The storm hit Settlement Thirty-Two just as the Chasers returned. What had begun as distant rumbles intensified into rolling waves of dust-charged electricity that painted the sky in violent shades of amber and violet. Static crackled between the dust, creating ghost-like formations that drifted between the scarcely placed buildings. Some settlers called them “dust-wraiths,” and the even more superstitious claimed that they were the spirits of those lost to the Scarfog, forced to wander Cinerys surface forever.

  Roan didn’t believe such tales, but he did watch the spectral shapes form, twist and dissolve. But he couldn’t help but wonder if there was some sliver of truth buried within the superstition. Afterall, Bole always said that Folklore and myth often contained the discarded parts of what reality failed to explain.

  By the time the party had returned to the northern exit the settlement had battened down for the storm’s duration-doorways secured, dust shields lowered over windows, and communal spaces converted to shelters for those whose dwellings weren’t sturdy enough to withstand.

  There were two members waiting at the north exit. They quickly helped the Chasers into a respite just large enough to fit two grown adults standing side to side.

  “Nothing?” Nima, a young apprentice medic, asked as she helped them through the janky tight maze of metal that prevented dust from flooding through the interior corridors.

  Bole removed her mask and goggles once the inner door was sealed. The members of the Lead team followed.

  “They were waiting for us.” Bole grieved.

  The words rippled through the people, a mixture of fear and resignation. Word of encounters with Scarborn had been reported for the last drift seasons, but a deliberate ambush was new and troubling.

  “The council will need to hear about this immediately,” the second guard practically spat out. Bole Nodded.

  “We’ll have them convene in the main hall. And get word to the hydration team-we will need to discuss further rationing measures.”

  As the guard made his way back out into the storm and the Chasers dispersed, Roan began to feel the weight of their failure. The water container from the Scarborn commander felt heavy at his side. He hadn’t mentioned it to the others. While on the journey back to the settlement he had replaced his own container, tossing it out to the storm. It was probably best that he kept this Scarborn memorabilia to himself. The storm was still thrashing against the settlement. However, the meeting would happen regardless of weather.

  “You should get cleaned up,” Bole told him, her tone much gentler than it had been during their return home. “We need to talk before the council session.”

  Roan nodded, he watched her walk but her usual grace was fading there was newfound tension in the way she was carrying herself now. She stopped briefly to whisper something into Nima’s ear. Opened the door. And left.

  “No Fall, dwindling supplies, not even enough water to piss ourselves at the sight of Scarborn. Gabe fell down beside Roan onto the ground. “Did Bole say anything about that woman? The one who seemed to know her? Look I know she commands the scarborn but she was kinda cute wasn’t she-”

  “Nothing useful,” Roan replied “She said that she will tell me more before the meeting.”

  Gabe whistles softly. “Cryptic. Yep, that's Bole. Wonder what that’s about. And what’s with the new water container?”

  Roan had almost forgotten for a second he was still carrying it. Roan didn’t want anyone to know. but It was Gabe asking. It was his best friend. Roan didn’t know what to say.

  “I picked it up while we were coming back, I dropped mine during the whole..thing.”

  “Weird,” Gabe said, frowning

  Nina walked up to the two dust covered teens. “Hey…uhh…Bole asked me to…er…told me that…” She wasn’t exactly the loudest in the room. She paused briefly and drew in a sizable breath. Then quickly blurted out

  “I told her I would help get you guys cleaned up, okay”

  Gabe and Roan flashed a glance towards each other, then back at Nima. and then back at each other. Then both boys said over the top of each other. “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”

  As the boys stood up. Gabe replied “That would be….wonderful!” Roan couldn’t help but smile

  “Wonderful?” Roan flashed a teasing gaze at Gabe, both chuckling, trying to keep the laughter quiet so that Nima wouldn’t hear.

  Nima led them to the washrooms and assisted them in removing the dust from their eyes and hair and clothes. The washroom was mercifully empty when they arrived, allowing him to use his water ration in peace. He scrubbed away at the accumulated grime, efficiently. Clean enough but never truly clean that was life in Settlement Thirty-Two.

  As he dried off with the opposite side of the threadbare towel Nima had used to wipe the dust away. His thoughts returned to the Scarborn woman and her strange behavior. The water container she’d thrown to him was now hidden in his pack. He wanted to examine it more closely, but it wasn’t the right time, plus he wanted answers from Bole first.

  The Settlements corridors were largely deserted as he made his way to Bole’s quarters, the storm had driven most people to shelter in the central sections, and is likely much more concentrated due to the news of the council meeting.

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  Thirty-Two had been established around the remnants of ancient buildings-”from before,” as the elders put it. Most of the original structures had long since been buried by the ever-shifting sea of dust, but the foundations and some lower levels remained, providing a structural skeleton upon which the current community had been constructed.

  Bole’s door was distinguished by the faded red symbol meant to represent, medical and painted beside it. A circle intersected by a thin vertical line. Roan knocked three times in a rhythmic pattern they had established years ago. There was an immediate response

  “Enter”

  Inside Bole’s quarters were few luxuries few others could claim: a private sink with a manual pump, shelves lined with a random assortment of items Roan always assumed were medical. But most surprisingly, a small table covered with equipment that definitely hadn’t been scavenged from the settlement’s communal resources.

  Bole was sitting by herself at this table, the contents of a small case spread before her. She looked up as Roan entered, her weather face set in lines of concentration that seemed alleviated at the sight of him.

