An unwelcome knock tapped the door. Zilian groaned sleepily in bed and turned face up as he heard knocking on the door again. Stretching as he rolled off the bed, he walked to answer the door in his white undershirt and short pale-beige pants. He opened the door to see who it was and found a familiar slender man, with his pointy chin and straightened black hair. A polearm was hooked from his back, but the boy was not intimidated.

The boy yawned. "Hey Fale, what are you doing up so early?" Zilian asked sleepily.

"You are up late, it's midmorning. Erica and me are waiting on you."

Erica stood behind Fale, she had a fresh set clothes on and all the dirt and grime from yesterday was washed off. Just like himself, she had taken a bath first thing when they settled into their rooms.

"Waiting for what?" He asked.

"We are going to have breakfast. After that, I am taking a day off to take a stroll in the city."

"I didn't know."

Fale eyed pointedly towards the ground, Zilian tracing his line of sight to see what he was looking at, a piece of paper under his foot. He stepped back and bent over to pick up the piece of paper, unfolding it to learn that it was a short message:

I will be giving you a tour of the city tomorrow after having breakfast, be up early.

~Fale

He did not see the message slid under his door yesterday because first thing he did when he got into his room, was take shower and then straight into bed, which is what he wished he was still doing now. However, he could not turn down an offer to view the city, it was not like he had anything better to do.

"Sorry, I'll get ready in just a minute." He shut the door and opened his closet, he could not help but find humor that he had a huge closet and only a small bag occupying it. He pulled open his bag and yanked out a short-sleeved blue shirt and knee-long black pants, quickly changing into his fresh clothes and throwing his old ones on the bed.

Swinging open his door, "Hey guys, what took you so long?" He teased them.

As he was about to close the door, Fale prevented it from closing as he slid his hand in. Zilian was about to complain, until he saw Fale grab the room key on the table next to the door and tossed the key to Zilian.

"Don't forget about your key, you'll need it to get back in."

Fale led them down the hallway, opposite from the entrance of the motel. They turned left at the end of the hallway, walking through a decorative door with pillars that had been painted so that it seemed vines and butterflies were growing on it. They entered a large chamber, at the far end of which there was a long table with large containers that held food in them and behind them chefs cooking the morning gourmet.

"Today’s special is scrambled eggs, biscuits and sausages." Fale announced.

The tables in here were symmetrical small squares and the one they walked to was in the corner, where Kayla was already seated. Three other chairs on each side of the table remained vacant, with a clear reservation of who was to be seated there.

Kayla was shuffling through some papers, momentarily lifting them to see Fale approaching and having the same reaction as yesterday. This time however Fale did not lift and spin her around, probably to keep from bumping into the tables. He let her go and pulled out the chair for Kayla to sit down, pushing the chair in as she, repeating the courteous gesture for Erica. As Zilian helped himself to the chair, he looked around and saw almost all the tables were taken, everyone enjoying their breakfast.

"Should we get up to get food?" Zilian asked.

No later did the words get out of his mouth than a neatly dressed man arrived with four plates, two in balanced in each arm. He quickly placed a plate in front of each of them as he went around the table, leaving just as spontaneously as he had come.

"No." Kayla directed her attention to Zilian.

"What?" He was confused.

"No, we don't have to go. This is the best motel in the city, we offer more then what others do. Perhaps even among the best on the continent." She rebuked him, it seemed as if he had offended her.

Fale clapped his hands together and announced, "Enough chit-chat, lets eat." Zilian welcomed the interruption.

Everyone at the table picked up their forks and dug in their platters of food, each filled with what was aforementioned - sausage, eggs and biscuits. The man came again, this time holding four cups of juice between his two hands, giving one to each person on the table. Zilian recognized it as marilla juice, from its pale-peachy and violet hue.

Zilian picked at his sausage with his fork and eyes around at the others, they were all enjoying their meal. He never had a sausage before and it looked disgusting at first sight to him. With some hesitancy he took a couple tempting bites into the spicy and juicy meat. His eyes widened and his jaws dropped, never before had he tasted something even close as good as a sausage. Zilian devoured his plate taking big bites and short breathes, he finished his meal before everyone else. His friends were not even halfway through their plates.

"You must be hungry." Kayla said.

"Never had sausage before, it was good." He belched in satisfaction, some nearby guests eyed him in disgust. All he could do was grin awkwardly.

"In that case, have some more." Kayla lifted a hand. The same man who served them came right away.

"Yes, my friend would like some more." Kayla said.

