Sandbar’s local drinking hole was much like any other . Primped and pretty barmaids fluttered through the crowd, draped in alluring clothing that put full chests and long legs on display . They moved among the drinkers, delivering copper trays and taking away empty mugs . From time to time an inebriated patron might try to cop a feel and the girls danced away with polite t.i.tters . A few even gave flirtatious – if admonis.h.i.+ng – glances . The hostesses are offered other services . So long as the patrons spent the coin, they could hire girls to do most anything .

Ever since monitors from Skycloud took over the city, electric lights were banned . The bar replaced them with the mystical sand lanterns popular among elysians and a giant candelabra . Together they were enough to give the bar proper mood lighting .  

Aside from tables for eating and drinking, the center of the bar had a clear s.p.a.ce intended as a dance floor . A group of girls occupied it now, slowly stripping off bits of clothing as they gyrated around one another . Rings on either side were where burly men beat each other up and bet on the outcomes .

The bar was a cesspool of tobacco, liquor and testosterone .

A pair of visitors very different from the usual guests sauntered in . They were young and good looking, a far sight better than the typical rabble . One of the barmaids greeted them as they walked by, eyes all sparkle and a genuine smile on her face . Strangers like them were a rare sight, and worth a fun night or two even if they didn’t have the money .

Gabriel was set . The G.o.ds made him with all the right parts to grab a girl’s attention . Blonde hair, blue eyes, white skin, refined features… he was the essence of dignity and cultivation, like a well-educated schoolboy or a warm-hearted boy next door . Of course, none of them knew about his darker side .

Cloudhawk wasn’t hard on the eyes, either .

He had a body to rival Frost de Winter’s . While it couldn’t be said he had the handsome features of Gabriel, he was like a totally different person from the kid that clawed his way out of the wastelands . Gone was the skin-and-bones waif, replaced with a man of good build who was quite a bit taller . So he wasn’t a one-in-ten thousand, but he was perhaps one-in-a thousand . At the very least he was a one-in-one hundred sort of looker .

The girl sashayed over to the pair, making sure her hefty a.s.sets were easily noticed . “Maybe I can help you handsome fellas find something you like? Cigarettes, booze, girls . We’ve got it all . ”

Gabriel had grown up in Skycloud where scenes like this were unthinkable . He was overwhelmed by the woman’s heaving cleavage and pretty smell, and shuffled awkwardly before her . He wasn’t sure what to do with his hands .  f.u.c.kin’ Cloudhawk, he thought to himself .  The rotten b.a.s.t.a.r.d . Couldn’t he have found us a normal place to get a drink?

He definitely wasn’t in Skycloud domain anymore, and the fact was that out in the wastelands this was a normal place for a drink . He’d just never seen a place like this where a man’s more basic proclivities could be satisfied .

“Go on now, put those knockers away before you hurt someone . ” Cloudhawk was far more natural . He gave the girl a playful slap on the a.s.s . “You’re scaring my virgin friend here . You got anywhere quiet?”

Gabriel’s pale face went red as a tomato . Girls like her made him very uncomfortable .

Cloudhawk was holding back, but gave her a smack with perhaps a little too much force . She yelped and giggled, causing her cleavage to jiggle enticingly . These girls may have been low-cla.s.s but they were definitely cunning . Everyone could tell at a glance that these two men were different . This had to be the blonde one’s first visit to a place like this, judging by the way he looked at the girls . It was somewhere between resisting his urges and hiding disgust . The other one seemed like he was perfectly comfortable in this environment .

In the end, elysians had more hang-ups than your typical wastelander .

They continued to gather a bunch of curious looks .

Cloudhawk was inferior to Gabriel in looks, but his delicate features and coquettish air made him a lot more approachable . A year of struggle, followed by three years of doing whatever came up had made him irreverent and cynical . But as his strength and experiences grew he became more self-confident, less of a downer . Now it wasn’t unexpected for him to crack a joke or screw around when things weren’t serious .

Banter was something he’d learned from the wasteland mercenaries .  

Cloudhawk wasn’t under any illusions that his life would be like Frost’s or Arcturus’ . He wasn’t going to be some kind of hero, and he didn’t fit in with the elysians . It was just the way things were and he wasn’t going to try and force it . Do what you have to do, that was his motto . Go with the flow . That was the best policy .

Gabriel’s frown said he was not going with the flow on any level . “Women like these are cheap and dirty . ”

“Oh for the love of . . . wake up, will you? You think we’re still in the elysian lands?” Cloudhawk wasn’t ashamed about their environment . “People out here, we’re castaways . We’re the abandoned population . If you can get a full belly and wear a warm set of clothes your life is set . You think anyone is eager to make a living selling their body? But that’s life, at least in the wastelands, and everyone’s just trying to make it the best way they know how . I don’t think they’re dirty . h.e.l.l, compared to a lot of the girls where you’re from, they’re more real . Spend more time out here and you’ll see . No one has the right to sneer at someone else just trying to get by . ”

Gabriel continued to shuffle like a fish out of water . “Is it just me or is everyone looking at us?”

“Are they?” Cloudhawk looked around . Indeed they’d caught more than a few eyes when they walked in, all sorts in fact . There were hungry looks from the women and envious look from the men . Some were uncomfortably penetrating . “Oh,” he said, “I forgot to mention . You’re gonna find no small number of guys out here who like to have a little fun with other men, if you know what I’m sayin’ . A fella like you with your blonde hair, blue eyes and n.o.ble look – you’re just the sort they like . Making friends won’t be a problem for you . ”

A frown instantly marred Gabriel’s face . “Any of ‘em try pulling a Caspian on me and I’m not holding back . ”

Cloudhawk chortled . He was reminded of the growing love Caspian had shown for Gabriel as their three-year stint in the valley went on . Eventually Caspian had decided he’d give it a shot, and that night he climbed into Gabriel’s bed for a little slap and tickle .

