Prologue

*******

April 5, 2021

....Fifteen days that we've thus far marched. What little food we carried with us is long since gone and we move on by sheer force of will. The children are weakening before our eyes and there is nothing to be done for it. Listening to the younger ones cry in the night with empty bellies I wonder just how many will make it.....

...Just this morning, Dreamer spoke of the City of Hope. Quinn was in his dreams the night before and he knows we are coming. He told of the dream and of Quinn leading us to the rebuilt city. WE MUST KEEP MOVING....

May 1, 2021

We were dealt a hard blow this morn. The little one, we called her faith, did not make it through the night. She fell alseep in my arms and did not wake. I shed my bitter tears for the wee babe, of only 8 months, and buried her near the ruins of a Abbey near New Castle. I blame myself, for what good is my knowledge of medicine when I can't save the weakest among us? Things are desperate and without food there will be many more in the days to come like our precious faith...

....Our men are few but those among them are not immune to the devastation of watching the children suffer, watching them die before our eyes.....

...Breck is ever the attentive leader, concerned for his beleaguered tribe before himself. I have notice, in the passing days of our trek south, that he takes special care with me. Just this afternoon he offered me the mare when I began to lag, but I refused. I will walk as long as the children walk, I'm no more important than them, maybe less so. They are the new life that will repopulate this world, make it strong again, and I shall be content to watch it all. I will be content to see a world rise from the ashes where no longer we have to turn our faces to the sky in fear, no longer have to hide at the rise of the wind. The few, the strong, have inherited these lands and we will rebuild and grow.......

Part 1
*********
 
Quinn lifted his head and sniffed the air, scented with the freshly falling rain.
Today wasn't the best of days, nor was it the worst of days, it simply was
another day on the earth. Today they rebuilt, they rebuilt like they had
done every other day since the death of the sky born dragon. The sound of
stones hoisted into place, clinking against one another took the place of
giant wings flapping overhead.
 
He straightened his bare moisture sleek torso, taking a moment to rest his
tired body. A accomplished smile lined his lips as he dropped his head to
the wall at his back, close to completion, mortar holding it strong. There
would be a shelter again, a home, it was small progress but it was progress
nonetheless. Pushing off the wall, he took the steep incline to the canvas
tent below, worn and small - it housed their numbers. The children sat with
Alex, a lesson in history was taking place and he stood and listened.
 
"...The Cheyenne Tribe used other means of ensuring a plentiful hunt. They
used something called a buffalo jump...." Alex explained, casting her eyes
to the small eager faces around her. It was then that her eyes encountered
an unlikely student, Quinn.
 
He stood with his arms crossed over his chest smiling encouragingly at her.
Where's Creedy?" He mouthed, trying to reduce the interruption.
 
She pointed to the east and returned the smile. Sometimes she wondered what a
relationship with Quinn would have been like, there were moments in the past
she believed she was in love with him. She imagined it would be intense and
passionate, but that was a hard contrast to what she and Creedy had. They
had love, had commitment, and a family. In her lap cooing softly was her son
six months just the day before.
 
Quinn nodded his thanks and turned out of the makeshift tent and walked along the
perimeter wall. The rain continued to fall in lazy fat drops, soaking his
dark mane and dripping down into his face. He didn't mind in the least, didn't
mind the sting of the heavy droplets against his bare skin, or the chill
it caused that went bone deep. It was a sign that he was still alive, that
his life wasn't some horrific nightmare that would fade if only he could
wake. No, this was life that splashed with a cruel directness into his face.
 
 
"Don't suppose you've got my castle built yet!" Creedy called from the watch
platform, a mere twenty feet above.
 
"Castle?" Quinn shook his head, an amused smile lining his lips. "Hardly, you'll
be lucky to have a roof over your head." He waited patiently as Creedy
climbed down the scaffolding to the ground, the man jumping that last couple
of feet.
 
"So, what brings you to the wall friend." He chirped, slapping Quinn hard
across the shoulder.
 
Quinn took a moment, considering the man, taking in the raw red scares that
were a fresh reminder of the trial of the short months past. "I have good
news..."
 
"Ahhhh, finally, good news!" Creedy laughed, his head thrown back. The stare
from Quinn left him unphased, he had gotten use to the others turning a
pitying look, or a concerned gaze on him.
 
"We move the children back into the keep tonight. All that's left of
rebuilding is that roof." He slapped Creedy on the back, returning the
punishing blow from moments before, and turned. From the perch above a shout
came, both men jerked their heads above.
 
