The first day of freedom never felt so clear. The people of the Nye Empire have never had a moment like this. For the first time, we've come together to get rid of the tyrannical Royal Akina family. The way we got here though, is a story of triumph, and more importantly, resilience. Although I am writing the first historical novel of the Nye Empire, and its fall from grace, its story is filled with sacrifices and losses. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Parker Urnstein, and I am twenty-two, and am originally from the city of Core. My hometown is one of great prestige. When the beast took over the world, it was the first city to erect one hundred foot walls around it. As time went on and people started to learn more about the beast, we figured out that the further we spread out the beast, the less communication they could have. As a result, we chose to build the wall further and further out from the center city. As of now, we have pushed the walls over three hundred miles from its original location. We have a total of five walls between the outside wall and the city of Core. We named each of these walls after the five leaders that started the wall project: O’Malley, Carters, Newhouse, Spencers, and the final and inner-most wall, Yusef. Through history, we have built smaller cities along the walls protecting us. Although these cities may run as their own government, they are all under the control of the Akina family and the rest of the Nye Empire.

My role in the cities was not of much importance. I am a Ranger, and my job is to go out and kill as much beasts as I can. The fall of the Nye Empire came as a direct consequence of this choice; allowing people who have been held in a series of walls to go out and see the beauty that is the outside world. The people of Nye had not seen the outside world in hundreds of years; almost four hundred as of now. It took one girl to go out of the walls as a Ranger, and come back as a revolutionary.

Elizabeth “Freebird” Marshall was born in the wall-city, Nuko. She grew up in a modest household, being one of five children in the home. She was unlucky enough to be born right in the middle, being the third of the five children born. Causing her to be a relatively independent child—though not by choice—she chose to start her chase for the arts at a young age. By the age of seven, she was already starting to draw insanely good portraits of her family—or they were insanely good for a seven year old—and by age ten was starting to make paintings that seemed to be done by twenty year olds. I don’t remember if Elizabeth had ever told me why she did it, but at the age of fifteen, she forged her parent’s signature to enlist as a Ranger1. Once she left, no one in her family had batted an eye, thinking she would be back in a few days. It was only after she had been gone for a week that her family thought something was wrong and chose to approach the leader of the Ranger division in Nuko. As they approached the man to see if he could help, they looked over his shoulder and saw their little girl sitting among a group of other kids around her age. All the kids seemed to be upset or scared, except Elizabeth, who was sitting there smiling like a kid on Christmas. It was then that her parents realized that this was where she wanted to be, and more importantly, it was where she belonged. She had longed for a place that she felt like she belonged, and she had now found it.

In that group of kids, was me. I had been forced into the Ranger division by my parents due to the fact my father was a Ranger. It was on one of our first days in the division when I met Elizabeth. Something about her interested me. She never looked scared to be in the Rangers, she had no fear. Sometimes I like to think that she is the reason that I don’t get frozen scared when in the face of a stressful situation. Me and Elizabeth had both enlisted the same day, and were assigned to the same platoon on the outskirts of Ruth. We never really talked that much for the first few days —we were all scared and she looked like a lunatic—but when we did, I knew it would be a long lasting friendship. She had this charm to her that I can only say is extraordinary. Her semi-curly blonde hair that seemed to always look perfect, no matter what we were doing; her posture tall like a statue standing over the park it’s located. Our first conversation is one I will never forget. “Why do you all look so scared?” she yelled at all of us one day.

“I don’t know,” this guy Zay said, “Maybe it’s the fact we all are in a hell-hole, and the only one here by choice is you.”

“I am here by choice, but not for the reason you would think.”

“Oh really?” This girl named Maki asked, “Why are you here then?”

Elizabeth never gave a direct answer to these types of questions. When people came right at her, she would avoid answering the question directly. In this case, she answered with “I’m aiming to prove something. That’s why I’m here.” Everyone erupted in laughter after this. No one thought she could be serious. Everyone thought that she had been full of it and was only here to be the maniac everyone thought she was. The rest of the conversation was filled with lots of back and forth and ended up with this guy Will and Zay almost trying to kill each other. The whole time this was happening, Elizabeth was sitting on a small bench a small way from the rest of the group. I could tell she was thinking, but what could it be? She was just staring into a small campfire with a blank stare. If I had not known any better, I would have thought that she was a statue. In the chaos that was Will and Zay fighting, I was able to slip away to the bench and sat next to Elizabeth. At first no one had noticed she was over here, so coming over was pretty easy to hide. I was terrified to come over, thinking she would do something to me(even though I knew that was an irrational fear). As I sat, I saw that in her hand was a photo. I could not clearly tell what the photo was, so after a few moments of silence, I was the first to speak up. “What’s the photo of?” I asked in a slight whisper.

She moved her hand and pushed the photo into her jacket pocket. “It’s nothing,” she turned her head from the fire to me, “Why do you even care?”

“I’m just trying to start some small conversation.”

“Why? Whatever I say, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Are you… trying to call me stupid?”

“No, it’s just the way you are dressed,” she grabbed a part of the sleeve of my jacket, “this is worn, maybe years old.”

I looked down and then back up at her, “How did you know that?”

“I just have a knack for these types of things.” That was the first moment I experienced a portion of what seemed to be her never ending intellect. In the coming years, I would see her intellect in so many different ways, though at the time, I wasn’t aware of that.

Over the next few months, we were put through rigorous training that left us tired and usually hungry like starved dogs. One outlier of all of us though, was Elizabeth. No one knew how she managed to do it, but every-single-day she was always somewhat filled with energy. On multiple occasions, after everyone would fall asleep —except for me because of my crippling homesickness— I would see her leaving the dorms and going somewhere. She could not go far, because on one side there was a big ring of Rangers on a small ten foot wall, and on the other side, the one hundred foot wall that would separate the inner-two walls from the other three. This habit would go on for multiple days and on the fifth day, I chose to follow her. It felt like hell, trying to walk after fifteen long hours of pushups, pullups, and other excruciating activities. I chose to stay about thirty feet behind her while trailing. I followed her for around twenty minutes, watching her sneak around bushes and laying next to bushes when other Rangers came walking by. By the time she stopped, she reached wall Spencers. For the next thirty minutes she looked like she was talking to the wall. I was too far back to hear what she was saying, but I noticed that she had been in the right spot that only Rangers that were looking for her would be able to see her. After she stopped talking to the wall and started to walk back to the dorms, I saw her get back into sneaking form and sneak her way back. I saw her walk into the bathroom and then I snuck back into the dorms and got back in bed before she left the bathroom. She walked out of the bathroom and got into her bed. The men's and women's dorms were separated by a small hallway, but there was no door between them.

