The days flew by.

  Audas would climb out of bed and find himself barely having time for breakfast before he was pulled straight into the action. Most of the time, Dray would throw Audas head first into melee combat, drilling and sparing together until the longsword stances and wards became instinct. The bouts grew longer, Dray ceased to call out the moves and expected Audas to reply naturally. His attacks sped up, hit harder and sent Audas scurrying back.

  He lasted just short of a minute the first day.

  Audas came back for more, pushing the envelope to reach one and half minutes the next day. Then he managed to hold Dray off for a full three minutes. By the fourth, he was managing to win, breaking through Dray’s defences. Only then did the brown-furred wolf change things up, using a different weapon to send Audas flying back to square one and force him to change his tactics.

  Alika wasn’t as available, often running in and out of the Hub to attend to a long list of tasks Audas wasn’t privy to, but she made up for it by throwing him into unconventional and punishing challenges. She would take him into the forests, where they sparred on rocky outcrops, in clustered groves and balanced on slippery logs. She would utilise more exotic weapons to test him further and force him to adapt. And occasionally, during the sessions with Dray, she would leap into the ring and transform the fight into a two-on-one battle.

  Audas barely lasted ten seconds before finding himself face first in the dirt.

  “It happens more often than you think.” Alika would explain as he pushed himself back up right, coughing up dust. “If you can fight off more than one opponent, then you’ve got everything nailed.”

  He would nod his understanding of course, still wheezing like a ragged dog. But judging by the cheesy grins that kept breaking across her face, he couldn’t help but reckon she was enjoying those moments.

  By the tenth day, they announced a change.

  “Why would I need a sword of my own?” Audas asked, “We can’t still be having issues with ammo?”

  “We can make military-grade rounds.” Dray replied as they walked down the main hall, “But not on-masse.”

  “And the dirty bullets aren’t exactly great.” Alika said, “Besides, if a Feral gets into your face having something sharp can’t hurt right?”

  He couldn’t help but agree. Especially given the escape from Birmingham, that rusty knife somehow saved his life against the Alpha when he needed it. That, and he nearly growled at the thought of using dirty bullets. A solution to the impossibility of humanity running out of ammo. Dirty rounds were cheap, and easy to make in bulk compared to those originally created for the military. But they often fell apart, jamming perfectly serviceable guns and detonated in gun barrels. A real pain in the ass.

  The Sibling’s Smithy was a cavernous room filled with clamps, drills, grinders and bulky industrial machines he couldn’t begin to describe. And that was before he got to the large pool of water, a furnace and even an ancient looking anvil. The whole scene was essentially a time capsule from the middle-ages to the present day just on that equipment alone.

  “Alex?” Alika called out as she walked towards the wooden counter that stretched across the front of the room, a simple barrier to encourage people not to move further in, “Vale?”

  No one replied as Audas moved up to join her. “Seems like they aren’t in.”

  “I doubt it.” Dray commented.

  “Not even for a day off?”

  Alika leaned against the counter, keeping her eyes locked onto the forge. “They do… but they just love this job too much t-“

  Red flashed up, nearly slamming into her. Yelping, Alika sprung into Audas, who nearly cursed as he stumbled back. The fu-

  “Sorry! Had to get some stuff put away!”

  Audas blinked to find a Nyúlfur covered in bright red fur, with short black hair that had a single braid hanging across her front which avoided blocking her blue eyes. Heavy duty trousers, far too baggy for her slim frame were paired with a dirty sleeveless shirt. Clearly a work outfit.

  “Spirits Vale!” Alika cursed with a scrawl, only for her head to snap back as she laughed. “You nearly took my head off!”

  The red furred Vale’s face burst into a gigantic grin as she failed to suppress a giggle, “You know I can’t help it!”

  “Maybe less lemonade would help!” Dray countered with a smirk.

  Winking at Alika, she turned to Audas, her massive grin still plastered into place. “You’re the new guy, Audas isn’t it? Figured you would be coming round here by now.”

  Shock transformed into amusement as Audas huffed back, “Out of curiosity at least.”

