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Save the dwindling towers of Brighton, rolling green hills filled all horizons as he sped across the road. White and dark clouds spotted an otherwise blue sky, and Hector could see a faint drizzle gathering on the visor of his helmet. Garovel had pointed out that it was unsafe to continue using a helmet that had already been involved in a collision, and Hector had promised to find a new one at the earliest convenience, since they were obviously so safety conscious.

He couldn’t remember a time when he saw the Atreyan countryside so clearly. The most mundane things drew his gaze. A massive, lone tree, branches sprawling higher and wider than anything he’d seen in Brighton. A quaint flock of sheep grazing on a hill, shepherd and dog not far away. The faint shadow of eastern mountains on his right, thankfully not between him and Sescoria.

Then he felt the bike shake beneath him and realized he was straddling the yellow ridges in the middle of the road. He corrected his course and decided to save his gawking for later.

‘There are some things I should tell you before we get there,’ said Garovel.

‘Things?’

‘In particular, names. I don’t know what we’ll encounter in the capital, but I figure this’ll become relevant eventually, anyway, so I might as well tell you now.’

‘Okay.’ Hector was just trying to keep his eyes on the road.

‘With reapers, there are two big entities: Abolish and the Vanguard. The balance of power shifts between them. Though, for all I know, there could be a third major power these days. I’m a bit out of the loop, if that wasn’t already obvious.’

‘Hmm. These two sides are at war?’

‘Constantly. All over the world. Been that way for ages.’

‘Geez... what are they fighting about?’