The next day, it seemed that she was in a good mood. The first to notice was Maki, and while we were waiting for the commander to give his orders. “Have you guys noticed that Elizabeth is in a good mood today?”

“Yeah I have,” Zay said, “she walked by me this morning and said ‘Good morning Zay’.”

“That is not like her. She’s usually cold and kinda emotionless.” Will added.

I couldn’t help but sit there and wonder why these guys were saying this. Although Elizabeth was not there yet, it seemed that this was true. When she walked over, everyone was already quiet, and so was she. It was as if she knew something we didn’t and she was showing that it pissed her off. As she walked by me, I saw her glaring at me through the corner of her eyes and when she looked away, she grew a smile on her face and simply said, “Let’s have a good day everybody.” I could not place what that glare was about. She looked at me as if she was pissed at me. And at the time, I wouldn’t figure it out until half-way through the first exercise. She knew I followed her the night before. Throughout the rest of the day, I could see her glaring at me through the corners of my eyes. The end of day eventually came and while we were at dinner, I chose to sit alone, hoping  she would come to say something to me about the night prior. She did not end up coming to me. She sat with the rest of the women in our group and even though she had people to talk to, she still would glare at me in a way that left me confused. That night, I fell asleep almost instantly. I have no clue if she went out to the wall that night, but one thing was clear. If I wanted to ever see what she was doing, I had to be more careful. That was the first night that I had slept well, although I think it was the only night I actually slept during our four months of training. 

By the time we had graduated from the Ranger bootcamp, Elizabeth had grown to be more outgoing. People had been more accepting of her as she had now been talking to people and the fear that controlled people at the beginning of bootcamp had died down. Our graduation was not a huge one, it was actually pretty small if I remember correctly. It took place on a mountain top within the walls. It was my platoon and some other people in front of a stage. On the stage were some of the higher-ups in the Ranger division, and most importantly, the king of the Nye Empire. As the ceremony started, I could not help but feel an overwhelming fear. Even looking back I still get a small shutter up my spine. The High-Commander of the Ranger division was the first to talk. “You have done what to some is impossible," he said, “You have developed a strength that only the best of the best have. You have now become Rangers, and even more, you are officially more than subjects to the king. You are officially protectors of the walls that provide us with everything we need to thrive. You are the worriers that will slay every beast that you come across. Some might die, but as of now, nobody has died in the line of action. You are the definition of bravery, and we thank you for that. I will now pass it on to the King, Norman Akina.” the High-Commander took a few steps back, “Glory to the Nye!” he yelled.

“Glory to the Nye!” we all yelled in unison. I distinctly remember this speech due to it causing me to feel an overwhelming sense of excitement for what was to come. Growing up, I heard nothing about the Rangers because they were all told that they could not say anything about what happened outside the walls. I always found that odd. I mean, why could they not say anything? Whatever happened outside the walls couldn’t be that bad, right? I wouldn’t know why for a while but this was the thing that drove me. I wanted to figure out what was outside the walls. I didn’t care that my father forced me into the Rangers, I wanted to figure out the mysteries of the world.

The king didn’t say much, he was really just repeating what the High-Commander said, but in more detail. By the time  he was finished, we were going to be assigned our regiments. When that came, we were standing in our platoons waiting for further commands. As people were named off, more and more left and at this point, we were one of six platoons left in front of the stage. We all grew a sense of nervousness due to the fact that it seemed the only regiments left were the Expansion-Regiment, which was responsible for expanding our control of the continent. 

Our biggest fears were answered when we heard “Platoon 104, you are assigned to the Expansion-Regiment.” A group sigh came from all of us, All except Elizabeth, who seemed to be hiding a smile behind a fake frown. As we walked away from the stage and got back on the path going down the mountain, people voiced their concerns, “Why did we get the Expansion-Regiment!” Zay shouted, followed with a groan.

“Maybe they see us as the most eligible for it. I mean, we did have pretty good test scores.” Maki responded. She was always filled with optimism; trying to find the best in every situation.

“No, that can’t be. There are only five of us. What would we be able to do ourselves?” Will said.

“They wouldn’t leave us by ourselves. We will probably be put with another platoon or two.” Elizabeth said, allowing her hidden grin to show a little bit. No one noticed her smile except me. I seemed to notice that a lot at the time. I guess I just knew something was up with her. She turned to me, “What about you, Parker? You’ve been quiet this whole time.”

“I don’t really know. I want it to be good, but I  have a feeling it is going to be bad. My father was a Ranger,  but never told me anything about his time in the Rangers.”

“That’s weird,” Zay said, “It seems like something you would be proud of.”

“Maybe he saw something he would never forget,” Maki added.

“I don’t know, but I think one day he will tell me what he saw.” I slid my hands into my pockets and continued to listen to everyone talking about their thoughts about our assignment. When we had reached the bottom of the mountain, there were some carridges awaiting us. We got into the carriage and waited for the other platoons that were assigned to the Expansion-Regiment to arrive. After ten minutes of sitting idle, the 105th-110th platoon got in the carriage and we started to move. I remember feeling a sense of fear and at the time couldn’t figure it out. As I sit at my desk writing, I am able to say what it was. I feared what my father had to say, and I wouldn’t figure it out for at least a year and a half because of how long we were assigned for. As we reached the barracks for what was the last time, we headed in and grabbed whatever we could from the trunk at the end of our beds. Afterwards, we got back on the carridges and started to ride to Wall O’Malley, where it seemed our lives would change forever. 

After what was four grueling days of traveling, we reached Wall O’Malley. The setup of the wall was a lot different than when we were in the barracks. Instead of having barracks to sleep in, we were required to set up a tent on top of the walls. All of us  had never been on top of the walls, and this was our first time seeing the wild. After a few minutes of enjoying the view of the mountains in the distance — Yes, there were mountains inside and outside the walls — we started to set up our tents. It did not take long, only about thirty minutes, and we felt famished afterwards. We walked back down the  steps that led to the bottom of the wall and walked into the office that sat at the base of Wall O’Malley. Upon walking in, we saw a long table filled with  nothing but food. All types of food and drinks were on the table, though they didn’t last a single minute once we got our hands on it(We were sick of almost five days of oatmeal). After this we all felt tired and went to sleep early.