"Anything for the young man."

"Thank you Meiph." Meiph left to get more servings.

"You didn't have to." Zilian said.

"True, but I wanted to."

Fale grabbed his attention after taking a bite, "Since you're done, you probably have questions. Ask and I'll answer between my bites."

"Yeah, um... I am curious about how everything is going to be settled with the people from Forest Mist."

"Mm!" Fale sallowed, "That is a good question, truth is the Council does not know what to do as of this moment. Forest Mist is a tricky situation, and although there are a number of reasons, one of the biggest is because of its neutral status. They would not come here if they hadn't been chased down by those Mountain dogs!" Some bystanders looked up from their tables towards Fale’s rising tone.

Kayla calmed him down, "No need to get upset. Fortunately, the casualty was fairly low. Not to mention that it could have been much worse, the Council could have righteously turned a cold shoulder."

"I know, I know. Just not used to how things are done with a council, it is different from the protocols, laws and honor of the Swamp. A people in need, no matter it's origin, cannot be shrugged off. However you are right, it could have been worse." Turning back to Zilian, "To answer that question, I do not know. Right now, there is a lot of debate, what I like to call disaccord. For now, they will be accepted and given arrangements in the city province, but they will eventually have to go. There is simply not enough room for everyone."

Meiph came back with another plate of food for Zilian, he forked at his food to eat. He asked him with a mouthful, "You said it was a tricky situation because of them being neutral, why?"

"You are the insightful one. Well, this city is under the protection of the Swamp and Volcanic Empires."

"I don't understand."

Fale took a couple of bites and sip of his drink quickly. "This city is what we call a Conditioned City. This city is in this prosperous, fertile land, which is what the Swamp and Volcanic empires seriously lack. The lands I am from, the Swamp have many minerals, herbs and rare plants used for ointments and healing. That is the Swamp’s main source of economy, and for a long time they relied from the resource of vegetables and fruits from cities around here. In fact, for a long time, before I was born and before my father was born and before his father was born and..."

"I think they get the point." Kayla interrupted pointedly.

"Yeah, sorry." He cleared his throat, "Anyway, there were a lot of fighting for these territories back then. Everything here was constantly being ravaged and plundered, to the point that the two Empires suffered what they tried to avoid in the end. The citizens in both nations have suffered from starvation, children would go to sleep and not wake up again. Couples, parents and individuals alike suffered in this period. It was not just the hunger that they suffered from."

Zilian had finished his second serving of food. "What was it?" He asked.

Fale paused to take another bite, "It was the aftermath of the hunger. Families could not eat because the little food we had in the market had costed drastically more. Fathers sold their daughters in the streets, figuring whoever would buy them would be able to feed them. Families torn apart, going as far as killing each other just for a head of corob. It was a dark time for both Empires, however it also led to this alliance we have now."

"What do you mean?"

Zilian finished his last bite at the same time as Fale, "I'll tell you later, we need to get a head start on the city tour."

Zilian and Erica stood up as Fale did, Kayla sighed tiredly as she got up from her seat. They walked with them out of the chamber up to the Lobby, she stopped there and sat behind the desk.

"You're not coming with us?" Erica asked.

"I would if I could, but I have to do an inventory check and room assignments. The Council will be assigning groups of people to rooms and on top of that, I have to write out the compensation price to the Council so they reimburse my rooms, so I have my work cut out for me. I'll meet you guys later."

Zilian turned to walk out of the room as Fale held the door open. "This way." Fale directed them the opposite direction from where they came from the day before.

"They'll be making a record and starting with the assignments by now, So we'll want to stay out of their way." Fale walked down the wide street.

This is his first time taking in a clear view of the city. Yesterday was just a blur to him, like a distant memory. After the pursuit from the mountain, he was simply too tired. Now much more attuned to his surroundings, he noticed Kartick’s roads were made of bricks, different from the dirt roads of Forest Mist. This city was much, much bigger then Forest Mist, and the houses were correspondingly larger with larger plots of land around them. It had many more Inns then the Forest Mist - back in Forest Mist he had only seen five, but here there were five in just one block. Buildings stretched at least four flours tall, surpassing the tallest three floors back in Forest Mist. What Zilian now knew, and in more then one way, there was much he has yet to see in the world.

Fale explained the city’s structure, "All of our large streets lead to the center of the city. Most cities place the building in the center, but we have a different system." They arrived the center of the city. In the center of the city was one large park, with the building surrounding it as one large barrier.

"Looks like a wall." Zilian commented.

