Tale One - The Breach

CHAPTER 01

Walls shook and the last remaining bits of glass exploded into the hall, their tinkling echoing through rows of broken chairs. A huge chandelier had come crashing down a few days earlier, the impact was deafening like thunder, leaving a permanent mark on once beautiful marble floor, almost crushing the unexpected visitor that had fallen back with a shriek just in time. It had been dragged away and now lay resting against a wall, surrounded by remnants of a shattered Christ.

The mess wouldn't be cleared away for quite some time. The only dwellers of the temple had spent the last few days mostly locked up in the basement, save for occasional bathroom breaks and one quick, frightening yet necessary trip to the other side when they had run out of food and water was no longer supplied. The resulting meal was simple and the air was tense at the table (two wooden boards set on top of two dusty old chairs). They sat on either side of it on the floor and filled their hungry stomachs. The priest had prayed earnestly before touching his food, but April had simply stayed quiet, waiting for him to finish before starting to eat herself. He'd made no comment on that, of course. They ate silently, more concentrated on random sounds of explosion, or angry shouts coming from outside.

They had agreed that the next destination point for both of them would be the headquarter of the Sentinels – the only people they knew that could help them shed some light over the mysterious (and terrifying) events that took place in the city and who knew where else. They had planned to get out that day, after things stabilized a little bit. Not with the police ready to blast anything that moves in a radius of twenty meters, April thought gloomily, staring at the black wooden door that led into the corridor. She was almost sorry for coming back, but she knew she'd have felt the same way if she hadn't. The only thing left was to hope that when they were finally on their way, when things started moving at last, she'd feel better about herself. Until then, whatever forces governed the known universes, seemed hell-bent on making her crawl into a tiny hole and focus on her conflicted state of mind. She wasn't sure how much longer she could stand it before she ran outside and got shot or blown up, even though it was only the third day she'd been stuck here.

By that morning she had somehow fallen asleep to the sound of gunfire, as well as other strange sounds she couldn't quite identify. Her dreams had been far from pleasant. The same sight she'd had seen right after emerging from the Guardian's Realm into Stark had being looming in front of her – countless tendrils of thick dark smoke infused with magical energy stretched across the sky, glowing a poisonous green, making her hair stand on end, finally joining and rising in an enormous vortex up above the clouds, numerous Hovercrafts falling from the sky like meteors, and the dark part of herself – the malicious bitch with her face shown to her by Bak Baar only a week before – dancing around the hazardous place, mocking her in a sing-song voice: "All of this is your fault!" She had been trying to get the nightmare out of her head, but in vain. It kept coming back and flashing before her eyes every time she thought she had succeeded.

She was startled out of her miserable thoughts by her companion's voice, "Perhaps it's not such a good idea for you to sit here and wait with me. I realize that I'm only holding you back, you could have been at the headquarters by now." As if she didn't know that, but that was just another thought she was trying to stuff back into a darker corner of her mind.

"We'll go together." She responded simply and firmly. They'd talked hours and hours the days prior to this, both their heads buzzing with questions about the state of the world outside, trying to find answers as to what had happened. They were mostly clueless, and those few guesses they had managed to come up with were truly disturbing. "For one," She continued matter-of-factly "I don't even know that neighborhood properly, If I tried to Shift I could accidentally end up in a completely different place." Father Raul turned back to his food without further arguments. This was only a second time he had suggested that she should head out by herself, but he wasn't one to force decisions on others. "And wandering alone out there is too dangerous anyway", she continued, to fill the pressing silence, "we'll have more chances of not getting killed or dismembered on our way if we go together."

"I'm humbled by you putting so much faith in me", he flashed a weary smile, "I'll try to be an effective meat shield at least." The joke caught her by surprise and she chuckled in spite of herself. That was a first in days. She opened her mouth to respond with a humorous remark of her own, but unexpectedly, they were almost thrown off their seats as a horrible sound like a lightning strike came from outside, and then another, and one more. Terrified, desperate screams and shouts of warning could now be heard more clearly than before. The ground shook, walls trembled, and to her horror the wall opposite her cracked from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. The priest shuffled hurriedly to her side as dust spilled onto his head from above. They both stared at the jagged black line wide eyed, expecting the ceiling to crumble down any second.

Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped and everything fell silent. For a few moments they didn't dare to move, or speak, or even breath too loudly. Perhaps people outside, whoever they were – police, special forces, gangs, peaceful citizens – had been just as terrified to break this peaceful spell, or perhaps they'd fled to safety, or… She tried to push the images of bits and pieces of dead bodies scattered in the street away from the forefront of her imagination. While they waited in vain for the commotion to start all over again, a familiar sense of unease crept inside her, the discomfort she hadn't felt so strongly for quite some time, if ever, even in the Landwalker's Bubble. She'd thought she'd gotten over it, but now her Claustrophobia was spreading like infection through her consciousness, and she found herself glancing longingly towards the door that led out of this confined space. She had to get out of there.

A minute passed in silence, until they slowly got to their feet. She was secretly pleased to see that the priest was also looking tentatively at the door. He too, it seemed, yearned to get outside now that the danger of being buried alive in rubble had become so real.

"We should just go," she dared, "I don't think we're guaranteed any more safety here than outside now, and we don't know what's gonna happen if we wait longer. Everything might get even crazier than it already is!"

"I quite agree." The priest answered briskly. And without any further discussion they grabbed their things – which wasn't much, just a small leather satchel April had found a day ago in the Inn. She had put the few items she'd preserved her whole journey, a small knife she'd found in the Inn and some dry bread and a bottle of water in it. Father Raul took the messenger bag he had prepared for this trip, and they hurried to the door.

The seconds it took to open the locked door felt like hours, April forced herself to swallow the impulse to bolt outside the moment he pulled the handle down. Both of them stepped out carefully, craning their necks to see the damage that had been done to the rest of the building. The corridor they took was quite dark, they could only register severe damage - such as chunks of block fallen onto the floor in two places that Father Raul fell over, miraculously avoiding breaking his nose - and April thanked the heavens for the blessed darkness that concealed the signs of danger and uncomfortably close walls. After several minutes they emerged into the hall.

Predictably, it looked much worse than before - The great mandala of stained glass that used to be the jewel of the cathedral's beauty was gone completely, leaving a huge hole in front. Sunlight was pouring from it, revealing the mess. The two of them shuffled through the long benches. Some explosions must've happened quite near, April observed, seeing how some of the windows on the right didn't just lack glass and frames, but the now empty stone openings had jagged outlines. If I'd seen this in a movie or something, April thought, passing the confessionals, I would've loved the mood of the setting, with the lighting and the smoke... Indeed, the pale smoke that entered from the gapes had given the area quite an effect, gathered fog like along the old mural with a fleeing baby cherub. Reflected light was falling on the cherub's long red shroud, slightly shimmering and making it look as if it moved. The winged infant seemed to have come alive, which would not have been the strangest apparition April had witnessed, especially in the past few days.

They crept silently to the great entrance. April chanced a look at the priest's face a few times. He had bowed his head somewhat, but there was also some defiance, refusal to surrender to despair, even when his cherished sacred temple had become a deserted ruin. She felt a strange mix of admiration and irritation.

The massive door had suffered a lot, having been blown right off its hinges and laying on the floor, scorch marks covering it. It seemed a miracle that it hadn't turned to ash and soot. They stepped alongside it (a good measure of reverence preventing them both from stepping onto a church door) and stopped just one foot away from the entrance, glancing at each other nervously. This, April decided, was where she took the lead. Pursing her lips she snuck to the entrance and stuck her head outside, looking this way and that, to see if any immediate danger was ahead.

She had thought she had been prepared, but the sight made her gasp in horror anyway. It was far worse than she had imagined, two whole blocks had been brought down compeltely and a few others partially. She could see the unmoving bodies in rubble, buried under the ruins of their own homes, blood splattered on chunks of building blocks that lay on the ground, There were small blackened craters on the pavement - as little as she could see of it - left there by many explosions no doubt. The dust still stood thick in the air and it was hard to breath. The place was a warzone.

