As Tom left the room, he found Adam waiting for him in the hall, one foot up on the wall. Adam saw him and smiled, arching an eyebrow. “Hey,” he said. “Talking with Brask?”

“Yeah.”

“What about?” Adam’s gaze was a little too intense for Tom’s taste.

“Oh, just the Giant Armors,” Tom said, trying to sound casual. “How they were dug up, that sort of thing.”

“Why? Checking up on my story?” Adam sounded playful, but there was a tiny edge to his voice.

“No,” Tom said, forcing a chuckle into his voice. “Just trying to get more information about it.”

“Mmmm.” Adam looked back at the ground.

“Look, is something wrong?”

“Hmm? Oh, no. I’m fine.” Adam looked back at Tom, with enthusiasm back in his face. “Actually, I came here ’cause I wanted to show you around town. There’s a great place that sells these little cakes.”

Tom grinned back, nodded, and followed Adam down the maze of halls. Whatever had been eating at Adam seemed to be gone, so Tom said nothing as they walked, simply enjoying the silence and Adam’s company. They walked through a massive door and into a beautiful clear day, onto warm brick streets between clean buildings. Everything was solid and weathered and well-kept. A slight breeze played with Tom’s hair and brought with it a thousand smells all stewed together.

Men and women criss-crossed the streets, most of them absorbed in their own thoughts. When they saw Tom and Adam, they usually slowed down and inclined their heads. Adam happily ignored this—Tom figured he was used to it—but Tom gave them short nods back.

“There aren’t that many people around,” Tom said.

“Yeah,” Adam replied. “Most folks stay in the castle these days. I think people are just…uncomfortable out in the open.”

“The Trych attack that often?”

Adam thought for a second. “No, not really. But people prefer safety, even when they don’t really need it.”

Tom gave Adam a side-long glance. Adam was definitely all breezy smiles and confidence now.

Tom caught a whiff of fresh-baked bread, tinged with sweetness and the bright tang of lemon or orange. Adam took a deep, appreciative breath and motioned Tom to follow him down a gently curving street and into a stone bakery that stood on a nearby corner.

Inside was a library of bread. Dark wood shelves lined the walls, and there were even shelves standing by themselves in the middle of the store, all of them lined with breads, cakes, and pastries. Most of them were small, only enough for one or two people, but they were baked in an incredible number of shapes: animals, houses, cubes, discs, mounds, plants, twists, and more. There was an open doorway in the back that led to a busy kitchen, and from which heavenly smells emanated like a physical wave.

Tom looked around in awe. The place was beautiful and cozy. He felt comfortable here. He felt at home.

A girl slightly older than Tom walked through the open doorway. “What would you….” That was all she managed to say before her smile froze, and her jaw dropped. Tom wondered what was wrong. “Mama! Papa!” she squealed. “It’s the new pilot!”

Her parents—both of them well-muscled—hurried through the doorway and shook Tom’s hand warmly, thanking him over and over for what he was doing. Adam got a more familiar but equally warm greeting, and he was grinning so wide Tom though his head might split open. The bakers let them choose whatever they wanted, free of charge.

They walked back out, each holding three different pastries and munching on a fourth. Tom was a bit dazed, but had enough sense to ask Adam about money.

“They use a bunch of different stuff,” he said. “I got a look in one of their coin boxes once, and it had little wood coins, metal coins, little balls, crystals; all sorts of weird things. But we don’t have to worry about that.”

“Why not?”

“We’re heroes.”

Tom stopped short. That really made him think. He sure didn’t feel like a hero. He remembered a line from a movie: “I’m just doing whatever it looks like I’m supposed to be doing, no matter how crazy it seems.” He looked at the people around him, all of whom were inclining their heads and giving him and Adam a wide berth. They sure seemed to think Tom and Adam were heroes.

“What?” Adam asked.

Tom realized he was just standing there in the middle of the street. “Oh, sorry,” he said, and they continued on.

They turned onto one of the larger streets, which itself curved outwards towards the city walls. “Hey,” Tom said, “There’s something about this town that’s bothering me. Some of the roads, like this one, are a good ten yards wide. And that bakery was on a tiny little street, just wide enough for the two of us. But nothing feels cramped. It’s like this place was designed to be as big as it is.”

Adam nodded, growing more serious. “Yeah. It’s kinda weird, but….” He glanced around as if embarrassed by his next words, then leaned in closer to Tom. “Look, it’s weird. People here aren’t quite like people back home. Remember, this isn’t Earth. These folks may look like normal people, but really, they’re aliens. I mean, they’re on another world. Heck, they had a completely different history than us.”

Tom nodded, trying to imagine how different they could be.

“So, their towns are different,” Adam continued. “Like, look at the castle.” They both looked back up at the massive walls and towers that loomed over the town. “These people built that. I mean, notthese people; their grandparents or whatever. But that castle was built by everyone, for everyone. It’s not some Duke’s house; it’s a place where, well, probably half the people live, normally. More now. But they all built it together.

“Same with the town. It’s not just a bunch of individual houses. These people think in a group way more easily than folks back home do.” They neared the gates. “It’s…kind of creepy.”

“Yeah,” Tom said. He thought for a minute, finishing off one pastry and biting into another. Cream-filled. “Actually,” he said, “I kind of like it. I mean, it’s different. But it sure does have advantages. Imagine, a world where people are less selfish. And work together to create castles and towns like this, places big enough for everyone. That’s…really cool.”

Adam gave Tom a hard look, like Tom had said something really annoying. “What?” Tom said. Adam just shook his head.

They were near the castle now, and one of the guards was running out to meet them. Tom and Adam looked at each other, each raising an eyebrow.

Once the guard was within shouting distance, he yelled, “The Trych are massing to the north! Lord Brask wants you to wait in your Armors!”

Both boys whipped their heads around. Adam found north first, and they squinted at the gentle ripple of green hills in the distance. An ominous black haze floated above the hills.

They took off running.

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