Chapter 37 – After the Last Watch
The courtyard was silent.
Not peaceful.
Silent.
There was a difference.
Brook stood among the bodies of the Watchmen, his sword hanging loosely at his side. The blue light that had erupted from his hand was gone, but the heat remained beneath his skin.
Captain Mercer was dead.
The Watchmen were dead.
Every man and woman who had stood in that courtyard moments earlier was gone.
Brook looked at the ground.
He recognized almost every face.
Some had trained with him.
Some had served beside him.
Some had complained about his attitude.
Some had laughed with him.
Now they were nothing more than bodies beneath the cold night sky.
Sera stood several feet away.
She hadn't spoken since the fighting stopped.
Henry was surrounded by Royal Guards, but even they looked shaken.
Crowley remained near the gate.
He was staring at the creatures.
They hadn't attacked again.
They simply watched.
Brook finally looked up.
"Why did they stop?"
No one answered.
The winged figure stepped forward.
Its wings were folded against its back.
Its face looked almost human.
Almost.
"You have witnessed the cost of resistance."
Brook's jaw tightened.
"You killed them."
"No."
The figure looked at the dead Watchmen.
"They chose to stand."
Brook raised his sword.
"You think that makes it better?"
"No."
The creature's expression remained calm.
"It makes their deaths theirs."
Brook took a step forward.
"Then come down here and say that again."
Henry grabbed his shoulder.
"Brook."
Brook pulled away.
"No."
The anger inside him was becoming difficult to control.
"They're dead because of me."
Sera finally spoke.
"No."
Brook looked at her.
"They came because of me."
"That doesn't mean they died because of you."
"It does."
"No."
Sera's voice became firmer.
"They made their choice."
Brook shook his head.
"They shouldn't have had to."
Sera looked toward Mercer's body.
"You're right."
Her voice softened.
"They shouldn't have."
For a moment, Brook couldn't respond.
The winged creature watched them.
Then it looked toward the sky.
"You have little time."
Brook looked at it.
"Time for what?"
"The second has awakened."
Brook's hand burned.
He looked down.
A faint blue mark had appeared beside the first symbol.
Two.
Henry noticed.
"Brook."
Brook stared at his hand.
"What is happening to me?"
The creature answered.
"The Sources are recognizing you."
"Why?"
"Because you can carry them."
Brook looked up.
"Who told you that?"
The creature smiled.
"Everyone knows."
That answer frightened him more than anything else.
Everyone.
How many people were watching him?
How many knew about the Sources?
How long had this been happening?
The creature continued.
"The first has accepted you."
"The second has begun searching."
"The others will follow."
Brook stepped forward.
"What happens if I don't take them?"
The creature's smile disappeared.
"They will find another vessel."
"And if nobody takes them?"
"Then they remain without purpose."
Brook frowned.
"You're saying they're alive?"
The creature didn't answer.
Crowley finally stepped forward.
"Enough."
The creature looked at him.
"You still command?"
Crowley's expression hardened.
"No."
"Then what are you?"
Crowley didn't answer.
The creature looked at Brook.
"You've surrounded yourself with people who lie to you."
Brook's eyes moved toward Crowley.
"He's not the only one."
The creature smiled.
"Then perhaps you should start asking better questions."
It spread its wings.
Wind rushed through the courtyard.
Brook raised his arm against the force.
"Wait!"
The creature lifted into the air.
"Where are my parents?"
It stopped.
For a moment, Brook thought it might answer.
Instead, it looked down.
"Closer than you think."
Then it disappeared into the night.
The remaining creatures followed.
One after another, they vanished beyond the Wall.
The courtyard was left behind.
Broken.
Bloodied.
Empty.
The gates were sealed before midnight.
No one entered.
No one left.
The bodies of the Watchmen were covered with white sheets.
Brook couldn't bring himself to leave.
He sat beside Mercer's body.
Sera eventually sat beside him.
Neither spoke.
The palace bells began ringing.
One.
Two.
Three.
The entire city had been awakened.
People stood in their homes, watching the Royal Guards move through the streets.
The truth couldn't remain hidden.
Not anymore.
Henry eventually approached.
"My father wants you."
Brook didn't look at him.
"I don't care."
Henry sat beside him.
"I know."
Brook looked at him.
"Do you?"
Henry nodded.
"I've never seen you like this."
"I've never seen this."
Henry looked at Mercer's covered body.
"I've known him since I was a child."
Brook swallowed.
"He was a good man."
"Yes."
"He deserved better."
Henry looked down.
"So did all of them."
They sat quietly.
After several minutes, Henry spoke.
"My father is ordering the entire city sealed."
Brook looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because he thinks another attack is coming."
Brook looked toward the Wall.
"He's right."
Henry nodded.
"He's also ordering you to remain inside the palace."
Brook laughed bitterly.
"Of course he is."
"I told him you wouldn't listen."
"Good."
Henry looked at him.
"Brook."
"What?"
"Whatever happens next…"
He paused.
"…don't let what happened tonight turn you into something you aren't."
Brook looked at him.
"I don't know what I am anymore."
Henry didn't have an answer.
By sunrise, the Watchmen headquarters had become a morgue.