April took a few steps out, Raul following. She heard a sharp intake of breath but otherwise he remained silent. Looking around and taking in their disastrous surroundings she saw the cathedral in a completely different light. If it had seemed miserable and ruined before, now it stood proudly like an unconquered fortress, April could not imagine how it had survived with so little damage.

"My God!" The priest whispered, now walking forward, "..We must see if there are any survivors!" He said briskly a little louder and started to a pile of rubble where several limbs were protruding at strange angles. April opened her mouth to object, to point out that there was no sign of life here and if they started looking for it, they would have to be digging for weeks, but quickly closed her mouth, feeling that it would not be humane to even have such a selfish thought, let alone voice it, when a dying person may need their help. She almost saw her dark side from Bak Baar sneer at her. She shook her head and went after Raul, but almost at once a coarse voice stopped them both:

"Freeze! Both of you!" the voice commanded. A man was behind them, and the order he gave them suggested that he had a gun pointed at them. They stood motionless until the same voice told them to hold their hands up and turn around slowly. When they did, they faced a group of armed men, a police force, by the logos on their jackets but surprisingly none of them wore their suits. Either way the sight of them sent a rush of cold through April's entire body. She had not yet forgotten having signed a colonist contract, and though she had bothered to exchange her colonial uniform for a tunic she had snuck from Benrime's place and even torn the orange stripes off her pants, if the police checked her identity...

"Keep your hands where I can see them! Are you armed?" The man demanded.

"No, we're not!" Raul answered while April was caught up wondering why the policeman kept eyeing them like a paranoid and not giving an order to one of his men to search them. He continued this way before saying:

"List all the pieces of technology you're carrying!" Now this, she thought, was an extremely odd question. Again, the priest was the first to answer, she admired the steadiness in his voice so in contrast with how she felt at the moment.

"I have a phone! It's off though, the power..."

"Drop it on the ground!", the officer ordered, quite a bit louder than he'd sounded so far. April stared and judging by his momentary silence, father Raul must have been just as confused as she was. She noticed that all the cops were fidgeting in place anxiously, she turned her head to look at him in alarm.

"Father..? I think..."

"Drop it now!" the man shouted.

"Yes, yes, of course, I'll drop it." he said quickly, pulled off the morphing wristlet off and put it on the ground very slowly and carefully. April was observing the squad, they followed Raul's every movement, their eyes as intense as if they were watching a notorious terrorist dropping guns and explosives on the ground. Their sweaty skins glimmered in the faint sunrays that passed through all the fog and dust floating around. She wondered yet again why they were not wearing their suits now that, given the state of the neighborhood, they needed to more than ever before.

Once Raul was done, they ordered him to take a few steps on the side, two men were still aiming their guns at him, but the rest switched to April. "I don't have anything!" She said hesitantly. She thought of the folding knife in her pocket. Supposedly the police would want to know about such an object, as they usually did. She decided to try and be as much of an honest citizen as she could afford: "nothing more advanced than a small multifunctional folding knife, officer!" she added, attempting her best to sound harmless and innocent.

'What does it run on?" the policeman asked her and the innocent mask shattered instantly, the opportunity for sarcasm provided by this dumb question was too tempting.

"Physics." she answered with an air of mock innocence and saw the man purse his lips in anger but he restrained himself from verbal abuse or shooting her on the spot in order to teach her not to mess with him. Instead he ordered her to drop it as well and for them both to stand aside and told two of his men to search them. As unnerving the situation was and as strange the unorthodox sequence of their actions, April's spirit was slowly rising, and as she and Raul were thoroughly searched and released (without the phone though), her luck seemed to have picked up a little bit from the recent days' all time low. The squad leader gave them a very nervous and aggressive order to get the hell out of there and stay away from the neighborhood, so they started on their way down the apocalyptic Hope Street, or what was left of it, without a single argument. A few steps further she muttered, "How come they didn't check our identities? Didn't they have a gene scanner?"