"Got movement!......" A rifle was shouldered and sighted on the approaching
column." On the East ridge! Quinn?"
 
"Relax, Masters..." Quinn shouted back, moving to the ladder upwards
followed closely by Creedy.
 
"It could be the legions, Quinn. Doesn't do harm to be cautions." Creedy
warned from behind as they climbed higher. It was true it could be the Ruins
Legion, a army of humans that were dying slowly from the radiation that
coursed through their bodies, men and women who were insane and spewed their
insanity in the form of death and destruction. The Legion destroyed
everything in it's path and Quinn knew that would include them as well. "We'll
be certain.."
 
Topping the fortifying wall Quinn peered out over the desolate landscape.
There in the distance a line of bodies filed towards them. "Too organized to
be the legions." He said absently.
 
"For Christ sake, who is it then?" Creedy narrowed his eyes, the scarred
skin near his left eye pulled painfully, trying to bring the forms into
focus.
 
"We'll find out soon enough," Quinn replied, retreating back to the ground
and ordering the opening of the outter gate. He waited, with arms crossed
tightly over his chest as a man rode forth, yards behind a line of children
marched, a woman leading them.
 
"You Quinn?" The rusty hair man asked, his brogue thick, stepping from the
big war horse's back, his hand already extended in a greeting.
 
"Yes, and who might you be?" Quinn's eyes narrowed as he looked over the
younger man's shoulder as the line of children came to a halt behind the
horse.
 
"I'm Breck..." He lifted his hand and waved the woman forward,coppery
locks floated out softly behind her as she came forward. . "This is
Calgary and those are..."
 
"What'd ya doing here?" He asked, stepping closer to the two, his posture
became imposing as he glared at them.
 
"Look, you bloody..."Breck growled, his ire raised. The woman lay her hand
on her companions arm, silencing his harsh words.
 
" Mr. Quinn...." She began and then broke off choosing a different
collection of words. "Quinn, we're from the northlands, north of Edinburgh
near Aberdeen....." She gave a heavy sigh as her words had no effect on him.
"....We held the Highlands....." It was her turn to motion back to the ranks
 Two younger men came forward, almost identical. Sable, shoulder length hair
hung around their faces as forest green eyes came to bare on him. "This is
Sean, he's our tracker, and a navigator of sorts. And this is Allen, we call
him dreamer. You see Quinn, dreamer told us of a resurrection, of a
rebuilding. He told us you were building a city of hope and that we had to
come..." She gave a relieved sigh as Quinn appeared to relax his stance.
Aye, you have to understand, we are the few that went to the belly of the
mountains in hopes that there would be some to survive and carry on. And by
God's grace there was, and the children came to us. One or two at a time in
the beginning and then appearing in numbers more than we could handle. We
started out with seventy three children, Quinn, and we're left with fifty
two. I'm asking for your help." Calgary locked pleading eyes on him.
 
Quinn looked the children over for signs of disease, signs of infestation,
and was satisfied that they were clean. He nodded his head and offered his
hand to the woman.
 
"Welcome to Hope."

Part 2
******
 
Our father which art in heaven
hallowed be thy name......
 
....And lead us not into
temptation but deliver us
from evil: for thine is the
kingdom, and the power,
and the glory for ever.
 
Amen
 
"Goodnight, Love." Calgary whispered, pushing a sable lock from the small face that stared up at her.
 
"Stay just a minute longer?" Came the small melodic voice, eyes filled with hope, filled with comfort for the first time in months.
 
"I mustn't, you need your rest. You've been walking a long while, Lass." Her heart shaped face lighting with concern and care, she tucked the edges of the woolen blanket around the girl and stood. "Dream of elves and fairies, my dear." She whispered as she turned and left the children's barrack like room behind. Closing the door to a cough here and there, and girlish giggles. She leaned heavily on the smooth metal, her body bombarded with waves of exhaustion. Giving thanks for the full belly and the beds they had that night her sigh sounded almost painful, nothing was taken for granted, not in these days.
 
"Calgary?" A voice came from down the hall and she lifted her head from it's dropping position and met Quinn's curious gaze. "Are you okay?"
 
"I'm fine....Tired but fine..." She smiled and pushed away from the doors. "I was just tucking in my wee babes." Falling into step with him she cut her eyes over to him. "So, you're the big bad dragon slayer, are ya?" Her grin was teasing, light and playful.
 
