Ira opened his eyes.

"...Again." He said to himself as he sat up.

He found himself inside of a medium sized room filled with beds, plain white sheets, and small tables next to each of the beds. He waved his left hand causing a pastry to fall into his hand with a trace of black mist. As Ira ate, he scanned the room for his belongings. A brand new black shirt and black pants were on a table next to him and his boots were at the foot of the bed.

Ira stood up and began dressing while continuing to eat pastries as he strapped his boots before giving a few kicks.

"Hmm. Something feels different." He shook his head and walked towards the exit.

As he opened the door and stepped out of the room, he found himself in a hallway lined with small stone statues on each side, with a candle above them. He could hear someone walking down the hallway and decided to walk towards them. As he closed in he could see the person.

A handsome young man with dark blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing bright steel knight armor with religious markings walked towards Ira.

"The exit is the other way, everyone is attending a prayer ceremony and you aren't welcome to join." The young knight spoke in annoyance.

"Ah!" Ira held his hand to his chin as he sized the young knight up.

"You seem familiar." Ira stared at the Knights face with a puzzled expression.

"You don't need to know who-" The Knight tried to speak but was interrupted.

"Yeah! That's it! This annoying girl looked just like you. Oh Man, she was really stupid. I mean really stupid." Ira laughed after he finished speaking, seemingly oblivious to the Knight's deteriorating expression.

"Im telling you the truth, hard to believe someone is as stupid as I say right? Ha, her and her Knights were pretty mad at me that day all because I bought some pastries. I just thought you reminded me of her...because of how dumb you look."

"..." The knight was at a loss for words.

"There we go! That's the exact expression she made, and I gotta tell you...you look like a fucking idiot." Ira looked as if he had an epiphany before he laughed loudly and turned to leave.

"You insolent br-" The Knight erupted in anger but noticed Ira was already walking away.

"Come back here! You'll learn not to insult the honor of a knight again." The Knight reflexively reached for his sword but realized he didn't have one. The temple didn't allow anyone to carry weapons inside, all of them were confiscated at the entrance and held by the temples Paladins.

"Roy." An old bald man in white robes approached the blonde knight called Roy.

"Grand Priest Karson." Roy made a small bow.

"This is the best time to keep a calm head. It's been two days since the Military Center was attacked. You are a son of the Fairfax family, and I am the Grand Priest of the kingdom, we must lead by example for the people of this Kingdom." The Grand priest said stoically.

"Yes, Grand Priest." Roy was inspired by the Grand Priest words and felt as if he carried a large responsibility, that only he could fulfill whatever point Grand priest Karson was attempting to make was mixed with Roy’s innate narcissism.

.............................................................................

At the entrance hall of the temple, Ira stood in front of a hooded man.

"A silver sword. It should be inside a black scabbard." Ira described his sword.

"Name." The hooded paladin dressed in white robes asked.

"Ira."

The paladin went into a room with a carved wooden door and a few seconds later he came back with Ira's sword.

"The temple accepts donations." The paladin handed over the sword, while he pointed to a painted vase in the center of the room.

Ira accepted his sword and walked over to the vase, pulling out one hundred gre before tossing it into the vase under the watch of the paladin. The paladin’s stiff mood seemed to lighten up.

“Blessings of the Gods upon you.” He clasped his hands as he made a small bow toward Ira.

Ira, not knowing too much about religious customs, gave an awkward nod before leaving.

It appeared to be around noon, Ira walked down the steps leading away from the temple. He eventually turned around to see the whole temple building.

A large grey temple made from limestone, concrete, and a variety of other materials. It looked as if it could hold around ten thousand people inside and another ten thousand outside of it.

Ira gave an unfazed shrug before walking down the temple steps. As he continued descending he could see a woman wearing a hooded black cloak over a dark grey jacket, a blue collared shirt, tan pants, brown leather boots and a saber on her hip, climbing the steps, causing Ira to grin. Even though she wore a hood he could tell it was Avery without much effort.

"You don't seem like a person who was recently cursed." Avery said as she tossed something towards Ira.

"Well, I was and I wouldn't recommend it, Miss Avery." Ira caught the object and examined it to find a wad of ten thousand Grenitian bills tied together.

"The Mercenaries you worked with told me how to find you, and also gave me your portion of the reward. Also, please stop with the 'Miss'." Avery said plainly.

