It was the seventeenth day without snowfall. No matter what, no matter where, everyone began noticing that something was not right with the winter anymore. It hadn't started early, and for sure, it hadn't ended early either, because the cold was still just as biting as before. But... it stopped snowing. Why? That was the question, but nobody had the answer, or if they did, they weren't telling. By then... even the people of Avalon were realizing... things were not as calm as the weather would suggest.

The first actual clue was the trains arriving from all over the western continent, and by now they were regularly rolling in and passing by the city. They were not the usual passenger lines either, bringing merchants or visitors, though those still ran on schedule. These were often unmarked and longer, their cars sealed, so it was hard to tell whether they carried cargo or people. Maybe both. Some of them were sent directly to Avalon's industrial park and the underground facilities, while most stopped only to pick up Avalonian officers and immediately headed out towards the Pass, straight to the Beastlands.

Children, who usually gathered at the stations, watching the trains come and go, liking how big they were, how loud they were, also began noticing what their parents had picked up on.

"Dad," A boy on the platform, no older than fifteen, asked his father, furrowing his brows, “Are they sending more machines to the Pride again?”

"Seems like it," His father, still in his work uniform, responsible for checking the arriving train's wheels for issues, nodded. “Aye..." He nodded again, thinking more about it, "Four of the five were sent there just this morning. They were all foreign, so not our designs.. Two from Ishillia, one from Atuvia, and then from the other two empires, Sar and Geth. Atuvia's was the longest, thirty cars, not counting the engine itself! I never saw one that long... Well, half of it was disconnected from it and brought towards the factories, the other half heading to the Pride...”

"Dad..." The boy looked at his father, "Do you think we are in... trouble?"

"Most likely," He shrugged, not lying to his son, "Everyone can feel it... But we must not make a fuss about it. Otherwise, we may hinder those who can solve it. We will do our job and contribute to our victory that way. That's the best we can do!"

"Yes..." He nodded, but his eyes flicked towards his left.

Across the station, posters were being hung on every wall. Their colors were bright, almost celebratory, though the words were blunt:

JOIN THE KNIGHT PROGRAM – SERVE YOUR SOVEREIGN, DEFEND AVALON, AND THE WORLD!

Everyone knew by then that the unofficial news had confirmed it... Something was happening on the other end of the mountains. Now that all three Passes were plugged in, reinforced, and defended... Many thought the monsters were trying to break through on a scale nobody had ever seen before. What else could it be? Avalon had no other enemies left... only the beasts.

It was because of this sentiment spreading that by noon, a small crowd had gathered at the registration hall beside the Avalon's main Ministry building, just like the day before. Most were young boys and girls, many of them barely out of school, or just old enough to count as adults, but not all. There were also those who were older, much older, people who had worked in laying the first building blocks of Avalon, all those decades ago. They weren't young then, and by now, they were enjoying their old days, retired from work... But when the posters appeared, they could not ignore them.

They built this city... and they will defend it, and do whatever it takes.

“Think they’ll take us?” one of the old men muttered to the old woman next to him as they stood in line. "We are not exactly soldier material..."

“And?” she snorted, “We don't need to fight. Everyone needs a helping hand, cleaning the cannons, cooking food, or bandaging wounds. Your hands may shake, but you can still load an artillery piece, no?”

"Of course!" He snorted, "I am half-deaf already, so I don't even need protective gear! See? I'm saving money for our Sovereign!"

They both laughed at that, though neither of them found it funny... not deep within. But they couldn't help it, as it was there, in the air... A feeling... as if the world was about to end.

Inside the Ministry, the clerks were rushing back and forth like a scared group of cats, startled in the middle of the night. But at least there was no actual panic or shouting, just the quiet repetition of 'excuse me' as they bumped into each other, bringing in new forms, taking out the filled reports, and sending the incoming notices from all over the Union to the appropriate departments within Avalon itself.

Far away from it, even the youngest of the children could sense the change, mostly in their parents' mood when they tucked them in at night. The schools of Avalon remained open, but their lessons had shifted subtly. The history teachers spoke more about the winters, how they were in the past, before the Sovereign, and how they are now, after Avalon's birth... There were even multiple trips to the workshops and industrial land outside the city so they could watch the engineers at work, their eyes wide at the sight of unfinished mechs' arms being assembled, lifted, and put into place. It was just like walking into Krel's Emporium and looking at their favorite miniatures now emerging in their full glory.

"..." One of their teachers also felt the same way... He even saw them in action once, as many of the young did not know he was once an enemy of Avalon. Yet, after so many years, looking at these machines... he couldn't help but watch the engineers work, feeling amazed, his thoughts swirling in his mind, "Maybe..." Kiva muttered, looking down at his hand, deciding that maybe... one more time, he could use his knowledge for war. But this time, not against people... but monsters.

