“I’m glad to see the two of you made it out. I see you’ve been enjoying yourselves,” Angel said.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Vanessa said, grabbing the dice and putting them into her pocket. “Thanks for the games, boys.”

There was a mixture of groans as she left – some disappointment, but mostly relief. She’d clearly run them through the wringer, but with Cowl over her shoulder, there wasn’t much any of them could say.

“Try your luck again tomorrow if you’re bold,” one of the men called as they all headed out of the room.

“What happened after I vanished?” Angel asked while they walked out of the tavern.

“Cowl wanted to go back for you, but the pit was totally black and we couldn’t see into it,” Vanessa said. “We just kept moving forward. There was another room with some monsters, but Cowl killed them. I don’t think they were too strong. After that, we kind of just… walked out. There were a bunch of empty rooms and then a staircase that led into the desert. We walked up it and the entrance disappeared behind us. Then Cowl just led me here.”

“How’d you remember where Ashwind was?” Angel asked, cocking his head. “Have you been here before?”

“Briefly,” Cowl replied. “But I didn’t remember anything. I’ve got an artifact that lets me save some basic images from my eyesight. I used it to capture the map, so I just used that.”

“Fair enough,” Angel said. Now that they’d escaped the catacomb, he was tempted to confront the Hunter about whatever was going on with the guild. However, if Cowl was really their enemy, something told Angel that he wouldn’t stand much of a chance in an all-out fight. “I’m glad the two of you made it.”

“What about you?” Vanessa asked, nodding at his arm. “What happened down in the hole? You’ve clearly had some upgrades.”

Angel shrugged. “Not so much upgrades as repairs. Smashed my arm up on the way down, had a little party with the catacomb core, came to an agreement and left. It was fun.”

“You do realize that you risked your life for nothing, right?” Cowl asked. “I have wings. I could have flown out of the hole.”

“A little appreciation for getting pushed out of the way of a falling boulder would be nice,” Angel replied. “But, speaking of appreciation, you’ve got my orb. I assume it survived?”

Cowl grunted, reaching into his pouch and pulling the artifact out. “I didn’t mess with it.”

“Good,” Angel said, putting it away. There would be time to study it soon. “And thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Cowl said after a long pause. “What now, then? Are you still capable of fighting? Or is your arm permanently damaged?”

“It needs some further work, but I’ve been able to keep most of its functionality. I just need to stop by a Tinkerer’s shop and I’ll be good to go. How are our supplies looking?”

“Sufficient for about a week’s travel if we aren’t conservative,” Cowl replied. “Should we get more?”

“No.” Angel shook his head. “Surviving the center of the Barren isn’t like the outer ring. Resourses are important, but if we’re lugging around that much extra weight, we’ll get run down and killed by monsters or bandits. It’s better to travel with low weight.”

“Some of the guys I was playing against mentioned that the center of the Barren was getting more dangerous and the resources were getting limited,” Vanessa said. “Will we be able to restock?”

“We’ll be fine,” Angel said. “There are ways to get both water and food, even if the towns won’t sell us anything. And, speaking of gambling, it looks like you won a fair amount. When did you learn how to play dice?”

“I didn’t,” Vanessa replied. At Angel’s raised eyebrow, she dug out the dice and handed them to him.

He turned them over in his hands. At first, they seemed like normal bone dice. The faces were plain and undecorated, worn slightly by years of use. However, as he focused closer on them, a small laugh escaped his lips.

“They’re weighted.”

“Almost always land on a total adding up to seven,” Vanessa admitted. She revealed a second, identical pair of dice. “I had to have some hobbies, and Mom never objected to me making money from the guards. I got pretty good at swapping them out.”

“Very clever,” Angel said, handing the dice back to Vanessa. “Don’t let anyone catch you, though. It’ll spell a lot of trouble.”

“I’ve got enough practice to spot who I can pull this against and who I can’t,” Vanessa said, crossing her arms. “I’ve been doing it a long time now.”

“Fair enough. It doesn’t matter anyways – we should leave Ashwind today. We threw Silver off our trail with the Great Catacomb, but who knows how long it’ll take him to catch back up. He’s got to have some way to be following us, and until we know what it is, we have to assume he’s right on our tail.”

“You’re in charge,” Cowl said, giving him a one-shouldered shrug. “We’re well into the center of the Barren now. I haven’t traveled this area.”

Angel stopped walking as they passed a tightly packed group of shops. He peered through their windows. “Ah, here. This looks like a Tinkerer. Just give me a moment, I need to buy some canisters and materials.”

He pulled the door open. A little bell atop it dinged, announcing his presence. At a counter on the far end of the store, a short man with a ratty beard and a burnt hat glanced up from a small machine in his hands. His eyes flicked down to Angel’s arm and a spark of interest lit up within them.

The merchant set the machine down and crossed his arms. “Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for canisters,” Angel said. “And a motor. Nothing self-powered please, and with a wire interface.”

“I’ve got both,” the merchant said. “Ten vex for fifty canisters and five for the motor.”

“Twelve for it all,” Angel countered.

“Thirteen.”

“Done,” Angel said, pulling out the requested coins and tossing them onto the counter. The merchant swept them into a pocket and turned around, grabbing a small metal crate from the behind him and raising it onto the counter with a small grunt.

Angel examined the canisters as the merchant stepped out from behind the counter and made his way over to a pile of scrap. The metal tubes were in good shape and didn’t seem to have any apparent flaws.

He swept them into his travel bag just as the merchant let out a victorious grunt and pulled out a small gearbox with a few wires poking free on either side. He offered it to Angel, who turned it over in his hands and swept it with a careful eye.

“Where’d you get this?”

“Bought it off a Seeker a year back,” the merchant replied. “Will it work?”

“Should be fine,” Angel said, putting the motor into his bag and closing it. “Thanks.”

“No problem. If you don’t mind me asking, is your arm…”

“Just electric,” Angel lied, giving him a half-smile. “Looks cool, but doesn’t do much else. It’s a fancy prosthetic.”

“Ah,” the merchant said, his face downcast. “Sorry.”

“No problem.” Angel raised a hand in farewell and headed back outside, where Cowl and Vanessa were waiting for him.

“Any luck?” Vanessa asked.

“Got what I needed,” Angel said, starting down the road towards the city’s exit. “I’m ready to leave if the two of you are.”

“We’ve got nothing holding us here,” Cowl said. “Let’s go.”

Vanessa nodded so, with Angel at the lead, they headed out of the city and stepped back into the desert. The guards didn’t pay them any attention now that they were leaving.

“Where’s our next location?” Cowl asked.

“Steam Fortress,” Angel replied as he took the board off his back and tossed it to the ground. “It’s about five days of full speed travel away. If they have supplies to sell, we’ll restock there. If they don’t, we’ll hunt for some ourselves.”

Cowl’s wings popped out of his back and Vanessa’s skates hummed to life. Angel hopped onto the board and leaned forward, shooting off through the desert sand with his companions close behind him.