"I thought the payout was only ten thousand. Didn't they take a portion?" Ira stored the money in his void space.

"Apparently a few of those captured civilians had a few missing person requests on them. So they received a lot more than they originally thought." Avery explained before continuing onto another subject, "I need to talk to you about what you've missed these past few days, If you aren't busy I hope you can accompany me a few places.".

"Alright, catch me up on the way." Ira nodded before following Avery down the temple steps.

.................

"Aldis Thynne, Amy, and Clark! You have visitors." An academy attendant shouted as he stood in the cafeteria area.

A lot of students reacted with envious gazes, unless they had strong families who could bend the rules, no one was allowed to have visits outside of designated times, and visitors usually weren't allowed within academy grounds.

"I bet it's them." Amy said excitedly as she ate her food.

"I feel like it's been awhile." Clark thought of Benjamin as recalled seeing Ira for the first time.

"..." Aldis remained silent seeing his sister wasn’t something he would get excited about. Not that he disliked, it’s just that their relationship had always been distant, the same could even be said about his mother. Not that he saw anything wrong with it, he had long since grown accustomed to it.

By now their first month in the academy was over and they were moving into the second, slight changes could be seen in physique of everyone by now. Clark who had an average build now looked a bit sturdier, Amy now had more definitive muscles, though she still looked girlish, and Aldis didn't change much, compared to the Thynne families own training regimen, the Capital Academy wasn't much to complain about.

Ira and Avery were guided into the cafeteria area.

"Did they really do that?" Ira asked with a chuckle.

Avery gave a grin in response, which served a silent confirmation.

During the walk to the academy, Avery recapped the latest events, explaining her family's bloodline, detailing the destruction of the Military Center, and finally, told Ira how her Grandmother "visited" the King.

As they entered the cafeteria area, they were met with dozens of gazes. Currently, Avery wasn't wearing her hood, her looks drew the attention of males and females alike. Ira was also evaluated by the academy students, he wouldn't lose out when compared to Aldis, but while Aldis had a cold temperament, in comparison Ira seemed more unruly as he sported a mischievous grin, his yellow eyes and lengthy black hair was also very eye-catching, and there appeared to be a tattoo on his left hand. The strangest thing was the beast people, who stared at Ira deeper than anyone else, confused expressions on their faces.

"Ira, Miss Avery!" Amy stood up and waved them over. They walked to the table and sat down.

"Get any stronger?" Ira asked Amy, as he reached over to her tray and took a piece of steak.

"Hey! I could probably win against you if we fought with spears only!" Amy said as she swatted Ira's hand away from her food.

"Good thing I don't fight with spears then." Ira grinned.

The intimate actions between Ira and Amy spurred jealously from females at other tables. Though Ira thought nothing of it, and Amy was used to Ira's peculiar habits so she didn't mind either. Avery watched on with a faint grin.

"What about you Clark, can you wield a sword now?" Ira snatched away a slice of bread from Clark before he could react.

"No...but I'm learning martial arts." Clark said as he watched Ira take a piece of his food.

"That's good too," Ira said as he continued chewing.

He then turned to Aldis.

"Avery's brother right?" Ira said as he took a bread roll from Aldis, ignoring any sense of etiquette.

"I've heard about you." Aldis ignored Ira's shameless behavior and instead sized him up.

"Yeah? Good things I hope." Ira grinned and took another bread roll from Aldis.

"I know it might rude, but do you think we can spar?-" Aldis asked suddenly. Although he wasn't loud the whole cafeteria managed to hear him.

"Aldis." Avery interrupted.

"If you want." Ira said as he grabbed a slice of steak from Aldis' tray.

Avery looked at Ira, who in response shrugged. "Aren't you still recovering?" Avery asked, to the ears of everyone it seemed she was concerned.

"I'm fine." Ira said as he stood up.

"Lead the way." He continued as he looked at Aldis.

Avery, Amy, and Clark all stood up and followed behind Aldis and Ira.

The whole cafeteria quickly stood up and followed behind them, the attendant wanted to stop them but he was given special instructions to treat Aldis Thynne with care.