Bodies were laid out in rows.
There were so many that the medical staff couldn't keep up.
The city had never seen casualties like this.
Families began arriving.
Mothers.
Fathers.
Children.
People searched for names.
Brook watched from the doorway.
A woman collapsed when she saw her husband's body.
A young boy stood beside another body without crying.
Brook couldn't look anymore.
He walked outside.
Sera followed.
"You don't have to watch."
"I know."
Brook looked at the sky.
"Why did they fight?"
Sera answered quietly.
"Because they believed in something."
"Protection."
"Home."
"Each other."
Brook looked toward the Wall.
"What if it wasn't worth protecting?"
Sera frowned.
"What?"
Brook shook his head.
"Nothing."
But the thought remained.
What if the Walls were never built for humanity?
What if everything they'd protected was based on a lie?
What exactly had the Watchmen died protecting?
A city?
A kingdom?
A lie?
Brook hated himself for thinking it.
Inside the palace, King Aldric stood before the royal council.
The room was filled with arguments.
"We need to evacuate the western district."
"Absolutely not."
"The people are already terrified."
"We cannot allow the public to know about the creatures."
"They saw them!"
"Then we control the story."
Henry stood at the back of the room.
His father listened without speaking.
Finally, he raised his hand.
The room became quiet.
"The Watchmen are gone."
No one argued.
"The western gate will remain sealed."
"Royal Guards will replace the Watchmen."
"We will increase patrols."
"And no one enters the western district without my permission."
Henry stepped forward.
"What about Brook?"
The King looked at him.
"Brook is the center of this."
"He's also the person who may understand what happened."
"He is a liability."
Henry's expression hardened.
"He's our friend."
The King looked toward him.
"That is exactly why you cannot see this clearly."
Henry walked closer.
"You knew this was coming."
The King didn't respond.
"You knew the Watchmen were in danger."
"I knew there was a possibility."
"You sent them anyway."
The King looked away.
"They were soldiers."
"They deserved the truth."
The King looked at his son.
"Truth does not always save people."
Henry shook his head.
"Neither does secrecy."
He turned and left.
Brook returned to his room in the afternoon.
His father's notebook was still on the table.
He opened it.
The message from the previous night was gone.
A new page had appeared.
Brook stared.
The handwriting was his father's.
Brook,
If the second Source has awakened, then you are already beyond the point where I can protect you.
Brook sat down.
He continued reading.
I need you to understand something.
The Sources are not evil.
Brook stopped.
That contradicted everything he'd assumed.
He kept reading.
Neither are the beings connected to them.
There are no simple sides to this war.
Do not believe anyone who tells you that one race, one kingdom, one god, or one force is responsible for everything.
Brook's eyes moved down the page.
The greatest danger is not power.
It is the belief that power gives someone the right to decide for everyone else.
Brook stared at the words.
The final sentence appeared beneath them.
If you ever have to choose between control and freedom, remember why humanity fought to survive.
The writing stopped.
Brook closed the notebook.
For the first time, the idea of the Sources frightened him for a different reason.
Maybe they weren't meant to destroy the world.
Maybe someone had been using them to control it.
That evening, Brook returned to the western courtyard.
Mercer's body was gone.
The Watchmen had been taken away.
Only blood remained on the stones.
Brook stood where Mercer had fallen.
He remembered the captain's final words.
You carry the people who believed in you.
Brook looked down at his hand.
Two symbols.
Two Sources.
Whatever they were…
they were becoming part of him.
Sera approached quietly.
"I was looking for you."
Brook nodded.
"I'm here."
She stood beside him.
Neither spoke.
After a while, Brook said:
"I'm leaving."
Sera looked at him.
"What?"
"I'm going outside."
"You mean the Wall?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because everything we need to know is out there."
Sera stared at him.
"Brook, after tonight?"
"Especially after tonight."
She looked toward the dead Watchmen's headquarters.
"You think the answer is outside."
"I know it is."
"And Henry?"
"He'll come."
Sera sighed.
"You've already decided."
"Yes."
She looked at him for a long moment.
"Then I'm coming too."
Brook looked at her.
"You don't have to."
"I know."
She smiled faintly.
"But apparently that's becoming a tradition."
Brook smiled for the first time since the battle.
Then a voice came from behind them.
"You're both idiots."
They turned.
Henry stood there.
Brook shook his head.
"How long were you listening?"
"Long enough."
Henry walked toward them.
"If you're leaving the Wall, you're not going alone."
Brook looked toward the western gate.
The place where Mercer and the Watchmen had made their final stand.
"We leave when the city is ready."
Henry nodded.
Sera looked at Brook.
"And where exactly are we going?"
Brook stared beyond the Wall.
"I don't know."
"But we're going to find my parents."
"And we're going to find out what these Sources really are."
He closed his fist.
The two symbols beneath his skin glowed faintly.
"And we're going to find out who has been controlling this world for the last hundred years."
Far beneath them, deep inside the ancient chamber, two symbols burned.
The third remained dark.
For now.
And somewhere far beyond the Wall, something watched the city.
It had heard the decision.
Brook was leaving.
The hunt had begun.
End of Chapter 37