Avryn and his squad was going the usual rounds around the outpost. They were on watch duty, and so was Leifren’s squad. Harver started up a conversation with Avryn,

  “Hey, it’s been half a year now. You’re not homesick yet?”

  “Not really, no. Why?”

  The lunch bell was tolled. They ate their meals by the campfire.

  “How did I became to be the topic of the conversation today?” Avryn leaned back with a smile.

  “Everyone besides Harver haven’t visited Middsborough. We were also curious on what Kuldrin was like,” Jenilah explained.

  “Trust me, nothing of note ever had happens on that land. It’s a popular retirement spot for old soldiers,” he beated around the bush.

  Jenilah cheered him up,

  “Everyone would love to see the place you grew up in. Right guys?”

  Everyone else nodded along. Avryn relented,

  “Fine, but I warned you. It’s called the Big Nothing for a reason. Let’s do it on our next leave.” he suggested.

  That night, Avryn retired to his tent. Alone with his thoughts again. His mind warned him to never come home. His heart was already battered by that place. He closed his eyes and laid on his bed. It was impossible to sleep. He tossed and turned but nothing helped. The night was young, so he decided to volunteer doing the rounds. He saw Rinna doing the same and caught up with her.

  “Guess you were thinking about Kuldrin,” she said.

  “Yeah…” Avryn hung his head. “What about you?”

  Rinna continued marching on,

  “It’s been the longest I’ve been away from home. I was thinking of writing a letter to mother. I got inspired by Harver doing that for his girlfriend. Rietta, was it?” she tried to remember.

  “Oh yeah, he does that,” he said.

  “What about you and this captain Forban? Wouldn’t you want to do the same? Surely he wants to hear from you,” Rinna wondered.

  Avryn’s eyes widened from the surprise. It was two years since they last talked. An odd slip of the mind for Avryn.

  “I guess I could catch up with him when we get there,” he answered. “I was just so focused on becoming stronger, becoming a leader for our squad.”

  “I’m sure he’s the type to understand that. Plus you needed to get out of there for your own sake.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Avryn nodded along. The night was long, but it gave him a lot of time to think over his decision. He thought of how to greet, what to say, how he would tour around the place. Two and a half years, that was how long he was away. He wondered if there were new people there.

  The next week, they were on patrol duty. The two squads were experienced enough to not have their hands held by a veteran squad, so Jovie’s squad was assigned on another mission. It was an easy patrol for today, fortunately. The squads just finished up defeating a pack of Corpse mutts. They stopped on the trail to take a quick lunch break.

  Avryn was once again in deep contemplation. Harver took notice of it and sat across from him.

  “What’s on your mind?”

  Avryn sighed,

  “A lot of things man. Home, but it was never home to me,” he rested his hand on Lerosa. “A lot of what if’s.”

  “Afraid your old man gonna scold you for not keeping in touch?” Harver teased.

  Avryn nodded,

  “Maybe,” he looked to the sky.

  The grey clouds gave him an uneasy feeling. Almost like his stomach was being twisted in ways he didn’t knew before. He sighed again. Leifren sat by,

  “You could just explain why you couldn’t keep in touch. Doubt he’ll get angry at you for prioritizing yourself,” he encouraged.

  Avryn knew what they said were right. He was just afraid of making those moves. What if Forban was truly furious at him for not keeping in touch. That would entirely be out of character of the man he once knew to be. The paranoia and anxiety was getting to him.

  “Agh, it’s no use to overthink these things,” Avryn voiced out his frustration.

  “Avryn…” Jenilah was concerned.

  “Right,” Harver jumped up. “How about we spar? Could help take your mind off of it. Even for a while.”

  Avryn raised his eyebrow at the suggestion. Fighting would do good right now. He accepted Harver’s proposition.

  “I want Valoche to join on your side. Make this a little more difficult for me,” he pointed to him.

  “If it helps,” Valoche joined up.

  “Now this’ll be interesting,” Kiria was amped up seeing this development.

  It was a battle for the ages. But the time to tell that tell would be told at another time. A few weeks later, the two squads took their respective leaves to travel to Kuldrin. A few soldiers from the outpost gave them confused looks from hearing their plans but did not ask any further.

  The squads comfortably lounged around the ship. Most of the other passangers were people of an older age by a large margin. Some others were wheelchair bound or bound to using crutches to move around. A certain peace was already in their collective minds.

  Avryn swallowed his throat. The mainland was growing in the distance. He hollered to his friends and pointed forward.

  “There, Kuldrin. We’ll be stopping at Hewerport.” he explained. “After that, we’ll leave for the town of Silverwood.”

  The horn signaled the ship’s full stop. Its passengers disembarked. Avryn took a big breath before his foot stepped back on Kuldrin ground. He looked up to check the time. It was morning. He remembered something.

  “You guys go on ahead. There’s somewhere I want to show Rinna first,” he told them.

  Harver teased him, nudging his elbow.

  “Making your move, eh?” he looked at Avryn.

  “It’s actually something important this time, friend,” Avryn dismissed him.

  The two went north of Hewerport, to a secluded clearing in the forest. The song of birds flying above accompanied them on their journey there.

  “So what’s this place you’re bringing me to?” Rinna asked him.

  “You’ll know,” he assured her.

  They arrived at the clearing. A tombstone was placed in the middle. It already had some overgrowth on it. Rinna felt something emanating from it. A sense of familiarity and sadness.

  “What…is this…?” she turned to Avryn.

  Avryn scratched his head and gestured to the stone.

  “This is…was…where he was. I figured you’d like to say goodbye.”

  Rinna looked back. It finally struck her. She knelt down before the stone. Avryn decided to walk away a bit to give her some space. The winds and birds were there only other company. A few minutes later, Rinna came back to Avryn. She had a certain look to her.

  “Thank you,” she nodded.

  “No problem.”

  They both shared a smile to each other.

  “Let’s go,” he told her.

  The journey to Silverwood was swift thanks to carriages. They rented out a boat to Middsborough. Avryn’s heart was in his throat. He paced back and forth as the ship set sail to the island. Jenilah helped calmed him down. She had him sit next to her. Her reassurances seemed to help calm his mind.

  The ship reached its destination and had them disembark. Avryn led them just outside the town’s borders.

  “Well, here it is,” he gestured.

  He awaited a response. A few minutes of silence was all he got. He took a few steps forward,

  “Hey! It’s Avryn. I’m back, and I’ve brought some friends,” he shouted.

  Silence fell on him once again.

  “Ah, I get it,” he assured them. “A prank.”

  “I don’t think anyone’s there, Avryn,” Tvira told him.

  Avryn laughed it off, and proceeded. He guessed he could give them the tour of the barracks. There was something terribly wrong. Nobody was outside. He looked up at the battlements.

  “Anthony! Belfors! Kidiac! Mason! Anyone?!” he called out once again. “Captain Forban.”

  Harver was about to rest his hand on Avryn’s shoulder before he opened the door to the barracks and asked the others to wait outside. There was no one inside the barracks. It was completely empty. He came back outside and asked them to check the other buildings. It was the same story: empty. Avryn hung down his head.

  “Where did everybody go?” he wondered.