At the foot of the wooden stage Aldis grabbed a dull sword, and climbed onto the stage. Ira undid the scabbard on his waist and tossed his sword to the side, exchanging it for a dull practice sword. By now word reached most of the first year academy students and some of the later students, if Aldis decided to challenge someone they must be strong. A crowd gathered on the stands around the sparring stage, no one noticed but there were an abnormal amount of beast people attending a human fight, something that didn't happen often.

"Aldis, don't hold back." Avery cautioned, she knew firsthand that Ira's strength wasn't something most people would expect, or be able even cope with if they were taken by surprise.

Aldis nodded and took up his stance on one side of the stage. Ira was busy swinging the training sword a few times before getting on the stage. He rotated his neck a few times as he grinned at Aldis.

"Whenever you're ready." Ira said.

"Ha!" Aldis gave a short exclamation as he charged out with his sword overhead. Ira remained in place, with the training sword hanging limply in his hand.

Those who had seen Aldis fight before thought Ira was being arrogant when he just stood there or that he was unskilled and became scared.

Aldis swung downwards as the sword went straight for Ira's head. A dull sound, that was enough for most to hear, resounded from the stage. Most people were shocked at what they saw.

Ira reached out and caught the sword in his hand, stopping Aldis' swing completely. It was unorthodox, even though the sword was dull there would still be a chance for an injury if someone willingly took a hit from it, but what happened next increased the shock factor for everyone.

Ira applied pressure to the sword, causing it to sound as if it was crying in distress and under the immense stress the sword broke in half. Aldis looked at Ira with astonishment who wasted no time in performing a sweeping kick, knocking Aldis off balance. Aldis was about to hit the ground when Ira grabbed his collar and lifted him up with one hand, before throwing him back to his side of the stage. Aldis spun in mid-air to recover and landed on his feet as he slid backward and attempted to recover his footing.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The crowd was silent. Aldis was arguably one of the strongest people in the academy in terms of swordsmanship, but the mysterious yellow-eyed youth seemed to be able to deal with him with just strength.

For the first time in a long while Aldis laughed and for some reason, Ira began chuckling too. Aldis laughed because he finally found a good person to spar against, he could spar with his cousins or his sister but it would be nothing more than swordsmanship, fighting his sister, or his female cousins would only lead him to a loss, no matter how hard he fought.

Aldis didn't want to just test his swordsmanship he wanted to be forced to adapt in the middle of battle, and Ira's strength and speed gave him the perfect environment to do so, he could tell Ira wasn't as skilled as him in regards to wielding a sword but he would have to find a solution to get around his strength.

As Ira laughed, he tossed his training sword over to Aldis, who caught it and took up his stance once again. Avery watched Ira closely, his strength and reflexes seemed to be even better than the last time she saw him.

"Again!" Aldis shouted as he charged. Aldis cut, slashed, and stabbed towards Ira who dodged his attacks fluidly. Ira blocked a sword strike towards his side with his forearm and Aldis took this time to deliver a kick towards Ira's chest only to have his foot caught by Ira's hand and then swung upwards. Aldis spun in the air before aiming his sword and thrusting downwards. Ira moved backward as the sword struck the wooden stage, luckily the stage was made from enchanted wood which was sturdy enough to handle the more "promising" students.

A few instructors were informed of the situation by the attendant who escorted Ira and Avery in, they went to see for themselves just how strong this yellow-eyed boy was, and they weren't disappointed.

"Hold on a second." Ira paused for a second. He hopped off the stage, which confused a lot of people, they could only wonder if he was giving up?

Under the curious gazes of the spectators, Ira took off his shirt. Although he looked thin with clothes on, he had highly defined muscles, Amy noticed they improved from when she saw him last. Ignoring the gazes on his body, Ira grabbed his silver sword, and drew it from the scabbard, tossing it to Aldis as he hopped on stage.

"I don't want you to cut my shirt." Ira explained.

Aldis grinned as he put the training sword in his non-dominant hand. No one at the academy knew it yet, but Aldis true skilled lied in his ability to dual-wield swords, his defense was offense. Aldis rotated the swords in both hand getting a feel for the sword Ira gave him.

"Oh? You can use both?" Ira asked.

Aldis smiled in response, it seemed that all the Thynne's shared the same mannerisms. Avery raised her eyebrows, she knew her brother secretly trained in dual-wielding but he never made much of a display of it.

Aldis once again charged toward Ira who was grazed by the swords as he attempted to dodge faint cuts formed on his arms.

