Alex didn''t look back.


    The three of them ran through the arch and out of the stands. Behind them, the massive black hole that had been the island''s core ate away at the arena''s rock and stone. Alex refused to look back.


    Whoosh. Rumble. Crack. Boom.


    It hadn''t happened in August, but he knew from his interactions with the core what would happen if it was abused. It was something that was like background noise in his mind. Whenever he interacted with a core, it implanted information that he couldn''t directly access. He would have feelings and hunches but nothing more besides that. It was how he could operate a core''s control panel without knowing exactly what he was doing. Eventually, it would give him enough knowledge to thoroughly understand the world, including a way to get home, though he couldn''t say why he knew that.


    It was complicated, simple as that.


    So, he knew he needed to run away from the backlash. He knew the backlash was caused by overuse of the core. He also knew it wouldn''t completely consume the island after the initial burst until much later.


    Hunger.


    As he ran, he saw the aftereffects of the mass of people running for the exits to the arena around him. There had once been hovels and tents set up all around this floor of the arena. He imagined that there would have been stronger, sturdier buildings on the higher floors. They had been pushed over and trampled underneath the crowd as they had fled. Fires burned across some of the tents, and the black smoke was hiding the arena''s roof entirely.


    Fear.


    They ran past bodies, trampled to the ground underneath the crowds. Women, children, the old and young, no one who had fallen behind would have been spared in the desperate escape. Erin didn''t stop once, and Alex took that as a sign that they would not be saved.


    Thirst.


    Alex clenched his teeth. Cores had a way of getting in a person''s head. The voice was on August, and Tombstone had been soft and feminine. This one was grating. It cut into his head every time, and the commands were primal. Along with each word came a flood of images. Much the same as when he accessed the other cores, he couldn''t understand them.


    "Stop," he whispered, but it did nothing.


    "Look ahead!" Sayed yelled from the front, still easily keeping ahead of both Alex and Erin.


    Ahead of them, cracks had formed in the side of the arena''s walls, and much of the structure had fallen away. A massive hole opened out to the island beyond. There were more bodies strewn across that hole, more victims of the crowd.


    "Go for it!" Alex yelled. "Once we''re out, we''ll be out of the initial burst!"


    Sayed sprinted ahead like an Olympian runner, Erin not far behind. A pang of jealousy cut into Alex''s chest. He wished he could run that fast, but he didn''t dare risk another use of one of the Paths. He had recovered but didn''t want to break anything this close to the exit.


    Sayed jumped through the hole first, followed by Erin, and Alex made it out last.


    Behind him, the wind roared, stone cracked and crumbled. He didn''t stop running but slowed down until he finally stopped next to Sayed and Erin. Sayed had already fallen to the ground, facing up toward the sky. Alex joined him. They had stopped a distance away from the arena. To their right, the outskirts of the arena were swarmed with masses of people, all clamoring for the docks. To their left were the open hills and mountains of the rest of the small island. In front of them was the arena, slowly crumbling inward and upward as a massive black ball rose higher and higher into the sky.


    All that was left was a giant crater pitted into the ground.


    "That''s it then," Erin said, the only one of the three of them left standing. "Roald wasn''t there. This was a dead end."


    "No island core." Alex sighed as he looked up at the massive orb. "And another island destroyed. I wonder if they''ll blame this one on me."


    "Abed is gone," Sayed added. "Gramps and Jack are also gone. I miss them already, brothers."


    "I really liked that staff." Alex sighed again and had to kick himself to realize he hadn''t noticed what Sayed had said.


    Alex looked over to Sayed, and tears were already streaming down the man''s face. Alex had to give Sayed one thing. The man cared more than anyone he had ever met. He couldn''t help but wonder how much the man had kept bottled in during the fight. Three losses over such a short period would break anyone.


    "What story would you tell about them?" Alex asked, looking up into the sky.


    "For Gramps and Abed, that is already done," Sayed said, his voice shaking. "They fought like all in the arena that day to fell the foul Maki ''the Beast.''"


    "And Jack?"


    "That is where I am at a loss. We did not defeat Lucien in the end. We do not have a great fight or accomplishment to lay at his grave. I do not want a brother so young to die without a word to his name."


