Silas stared down from the hilltop, his mind blank as he savoured the sight in front of him. It had been two days since they had evacuated Valrun’s Keep, and the journey had been mercilessly taxing on both mind and body. In truth, a two day’s walk was nothing to his current body, but his injuries had seen to making it a torturous excursion, coupled with the constant fear of further ratmen catching up. Fortunately, however, no other major obstructions had blocked them after the first army, so they had made it to Riverside in one piece, if a damaged one.

It had only been two weeks since he had left Riverside, and yet he struggled to identify the sprawling township in front of him now, the very one he had been mayor of not long ago. Checking the citizens list, he noted that the population had increased almost fivefold since his departure.

1. Silas Wycliffe - level 43 - Duellist

2. Natalie Svoboda - level 41 - Cryomancer

3. Dominic Wood - level 40 - Black Knight

4. Josh Thompson - level 37 - Antimage Brawler

5. Iris Azer - level 36 - Lifetree

6. Yuri Dmitriev - level 34 - Cleric

7. Diego Garcia - level 34 - Supay Summoner

8. Lina Radhakrishnan - level 34 - Blazeblade

9. Elise LeBeau - level 33 - Minister

10. Renard Lavigne - level 33 - Arcane Fletcher

…

768. Rolf Ruttering - level 22 - Tactician

…

1004. Tessa Flowers - level 20 - Alchemist

…

…

3287. Maria Gonzales - level 1

The old brick and mortar houses in the centre with cobbled streets, which had once been the entire village, were now the minority with sleek System buildings circling them in irregular bands with paved streets. The skyline was no longer limited to two floors as there were several buildings with three and even four floors, likely administrative offices or guilds, Silas supposed. Before, the town hall had been the biggest structure in the area, but now it looked cute compared to some of the other buildings that he could see from here.

To the south of the settlement, there was a road trailing off into the distance, wide enough to accommodate four lanes. The occasional vehicle zipped across it, and Silas figured this was the road between New Derby and Riverside which he had proposed. He supposed the population boom here had been caused by emigration from there, and if they had acted on his other clauses as well, it was likely both the settlements were flourishing together.

It was shocking to see Riverside as it was now as he remembered how, not long ago, Lazzaro had been its mayor, the kindly old man doing his best to hold two hundred people together. The mantle had eventually passed to Silas, and Riverside had grown some more under his rule, but that was clearly nothing compared to the dramatic growth under Elise’s careful watch. Her expertise in bureaucracy and proficiency in finding apt people to work for her had caused the prosperity that now glittered and gleamed in front of him.

Mia and Ethan stood beside Silas, gaping with him at Riverside, whereas Olivia simply peered down with curiosity. Bandit circled around in the air, hooting and celebrating the fact they had finally made it. Behind Silas, Amara stirred and tapped the Duellist on his shoulder. Turning, he saw that although the princess appeared calm and in control on the surface, her tense movements betrayed her nerves.

“Shall we go forth? I trust that we shall be received cordially,” she said, the latter sentence as much a question as it was a statement.

Thinking for a moment, he nodded. He could tell she was worried whether it was a settlement exclusively for humans, and what she would do in case they took badly to the shaerds. But they had accepted the Order and made space for their troops without much trouble, so Silas couldn’t think of many reasons why Elise would reject the shaerds either. Even if she did, he could put in a good word for them by revealing their innate magic resistances and describing them as born sorcerer-killers. He owed them at least that much after what they had done for him and his kind in Valrun’s Keep.

Silas took a slow breath in and gently breathed it out, calming his jittering heart, before making towards Riverside. He was nervous to return, worried about how his friends would receive him and how they had changed, but there was nothing to do but to walk on and find out now. The procession followed after him, the humans joyful whereas the shaerds wore more reserved expressions. As to be expected, their near three-hundred-strong party attracted immediate attention when they entered the village’s vicinity, especially due to the shaerds’ alien appearance. It didn’t help that the soldiers raised their halberds defensively and gripped their bows, worsening the tension, so Silas urged Amara to order them to lower their arms before things took a turn for the worse.

However, it was too late to fix their first impressions as the news of armed aliens invading Riverside rapidly spread through the township and caused scores of warriors to march onto the streets and halt their progress before they made it to the centre. Fortunately, Silas had encountered some of the village’s scouts several miles back and ordered them to bring advance notice of their arrival. Although he had since slowed the procession down to allow the scouts enough time to pass over his message, it appeared he had overestimated their speeds anyway.

Still, he managed to control the situation for long enough until the Riverside Constabulary arrived in force, its officers flooding the streets and settling the situation. It was curious seeing them armed with guns, which he figured had been bought from New Derby. He only recognised some of the officers as the original members he had assigned, including Lina Radhakrishnan, the Blazeblade and Dom’s right-hand woman, as the overwhelming number of officers here were fresh recruits.

Although he looked dreadful now, his armour in tatters with dried gore covering its surface and his skin, she singled him out at once and tipped her head respectfully. “You look like you’ve seen better days, sir,” she said, her severe expression mellowing somewhat.