Once we woke up the next morning, we found a paper stuck on all of our tents. The note read: Report to the commanding officer at once. When I walked down the steps, I could see everyone already heading that way. Upon reaching the bottom, I approached my teammates, “You guys got a note too?”

“Yeah,” Will responded, “you think we got in trouble?”

“We couldn't've, we just got here.” Elizabeth said.

“Maybe we are getting a reward?”Maki said.

“Or were getting reassigned.” Will threw in.

“Let’s just go in and find out then.” Zay said.

We walked into the office and threw the empty common room. We walked to the back of the hallway connecting the office to  the common room and knocked on the door. On the other side we heard a muffled “Come in.” so we opened the door and walked in. “Ah, hello everyone. Come in, you guys are not in trouble.”

“How could you tell we thought that?” Maki asked.

“Everyone thinks that when there is a note on their bed.”

“Why’d you call us here then?” Zay asked.

“I wanted to tell you guys that you all are going on an expedition outside the walls.”

We all grew surprised. We had not expected to be sent out this early, so hearing it brought a long silence to the room. Will chose to be the one who broke the silence, “I guess Maki’s guess was right. Seems like a vacation to me.”

“Yes, it will be a sort of vacation. You five will be assigned to a small ravine about a day and a half away from the walls. Your mission is to camp out on the ravine for three days and see if any of the beasts are roaming the area. If there are only a few, take care of them, but if there are too many of them, pack up and come back. Our big goal is to retake the ravine by the end of next year.”

“So you want us to just go and clear the place out?” Will asked.

“Yes, it is a matter of great importance. We hope that you will leave as soon as possible.”

Maki stepped forward, “We will leave today.” She looked at everyone who had already been looking at her. “What, it’s not like we had anything to do today.”

“You could have asked us first though.” I said.

“Stop complaining. We have to leave.”

We all left the high commander’s office and walked back to the top of the walls to pack up our tents. The idea of leaving the wall seemed so foreign. All we knew was inside the walls and now we were abandoning it on the hunch that we could move out more? It seems like something that at the time I didn’t understand, but if only I knew how influential to my life this trip would be.

We packed up and put everything onto our horses and started our way to the ravine. The first day of the journey was us just trying to get to the first “Checkpoint” of our trip. We made it there just before the sun crept over the horizon and we set up to stay the night. Our food was some of the worst I have ever had. Prepackaged tacos would sound pretty good, if the government made the active choice to give us the funding needed to live. “It’s crazy the worst thing we’ve been through the past few months has been eating this slop.” Maki said as she picked up a spoonful of a mix of melted cheese, meat, and what was supposed to be vegetables.

“Seriously, I think I would rather deal with the High Commander barking at us rather than eat this on a daily basis.” Will said.

“Get ready,” Elizabeth said, “We will have to eat this for the next ten days.”

“Ten days.” Zay groaned.

“Nine,” I said, "We've already passed today, so we only have nine days of eating this left.”

“At least we will have the ravine to look at,” Maki said, “If this map is right, the sun will go down right in between the two sides of the ravine.”

“Sounds nice,” Elizabeth said, “We might have to deal with beasts though.”

“Maybe, but we haven’t seen one yet. For all we know, the beasts could actually be scared of us.” Will said.

“It’s a possibility,” Zay said, “but beasts have been terrorizing us for hundreds of years. They didn’t even teach us how to kill them, they just tossed us these guns and basically said, ‘Figure it out’.”

“What it,” I said, “the beasts are not really ‘beasts’, and only attacked us because we attacked them first?”

“They would’ve told us that in training though, right?” Maki asked.

“Maybe,” Zay said, “but they wouldn’t want to risk it getting out if it’s true. They would hide it for as long as possible.” He threw his bowl, “I hated that meal. I’m going to bed to hopefully forget about it. I suggest you guys do the same, we have a long day tomorrow and have to wake early.”

After that, we all went to bed and by the time the next morning came, we were all up and ready to head out. We rode for the entire day and we stopped around sixty percent of the way there. Nothing happened on this second night(or at least nothing I can remember), so I will skip talking about it and move to the third day.

We awoke early the next morning and rode out. We planned to make it to the ravine on this day, and wasted no time. Zay was having the time of his life. I think that he felt free for the first time and was loving the feeling. He had taken the clear role of captain of the group, so we all followed him. Maki has taken the role of navigator, and rode alongside Zay, telling where to go. Will and Elizabeth had both adopted the roles of the “guards” of the group and sat in the very back with their rifles in hand, ready for anything. That left me with the role of inventory. I made sure everyone had everything and held the reins of the extra donkey we had to carry some of our gear. Separately, we were good, but together, we looked like a unit. Nothing could stop us, and we all started to loosen up once we realised that we hadn’t seen any beasts thus far. Riding for as long as we could, we reached the ravine at around seven in the evening. The summer sky made it so the sun was still up once we had reached the ravine. We set up our tents and walked around to gather wood for a fire. As night slowly fell, we learned that Maki was right, the sun going down between the two sides of the ravine made the tacos seem way better than they actually were. The morale was high, and for the rest of the night, we joked and played around. I don’t think we ever laughed so hard together since that day. Looking back, I really miss those guys. 

Before everyone went to sleep, we chose to take shifts watching the surroundings to stop any attacks that could happen. Me and Elizabeth were chosen to take first-watch. I chose to watch the valley of the ravine, and Elizabeth took the side that faced the forest about a mile away. The first part of the night was pretty boring, except for Zay’s loud snoring. That was funny. Around midnight, I was sitting on a rock with my rifle and a pair of binoculars when I saw something weird. At the bottom of the valley, about two and a half miles away, I saw a light. The light was small, maybe no more than the size of a lantern, but it was noticeable in the distance of the empty valley. I pulled my binoculars up to my eyes and zoomed in to the max it would go and looked at the light. As I was scrutinizing the light, I came to a surprising conclusion. It was a horse. The light was on a horse. How could that be? We were over a hundred and ten miles from the walls. How could anyone be out this far? I needed to show Elizabeth. I got up and silently jogged to where she said she would be. Once I reached the rock she was at, I saw her lying on the grass staring at the sky. I walked over to her and saw her eyes turn towards me and back to the sky. “Isn't it so beautiful?” she asked.