Since his capture, since his integration into Avalon, he never once used his magic, ever again. Unlike him, his brother, who was always the smartest of their four-man group, Lucca had even become a respected general and part of Avalon's military. At first, he tried to recruit him, but... Seeing that he had no desire to ever fight again, he respected him and stopped nudging him. What Kiva never imagined was that even the Sovereign would leave him alone... He felt grateful that he and now his son, too, respected his wishes that he wanted nothing to do with that kind of life, ever again. Instead, he enjoyed what he had now. Teaching children, especially about history, so they wouldn't repeat it, was something he found great joy in. So much so that he could finally sleep without nightmares about Pascal after so many years. But now... That may be taken from him... So maybe it was time...

"Yes..." He told himself, looking at the kids around him, "I won't let that happen. Not these children..."

Not far from their group, a team of workers, just as Kiva was making a decision, were heading out from the assembly line, taking their fifteen-minute break before resuming their shifts.

"Have you noticed? We don't get many repairs to do; we only build new machines... We are either preparing for a big war, like against the Guardian, or we are losing the machines... altogether." The team's leader grunted, opening his thermos and taking a sip from his black coffee.

“You believe that?” a welder asked, lighting a cigarette with shaking hands. "I don't want to think that's real... That means we lose a Knight, too. If that is the case, it means we have something worse at our doorstep, worse than the Guardian was! Brr..."

“I don't know.... But I believe we’ve beaten worse! So whatever we are fighting, will die, too,” another said, exhaling steam through his nose, then biting into his sandwich, “That Guardian fell too. Monster hordes were hunted down and exterminated all over the continent! We built walls that can keep them out, and we even drilled into the mountains... This city... We won't fall.”

"Heh," Their leader smiled, and lit his own cigarette, "True. We will build as many of these machines as the Sovereign needs. Sleep is for the weak, anyway!"

"They know it too," the others chuckled, "because lately coffee has been part of our pay."

Of course, they were not the only ones who thought that way.

When evening came in early, as the faint sunlight disappeared from view, the city didn't really fall into darkness. By now, it wasn't anything new when the lamps came to life on every corner, glowing in a warm, amber color against the creeping frost, right when the evening dark could take hold of the city. At the corner of Avenue Luna and Yuri Street, a cafe stayed open later than usual. Its owner was none other than Arik and Johan, who have been leading their new venture for more than a few years now. Since the incident, when they almost died in the hands of foreign bandits, they couldn't continue their work as they did before. Even after being healed, their strength and stamina just weren't there anymore. Leaving Avalon felt... dangerous, for both of them. They simply couldn't face the outside world and only felt safe within the city's limits. They both knew... they had to change. After retiring from their posts, they eventually opened their little cafe, the Steaming Steed, which quickly became a meeting place for engineers, mechanics, blacksmiths, and soldiers alike, people whom they met while working on the railways, people who were not only friends but also colleagues. Even after they retired.

“You’d think they’d be more worried,” a visitor from Atuvia said quietly to his companion, sitting at one table, seeing how full it was even at night. "It is clear that something is going on... Can't they see it? All my stock has been sold out, and they didn't even ask for a discount; they just took everything after paying me..."

"They are worried," Jonah said as he overheard him while wiping down the counter, looking at the merchant, “But in fear? Some, maybe. But as a city? As Avalon? As a whole? No. Avalon isn't afraid or worried... Being stressed about it... Well, it doesn’t stop whatever is coming... So we do what we can."

"Yeah," Arik came over, bringing in some empty cups, putting them into the sink, "We both saw what humans can do to each other, and that is scarier than knowing monsters are coming for you. The latter does it at least openly. The former? Humans will be sneaky about it, and most of the time, more brutal than any monster would be."

"But a monster... Monsters..." The Atuvian sighed, shaking his head, "They could level the city! Just thinking about what happened to Markoth and the others in the east..."

"And we solved it." An Avalonian soldier, twice as big as the merchant, spoke up, his voice traveling over the others, "I don't know what is going to happen, but I can tell you that my brothers and I will be at the front lines, stopping it. Or die trying."

"And if we die trying," another soldier nodded, lighting a cigarette, "at least I will know we gave our best. That's what we all must do."

"Haah... I wish I could see it that way..." The merchant muttered, clearly more stressed than the Avalonians around him.

"You could." Jonah smiled at him, refilling his cup, "I wasn't an Avalonian... Originally, I was a conscript, a poor idiot, who was thrown against Avalon. I survived that... and then, after serving my sentence, this city and these people welcomed me in. Now I am one of them." He muttered, leaning on the counter, thinking back on his life, "You see... If you live long enough in this city, their thinking, their belief... it just... gets to you. Give it a few years," He chuckled, glancing at the man, "You'll see."