Childhood Friends

There was a sense of relief for Ares to be outside in the open air, being underground always felt claustrophobic as if there was no escape. The sky was always a sight he enjoyed. It was around eight pm now and the sky was a turquoise colour with rips of yellow behind the gas clouds. Apparently long ago the sky had been blue, weapons, magic and pollution had long ago destroyed that atmosphere. Over the third city centre winding lights of all sorts of colour were spraying out, evidently the mage guilds had yet another celebration in the central plaza.

The streets surrounding the mine were covered with row upon row of crumbling housing. Each house stood, slowly decaying and returning into the ground from which it was raised. The third city used to be a beautiful city; famous before the Demon war for having lots of culture and bright colours. While the central areas were re-developed the outer boroughs had been left in mostly ruin. Most of the streets were covered in debris; almost every building was now a shell; the insides hollow and only walls remaining. Buildings which maintained roofs were coveted like temples; every single one had been taken by the rich or slavers looking to capitalize on the area shielded from the elements. The prosperous areas contained the outer guilds and their compounds, these covered large areas of the mining borough but were exclusive in their membership. Ares lived in one of the outermost mining boroughs.

There was about two hours before he was be expected back at home; it was safer to be back before ten at night. Around ten was when the scavengers and slavers came out, the streets became very dangerous then. Lately there had been even been rumours of necromancer's body stealing, these thoughts made Ares shudder involuntarily.

The mining borough had a simple layout with a few main streets to main amenities and adjoining streets for housing. Ares walked down towards the central street which led towards Gryphon Station. Ares lived in the station in one of the abandoned carriages with his family.

The Gryphon station used to be a place of trade a local market; after the Old Church down the street was given up by slavers the guilds began to police that area. This made the Old Church far more secure and it soon became the new market and the station became deserted. This was a good thing; the station developed into home for four families. There was Ares's family then there were the Cleaves, the Miners and the Jules. Ares knew the Cleaves well, as he was close friends with the daughter of the family; Alex. The Miners were kind enough people, only the Jules were cause for concern. They had moved into the railway around three months ago and kept to themselves. There were also disappearances in the area while these likely weren't linked it furthered suspicion of these newcomers. This family seemed to have something to hide.

As Ares made his way through the central street he looked at the lines of stalls and mini markets. There were a great diversity of smells and people here, spicy smells wafted everywhere and hundreds of different people battled to get their daily chores completed. The odd magic stall could be seen with crystals of low-quality hanging and being displayed openly.

Although the pickpockets were rife the main road was still the safest way home, the side streets were controlled by slavers, thieves and even the rare banished mage. They would happily rob you and sell you off into slavery and that would be the best possible outcome. Ares knew better then to venture anywhere near them and followed the busy path towards his home on his normal route.

At the end of the market Ares slowed. The market thinned towards the end and there were around three blocks of housing to walk before he arrived at Gryphon Station, he also had a short period in which he would have to walk down side street. This was always the most dangerous part of his journey and he would sometimes have to run from slavers as they targeted him as new merchandise.

Today it seemed relatively deserted and Ares could not hear any people ahead so he continued walking; Ares assumed a cautious approach and if he heard any sounds he hid in the entry of a nearby street until the person or persons passed.

After making it around one block of housing Ares noticed a group of slavers around a fire further down the road. It was a wide road and he could walk around them but they would definitely notice him. Not going past on the other hand meant making a wide detour and that would be potentially far more dangerous of a route.

Swallowing his own concerns Ares began to walk on the far side of the road past the group. He hoped to himself that his weak and pathetic appearance would not tempt the slavers; sometimes they would not bother with such poor product.

As he passed in the far side he was around twenty or so metres away and drew the attention of the group. They eyed him suspiciously. Ares knew he could probably outrun them if he had to, this wasn't his first run in with slavers. Luckily, they turned back to their fire and began talking again, they probably thought he wasn't worth the hassle.

Thankfully after a stressful walk Ares finally made his way into the Gryphon Railway. The familiar view of overturned carriages and disused rails greeted him. The rails lay in large piles in the yard. Hundreds of years ago large lion/ eagle like creatures would pull the carriages all over the world, now the railway was a mausoleum of forgotten times.

The closest carriage was Alex's. Having known her from childhood Ares was good friends with her and they often spent time together fantasising about a better life. He hadn't seen her for about a week but today he had time to spare.

"Alex!" he shouted as he approached her carriage. The carriages were well kept inside but looked disused from outside. Each were around fifteen metres long and covered in vines and rust. Inside each carriage had been personalized and made homelier inside over the years. It was important to look poor from outside to detract any wandering eyes.

Alex jumped out the back her carriage. She was one and a half years older than Ares making her almost fifteen; her red hair was wound into a single plait which lay over her shoulder. Her features were simple yet striking. Small dimples dented her cheeks; they were endearing and made her look innocent. Her face was heart shaped, and she always seemed to smile. Ares loved the fact that she was shorter than him despite her age. At the height of four ft nine she was tiny.

"Ares!" she shouted her face lighting up and her cheeks reddening, she always had this reaction to him weirdly.

"Alex you got fat!" Ares said laughing, it was a joke; her petite body was always delicately in proportion. She punched him in the arm giggling.

"Since you finally made time for me, let's go to the old library." she said. It was pointless for them to hang around the station, both of them had no privacy from their families and it was cold outside.

The library wasn't far from the Railway and after a couple of streets the half-collapsed building was in sight. It wasn't particularly large and the roof was long since gone, nevertheless the lower levels were still somewhat secure.

Ares pushed the old wooden doors of the library open; others sometimes ventured inside the library but since it was mostly destroyed and had little to offer meaning it was predominantly empty. Ares and Alex however knew that the downstairs cellar would be empty, this was of course because only they knew about it. Since childhood it had acted as a secret base for both children.

Alex walked around the side of the entrance corridor; hidden by weeds there was an entry to the back parts of the library. In the old era when the library was still functioning this would have been a restricted area; scorched wood and the odd ruined book lay around the room. Hidden behind one of the more intact scorched bookcases was a faint outline in the floor. Without examining it closely it was undiscoverable. The outline seemingly part of the floor, had a small indent which when levered opened a trapdoor to reveal a short staircase leading to the cellar.

Ares and Alex made their way into the cellar careful to seal the door after they entered. This hidden room was an ancient storage room. Books from every era lined dusty shelves around the room. When they were young Alex read to Ares. While he could read Alex always had a way with words in which she would capture Ares's imagination. Together they had spent many years caught in heroic stories of villainous kings, dark magicians and evil slavers.

Several years ago, they had put four of the empty book cases together with much effort. As children they called it their Summer Home. In reality it was a makeshift child's fort. In a world of darkness, it was their refuge.

Both of them climbed into their Summer home. There were seats set up so Ares made himself comfortable slouching into a cushioned chair. Alex climbed in after him and sat opposite.

Alex lit a nearby candle and placed it between them, the light was dim as the only windows to the room were slits which had been mostly covered by debris from outside.

Her eyes glistened in the flickering flame as she looked at him.