"I don't know," father Raul muttered back, "but I thank God for it, especially on your part." He glanced at her and lowered his voice even more, almost whispering "You most certainly don't want to be dealing with the corps right now."

"Tell me about it", April replied, through grit teeth. "They seemed so on edge though, I mean no wonder but you'd think they would be more inclined to check every living being in sight."

"Quite true," he agreed and opened his mouth to say something else, but at that point gunshots from behind made them both jump and whirl around, eyes wide and ready to dart to the side if there was a shot directed at them. But all they saw was the same police squad huddled over the spot they had just left, aiming their guns down onto the ground.

"Did they…" gasped April "shoot the phone?", she turned to look at Raul who seemed to be just as puzzled as her, though their relief about the phone being shot instead of them was taking the central place in both their minds.

"I… I think so," He stammered. The cops seemed quite relieved themselves judging by what could be seen and heard of them from the distance, although what danger they'd been expecting from an old fashioned communication device was a mystery to them both. The commander looked up at the two.

"Get out of here both of you, there's nothing to do or see here anymore!" He called and turned his back on them.

"I think…" April started hesitantly taking careful steps back, "we should listen…" Indeed nobody else paid them any attention anymore, the troops took to examining the ruins and the dead bodies, and possibly barely alive people among those.

They passed a few ruined buildings in complete silence. The surroundings were almost deserted. A few times they thought they heard hurried footsteps nearby, but didn't see anyone emerge in the open.

"Do you think we should take a less straightforward route?" the priest asked, "we don't want to meet more cops every five minutes. If we take a few unnecessary turns..."

"No, I don't think so," April answered thoughtfully. "If the cops are on the main street, everyone hiding from them will be on the smaller streets and in dark corners. I'm pretty sure I don't prefer them over police. Also, if some building is about to collapse, I want to have some space to run and not be stuck in a narrow alleyway."

Raul nodded in wordless agreement, seeing sense in her words. They followed the street to the end. April noticed the barely recognizable subway station with a completely blackened entrance descending underground. The stairs lay in ruin. At some point they passed what looked like a melted street sign and a car. The question what did this? Hung above them like their personal dark cloud. Public transportation definitely wouldn't be available to them for a long time, so they had a couple of hours ahead to contemplate the catastrophe.

At the end the Hope street joined a much narrower street and turned left. As they went further and further, the surroundings became noticeably more sound, though it was still far from an acceptable shape. And yet, the more distance they put between themselves and that notorious neighborhood, the less it felt like civilization was on the brink of perishing. In fact, after an hour or so the two of them emerged onto a crossroad that looked almost normal, save for a crashed hovercraft in the middle of the street, but that was not as impressive as it would have been a while ago.

Two streets sloped upwards, a long low building was standing where they branched away from each other and went their separate ways. It had a V shape with a blunt rounded corner and was considerably lower than any other buildings in the vicinity. Glancing upwards April saw people gathered on the roof. One tall man was standing just on the edge, feet wide apart, arms raised, head thrown back and apparently muttering something, he would sometimes raise his voice and a few words would reach her ears, although this wasn't a language she had ever heard. Another man sat on his side and rocked slightly back and forth, he too glancing upwards. Several others were behind them, coming in and out of view.

April stared at the man standing on the edge nervously, this looked like it could be some sort of a suicide ritual. She just opened her mouth, not quite sure what she would say... call the man above and try to persuade him not to (which immediately seemed hopeless) or ask Raul to get away and avoid being flattened onto the ground by a potential jumper.

"He won't jump." Raul said unexpectedly sounding quite sure of what he was saying. April gave him and inquiring look. "He's not suicidal," Raul explained, looking somewhat grim, "the Church of Voltec does not encourage suicide, you see." April's eyes widened, "They need their worshipers alive and kicking, unless there's 'proper' time and reason to dispose of them."