Aldis skillfully switched between overhand and underhand grips, his footwork was quick and explosive as he spun and twisted while wielding his swords. He pushed himself as hard as he could, swinging his swords without restraint, his change surprised everyone including Avery. She guessed he was training his dual-wielding in secret and when he was strong enough he would show their mother. Aldis shouted in exclamation as he felt he wasn't moving fast enough. His footwork got even faster if he messed up just one time he would stumble and lose his footing, his mind relaxed as he let his instincts take over.

Aldis' hits started leaving deeper cuts, although the training sword was dull, the sword Ira gave him was sharp. Ira who continued being attacked didn't flinch when he was hit but grinned instead, he lunged forward and delivered a two hit combo on Aldis' chest.

When Ira’s fist made contact Aldis' coughed, even though Ira restrained himself he still carried a substantial force.

The crowd watched on the edge of their seats, they were completely absorbed in the sparring match. But Aldis was the most immersed, he slowly relaxed his mind, completely relying on his instinct and reflexes. Avery nodded in approval, her brother was close to understanding the advanced level of swordsmanship. A few instructors also knew that Aldis was improving.

Aldis closed the distance after activating a quick step. A skill that briefly accelerated one’s movement in a single directional.

"Haaa!" He shouted loudly. He swung the training sword faster than before aiming at Ira's shoulder, even if the sword was dull, under the use of a skill it definitely cut.

Everyone focused on the training sword.

Ira swung his arm with incredible force in response, knocking the training sword out of Aldis' hand causing it to sail through the air.

While everyone was focused on Aldis losing the training sword, he simultaneously thrust the sharpened sword at Ira's abdomen causing a piercing sound to fill the ears of the silent crowd to hear. Only a few people saw Aldis move the second sword.

"Heh.” Ira chuckled as he looked at the sword piercing directly through his left arm and emerging on the other side, slightly poking his abdomen. He grabbed the sword by the blade and pulled it towards him. As he continued to pull the sword found its way into his body and he pulled Aldis closer.

Aldis was shocked and fiercely gripped the sword, if he let go right now he felt he would lose, his desire to win only increased as he watched Ira’s actions. A good portion of the sword was buried inside of Ira's abdomen by now, as blood slowly pooled under him.

When Aldis got into range, Ira titled his head back and then slammed it against Aldis’ head, knocking him on the ground. Seeing him stunned, Ira pulled out his sword and tossed it aside, sending blood flying with it. He then made a short leap through the air and came down foot first aiming for Aldis who rolled to the side to dodge. The wooden stage made a loud noise. The force behind the stomp, caused the stage to buckle. Aldis once again rolled to get up, but Ira was already in front of him, throwing a punch directly to his stomach, causing him to recoil forward and receive Ira's kneecap to his face, sending him soaring backward before hitting the stage.

Aldis rolled and climbed to his feet. "Hah...hah...hah..." He attempted to catch his breath as blood dripped from his head.

The crowd was speechless, both Ira and Aldis were incredible in their eyes, but Ira took an injury straight on without even blinking an eye and even injured himself just to hit Aldis, it was something they would talk about for days to come.

"We'll end it here." Avery's clear voice woke everyone up from their focus.

When Aldis used a skill on the training sword he simultaneously thrust with the sharp sword, while the few who witnessed it thought it was amazing, Avery knew just how much control it would take to perform a move like that and he did it instinctively, to her it seemed her brother was more talented than he even knew.

"""Wooooooooooh!"""

The crowd of students erupted in cheers. Even some instructors couldn't help be caught up in the mood and clapped. Clark was speechless, while Amy's eyes flashed with light envy. Avery wasn't as awe-stricken as everyone else, but she looked at her brother inquisitively.

Aldis wiped his bloody forehead and smiled. He knew Ira had to hold back, he heard about his strength from Amy and Clark and thought it was exaggerated until Ira caused the stage to buckle. It was clear he accidentally forgot to control his strength. If Ira used his full strength, he probably would've lost when Ira grabbed broke the training sword in the beginning.

Ira grinned at Aldis, before picking up his sword and storing it back in scabbard after descending from the stage.

While fastening the scabbard to his waist, Ira began eating a pastry, no one seen just where he got it from, but that wasn't what they were paying attention to. Ira had an injury that needed to be taken care of but he ate instead, his odd behavior raised a lot of eyebrows.

