“Well then, what now?” Angel asked. “Do we just sit here and wait for the map?”

“Do whatever you were doing,” Cowl replied with a shrug. “We can’t move for a while, so you might as well enjoy your rest.”

“Angel said I couldn’t practice any more with the tools,” Vanessa said, twisting her nose. “I don’t know what else we can do.”

“Well,” Angel said, taking out a canister and drawing a spell in the air. He pressed it into the metal and sealed it before adding it to the holster on his shoulder. “I’ve still got some work to do. You might as well watch.”

Vanessa nodded and scooted forward as Angel deliberately repeated the process with the next canister, going much slower than he normally did so that she’d have a chance at picking something up.

“Where’d you learn Tinkering?” Cowl asked. “It’s normally quite expensive, and you don’t strike me as a noble.”

“My Master. I traveled with a very talented Seeker for many years when I was younger. He taught me everything I know about Seeking and Tinkering.”

“And Hunting,” Cowl observed. “Some of those flips and dodges I’ve seen you do aren’t meant for dodging traps.”

“You can’t be a Seeker without knowing how to tussle with a few monsters. Just because I don’t seek them out doesn’t mean I can’t fight them,” Angel said. “My Master could have held his own with most of you.”

“A Seeker, Hunter, and Tinkerer?” Cowl asked. Angel suspected that, if he could have seen behind Cowl’s mask, the Hunter would have been raising an eyebrow.

“He sounds incredibly talented,” Vanessa said. “Where is he?”

“Dead,” Angel replied curtly. “And buried about a thousand yards under the Barren in a catacomb.”

“Oh,” Vanessa said, her face falling. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Angel replied. “He had it coming.”

Vanessa blinked, confused.

“Just because someone was talented doesn’t mean they were a good person,” Angel said. He took his pendant out, unwrapping the oilcloth, and silently started to work on it.

Hours passed in silence. Vanessa watched Angel study the pendant for a while, then pulled out her set of Tinkerer tools and started to pick the rust off the uncleaned tools with a small blade.

Night had already started to fall when the room’s flap parted and the man from before pushed it aside, stepping in with a small metal tube clasped in his hand. He handed it to Cowl, who popped the cap off the tube and tipped a roll of parchment into his hand.

“Real paper?” Cowl asked, his robotic voice crackling.

“You paid for a real map. That’s what you got,” the man said. “Don’t break it.”

“Wow,” Angel said, putting his pendant away and shifting to get a better look at the map. “I can’t remember the last time I saw nice paper. There isn’t much of that around the Barren anymore.”

“The cartographer has a merchant friend that brings it in from the Great Green,” the bearded man said with a small hint of pride. “I am pleased that you appreciate my work, but I am afraid that our business is done. I must ask that you leave the waiting room.”

“We’ll be happy to oblige,” Cowl said, rising to his feet and returning the map to its tube. Angel and Vanessa followed suit. The Hunter handed Angel the map as he rose.

“Thanks,” Angel said, inclining his head as he passed the bearded man on the way out. The room’s entrance was thin, and he had to turn sideways to fit through it without hitting him.

They brushed briefly as they passed, but neither acknowledged each other again. Angel and Vanessa hurried after Cowl as the Hunter’s fast pace took them out of the large tent and towards the edge of the city.

“Are we going to travel at night?” Vanessa asked.

“We can use it to put some distance between ourselves and Silver,” Angel said. “If they haven’t gotten fully paid by that Magistrate, they will have been soon. We don’t have the time to waste.”

“Agreed,” Cowl said.

Angel took the board off his back as they reached the grate. The guard on the wall above them pulled a lever as they approached, raising the grate blocking their path. Vanessa waved goodbye to him as they stepped into the desert.

Cowl’s wings popped out from his back and fluttered to life. Vanessa shot off after him with Angel close in pursuit. The cold wind, normally pleasant during the day, nipped at Angel’s extremities. His eyes dried quickly and he squinted, trying to shield them from the cold.

“I think I prefer traveling during the day!” Vanessa called over the howl of the wind. She hugged herself tightly, which was slightly impressive given the speed they were moving at.

“It’s not fun, but we need to put a good bit of distance between ourselves and Churning Sands,” Angel said.

“Because of the bandits?”

“That’s one of the reasons,” Angel said, pulling out a small leather pouch. “I also might have lifted this off the bearded guy Cowl hired.”

Cowl glanced back at him. “Anything good? I was thinking about doing that myself. The man was strutting around like he owned the city.”

“Haven’t had a chance to check yet,” Angel replied. “I’ll let you know once we stop for the night. It’s hefty though.”

Cowl grunted. The three lapsed into silence as they shot deeper into the night. No bandits bothered them on their way out of the city – either because they were all sleeping or because word had gotten out about what happened to the last group to cross their path.

The moon arced overhead, its pale light illuminating the desert sand in shades of shimmering gray and silver. Stars blinked down at them from their spot in the sky. Angel had spent many hours staring up at them, wondering which ones the humans that lived before the Great War had put up there.

On particularly bright nights, if one was lucky enough, a star would occasionally pass before the moon. On one occasion, Angel had caught a glimpse of copper and metal that made up some of the stars. He’d needed a telescope to do it, but the memory had stuck with him ever since.

The cloudless sky seemed to grow a shade darker. Angel’s skin prickled, but it wasn’t from the cold. He glanced over his shoulder and cursed. “So much for a head start. Pick up the pace! Silver is right behind us.”

The bandit’s chopper flew through the air behind them, its four rotors spinning in surprising silence. A small stack of smoke rose up from it and into the night sky. With every passing second it gained a little extra ground on them.

“How did they find us so quickly?” Vanessa asked as all three of them drove their artifacts to the max.

“Doesn’t matter,” Cowl said tightly. “Focus on escaping.”

“I’m not so sure we’re going to be able to outrun them,” Angel replied after another glance back over his shoulder. The chopper had gained on them. He wasn’t certain, but there was a small form on the edge of the vehicle’s railing that looked like it might have been waving at them.

“Then we’re going to die,” Cowl said. “I can handle five of them at once on a good day. Can you deal with the other five?”

“Probably not,” Angel admitted. “Two or three maybe, but my magic isn’t fast enough to take on five.”

“Just leave me,” Vanessa said, pressing her lips together. “They’re only after me, and I don’t want you two to die on my behalf, especially if it’s pointless.”

“Your mother would kill me right afterwards,” Angel said. “You need to get rid of those heroic ideals. They have no place in the Barren. Sacrificing yourself isn’t going to get you anywhere.”