April craned her neck up again and frowned at the people on the roof. "How do you know they're with the Voltec?" she asked dubiously. "Or that he's not going to jump anyway?"

"It's not the first time I'm seeing them at it." He answered and took a deep sigh. "They're praying or meditating in their own way, or that's the closest thing to what it is they're doing. It is my understanding that the act involves thrill seeking, adrenaline, and..." he hesitated and when he continued he sounded a bit subdued, "finding themselves a sense of Balance." He had put a strong emphasis on the last word. "Yes, " the priest smiled warily at April's surprise, "It is a fancy variation on the traditional teachings of the Balance. Of course, they have changed too many things for it to count as the actual Balance philosophy, but you can trace its origins when you know what to look for. I'm guessing, this man should be trying to find the balance between the two opposite feelings - the safety of the solid surface under his feet, and the abyss and prospect of death below. They often position themselves like this in their pursuit of spiritual experience."

"You know a lot about the Voltec," April observed.

"Not at all," father Raul disagreed and he turned to the right to follow the narrow street up. April quickly trotted after him, now that she had been convinced that no acts of heroism were required on their part, she had no interest left for a bunch of fanatics on the roof. "It is impossible to know a lot about them unless you join them." He went on. "They don't let that much on, only the basics of their world view. If they see any genuine interest, they will test you, and you are sure to get more information than the general public, but you won't get to the core of their belief system unless you become one of them. Then it's all about secrecy. They keep things to themselves. Perhaps," he paused, thoughtful, "that has added to their appeal. People are drawn to mystery, the idea of a hidden truth..."

"Yeah…" April agreed quietly, an unpleasant memory tugging at her thoughts. After a few more steps she eyed him sideways and asked carefully. "Have you...studied them then? The Voltec's teachings?"

He chuckled, "Well, if you must know," he smiled at her somewhat embarrassed, "I almost became one of them at some point." April raised her brows in surprise. "Yes," he nodded, "I was one of those truth seekers myself. I seem to remember telling you how I had struggled with my faith before the Sentinels found me." She nodded, "It was in that period. I was exploring around searching for answers to my many questions and the Voltec's philosophy... it seemed to match up quite well with my findings, so I was drawn to them. I went through some of their books and guides, listened to a few of their preachers. I was quite taken and the model of the world presented by them seemed fantastic. But there was something that put me off too, their constant thrill seeking and search for glory. They looked up to power rather than goodness and it didn't sit well with me. I was torn. I could've joined them had I tried, but something was pulling me back. Then the Sentinels came knocking on my door and everything cleared up for me. I left the Voltec and never glanced back."

"How did the Sentinels find you?" April asked. Raul frowned and paused before answering.

"Truth be told, I've always been a bit confused about it myself. It started when a stranger left an anonymous note for me and offered some guidance. I was given some vague directions, a puzzle, if you will. I was clueless as to what it all meant." April was nodding, smiling bitterly, this part of the story sounded only too familiar. "It took me a couple of months to decipher the message."

"Months?" April exclaimed, she'd thought she'd had it bad.

"Oh yes," he smiled, "I was frustrated."

"What did they tell you?" April asked, a trace of bitterness in her voice, "To go to a place where dreams burned, which turned out to be the closest baker's store?"

Raul laughed genuinely, "Not quite, but pretty close. After a ridiculous amount of research I finally found the place they were referring to and met a person who turned out to be an informant of Stark's Sentinels. He listened to me and reported to them. A few days later they contacted me themselves and decided to share some of their knowledge. There was a little test of loyalty to see if I could be trusted. They didn't know who had given me the directions. Also my association with the Voltec, even unofficial, didn't speak in my favor."

"I can imagine." April said, pushing her sideways bangs off her face. "What kind of a test?"

"Oh the usual. A simulated situation where I was... 'tempted' to give out a valuable information about them. My refusal to betray them proved my honesty and I unofficially became an Instrum."

"Why unofficially?" April asked.

