Sam blinked. This old man had to be a hallucination caused by the smoke Sam had inhaled earlier.

"Sam, I am not a hallucination," the man said. A gentle hand rested on Sam's shoulder and he jumped.

"Relax, silly," Georgia laughed. "Sam, this is my grandfather, Randy Harbringer."

This time Sam couldn't mask his surprise. "You have a grandfather?"

"Of course. Who doesn't?"

Georgia's grandfather got to his feet. "Georgia dear, these days many people outside of Ailmoor have not met their grandparents. Mr. Linkwood, why don't you come with me? We have much to discuss."

Sam sent a questioning look to Georgia, who shrugged. Eventually, he ran after her grandfather.

When he caught up to the older man, Sam followed slightly behind. "You never met your parents, did you, Sam?"

Sam was surprised by this question. "Well, I have faint memories of my mom and dad singing to me, but my sister Delia took care of me when they died."

"Interesting. Where is Delia now?"

"She died a year ago."

The old man asked yet another question. "How did she die?"

Sam stopped in his tracks. "Why do you want to know?" he demanded, tears falling from his eyes.

Georgia's grandfather turned to look at Sam. "Because," he explained gently. "If we know about your family's history, we can find out if you have any relatives here in Ailmoor."

"Oh. Delia and my friend Jordan both died in a fire."

They continued on in silence, until they reached a steel wall.

"What should I call you?" Sam asked.

"You may call me Mr. Harbringer," the old man told him.

"Okay. So, Mr. Harbringer, do I have any family here?"

"Touch the wall."

"What?"

"Touch the wall with your hand pressed out flat." Sam did so with slight hesitation, but did as Mr. Harbinger asked. To him it seemed as though nothing had happened, but Mr. Harbinger was staring at it as though it held the answers to the world's problems.

The elderly man was muttering to himself as he stroked his wrinkled chin."Interesting, quite interesting indeed."

"What do you see, Mr. Harbringer?"

"Nothing that you should worry about, young one. Come, the others are expecting us." He touched the wall and trace a pattern across the cold metal. Silent as death, the doors slid open, revealing something Sam never expected to see: people of all shapes and sizes.

There were men as tall as the ceiling and women dressed in the most outrageous clothes. One was even waving around a stick with cloth shooting out the end. Those were some of the older ones, but the people around Sam's own age were what amazed jim most of all. They were dressed in skintight pants and jackets, with matching boots. The girls had their hair slicked back in tightly woven braids, and the boys' hair was trimmed close to their head.

All eyes turned to the two in the doorway. "Good day, survivors. Today another has joined us here, but you have all heard of him. Please welcome Sam Linkwood, the Healing One."

Sam waved awkwardly at everyone. "Hi." They stared at him, then returned to whatever they were doing, except for one.

"Mayor Harbringer, I thought you said that the Healing One was just a fable." Sam turned to look at the person who had spoken. It was a girl who was about his age. She was wearing a black outfit with bright blue streaks that matched her hair. She was extremely pale compared to the burnt tan Sam had gained from his journeys.

"Ah, Miss Morsekov! Why don't you talk with Sam? I've heard that he has come from Olemeer." With that, Mr. Harbringer left the two teens.

She studied him. "So you're the one that's supposed to fix the world."