Waking up, Jeff couldn’t help but shiver, despite the thick blankets he had been wrapped in for the night. His room was freezing, and he knew he’d have to get out of his warm cocoon to light a new fire, or things wouldn’t get warm.

  It took him a moment to overcome his weaker self and get up, his breath misting in the air as he quickly made his way across the room to the stove. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a fireplace made from brick, mortar and stone, but it was more than enough. Using the faint embers from last night’s fire, he stoked a new one, briefly wondering whether he should retreat into his warm cocoon of pillows or stay right in front of the fireplace, waiting for the air to get warm.

  Deciding to stick with the fire, he realised it would be a good time to perform his daily prayers to the Sun Goddess. It was still a strange thing for him to contemplate. He had, as so many of his peers, grown up nominally Christian, but never truly bought into that faith. Never truly believing, it had just been something cultural, never spiritual. If he had been told one day that he no longer counted as a Christian, his reaction would have been a shrug, and he would have continued with his day. It simply wasn’t something that had mattered to him.

  But now, living in a community dedicated to the worship of the Sun Goddess Sunna, he still wasn’t a fervent believer. Sure, he believed that Sunna existed; there was ample evidence to support that. Evidence nobody could truly question, though there was a niggling voice somewhere in the back of his head that suggested alternative explanations, while also posing the question of what a God, or Goddess, was in the first place.

  And yet, despite those questions floating about in the back of his mind, he was performing the required prayers. Routinely, or, one might call it religiously, every morning, every evening, he spent a few minutes on his knees, quietly reciting the creed taught to their entire community by the guy who had taken the name of Helos. It felt silly to call people by such made-up names, even if Helos was one of the less egregious examples. Another of the Bearers of Lady Sunna’s Word, as they had originally called themself, went by Marduk.

  Now, Jeff couldn’t recall the exact story, but he was fairly certain that Marduk had been some ancient Middle Eastern deity, Babylonian or something like that, maybe even their Sun God; he wasn’t sure. To take on such a name and act as a deeply devoted servant to another deity was a small bit of irony that Jeff quietly enjoyed, well aware that speaking out could land him in trouble. Trouble he wanted no part of.

  No matter how odd some of the rites, rituals and services performed in the Blessed City, as their burgeoning town was called by order of Lorgar, it was a good place to live. Five minutes of worship twice a day was a cheap price to pay for the security, the ample food and the availability of magical healing beyond anything he had seen before.

  After his prayers and the rest of his morning rituals, he left his room, happy to mingle with the other people living in the same dormitory as he did. It wasn’t a glamorous place, but it was good enough, at least for now. He knew that he’d have to distinguish himself if he wanted to rise or if he wanted to find a girlfriend. Not even the end of the world and the collapse of society had changed that bit about humans; it had only altered the paths one could take to achieve that distinction.

  Whereas previously the primary path had been economic, advancing one’s career and achieving monetary success, that was no longer the case. Or, depending on how one saw it, it was still the case, only the game had changed. Money used to be the primary currency of power, enabling those who had it to greatly influence those who didn’t, so one might say that before things changed, power was the primary motivator. That hadn’t changed; only the ways one could gain power had.

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  He was well aware that he wasn’t really the type to go out there and fight monsters, which seemed to be the new, primary path to power. Personal power, or spiritual power for those who choose to fully put their faith into Sunna. That, too, wasn’t an option for him. Oh, he could perform the rites, speak the words and all that, but he did not doubt that trying to essentially bluff a deity would be a foolish idea. No, if he wanted to achieve something, he needed to be smart about it.

  He had a few ideas to get his own thing going. His primary idea was the production of charcoal, using half-remembered videos he had seen on the Internet before everything went down. Currently, everyone was using dried wood for their burning needs, but coal was a better option, both in terms of storage and actual burning.

  However, he couldn’t put his plans into place alone, so he had quietly been talking to people, sounding out who might be a good partner without seeking to shut him out. It was a delicate balance, as a lot of his ideas hinged on being the first to put them into motion. Otherwise, he’d be playing catch-up and would likely fail.

  He had just finished talking with Kevin, trying to gauge the other’s intelligence and integrity. While he wasn’t all that sure about Kevin’s intelligence, he thought that the other guy was a stand-up dude, not somebody who’d go and screw him over. So, he had shared a little more about his plans, and the quiet trips he had taken into the forest to look for fallen trees, hoping to find dried wood underneath them. He had discovered a few; there had been a few fairly harsh storms in the autumn, likely the reason they had fallen. Now, he only needed a suitable partner and could get things started.

  Just as he turned away, Kevin suddenly got all aggressive, looking at him with rage in his eyes.

  “The fuck you just said?!” Kevin demanded, his voice tight with anger.

  “What are you talking about?” Jeff couldn’t help but frown, completely confused at the sudden turnaround. He had just been talking amicably with the guy, and suddenly, Kevin looked ready to punch his face in.

  “Calling me an idiot, really? Not even brave enough to insult me to my face, you fucking snake?” Kevin continued his voice, getting louder as he spoke, until he was yelling at the end. Jeff noticed that Kevin’s fist was balled, but instead of punching him, the other guy turned away, leaving a thoroughly confused Jeff behind.

  Just then, he heard a whisper from the small crowd Kevin’s loud voice had drawn. He couldn’t tell who had called him a tool, but he felt maligned and considered yelling at the people around him. However, before he went there, he realised it wouldn’t help; it would only hurt his reputation. So, he swallowed the anger and frustration burning in his gut and decided to get a bit of fresh air, away from the town and its unique smell. Civilisation could stink quite badly, at least until proper sanitation could be restored.

  Walking into the cold forest felt refreshing. There were no people around, no expectations, no drama. Just trees, snow and cold, fresh air, allowing him to breathe freely as he walked, keeping track of his location through landmarks and the Sun.

  The more he walked, the more a niggling voice in the back of his head started to get louder, to urge him to investigate and question. Why was he letting himself get led around by the nose? Why was he turning into a cog within the system other people had set up? Safety and stability were nice, sure, but was that really all he wanted to do? All he wanted to be?

  Slowly, questions were mounting, and he felt a strange prickling in the back of his neck, making him feel a little paranoid, but when he looked around, nothing was there. He was all alone in the cold forest.

  After finding another fallen tree and discovering a large amount of dry, broken branches underneath, he started to head back, his mind still awhirl with thoughts and considerations. Questions he hadn’t dared to ask, ideas he wouldn’t dare to pursue.

  It was only later, when he was back in his warm cocoon of blankets, the slowly dying remains of some wood in his hearth giving off some additional warmth, that he started to truly wonder. What other paths were out there? Was praying to Sunna the only way to receive miracles, or were there other options? Could he make his own miracles?

  That massive tower, with the glowing eye atop, the place Lorgar and his friends seemed to despise, might be a good place to visit.