"Because most things with the Sentinels in Stark are unofficial. It's safer this way, you see. In our world, where even the strongest security can be breached and there are so many ways to steal information... We feel it's safer to keep such important things in our own minds."

"That's hardly that much safer," April remarked, quirking an eyebrow, "if someone needed that information, there are too many ways to make people talk. Or they could perform a personality modification and you would be willing to spill all the secrets without anyone asking. I'm sure the Vanguard can do something like that."

"Their power is great, no doubt about that," Raul agreed, "but they would need to know whom to question."

April couldn't help scoffing, "That's a very thin thread you're hanging on, father."

"It probably is, but there is no better alternative." He sighed heavily. "Cortez often told me how it was on the other side. The Sentinels flourish there, don't they? He described the temple of Marcuria once, it sounded so fascinating. You're so lucky you get to visit the place any time you want." He hesitated for several seconds before continuing, frowning, "I wonder how he knew all that though... I know he was not a Shifter since he told me so himself and I believe he was truthful. And yet… he always spoke of Arcadia as if he had seen it with his own eyes." Raul glanced at her sideways.

"Yeah..." April muttered, subdued now that they touched this matter. So far she had somehow avoided discussing Cortez, save for notifying the priest of his apparent doom. On his part, Raul had spared her and left his probably countless questions mostly to himself. His consideration made her feel half relieved and half embarrassed for being so obviously distraught and miserable for the loss. He was not my loss, she kept repeating to herself, in vain, trying to summon all the anger, all the frustration, remember all the troubles she had already faced and was still facing. And she tried her best to hate him for it.

But then, she had also admitted to herself that the matter of Cortez's identity couldn't stay untouched forever, no matter how many times she postponed it. Sooner or later she'd have to discuss him. It seemed only fair to start with the person who counted the "man" among his friends.

"I think Cortez had some other ways of traveling.", she said abruptly, Raul's eyes snapped to her at once, eager to hear the information she was finally willing to give, "the Arcadian Vestrum knew him, and I think Cortez said he had actually met the man. And..." she suddenly remembered, "I've met someone who went from Stark to Arcadia, even though he couldn't Shift, and he was an old friend of Cortez! He was... sent there, somehow, I'm pretty sure it was Cortez's doing."

"The man had many inexplicable powers." Raul noted, fascinated.

"Hmpf, yeah... He..." Something stopped her again. Why, oh why did it feel so wrong to give away his secrets? How had he deserved that sort of consideration? "He definitely did..." She muttered again, trying not to sound irritated. Then a thought occurred to her. Trying to divert his attention and at the same time genuinely curious, she asked "Would these Sentinels have any knowledge about any means of travel to Arcadia without Shifting? I don't know, something in the Scriptures..?"

Raul shook his head. "No. Shifting has always been the only known way for anyone to pass between the two. Of course, a lot of knowledge has been lost on this side of the Divide. We don't have as huge a library as I hear Marcuria does, the Sentinels could hardly have the opportunity since we have to be in hiding or on the run all the time. Perhaps you can find more information in Arcadia."

April pursed her lips, weighing her next question. When she spoke, she tried to keep her voice as casual as she possibly could.

"Can the Draic Kin travel between Stark and Arcadia?.. They're supposed to be really powerful." She added hastily, seeing his quizzical look.

"I can't give you a direct yes or no answer to that", Raul answered slowly, "but you know, I've read something that points to that... No, not quite. Apparently they have some means of communication across the Divide, and maybe a way to travel... But it's mostly speculation, the Kin are a very mysterious subject for us all. In fact, I thought you might know more about them than anyone else, having met them in person."

The next words pretty much fell out of April's mouth, "You've met one too." She blurted out, not needing to look at her companion to know that his head had snapped in her direction, eyes wide in surprise, expectant and probably already guessing whom she meant. After all, their number of shared friends was extremely limited and only one of them fit the role. She turned her head to Raul and wasn't disappointed to see the understanding already blooming on his face.

"Cortez." She said, confirming his thoughts.