  She giggled again, “Well, saves us having to ambush you later!”

  Audas felt his head recoil a touch at the thought. Not exactly filling me with much confidence.

  Dray stepped up to the counter and leaned against it, “Jokes aside, Audas doesn’t have a sword. We figured you and Alex could forge one? If that’s fine with you both of course.”

  Somehow, Vale’s grin grew even wider. “Now we can do that!”

  “Where is Alex by the way?” Alika asked.

  “Right here.”

  Another red furred Nyúlfur emerged from a glass room to the side of the workshop, wiping his hands clean on a rag. His clothing and hair were near identical to Vale’s, save for his trousers being a much better fit. “Good to meet you.”

  “Thanks.” Audas nodded back with a slight smile as he glanced between the two. That red fur…

  “You’re-“

  “Twins?” Alex replied with a smile, “It is in the name.”

  I guess Nyúlfur and human twins aren’t that different. Audas thought, rolling his eyes at the obviousness of it all.

  Vale waved a hand across the forge as Alex reached down under the counter. “We can make anything, sword, axe… whatever. And we can make it so it best suits your build.”

  “Unless you say otherwise.” Alex added, pulling a roll of tape into view. “Anything you particularly want?”

  Audas directed a glance past the twins and into the smithy… Best keep it simple. “Is a longsword alright?”

  “Perfect.” Alex replied, lifting a counter hatch as Vale rested a notebook on top of the flat. “Just need to do some measurements and ask a few questions…”

  The twins took their time in probing away at him. Vale asked questions on his approach to combat as Alex ran through his measurements, calling them out as he did to the scribble of a pen. Audas went stiff, but could barely do anything as the two took a tape measure to his limbs and body. Zackery had probed him somewhat during his medical examination but Audas has barely acknowledged it at the time. This one felt almost as intensive, if not more, and the sudden invasion of personal space wasn’t something he was prepared for. He had to bite back his surprise at hearing the height measurement of six foot eleven. And I thought six two was enough…

  Thankfully, the examination was brief, and as he quietly exhaled with some relief, the twins checked over the sheet with all its scribbles one final time, shared a nod, and declared that they would have the new sword ready by tomorrow afternoon.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  It only took until the following morning.

  “Well, give it a look!” Vale exclaimed, holding the weapon out in both hands.

  Audas’ heart nearly stopped when he saw it, Holy shit…

  Eyes wide and stunned into silence, Audas slipped a hand around the brown leatherbound hilt, soft and warm to touch and large enough for him to fit both hands round. A small metal ring rested at the end as a pummel whilst at the other end, a silver cross guard sloped forwards, away from the hilt and ended with metallic clovers. A shimmering grey blade stretched out for just over a metre in length and ended in a slightly rounded, but sharp point.

  Audas had expected something half made of rust, or extremely simple in construction – like the weapons on the range, even considering what he could remember of Travis’ sword. But not something so… refined…

  Being careful not to accidentally hit someone whilst transfixed on the new weapon, Audas gave himself some space and slowly swept the blade round him. There was a definite heft to the weapon, but it didn’t feel heavy or awkward. It felt balanced, almost like an extension to himself.

  “Looks like someone’s in love!” Vale giggled behind him. He hesitated for a moment, blinking. Wait… what…

  Then realisation settled onto him that he was grinning again. Suddenly, all those measurements the twins had insisted on made absolute sense. They hadn’t just made a random sword; it was one tailored for him and him alone.

  He stood there for a moment longer, dazzled by their creation before reluctantly, he lowered the blade. “Maybe not that far.” He replied, managing to hide the chuckle with a shake of his head. “But it’s fantastic. Thank you.”

  Two triumphant grins flashed as the twins gave each other a high five. “We aim to please!” Vale exclaimed, flicking the braid of hair over her shoulder.

  “What my sis’ said.” Alex added, merely grinning.

  “You always do.” Dray replied with a wide smile.

  Alex reached back over the counter and retrieved a leather scabbard in one hand and an odd, grey piece of metal in the other, shaped like a massive V or U. “And here’s the scabbard and blunter.”