"Actually, that is the idea." Fale replied, he elaborated more, "The archives show that the original plan of this was to make a city surrounding this haven, so when it is invaded all of the inhabitants can retreat to the center. The only possible way to reach us here is to go through these large roads, and on top of that they have done a lot of tunneling in this area."

"Digging, why?" Zilian asked.

Erica, obviously not interested, walked to a patch of flowers nearby with Fale and Zilian keeping close by to her. "This park is inclined, so when they come we have terrain advantage."

"Did any of the empires ever attack here?" He asked.

"Of course they did, every city in the four Empires have been attacked by any one the four Empires. Except for the Wind Empire. The Wind have an impenetrable defense up to a certain point, where none of the other Empires have come back to tell."

"I see." He stared blankly into the park, letting Fale go on.

"Ten years ago though, the Mountain and Volcanic Empire quit trying to capture this city. The architecture here is rock solid. Wide clear view around the city, plenty of sentry towers, a plan and backup plan, an excellent source of food even during a siege, this is probably one of the best Conditioned Cities that there is."

"You mentioned that this city has loose relationships with the Swamp and Volcanic Empires."

"Yes, well, how do I put this? This city is as close to being a neutral city without it being neutral."

"I don't think I understand."

"This city is under it's own law, so we do not answer to the Swamp or Volcanic. Here, let's take a seat, this isn’t a short story."

Fale sat on a bench close by, close enough to where Erica was picking flowers.

"About eighty years ago, this city along with many others in this area have revolted against their former Empires. They formed a new group they called the Council of Freedom, defending themselves against the Volcanic and Swamp. The Council made choices on the principle of what was best for their people. There were lots of deaths at the time, but the people who were in these cities lived a lot better, even better then the Capitals and the emperors themselves. About sixty years ago, the Council grew tired of the constant sieges of the two empires trying to regain plots of farms. So, they called a summit with the Emperors of the Swamp and Volcanic and came up with an agreement to send them food."

"This new agreement, had various conditions to it - which is how these cities received the title Conditioned Cities. The agreement was that the Conditioned Cities send resources, namely food, in exchange for protection. This protection included a promise that both Empires would send Masters to train troops of the Conditioned Cities and each Empire has to have a minimum of troops to jointly protect all of these cities, thus ending the starvation in both Empires and a glimpse of a possible allegiance."

Zilian noticed he left something out, "What did you mean about the loose relationship?"

"There you go again, asking the right questions. You only see this friendship in these cities, but if these two nations meet each other outside of our boundaries rivalry instantly sparks. These coalitions did nothing to heal the wounds of war, the empires behave almost as if they crave it."

"I can't say I understand what you mean," Zilian said, "but, I believe I have an idea of it."

Fale patted Zilian on the back. "I see you gonna be quite the person when you grow up." Fale stood up and called Erica over, they followed him out of the center of the city and back to the inn.

~---~

Zilian walked back into his bedroom as Fale said his good-byes. "See you tomorrow in the morning." Fale said before departing.

Zilian slumped in bed and daydreamed. When he was back home with his father, he always wondered what life was like outside of his village. Now he understood why his father did not talk about anything of the world outside - it was more than just a war, it was a blood bath. He imagined everywhere in all the cities, villages and people were tasting the blood as it welled up. The people were getting tired of it, but it seems they also craved it. Every city had been tainted by this war, the people are simply used to it by now.

I am sorry.

Zilian nearly jumped off from his bed, he could have sworn he heard. He does not see anyone in the room, he looked outside his window staring into the full moon, forgive me, Erica and forgive Zilian. A shudder coursed down his spine. He slides out of his bed and out of his room, he knocks on Erica’s door.

A few seconds passed before Erica opened the door. "Something wrong Zilian?" She asked.

"We have to go, tomorrow."

"What? Why?" She inquired

"Best we get to Greyus in a couple of days, better an early start."

Erica did not understand, but she nodded, "OK, when we're leaving?"

"First thing in the morning."

"What are we gonna say to Fale and Kayla?"

"I'll tell them tomorrow."

She yawned tiredly, "Well then, I am gonna get a head start in my sleep. See you tomorrow."

Erica shut the door as Zilian turned back into his bedroom, to sleep off his growing worries. He repeated the words to himself as he drifted to sleep, "I am sorry. Forgive me Erica, forgive me Zilian." For some reason he did not think this is his imagination, he just hoped it was nothing important. No matter how many times he repeated it to himself though, he was not convinced. Blood was out for him and it was coming soon, very soon.