"That I am..." He returned the grin, handing over the small silver flask he held carelessly in his hand. She took it and knocked back a healthy swallow, flame coursed it's way down her throat and opened up a cauldron of heat in the pit of her stomach. "What the hell is this, Man?" She gasped out, her breath stolen by the slow burn along her larynx.

"Just a little something we make here to warm a body on cold nights." He supplied, humor shinning in his eyes as they progressed through the halls and up a floor.
 
Passing a curtained room she heard the pained cry of an infant, high and long, taking much needed air from tiny lungs. "Wait, Quinn.." She came to a stop before the doorway.
 
"What?" He asked, stopping himself and turning back to her. His eyes mirrors of confusion as he looked to the door and then back to her.
 
"The baby...?" She began only to be cut off by him when he realized what had so thoroughly snagged her attention.
 
"Creedy and Alex...." He sighed, dropping his eyes worry had seized him a few nights earlier when the crying had started and lasted hours into the night. But by dawn the infant seemed fine, seemed to be sleeping without a care. "The baby's been doing that almost a week." Stepping between her and the curtain he called to Creedy.
 
"Quinn,..." she whispered from behind him, laying her hand on his shoulder. "I'm a doctor." His eyes swung to her over his shoulder as Creedy appeared before them.
 
"But we don't....." He stared with hopeful eyes. "There haven't been any doctors since..."
 
She stepped pasted him and Creedy and went to Alex's side, dropping to her knees before the sitting woman, tears coursing down her cheeks as she cradled the infant in her arms, trying to sooth him with a rocking motion. "May I?" Calgary asked, her arms held out for the baby. "I think I can help him."
 
Alex cut her eyes from the woman and then to her husband, he nodded as Quinn whispered something into his ear. She extended the withering infant, his small body splotched with crimson, his eyes glazed with internal pain.
 
"Shhhh...." She soothed, her hands taking in the heat that radiated from the baby's body. Watching carefully she noticed that at small intervals a tiny fist would come up rubbing wildly at the left ear. She smiled as he handed him back to Alex. "He has an ear infection."
 
"What'd we do about it?" Alex turned near pleading, exhausted eyes to Calgary, clutching the still crying infant to her chest.
 
"Nothing, the human body is a marvelous thing. He will heal himself , but in the meantime..." She turned to Quinn and smiled. "If I can find my pack I'll give you some willow bar. You can steep a weak tea and give it to him every two hours..." Reaching out she smoothed a hand across the small downy head. "It'll keep the fever down and reduce his pain. And the both of you will get some much needed sleep."
 
Quinn was already in motion. Her pack had been taken to his room and he was there and back in brief moments, handing over the hide bag as he moved into the room. He starred at her as she continued to explain the treatment of the weakened infant to Alex. Admiration shone in his dark eyes, and in no small measure relief, they finally had a doctor.
 
Turning towards him she motioned for them to leave, giving the family time to settle the wailing baby. "Well, at least there should be some relief there soon." She absently commented, holding out her hand.
 
Quinn shook his head as they mounted the stairs to his room, a floor above, knowing exactly what she wanted. He handed over the flask only after he pulled another long draw into his own throat. Shoving the newly replaced door open he ushered her into the room, small and cramped but his alone. "How is it that your a doctor, Calgary?" He asked, finally giving voice to the questions that had been burning a trench through his mind.
 
"My father was a doctor. Studied at the University in Edinburgh...." She eased onto his down bed and folded her legs beneath her. "As a child he couldn't keep me out of his office, couldn't keep me from asking a thousand and one questions about diagnosing and treating his patients. He taught me all that he could before....Before...." She dropped her emerald eyes, still unable to talk of the horror of the nuclear strikes, and the subsequent winter of fall out, the horror of the flying anarchy. Lifting her face to him as he came closer, she whispered. " I'm a VERY good student, Quinn." Saline tears of pain coursed down her cheeks, dripping like slow summer rain from her chin. Pain and exhaustion apparent in her leveled gaze. The time to morn was finally at hand, giving into a safer haven than she ever believe existed. This was Quinn, the savior.

Part 3
*******
 
Calgary lifted her red rimmed, watery eyes as warm comforting arms settled
around her. She took as deep breath and gave a Quinn a grateful smile. She
hadn't meant to succumbed to her moment of helplessness but she had all the
same. Leaning against him she whispered. "Tell me about the last days of the
dragon, Quinn."
 