    "Lucien isn''t someone you beat. He''s someone you survive," Alex whispered, mostly to himself.


    There was that bit of doubt nestling inside of him. He was always a confident person. He always had a plan and could read his opponents enough to figure out a situation and find a loophole to win. However, in this case, Lucien had just been too strong. An Apostle was on another level.


    "''Street Urchin'' Jack''s Grand Escape," Erin said. "He sacrificed himself to tear down an island so that his hero, ''Sword Saint'' Sayed, could fight another day."


    A silence dropped between them, and Alex''s breath caught in his chest. In a way, it worked. If the point of a story were to lie to lift up the fallen, then Jack outsmarting or outplaying an Apostle to get his friends to safety would be a pretty good accomplishment to lay down at his feet.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "That might be good," Sayed said, rising and looking over the ruins of the arena.


    <hr>


    Sayed stood at the edge of the docks with Alex. In front of them was the sea, something that was almost completely foreign to Sayed. He had been on it several times since coming to Erth, and he had seen the nightsea, but a life spent in the desert made such things so strange every time.


    "A blessing every time I look upon it," Sayed whispered.


    His sword, newly bought from the closest shop at an ''island destroying'' discount sale, lay strapped on his back. An empty sheathe rested on top of it. The opening pointed in the opposite direction of the first. His gauntlet rested on a holster at his hip, put away now that the battle was finally over. He had come to this island one month ago to free the people. Had he succeeded, or had he failed?


    "So," Alex said beside him, and Sayed looked down at him. "What are your plans?"


    "I truly don''t know, brother," Sayed said, looking back to where the arena had been.


    The dark hole was growing ever and ever wider over the top of the crater. Alex had told him it would be weeks before it fully consumed the island. Many had already escaped the island, and he could see some people in the distance as they made camps a bit away from the docks.


    An old man helped twenty more pull ropes to put tents in place. A middle-aged woman cooked soup in a massive pot, and a line of people, young and old, lined up with wooden bowls to eat from it. The arena''s people were mixing with those who had lived on the outskirts, but there was no fighting. There was no blame. There were only people caring for other people in hard times.


    "I''m surprised they didn''t take the chance to get some revenge," Alex said beside him. "Imagine living your entire life in the shadow of that arena, and when it fell down, all the people who lived a better life just came out to take your space."


    "There must be hard feelings," Sayed agreed. "But when you see your brothers in pain and suffering, it is hard to carry that anger with you. Even your worst enemies do not deserve to starve."


    "Even after all they did?" Alex asked. "They cheered for all those people who died. Abed. Gramps. Jack."


    A pit burrowed itself into Sayed''s heart. He turned to Alex and placed one broad hand on the man''s shoulder— his hand practically engulfed the entire thing. He smiled, though he could feel the sting in his eyes.


    "God commands me to forgive. Their stories will be told, and that will have to be enough. We mere mortals can ask for nothing except to be remembered after we are gone. Anything more, and we risk treading into cold and darkness."


    "Understood." Alex reached up and patted him on the back with a smirk.


    Sayed laughed, and all his anger and sorrow sluffed off of him as he did so. He would miss Abed. He would miss Gramps. He would miss Jack. However, he could not bring them back. He would carry their stories forward with them. He would make sure they were remembered.


    "What are you two doing?" Erin asked, walking up from behind them.


    "Settling memories, I guess," Alex said as they both turned to her.


    "On that," Erin reached into the back of her cloak and undid some straps before producing Abed''s khopesh. "This should be yours."


    "Ah, thank you," Sayed said, taking the hilt and sheathing the sword on his back. "Abed would be happy that his sword helped you escape."


    Sayed would have a lot to learn about using two swords together. The khopesh was not an overly long blade, so he could use both of them effectively, especially considering his size. However, what was more important was that the sword had been Abed''s sword. He would wield it in his memory and incorporate his friend into all his fights moving forward.


    "Well, I contacted some people while you were doing that." Erin shook her head, looking over to the camp being erected. "The cavalry will be on the way soon enough. If what you said was right, these people will have a ride out of here before the Black Spot forms."