“Yeah, it is.”

“I can’t believe we have been denied this view because we were locked in the walls.”

“Yeah, sometimes you have to give things up for safety.”

“I don’t want to go back. I will risk dying to have these views every night.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to ruin your small adventure here, but there is an issue.”

She sat up and turned to face me fully, "What do you mean?”

“There’s a light coming from the valley.”

“A light?” She got up and started walking towards the ravine, "That's not possible. We are too far from the walls.”

“I said the same thing.”

Once we reached the edge of the ravine, she leaned over and pulled her binoculars to her eyes and increased the zoom. “Your right, it is a light. What is it on though?”

“I think it’s a horse. It would be the only thing that makes sense.”

“Yeah. You think we should check it out?”

“I think we have to. Everyone would be disappointed if we left without figuring this out.”

“Should we both go?”

She lowered her binoculars and looked at me, “No, you should go by yourself. I’ll keep cover here.”

“Why do I have to go alone?”

“Because I’m a better shot, so if I’m here, those three would be safer.” She looked at Zay, Will, and Maki, who were fast asleep, “They're not waking up anytime soon, so you’ll have nothing to worry about.”

“I guess you’re right there. Fine, I’ll go, but you have to watch me the entire way, deal?”

“Yes, now go, that is just going to keep getting closer and closer.”

I went and grabbed my horse's reins to wake him up, and once he was settled, I started to ride down the path that led to the valley of the ravine. I felt a sense of fear, not knowing what this could be. What if this was one of the beasts trying to disguise itself to sneak up on us? We never knew much about the beasts, so we don’t necessarily know their full capabilities. As I rode, I chose to sit at a small fork in the road and wait for the thing to approach me. After about ten or so minutes of waiting, I saw the thing finally come into view. I was right the whole time. It was a man on that horse, and when he saw me, he was decently surprised. As he approached me, he raised his lantern to see my face a little clearly and called out to me, “Hey sir! You lost?”

“No, but I can ask the same of you.”

“No, I am most definitely not lost. I’ve been through here many times.”

“Then you should know that it is dangerous, right?”

“Dangrous? I have been coming here for ten years, and have never seen a soul.”

“Yes, because everyone is where they belong.”

“Really, and where would that be?”

“Inside the walls. You know, where we are safe from the beasts?”

“Beasts? Walls? Safe? What are you— oh, you’re from the Nye Empire, aren’t you?”

“Of course, we are the only large scale territory in the world since the beasts took over.”

The man started laughing, “Oh you poor soul.”

“What are you laughing about?”

“The Nye Empire is built on nothing but lies.”

“You are the one built on lies. The Nye Empire has been a spotlight of the world for the four hundred years since the beasts took over.”

“At least the king got one thing right,”  he scoffed, “you really know nothing about how the Nye Empire became what it is today?”

“I’m starting to think that I don’t.”

“Allow me to inform you then. My name is Jorge, and I am from the outside world.”

“Outside world?”

“Oh boy, we have a lot to go over. Go sit on that rock.”

I walked over with my lantern and sat on the rock while Jorge got off his and joined me. “What is the outside world?” I asked

“You’re looking at it. Anything outside of that prison you call walls is the outside world.”

“How is it a prison?”

“Let me slow down for a second. I think I jumped a little bit too far in the timeline. I will tell you about your country's history from the very beginning.”

“Is it different from what I already knew?”

“Very. But it started four hundred and five years ago, when the Nye Empire was one of the largest empires in the world. But one day, the king of the Nye decided to go on a trip to another community that was a allie with another strong nation. During that trip, the king of the Nye got into a heated argument with the leader of the community, and it ended with them fighting and your king killing the leader of the community. From there, the community ran to its allies, who got their allies and then declared war on the Nye. Over the next five years, the Nye lost many battles and lost about eighty percent of its territory. The king of the Nye then put up the first of your walls and signed a peace treaty saying they can keep what they have. Over the next one hundred years, you put up the rest of your walls while everyone else grew. You all are the most underdeveloped country in the world. The rest of the world forgave you, and even tried to allie with you guys, but your kings and queens have turned down every opportunity.”

“So we lost, and then ran and hid?”

“Basically. I heard a rumor that the king told you guys that there were beasts out here and that it was dangerous, but I didn’t know it was true.”

“How do I know you aren't lying?”

“I can show you my map. It will show that only about fifty miles the way I came, there is a large city.”

“Ok, show me.”

The man pulled a map out of his pocket and unfolded it. He raised his lantern to the map, and he was right, there was a city about fifty miles away. This was what changed my mindset. I knew what the world was like, but I now wanted to know why we were like this. After this I told the man thank you and got on my horse and rode off back to our camp. When I got back, I found Elizabeth sitting on the rock. “You have fun down there?” She asked.

“No, I learned some pretty damning information.”

“What about?”

“Our country.”

“What about it?”

“That it is all a lie and we are problem starters.”

“How so?”

“We aren’t the only people in the world. There are others.”

“Like outside the walls?”

“Yes, turns out, the beasts don’t exist either. They were made to keep us in the walls. King Akina lied to us, and all of his predecessors have as well.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“Every single one of the four hundred years we’ve been in the walls. Turns out we started a war and ran and hid.”

“A war? Why haven’t we heard anything about this? Why would they lie?”

“I don’t know, but I guess we have a decision to make though.”

“What’s that?”

“Do we tell the others or keep this to ourselves?”

“We can’t tell them. They will think we are crazy.”

“So what should we do?”

“I think we should try and schedule a meeting with the King and ask him about it. But how did you know the person wasn’t lying.”

“The man showed me a map with a huge city about fifty miles north of here.”

“So everything… has it been a lie?”

“Yeah. you said you would risk the danger of being out here, but it seems that there is no danger to begin with.” I looked at my watch and raised my lantern  up to see the time, “I think we should wake up Maki and Will. It’s almost one and our watch is almost over.”

“Yeah, I’ll wake them up, you get some sleep.”

