, the Lady warned that if we do not submit to their demands. She will personally break the towers itself.” He studied Einar’s gaze. “You do not tremble, Einar.”

“I fear only a little,” Einar confessed. “When you face a being that could break your soul. The fears and worries that wrapped around you would disappear. Lady Rubina, I heard of her prowess, the Rose Woman, the Lioness of the Favored, the guardian woman, and the one that shelters the world. Tell me, why does she need to break our tower?”

Rufus turned to the wall. “Resources, they need the tower to become their food source. They want the carapace of the monsters. The hides of the beasts to make coats for their travels. Einar, they have set their eyes upon the Old Continent, where the Cain De Arno’s voyage the ended.”

“The Heart of the World?” Einar gasped. “It’s real?”

“We have dragons, Liches, and Astral beings that have appeared. You are surprised about this?”

“The world’s large enough as it is!” He shook his head. “And now you are telling me there are more continents around us?”

“Einar, they call our world the Endless Continent, where it would forever expand and as years passed many seas would be created. The Heart of the World does exist, and if it exists then surely the head, the limbs, and the spine can be found as well.” He smiled warily.

“Einar,” he whispered softly. “I don’t want to die in a tower of vanity.”

“Then why are you here, Rufus Farley?”

“Because she’s here and how can I leave her when she’s doing her best?”

“Why is it always the woman with you lot?” Einar asked. “I don’t understand at all.”

“You are an island in the middle of the void, Einar Elior. When I first met you, you were as stony-faced as they called you. Thea, your cousin, was the only who would try. It was when our fates clashed at that fateful day that you’ve become a part of us. You’ve become a part of the fools who dreamed of securing this city. Every day you meet us, you look at us with contempt, your eyes so distance, and when we order you with importance, you only shrug, and do your mission. Einar Elior, what happened when you met that monster?”

“I became alone, Rufus,” he said lowly. “The companion that I was always with was gone.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you think?” Einar gave a strange smile. “Rufus, I think I am starting to understand why. Maybe, because being alone had made start to realize things.”

Rufus clenched his fist. He cringed while looking at Einar, still holding his wound. “Tell me, my friend.”

Einar smiled at him. “I have been reborn alone. The fight with the Astral Being broke my soul. My soul reforged again, but lonely inside a vessel that could more than one.”

“You are telling me this?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” he shook his head, “I’ve survived simply because a miracle occurred. I will not lie to you, Rufus. I’ve seen things and yet I still cannot fathom why I stand. I told you about my dream once. You laughed at me, told me what I was a fool for it, maybe, that dream might come true, or it will never come true for me. Rufus, I always wondered why my dream was like that. I get it now.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Did you have your soul broken once?”

“Heavens, no!”

“Then you will never understand, he said and thought, “No one other than the Old Man will.”

“You act strangely, Einar. The battle must have been rough and now you smell of blood.”

Einar stood shaking his upper body. “Tell me, who do I need to kill?”

Rufus shook his head and exhaled. “None, you will not kill more than anyone, Einar. We wait until Spring and once our people have recovered, then we will strike as best as we could. The rest should be scurrying around after the deed that you have. The people you killed are traitors! I do not pity them. Never!”

“So wait until spring. What about the factions that want the head our Princess?”

“The Black Dogs will warn the factions. They won’t make a move now that they know that our Headsman is around. Your parents will side with us. The War Band of your father will be our greatest asset. The military might of the others are nothing but ants now that they have a reason to side with us.”

Einar bit his inner cheeks and stared at Rufus.