He chuckled politely but looked away as he saw a black SUV pulling up beside them. Although the windows were tinted, he guessed at who it was from the hazy profile in its windows and the way the other officers turned to it deferentially. Dom slipped out of the door and strode forwards, his appearance as eye-catching as ever with the distinctive blue bandana tied around his head and his well-groomed pencil moustache. His aura had also grown greatly since their last meeting, and Silas figured Dom could actually give him trouble now in a fight. Not that one would ever break out between the two as the Black Knight wore a warm expression as he came up to them.

“And so the prodigal son returns.” He clasped Silas’s hand and gave a firm handshake. “You don’t know how much trouble we had to deal with after you skipped town.”

Silas snorted. “I warned you before I left. Sure, maybe a little short notice, but still—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, tell it to the judge,” Dom said, waving dismissively. He glanced over the procession and landed his gaze on Ethan. “You must be the one he went out for then. Nice to meet you, mate, name’s Dom. Tell your brother to keep out of trouble from now on, else I’ll have to put him in the slammer for real.”

Ethan nodded sheepishly, introducing himself after a moment. The younger Wycliffe had heard his brother speak of his role in Riverside’s growth, but it was another thing entirely to watch how well-known his brother was first hand.

Maintaining his affable front, Dom turned back to Silas. “So who’s the important one here?” he asked, tipping his head at the rows of tense shaerds. “Ellie wants to speak to them before we decide on anything concrete, you know. We’ll heal the rest of them, sure, but there’s no guarantee of anything beyond that.”

“That would be us,” Amara called out, saving Silas the trouble. She proudly stepped in front of Dom and appeared dignified. “Take us where you will.”

“Princess, let me come with you,” Clio said, but Dom waved his hands in rejection at once.

“Sorry, but only your leader for now. The rest of you stay here, alright?” A twinkle entered his eyes. “And remember you’re done for if you try anything, so just sit pretty and wait.”

Although there were a couple more protests from the shaerds, they all died out when Amara agreed to the terms and climbed into the SUV with Dom. Silas was about to lead Ethan, Olivia, and Mia elsewhere, when Dom called out, beckoning him to the car. “Come on now, mate, don’t be pumping and dumping. Chaperone this nice lady all the way back, at least.” When the Duellist responded with a look of confusion, Dom clarified. “Ellie wants to see you as well, so get your arse in here. She’s going to be crabby if we take any longer.”

Silas sighed and took a moment to tell the officers there to treat the shaerds and humans at once and to give them temporary resting places. He then asked Lina to ensure nothing happened to Ethan or Olivia while he was gone and to take them to his house afterwards. Pausing, he also mentioned she shouldn’t worry in case she spied Bandit flying around as it was, in fact, a very friendly owl, and that he would personally deal with anyone who tried to shoot it down. Only after all this did he climb into the SUV with Mia, and Dom didn’t make a fuss about the company.

Although the drive to the new council building was short, it was a delightful one as he spent the duration in the back with Mia, his eyes glued to the windows as he searched for spots of familiarity in the streets they passed. When they arrived, he realised that the new council building was one of the few expansive four-storey structures he had spotted from the distance. It was elegantly built of pale stone but no way near as grandiose in design as New Derby’s one. Dom took them in, leading them to a reasonably sized conference room, where sat Elise, Rolf, Iris, Josh, and some others around a square-shaped, acrylic table.

The former Healer jumped out of her seat as they entered and rushed forward, embracing Silas in a warm hug. He was surprised by the motion, especially since his clothes were dirty, but she didn’t hesitate at all on seeing the muck. His surprise quickly mellowed into appreciation and he hugged her back, noting at the back of his head that she hadn’t changed at all since his departure: still a caramel-skinned teenager dressed in formal clothes and topped in a newsboy cap, still as warm and caring as ever. He could sense her aura had changed underneath though, no doubt because of her class upgrade from Healer to Lifetree.

The air was forced out of her chest as Josh followed not three steps behind, wrapping his arms around the two of them and squeezing tight. He appeared the same as before: tanned and blond with messy curls framing his cheery expression and bristly beard. Silas thought he detected a flash of maturity in him for a brief moment, but it vanished as the blond grinned as widely and cheekily as a mischievous child. “Good to see you again, man, so bloody good,” he said, speaking enough words for himself and Iris.

Silas chuckled before separating, shrugging as both Mia and Amara pointed odd looks his way. They quickly took their seats and Elise allowed them to collect themselves before starting. She wore thick-rimmed glasses and had her brown hair in a neat bun, her face showing signs of age and wisdom. “Maybe we should set you as a permanent travelling envoy,” she joked to Silas, earning several good-natured laughs around the room. “You’ve got us two alliances so far, and this time you outdid even that by straight-up towing an entire village over.” She looked over at Amara and locked gazes with the princess. “So is it true that you guys want to join Riverside, or was that just him boasting about his diplomatic skills in the letter?”

“It is true. We, and our two hundred and thirty-three subjects, seek admittance to your village,” Amara answered levelly.

Elise’s secretary quickly passed over a file of papers to Amara, and the Minister spoke again. “Well, for the time we’ll allow you temporary stay until the end of this week. You should take some time to read through our terms there, and if they satisfy you, we can talk further and hopefully work towards granting permanent citizenship.”