I went to sleep and Elizabeth woke up Maki and Will for their watch. Over the next three days, nothing happened, but the others could tell that me and Maki had some issue. We told them that it was nothing and that they were reading into things too much, but they felt something was off. On the morning of the fourth day, we started off back to our “home”, although it seemed more like a prison now than a home. The ride back to the empire felt like a slow walk to hell. Me and Elizabeth knew nothing would ever be the same now, and we had to figure something out. We could not just live with this information. The people had to know. They had a right to know. Upon reaching the empire, we made our way back up the walls and set up our tents. Maki, Will and Zay had chosen to relax for the day, but me and Elizabeth knew what we had to do. We had to tell the commanding officer what we had found. We walked up to the officer's door and knocked. “Come in!” he yelled so we entered. When we walked in, he seemed surprised to see us. “Ah, it’s you two, I knew you were back, but thought you would rest for the first day back.” he had a smile on his face, as if he was happy to see us back safely 

“Yes sir, but we found something.” I said.

“Oh really, what was it?”

“Did you know our empire was built on a lie?” Elizabeth asked.

“Wow,” he said, "That is quite the accusation. Do you have proof?”

“Yes,” I responded, “We met a man from a city about fifty miles north of the ravine. You can’t deny it wasn’t true, he had a map.”

His smile dropped and he stood up, “Seems like you two found something you weren’t supposed to. May I ask if the rest of your group knew about this?”

“No,” Elizabeth responded, “It was only us. It happened on a night watch.”

“Ok, stay here,” he said. He walked to the door and left the room and closed the door behind him. After the door closed, we heard him play with the lock for a second and finally lock the door and walk away.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“We might be in trouble.” She responded.

“For what, finding the truth by accident?”

“Maybe.”

“Wait a minute,” I said, “What if the reason my father couldn’t talk about his time in the Rangers was because the government silenced him after he found the truth.”

“Could be a possibility, but I think he will be back soon, so we should quiet down.”

A few minutes later, we heard the lock rattle again and the officer walked in with two guys behind him. “You guys are going to go with these two. They will lead you to the king, who wants to hear what you have to say.”

“Are we in trouble?” I asked.

“No, you are simply talking about something above my pay grade and think you should talk to someone higher up.”

We got up and followed the two men out. Outside the office, there was a carriage of supplies with a tarp draped over it. “Crawl in the back, both of you.” We climbed into the back and the commanding officer was behind us. He closed the tarp and told us that he would tell our group what was going on. The two men got on the carriage and rode off. It was not a surprise that the men only spoke when they were telling us to be quiet. The empire wanted to silence us, and we figured that out pretty quickly. 

The ride to the inner-city of Core was a very slow one, and took four days to reach. As we went inside the city, I realised they were taking us to the palace. None of us had been inside the palace, so this was a scene that brought both me and Elizabeth a sense of fear. Once we stopped behind the palace, we were brought out and led up a dark flight of stairs. Once at the top we went through a door which led to an empty courtroom, except for the King, who was standing in the center of the room. As we walked to the center the King turned around to face us. “Who is this?” He asked.

“These two found out the truth of the empire and of the beasts.” one of the guards responded.

“I’m guessing you two were on the expedition to the ravine?” he asked.

“Yes, we were.” Elizabeth responded.

“How did you find the truth?” the King asked.

“We met a man who told us some history and showed a map with a city about fifty miles north of the ravine.” I responded.

“Is that so?” the King asked.

“Yes sir.” Me and Elizabeth both said.”

“Ok, well that brings a larger issue. How will we keep this from getting out to the public?"

“You want us to keep this from the public?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes. There would be a great tragedy if this got out. Just imagine it, the riots, the insurrection. That would destroy all we have left. You already know of the way we got here, so why would you want to make it worse?” The King responded.

“Because the people of the Nye Empire deserve to know of their true history. The one you spew is nothing more than a way to keep control. You knew that after the war, the people wouldn’t trust you if you said they were safe. You forcibly silenced them as a way to keep the non-believers from starting a riot.” Elizabeth responded.

“You think you are so wise. Did you figure that out on the way from Wall O’Malley? If so, you must have known some of this history before you guys left the walls. If you tell me who told you all this, maybe I won’t accuse you of treason.” The King said, growing a smirk on his face.

“No one told me,” Elizabeth responded, “I found an old history book in the back of a library once.” I knew she was lying here, but damn was she good at playing it off. It seemed like the only possibility of what happened following the years of the war.

“I don’t think I really believe that.”

“You don’t have too.”

“Don’t act like you have the upper hand here,” he walked closer to us, “you are nothing compared to me.”

“You look pissed.” I said.

He turned his back to us, “Get them out of here, and keep an eye on them. If they say anything about the truth, kill them.”

The two guards grabbed us and pushed us through the doors and the stairs. Once down the stairs, we were pushed out the back of the palace and led to the street. “We will bring you back tomorrow morning. Be here at eight sharp, or we will leave you here.” one of the guards said.

“What should we do till then?” I asked.

“I don’t know, explore the city or something.” The other guard said.

We walked down the street a small bit and sat on a bench. “What do you want to do?” I asked her.

“I have a plan. I have some things to do. I will come and find you when I am done. You should find something to do.”

“I think I'm going to speak with my father. I think it is time for me and him to have a chat.”

From there we got up and went different directions. I had known my way back to my parents house and had no problem waking there. I had no idea what Elizabeth had planned, but I wasn’t thinking of that. I needed to know what my father knew. He could help me grasp this whole situation a little bit more.  As I walked on, I started to see things that seemed more and more recongnizable, The park I would play at when I was younger, the bakery my mother would always get fresh bread, and the church that I could see from the window in the attic. As I walked up the road, I knew I could see my front door any time now. When I reached my front door, I was spotted by my mother, who was leaning out of the windows pouring water in the flower pots outside the windows of my home. When I approached the front of my home, my mother saw men, and before I could even say anything, she ran to the front door to come greet me. “Oh, my son is home, my son is home!” she yelled as she opened the front door and hastily walked towards me, “Oh, I am so happy to see you home safe, but why so soon?”

“I had something to do here, but I am only here for a singular day.”

“Oh, such a small amount of time, yet so much to talk about.”

“Yes, but before we speak, there is something I must talk about with father. Do you know where he is?”

“Yes, he is in his study, down the cellar. Is something wrong?”

“No, I just need to clarify some things with him.”

“Oh, well I’ll be up here. If you need anything, just yell and I’ll bring it to you.”

