Isaac stepped carefully. Throughout his long adventure he had never encountered such a treacherous terrain. He knew that scouting the crater would not be easy. The Golden Sun event had cleaved the Anagra mountain range in two shattering mountain roots that had been stagnant still for thousands of years. It created a massive crater around Mount Aleph. Isaac even heard that buildings from as far as Lunpa had thatch roofs punctured by stray rocks from the sky.

They left early in the morning to scout the crater for a potential location to rebuild Vale. The group was led by Isaac's father, Kyle, and consisted of Isaac and his oldest friends who he had grown up with in, Garet, Jenna, and Felix. Garet's sister, Kay, and his father went with them also.

The group with whom Isaac had lit the Mars Lighthouse had disbanded shortly after arriving at the foot of Mount Aleph and discovering the survival of Vale's people. Ivan went to Kalay to reunite with Lord Hammet and Lady Layana while Mia returned to Imil to ensure the safety of her people. Since Alex's departure she had become the head of the Mercury Clan. Piers took his ship back to Lemuria dropping off Sheba at her home in Lalivero on the way. The eight of them had grown very close through their adventure and they all promised to reunite soon.

The scouting group continued cautiously through the smoldering landscape. Kyle halted for a moment and knelt. He picked up a charred stone and felt it carefully. It was still smoking from the explosion. Finally he spoke. "I haven't seen a single piece of wood or hay. There is nothing left of Vale."

A moment of silence followed as the group mourned their home. Jenna looked especially somber. Looking at his Isaac she spoke so that only he could hear "I can't believe it's really gone. Like it was never even here."

Isaac knew that she was hoping that Vale could be rebuilt the way it had been in their childhood. He was too. He had lived in Vale all his life. Before his journey began a year ago he hadn't gone farther away from Vale than Vault. He always assumed that when it was all through he would return to the quiet life in Vale. While looking at the crater where Vale stood something told Isaac that the quiet life was over forever. Perhaps their mission had changed the world more than he understood.

They continued on. Garet's father was in front now. His ankle rolled as he caught himself just before falling into the jagged rocks. Felix was closest and he hoisted Garet's father up.

"Are you hurt father?" Kay asked worriedly.

"I'm fine dear. But this land is cursed. I don't think a tent can be set up here let alone a village." Garet's father replied to his daughter.

Kyle spoke up. "I think it's time to go back. There's nothing left to see. Nothing can be built here, at least not for a long while. We will have to move south."

Garet looked array, "But what about watching over Mount Aleph? Wasn't that the whole reason Vale was here in the first place? How can we defend Sol Sanctum from five hundred miles south!?"

Kyle looked thoughtful. "Frequent scouting missions, camping out at the foot of the mountain."

"It won't work!" Garet blurted out.

"We have no choice." Felix remarked softly.

Garet was visibly agitated. Why shouldn't he be? thought Isaac. They got by us before, the Proxians. On the night of the storm they broke into to Sol Sanctum and three years after that they stole the Elemental Stars. And that's when the town of Vale stood and the Anagra Mountain range remained unbroken. Now with the giant crater enemies can approach from all sides. But Felix was right. There are simply no other options. Unless…

"Look!" Jenna pointed at a flat plateau overlooking the crater and the Mountain. "That plateau… it's probably large enough to fit a cabin. If supplies are shipped in we could live up there for months at a time."

Isaac smiled.


The scouting group arrived to camp hours later. The great healer and the elders of Old Vale, who had survived the explosion at the mountain, set up a meeting for the scouting group and other Valeans including Isaac's mother. A large oak table was moved into the biggest tent. Giant mugs of mead, new and old maps, and candles were spread across it.

Isaac's scouting group's findings were to be discussed. At length of course. Meetings with the great healer always seemed to get off topic and last hours. At the best of times they were horrifically boring. But today Isaac's mind was preoccupied and the meeting became almost unbearable. Visions of his childhood in Vale consumed his mind. How can it be all gone? he thought.

He looked around the table at his friends and family. They all seemed to be filled with sorrow as well. Felix was talking even less than he usually did. Garet seemed to be attempting to drown his pain with the mead. It was incredible how close they had all grown to a place. But it was their place. And they thought that they were going to get it back. Exactly as it had been.

Finally he caught Jenna's eye. This is the hardest on her. She loved Vale. More than any of us. Why couldn't this meeting wait until the morning? Isaac thought. He was frustrated.

Eventually the group discussed news from the south that a messenger from Kalay brought to the camp. When the messenger declared that Lord Hammet promised two dozen carts of lumber to the survivors of Vale his heart lightened slightly. I hope Ivan comes himself.

Isaac's mind was absent for rest of the meeting. He did however catch the main conclusion. They decided that the cabin on Jenna's plateau should be built and that the Warriors of Vale, as Isaac and his seven companions were beginning to be called, would take shifts guarding the Mountain. Finally the meeting officially concluded.


Isaac couldn't sleep in his tent. He couldn't stop remembering his home. Vale. The trees, the river, his parent's cabin, the town square, Kraden's cottage. He remembered running through the tall grass with his friends. They played pretend knights and princesses, dragons and castles. He remembered most fondly swimming in the river. Isaac always dreamed that he and Jenna would build a cabin in Vale by the river when their adventures were through. How can it be gone? Just when we were finally coming home. Just when things were going to get back to how they should be. Weyard has changed too much. And it's our fault. he reflected.

He heard slight movement at the side of his tent.

"… Isaac?" a soft voice uttered.

"Jenna? Come in" Isaac replied gently.

Jenna walked in the tent and sat next to where Isaac was lying. It was clear she had been crying. Isaac realized that she too was mourning the loss of their quiet town. They embraced.

"I can't believe it. I just can't. It was our only home." she said through sobs.

"We'll make a new home" Isaac tried to cheer her up. It broke his heart to see her this way. "What if we didn't do the right thing Isaac? Everything is changing… everything is changing too fast. People are dying Isaac… avalanches … earthquakes… what if we were wrong?"

"We had no choice Jenna. The world was suffocating."

His traditional response. It felt practised and fake after using it on countless people in the months following the event. But what if it wasn't true?

It's not just Vale we're mourning Isaac parents and the others were sad but they were not heartbroken like Isaac, Jenna, Garet, and Felix. They doubted their decision. We're just now seeing that we changed Weyard forever. Irreversibly. What if things were better left be? Maybe Gaia Falls was never even receding. I never saw it for myself.

The two embraced for few more minutes. Isaac realized something that relaxed him. The eight of them, the Warriors of Vale, had each other now. They shared a single fate. Finally he spoke again.

"Maybe… maybe what we did wasn't right. We could have been wrong. But at the time there was no other option. And besides, it's over now. All we can do now is our best to rebuild."

Jenna was silent for a moment. She gave Isaac a weak smile. "I missed you so much"

She was remembering their months apart. Isaac remembered them all too well. Sleeping at night was nearly impossible when she was in the hands of the Proxians.

"I missed you too."


Thanks a lot for reading! Leave a review if you want.

What I'm trying to accomplish with this fic is connecting Lost Age to Dark Dawn. As I mentioned in the description each chapter will correspond to one of the thirty years between the two games. So chapter one covers a few months after Lost Age, chapter two will be set a year after, chapter three will be set two years after, etc. There are plenty of stories alluded to in Dark Dawn and characters with open ended fates in Lost Age that I'm going to try to write about. My goal is to have every story be from the point of a view of a different character.

If I have time these stories may lead into a larger fiction (involving most of the characters in these stories) about what happens after Dark Dawn. Thanks again for reading!