I have wandered for so long that there is nowhere left to go.

Blank spaces have been filled, my Other and I walking as one - two when solitude erodes my spirits.

Returning to the land of my birth, I take a breath so deep my lungs ache.

I find myself retracing steps already taken, trying to find pieces of myself that I lost along the way.

Age of Shattering - 1887

"We have become a creature of habit, have we?"

Again the Guide had found me, donning a new face, but wearing the same smile.

"A good thing, truly, that there's at least one person out there dealing with all these abominations and whatnot day and night." His voice sounded strangely bemused, perhaps proud.

For a while we spoke, a tone near familial, a feeling of nostalgia brimming in my chest - perhaps that is why I let him convince me.

"Nostra isn't what it used to be, mags. It grew a new branch, Vostra, who are in charge of figuring out how to deal with this whole Chosen One business - end this struggle between us." He winked, "And I think they could use the help of someone like you," a brief pause, and a small huffing chuckle, "plural."

Inside my head, the Memory Other was puzzled.

Age of Shattering - 1888

The Guide's words sent me to the capital, to see for myself if there had truly been a change within Nostra's organization.

For months I went from one bounty to the next, ensuring that word of my deeds would soon reach their ears.

A Disciple came to me one morning, asking for my services, inviting me back through their doors. What I saw within their Headquarters made my heart lighter, and I accepted their task without hesitation.

Age of Shattering - 1888

"'Tis not a very inviting place, is It?" The Medium's nose wrinkled, sharp eyes scanning the bog ahead with a look of near personal insult.

He was a rather sheltered young man, likely due to the mysterious abilities that let him find Chosen Ones. Watching him hesitantly prod the uneven ground ahead with his foot made me stifle a chuckle.

"Get on with it" The Bounty Hunter shouted, a grizzled hand shoving The Medium Into the murk. "Fukkin' scobberlotcher."

Age of Shattering - 1890

Smoke still billowed from The Bounty Hunter's shotgun, the slaver's blood wetting the sand beneath our feet. Cowering, the young girl - the Chosen One we had been seeking - clenched her hands tight in prayer.

Even as we removed her shackles, she trembled.

"You're going to be alright, I kept telling her, with all the warmth in my heart. "We are going to bring you somewhere safe."

Age of Shattering - 1891

As soon as the Nightmare Creature fell, its grotesque frame riddled with holes, I felt sick.

This time, we had arrived too late, and the young Chosen One had already given up, throwing himself to the creatures.

The Bounty Hunter clicked his tongue, breaking the silence between us. "Easier to kill those fukkin' things than tryin' to talk sense to them nightkin anyway."

My nausea rose as he spoke, though his words solidified a thought: never again would I allow myself to become so jaded.

I did envy his ease with pistols, though.

Age of Shattering - 1892

It was only a matter of time before he found out. I could see it in his eyes one night, a flicker of realization across his face, and that's all it took. Before he had the chance to speak, I placed my hand upon him, whispering an apology before my Other wiped the revelation from his mind.

The Medium's eyes come back into focus, and for yet another night my nature as a Chosen One remained secret.

Age of Shattering - 1893

The closer our little group grew, the more lax I became.

The Medium was by my side the moment I woke, and I immediately realized what I had done - or rather, did not do.

My words spilled out quicker than I could form thoughts, asking him to keep quiet, for I had finally a chance to help those like myself.

"I am not going to tell anyone," he said in the end, a small but hesitant smile on his face. "Just swear you won't make me forget again."

The campfire crackled.

Age of Shattering - 1894

After discovering my identity as a Chosen One, The Medium theorized that he might be able to use his powers to explore my mind - our mind - to see through my Other and beyond the Veil. A glimpse of Unreality.

Despite my trepidation, he talked me into it, and so we sat facing one another, his palms limp against mine. The Medium lurched backwards, the color draining from his face. Only a second had passed and yet he seemed to have aged several years. As I tried to help him to his feet, he scrambled away from my touch, muttering under his breath.

From that night onward, his eyes would meet mine no more.

Age of Shattering - 1894

There was no mistaking it. This was one of the Chosen Ones we had saved months past. Even if I had been able to, I would never have forgotten a single one of their faces. Neither would my Other.

The young boy now had a scar zigzagging across his face - one eye no longer matched the other. Trembling, he spoke of his escape from Vostra's Headquarters - the very place we had sent him, sent all of them.

Giving him all that we could, we left for the headquarters to confront what truths lay ahead.

Such fear in his eyes...

Age of Shattering - 1895

Faces. Too many. Stitched and melded. Tiny limbs and smaller sobs.

The Medium's voice void of empathy, words dragged like barbs across my skin.

An amalgamation of Chosen Ones. "Might open a gate to Unreality beyond the Veil. We can rid our world of the creatures from their source."

From the Aberration, a feeble voice. It prays, a memory stirs, and my heart bleeds.

Age of Shattering - 1895

I stood drenched in the blood of Vostra, a massacre of my own making.

The voices of countless Chosen Ones spilled from the amalgamation, too many of which I had led happily to this fate.

Placing my hand upon it, rid them of their painful memories so that when struck down - the only merciful fate - they could pass in bliss.

In this moment my Other wept the tears I couldn't, for I had no more to spill.

Age of Shattering - 1895

"If only - if only you'd seen what I saw. Within you - beyond the Veil! It's coming - an Other will break free."

The Medium's voice was frantic, his hands shaking. The Bounty Hunter's body lay lifeless between us, the last barrier keeping us apart.

"It's coming. A Suffering is coming and now we can't - we can't stop it. His Advent is imminent! If you'd joined the other Chosen Ones, then maybe we could have-". Was it madness or fear in his eyes? I could no longer tell.

His rambling continued even as I moved past him. Too long I've lived, and too many lives I've taken.

Age of Shattering - 1895

For once, I was the one to find him. The Guide listened quietly while I recounted the atrocities I'd unknowingly partaken in - and the lives I had taken.

"I'll cover your tracks, mags. Get out of the City as soon as you can and don't ignore that Medium's words. There's something on the horizon."

Under the stars strung in the sky, I left the capital, daring to hope that there might yet be lives for me to save.