“Thank you mother.” I walked into my home and passed through the kitchen and walked out of the back door. Once in the backyard, I walked a few feet over to the stairs leading down to the cellar. As I stepped down the stairs, I froze with fear before opening the door. Even now, I feel fear from this day. I wish I could say this was an ideal meeting, but the mark left from this, is one I’ll never be able to forget. The fear in this moment however, came from the uncertainty of my father. My whole life, I had not seen my father show any expression of his time in the Rangers, and now I am going to confront him about why I thought he was like that? This could go wrong in so many different ways, but now I have nothing to lose. The king will forever have people watching me. I will never have freedom, and I have no choice about it. I chose to open the door and walk in. It took a second for my eyes to adjust, but when they did, I saw my father facing away from me, writing in his notebook. As I stepped in, he kept writing, as if he had not noticed my presence. I chose to just watch and see what he would do, and after a few seconds, he broke the silence, “Hello, son.” he said, not taking his eyes off his notebook.

“Hello father.”

“You should not be here right now. You should be at Wall O’Malley, with the rest of your platoon. What did you do to get in trouble?”

“I did nothing. I only did what humans do best: discover.”

“You discovered something that got you in trouble? I know someone who had that happen to them.”

I stood up straight. My father knew. He knew I found the truth. I had not figured out if he was the person he was talking about. I had a choice, should I just ask him, or should I try to lead him into saying it himself. I had to make a choice, and had to do it quickly. “It was you, wasn’t it?” Didn’t think I would say that. Threw out option A and B and chose to go with C: Just confront him.

He slightly turned his head, not enough for me to see his full face, but enough for me to see his eyes. “You were always a smart kid,” he said, “I think you and I found out the same thing.”

“What did you find?” I asked.

“Can’t say, the king told me not to,” he pointed a finger to a shelf with a singular book on it, “That will answer all your questions.”

I walked over to the shelf and picked up the book and opened it. The very first page read: Dear Parker, If you are reading this, you have learned a very important fact about our country, and it’s time for you to rewrite history.  I couldn’t believe it. My father had known this would  happen since the very beginning. The reason he forced me into the Rangers, the reason he was so cold about his time in the Rangers, it all led to this. He relied on me being able to be put on the expansion-regiment. He relied on me to learn this information. He wanted me to be a catalyst for change. I closed the book after reading the first page and turned back to him. “Why? Why couldn’t you rewrite history?”

“Because I was watched for years. Anywhere I would go, assassins sent from the king would be there, just waiting for me to say something about what I saw outside the walls.”

“Why me?”

“Becuase I knew you would be just right for the job. Ever since you were younger, you were determined at everything you did. I knew this would fall in order with everything else you've ever done.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You would do everything in your power to make sure it got finished, no matter the cost.”

“So you want me to create change, how?

“Insurrection.”

“You want me to go against the government? That’s an offence punishable by death.”

“I’m well aware, and that is why you must find a group of people. It is a lot easier to do something when you have a network of people to help you. I know a guy. His name is Charles Yuko, he was an old friend of mine from the Rangers. He was promoted to a higher position in the government, and wants to invoke change just as much as me. He will be the most useful person you will have.”

“And how will I find him?”

“Go to the pub down the street.”

“I am far too young to go into a pub, I am only seventeen years of age.”

“You are not going into the pub. Behind it, you will find a steel door. Knock on it and they will ask you who you are. Tell them the truth seeker’s accomplice sent you, and they will let you in. Most days, he is there. It is the only place the king’s assassins won't find him.”

“Ok, would he be there now?”

“No,” he looked at the watch on his wrist, “give it a few hours. He will be there then.”

“Ok then Truth seeker’s accomplice. I will be upstairs, talking to mother.”

“You act as if that name was a choice. It was given to me, because of my plan with you. But go speak with your mother, I know she is dying to see you.”

I turned to the door and walked towards it, “Thank you father, I won’t let you down.”

I walked up the stairs and went back into the house to talk to my mother, and spent the next few hours telling her about my training, and leaving out my time outside the walls. After a few hours passed, I knew I had to leave, so I told my mother that I had to go out for a little bit and left. I walked down the street to the pub my father spoke of and went to the alleyway behind it. Once I reached the steel door, I knocked and a few seconds later, the door cracked open and a man poked his head out. “Who are you? The man asked.

“The Truth-Seeker’s Accomplice sent me.”

The man closed the door and I heard the man jingling something and he opened the door and hustled me in. Once in, I was led down a small dim light hallway. Once at the end of the hallway, the man opened the door and inside, I saw a bigger group of around twelve men and women. In the middle, there was a man, and when he looked up, he grew a large smile. “Parker, look at how much you’ve grown.”

I took a few steps closer to him, “Mr. Yuko?”

“Yes, but please call me Charles.”

“How do you know me?”

“I have been awaiting this moment for so long. Me and your father spoke about this moment so many times.”

“So you have been awaiting my arrival. So why wait any longer. How are we going to rewrite history?”

“That’s the right idea. To be honest, we were going to follow anything you said to us. At the end of the day, you have found the truth, right?”

“Yes, the nation we live in was built on a lie.”

“Yes, and the king wants to hide that fact. We must reveal it. I know your father must have told you about how important having people on your side is, right?”

“Yes, but how will we bring people together? The king will have assassin’s watching my back.”

“Look at these,” he threw a few photos on the table in front of him, “These are photos sent to me from my connections outside the walls. These photos show paintings, murals, and any other pieces of art that have started movements provoking change.1 This is our idea. We think we must find a way to place art like this around the cities within the walls that will somehow turn people against the government. We will create a mutiny.2”

I was looking over the photos, when the idea came to my head, “I know the perfect person. My friend, Elizabeth, always talks about how good at art she was when she was younger. She was outside the walls with me. She would be the perfect person.”

“Do you know where she is?”

“Not right now, she said she had some things to do, and that she would find me afterwards.”

“Let her find you. Afterwards, bring her here, so we can come up with a plan.”

“Alright, until then, I will walk around, trying to find her. I will be back soon.”

“Alright, when you come here, use the name ‘The Revolutionary’, it will be your calling card when we need you.”

“Alright, I will be back soon.”

“Good luck.”

I walked back through the hallway and the man at the front opened the door for me. Once outside, I walked out of the alley way and walked back towards my house. After a few blocks, as I was walking by a park, I heard my name, “Parker, Parker, over here.”

I looked over and saw someone wearing a hood, sitting on the bench. I walked over and sat next to the person. “You called me, right?”