"Cortez…" He half whispered, almost choking on the word. His mouth was slightly open and a faint smile was noticeable on his face as he took it in. "A Draic Kin..." He said in awe. April nodded. "I never… I mean, of course I couldn't, but…" he let out a short laugh, "Well, that explains a lot… Not everything, but a lot." He looked at her wonderingly, "But how did you find out?"

"He.. ah… transformed after he and McAllen fell off the building. They both transformed." She added still more bitterly, dropping yet another bomb on Father Raul's head, leaving the latter completely lost for words while he was digesting this information. "This is… unbelievable… I could never imagine…" he said, his face growing more somber. They walked in silence once more, passing one block after another. April tried to imagine what the priest could've been thinking. Remembering all the strangeness of his old friend he had never been able to understand? Regretting not having the opportunity to ask him the countless questions he would have asked if he had known? Or maybe, just like herself, he was disappointed he hadn't been trusted with the information before. The thought reminded her of Tobias and his evasive answers to her questions about Cortez. Tobias knew, no doubt about that.

"Do you think the Sentinels of Stark knew who he really was?" April asked with great interest.

Raul shook his head, "I'm afraid not," he answered, his voice low and thoughtful again, "they had never even heard of him."

April stumbled her foot at that moment "What?"

"Yes," he nodded gravely, "after my first meeting with Cortez, I described him to them, I was sure he was with them, you know… They had no clue who he was and how he knew the things he knew, both about me, about them, about everything. And no matter how many times I tried to get some explanation out of him, he wouldn't say a word. He was also refusing to meet them, claiming it was unnecessary. I never found out why he acted so. Sometimes it seemed that he didn't trust them… Although, after what you've told me…" He took a deep breath "The Kin keep to themselves", he quoted the familiar words.

April pursed her lips and didn't respond. She was puzzled and disappointed. If Cortez had never even met the sentinels, the chances of them having answers to her most urgent questions were slimmer than she'd thought. She walked a few steps before realizing Raul had stopped. He called after her, "Over here!" She looked back and saw him standing expectantly near a corner of an unremarkable building. Five floors, small windows, gray and gloomy. It was a faceless block with small, low apartments, such they had fallen in habit of building only about sixty years ago, for those who simply didn't have any other choice but to live there. The street was lined with them, and in this one, as she had been told, the Sentinels resided. April knew one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but she couldn't help thinking that for a place she had so many hopes for it looked rather hopeless.

For a while April stood appraising the building. Weak yellowish light was flickering in a few windows on the last floor. She saw a shadow of a tall man apparently leaning against the window, watching the street. He turned his head down. Inexplicably April felt sure that he was now watching her. He remained pretty much unmoving for a while.

"Are you coming?" Raul called, snapping her attention to him. He was headed for the left side of the block, entering the backyard.

"Yeah." April answered and followed him, at the last moment she glanced up at that window again, just in time to see the man swiftly move away from it. There was something familiar about that silhouette and she wondered if he was their host.

The yard was empty, small and deserted looking. Only a few tall trees stood at its border, represented by an old red brick wall. A part of it had fallen in ruin, or maybe it had been smashed through. The building itself seemed to have survived most of the recent hazards, as well as the whole street, which, pitiful as it looked, had much less of that doomsday atmosphere she and father Raul had left in the afternoon and she could only be grateful for that.

"It's right here." Raul gestured and led the way to one of the dark entrances. The sun had not set yet, but it hit the block from the opposite side, leaving this one completely in shadows. It was hard to see the stairs that led to the upper floors. The elevator was, of course, out of question. After a few minutes and a few curses (April stumbled over an extra step she hadn't suspected to be there) the priest halted. They were on the fourth floor if she had counted correctly. On the next one, they could see one of the doors open, faint light was coming from the apartment and in front of the door stood a man, the same one, she was sure, that had watched them from the window. His face was still not discernible, but she recognized him the moment he spoke in a familiar warm voice.

"April! I'm so happy to meet you again!"