  Gratefully, Audas took both, even though a part of him was confused on the so-called blunter. He ran a finger across its edge, the metal dull and blunt-

  Ah…. A dull edge to put over the blade. For training, I guess.

  After giving his thanks for the two, Dray only let up for a few minutes into the fresh training session. Giving Audas the time to get used to the new blade… but before he knew it, he was back into the fray just as hard as before.

  It had not all just been training though, Audas would find himself with hours of time to kill before it was even remotely sensible to toss himself back into bed. If he couldn’t just take a walk in the woods with a bow, or process recent events, he would find himself slowly intermingling with the ‘Hubbers’, as they called themselves. Listening and joining in their conversations within reason, and eventually asking questions, surprised to learn about the little details of infrastructure, jobs, trade, recreation and the events the Hub hosted. Tournaments, a cards night…

  There was no word on Birmingham or the rest of the UK. Audas had to quietly remind himself that even if the Nyúlfur had some form of internet access, the news of the city’s destruction would take time to spread. Most of what he heard was fairly light news from other Nyúlfur settlements... Name’s like Northharbor, Fort Stark, Ironhold, Rainer Mountain... New items, changes in policies… more trade deals.

  Must have been a quiet month, he supposed.

  But then, he couldn’t simply just do nothing but hang around the Hub like a mobile gargoyle. When he could, Audas busied himself taking up small jobs. Working at Ray’s Bar and repairs mainly just happened to be the main things he looked into. At first, he felt exposed, on the spot as he on with the tasks at hand, finding his eyes and ears were flicking towards anyone who looked his way and nearly jumping out of his skin on one occasion. But as time passed, he slowly began to relax. More at ease and soon, he found himself talking to the Nyúlfur of the Hub on a more regular basis.

  He even helped run errands for Dray as he worked on his own job… of librarian.

  That one had caught Audas off guard in more ways than one. Librarians back in Manchester were a rare thing after the Outbreak. A Nyúlfur one seemed completely ludicrous. It was only when he came across the library deep inside the Hub did he finally shake off his sense of disbelief.

  The library had bookcases covering nearly every wall with desks splattered in the few gaps that could be spared. Books, magazines, laptops and even old DVDs rested in every corner and on every desk. Jeb would have loved this place. Audas realised sadly.

  Dray busied himself each day inside that library, organising, filing and converting the original materials into digital format. Each file stored across multiple storage drives that he stressed he couldn’t reveal the locations of. A contingency he explained, in case the everyday hard drives got destroyed or damaged. Other times, he would inspect, edit and send off Nyúlfur-written materials elsewhere in the library, the Hub or even beyond to another settlement. Even after his initial reaction, Audas would remain secretly flabbergasted that the Nyúlfur would put the time aside to not only collect old human materials of all things, but to write their own.

  “’The Question of Nations?’” Audas mused, flipping a book over, “’Assault on Demon Mountain?’”

  Dray looked up from a file binder, “A couple of new fiction books. The themes in Nations are quite good but the illustrations in Assault are incredible.”

  Audas frowned as he laid Assault to one side, “I’m surprised anyone has any time to do novels or art.” He admitted.

  “It’s not as if we’re in the Badlands.”

  “Make that still surprised then.” Audas replied, no one would have anytime in the Badlands to work on something creative, if they hadn’t been killed or eaten out there without any human civilisation to count on.

  He flicked through the other titles, Wolf Castle, Veil of the Moon…

  Audas narrowed his eyes, “’Exodus to Cascadia’?”

  “Now that is a good one!” Dray pulled away from his desk and moved over to his side, “History in the making that one.”

  “Non-fiction?” he inquired.

  “Historical.” Dray confirmed, “Every settlement should have one for the record. You should read it at some point.”

  “Once I’ve settled in more… maybe I will.” Audas replied with a light shrug, not really processing the importance of it as his hand drifted towards a homemade pad.

  “I’ve got that one.”

  Dray’s hand tugged the pad out of the pile, tucking it under his arm with one swift motion.