“You don’t recognize me?”

I looked under the hoodie, “Oh, it’s you Elizabeth. Did you finish whatever you were doing?”

“Yes, and if I am caught, I could end up in a lot of trouble.”

“What did you do?”

“Follow me.”

“Alright, and when did you buy this hoodie?”

“It’s funny you thought I bought this.”

“You stole it!”

“Yeah, some shady looking guys were following me and I had to get away quickly.”

“Oh, did you see who they were?”

“No, but I have reason to think that they were sent by the king.”

“They probably were.”

“Enough of that, let’s go, we are running out of daylight, and my little project will be hard to see at night.”

“Oh, a project I’m excited.” We walked down the street and went about two miles from where we were. Once we had reached the part of town that was known for being the part of town all the people who didn’t believe in the government were pushed. As we kept walking, we saw more and more street art. Most of it was just graffiti, nothing of too much importance, just people putting their names on walls or random designs that didn’t really mean anything. Once we passed all the graffiti, we reached a huge crowd of people for this one piece of art. I pushed through the crowd and once I reached the front of it, I got a view of the art. It was a big navy blue background with some white diamonds spread throughout it. On the top and bottom of the art, there was wording: The walls are lies, believe in the freebird. After reading the wording, I knew the diamonds were supposed to be the stars we saw on the night we learned the truth. I pushed my way through the crowd and once out of it, I walked up to Elizabeth, “Freebird, where’d you come up with that?”

“Birds are the only things that can go in and out of the walls as they please. It only made sense.”

From inside the crowd, yelling started, “Alright, well it seems that crowd understood the message of your art piece.”

“Probably, but everyone will have a different opinion of it.3”

“How so?”

“It’s all about finding The One, for some of these people, it means everything, for some, nothing. Some art will help you, some won’t. It’s all about how you look at it.4”

“Yeah, well they seem pretty pissed about it.”

The crowd grew louder, “Yeah, but it is only because I am fueling their rage at the government.”

“So we should leave?”

“Yeah, they are probably going to start a riot.”

We quickly walked away from the crowd, but no matter how far we got, the noise stayed. After about five or so minutes, we walked into an abandoned apartment complex and went to the roof. When we got on the roof, we went over to the ledge and looked over. We were not surprised to see that the crowd had turned into a mob, and they had somehow gotten their hands on rifles, flares, and some sort of bombs that they seemed to be throwing just to make noise. As we kept watching, the mob got bigger and bigger. It got to the point that we couldn’t even see either end of the mob. All we knew is that they were going to try and raid the palace and overthrow the government. As the people of the empire grew more and more pissed off, as they learned the reason for the mob, they joined and the palace was not ready. The angry people pushed as far as they could, and were able to break through the wall that protected the palace from the rest of the city. It was only then that the police got there and started to fight the mob. It took almost four hours for the police to clear out the mob, and even then, the actual palace experienced tons of damage, including a giant hole blasted through the east wing of the palace. The east wing contained the main operations of the government. The congress, the room they kept every record needed to them, and more importantly, the king's office where he made every choice about the empire. In total, over seven hundred were killed, and over three hundred injured. Out of the survivors, only eighty were arrested, and the others all returned to their homes, where the police would not dare to enter. In total, about five hundred people escaped the riots, and we knew they would become great allies to me and Charles. 

Elizabeth and I chose to wait out the night in the abandoned apartment, and the next morning, went out and returned back to the place where Elizabeth put the painting. When we got the location of the painting, we were surprised to see that people were putting their own art around the main piece. Each smaller piece of art seemed to be a spitting image of the person who created it. It told a story and the stories are what drove the movement to what it became. Everyone was able to place a piece of themselves on this wall.5 We tried to keep a low profile for the rest of the day, and when the time came, I took Elizabeth to the cellar beneath the pub. When I knocked, and the same man as yesterday answered, “Who is it?”

“The Revolutionary.”

The man opened the door and we walked down the hall and into the room, where Charles and the others were waiting. When we walked in, Charles got up, “Ah, young Parker, welcome back, and I’m guessing this is your friend Elizabeth?”

“Yes sir, this is her.”

“Hello sir,” she said, “Parker has told me about your guys mission.”

“Im glad he sent the message,” Charles responded, “I heard you were pretty good at art, but I didn’t think you were that good.”

I was confused by this, but Elizabeth wasn’t. She knew exactly what he was talking about, “Thanks, it’s easy to convince people to do things when you find the right targets.”

“Yes, and it is easier to cause riots, when you're the ones supplying the mob.”

“Wait, you're the ones who gave those people the guns and bombs?” I asked.

“Yes, it was the only way to start this revolution. Congratulations, you guys are officially outlaws,” He said.

“But hundreds are dead. How is that the start of a revolution? It was a massacre,” I said.

“Ok? Imagine the amount of people who have died over the past four hundred years thinking they were the only ones on this planet. Do you think the number killed last night can even relate to that number?”

“I guess when you put it that way it does sound insignificant.”

“No, do not call them insignificant. They will be the fire that keeps our hearts burning through this. They will be our inspiration.”

“Ok, then what next? What will be our next move?”

“One final blow.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have young Elizabeth here, go and tell the people who survived the riot that she is Freebird, and have her try to convince them that they must riot one more time to go and be free forever.”

“And if it doesn’t work?”

“We go and kill the king ourselves.”

“If she’s up to it, I think we should do it,” we turned to her, “What do you think?”

“Let’s do it. We can’t let this tyrannicle family rule use for any longer.”

Me and Elizabeth left the cellar and walked out into the town. Charles had given us guns to protect ourselves if needed. Elizabeth and I went our separate ways and I chose to go back to the apartment where we stayed the night before. Once on the roof, I watched as Elizabeth climbed on top of the wall that she had painted the day prior, I laid down and watched Elizabeth call out to the group of people who were praising her painting. “Hello!” she called out, “My name is Elizabeth Marshall, and I am the creator of this painting!” At that moment I heard some people start yelling, it was the police, and they knew who to arrest. We were under the assumption that the police would be too scared to enter this part of town, but we were wrong. They ran up and tackled her. I debated letting off a few shots to try to give her a window to escape, but chose against it. I watched as they dragged her off and froze. I didn’t know what to do, so I just froze up. I ran down the stairs of the apartment and sprinted to the pub. I didn’t even need to knock, they just let me in. I knew that they knew something went wrong. When I ran down the hallway and into the room, everyone was already there waiting for me. “Charles, thank god you're here,” I said.