Things did not go well for him . It was the first time in three years Naberius took control and… needless to say, there was a lot more slap than tickle .

Caspian was bed-ridden for half a month after that . From then on, people were very careful not to get on Gabriel’s bad side . Every time Caspian and him were in the same room, the poor guy cowered like he was avoiding the devil .

“Give us the best booze, the best meat, and the best girls you got . ”

Cloudhawk threw himself into a booth and snapped his fingers . Two gold pieces glinted as they traveled three meters up into the air, and landed snuggly in the groove between the barmaid’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s .

“Keep the extra for yourself, darlin’ . ”

“Yes, sir!”

The girl was wild with joy .  Two whole gold coins! The change was what she made from five years of running tables . The guy didn’t look like he had that kind of money to throw around, but he proved her wrong .

Cloudhawk’s ostentatious display made eyes pop all over the bar . Beyond that they saw how he did it – perfect shot, right in her dress with his back turned! The clean-cut young man was more than a simple traveler, that was certain . If he could put a coin between her bosoms he sure as h.e.l.l could throw a knife through someone’s heart . All of a sudden the more covetous eyes looked away .

The booze and food started to arrive . A group of drinking companions came with it and positions themselves on either side of the pair .

Cloudhakw picked a cigarette off a platter and leaned toward one of the women to give him a light . He took a drag and felt the low-grade tobacco fill his lungs with acrid smoke . It was like sucking down a tube of pepper spray – a sensation that instantly took him back a handful of years to the first time he had a stick . If he wasn’t mistaken, the first time he had a cigarette was after his first mission with the Tartarus missionaries .

Life flowed by like a dream . You never knew what was around the next corner, whether there would be a tomorrow . It took Cloudhawk a long time and a lot of kilometers to realize wasteland freedom agreed with him just fine .

Gabriel piped up with a curious tone . “So what’s your plan, in the future? I can’t imagine you’re going to be working for Polaris forever . ”

Cloudhawk let out the cigarette smoke in a long, slow exhale . His dark eyes were searching for a minute, but quickly returned to normal . “The old man helped me a lot . It’s only right I return the favor . Once that’s done maybe I’ll settle down here . Skycloud has all the riches, but the people that live there have all got a screw loose, if you ask me . You know the sort of guy I am . I don’t belong there . ”

Gabriel slowly nodded his head .

After pa.s.sing out of h.e.l.l’s Valley, Cloudhawk returned to the Grand General . Skye appointed him Warden of the Talons and gave him his first secret mission: Investigate the Sanctum of Judgement, and the guy they called the Crimson One .

Grand General Polaris had told him it was an important mission, one that Governor Arcturus was following closely . If Cloudhawk performed well there was a promotion waiting for him back in Skycloud city . He didn’t care much about status or position, though . After h.e.l.l’s Valley he could carve out a comfortable life for himself anywhere in the wastelands . He didn’t need the domain’s protection or its approval .

He’d learned a lot during his time in training .

Sweepers didn’t trouble him anymore, no matter how cruel . Fierce and brutal mutants weren’t much of a challenge, either . What he never became confident in was his ability to deal with the scheming and back-biting that was so common in the elysian lands, or the mysterious Temple of G.o.d looming over everything . In Skycloud, the higher you climbed the more likely it was you would fall .  Nah . Political power, influence, honor – none of that meant anything to him .

Even if he didn’t find himself back in the wastelands someday in the future, he wasn’t going to settle down in Skycloud . The borderlands were an enticing place, or maybe a small secluded town somewhere on the edges of the domain . But it was true, the General had treated him well and Cloudhawk felt obliged to pay him back . Once his debt was paid, he could strike out on his own .

For now, that was as far as he needed to plan . At least when it came time to set off, he knew he could . If he wanted to disappear he could, and no one would be able to find him .

The mission out here in the borderlands was just the sort of thing Cloudhawk wanted . The stern eye of the G.o.ds felt far away, and here he could do as he liked . Grand General Skye had authorized him to take as many of the crack Talons as he pleased, but Cloudhawk didn’t see a need for them . He just wanted one person, the same guy who stood by his side all through his time at h.e.l.l’s Valley . A felon and an outcast like him .

Gabriel had killed an oracle once, so there wasn’t a welcoming corner for him anywhere Skycloud domain . This was just an opportunity to get him out . They’d grown close after three years . Aside from occasionally losing control to a murderous alter ego, he was a reliable and trustworthy guy to watch his back .

His other fellow trainees had moved on to other things . Drake Thane had gained esteem and notoriety among his family, so he was appointed to a position as lieutenant colonel of a border battalion . Felina was s.n.a.t.c.hed up by the Court of Shadows and was made an important member of this mysterious group . Claudia Lunae returned and took a position in the League of Demonhunters, and last he heard was commanding her own unit . Her success catapulted the prestige of her family to new heights, exactly as her lard-a.s.s of a father had hoped . Cloudhawk figured he had the last laugh after all .

The others went back to their families and were given high positions or important posts . Some were held as ‘secret weapons’ and were secreted away to continue training . In every case, those three years in the valley hadn’t been a waste . Every single one of them walked out of that place a finely honed tool of war .

It was impossible to go three years without making connections with people, but in the end they all came from different worlds . It was impossible to say whether they’d ever meet again, or under what circ.u.mstances .

Gabriel was the only one Cloudhawk thought would share his road .  

s.h.i.+t, reality really was disappointing .

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