  Audas held back asking Dray what was so important about that notebook, although he could suspect that Dray had his own project in mind.

  The days flew by, the variety of the work and practice preventing him from falling into tedium, intense enough for him to pass out the moment his head hit the pillow.

  And send him teetering back into the world of nightmares. Of his past before he came to Manchester before the Outbreak, the faces of friends and family… and of course, that night in Burningham when his world came crashing down around him.

  Then came the twenty-fifth day…

  Audas had been in a foul mood. He had been tossing and turning throughout the night, and waking up sweating in the darkness of his den.

  He was late down to the yard, and still groggy, Audas stumbled through the training. He overextended himself and often had to overcompensate to recover. So, when he deflected another sword strike away, the blade had drifted too far. His body tipped, forcing his foot to slide over to adjust.

  He turned back to eat the shield flying into his face.

  Pain exploded down his muzzle. He half yelled, half growled as he staggered and spun away. Gripping his jaw, Audas snapped a muffled curse and shook his head. Come Audas, snap out of it!

  “You okay there?” Dray asked behind him, worry in his voice.

  Hissing to himself, Audas swept a hand across his face, resting the longsword against the ring’s railing. Bloody nightmares, how the hell was he even going to-

  “Audas?”

  “Jus-“ He started to bark, only to gulp down a shaky breath, “Sorry.” He replied, “I’m alright. Just had a shitty night.”

  Wiping his face again, Audas propped himself onto the railing, gulping down water from his flask.

  “It’s fine.” Dray replied, lowering himself down next to him. “Might as well take a break.”

  As Audas sipped from the flask, Dray glanced over at him. “Want to talk about it?”

  Frowning, Audas stared down at his own golden furred body. He may have built up a decent rapport with Dray during the past month, but he wasn’t anywhere near close to ready to talk about those nightmares… and a cold part of him reckoned he never would. “Sorry… but it’s not exactly the best thing to discuss.”

  “Fair enough.” Dray replied gently with a nod, eying his own bottle. “But if you need some time off…”

  “I’ll be alright.” Audas interrupted, pulling a smile. “Just give me a few minutes.”

  “I’ll hold you to that!” Dray chuckled, drinking his own water. “I’m sure Alika will say that when she gets back.”

  Alika had been unable to join them for the last couple of days, having to make her way back down the valley towards the nearest settlement. Audas glanced away, letting the smile hold in place. The last few days had softened him, bringing him out of his shell as he laughed and bantered alongside the two of them.

  He sipped again at the flask before replacing the lid. He couldn’t help but like the two, especially now.

  Like… as a friend?

  The smile faded as he inspected the metallic container in his hands. Friend. The question kept hounding him, one half questioning why he should even consider calling these things that. The other noted everything seemed like the complete opposite. Dray and Alika especially.

  He got along with them. And they were so similar to…

  He closed his eyes, softly sighing. Liana… Jack…

  Audas frowned, that xenophobic half of him sought a clear excuse to deny it. The curious half of him quickly countered that. Calling them friends may be overkill. It had only been a few weeks after all, and he had known Liana and Jack far longer than these Nyúlfur. And yet, every day that passed, he felt more and more comfortable. If anything, there were more than a few times he had forgotten everything he had even known about the Nyúlfur. Found a bit of happiness here and there. But how could he forget the crimes committed by the Nyúlfur in Burningham? And those before even that?

  A part of him knew what Everest was trying to say back in the stable after he stormed out in a huff. Everyone was different. Were the Nyúlfur here a very different breed compared to those he had come across before? Was it not just because he was a Nyúlfur too? Or did that mean… humanity too?

  He shivered, What… what do the Nyúlfur actually think about the humans?

  He turned back towards Dray, “Hey… ca-“

  “H-Help!”

  Audas jerked upright, his ears already twisting towards the source and bringing his eyes along with them. Limping through the yard was a lone Nyúlfur. A rifle was clutched in one hand, whilst the other pressed against her arm.

  Much of that grey furred arm was stained in blood.