“Yes, I heard something went wrong, but didn’t hear what. What happened?”

“Elizabeth told everyone that she was the creator of the painting, and the police came out of nowhere and arrested her.”

“I thought the police would go nowhere near that side. Looks like we were wrong.”

“Yeah, so what now?”

“What do you mean?”

“What will they do to Elizabeth?”

“They will probably execute her for insurrection.”

“What… they can’t kill her.  That would be the end of the revolution. All those deaths would be worthless. We would lose and all slowly be picked off.”

“Exactly, which is the reason we are going to give the king an ultimatum. We show up to the execution with what's left of the mob, and if he kills her, we finish off the empire. If not, we delay the riot for a day and finish it off the next day.”

“And when is the execution?”

“Executions always happen the day after arrest.”

“So tomorrow, this could end?”

“Yes.”

I went home and tried to sleep through the night, but kept waking up with the fear that this could go wrong. The only way we could give the king the ultimatum is by messenger pigeon, so I had to assume that he would do that. The next morning came and  I woke up extra early. I went to meet up with Charles at the pub, but there was a sign on the door saying, Meet me at the palace, take this gear. I took the gear which included some black clothes, a mask to cover my face, some ammunition, a rifle, and a few small pipe-bombs. I put the gear on and grabbed the rifle and walked to the palace. I found Charles waiting there for me and the rest of the mob surrounding the big stage where the execution was to take place. “Are you ready for this?” he asked me.

“No. But I have to be.”

“What will you do if he doesn’t listen to us?”

“I don’t know. I think he will listen though.”

“Why?”

“I don’t think he can afford another riot.”

“Yeah, that would make sense.”

We stood at the front of the mob, waiting for about fifteen minutes. At the end of the fifteen minutes, the king came out with around ten guards following him.  Following the guards was Elizabeth, who was being dragged in chains. As they reached the center of the stage, they kneeled Elizabeth down and made her look straight in front of her. The king walked to the front of the stage and addressed the mob. “Good morning everyone. We are all here today to get the answer to the same question. I received your note, and I must say, an ultimatum is a bold move.I never thought I would be betrayed by one of my trusted advisors. You are saying I let the girl go, or you riot? Seems like you guys think I am an idiot. The thing is, I have been planning for this day for years. This girl is being charged with insurrection. She single-handedly started a mob that killed hundreds, and destroyed so much of my beautiful palace. Therefore, I have made my decision, considering the damages done to the empire just a few days ago, I acquit this young girl of all her crimes,” the mob started cheering, and the king looked right at me and Charles, “That won’t stop me however. Fire!” he yelled. One shot rang through the air from a rooftop across the plaza, and the whole mob went quiet. It took one shot, one shot right between the eyes, and Elizabeth was killed. I froze for a second and once I recomposed myself, I raised the rifle and deposited four bullets into the king's chest.

His body fell to the floor and the mob took this as their sign to riot. Everyone went their own way, all with the goal of delivering the final blow to the empire. Charles told me to rush into the king’s bedroom and see if he had any documents that could help us free the empire. He stayed back and made sure to protect Elizabeth's body. As I rushed through the palace, I found myself in the king’s bedroom. It didn’t take me long to see one paper on his bed-side table. The paper had a small note on top of it. It read: You’ve won, the empire is all yours. The paper underneath the note had all the information needed to relinquish ownership of the throne, and at the bottom was his signature. I rushed out onto his private balcony, and everyone who was in the mob was standing in what was the courtyard of the palace. “We won!” I screamed and the rest of the mob all cheered.

This brings us back to today. It has been three years since the empire was freed, and it took two to knock down the entirety of the walls. We knocked down what was the palace and rebuilt it from the ground up. We built a senate and a new capital building. We chose a new leader and it ended up being a man named Joseph Berry. He is a nice dude, and has done good so far. Once we became free, he got right to work trying to rebuild all the connections to the outside world we once had. There is still work to do, but it is a work-in-progress.

To remember all the people who died, we requested that the police give us all their names and we built a big park, with big marble slabs with each dead person's name carved into it, all except one. Elizabeth was given a statue in the middle of the semi circle shape that was made of the marble slabs. Right in front of the statue is a small gravestone, where she was buried underneath. I still go to visit her once every two weeks. I do that because it is enough time to get her new flowers after the old ones die. 

I haven’t seen the old crew too much since the day we returned, but what I do know is that Zay and Maki ended up getting married somewhere down the line. After the Rangers were no longer needed, they were all dismissed, and went on to live their own lives. Will got married to some other girl I haven’t been able to meet yet. I know Zay and Maki have a few kids and  Will is actually expecting his first. I am actually going to meet with the old crew for some drinks today. I guess I should get going.

Once reaching the restaurant we all agreed to meet at, I saw everyone sitting there, waiting on me. I walked in and when they all saw me, they all got and embraced me. Once we sat down and started ordering drinks, the conversations got filled with remembrance and stories. “So, how have you all been?” I asked.

“We’ve been good.” Maki said, “How about you Will?”

“Pretty good. I am scared though. I want to be a good father and don’t want to screw up.”

“Oh you’ll be fine,” I said.

“So how have you been, Parker?”

“I’ve been pretty good. I wish we had seen each other more often, but that whole revolution threw me for a loop.”

“It’s alright,” Zay said, “I just wish Elizabeth could be here with us.”

“Me too,” I said. “At least she died a death that will be remembered for history.”

“And her work will be remembered for history too,” Will said, “Now that they put her work in the new capital building, she will be remembered for as long as the New Nye Empire stands.”

“Yes, and she taught the world a very powerful message too,” I responded, “Art can be beautiful, but at the end of the day, it is the  most dangerous drug in the entire world.”

“Cheers to that,” Zay said.

“No, Cheers to Elizabeth,” I said as I lifted my glass in the air.

They all lifted their drinks in the air, “To Elizabeth!” They cheered.

This has been a story of triumph and sacrifice, but more importantly, it was about standing up for what you believe in, no matter the cost. Elizabeth is a drag path that will be etched in the sand for the rest of time, and it is up to you to keep her legacy of a person who fought for what she believed in, alive.

— Yours truly

     Parker Urnstein.