    "It is," Alex nodded.


    Silence fell between the three of them, and Sayed frowned. He had just met these two brothers but did not want to part from them. It was not often that one met people willing to lay down their lives for others. Alex and Erin had come through the heat of battle and proven themselves to be as strong as steel, even if there had been some doubt along the way.


    "I guess this is goodbye then," Erin said. "Unlike you two, I have my own ship to get on and some reports to make."


    "To your bosses?" Alex asked with a smile.


    "To someone." Erin frowned. "We might meet again."


    "You said you were looking for someone," Sayed said. "A Roald?"


    "He wasn''t there. Even if he was, he was dead in the maze. There''s nothing for it now. We''ll just have to go back to looking for leads."


    "A shadowy organization," Alex said, a smile still on his face.


    "Stop it." Erin pointed at him. "You''re not getting any more information out of me. I already know what you can do with even a hint."


    "Fair." Alex shrugged. "Maybe someday."


    "Good luck, both of you," Erin said, bowing slightly before turning away and heading down the docks.


    "Well," Alex said as she walked out of sight. "You said you didn''t have any plans, right, Sayed?"


    "I did." Sayed nodded, looking back down to him.


    "How about this then." Alex opened his hands wide. "Why don''t you come with me for a bit? You told us when we met that you came here to help people, and I can guarantee that we''ll always find people needing that. Every damn island I go to seems to be on the brink of disaster, and the one thing I learned today was that I''m not ready..."


    He stopped and looked down at his shaking hands. Sayed frowned. He did not think Alex was weak. They had fought a powerful opponent, yes, but the man had held his own. He had survived.


    "I might not be strong enough for this. Not alone, at least."


    "You will not be alone, my brother," Sayed said, slapping Alex hard on the back and sending him toppling to the ground. "Together, we will go out into the world. We will gain the strength we need, and by the glory of God, we will do great things worthy of a grand tale!"


    "Never change, buddy," Alex said from the ground, and Sayed roared in laughter.


    <hr>


    Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.


    Jack woke up in a cold and dark place. All around him, he could hear the sounds of water dripping. Rats skittered across the stone. He stood up and looked first for Sayed but quickly realized that he was entirely alone.


    "Where am I?" he asked as he scurried around the dark place.


    In the distance, he could see a bright pinprick of light. Jack was hesitant, but he made his way toward it. Step by step, he picked his way forward, sticking close to the stone wall to make sure he wouldn''t be seen.


    Bits of trash began to appear on the stone floor. A barrel next to an open pipe that slowly dripped water into it formed from a shadow in the darkness. The closer Jack came to the light, the more he heard.


    It was the sounds of people walking on the street, talking, and shopping out in the light. He saw more people than he had seen in a month. Even if Jack was only a boy, it didn''t take much to put the pieces together. He was in a city.


    Jack was no slouch. He had spent his entire life pick-pocketing and stealing to survive. These streets were no different than the hidey-holes and shadows that he used to romp through in Glory Plateau.


    He approached the light, peering down the corner and seeing the shop stalls down the street. They were loaded with goods. Apples, bread, and even pottery were being sold to the various people who passed by.


    Jack licked his lips.


    Stealing got him sent to the arena to begin with. Had he learned his lesson? Was this a second chance? He could not try to steal those things, and maybe he could live a good life this time. Sayed was gone, but he could find a way to survive.


    He began to walk away, back into the alley.


    He hadn''t made it five steps before he changed his mind. He rushed out into the street and nipped the first apple that he could get. The seller yelled out, but Jack was already gone. No one in this town knew it yet, but they were about to meet the greatest thief to ever live.


    He ran and stole a piece of bread next before grabbing one bowl from the pottery stall. Before he was done, the entire shopping district was chasing him, following him into the dark alleys where he would hide and lose them.


    "I''ll make you proud, Sayed," Jack told himself. "I''ll make the grandest story you have ever seen with this life."


    On the island of November, there were many tales of various heroes and villains. There were plays that anyone could watch at any time of the day that told those stories. However, no one on November would ever be prepared for what was to come. No one could have expected the story of ''Street Urchin'' Jack.