A great calm settled over Moth as a cool, damp breeze tousled his blond hair and made his eyes water.  Sunlight filtered through the chamber from somewhere far above, casting a rainbow of reflections across the towering stone monoliths as they pulsed silently throughout the massive cavern.

Dizzy, Moth was speechless as the tiny Queen embraced him and Katrina joyously, her words floating around him without him hearing.  As various people clamored for her attention, he slipped away.  A small old woman had joined them at some point, flustered and out of breath as she gaped openly at the Queen's presence.  Moth passed her, walking to the edge of a smooth, flat stone surface that jutted out over the sandy cavern floor and fell heavily to a sitting position with his legs hanging over the edge.  He still had the shield on his left arm, the pair of boots clutched tightly in his right.  He pulled off the shield and his shoes and set them aside, slipping on the combat boots with slight apprehension.  Again, memories flooded back of a decade gone by.  The gruff, rhythmic chanting filled his ears and the intertwined lights and shadows around him grew stronger, alternating white and black like people hurling themselves forward and backward in a furious mob...

He tied the laces as he had been taught back then, snapping them tightly into several knots and tucking the laces in.  He stared at his new boots and the modern world flowed back to him.  He could still hear the others talking over each other excitedly somewhere behind him.  That old woman.  So there were others who yet lived.  If there were others not on the Wall that morning who were still moving, then...

Moth stood abruptly, shaking.  If the Queen could create a portal to bring them there, then she could definitely send them elsewhere in Periphery.  The lower residential district.  Moth had to go to the residential district.  He had to know.  He had to hope.

He swallowed, hard, and picked up his shield and tattered shoes and walked back to the group.  His gait slowed and he breathed out in a quiver.  He nearly sobbed with relief.  For the first time that day Moth felt himself relax.  For the moment, they were safe.  The towering violet and gold machines just behind the group attested to that.  The mile-high cave was obscenely beautiful, once Moth actually took notice of it, and the combat boots were damn comfortable.  His stomach vibrated angrily.

If the Queen was granting requests, Moth planned on first asking for lunch.