Avery approached him with a cloth and a canteen.

"Mhm..." Ira nodded with a full mouth, he grabbed the canteen and drunk some of the water before pouring the rest onto the cloth and wiped the blood of his body.

"What?"

Those who were close enough to see Ira stared directly at him. His wounds were already closed as they appeared as two thin red lines, as for the small cuts they were completely gone.

"...No need to stare." Ira said as he put on his long sleeve black shirt.

Aldis made his way off the stage and walked over to Ira, he saw the wounds I received up close, so he knew better than anyone that his wounds healed too fast to be called normal.

"Aldis, In two weeks come to the estate. It's an order from Grandmother." Avery said in a voice, Aldis nodded his head in return, he wiped the blood from his face and drank from his own canteen.

"Aldis..." Ira approached him as the crowd quieted down. Aldis turned to look at Ira.

"...You ever think about joining the Mercenaries Union?" Ira asked.

"I've thought about it, but-" Aldis tried to respond.

"If you do join, partner up with me, yeah?" Ira interrupted, he chuckled as he walked away. Students began to disperse, they were on their way to the find their friends and tell them about the sparring match they missed.

Right now many were excited and wanted to train even harder, a few enterprising noble children eavesdropped and heard that Ira was mercenary. They would personally request him for jobs and try to earn his favor, an abnormally powerful youth with no family backing would be an asset all families coveted. This small sparring match would definitely be passed from ear to ear in noble circles.

"Amy, Clark. I'll see you guys later." Ira said his farewells.

"N-Next time we'll spar." Amy stated in a determined tone.

"Well, you better start training harder now." Ira chuckled, Avery, walked up to his side, nodding toward Amy and Clark, as she continued walking.

"You held back." Avery stated as she put her hood on.

"Well, I didn't want to accidentally kill your brother, anyway where to next?" Ira spoke casually.

"My Mother and Grandmother are interested in meeting you as soon as possible." Avery said cryptically, choosing not to elaborate any further.

Ira furrowed his brows with playful suspicion before agreeing, "...Alright." he thought Avery was acting strangely but paid it no mind.

As people watched Ira leave, the beast people watched the most intensely.

"Did you feel it?" A boy with canine features asked. His ears pointed outwards at the sides and were hairy, he also had teeth that were slightly more pointed than humans.

Beast people didn't look that much different, they didn't have animal ears or fur covered bodies, but some grew to be hairier than humans. If they were to hide their ears or teeth no one would tell the difference between them and normal humans.

Beast people who leaned more towards feline features, were similar but their pupils narrowed ever so slightly, not enough to be called cat eyes though. Both types would still have abilities that set them apart from humans such as; better vision in dark environments; Stronger bodies and higher agility; and higher tuned instincts.

"Yeah...I felt it." A beast person with feline features responded.

They both watched Ira's back, confused and even a little fearful just by looking at him seemed to cause their blood to stir

.................

Inside of a small dining hall, with humble furnishings.

"Master. We've reached out to the Order of The White Rose, but they've refused to accept anymore contracts..." "...That relate to the Thynne Family." Two hairless men in red robes, spoke in turns.

"So they've heard the truth about the Thynne family already." A man responded with a gentle voice, as if he was speaking to his children, he swirled a wine glass in his hand. Most people would recognize him as Glen Marbot. He sat at the head of a long table, by his side sat a pale woman who looked sickly, even so she still had a trace of beauty.

"It makes sense, the power Casey Thynne showed gives me hesitations, but they won’t bother the Kingdom anymore. No matter, as long as we can get that boy with the yellow eyes we can progress easily." Glen showcased a satisfied smile. He was the first to react after hearing rumors of a boy who could easily regenerate normally fatal wounds. He immediately sent someone to collect samples of blood from him. That boy was, of course, Ira and he hadn't realized that the puddle of blood he left would be useful to someone else. Glen's thoughts were interrupted as a pale woman beside him coughed harshly.

The pale woman continued coughing before she raised a handkerchief in a rehearsed manner and covered her face, blood could be seen from the corners of her mouth. Glen stood up and ran to her side.

"Ethel, my love." Glen Marbot, moved his hands slowly, as if the woman could break at the slightest touch, pure devotion could be seen on his face.

"I'm fine...Glen." The woman, Ethel, responded weakly as she held his hand.