He leaned back against the roughened stone wall, wincing at the creaking of
the rusted springs below. Her request seemed simple enough but it was
opening himself up, his memories, his past, and that was a difficult thing
for him. "I saw him when I was just a boy, saw the dragon...." He began the
long intricate tale, his eyes closing as he held her against his side, a
comforting exchange of body heat taking place between them. ".....Alex
distracted him with several rounds an I loaded the cross bow and prepared to
fire...." He looked down at her and noticed her deep rhythmic breathing, she
had fallen asleep. "I killed him." Came his whispered voice as he closed his
own eyes.
 
********
Sweltering heat boiled towards her, oozing over her skin, damp darkness
closed in over her head. There was a scream trapped somewhere within her,
she could feel it, welling up to choke her.
 
But the darkness was parted ahead as she stumbled towards the flickering
beacon of light. And there he was, smoothed head, tattoos decorating his
large arms, his features set with a hard unforgiving edge. Van Zant. He was
pointing out something to her but the shift of light over his masculine
features captured her attention.
 
"It's not done..." His voice rang in her ears and her eyes swung to his
extended arm, his pointing finger. The scream broke, scalding along her
throat, vibrating across her lyrnax. Her eyes widened and were unable to
shut out the sight around her. She stood with her feet anchored among
thousands upon thousands of eggs, eggs incubating in the humid dank air.
 
"It's not done..."
 
***********
 
"NOOOOOOO!" The scream died on her lips as she bolted upright in the bed,
gasping for breath alone in the gray pre dawn hour. Lifting a trembling hand
to her face she swiped at the beaded dampness there, pushing thin coppery
wisps behind her ear. With a deep calming breath she turned and dropped her
legs over the edge and stood, stretching, releasing the long months of
constant tension and perpetual movement. A thickened groan fell from her
lips at the popping scream of abused tendons and over worked joints.
 
With the nightmare fading to the distant halls of her mind she glanced at
the room around her. She was struck by its small demensions, but there was a
underlying warmth, a comforting milieu, that spoke of the man that inhabited
the space. She smiled with the remembered feel of his arms around her and
her pulse sped along her veins.
 
She moved towards the door, pulling it's heavy wooden panel open, casting a
parting glance over her shoulder. This was and would would forever be a
haven for her.
 
********
 
Quinn lifted his head the instant she entered the kitchen, almost as if
there was a invisible string teethering him to her. He smiled as searching
eyes finally fell on him, he was almost nervous and to his chargin he didn't
understand why. Dropping his eyes back to the coffee he was preparing he
sighed, thinking back to the hour he had spent simply watching her sleep.
The coffee was a luxury that was taken sparingly but today, with new family
among them it was worth allowing the frivolity.
 
Calgary took a step towards him and winced as her upper arm grasped in a
vise like hold. Hot tears sprang quickly to her eyes at the intense sting of
pinched sking and bruising muscles.
 
"Where the bloody hell were you last night, woman?" Breck growled, close to
her ear. His anger radiating off of him in crashing waves.
 
She had no idea why he was acting in such a degrading manner, in such a
posessive scene. "I..I was .."
 
"Ya were whorin for him?" He continued, pulling her into a secluded corner,
away from the trafficed area. "Ya spread you legs didn't ya?"
 
"No, but that's none of your..."
 
Breck brought his hand up and was reaching the pennacle of an arch when he
realised what he was doing. "Oh bye god, Calgary, I'm..."
 
Quinn had looked up just in time to see the blow coming and had dropped the
tin cup in his hand and rushed towards the volitile situation. His fists
clentched into tight bloodless knots. "Don't do it..." He yelled, his heart
dropping at the though of Calgary being hurt.
 
Breck turned on him, anger sparking in the depth of his hazel eyes, this was
suddenly the compition and that fact didn't sit well with him. He wanted her,
wanted to love her, wanted to have a family with her, and here that was
being threatened. "Stay outta this Quinn! It's between me and Calgary."
 
"Breck, please..." She moved up behind it, her pale willowy hand touching
gently to his shoulder. She had known Breck for the whole of her life but
there was nothing beyond the love for a brother there.
 
With a deep heavy sigh he cut his eyes to her over his shoulder. "I meant it
 Cal, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt ya." He pushed past Quinn, bumping
roughly into his shoulder. His tall lanky form was swallowed up by the
others that sought out nourishment.
 
"Christ, does he always treat you like that?" Quinn turned to her and took
her hand in his, actually pulling her close, pulling her within the circle
of his arms.
 
"No. Never before." She answered, her voice quaking with the unspent emotion
inside her. "Thank you, Quinn."

*************
TBC