======The Sanctuary======

A scream cuts through the ragged remains of this once-prophesised haven. Hands freeze mid-action; faces fall. A figure, donned head to toe in layers of mismatched plastic, emerges from the unlit depths of a barely standing building, wiping dust and dirt from its fogged-up visor in utter exhaustion. Its hands bear most of the blood, but drops and smears of scarlet red decorate great swathes of its alien exterior in kind. There is a weak cry from somewhere deep within those halls.

But the residents do not flee, as once they may have been expected to. Instead, they keenly approach the patient with tired smiles upon their every face. Arms and bags are stuffed alike with newly woven swaddles, crudely glass-blown bottles, and basic tallow-lye soap imbued with sprigs of lavender. Younger, fitter dwellers lag behind, diligently steadying the half-made gable frames or rinsing timber splinters and subsoil cob from calloused hands before drawing close to the growing bustle of their villagers.

And, at the centre of the crowd, there is a babe. Held oh-so-close by mother, eyes screwed shut against the streaming light of morning, he reaches blindly up to grasp for the familiar warmth he is certain must be there. Unlike the rest, it’s all he’s ever known. 

And, despite everything, it finds him.

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