"Would you like to go see Anastasia, my love?" Glen asked in a quiet voice, it was clear this woman was his weakness.

"Glen..." Ethel spoke quietly a trace of sadness in her voice.

"Come, I'll help you." Glen held her protectively as he escorted her out of the hall, the two men in red followed behind them silently.

Eventually, Glen descended stairs leading to a basement. Muffled groans of agony could be faintly heard. They walked past rooms with steel plates doors that resembled prison cells. At the end of the hall was a room with two wooden double doors, it was hand painted with murals that seemed to be made for children.

"Open the door." Glen ordered the two men in red robes.

They moved to open the double doors, they took extra precaution as they opened them.

"You two wait outside." Glen said as he guided Ethel in.

The room was decorated with children's toys and the walls were painted with fairies and animals, inside of a tranquil forest. The room even included a crib with expensive looking blankets and pillows inside. The most eye catching sight was a plain table near the back of the room.

A long cylindrical glass jar filled with a bright green peculiar liquid, a strange object floated inside, the jar was locked and bolted to the table, it was clear that the utmost care was put into holding this jar in place.

If anyone were to stand in front of the jar they would know that the object inside was a fetus.

"Glen you don't have to..." Ethel spoke with an incredible amount of melancholy in her voice. She turned her pale face towards Glen and place a hand on his cheek.

"Shhhh." Glen looked at the jar and placed a hand on it. They stayed silent as they looked on at their unborn daughter.

"Do you still love me, after the things I've done?" Glen suddenly asked.

"Glen." Ethel leaned forward and planted a light kiss on his lips.

"I don't want you to walk this path...I know I'm a terrible wife, but when I die I don't want-" Ethel tried to speak.

"Don't!" Glen exclaimed as he held both of her hands.

"Please...don't...I don't want to lose you...I don't want to lose her...I promised you, our daughter will survive, you will survive too...It'll be ok, so just..." Glen clammed up, as he held Ethel.

"I'm sorry Glen." Ethel grew teary-eyed as she watched Glen.

...................

As they left the room and walked past the plated steel doors, Ethel stopped.

"Glen...please." She stopped in front of a door and placed her hand on it.

Glen nodded and signaled for the two robed men to open it. As they opened the door they were met with a dark, low-lit, room.

"Alone, Glen." Ethel said.

"But-"Glen protested.

"Please." Ethel smiled weakly.

"Just for a few minutes." Glen said as he kissed Ethel's head. The door closed leaving only Ethel inside. She walked over to a table and lit a new candle. A variety of things were on the table such as, brushes, a canteen, and a few cloths.

Ethel grabbed the canteen and a cloth and walked over to one corner of the room where there was an adolescent girl bound in chains. Dried blood decorated her face, her cheeks were gaunt, and her lips were cracked, her hair was dry and covered in dirt, her clothing was in utter tatters and scars could be seen of recent injuries. In short, she looked despicable.

Ethel walked over to the girl and poured water onto the cloth. She slowly crouched down and wiped the girls face clean causing the girl to slowly stir awake.

"Ahn..." The girl slowly raised her head, as she shivered in fear.

Ethel paid no mind as she continued to wipe her face clean, she lifted the canteen to the girl's lips slowly. The girl tried to drink from the canteen as fast as she could, but Ethel stopped her.

"Gently." Ethel whispered softly as she let small amounts of water pour from the canteen.

"Hah...Haah..." After finishing the girl breathed deeply after drinking.

Ethel walked back over to the table and placed the canteen and cloth back, she then grabbed a brush and went back to the girl before kneeling down and slowly brushing the girl's hair.

"W-why...do...you...let...him..." The girl spoke haggardly.

"I'm sorry..." Ethel said as she stopped brushing the girl's hair.

"You see him as evil...as heartless...I can understand...but I can't bring myself to hate him." Ethel stood up and walked over to the table.

"...I blame myself for all of this...if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't..." Ethel became emotional.

"Pl...ease..." The girl raised her head and begged.

"I'm sorry." Ethel hurried out of the room. The door opened and shut quickly, leaving the chained girl alone, her eyes grew dim as she watched the door close.

Outside of the room Glen patiently waited.

"Are you ready?" Glen asked politely.

Ethel nodded her head and let Glen guide her out of the basement.

..........................