  “Close the door,” She said, gesturing to the seat across from her. “And give me the water container”

  “How did you-”

  “I saw her throw it to you, Roan,” Bole said. “Ill admit I was more concerned with getting our team out of there safely than making an issue of some flask” She held out her hand expectantly

  Roan retrieved the container from his pack and handed it over. Now, in the better light of Boles’ quarters, he could see that it was unlike anything used in the settlements. The material was smooth and unblemished, with no patches or repairs. The cap mechanism was precision-engineered, and strange symbols ran along one side-it wasn’t crudely thrown together like the ones made here in Thirty-Two. It was elegant and complex.

  Bole turned it over in her hands, her expression was unreadable. Then, to Roan’s surprise, she twisted a hidden section at the base, causing a small compartment to pop open. Inside, a tightly folded piece of material Roan was not familiar with.

  “What is that?” Roan asked, leaning forward.

  Bole carefully extracted it. She spread it on the table, revealing text written in the same strange symbols that adorned the container.

  “Can you read that?”

  Bole’s eyes flicked up to meet his own. “Yes. It's a cipher developed by a group of chasers, from before the Scarborn existed.” She paused, choosing her next words carefully “ There were five, they Chased together for seven years.” Her voice grew distant, It was weighted now. “Something terrible happened and all five were lost”

  Roan waited, sensing Bole was choosing her words even more carefully.

  “It was a Doomed Chase, They called it afterward. I believed that the entire team was lost- or so I believed.” She tapped the message with her hand. “This confirms what i’ve feared since rumors of the Scarborn leader began circulating. He survived, somehow. And now he’s sent his lieutenant to make contact.”

  “His lieutenant?” Roans mind flashed back to the young woman with unusual eyes.

  “The woman who gave me the container?” Roan replied

  “That’s who she must be,” Bole said with tension in her voice. “I never imagined he would be capable of building anything, especially something like the Scarborn.”

  “What does the message say?”

  Bole hesitated. “It’s an invitation. From him”

  “An invitation to what?”

  “A meeting, back where everything changed.” She paused again ”Where I lost my team.”

  “Then we should go,” Roan said immediately. “This would lead us right to the Scarborn leader we could cut the head off the snake-”

  “No,” Bole’s response was immediate. “They are dangerous. They know something that puts all of us at risk.”

  “Put’s us at risk? What are you talking about?” All the frustration and confusion that had been building came swift “Bole, Im tired of half-truths. What happened during the Doomed Chase? Why does this scarborn leader wanna meet you now? And what does any of this have to do with me?”

  Outside, thunder rumbled and the wind battered against the door. It felt closer now as the storm had reached its peak. The lights in Bole’s quarters flickered briefly as the wind’s attempt to enter the room was successful.

  Bole looked at him for a moment, visibly wrestling with herself, she finally let out a sigh. “The Doomed Chase wasn’t just a Fall. It was…unusual. Different. And what we found there-” She stopped herself. “He and I disagreed about what to do. Then the Scarfog formed, faster than we’d ever seen. We got separated. I assumed they had all been killed by it.”

  Roan thought to press her again. But he could feel her emotion in his own throat.

  “You were there, Roan.” Her voice softened. “That’s where I found you.”

  Roan had always known Bole had found him during a chase. But he couldn’t wrap his head around how everything was connected. He was trying to process this information and fit it around the framework of what he’d always known about himself. “So my real parents…were they a part of your team?”

  “No, Roan…I think it's more complicated. That's not something I fully understand even now.” She looked away, yet there wasn’t anything she could really look at. Bole had spent her whole life protecting him, and keeping him safe. Roan wanted to know the circumstances. But he could tell it was tearing her up to sit here and recount it all.

  “Whatever he’s planning, I think you are a part of that too, Roan. But No matter what, I won’t let him. I know you are special-you always have been ” The naked emotion in her voice penetrated through what remained of Roan’s frustration. He had never seen Bole so vulnerable.

  “I know,” He said quietly. “But I’m still me. Just…more confused than I was an hour ago.”

  Bole finally relaxed. “Don’t let anyone in the council know about this message. Can you handle that?”

  Roan nodded slowly, he knew how to compartmentalize as bole had taught him over the years. “Yes, But. No more secrets.”

  “No more secrets,” she agreed. “But Roan-” Her expression grew grave. “You can’t let these Scarborns get their hands on you. Whatever they claim, whatever they believe. They are dangerous. Promise me you wont try and seek them out.”

  Before Roan could respond, and urgent knocking at the door interrupted them. Bole reached quickly for the message, hiding it her cabinet before yelling

  “Enter!”

  The door slid open to reveal, Nima, the apprentice medic.

  “Elder Toman has called an emergency council session.”

  “Yes about our failed attempt to reach the Fall” Bole Said almost condescending.

  “Not just about the Chase-there;s been an incident at the south perimeter. Someone was found at the gates during the storm.”

  “In this weather? Bole frowned.

  “Some lost Raiders maybe?

  Nima shook her head. “Not raiders. It was a single individual. Unconscious now. Found with Scarborn equipment. But they must have made it to the supply area. Because they were found with one of our water flasks.”

  Roan felt a chill.

  “Who?”

  “An unknown,” Nima replied.”But she had this too.” She held up a small metal disck with a familiar symbol etched into its surface-the same symbol that marked the water container he had shown Bole. Roan and Bole exchanged a look of shared understanding. Whatever game was being played, was already more moves in then either of them had anticipated.

  “Ill be right there,” Bole said, already reaching for her kit. The storm raged outside, the dust particles dancin with electricity, illuminated the settlement in brief, ghostly flashes. Within the walls, another storm was brewing, an equal one that would change Cinerys forever